Monday, 29 October 2007

A Nightclub Forbidden to Africans(A Rejoinder)


By Archie Bonka

Since you have decided to be the mouth piece of the people, then we will be very glad if you could do us a favour by doing more research in your articles so as to give us something up to date to chew.

Your article on RIO NIGHTCLUB/CAFE is hundred percent true. Most of us have been denied entry several times, but this summer the tide had to be changed when they tried to deny D.J.EDWARD, a senegalese who is a naturalised Hungarian.

On that fateful night, D.J.EDWARD was in the company of his Hungarian friends. The event shocked everyone. Fortunately, one of them is a journalist. So the defunct SZINES LAP newspaper wrote about this incident with a picture of D.J.EDWARD standing in front of the RIO NIGHTCLUB/CAFE.

The funniest thing is that, the city of original RIO, which this nightclub adopted is a bubbling and shuffling city twenty four hours non-stop. For example, one can actually say that every soul on earth is being represented.

I mean just check out the Samba Carnivals; its full of joy, love and happiness. Perhaps the owner of the nightclub does not really know what RIO means.

Lastly, we Africans have to take part of the blame simply because some of us do not know how to socialise or rather comport ourselves in such places. Therefore just a minor incident does affect us. Surely the owner would not like to lose his business which is probably a lifetime investment. This is the main reason they often play it safe by telling you "it's a private party or frankly I am sorry, you are not allowed."

For further information try to contact D.J. EDWARD or pay a visit to the RIO NIG.HT CLUB/CAFE.

Archie Bonker resides in Budapest, Hungary



Sunday, 28 October 2007

A Nightclub Forbidden to Africans


By Hakeem Babalola

On that summer night, Dan P and Prince had gone to Café de Rio at Petofi Híd in Budapest to enjoy themselves. At the gate, two muscular men - apparently bouncers - stopped them. The two gentlemen were refused entry while other party goers got a warm welcome. Dan P and Prince demanded to know the reason for being fenced. The bouncers’ explanation deeply shocked these two Africans click and read more

Saturday, 27 October 2007

France’s new anti-black African immigration law

Elie Smith

France has just introduced another new anti-immigration law. The new law requires that, any legal immigrant, resident in metropolitan France, and who wants his family or her family to join him/her, must have three times, the standard minimum wage and if he/she has children, they must also undergo a deoxyribonucleic acid test, in order to ascertain that the children are truly his/hers. At this stage, there seems to be no reason to cry. But the deoxyribonucleic acid test or DNA test has sparked anger within a section of the French population. For the DNA test is reminiscent to what happened to the Jews in France during German occupation. And surprisingly, those leading the protest are not the traditional opposition, but the civil society, led by former Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, and the writer and philosopher, Bernard Henri Levy. The only other star member of the non-official opposition, who is vehemently opposed to the new law and who has made it known, is Olivier Besancenot, the boyish face leader of the extreme left.

As for Mrs. Segolene Royal, the erstwhile flag bearer of the Socialist party, the official opposition, she has not said anything about the new anti-immigration law, for she doesn’t have a fixed opinion on anything, as she did during her failed campaigns for the top job of the land. If one was surprised why she could not win, she has now provided a clear answer. She was and she is still incompetent. The new anti-immigration law is the fifth such law, introduced by the government, within a span of four years, with the aim to effectively control the influx of immigrants. Even tough the French civil society is vexed with the new immigration law, and within the ruling Movement for a Presidential Majority (UMP), and its government, there has been signs of mountaineering, as illustrated by the recent declaration of Miss Fadela Amara, a junior minister, in charge of town planning, who is herself of North African ancestry and opposed to the new law, what is clear is that France has every right to accept or reject any immigration on her soil.

The problem with the new law is that, it is a racist law. Those she is targeting are predominantly black Africans. The specification is necessary here because in France, according to varying statistics, there are between 400 and 800 thousand black Africans. What the statistics doesn’t say, however, are the numbers of blacks in France, who are French citizens and those who are not. Another figure about Africans in France is those of North African ancestry (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia). According to various sources, there are about two million North Africans in France, with Algerians being the largest African community. To compound matters further, the weekly French magazine Le novel Observateur N° 2241 of October 18th-24th 2007 claims that the total figures of immigrants in France stands at five million. And it adds that immigrants in France are principally from two African countries: Algeria and Morocco, and the magazine concludes that, the only European and EU member country, with large number of immigrants in France is Portugal.

While black Africans, especially, those from French-speaking Africa are now the target of the new anti-immigration law, it doesn’t in any way mean that the other segments of Africans: North Africans, are in the good books of the new soft Nazis-like government either. There exists already other subtle ways to expel North Africans from France. What is shocking with the new law is that, without shame, it targets a section of the population, in particular, black Africans from France’s former colonies of French-speaking West and Central Africa. In these two communities, those from Muslim West Africa are dominant in terms of population. Furthermore, they face different problems, but with one common constant: discrimination.

Paradoxically, French-speaking black Africans from Christian and animist parts of West and Central Africa, are generally well educated, urbanised and integrate easily into the mainstream French society, whereas Muslim West Africans and North Africans, are rural, mostly undereducated, (especially their boys) and do not seem to be interested in integrating into the mainstream. But it must be pointed out that, these attitudes are mostly found amongst older generations; for those who were born in France, go on well in their country of birth. It must also be made clear that the reasons of their (Muslim North and West Africans) occasional negative reactions are borne out of the fact that, they are discriminated against and thus, have the highest number of the unemployed. France’s new anti-immigration law is just a diversionary tactics from leaders, who are leading a country that has been in deficit for 26 years in a row. As the Prime minister, Mr Francois Fillion, recently said, his country is gone Argentina, a metaphor for bankruptcy. She has a third world unemployment rate, strikes are rampant and she is not respected by her European peers. And as funny as it would appear, the French-speaking black Africans that France now hates are the only group of people on earth, who love France and give her due respect.

But like a drowning man, who never knows he is drowning, until he disappears under the current, the new law is tactics hatched out by the ruling party to appear as though, they are working. And it is always easy to shift blames for your errors and failures onto another person. And as always, the whipping boy is the black African. In France, it has sadly been noticed that history keeps repeating itself. What brought Adolf Hitler to power in Germany was economic depression and what made Nicholas Sarkozy de Nagy Bocsa to be elected president last May 6th was a mixture of lack of credible rival and economic depression. When he was elected, he promised to make France big again, to make France to be respected and he also promised to give France a three per cent annual economic growth. And since wishes are never horses, it appears he won’t get any, or at best, may get 1.8 per cent annual growth. And the people who seem to deny France to become a big and respected nation again, are black Africans; hence, they are no longer wanted. The other parts of France where there are many blacks are her dependencies in the Caribbean and in the African Indian Ocean. Soon, a new law will be introduced, to bar them from coming to metropolitan France.

That way, the only blacks that will be accepted in France, will be sports men and women and musicians. But do we need to bother? Yes, we do. For when the attacks on blacks are over, the next targets will be Jews. Remember, in France, it is generally claimed that, Jews are hybrids of Negroes and Mongols. And since they have betrayed Jews in the past, there is no way they won’t do it again. What is strange with the new anti-immigration law is that Mr Sarkozy who has an opinion on everything and knows how to stage his success has been mute. What he has instead done, is try to celebrate the new simplified EU treaty, which, it must be said, is the coronation of a soft third Reich. The author of the controversial new anti-immigration law is a local star called Thierry Mariani MP, who, with the passing into law of his pet project, has been propelled to stardom.

Now, is there any difference between the disparaged Far Right nationalist party of Jean Marie Lepen and the ruling UMP party? Yes, there is a difference; the first provides the ideas, while the second implements them.

The Triumph of the Vulture(A Short Story)


By Bonka Archie

The kingdom of Agbado lies in the central part of Africa. Dense with tropical forest and abundance of natural resources including fertile land. During the reign of king Agbakpa, his charismatic, wisdom and hard working motivated the whole people of the kingdom to be highly efficient. For example, by making use of the abundance in fertile lands and natural resources wisely. As a result of this, the kingdom became more prosperous among other kingdoms around and beyond its territory click and read more

Friday, 26 October 2007

Bad Breath Is Bad Business

By CHICHI ANIAGOLU-OKOYE

STRICTLY OPINION

Our mouths stink in Nigeria and it is plain disgusting! I believe that at least one in five Nigerians has bad breath, not from any genetic disorder, but simply from poor dental hygiene. I have come to the odd conclusion that many unemployed graduates may not be finding work due to bad breath and body odour. I have had a few come to me for work and much as I sympathised with them, I could not concentrate on what they were saying because all my senses were being assaulted by the stomach-churning rotten smell that seemed to be coming from the bowels of a pit latrine. All I could do was try hard to shorten the interaction and pray for them to leave.

Perhaps we can pardon the unemployed. Maybe they have no money to buy toothpaste and chewing gum for periodic refreshing of the breath, but what can we say about public servants, including governors, special advisers, ministers, top civil servants and the like? I have never seen more ungroomed public representatives of a country than I have of Nigerians. I was at the airport once and saw this bunch of ragtag Nigerian officials going abroad to look for investors. Their hairs were unkempt, their suits looked hand-washed, the collars of their shirts were dirty, and yes, you got it, they had body odour and their mouths stank. It was so comical I asked one of them, whom I happened to know, if it was the circus they were going abroad to bring to their state. He did not get it, of course, and I did not bother to explain.

In all this tragedy, the best part is still the unkempt look; if you want the ultimate disgrace, attend a function abroad where these government “dignitaries” are hosted to a dinner. You will find clanking cutleries, drinks being slurped and people talking with their rotten mouths full of more rot-inducing food, even when someone is making a speech. Should the meal involve bones, then you see people battling to crush the bones and suck out the bone marrow, while periodically licking their hands. The end of the meal signifies the beginning of the war of the “revenge of the toothpick”, where toothpicks are used to attack the teeth in the full glare of everyone and food participles are intermittently flicked out of the mouth, not caring where it lands, and fingers are used to wipe the tip of the toothpicks. No wonder many of these investor-chasing trips, even when they are best intentioned, are hardly ever successful.

Can you imagine if you were a businessman and a group of people come to ask you to invest in their country, say from Cambodia, a country you know very little about and the little you know is all negative? You take one good look at them and despite being the top officials of the country they look so unkempt, would you not wonder who in that country would be able to purchase your products, if the top officials know nothing of deodorants and toothpaste? Perhaps I am being too simplistic and trivialising the many reasons people may not want to come and invest in Nigeria, but those who say that first impressions matter know exactly what they are talking about. If people hear negative things about Nigeria and you send top flight Nigerian executives who are intelligent, articulate, well groomed, smelling nice, with good table manners and so on, will it not begin to cast doubts in the minds of those who had heard only negative things about Nigeria? But when you send those who look like the decay they have heard Nigeria to be, who will come here?

It is a pity that public officers in Nigeria have never understood that looking good is good business, especially when representing Nigeria abroad. If government officials are to be sent abroad for whatever reason, they should be given grooming and etiquette lessons. They should get speech lessons and be taught how best to present their state or federal government internationally. Believe me, other countries do it, even developed nations, because everyone is competing for the same investors. So only the best prepared win the game.

Government officials aside, the private sector is not left out, especially the restaurants and hair salons. Nothing can be more disgusting than going into a restaurant and having a stinking waiter come to serve you or going to a salon and having a hairdresser whose armpit smells come to wash your hair. Ladies know what I am talking about. It’s really bad business.

We in Nigeria have to learn that being clean and well groomed is as important in governance, gaining employment and running a successful business, as the core business itself. So take the bold step and buy that new toothbrush and if someone offers you chewing gum in the middle of the day, take it, they are probably trying to tell you something that words cannot explain!