The Crime of the century was not committed by a few faceless bank robbers, nor was it an endeavor embarked upon by a number of computer savvy fraudsters. No, the crime of century has- and always will- be the insidious brainchild of faces, many people in our nation know all too well. Politicians and the so called elite of this country have been robbing, stealing and murdering the good people of Nigeria for decades, seemingly without fear of retribution or consequence, safe in the comforting knowledge that they’re morally bereft brethren will  be there to make all their sins disappear. Like a confessed man before his priest,  seemingly absolved of their crimes, they go about the cities and states and laud themselves as men of substance, the esteemed upper class,  honored nobles and kings of all they survey. They are free from prosecution. From any form of atonement.

It is no secret that one of these seemingly untouchable patrons- in our overly corrupt and decadent government- won a gubernatorial election while still in prison, nor is it uncommon knowledge that another of the anointed, even after being convicted of numerous crimes abroad, also became governor of one the southern states. There have even been cases where elected officials have been forced to step down for the chosen one’s and the needle-headed offspring of these so-called powerful men and women. All in the aims of assuring that these villainous and cretinous people maintain their stranglehold on a country gasping for the air of freedom and morality. Yet these so-called elite, deem it fit to pass judgment on the poor and starving masses,  sentencing petty thieves and robbers to confinement and death as they see fit. Punishing those whose crimes pale in comparison with the rifling decay they have set in the very heart of the Motherland. They are in power…they punish the people for their crimes. So who punishes the punishers…? How does one find justice in a country where the wicked and depraved hold sway over the land? The answer…who knows? There are many who clamor for change in this country. But who will hear their cries when the only authority to turn to is the one that binds them to the shackles they wish to shake off.

EFCC…are charged with uprooting fraudsters and embezzlers, yet the country’s greatest con men- even long after their tenors in government are over- still walk the corridors of power as free men.

LASMA…roams the streets punishing motorists who can barely afford to pay the fines levied on them by the same men who have made them poor.

THE POLICE FORCE…harass their citizens, striking fear into them with a charge originally meant to bring peace and security to the populace.

All the while the untouchables sit in their castles willfully and deliberately ignorant of the effect of their crimes against their own people. They call themselves good men, great men, men of the people, bastions of the society, the elite, the anointed, our country’s leaders. These are things we all know. We all know what our leaders are doing. How they rob us of our rights everyday. How they’ve pillaged the country’s coffers for their own gain, only to be made celebrities in  our lands as well as elsewhere. They all deserve to be punished…but who can punish the punishers…?

The Most Corrupt Country in Africa:

Assistant US Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson, has been quoted as describing Nigeria as “the most corrupt state in Africa”.

Carson who disclosed this en route to the Nigerian capital Abuja added: “Nigeria is undoubtedly the most important country in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Carson was on the entourage of Hillary Clinton who was on her first trip to Africa as secretary of state.

Mrs. Clinton arrived in Nigeria on the fifth leg of her seven-nation tour of Africa.

During her 36-hour visit, Mrs. Clinton met with her Nigerian counterpart, Ojo Maduekwe, and later held talks with President Umaru Yar’Adua.

It is important to note that U.S President Barack Obama skipped Nigeria on his first official African trip, in what was seen as a snub for its record on governance.

President Yar’Adua came to power in a widely criticised election in April 2007.

Mrs. Clinton  also held a private meeting with representatives of the country’s political elite, with democracy and corruption said to be on the agenda.

She is expected to seek an update on the status of a 60-day amnesty period in the Niger Delta, declared in an effort to end years of militant attacks that have hobbled the oil industry. (Guess the people who’ve been suffering weren’t an issue they needed to discuss.)

She left Nigeria on a Thursday for Liberia and rounded off her trip in Cape Verde.

SO WHAT DID THIS TRIP ACHIEVE…? ONLY GOD KNOWS.

Continuing my call for someone- with the resources- to tap into the overly underutilized talent in Nigeria…here’s something a friend of mine was kind enough to throw my way.  It may just seem like  a bunch of Naija kids messing around, but if you’ve ever watched a Naija home video before, you’ll more than understand the brilliance of this homemade mock about (and short) fan movie. While I’ll admit it’s a little rough, it’s obvious that at least one of these guys knew more about what it takes to make a movie than any Nigerian movie director in this country today. I also found it somewhat ironic that the makers of the fan-movie chose to call themselves: Low Budget Media…sigh, just imagine what they’d be able to accomplish with a bigger budget?

ENJOY!

Tomi asked me for legal advice – one that would ensure that some artistic and commercially viable ideas of hers are not lost to some establishments soon to receive her and her proposals. Tomi – creative? Definitely, and budding with sellable ideas and she is only half way through her education at the University of Lagos. You might catch her looking lost more often than seldom, gazing high into the sky, sinking deep in thoughts and then coming out with her “babies”. Unfortunately she has had to watch some of these beautiful, in fact maybe ugly, “Babies” – nevertheless hers, taken away without her consent and indeed without even half a dime! In the process of trying to sell her ideas, she gets robbed; the very person she hopes will bring the ideas to life, or some other, does so, excluding her, and without any remuneration or credit. Naturally, she didn’t want continuous reoccurrence; that’s why she came to me.

Of course Tomi is not nearly alone, there are several Nigerian youths on the streets (and offices too) of Lagos and beyond with inspired, promising, interesting and truly commercial ideals who have fallen prey to some often adult/older individual or company who they perceived had the strength to turn their ideas into reality, make their dreams come true. Tolu is just another. He got the shock of his life (maybe just one of the several shocks of his life) when his idea for a reality television show, without his knowledge or involvement, came alive on Nigerian television stations. His exact words/lines as contained in a proposal he had taken around were used thus there was no doubt that it was his work live on TV! This is not an attempt to suggest in the least that only the young have and do fall victim but the fact that the young are usually at a disadvantaged negotiating end – lacking in experience and clout makes them more vulnerable.

Now, Tolu and Tomi are friends but Tolu is more experienced with this dem thief my idea thing. We are gathered at a table in a club in Ikeja; Tolu tells Tomi, with all the love in his heart, “There is nothing you can do, at best, pray”. Tolu is looking at me, with all the hope in her heart, “Could that be true?” Well, it’s almost true!

The easiest way for anyone to have the desired protection is to have the receiver of a proposal sign a Non-disclosure Agreement. That would prevent a lot of headaches; and claims, where breaches occur, would be much easier to prove and thus recover. However, a little research I carried out revealed that these receivers, whether intending the feared mischief or not, never sign such agreements; they just would not sign, after all, proposals are flying in from right, left and center; why should they incur an added responsibility – a potentially dangerous one for that matter, especially since such agreements would only be most potent for the creative mind if they got signed before the details of their ideas got exposed to the receiver. Why would anyone sign such agreements before identifying the actual value of the idea? The receivers can’t get it! However, for the benefit of doubt, lack of scientifically gathered data, and not wanting to fall into a fallacy of generalization not all receivers would always refuse to sign a non-disclosure agreement; there is however a higher probability that a proposal adorned with the agreement would not be read by the receiver not alone approved by him because of the adornment than one not so adorned.

“But really, why can’t one just copyright the ideas, register them or patent them” – this I have heard once too many times. I can understand where the “speakers” are coming from and where they intend to go speaking like that; but I know they will never get there following the route of such statements. My apologies. The route that is most likely to take them there is tricky, delicate and can easily be missed. For an understanding of the route to “salvation”, an understanding of the “speakers” route and why it wouldn’t lead anywhere –not even “damnation”, is necessary. The law on copyright in Nigeria does not protect ideas; rather, it protects the expression of those ideas. The key word is “expression”. Section 1 of the copyright Act of 1988, CAP 28, LFN 1990 lists works eligible for copyright as follows:

1. Literary works;

2. Musical works;

3. Artistic works;

4. Cinematograph films;

5. Sound recordings; and

6. Broadcasts.

Section 2(b) of the same Act states that the work must be fixed in a definite medium of expression to make it eligible for copyright. I believe the rationale for this position is that the fact that an idea was conceived by a certain Mr. A does not mean that a Mr. B cannot get the same idea; and that Mr. A got it first should not entitle him to an exclusive possession of that idea as that is what copyrighting the idea would imply. That is reasonable to me and I sincerely wish our Nigerian legislature could sincerely claim credit for such thought. That is however not to be. So, a raw idea, no matter how ingenuous it is, has no protection under the Nigerian copyright law. Also, there is no such register or registrar for ideas in Nigeria. None has been established by law in any part of the country whatsoever. That means one can’t just register the ideas, as simple as it sounds; and for the patent “route”, patents are simply granted to inventors not idea generators. The nature of an object for a patent has to be scientific, technological etc; and it has to be an invention. A method for doing business is definitely excluded.

For this writer, the “route to salvation” for the Nigerian young (and indeed any others in similar circumstances) creative and industrious minds lies in the sufficient conversion of the idea to the best suited category of protected works under the Copyright Act. It is under these categories that cover lies. Of course, the now, works, would inevitably contain the ideas. This might as well be tantamount to self execution of the projects thereby defeating the whole purpose of writing proposals and indeed this article. What is important to note here is that the required act is to sufficiently convert the ideas and not to completely self execute the project. Drawing the line can be tricky. Identifying the best suited category can equally be tricky. What has been provided here is only a pointer in the direction to go; it is not a complete road map for all circumstances. It turns out that the minds are not as helpless and without cover as they might seem. Tolu was wrong but he had a good reason to think and talk as he did.

I’ve been passively following the Halliburton bribery case and the resulting investigations and lack of investigation by Nigerian law enforcement. To be honest I’m not sure exactly what the charges against Halliburton and its employees and affiliates are and ever since I heard that Obasanjo, Atiku and other former heads of state and high level government officials were named as recipients of bribes, I lost interest in the case. You see, I have no faith whatsoever in the Nigerian government. I see them, most of them anyway, as a bunch of self-serving, bloodthirsty, ignorant and illiterate mass murderers. “Corruption”, at least in Nigeria, is nothing but a simpler and more politically correct way of saying armed robbery.

In a grossly under-developed country like Nigeria, every kobo that is “misappropriated”, wasted or otherwise misused results in a real consequences for the average man which happens to be the overwhelming majority of citizens. How many lives have been lost on unlit, pothole ridden highways? How many lives have been lost to improperly trained, underfunded and unsupported officials of law enforcement, military and regulators (think collapsing buildings, non-roadworthy vehicles etc) ? How many lives are wasted in the unemployment caused directly and indirectly by misuse or theft of public funds? How many people die of exhaustion, high blood pressure and other stress related problems? I could go on an on but I’m sure you get the picture. Way too many people live in appalling conditions and die unnecessary and horrible deaths as a direct result of all this “misappropriation”.

On this Halliburton “scandal” in particular, the most embarrassing and disheartening aspect of the whole mess is that the crimes were committed in Nigeria, against the Nigerian people and by the Nigerian government working with foreign entities BUT the only investigations and prosecutions are in OTHER countries.

Anyway there ends my rant and I probably won’t say anything about this again

To me, music is the shorthand of emotion. I hear a song and it tells me story deeper than any words can convey.

When I listen to music, I don’t just hear the lyrics and the melody, I don’t just feel the rhythm I listen on a much deeper level, its almost like I enter an alternate mind space were the music is almost like an entity speaking directly to me. 

When a song is great, it speaks to your soul and not your mind or your body. It resonates through out your being. It permanently colors your perceptions no matter how subtle.

Great music broadens the mind, it leaves you with that feeling of simultaneous fulfilment and emptiness. It either soothes your soul or agitates it. It challenges your beliefs and reaffirms them.

Great music is incomprehensible and yet makes perfect sense. Great music is subjective and objective. Great music is the great contradiction. It is the expression of the inexpressible.

Great music is a side effect of a deliberate attempt. And perhaps most importantly; great music is not explained only experienced. Have you ever experienced great music?