Ordering information

Dear friends,

"In The Mind" will be on the shelves soon.
To order advanced copies, please contact:

Xlibris Corporation1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.comOrders@Xlibris.com

Book ID 57653
ISBN: (softcover) 978-1-4363-9840-4

Thanks.

Upcoming Novel

The first novel I have released will be coming out early in the new year. You can read excerpts in the previous post below.

See the link below for the official Facebook group for regular updates on release timeline.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=38754269537

Please let me know what you think by dropping a line or two as comments beneath this post.

Thanks for all your support.
I wish all my audience a happy holidays.

OMC

In the mind

He was more anxious than excited.He had never been on an airplane.He was scared stiff of flying after watching those two planes slam into the twin towers just a month ago.That was the reason he changed his mind about flying to the Abuja embassy to pick up his visas.
He braved the roads.He said his rosaries all the way since that route wasn't completely innocous either.

Now as he sat in the lobby of the new improved Murtala Muhammed Airport,he vividly remembers the last time he was here.It was in the 80s.He had come to say bye to his dad who was leaving for a course in the UK.Those days,you were still allowed to accompany passengers almost to the tarmac.He had sworn that one day,he too would be getting on one of those aircrafts.Here he was,not entirely enamored with the idea.But go he must.

The situation at home was getting worse.He was one of the lucky ones with a Residency slot in the Lagos University Hospital,LUTH.Even that was not all he thought it would be.He constantly felt his training was substandard.He wanted something better.He was able to live reasonably well on his resident salary,but he worried whether that would be the same once he got married.

Marriage!That's the taboo word.He cast a quick furtive glance on the lady beside him.She had insisted on taking him to the airport.He had barely maintained eye contact all the way to the airport.That was another nebulous void in his subconscious.He wonders when he'd actually meet that one.These girls all fall in the same category.Desperate for commitment,one not much different from the other.

It was becoming alarmingly easy to score these days once he became a senior resident.All the female med students simply flung themselves at him.It made his task worse rather than easier.He still remembers the Deaconesse's strong words.He had to bring somebody home in a year.Anybody!But things don't have to be this way.He just doesn't feel that special connection with any of the current possibilities.Something tells him that once that special lady comes along,he'd know it.

Then the flight was called.The poor girl had tears rolling down her cheeks.They were tears of uncertainty.She knew he was going for good.Away from her forever.She genuinely loved him,but she'd found it difficult to read where his mind was headed.Even the sex had become insipid in the days running into this departure.She must say goodbye now.But one last kiss.She knew it.Very indifferent.She waved one last time.Then he disappeared into the check-in area.Gone.

He looked out the plane's thick,tiny window.He had been seated next to this caucasian lady probably in her 20s.He momentarily wonders if he might end up with one of these once he arrives in England.She flashed a charitable smile and nods at him.
Are you going to London?
He answered in the affirmative.Once she said she would be ending her journey in Frankfurt,he knew he would not continue this conversation much further.

Are you German?
No,I'm American she replied,catching a connecting flight in Frankfurt.He had so much admiration for the United States,but resented how applicants were handled at the embassy.He wonders if there might be a chance to visit in the future.For now,he had to concentrate on passing his British Medical Licensing exams.He doesn't have that much cash,and the clock will start ticking once he sets foot on Heathrow.
He slept.

The huge 747 finally touched down in Heathrow.He wasn't even aware 6 hours had passed.He'd slept throughout the whole flight from Frankfurt.He felt a strange wave of anticipation sweep through his inner core.Uncertainty.He knows this is a completely different chapter in his life now.He was beginning again.He had received a lot of kind advice from his more fortunate colleagues who had left the system straight out of medical school and were now established in the UK.Now is the time to start putting them to good use.
"Please step aside",a drawly, strangely familiar voice seemed to be directed at him.
Excuse me?
Yes, you sir.

He now realized why the accent sounded familiar.It was the same queens English he was well acquainted with in the Bond franchise.This big burly man in his mid 40s had no-nonsense written all over him.
He had been set aside for special screening.He had been warned by his colleagues that his green passport will assail him constantly like the mark of the biblical Caine.Well,here he was.After a long and detailed special search of his person and carry-on luggage,it was finally time to go check if his checked-in baggage arrived in one piece too.Several tales of valuables missing after the customs clearance in Lagos abound.He hardly had any valuables,so that wasn't going to be a great loss.

He had been prepared.He fished out some coins to use the airport payphones.Where are the guys?They were meant to have been waiting for him at the arrival lobby.He took another careful effort to scan the whole lobby.No sight of his friends.He had to call the cell phone number he was given now.It was getting dark.It was a strange city.
"Your call cannot be completed as dialled,please try again later".
This was not possible.It was the umpteenth time he had slotted in his coins.And he was running out of coins.

He was flummoxed.Completely out of ideas now.He had made no contingency plans.The last passengers have now left the terminal,and the cleaners were trying their best to mop up for the day.He felt the first pang of hunger.Even the McDonald outlet he'd noticed in the lobby earlier was now closed.But food is not the most important worry at the moment.Where was he going to spend the night?Should he walk up to a policeman and request for help?More confusion.He had never felt more alone in his entire life.

"David"!
He was jolted out of his misery.Almost too scared to turn around,he doubted it was really him the person was calling.Afterall David is a western name,there must be a gazillion davids here.He prayed hard he was wrong.Very slowly,he turned around.The young black male calling his name appeared vaguely familiar but not overtly so.He was tall,muscular and in airport cleaning staff uniform.He also had an accent.

"David Noah"!Now this was not getting any easier for him.
"Have we met sir?".
He half hoped so.He needed any kind of reprieve very badly now.His legs were getting numb,tired from hours of roaming this truly humongous airport for any sign of his friends.
"Sure,we have"!

He later discovered Ayo Bello was someone they'd attended St Barth's boys together,almost a decade ago.He had arrived the UK 5 years ago straight out of College and now combines 3 jobs to make ends meet.But he was a more robust Ayo.His cheeks were all filled in and his skin much healthier looking.The scorching heat of the tropics does things to the skin.

Ayo was familiar with similar horror stories having been doing this part-time airport job for a couple of years.Several passengers have had to sleep in the terminal overnight after their hosts failed to show up.He however also offered another possibility.Who knows what happened to his friends?They could have been in an accident or something.Anyhow,Ayo offered him some help with accomodation.It was not a 5-star hotel,he warned.
David was over the moon now.At least he's going to have somewhere to lay his head tonight.Tomorrow will take care of itslelf.Ayo had to make a quick call to alert his wife who wasn't expecting any guests.

The trip to East Ham on the underground service was much longer than his fatigued soul could handle.He was knocked out again through most of the trip.Ayo had to wake him up at stops to change trains.
The council flat where Ayo lived was on the 7th floor.And the elevators were broken.He could not help but notice piles of overflowing refuse in the common area on ground floor.The volume of occupants in this huge apartment complex regularly overwhelmed the waste management team's efforts.

The battle to make it to 7th floor was tough.There were no helpers here and the stairs were steep.It was now 1:30AM. His light blue shirt was crumpled and sweat was everywhere.He knew he looked like a refugee.But wasn't he?
Ayo's wife,Linda appeared very kind.She received him well.Linda showed him to the bathrooms first and indicated the couch was not too uncomfortable as this was a single bed flat.He had a long bath.By the time he emerged from the bathroom,Linda and Ayo had hit the sack.The TV was on.

The images on TV were dominated by the storming of the Indian parliament by terrorists.Throughout his own ordeal of the day,he'd been oblivious of the mayhem transpiring half-way round the world.As he saw some disturbing images of violence,he realized he needed to be grateful to God.He was alive afterall.Tomorrow,the battle really begins.His clock which started ticking on arrival at Heathrow had appeared to stand still through his ordeal.But that was only a mirage.He began slipping into deep sleep.

For the first time in a very long time,he dreamt.

**********************************************************************************

He could only describe it as red hot coal scalding the flesh on the inside of his stomach.His last regular meal was in Lagos about 24 hours earlier.He had slept through all the meals served on the flights.Now as the strangely familiar hunger pangs gently eased him into wakefulness,he had the opportunity for the first time to take in his surroundings.

The living room was the size of a regular Lagos domestic water reservoir with only enough room for a loveseat,a sidestool and a 14" color TV.The carpet was well worn and indicated how long the occupants had been staying in the apartment.Hanging on the wall above the TV was a family portrait of Ayo,Linda and a baby.He saw no sign of a baby yesterday.

On the stool was a note that must have been scribbled in a hurry.It was as blunt as it was barely legible:
"Dave,if you are going to be squatting with us for a few days,you have to learn to conserve energy.You left the TV on all night and Linda wasn't pleased.We pick up breakfast on the go at McDonalds, so help yourself. On your way out,please leave the key under the doormat.Welcome to London!
Ayo"

He stood holding the note completely stupefied.This was not the welcome he had envisaged.He couldn't possibly start harbouring any hard feelings so quickly after what Ayo had done for him last night.But this was completely unnecessary.He hauled his bigger bag off the wall and began to prepare for the morning.

After a quick shave,he jumped into the shower again.He had turned the knob all the way to red and opened the tap full blast.A freezing jet of ice-cold water pushed him out of the bath as quickly as he'd jumped into it.There was no more hot water.He did not know how to operate the boiler.It was December and that meant inclement weather in England.There was no way anyone could survive a cold bath at this time.

He washed his face.He dressed up and fished out the underground map they had received en route the airport last night.First things first.He had to locate some restaurant.Anywhere they sell anything edible.The feeling in his stomach was killing him.He was so scared of developing an ulcer.But he couldn't resist the thought of calling his friends again straightaway.He picked up the phone lying on the sidestool.He located the scrap paper bearing his friends' number and dialled.
"This line is temporarily out of service,please contact BT"

That was it.He added a pay-as-you-go cell phone to his "to do" list of the day.He couldn't continue dropping coins in phone booths. He zipped up his bag.Checking to see he had everything he would need for the day,he noted the apartment number and slammed the door shut.He left the key under the doormat as requested.

On his way down the narrow staircase,he noticed two ladies, a brunette and a blonde.The brunette was tall and slim with several body piercings.She had huge rings hanging off a corner of her mouth.The blonde was short and plump.She was covered in tattos.She must have been proud of them because very little was covered on her body in this terribly cold weather.They both smelt of a mixture of alcohol and nicotine and God knows what else.

Hello handsome!That was the blonde."New neighbor?"
No,just visiting,he muttered.
Well,we like visitors,they both almost chorused.He just managed to squeeze past them,trying really hard not to make any body contact.
"Well,see you around,tiger!" enthused the brunette.
He pretended he didn't hear the last part.

Now he got it.This is a completely different kettle of fish.His life had only two options from henceforth.Either his luck picks up and he really breaks through or he slides completely into the abyss.He knew there was to be no midway.His hunger pangs were in control now.He was on autopilot.

Shivering badly in his light weather-inappropriate sweatshirt,his eyes constantly scanned both sides of the street for any fast food joint.He was too shy to ask any passersby for help.He only needed to open his mouth and everyone would know he was as lost as a stray cat.His accent would give him away.Or will it?

At that moment,he overheard two middle-aged women walking towards him not only speaking his language but actually speaking the dialect of his tiny village in Nigeria. The subject was a friend's husband caught by the Metro Police for advanced free fraud popularly called "419" after the relevant section of the criminal code.The man would now be deported, they were saying.

He couldn't care less.He pleaded with them to tell him where the next fast food joint was.His heart sank.There would be none within reasonable distance.He had to get on a bus or on the tube.He was advised to buy a daytrip ticket on the underground service.That should serve him throughout the day.
He did.

He examined the underground map again.It looked like a crazy maze.More like a puzzle to be solved than a travel guide.The ticket sales agent had tried to explain his journey to him,but it sounded like greek.For now,he had no specific destination.He only wanted to eat.He jumped on the next train.

He was on the District train service.At least that was the inscription on the train.He fixed his gaze on the relevant portion of the travel map pasted on the upper sidewall on the inside of the train.Depending on what direction on the District line this train was headed,the next station should be either Barking or Upton park.
Upton park!!

He was an ardent football fan.He noted that West Ham football club have their home ground in Upton park.This was unreal.He often felt that Nigerians loved football more than their jobs.Several relationships had come under strain when the wife or girlfriend tried to stand between the guy and his football.In Nigeria,football wasn't a sport,it is a religion.Being an Arsenal supporter,he knows he'd now be able to fulfil his long term dream of visiting Highbury.

"The next station is Upton park",the recorded message blared out of the overhead speakers.
He was bracing himself to get off the train.
"Are you heading for the PLAB tutorial?"
He had failed to notice the other passengers up till then in his utter confusion.The words were coming from a petite but very pretty indian lady.She was about 5' tall,dressed in pink sweatshirt and fading sky blue jeans.She had a leather boot on that threatened to go above the knees.Her heavy Punjabi accent suggested she was probably as green as he was.So he relaxed a little.

Shilpa was getting off at Upton park too.After the initial exchange of pleasantaries,he discovered that she was a fresh graduate from India looking to train in the UK.She had only been around for 3 months and was preparing for the PLAB exams.PLAB is short for Professional and Linguistics Assessment Board.Every foreign trained physician must pass the exams to begin work or training in the UK.

Through his rough first day in England,he had almost forgotten his main purpose of visiting in the first place.He had been issued a 2-year multiple entry exam visa but was allowed to stay only up to 6 months at any one time.He saw a golden opportunity in this small ,beautiful indian girl.She should be able to guide him somewhat.

Shilpa agreed to take him to the nearest KFC.They ate quickly.He asked if it was OK to drop in on the PLAB tutorial sessions.It turned out it was run by two young Pakistani doctors who had been doing this for so long it was now almost their main source of income.The sesions would cost 300 pounds.He was allowed into the first session to sample how they operated.

He was quickly informed by several of the attendees that it was virtually impossible to pass the exams without attending one of these programs.He might have been tempted to think this was an India/Pakistani conspiracy to dupe him if he hadn't met Segun and Steve there.Segun had finished from University of Ibadan not too far from his own medical college.Steve was British-born,but received his medical education in the tiny College town of Ife in western Nigeria.He was surprised to learn that even British citizens trained abroad must pass these exams.

He looked into his wallet.All he had was 900 pounds.It was the totality of his savings from internship through early residency training.It had looked like a lot of money then.Now he realized how little money was availbale to him.Mentally,he removed the tutorial fees from the "available money".Somehow,he had to make the remaining 600 pounds count.But how long will he last with that kind of money?

He concluded he would have to pass the exams quickly and return to nigeria to raise more funds.Segun and Steve thought he was mad.Returning home was not an option.They promised to show him how things are done.Both of them had been around for almost a year now.Neither had been back since they arrived.They advised him to pay for his tutorials immediately while there was still space and to hang out with them after the day is over to show him around.
He did.

NB: TO BE CONTINUED.

OMC.

Inaugurate this.

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Only an exclusive club of gentlemen can claim to have uttered those words.Barack Obama will join that elite club on 01/20/09.

01/20/09...Special....Very special.That is right in the thick of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial in DC.It is also the day after Rev Martin Luther King's birthday.Storylines are made of these.Every student of history and politics would kill to be on the steps of the capitol when this particular piece of history is made.

Not so fast.Tickets to the swearing-in ceremony itself are free.However,you can only obtain them from your congressmen and senators.My phone calls to both Dennis Kucinich and Sherrod Brown(Ohio senators) are yet to be returned.New York's charismatic senator,Charles Schumer has introduced a disingenious idea...he plans to hold a special state lottery to allocate his portion of the tickets.

Remember i said the tickets are free.Apparently that has not stopped a deluge of websites from openly offering tickets up for sale.From ebay to craigslist,tickets are offered for up to $25,000 each for this event...and that doesn't even allow you to dine with the president...just to witness him placing his hand on the bible!

A friend of mine in southern California has been pleading for tickets on his Facebook status for weeks.I doubt he'll get any luck there if they are this marketable.

The puzzling economics of this inauguration does not end with exhorbitant ticket prices.I don't envy DC mayor Adrian Fenty.He is bracing for unprecedented turnout of 3-5 million people.God knows how much post inaugural clean-up will cost.Security will be challenging.

The Obama Campaign is still soliciting for donations more than 2 weeks after the election was won and lost.Word is they need the funds for inauguration...so those Hillary Clinton debts will take a while yet to retire.

George Bush's 2nd inauguration holds the record,costing $40million.That was in the thick of the Iraq war.There is no doubt that Barack will not stop breaking records when it comes to his own inauguration cost.The only snag is that the majority of Bush Inauguration donors were big corporations.Barack will be eager to avoid this self-contradictory and antithetical indulgence.

There is also huge money to be made.Those lucky enough to get tickets will most likely spend a large chunk of their money on flights and travel.But they also need somewhere to sleep.Several DC residents are doing brisk business these days...especially if you are a disgruntled republican who wouldn't mind leaving town for the inauguration.

House swaps are the most straight forward.Family from Carlifornia exchanges homes with a republican DC houselhold for the period of the inauguration.DC family grapples with some wild fires as trade-off for the approaching snow storms.

The most farcical anecdote making rounds right now is that of a clown on craigslist offering his couch(!??) for $350/night...no meals,no pillows or blankets,just the couch.He lives in a studio and wants only attractive ladies to bid.Funny thing is several bids have come in,and the price is going up!

If this is any consolation to those of you who almost certainly will not get tickets to the swearing-in,the parade is also free.No lotteries.No tickets required.But given that authorities expect unprecedented turn-out,each person would probably only have enough room to stand on one foot!

Small price to pay.And yes we can.

OMC

Prop 8

A bit of recent history of Psychiatric diagnoses may help set the scene for this controversial piece.

Following controversy and protests from gay activists at the American Psychiatry Association(APA) annual conferences from 1970 to 1973, as well as the emergence of new data from researchers such as Alfred Kinsey and Evelyn Hooker, the seventh printing of the DSM-II, in 1974, no longer listed homosexuality as a category of disorder.

For my readers who are oblivious of what prop 8 is,this is a proposition(8) recently adopted in the state of California that sought to throw out and override a recent supreme court decision to legalize gay marriage in the state and afford same sex couples similiar rights as heterosexual couples.

Since the election on 11/04/08,there has been widespread protests daily by both proponents and opponents of the ballot initiative.The sheer amount of money involved in the campaign for prop 8 is as staggering as it indicates the enormity of the issue in contention.More than $73 million was spent by both sides in the run-up to the polls.Only the presidential contest spent more on campaigning.

Gay rights activists claim this is a historic struggle analogous to the civil rights struggle.Black leaders say that is an insult.Race and sexual orientation are apple and oranges.In fact,the numbers indicate that the large chunk of the vote that defeated prop 8 was cast by African-Americans.This is no surprise.Blacks in America have remained the most uncompromising on religious grounds.

The history of the civil rights movement is steeped in southern baptist pentecostal leadership.I will not even profess to have the final word on what scripture says on this issue.A quick internet search reveals both sides have compelling scriptural evidence to confirm their position and rebuff or denounce the opposition.The most poignant scripture my Catholic upbringing stressed in me was Gen 18 & 19;the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.Sodomy is still used parochially to refer to homosexuality to this day.The fine details of interpretation of relevant scripture is best left to veteran theologians.

One thing though is very clear.The gay issue is one of several social issues that will not be going away anytime soon.It is in puzzling company with the likes of abortion and stem cell research.These issues are peculiar in that they are passionately invested in individual beliefs and religious virtues.No legislation or ballot initiative will put them to bed now or in the distant future.

In large parts of Europe and Canada,gay marriage or civil union has been recognized for years.But then again,those parts are much more monolithic and liberal than the United States.The reality is that the US remains a center right country,and the religious right still remains a powerful force."Don't ask,don't tell" is still a patently inflammatory topic in the US military.Soldiers are no longer required to declare their sexual orientation at recruitment from 1993 but can still be dismissed if they openly express their preference while in the army.

This is no more evident than in the deep schism that has fragmented the Anglican Church in America over the gay bishop matter since Gene Robinson was approved by episcopalians in 2003.Some southern parishes in America openly encouraged the Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola to secede from the worldwide Anglican communion under the leadership of Rowan Williams.They swore to secede with him.Williams happens to be more tolerant of Gay Bishop ordinations than the majority of African and Asian bishops.This alone is a self-indicting irony.The fact that European missionaries imported Christianity to those parts of the world seem to have been lost on many.

Church pews in Europe these days are either empty or populated by the elderly...most young britons and Irish youths are still in bed during sunday church hours recovering from the hang-over of the previous night's clubbing.These days,Churches in Nigeria at least are experiencing unprecedented youth attendance and participation.Megachurch pastors are smiling to the bank as many more young people get bank jobs and pay tithes.Many of those pastors now boast private jets in their own hangars.

In contrast,parishes are closing in England due to low attendance and in some occasions even converted to pubs.

For the less cerebral mortals like me,the fear going forwards will be where all this ends.Now that homosexuality is merely a sexual orientation rather than deviant sexual behaviour.Will Pedophilia be the next paraphilia to be declassified by the APA? Will child sexual predators be one day able to "come out of the closet" and sponsor ballot initiatives?

For my son's sake,and for the sake of all that is common sense,I sincerely hope and pray not!

OMC

The Premiership

why are you changing the title from premier league round-up?

i don't see how that's your business.

really?

hmm hmm...

i can boycott it.

and why do you think i give a flyin rats ass whether you read it or not??

that's your problem..you are soo arrogant.typical chelsea fan.

we see things as we are,not as they are!

don't start that philosphical nonsense with me please.

well,how does it feel to see the esteemed young gunners lose again?

how did i know you were going to rave about arsenal again this week?

because they are THE NEWS.every writer tries to stay on the fun stuff...or risk losing readership.

i think it's envy..of the emirate football philosophy.

look my friend,football is no philosophy..it's a contact sport!

yea right..i have to admit though,it's extremely painful to see another trophyless season unravelling.

don't bother about trophies now.you need to solve the Wenger delusion.

you know i didn't study postgrad psychiatry like you...how's he deluded?

the fixed,firm,unshakable belief that youthful flambouyance can somehow compete with solidity in 21st century football...despite compelling evidence to the contrary!

i agree.i think i trace all this to David Dein's exit though.

that's like distant memory..wasn't that the bloke that hired him from Monaco in the first place?

yea.maybe we should bring him back to the emirates.Wenger has lost his way since Dein left.

who cares about Dein?didn't MAN-UTD also lose Peter Kenyon?

and look what's happening where Kenyon is these days..Chelsea have florished!

Oh,so you guys wont blame Roman's millions any more?

well, his millions bought Kenyon,innit?

look,arsenal had a chance to sell itself to some american investor but stubbornly rebuffed that..live with the consequences of your actions.its called adulthood.grow up.

heck,millions aren't everything..look at Man City

hey,Fahim hasn't even got a chance to fully flex his billionaire muscles yet.that's why wenger may not be able to strenghten in January or the summer.competition will be stiff.Wenger is stingy.

i see torres is back.

el nino was not sharp at all against bolton.

he only played a quarter an hour.

isn't Gerrard the most phenomenal midfielder alive?

jury's still out between him and Lampard...my brother Anthony doesn't agree though..he worships Stevie G.

You have to pity robbie keane though..God knows he's trying.

didn't he score last week?

he just doesn't look confident..far from the Spurs Keane we knew.i mean even Dirk Kuyt is more consistent...DIRK KUYT!!!

cool down,its just week 13...and whatever happened to all that Gareth Barry rave.

i dont think l/pool needs barry.they have alonso & mascherano...it's wenger that needs him.our midfield is lightweight with fabregas & denilson.and diaby is no viera.our defence was exposed by Young and Agbonlahor.

Speaking of Agbonlahor,is capello blind or what?he needs to drop this walcott guy and call Gaby up.

Despite myself,i agree....Gaby is a bit of a playboy though.

which premiership star isn't?

true.

its looking more of a 2-horse race by the day.

don't forget MAN-UTD have that game in hand...and its against FULHAM!!

don't disrespect fulham,my friend.they just destroyed spurs...and spurs has just completed a double on l'pool with that carling cup annihilation!

well,didn't chelsea lose to burnley too?

on penalties....

don't matter,it shouldn't be even close...and scolari was close to full strenght.

well, good for ade adebiyi...he gets to play against arsenal's youngsters in the 1/4 finals!

may well be an arsenal-spurs final.

you know how these cup games go,dude...who cares about carling cup anyways?

true.plus football is not mathematics.stoke beat arsenal.Man-utd walloped stoke 5-0 yesterday.arsenal beat Man-utd.all in the last 5 weeks!

i agree.the premiership is not logical at all.

you haven't talked about your team yet.

what's there to say?they are surprising me despite the growing injury list.Terry also joined the list yesterday.sob.sob.

i heard drogba was fully fit,but anelka was preferred.

it's a problem any manager would rather have.it woulda been unfair to bench anelka after his recent form.he's now scored 8 in 4!

can't they play together?

i don't think that's scolari's style.remember his days with the portuguese national team?he hardly had the luxury of one decent out and out striker.

yea.ronaldo was his top striker.lol.

am i the only one impressed with this bosingwa dude or what?

and he's a fine boy too!..look at that club tower.Carson had no chance!

turns out he was born in the DR Congo,came to portugal as a lil boy.

another loss for africa.

please..lets not start that conversation.

why dont you go open a clinic in Accra?... nonsense.

ok,you've started insulting me again..see you later.

bye.

Are we really the ones we've been waiting for?

We have all been there.It's called an anticlimax.You know the feeling.You finally passed an elusive professional exam after 4 attempts.You finally scored with an evasive crush.You hooked up a fish after hours of adjusting the line.You won the longest campaign into the most exalted office in all of mankind's history...then comes the night after.

The lights are all out.No more opponents to bash.No more speeches to give or interviews to grant.Just unbelievable weight of expectation.These days,those backroom meetings with Plouffe and Axelrod no longer discuss how to win an election,but how to keep promises and blunt expectations.World leaders are ceaselessly queued up on caller-in-waiting.

Pressmen no longer interested in your gaffes.Just what country the hypoallergenic dog's gonna hail from.You worry you might piss off the peruvians if you even politely turn down the ugly puppy they're offering to Sasha.Michelle can't decide on a good school for the girls in DC.Malia and Sasha run real risks of growing up into lil Chelsea Clintons in no time..Oh how you'd hate that!You'd actually want to raise girly girls if possible.

Oh there's the lil matter of this illegal aunt from Kenya.Thank goodness the press have distracted themselves from that story.You also worry animal rights activists might not be so pleased at reports of Malik's cruelty to the bull on election night in Nairobi.

The outgoing C-in-C did his best to put up a gracious public front at the white house meeting last Monday.But you're too smart to ignore the truism of "no-love-lost".You barely felt his concealed disdain though, as the breath-taking sight of the Oval office was an overriding presence.Just 2 weeks ago,as a junior senator,you were not even allowed in here...you had to wait in the lobby for the senior senators and committee chairmen to share the president's prevailing emotion on the issues.

You could already feel the lustful,flirting looks on the smokin' hot white house interns' faces...it's been a while America had a total bloke in the Oval office(and you are not even sworn in yet!)... these ones are gonna be toughies for 4-8 years.A constant reminder of Bill Clinton's last years should take care of that temptation!

By the way,what exactly does "happy to work with Obama" mean when it comes from the Governator and McSarah anyways??

Even as you struggle to project a busy mien in this transition period,Circuit city declares bankruptcy.The DOW again lost >400 points today.Iran tests more surface-to-air missiles with capacity to hit Israel and American targets.Another bomb goes off in Baghdad.The lobbyists you conveniently bashed during the campaign now shamelessly knock down the doors of your transition war cabinet room.How long can you hold out?All ex-presidents tell you no one can win against the powerful lobby groups...but you gave your word to the American people.

As you continue to avoid major drama in these coming 70 days (apart from that Nancy Reagan "seances" stuff),you increasingly wonder whether that Kenyan voodoo man really and trully foresaw your victory on his divine bones...you won't mind finding out if JFK's fate may yet be yours,and whether there are any other additional protection to that of the secret service.The good reverend Jeremiah is out of bounds now...cos that would be an I-told-you-so moment indeed!...remember,no drama.

You are under no illusions that mad men abound out there..and you still have millions of passionate enemies.

A very common perception is that the black man somehow succeeds in messing things up.Look what became of South Africa after 12 years of ANC rule.Look at the whole continent of Africa.The racist elements would like nothing better than your monumental failure...so that no other black man ever entertains the effrontery of running in future.

It's not too late to make history by being the first man to win a run into the Oval office and then graciously forgoes it!..Because seriously,you have failed to come up with a right answer to the question:"Why would anyone want George Bush's job at this time?"

You need the prayers of the faithful.

OMC

Premier League round-up

I predicted an intriguing season,but even I couldn't envision such a mad 1st eleven weeks of fixtures.


Conventional heirachy almost tossed completely in the trash.

Tottenham rooted to the bottom until today..pro-temp...pending tomorrow's results.

Man-Utd languishing in mid table for several weeks until the last couple.

Arsenal losing 3ce in 11 weeks.But that wasn't the news.The news is who Wenger is losing against this time.
Roll call:Fulham,Hull city and Stoke city!


Arsenal are yet to play any of the so-called top 4.That will change next week when they host MAN-Utd.These two teams have been exemplary in stability and sticking with their managers through thick and thin.However after 5 trophyless seasons,a loss to Man-Utd next week ,while not totally unfathomable may mean Arsene does not inhabit that hallowed zone of safety anymore...calls for his resignation will grow louder.


Liverpool fans found their voices in a truely inspiring start to the season,capping an unbeaten run of 10 games with a sweet victory over Chelsea destroying the latter's long unbeaten home record.

But L'Pool fans will soon discover what Arsenal fans found out perenially to their chagrin:it is simply not enough to beat the big four....you have to put the lower teams away too..or at least avoid stupid defeats against them!..that's how the league is won.



It may be instructive to L'Pool fans that Spurs have already played Chelsea and Arsenal this season.While those games will not be the fondest in the memories of those fans,their teams did not lose.L'pool lost today against a resurgent spurs side...and may look back to this game come May '09 with some regret.



Chelsea should be feared.
Essien,Ballack,Carvalho and Drogba did not start this game.These are certain starters if fit.They have been missing for several weeks,yet Chelsea lead the league with a dizzying goal difference advantage.

Even the incurable Chelsea haters have to give it to the pensioneers this season.
The demolition of sunderland should not be shrugged off.Sunderland are much stronger this season under Keane and have shown discipline.Sunderland have already beaten Spurs away and drawn with Arsenal this season.


All of a sudden,the borin',borin' Chelsea chants of yesteryears seem medieval.Chelsea is already by far the most entertaining side to watch this season...only unlike Arsenal in the last couple,they are winning too!



OMC

Giggle

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident; it's a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished but amazingly neither of them are hurt.

After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says,"So you're a man; that's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow,just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

Flattered, the man replied, "Oh yes, I agree with you completely!" "This must be a sign from God!"

The woman continued, "And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune."

Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman. The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"

The woman replies, "No. I think I'll just wait for the police..."

OMC

Syndrome of the week

Marchiafava-Bignami disease.
A progressive neurological disease most frequently seen in middle-aged or elderly alcoholic males but also affecting some nonalcoholic subjects.

The main symptoms are fits, stupor, coma and dementia. Due to demyelination of the corpus callosum and cortical laminar necrosis involving the frontal and temporal lobes. It has been attributed to drinking "rough" red wine.

It was first described in an Italian Chianti drinker.

Death usually occurs 4 to 6 years after onset. The first case was observed by Marchiafava in 1897 and published in a doctoral dissertation (Carducci) in 1898.

OMC

The Audacity of Inevitability

I got my Obama/Biden bumper sticker in the mail last night.That gives me about a week to publicly demonstrate my support for Senator Barack Obama's movement.

This had never really been a campaign.Since that snowy day in February '07 in Abraham Lincoln's hometown of Springsfield IL,it had become common knowledge that Obama was not just mounting a political campaign,but a genuine philosophical and paradigm shift in mainland America.

There is a palpable feeling among an increasing volume of savvy political watchers that the battle on 11/04 will be a straight fight between old and new America.Between 20th century and 21st century America.

There are the very vocal older generation Americans who are predominantly evangelical right wing ultra-conservatives who have always voted solely on the social issues of abortion/pro-life/pro-choice or gay marriage/family sanctity etc.This same block just have the cynicism of uncertainty about Obama.
They are weary of how far left this minority liberal candidate will take the liberty of leading the country.Most of these folks are genuinely scared but not racist.Obama's task is to prove them wrong beyond 11/04/08.

There are also the more open-minded recent college grads/current seniors/young professionals etc who have been bitterly disenfranchised by the way the country had been run for the past 8 years.This generation are more receptive of people very different than themselves.They studied with all colors,shapes and sizes of people while in College.Several are actively dating and marrying inter-racially.

Nothing more vividly illustrates this divides than the recently reported effort by younger jewish voters to change the votes of their more conservative and older parents.In the same house,under the same roof,all over America tonight, families are involved in very spirited and heated debates to settle this generational contest. And it seems to be working.For the first time since this race began,Obama is leading among older voters 55-75 years old.

Yesterday,I had the unfortunate privilege(catch the deliberate oxymoron) of taking care of a 94 year old lady in ICU who suffered a cardio-pulmonary arrest while waiting 3 hours in line to vote early for Barack Obama.All over the battle ground states,voters are availing themselves of the opportunity to vote early or mail in their absentee ballots.Most of my friends have already voted.They all voted for Barack(no surprises there).

The choice couldn't be clearer between these two tickets from a generational point of view.Obama is at least a quarter of a century younger than his opponent.This may have forced McCain's hand a bit in the choice of the enigmatic Sarah Palin.

But there are other stark differences in policies.The purpose of this article is not to draw out those differences.My audience could log on to the official campaign websites for those details .

Just yesterday, news broke of cross-border air strikes by the US into Syria.The McCain campaign quickly pounced on that, wishing to change the conversation from issue number one(the economy).
As expected,however,the Obama Campaign isn't taking the bait!

Talking of the economy,many of my savvy investor friends are currently re-infusing their cash back into the beleaguered American stock market.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out why.
Next week, America will have a new president.All the polls seem to indicate that the harbinger of new hope for the future will win by a blow-out.This can only take the beat down Dow into unprecedented territories.There is only one direction stocks will go on Wednesday,and that is up.

Finally,I've heard the same things as you have.We've been told that McCain will criss-cross OH and PA for the remainder of this campaign.
Going by how many honks,winks and thumbs-up i received on my daytime drive back home from work today,I believe he shouldn't waste his time.

And no,the honks and winks were not because I suddenly became hotter than I was(though my wife is convinced I am),it's because all the drivers behind me saw my brand new Obama-Biden bumper sticker and wanted to show their solidarity.They were male,female,black,Asian and whites.

Wake me up on 11/04/08.

OMC

Giggle

The Importance Of "Correct Punctuation"

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?

Gloria

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear John:

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours,

Gloria

Syndrome of the week

Lemierre's syndrome (or Lemierre's disease) is a disease usually caused by the bacterium Fusobacterium necrophorum, and occasionally by other members of the genus Fusobacterium (F. nucleatum, F. mortiferum and F. varium etc.) and usually affects young, healthy adults.

Lemierre syndrome develops most often after a strep sore throat has created a peritonsillar abscess, a crater filled with pus and bacteria near the tonsils. Deep in the abscess, anaerobic bacteria (microbes that do not require oxygen) like Fusobacterium necrophorum can flourish.

The bacteria penetrate from the abscess into the neighboring jugular vein in the neck and there they cause an infected clot (thrombosis) to form, from which bacteria are seeded throughout the body by the bloodstream (bacteremia). Pieces of the infected clot break off and travel to the lungs as emboli blocking branches of the pulmonary artery bringing the heart's blood to the lungs. This causes shortness of breath, chest pain and severe pneumonia. Fusobacteria are normal inhabitants of the oropharyngeal flora.

This is a very rare disease with only approximately 160 cases in the last 100 years.

Sepsis following from a throat infection was described by Scottmuller in 1918. However it was Andre Lemierre, in 1936, who published a series of 20 cases where throat infections were followed by identified anaerobic septicemia, of whom 18 patients died.

Election '08

I must say that i feel a mixture of emotions living in the US at this time.Gone are the really juicy gists my cousins freely render of the good ol' days of the 80's and 90's since they arrived here as teenagers and twenty somethings.They understand more than most what catastrophic effect 12 cumulative years of Bush republicanism has had on the american economy.The 1st Herbert Bush was not allowed to fully reck the healthy reagan-omics..thanks to the Clintonian interregnum.

However,it seems the younger Walker Bush was determined to spell out exactly what a Bush clan was capable of doing to a healthy economy.8 straight years won on the back of a dubious war on the pretences of avenging a true injustice coupled with some 2nd term swift-boatism have now ensured whatever this president does in the remaining 4 months in office will not change how posterity judges his tenure.Inheriting billions in budget surplus and leaving your successor with trillions in national debt and $50b trade deficit with your arch-rival for world dominance isn't exactly how to court history.

The democrats learnt a bitter lesson in 2000(Gore) and 2004(Kerry) that playing mummy's boy never really scores with the American people.Scare tactics mixed with an unhealthy dose of war-mongering including the filthiest campaign gimmicks are all fair game..and have worked for republicans historically to no end.It is no coincidence that America has had more republican presidents than democrats.

If Al Gore and John Kerry were allowed to return and run their respective campaigns all over again,each knows exactly what to do differently in order to change the course of history as it now stands.It would be overly simplistic to simply prescribe that Barack sits down with these beacons of Democratic woulda beens to avert suffering a similar fate against McPalin.The problem is that the Republican attack machine is akin to the Influenza virus,it utilizes antigenic shift as well as it does antigenic drift....and no vaccine actually protects 100%.

As the clintons found out however,appearances are patently deceptive when it comes to the Obama campaign.This campaign is run by some of the most insightful and innovative political operatives in modern political history.Everyone concentrates on Barack's charm and appeal without really looking behind the dark curtains..read up on David Axelrod for example(Barack's campaign manager).

I live in Ohio....and we are a battleground state.In 2000 and 2004,Gore and Kerry easily lost the state by ceding the heavily republican suburbs and small towns to Bush and concentrating on the heavily democratic metropolitan cities like Cleveland,Columbus,Cincinnati,Toledo and Akron.What strikes me this year is that Obama has appeared more at smaller towns like Mansfield,Oberlin,Canton and Youngstown than he has at any of the bigger cities.He is fighting McCain bare-knuckle on his own terrace.

What is more worrying,(or at least should be for the McCain campaign) is that those towns are actually very receptive to democrats this year unlike previously.They are the ones that drive the farthest and burn the most gasoline...and $4/gallon is not a joke...what it means these days is if you drive like me to work >10 miles one way daily,you easily equal the value of your monthly car note on gas expences...so the farmers have traded in their ford expeditions and only keep the Tundras because they need the HP for heavy farm work.

The degree of interest in younger voters and college students who overwhelmingly volunteer for Barack also far outweighs anything the republicans can muster.These determined young people have been harrased,abused,even beaten in some racist Ohio enclaves but still keep going back.The direct result of this resilience is the numerous Obama-for-president banners lining residential streets in all nooks and cranies of previously republican safe-bet towns all over rural Ohio.Barack has double the number of overall campaign offices than McCain has in Ohio today.

Those polls you all see on the internet and every night on TV after work (for those of you in Queens country and Bertie's republic) have several pitfalls.The 1st pitfall kinda works against Obama and concerns hidden racial prejudices.However,talking to several Ohioians who traditionally vote republican but plan to vote barack this year,it's pretty clear that though Americans may often be dumb,they are not always as dumb as we think they are.It is pretty clear to anyone living in yankee at this most perilious times that carrying on this way for 4 more months(never mind 4 more years) is simply not an option...so despite themselves,many are having to vote democrat...but only just!
Events of this week have only served to cement that decision if ever there were any doubts.It is a straight forward choice between your racial prejudices and your tattered pockets(plus your home,car,children college tuition,healthcare costs,401k etc).

The second pitfall is in Barack's favor.That is that most existing polls simply don't sample enough of the youtube/myspace/facebook/twitter-addicted Barack voters who overwhelmingly rely solely on cell phones.I fear seriously for McCain after seeing the hordes of Cleveland state University students filing out today to register and vote early on the prompting of the Obama campaign.This was made possible by a late court decision in favor of the democratic Ohio secretary of state despite the protestations of the Republicans.

I don't think even McCain is under any illusions who all those CSU college students are voting for...and they will continue voting all week until voter registration closes on 10/06.Thereafter,everyone will have to wait until 11/04 when millions more around the world will be watching on CNN as the votes are tallied.

As we speak,the incumbent in Canada,Stephen Harper,a staunch Bush paddy,has called emergency elections in that country out of fear that a Barack victory in the south may mean a backlash on him and his chances. Their elections will now hold late October;well before history is made in the U.S. I only wish Gordon Brown had the same prerogative....but it's looking more than likely that he will suffer Thatcher's fate since the rebellion within the Labor party currently shows no sign of a let-off.

Finally,since y'all like polls so much,it might interest you to cast a glance at the yahoonews election '08 political dashboard which is today projecting a winner for the 1st time since this race began.Barack has just crossed the treshold of 270 electoral votes based on all the amalgamated polls across all states.

As far as Palin is concerned,I won't even dignify this former beauty queen wannabe with a whole paragraph...she is dim.This is all I need to envision how a McCain presidency might look like.Belligerent,off-the-cuff,impulsive and unguarded.Everything that Barack isn't.

OMC

Chelsea1-Man Utd1

The hotly anticipated match has been played and stalemated.There was no shortage of fireworks and overheated fuses.Majority of my readers probably watched the game or have already read reports on BBC,Eurosport or Skysports online.So I will not bore you with the minute details.
Man Utd probably did themselves a huge favor by scoring first in this game,otherwise it could have been a whitewash.They were outplayed and looked like they constantly gasped for air under the cush from their "boring-boring" rivals.

Any Man Utd fan who after watching today's game does not recognize that chelsea now has much more than their team can muster under stretch is living in a fools' paradise.The most ardent of those fans would probably inundate anyone who cares to listen with complaints on how Terry's red was reversed and how Vidic's absence weakened their defence today.That would do stand-in defender Johny Evans loads of injustice because quite honestly,he got his team out of jail several times in this game.

Ronaldo was on the bench,but so was Drogba.Deco picked up an injury just before kick-off,so this was by no means Scolari's choice starting eleven.Essien is a long time absentee.
Nothing could be stranger than Mike Riley's decision to blow the final whistle before chelsea had had a chance to take a last minute free kick after Ferdinand bundled Drogba over at the edge of the box. I remain convinced that the heavy presence of Man Utd and Arsenal influences in the rank and file of the FA will continue to ensure bias in favor of those 2 teams.Decisions go their way even on away grounds..like that stone cold penalty after Edwin Van Der Saar brought down Anelka.He was off the field because of injury...but he should have been sent off really.

Arsenal fans who may be singing "look who's top of the table now" need to check their fixture list again.They still haven't played anyone in the so called top four and have already lost to Fulham(!) this season.Arsenal flatter to deceive.They've done that for the last 5 seasons.Frankly,I don't envy Arsenal fans...I don't know how they keep doing this to themselves.You must be a masochist to remain an Arsenal fan these days.This team has no staying power...and the league has been won in the past 5 seasons only by teams with some staying power.Arsenal will fizzle after January.The premiership remains a marathon,not a sprint.

My biggest worry for Arsenal is the Dubai led renaissance in the blue half of Manchester.Seriously,there is a genuine possiblity Arsenal may not finish in Champions league places at the end of the season...especially if Man City sustain the form they displayed against Pompey today and Al Fahim spends some of those billions in January.I presume that the Keane-Torres partnership will come good for the Kop soon in making that assessment.

Finally,I appreciate good honest football analysis.Last year,I acknowledged Man Utd's superiority ahead of the pack despite being a Chelsea supporter.This year,only a blind man will not agree that Chelsea is stronger than the rest of the pack.

Your comments are welcome.Keep them clean and respectful.

OMC.

St. Malachi and the rest of us.

Memento mori is a Latin phrase that may be translated as "Remember that you are mortal," "Remember you will die," "Remember that you must die," or "Remember your death". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality.

In ancient Rome, the phrase is said to have been used on the occasions when a Roman general was parading through the streets of Rome during the victory celebration known as a triumph. Standing behind the victorious general was a slave, and he had the task of reminding the general that, though he was up on the peak today, tomorrow was another day. The servant did this by telling the general that he should remember that he was mortal: "Memento mori." It is also possible that the servant said, rather, "Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento!": "Look behind you! Remember that you are but a man!", as noted in Tertullian in his Apologeticus.

As I drove down Carnegie with Florin,one of my batch mates with whom I was on the palliative care service,I could not stop wondering how everyday issues really distract physicians especially from the harsh reality of man's ultimate mortality and the issues contingent on that.
At this moment,I also allowed myself the luxury of feasting on the beautiful Cleveland downtown skyline and soak in the ambience of this kind summer afternoon.

Everyday,each physician has had some brush with mortality,whether providing some end-of-life care or certifying a patient that just expired.This fact however often gets lost in the semi-automated fashion most physicians go about their daily routine.The expressionless demeanor of many a physician while delivering the verdict of death to patient's relatives may sometimes send the wrong signal to those family members that their doctor does not feel that human connection.
The truth may however be closer to the fact that most doctors are trained not to be emotionally attached to their patient.There is a good reason why doctors are discouraged ethically from treating their own ailing family members.

On this trip,Florin and I sought to see first hand how Malachi House worked.

Malachi house is a place which everyone on the palliative care rotation hears about so many times especially when the discharge of hospice patients is being planned.
The location of the house is symbolic.On the near end of the west of downtown,as we negotiated W28th street en route Clinton Avenue,one could not but note that the houses in this neighbourhood probably date back to the founding of Cleveland itself.

When St Malachi church received a donation of 4 row houses in the mid 80s,the mission that had existed merely as an idea in human service gradually started to add flesh.By the time the house opened in 1988,more than 100,000 volunteer hours and massive trade union support had renovated this old property and turned it into a very functional and supremely conducive facility for the dying.

As soon as we were parked outside 2810 Clinton Avenue,the peace and tranquility was palpable even in an area of Cleveland not usually associated with those traits.The warmth and friendly atmosphere were personified by our contact lady Alice,the volunteer co-ordinator.

Alice is the absolute Miss Malachi House.She exhibits all the values of care and sacrifice that inspired this mission.Alice calls every resident by their first names and has a special connection with each of them.She gave us a crash course in the history and tradition of the house.I was particularly touched by the little tradition of laying a red rose on the bed when a resident just expired.

Residents have stayed anywhere from just a few minutes to up to 4 years until expiring.Residents do need to have been accepted into hospice care with a reassessment every 6 months.

The house boasts a full coverage by registered nurses but cannot function as a regular nursing home.Hence,no regular hospital care is routinely delivered.Only oral medications are permitted and agitated residents may not be accepted.The way to see Malachi house is as a substitute home for the less priviledged dying patient with no family or whose family can not take care of them for some reason.
An extensive tour of the facility can only best be conveyed in images which I have posted in this article.

We were informed that the mission accepts no payments from residents or their family members.Malachi house is supported exclusively by donations from philanthropists foundations and corporations.No dollar from the government.
My readers who may wish to donate to this noble cause can visit
http://www.malachihouse.org/index.htm

OMC

Giggle

A white missionary is sent into deepest darkest depths of Africa to live with a tribe.

He spends years with the people, teaching them to read, write and good Christian values. One thing he particularly stresses is the evil of sexual sin.
Thou must not commit adultery or fornication!

One day the wife of one of the Tribes noblemen gives birth to a white baby.The village is shocked and the chief is sent by his people to talk with the missionary.

"You teach us evils of sexual sin, today black woman has white child. You only white man in village. what u say ???

"The missionary replies, "No, no, my good man. You are mistaken. What you have here is a natural occurrence - what is called an albino"

Chief says: " No mistake here, What nature ? what albino ?

"The pastor trying a simpler approach goes, "Look to thy yonder field. See a field of white sheep, and yet amongst them is one black one"

The chief pauses for a moment then says......, Ok Ok ; you no tell and i no tell !!!

If you don't get the joke,you need a brain transplant.LOL!

Niger Delta Ministry

The new Niger Delta Ministry
By Reuben Abati

The creation of a Niger Delta Ministry, which can focus exclusively on the needs and challenges of this troubled, and much neglected, but oil-rich part of Nigeria had been recommended before now both by restive militants and groups in civil society, as one way of indicating official seriousness about the Niger Delta Question, and the political will to make a difference. As recently as Friday, August 1, 2008, The Guardian made the same case in an editorial titled: "A Ministry for the Niger Delta". Wrote the newspaper: '...we believe the creation of a Ministry of the Niger Delta is imperative".

By taking the bold step to set up the Ministry, the Federal Government seems to be sending a strong message to Niger Delta stakeholders that it really intends to address their fears and expectations. This is coming however, as part of a series of attempts by the Yar'Adua administration since May 2007 to come to grips with the issues and many of these attempts have been poorly conceived.
They include the inclusion of the Niger Delta in the President's seven-point agenda, meetings with Niger Delta stakeholders which came across as an insincere attempt to keep the people talking, the proposed Niger Delta Summit which died a-borning on the altar of controversy. There was also the setting up of a 40-man committee to deliberate on the Niger Delta, within a rather curious time-frame of 10 days! It was certain that the Federal Government really needed to do something urgently about the Niger Delta situation.

It is a notorious fact that the area had become ungovernable. Escalating violence in the region had turned it into one of the major hotspots in the world; and the country's economy is the worst hit. Oil exploration companies have had to scale down their scope of operations in the Niger Delta, and the country's oil production, the main source of national wealth had been reduced by 30 per cent. With output down and still threatened, Nigeria faced a serious crisis, even if the looming tragedy was mediated by the rising cost of crude oil in the spot market. Were oil prices to crash dramatically and output still low, the Niger Delta crisis would have fully exposed the nakedness of the Nigerian empire.

It should not be surprising then, that the creation of the Niger Delta Ministry would result in considerable excitement in the Niger Delta. It is a re-affirmation of the strategic importance of the region and a confidence-booster for the activists who have since resolved that Nigeria should either negotiate with the Niger Delta, or face the consequences of organized and sustained protest and sabotage. Twice now, in the last 16 months, the people of the Niger Delta have shown great resolve; first, by rejecting the proposed Niger Delta Summit and the appointment of Professor Ibrahim Gambari as head of the steering committee of that Summit, and second, by getting the Yar'Adua government to establish a Ministry of the Niger Delta.
But creating a special Ministry for the Niger Delta is not enough. It is important that the Ministry hits the ground running and that it does not become yet another piece of bureaucracy.

The ultimate test of the Ministry would lie in how quickly it begins to make a difference in the lives of the people. Here is a Ministry that is 51 years behind time. It carries an enormous burden - social and historical - and faces an uphill task in mobilizing all possible energies for practical and measurable intervention. In announcing the Ministry, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation had indicated that it will be headed by two Ministers, each focusing on a strategic assignment. The substantive Minister will deal with the provision of needed infrastructure in the Niger Delta: roads, transportation, electricity etc, while the Minister of State will address the issue of youth development and empowerment. Both tasks are critical.

Considering the historical and strategic value of the Ministry, it has to be well-funded. And the heads of the Ministry when eventually appointed, need not be reminded that they would be taking on a major responsibility. In its editorial of August 1, The Guardian had advised as follows: "To be effective, it must not be just another Ministry guided and bogged down by red tape and other bureaucratic ills.
Such a Ministry should ordinarily be located in the Niger Delta region itself, with liaison offices in the Federal Capital Territory and in the states that make up the Niger Delta. The Ministry should have a special budget which in our view should be a fixed percentage derived from the total allocation to the Federal Government. The Vice President who has a keen interest in the Niger Delta, not least because be comes from the region, could be made to head the proposed Ministry".

The Guardian's recommendations are worth considering, especially as the Federal Government is setting up a Committee to determine the structure and nature of the Federal Ministries. In retrospect though, the suggestion that the Vice President should head the Niger Delta Ministry may be controverted. The new Ministry would require persons who can focus on the assignment without distractions. In appointing the Ministers of the Niger Delta, the President must ensure that the persons so appointed understand the issues involved and the urgency of the assignment. They must not be party loyalists seeking a job or the opportunity to be relevant. They must not be mentally tired dodderers either, but development experts with the energy to absorb pressures and deliver results. Needless to add that the President himself must personally treat the Niger Delta as a priority, and not simply hand it over to the bureaucracy of a Ministry. There are Constitutional issues that will need to be addressed, particularly s. 162. There is need also to keep a proper perspective. Hopefully, there will be no mischievous demands, from any quarter, for the creation of Ministries of Yoruba, Igbo and Arewa affairs!.

The creation of the Niger Delta Ministry is significantly part of a general restructuring of the Federal bureaucracy, resulting in the creation of 28 ministries, with 42 Ministers. This exercise had been on the cards for about two months. But it must now be seen in the light of President Yar'Adua asserting his authority and putting a personal stamp on the government that he heads. The structure he has now set aside was hurriedly announced and imposed on Nigerians in January 2007 by the Obasanjo administration. Former President Obasanjo's restructuring of the Federal Ministries at the time was generally criticized as mischievous. Why restructure the Ministries at the eleventh hour? Why hand over to a new government that was due in 128 days a structure that it may choose not to work with?

At the time, the Federal Government had come up with 19 ministries and three federal agencies. It was an untidy structure. The government's explanation that its intention was to reduce big government made no sense whatsoever. Why reduce the size of government eight years after the fact? In addition, there were Constitutional issues involved. The Constitution suggests literally, in upholding the idea of Federal Character, that each state of the Federation shall have a Minister in the Federal Cabinet (cf. s. 147(3) and 14(3). President Obasanjo tried to address this by appointing 22 substantive Ministers and 14 Ministers of State, but this only served the purpose of generating complaints about the unequal treatment of states.

With its restructuring of the Federal Ministries this week, the Yar'Adua government has taken care of the mischief in the January 2007 exercise. What is surprising is why President Yar'Adua had to wait this long, before setting up a government machinery that appears to reflect his own priorities. The new emphasis we are told is on "greater flexibility, direction and focus while addressing the issues of equity and affirmative action". For a government that has been playing possum since May 2007, its sudden reveille is good news.

Other notable highlights in the new structure include the re-establishment of a Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the proper identification of task-oriented Ministries - Aviation, Transport, Housing and Urban Development, Water Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development, Power, Tourism, Police affairs, Culture and National Orientation etc. In the arrangement that Obasanjo imposed on the Yar'Adua administration, functions were not so clear-cut, certain Ministries had up to three Ministers, creating such confusion that ensured inefficiency. There is now a new clarity. The establishment of a Ministry of Petroleum Resources is particularly instructive.

For close to eight years, President Obasanjo chose to be his own Minister of Petroleum Resources and when in January 2007, he appointed Dr. Edmund Daukoru as Minister of Petroleum and Energy, he chose to retain the portfolio of Chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The issues in the petroleum sector are just as central as those in the Niger Delta: a substantive Minister running a properly focused Ministry would be in a better position to deal with the issues at stake including transparency in the extractive industry, gas flaring, refining capacity, domestic prices of petroleum products and the inefficiency of the NNPC.

The restructuring that has been announced is to be followed naturally by an inevitable change in the composition and complexion of the Federal cabinet. So far, there has been general dissatisfaction with the quality and the output of President Yar'Adua's team. When he announced his cabinet in 2007, after an exasperating two-month delay, the hesitation and incoherence that were advertised were traced to the fact that the President had set up a cabinet principally to settle his political IOUs; and he had many.

The former President, Governors, and party chieftains reportedly chose his team for him, and in 16 months, he has confirmed this with his inability to run a government that inspires. For example, his appointment of Alhaji Baba Gana Kingibe as Secretary to the Government of the Federation was most shocking when it was made; his dismissal of the man this week has been greeted with relief in equal size. The present expectation is that President Yar'Adua will now choose his own team, in line with his seven-point agenda. Public expectations are high.

The timing of President Yar'Adua's current moves would seem to be related to affirmations, speculations and arguments in the past three weeks that he is an ailing President, in urgent need of a kidney transplant. He was even declared dead, and then resurrected. He finally returned to the country during the weekend.

Since then, the President has been acting with such great bursts of energy and uncommon dynamism. He decorated the military service chiefs; he set up the Niger Delta committee, he has restructured the Federal Ministries. On Wednesday, he chaired a Federal Executive Council meeting which lasted for eight hours (!), he has also been receiving a steady stream of visitors from the states, Cameroun and elsewhere. This President has never been this busy publicly within the space of one week. It is a new-found dynamism that Nigerians would like to see sustained.

Reuben Abati is editor of the Nigerian Daily:The Guardian.

Syndrome of the week

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia is an extremely rare disorder of the blood, in which the platelets lack glycoprotein IIb/IIIa. Hence, no fibrinogen bridging can occur, and bleeding time is significantly prolonged.

The GpIIb/IIIa is an adhesion receptor and is expressed in thrombocytes. This receptor is activated when the thrombocyte is stimulated by ADP, epinephrine, collagen and thrombin. The GpIIb/IIIa integrin is essential to the blood coagulation since it has the ability to bind fibrinogen, the von Willebrand factor, fibronectin and vitronectin. This enables the platelet to be activated by contact with the collagen-von Willebrand-complex that is exposed when the endothelial blood vessel lining is damaged and then aggregate with other thrombocytes via fibrinogen.

Patients suffering from Glanzmann's thrombasthenia thus have platelets less able to adhere to each other and to the underlying tissue of damaged blood vessels.
The understanding of its pathophysiology led to the development of GpIIb/IIIa inhibitors, a class of powerful antiplatelet agents.
Glanzmann's thrombasthenia can be inherited in an autosomal recessive manner or acquired as an autoimmune disorder.

Characteristically, there is increased mucosal bleeding:
epistaxis
menorrhagia
increased bleeding post-operatively.

The bleeding tendency is variable but may be severe.
Patients present with moderate bleeding and normal platelet morphology. Aggregation of platelets occurs in response to ristocetin, but not to other agonists such as ADP, thrombin, collagen or epinephrine.

It is named for Eduard Glanzmann.