Chinua Achebe wins $120,000 2007 Man Booker Prize

Chinua Achebe has won the 2007 Man Booker International Prize for fiction. The $120,000 prize is awarded every two years for a body of fiction.

Interesting times for Nigerian literature and the world is beginning to pay attention. Earlier in the month Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie won the Orange Prize for fiction, one of the literary world's top awards for women writers.

Weve had our fair share of bad press and a negative image in Nigeria. But moments like this remind us to take pride in who we really are and not what a few bad eggs make us out to be. We are a people with a wealth of natural talent. We just have to find a way to harness it and we will be great.

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Wolfowitz

The President of the World Bank Wolfowitz was pressurized to resign his high profile position because he influenced a lucrative job and a pay rise for his girlfriend in the bank.

From the Nigerian Point of view, this is simply amazing. Favours like this for relatives, friends and illegal lovers are commonplace here.

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Jodie Odiete

Her story clearly highlights the short comings of democracy. In everyones view she combined the best performance and the best vocals that added up to making her the best contestant on the current West African Musical Show.

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2007 Elections

After a careful and determined search for a registration booth, i was able to register only today. The deadline is 31st January and I believe we should all fulfil our civic duty. Our vote is our voice to determine who leads us as a people. Let's play our part and be prepared even for the unexpected.

So if you haven't done so yet, make sure you do register!

An Ode to our Country

The Land flowing with milk and honey
The people lacking in health and money

A strange land with leaking borders
A hapless people in great disorder

How is it that &
Abundant rain falls and yet the plant withers?
Extensive sun shines and yet the child shivers?

An oddity indeed, but not in Airegin
To come alive again, where do we begin?

Can we all drink the milk and eat the honey?
Can our fields still bloom and our children look lovely?

Yes! But first, we must dare to dream

Because all creation and all invention
Every reformation and regeneration
Began in the mind and the imagination
When someone, somewhere, dared to dream

(An Excerpt from the Aireginan Dream)

Our Mindset

There's something Ayo Daniels said in his review on Sunday that has stayed with me. The possibility of a change in Nigeria will only come with a change of our mindset. And it's very true. The dictionary defines a mindset as - A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's response to and interpretation of situations.

Sometime last year I was with a group of friends. One of them concluded with certainty that a particular person was going to emerge president in 2007. His only basis was the fact that the person had strong political clout and extremely deep pockets. I was sad by his statements and had to call him to order by saying, "If you, a comfortable engineering professional in your late thirties have lost hope, then where are we going to?" He pondered for a while but couldn't really see.

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Prayer a unique key

A friend read a book, I can't remember which one now, about a praying team somewhere in East Africa that decided to spend time praying for their country. They felt the need to ask God for forgiveness for the country's sins and mercy so that they will not see war. They prayed consistently and fervently night and day.

As they prayed, one of them had a vision of a band of fearful soldiers on red horses galloping towards their country. He relayed the vision to his friends and again they prayed. This time he saw another vision. This time the soldiers suddenly made a 90 degree turn towards a neighbouring country.

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The Brightest and the Best

Last tuesday, I met the computer guru who designed my website, for the first time. Before then we had been communicating by mail. His name is Deji and I was surprised at how young he actually was (i didn't ask but maybe 25). We talked about some of the other software programmes he has written, some for top institutions and i was amazed....

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