Thursday 31 December 2009

A Child's Courage

This 3-year-old child walked up to the stage and satisfied his curiousity with a magician. Although he could not express himself in words, action, they say, speaks louder. The courageous boy seems to be saying, "I know your trick so don't fool me". The audience could not believe their eyes as they laughed and admired him. It was during a Christmas Festival held for children at the famous BM Dunapalota in Budapest on December 21.
If you know of a child doing extra-ordinary things, please contact the blogger: mysmallvoice@yahoo.com

Sunday 27 December 2009

Meet Samirah, The Ballet Dancer


Lázár Alexandra, 20, known by her stage name as Samirah is a professional ballet dancer who says her body listens to drum or music and does whatever it tells her. 

Samirah specializes in African, Samba, Greek, Gypsies and Arabic dance steps, which according to her fans is a delight to watch. 


Small Voice met her at Tiloz Áz pub in Budapest, where she performed alongside the Afro Magic Band. Samirah dances at weddings and other social functions. 

She speaks English and Hungarian. Samirah charges about 100 euro per function. She can be contacted in this address: samirah@citromail.hu

Friday 25 December 2009

Concert Against Racism Held


By Hakeem Babalola
Special Report

Zariget Virág, 21, who came to Hungary from Mongolia when she was five, recalled her experience in the street  read more











What is Poverty?

Poetry

Is there anything like poverty?
is it POVERTY when a man is healthy
but not wealthy? read more

Sunday 13 December 2009

The Ladies Are Marrying The Men


By Odimegwu Onwumere

Nigerian ladies are marrying their Nigerian men. This is becoming a norm in our country, as against the axiom that, “He who foundeth a wife foundeth favour in the sight of God”read more

Thursday 10 December 2009

Attention to Lagos State Govt

 By Sunny Ezekwe
Photo Speak

Will somebody repair these raods please. The roads are in Oremeji Shasha, Ikeja, Anjorin and Shoremekun street - all in Lagos State of Nigeria

Wednesday 9 December 2009

Where Is The 6000mw Electricity?

By Odimegwu Onwumere
Nigerian Affairs 

Months before December, 2009, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led government of Nigeria, promised Nigerians that by December-ending, 6000mw would be fad in the Nigeria’s power sector and every Nigerian will enjoy none-stop power supply. But today, that promise seems to be a deception... read more

Wednesday 25 November 2009

What is Poverty?

poetry Is there anything like poverty?
is it POVERTY when a man is healthy
but not wealthy?
Is it POVERTY when a man is wealthy
but not healthy?
Is it POVERTY when a man is a rich-illiterate
but a poor-literate?
Is it POVERTY when a man has many children
but there is no money to take care of them?
Is it POVERTY when a man is rich
but has no child?
What you call POVERTY might be RICHES
to the other man.
Are there not out there financially
rich barren women
who are craving for children?
Are there not out there
financially muscled people
who do not have peace?
Are there not out there people
who are handicapped
but have handwork?
What seems as POVERTY to you
might be RICHES to the other man.
Is the success of man
determined by how successful
he is financially?
In life, man lags one thing or another
no matter how highly placed.
So, there is no RICH man, no POOR man.
What abound are gluttonous-insatiable persons
or you call them, kleptomaniacs.

Odimegwu Onwumere
is a Poet/Author, Founder of Poet Against Child Abuse (PACA), Rivers State, Nigeria. Mobile: +2348032552855. Email: apoet_25@yahoo.com  

Friday 20 November 2009

A Multicultural Night Welcomes 2010



By Hakeem Babalola


It was a night that carefully sent the message across: that our world depends on the survival of multicultural society. It was a night that reminds us about tolerance, a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior. 

The organizer of the Multicultural Festival probably puts it better as he welcomed guests at the Old Venicia Restaurant situated at Jozéf Korut 85 in downtown Budapest on New Year’s Eve.

 "I feel happy," Deen says with a quiet, cordial and generous laugh. "Because this is a tolerance program designed to bring different people together. I have been doing it for a long time. Bringing two, three cultures together! There's no better way for integration".

The Mahatma Gandhi Human Rights Movement founder is right on the spot with his remarks as refugees, children, the young, men and women, business executives, footballers, singers, lawyer, blacks, whites, Asians mix well and enjoyed themselves. 


Alice B, from Kenya who is married to Hungarian was delighted and described the gathering as wonderful. "This multicultural thing is the best," she declares, adding that she would soon deliver a bi-racial baby.

Zara who says she's a refugee from Liberia could not hide her joy as she was eager to mingle with the other guests.

Margit Piroska believes that the excitement that usually comes with a multicultural gathering is unsurpassed. 


Mbaye Ndiaye, Afro Magic Band leader and who also entertained guests simply says, "I'm here to offer my own contribution to the multicultural awareness which is the language of communication".


CUBARITMOgroup and the Afro Magic Band entertained the guests after which Mr. DJs did their things






Other faces at the event












Wednesday 18 November 2009

Corruption: Death Penalty The Answer



By Sammie Adetiloye
"DEATH PENALTY – AXE TO ROOT OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA"

 
I went to Nigeria last September for the first time in 16 years. Immediately I got off the plane, the wind of corruption started blowing across my face from the airport. As soon as I left the baggage collection point, I was stopped on my way out by a young woman in mufti with a badge of her department on her chest. She said: “You are welcome! Find me something before I let you go! read more

Sunday 15 November 2009

The Swiss Silenced Nigerians



 By Hakeem Babalola
U-17 world Cup Final

Switzerland defeated the Golden Eaglets by one goal to nil to deny the host country the opportunity to make history by being the first country ever to win the trophy for the fourth time read more


Saturday 14 November 2009

Nigeria Qualifies for the World Cup



By Hakeem Babalola
 Sports News

It is indeed the luck of the year for Nigerians and football lovers, and especially coach Amodu Shuaibu who had been vilified many times by critics notably Ayo Akinfe who once said that Amodu did not have what it takes to beat Kenya in Nairobi read more

Thursday 5 November 2009

My Hubby As A Scapegoat




A Satire

My name is Ilori George. I am the wife of Bode George who was recently sent to jail by a Kangaroo court in Lagos. I write this article to show my discontent over the wrong imprisonment of this great man who has served his country with an affective disorder to make sure that the vestiges of corruption democracy were uprooted.
read more

Friday 30 October 2009

Golden Eaglets Beat Argentina, Top Group

By Hakeem Babalola

Nigeria beats Argentina by two goals to one and thus leads the group with seven points; but must show more determination in the knock out stage read more

Monday 26 October 2009

MENDing Yar'Adua's Amnesty

By Hakeem Babalola
I was a guest on Al Jazeera's Inside Story TV programme recently. The topic centred on the amnesty granted to the militants by the Fed Govt. I submitted that the so-called amnesty would fail if the Govt's intention was to play game. That money inducement won't solve the Niger-Delta.read more

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Nigerian Woman Awaits Deportation


By Hakeem Babalola
News Report

 A Nigerian woman who is married to Hungarian is set to be deported to Lagos for violating the Hungarian immigration law, according to a reliable source read more

Sunday 18 October 2009

Corruption: Death Penalty The Answer

By Sammie Adetiloye 
(Nigerian Affairs)
"DEATH PENALTY – AXE TO ROOT OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA"

My conviction is so strong that the application of death penalty to deal with corrupt public office holders is what we badly need to begin to level axe to the root of corruption in Nigeria. Those driven by raw patriotic ardour to serve their people sincerely have nothing to fear.

When we go to the polls to choose our representatives, we do so with great enthusiasm and high hopes. We vote with the expectation that the dawn of a new era will see our country on the road to economic progress and political stability.

This expectation often persuades the common man, who labours from morning to night, whose children are in rags, who lives in sub-human conditions, to make it to the polling station to cast his vote. But the leaders who always emerge are of doubtful reputation, and are hell bent on rendering asunder his hope and expectation. They have nothing to offer the common man in return for his toil other than a frightful spectacle of poverty and mismanagement. And the common man has no right to ask why his country has become a den of iniquity with a cocktail of corruption and ineptitude – the malignant cells in the body politic of Nigeria.

I went to Nigeria last September for the first time in 16 years. Immediately I got off the plane, the wind of corruption started blowing across my face from the airport. As soon as I left the baggage collection point, I was stopped on my way out by a young woman in mufti with a badge of her department on her chest. She said: “You are welcome! Find me something before I let you go!” Lo and behold, I was forced to part with the only £5 note in my wallet. I had already sent the bulk of my money home through the Western Union. And when I was giving her the money, she asked me to give it to her tout sitting next to her. After doing that I looked around for any CCTV camera, and I saw one sitting overhead. But the lady and her tout couldn’t be bothered. The same was the case at the departure hall on my way back to the UK.

While in the country, I visited my home town, Ise-Ekiti, the headquarters of the Orun/Ise Ekiti Local Government in Ekiti State. Except that the town is now numerous in people, there is nothing to show that the local politicians there have any human sagacity to improve the socio-economic prosperity of their people. I was told that the King of the town, the Arinjale of Ise-Ekiti, who is so angry at the insensitivity of the politicians to the sufferings of his people, had vowed to fight those who engage in political pornography in his domain with the spiritual resources of his forefathers.

I also visited Suleja, a town near Abuja. When I entered the town, my optical nerves were disturbed by the sight of the poor environment people are living in. Gulley erosion is eating deep into many houses. The area is foul with dirt of years which threatens the article of water people drink with pollution. Examples of human suffering are ubiquitous.
Sadly, Nigeria revenue from crude oil is just enough to meet the voracity of the country’s politicians and Army Generals who believe that Nigeria is just for them alone.
Money is readily available to send their children abroad to study, and treat them with all manner of luxurious indulgence. At home they can afford to shut down our universities and colleges for months.

Nothing is available to build basic infrastructure for people in the area where the oil is coming from. Nothing is left to construct good intercity roads to reduce motor accidents on our roads. Police are found wanting. They can no longer curb the enormous array of crime in our towns and cities. The ordinary man in our country today feels that his future is not secure in his fatherland. He feels that the future of his children has lost all semblance of clarity. No Nigerian abroad can feel confident that the watchful eye of his country will protect him against injustice and abuse.

Yet our leaders cannot be bothered. Their actions, pronouncements and decisions on what it takes to commit them to the need to improve the quality of life of their people are inimical to rationalism. I think the time is now to wrestle our country back from the leaders who are hollow, shallow and empty in knowledge of good governance. They are just out there feeding their grasping greed. Their inability to shake off their love affairs with corruption is permanent in duration.

One of many notorious examples is Chief Olabode George who was convicted and sentenced to two years in gaol on October 26, 2009 by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Ikeja High Court on 35 out of the 68-count charge bordering on contract splitting, inflation, abuse of office and disobedience to lawful order. There are many others like him, still enjoying their swag, but yet to be brought to demanding justice, which is why we cannot call for celebrations, or be tempted to think that Nigeria has started launching a new crackdown on corruption. What happened to Bode George and Tafa Balogun, a former police IG, is what we often see whenever any of the ‘big men’ steps on toes of more powerful members of his clique.

The kid-glove treatment – two years in prison – of Bode George for his role in the N85 billion frauds, and the fact that he is allowed in prison to hold political meetings from morning to night is like adding insult to injury. When finally his conviction is confirmed by all appeal courts, the representatives of the press must keep an eye on him. We might witness a situation where he is smuggled home in cassock at night to sleep with his family and returned to prison before the break of day.

Such is the level to which our leaders can go to frustrate our system and render it ineffective. In our country, judges are constantly under undue pressure. The EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes commission) is still bound in fetters. Its officials are at the mercy of political crude idols who can remove them upon grounds of private interest and personal feeling.

How do we then wriggle Nigeria free? I must say that we need to secure the invigorating alliances of all Nigerians both home and abroad in support of death penalty for guilty corrupt officials. Some western countries may make noise. Damn it! Anything short of that will not diminish our permanent state of worry and nervousness about the future and the greatness of our common country. Nigeria will survive.

Sammie Adetiloye wrote in from UK

Kwame Nkrumah: African Man Of the Twentieth Century


By Archie Bonka
Celebrating A Visionary

As we celebrate the 100 years of Kwame Nkrumah, one should cast an eye over the activities of African leaders who came after this great son of Africa. It's a shame, for none of the new generation of African leaders emulates Kwame vision of scientific and industrial age read more

Saturday 17 October 2009

Ghana Beat Brazil, Make History



By Hakeem Babalola

Ghana has made history by becoming the first African nation to win the U-20 Youth Soccer Championships when it defeated Brazil 4-3 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out on Friday night in a thrilling match the Black Satellites played with ten men read more




Friday 16 October 2009

Concert Against Racism Held


By Hakeem Babalola
Special Report

Music Against Racism (ZARE) and Jewish Meeting Point jointly organised a music event to combat racism in celebrating the end of the year Hanukkah 5770 and Christmas 2009 on Tuesday December 15 on A38 Ship lying safely at anchor on Pethőfi Bridge Buda side.

The event, sponsored by the British Embassy, was attended by different races many of who claimed they have once experienced racial sluts.

Zariget Virág, 21, who came to Hungary from Mongolia when she was five, recalled her experience in the street. "I always shut my ears whenever strangers ask rudely what am doing here, or tell me to go back home," she said. "It is sad because my thinking is in Hungarian and not in Mongolian. I attended primary school, secondary school and college here”. 


Miss Zariget sings Hungarian folklore.

John Paul said that he was attacked and beaten by skinheads at Hero Square in 2007. "They asked me where I come from, and I told them it didn't matter. They punched me and I almost lost my tooth. It was scary”.


Lorincz Marcell, ZARE founder and one of the organisers, explained that racism “is a social problem and that it's not new but we have to act against it. We have to make small steps”. He added that music has different styles and one concert can unite several people.

His assertion was supported by Mbaye Ndiaye, Afro Magic Band leader. He said: “concerts against racism are very important because music is the key of communication; the most effective arm to fight racism. It is the world language and if every musician sings about it, it will definitely stop”.

Another participant, Eperjesi Boglárka, said that there is racism against the Jews and especially strong against Gypsies, but quickly added that racists are in the minority though they are loud.  

The participants include NGOs, musicians, journalists, and minority groups.