President Jonathan and Patience's AFCON Win PDA

President Jonathan shared a hug with Dame Patience after Nigeria won the AFCON Trophy

Congrats to the Super Eagles, we needed some good news after all that has been going on. I like that the President and his wife are so dressed down, and look like ordinary people for once. The happiness on their faces is also infectious. Maybe we'll see a kiss when we win the world cup :)

Some more pictures of President Jonathan and his wife's PDA...

How to Cook Thick Chili Con Carne - Serve with Pap

Chili is what we call beans porridge in Nigeria, beans stewed in oil, tomatoes, pepper and other condiments. Chili Con Carne is when you add meat to the equation, in this instance minced beef. There are various ways to cook this, as usual, but mostly kidney beans are used more than black-eyed beans. The way I cook this one, you'll have a thick outcome, best served with pap.

Ingredients:

1 pack of 85% ground beef
2 packs of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 ladlefuls of vegetable oil
2 large tins of tomato puree
5 medium sized fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 large chopped onions
1 tablespoon dried garlic or to taste
1 tablespoon dried ground cumin or to taste
1 tablespoon dried oregano or to taste
2 tablespoons chili powder or to taste
Salt and other mixed spices to taste

Men Spend More For Valentine's Day Than Women

The telegraph UK used the title, "Men are more romantic than women" to discuss the results of a consumer poll which wanted to know the spending habits of both men and women for Valentine's Day. I'm not surprised that it turned out that more men spend loads more money and go the extra mile in choosing gifts than women, after all, that's the way it has been commercialized. Using that to say men are more romantic than women may be stretching it.

Just days before the most romantic day of the year, it emerged that women are 50 per cent more likely to ignore the event altogether. Figures also show that more women are also more likely to mark the day with nothing more than a card, shunning any extravagant show of affection. The disclosure was made in a survey of around 2,000 men and women by the researchers Consumer Intelligence in the run up to Valentine’s Day on February 14.

The poll found that around 21.5 per cent of women said they would do nothing to celebrate, compared with just 14.5 per cent of men. It emerged that more than a quarter of women relied on sending a card – up from 16 per cent of men.

Traffic Jams and Driving in Lagos

My last experience of traffic in Lagos was during my last visit in July/August 2012. I was staying at the family house in Festac, and I had to meet some people for my book business in VI. Now I know about the traffic situation, especially seeing that the expressway between Festac and most parts of the city was under construction. But before this time, I had always made it to where I was going within 2 hours, no matter how horrible the traffic.

On this day, it was different. The car I was using was sandwiched between a rock and a hard place, and I mean that almost literarily. We had a container truck in front of us, dishing out dirty grey, and sometimes black, fumes. Behind us was a Hummer Jeep, it had a steel grill guarding its front. On both sides of us were long lines of other cars, trailing forwards and backwards as far as the eye could see.

The driver debated routes, ones he should’ve taken, and others he shouldn’t have. But those were like crying over spilt milk. We were well and truly stuck. I wish I could tell you we were beamed away like the Captain in the Star Trek Movie franchises, or that the car suddenly developed invisible wings and took off, like in Ayodele Arigbabu’s sci-fi tale, but those would be lies.

Everywhere, there are Somebodies, Nobodies, and Bodies.

Sunday was a pretty busy day for me but I did manage to read Adaobi Nwaubani's NYT piece, "In Nigeria, You’re Either Somebody or Nobody". I agreed with her on the unfortunate class situation in Nigeria, and that the petty struggles to pull rank on each other affects the long-term progress of individuals and the development of the country as a whole, but I was turned off by the tone and most of the content of the piece. It sounded unrepentantly callous and there seemed no teachable moment contained in it.

We also had domestic servants growing up but my parents never made it seem that the people who lived with us were forever doomed to poverty, while we were guaranteed continuous and everlasting comfort. Our househelps, most older than me, are all married now and still in contact with my parents.  Some of them lived with us for over 10years before moving on to other things. A couple of them who joined my parents as 12/13 years olds, went on to become graduates, another is a certified secretary.

While they lived with us, they went to school, watched TV if they wanted to, they sang, they disciplined us, ate with us, went out with us as a family, went on holiday together, taught us to keep house, wash, cook and clean. So, I don't know about "feral scents" and "melancholic singing". Maybe Adaobi should ask her parents questions, or try to come out of the "Somebody" bubble she lives in, rather than trying to impress us with how heartless and disparaging she can be with words.

Couple Love on the Grammys Red Carpet Pictures

Amber Rose may be just a few days or so away from having her baby but she's still up and about and looking lovely beside Wiz on the red carpet of the Grammys. njoy the other pictures below;

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's Official Visit to USA, 1961

It is often said that when one doesn't know their history, it is easy to repeat the mistakes of the past rather than learn from them. I will add that such gaps in knowledge also mean that we cannot learn from the great and brave actions of our "heroes past", neither do we know how we can build on them.

Someone shared the video below on Facebook and after watching all 27+ minutes of it, I was very inspired and wanted to share. The Prime Minister, Alhaji Sir Tafawa Balewa was invited on a visit and grand tour of the United States a year after the 1960 independence. It is educative the political capital Nigeria, and those who represented her, had in those days and how much has been lost since then.

At this point, President Goodluck Jonathan's recent defensive interview with Christine Amanpour of CNN comes to mind.  Like someone commented on Youtube, "The world thought Nigeria would be a ray of hope for the black race. But they were absolutely wrong! Tribalism and corruption destroyed everything."

Sound Sultan - February Man Candy #11

Sound Sultan is a musician who has been working in the Nigerian music industry for over 10 years now.

Who To Marry - Follow my Heart or my Head?

You know, I’d love to go on. I’d love to damn the consequences, and go for what my heart wants. I’d love to fight for my love, because that’s what people always do. And each time they did, they won. Yes! Those people in the mushy love movies I’ve watched, like, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’.. Where Rahul fought for Anjali at the latest hour, and still somehow won. But you know, all of a sudden, somehow, the reality dawns on me.. ‘M not Anjali, or Rahul,.. ‘M real, in the real world, no cameras, or casts.. So I must not be deceived!

I know what I need, I know what I want.. These two things stand so far apart, yet they coincide. God had always known there’d be conflicts between needs and wants, that’s why he gave us the brain to act as an arbitrator, or mildly put, a mediator. But what if it doesn’t suffice? If it adds more to the turmoil, who takes it from there?

I guess that’s where YOU come in. Here’s the case.

Kiss a Book - A Campaign for the Love of Books

To get a chance to win $100, all you need to do is take a creative snapshot while kissing that book you love and share on the African Street Writer's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/theafricanstreetwriter. The winner is determined by the highest Facebook Likes. Contest begins from Sunday 10th 0f February – Thurs 14th of February 2013, and winner would be announced on Friday 15th of February, 2013.