Shh...

Bound together by a common bond
Or so I thought after all those shots
Phone Conversations till the sun rose
Minutes burning, Battery dying, yeah we are close

Hay rolls, the green everywhere
Playlist on blast, anticipating you'll soon be here
It flows through my system the potent see through liquid
Bopping from side to side, Vanilla scented, your squeal

Deceptive is the liquid and puff, our laughter
Nothing is too dear with me, all I reveal, my heart
My head tells me its equal but its not
Its always half here half there, what you want never the whole lot

Not just you but everyone perhaps, its me
Trust is earned they say, well I should be loaded
Whispers, stolen seconds, another swing to ignore it
Warm liquid from the setting sun, I lie in my bed

Not now, forever? The same pattern seems to show
Shouldn't care, the path has already been paved
Sunshine, Fall, Rain or Snow
Maybe its best that nothing more should be heard

A Recipe for Success in the Global South Economy Part II

On the 20th July 2011, I documented my series of thoughts on what method of Political Economy I felt will be best adopted in order guide the Lower Developed Economies of the Global South out of Poverty and guide them towards a much more progressive and integrated market system. Unfortunately I was unable to conclude on what method I felt will be most realistic but seemed to be adapting to a more Classical Political Economy method of thought.

In his book the Wealth of Nations published in 1776, the Father of modern economics Adam Smith argued strongly about the strength of a liberated market. That through a more less interventionist market system (adopted by an economy), a country will be able to create an economy that can avoid market inefficiency and can promote innovation and enterprise whilst creating jobs for its citizens. Prima Facie, I must say I was quite attracted to this system of Political Economy as I strongly believe in a liberal market, solely because a non-availability of Government Interference in an economy simply means that individuals are open to invest within the country and are also open to import goods from other economies which may not necessarily be available in their economy. It means that these countries will be more likely to receive Foreign Direct Investment from other nations through Transnational and Multinational Corporations, in the process creating jobs for the locals whilst developing world class infrastructure (to lure and enable the multinational and transnational corporations be effective in the country)that will benefit both the corporation and the locals. That through Foreign Direct Investment, Universities and Schools can be built to train the local population on skills to gain employment in these corporations and also encourage the locals to in the future set up their own businesses using the skills garnered through professional and academic training. Theoretically, the idea of an economy that adapts this method of Political Economy does seem fantastic and splendid but when applied to a modern day Less Developed Country(from now known as an LDC), the end results can be quite damaging.

Truth is in order for an LDC to apply this system of Political Economy to its economy, it must first make sure that the infrastructure to encourage this sort of system is available. It is at this point that the ideas of Friedrich List must be looked at. List created a system of 'National Innovation' whose doctrine encouraged governments to be selective in industries to support and encourage productivity amongst its citizens. Not to go into too much detail, List drew up 4 stages for the economic development of a nation which I find fascinating.

1. He recognized a system of COMMUNAL LIVING
2. That this system of Communal living will encourage AGRICULTURE
3. Due to the produce from farming there will be need for MANUFACTURING
4.To generate profits, AGRICULTURE + MANUFACTURING = COMMERCE (TRADE)

As simple as it may sound, these 4 stages applied to an LDC today seems for me to be a simple but effective method of pulling LDCs out of poverty. However I must say that it will still be wise for an LDC to borrow from Smith the idea of market liberation to some extent. I believe that a government needs to intervene in that it must encourage its citizens to be productive. It must look within its economy and find the resources that it has that will be of great value on the international market and then be selective (as List encouraged) in supporting these industries financially so that they will be able to produce these goods in mass to be put to trade on the International Market. Its nation will also benefit from this in that these goods (since they are produced locally) will be sold at cheaper rates in the home nation. The Lovechild of the combination of List's and Smith's ideas reminds me of a conversation I had with my father on the train to Hull. I remember him using a Burger and Yam for example. To quote, he said that he felt that the reason why the Nigerian economy was failing him was because he felt that Nigerians have decided to adapt a very unrealistic Western way of living and eating thus increasing the cost of food. The whole conversation was sparked by a statement I made about shockingly discovering that Nigeria imports food. Using the example of a Burger he said to me (to quote) 'When you look at a Burger today you must come to terms with the fact that Burgers have been eaten by the English for centuries, only in different forms. What are the main ingredients of a Burger, Bread and Beef. Rewind the clock back perhaps about 100 years, English people consumed Burgers as Sandwiches and it was affordable for them because the main condiments are found easily in England so it costs them nothing to make it. The reason why you have your modern day McDonald's stlye Burger is simple because the government knowing fully well that Bread and Beef are easily available in the UK, invested in areas that will look into how Bread and Beef can be processed into new types of food for its locals. The same can be seen with Potatoes also easily available in the UK and has also been consumed for years. Now due to research into the different things that can be done with potatoes you have your chips, Crisps, Lasagne, Pies and so on. When you look at Nigeria, you see a system where the government have not invested properly in our own resources to make them attractable to our own people that we now look to the West to copy what they eat and it is costing us a lot of money'. Using Yam as an example, my father explained to me that it is a staple crop found easily in Nigeria and the it will be more sensible if we could look into the different things that can be done with a tuber of Yam and watch and see the results that we will gain from it. Another example he used was Palm Oil and the benefits of the government investing in Industries that will look into the benefits of using Palm Oil for items like Soap and not only as a condiment to cook. I remember laughing when we had this conversation but did not fail to relate it closely to the Ideas of Friedrich List. Borrowing from Smith, should an LDC invest in its resources through government intervention (in pumping money into industries that will conduct this research and process the resources), the final products can be placed on the International Market and draw in a lot of revenue for the market.

I think I will stop at this point to enable myself look at more systems of Political Economy to enable me (by the Grace of the Almighty) write another offering of ideas that can aid an LDC alleviate poverty from its economy but on a leaving note I will like to say, countless times we may say to ourselves that we cannot do anything to improve our home economy but this is untrue. Research into ideas that have worked for other countries must be conducted and analysed and then be discussed amongst ourselves and peers to enlighten the next person on how to make his or her own country or nation better. You may feel you are powerless but do you know the position you may be in come the next 5 years from now? Task yourself and believe!

DELIGHTFUL DAYS IN HELL MOUTH

I was recently faced with the unfortunate intern task of going to apply for a couple of Visas for my Boss's business associates who were to travel to Nigeria. I remember telling my mother about my little task the night before and her reaction 'Wow that's your entire day gone', CLASSIC. I laughed off her concern but was full unaware of what awaited me at the Embassy (or Hell's Mouth as I like to call it).

Eventually the next day I made sure I was queued up at 7.30 AM in the morning infront of the Embassy and was rather surprised that a lot of people were there (from different parts of the country may I add). As soon as the doors flung open at 9.00AM, and the 'Men in Suits@ had taken their places, operation get rude to every single customer because I wear a suit begun. When my turn came to be seen, I presented the man with the documents that I had been given (whilst wondering why an embassy which has existed for over 30 years doesn't have a reception and why we were made to stand under scaffolding). The man looked at me as If I had committed the worst crime in the world and said in the worst tone ever 'Where is your Payment Acknowledgement slip?'. I admit I did not have the slip but that was simply because I had been sent there on duty and did not know the procedure. Whilst explaining this to him (PS the Business Associates were to travel in 2 days) and querying him on what to do, I was surprised to find out that the arrogant worker had started speaking to someone else and wasn't budged a bit. Luckily a young man (who was Greek) had been to the embassy and was very used to their rudeness simply called me to the side and explained the entire process (I was to log on to the Nigerian Immigration Service Website and apply through a company called SWC Global with a payment of $144. Then I was to print out 2 slips and purchase a £70 Postal Order for 'processing the visa'. I still wonder what the $144.00 is for then?!)

Any hoo I made my way to Charing Cross station and found an Internet Cafe. I must say whoever owns that cafe must love the Embasssy as one of its workers explained to me that they attended to over 100 Nigerians a day who were always needing to print one thing or the other to satisfy the Visa requirements. I made the application and took everything back to Embassy, got my Visa Ticket number and was called to COUNTER 3! The Man behind the counter(who till this moment remains my WORST ENEMY) initially came across as nice until he saw the passports. He then paused and said 'I will grant Mr Nzere's Visa but you need to bring supporting documents for Mr Patel'. I was surprised. Both were British Nationals and I had equal amounts of supporting documents for them, what was this fool up to. I questioned him on why and his response remains one of the most ignorant ill educated responses I have ever heard. "You see, Mr Nzere has a Nigerian surname so I know he has family there but Mr Patel obviously doesn't have roots there so he may decide to abscund. I need prove that he is going there for business purposes". Whilst I am the most Patriotic Nigerian you would ever meet I remember thinking 'WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WILL ABSCUND TO ABIA STATE?!!!!"

In order to avoid arguments I went away to bring supporting documents. I brought back the next morning Mr Patel's Birth Certificate, a Letter from the company he was going to visit in Nigeria, a scanned photocopy of the Passport of the CEO of the Nigerian based company, 4 Utility Bills belonging to Mr Patel (now in my standards, THAT'S A LOT). When called again to counter 3, the Man requested to see Mr Patel's Flight ticket in order for him to grant the Visa for the same time as Mr Nzere. I questioned him on why he needed to see the Flight ticket and he simply responded that for all he knew I could have been lying about the urgency of the Visas. I WAS RAGING!!!!!!!

Somehow, some way I was able to get my Boss to fax me the ticket to show to this pompous waste of human life before the fool decided to grant the visa (possibly urged by my telling him that he was very incompetent.

Unfortunately, the next week I was sent again to process another Visa and once again was sent to this fool. Whilst I had fully prepared myself with a folder of documents as back up, the man decided that I must provide a personal letter of invitation from Nigeria!! I queried him (rather nicely) that he had never asked for such when I had processed the previous visas and why it was different this time (keeping in mind the man involved had to travel to join his colleagues the next day via a night flight) he simply said to me that If I did not provide it he would not grant the visa. Somehow I maintained my calm and went back to the office to get the letter in order to return the next day, pay an express fee and have the visa granted that day.

I finally arrived on D day fully equipped. I approached counter 3 with everything the man smiled and was about to clip on a number to the passport then he looked at me and said 'I WANT A PASSPORT PHOTOGRAPH". I was prepared to kill this man! I asked him why he needed one (KEEPING IN MIND THE VISA OFFICE HAD 5 MINUTES TO CLOSE) reminding him our client was to travel that night. He simply responded it was for recognition purposes. I stated to him that I worked 2 hours by public transport away from the Embassy and that It wasn't practical that I would provide the passport and pleaded if I could have it faxed. He simply refused. I then asked to see his manager and he proceeded to writing a number on a sheet of paper (not knowing that I had somehow crammed the Nigerian Embassy number in my head and knew about its stupid automated service that gets you nowhere). I still took the paper and made sure I asked every staff member for the head or manager they all were rather reluctant to attend to me. Eventually I met a Hausa man with a ginger beard (yup it still makes me laugh) who saw how frustrated I was and promised that If i got the photo's he would personally handle the application but nah I wasn't satisfied. Luckily for me, my Father happens to know the defence advisor so I gave him a ring and he asked me to come directly to his office.

When I proceeded to asking the lousy men at the door how to get to the defence advisor's office, they gave me a look of 'Abeg ho dis babe tink she be?' and had the cheek to lie to me that he wasn't in. I gave him a call again and once he picked handed the phone over to the lousy man. As soon as the man got off the phone he transformed into Prince Charming and offered to walk me to the office himself (TALK ABOUT LIP SERVICE!!). Speaking to the advisor I made sure I aired my views to him on how badly the place sucked (whilst my mind pondered on why the entrance to the area for 'BIG BOYS' in the embassy was rather posh with cushions and an air conditioner but that na Naija na, levels innit lol). His response shocked me, according to him, the embassy has run 2 Orientation excercises for its staff members and apparently they were rude because sometimes 'Nigerians are rude'. I'm sorry but that's a HORRIBLE EXCUSE! I work in customer services and deal with both polite and rude customers every day(I'm Nigerian and we get a lot of Nigerian customers) but that does not permit me to be rude because these people pay for the services my company provides. Any way I made sure that he understood that it was a lame excuse and he decided to accompany me to monitor services there for the rest of the day.

The transformation was magical. Apparently, word had gotten round that I knew the defence advisors and the staff became unncesessarily nice to me when I came back. I just laughed and thought these people were truly insane. All in all i got an apology from the head of the visa service but learned somthing from my experience

For too long, Nigerians have allowed themselves to accept bull off any fellow Nigerian who they feel is in a position of advantage in a suit. The Embassy is there to serve its citizens not to bully them. On each of the 5 days I was there, someone either cried or knelt to beg for a favour from THEIR OWN EMBASSY!!! For me that is very very wrong. I have accepted that I probably cannot personally change things there but have begun a petition of which I aim to get 900 signatories to present to the High Commissioner.

Do me a favour sign the petition. Nigeria House MUST BE REVAMPED and the Image of Nigeria in the UK SAVED!!!!

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/revamp-the-nigerian-embassy-london.html

We Should Feel Sorry For Mr Starkey

I must confess, I wasn't necessarily surprised when David Starkey launched a foul horrible attack on what he perceived to be 'Black Culture' on News night last week. Actually I was surprised that he had the courage to say what I firmly believe a lot of people actually support. It was rather interesting to see Mr Starkey claim that should one turn off the the television whilst listening to David Lammy, judging from the voice, one would believe he is White. It was even more shocking to see him suggest to fellow guest Dreda Say Mitchell that she didn't 'sound like them' (Although Miss Mitchell is black)

Mr Starkey's outburst raises a lot of questions I guess on how people group race and culture but for me the ultimate question is: 'What is Black Culture?'. Judging from the way he sounded and from the comments in the Daily Mail(in response to an article supporting Mr Starkey), it seems that Black Culture according to a portion of Society is rude, criminal, flashy and dominated solely by Hip Hop. Therefore the norm in society for those that would think like Mr Starkey is what is white. Mr Starkey in his comment stated that David Lammy MP, 'successful black man' would sound white if one was to listen to his voice, therefore implying that someone who is eloquent and successful is someone who is white and someone who wears flashy oversized clothes and makes gun like gestures perhaps is in a higher chance black.

To be honest Mr Starkey's comment is not very well founded simply because Culture is a WAY OF LIFE. To attach all that is negative to the way of life of the average Black is wrong and ill founded on so many levels. I for instance am a young black woman and do not in any way fit into the category of a black person according to Mr Starkey's or Enoch Powell's dictionary. The culture of my people (Igbo culture) does not promote violence, looting, or even a gang land environment. We have a colorful, peace and fun loving culture that have strong roots in an equal and fair justice system that condemns anything that is unethical. I believe that what Mr Starkey did was avoid accepting that there isn't really a 'black culture' (as blacks in the UK come from different backgrounds) but a culture of violence and disreputable behaviour amongst British youth. The same way he focuses on stereotypes, is the same way I as a black person can turn around and focus on what I see as negative in White society and come to conclusions on that but then I am fortunate to be exposed and educated to know that it is plainly ignorant to do so.

As much as I will anyday and any time openly condemn Mr Starkey's statements, I believe that his outburst calls for the black community to look within itself and try and fix any problems we have. To quote Katt Williams 'If someone has been calling you a crackhead for 10 years then perhaps you just may be a crack head'. Whether we accept it or not it is very true that society does see a lot of problems in the black community and we must accept that to some extent we do need to clean up our act. Yes it is true that rap today does promote violence, Yes it is true that there is a big problem with gang culture in the black society. Yes it is true that a lot of black fathers do walk out on their family thus causing problems with some of the children in the future. These are just a small proportion of problems that we face in our community and the truth is that if we want the White or Asian man to stop looking at us with disregard and associating all things bad with us then we must work towards educating our children more. We must be better role models towards the younger generations. Parents must come down harder on their children and monitor their progress both socially and academically. Fathers must be there to be positive role models to their sons. Truth is that I could go on and on and on but in order to avoid going off the point I should just summarise my thoughts by saying

As much as David Starkey is a bumbling fool for making such an ill founded and racist statement, we must accept that there are problems in the black community that must be fixed in order for us to prevent more fools like Starkey coming out and making useless and xenophobic statements. Enoch Powell WAS NOT RIGHT AND THE RIVERS OF BLOOD IS THE BIGGEST PILE OF BULLSHIT I HAVE EVER READ...............YOU MIGHT WANT TO HAVE A LITTLE READ OF IT TOO BELOW


'The supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils. In seeking to do so, it encounters obstacles which are deeply rooted in human nature.
One is that by the very order of things such evils are not demonstrable until they have occurred: at each stage in their onset there is room for doubt and for dispute whether they be real or imaginary. By the same token, they attract little attention in comparison with current troubles, which are both indisputable and pressing: whence the besetting temptation of all politics to concern itself with the immediate present at the expense of the future.
Above all, people are disposed to mistake predicting troubles for causing troubles and even for desiring troubles: "If only," they love to think, "if only people wouldn't talk about it, it probably wouldn't happen."
Perhaps this habit goes back to the primitive belief that the word and the thing, the name and the object, are identical.
At all events, the discussion of future grave but, with effort now, avoidable evils is the most unpopular and at the same time the most necessary occupation for the politician. Those who knowingly shirk it deserve, and not infrequently receive, the curses of those who come after.
A week or two ago I fell into conversation with a constituent, a middle-aged, quite ordinary working man employed in one of our nationalised industries.
After a sentence or two about the weather, he suddenly said: "If I had the money to go, I wouldn't stay in this country." I made some deprecatory reply to the effect that even this government wouldn't last for ever; but he took no notice, and continued: "I have three children, all of them been through grammar school and two of them married now, with family. I shan't be satisfied till I have seen them all settled overseas. In this country in 15 or 20 years' time the black man will have the whip hand over the white man."
I can already hear the chorus of execration. How dare I say such a horrible thing? How dare I stir up trouble and inflame feelings by repeating such a conversation?
The answer is that I do not have the right not to do so. Here is a decent, ordinary fellow Englishman, who in broad daylight in my own town says to me, his Member of Parliament, that his country will not be worth living in for his children.
I simply do not have the right to shrug my shoulders and think about something else. What he is saying, thousands and hundreds of thousands are saying and thinking - not throughout Great Britain, perhaps, but in the areas that are already undergoing the total transformation to which there is no parallel in a thousand years of English history.
In 15 or 20 years, on present trends, there will be in this country three and a half million Commonwealth immigrants and their descendants. That is not my figure. That is the official figure given to parliament by the spokesman of the Registrar General's Office.
There is no comparable official figure for the year 2000, but it must be in the region of five to seven million, approximately one-tenth of the whole population, and approaching that of Greater London. Of course, it will not be evenly distributed from Margate to Aberystwyth and from Penzance to Aberdeen. Whole areas, towns and parts of towns across England will be occupied by sections of the immigrant and immigrant-descended population.
As time goes on, the proportion of this total who are immigrant descendants, those born in England, who arrived here by exactly the same route as the rest of us, will rapidly increase. Already by 1985 the native-born would constitute the majority. It is this fact which creates the extreme urgency of action now, of just that kind of action which is hardest for politicians to take, action where the difficulties lie in the present but the evils to be prevented or minimised lie several parliaments ahead.
The natural and rational first question with a nation confronted by such a prospect is to ask: "How can its dimensions be reduced?" Granted it be not wholly preventable, can it be limited, bearing in mind that numbers are of the essence: the significance and consequences of an alien element introduced into a country or population are profoundly different according to whether that element is 1 per cent or 10 per cent.
The answers to the simple and rational question are equally simple and rational: by stopping, or virtually stopping, further inflow, and by promoting the maximum outflow. Both answers are part of the official policy of the Conservative Party.
It almost passes belief that at this moment 20 or 30 additional immigrant children are arriving from overseas in Wolverhampton alone every week - and that means 15 or 20 additional families a decade or two hence. Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. We must be mad, literally mad, as a nation to be permitting the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependants, who are for the most part the material of the future growth of the immigrant-descended population. It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up its own funeral pyre. So insane are we that we actually permit unmarried persons to immigrate for the purpose of founding a family with spouses and fiancés whom they have never seen.
Let no one suppose that the flow of dependants will automatically tail off. On the contrary, even at the present admission rate of only 5,000 a year by voucher, there is sufficient for a further 25,000 dependants per annum ad infinitum, without taking into account the huge reservoir of existing relations in this country - and I am making no allowance at all for fraudulent entry. In these circumstances nothing will suffice but that the total inflow for settlement should be reduced at once to negligible proportions, and that the necessary legislative and administrative measures be taken without delay.
I stress the words "for settlement." This has nothing to do with the entry of Commonwealth citizens, any more than of aliens, into this country, for the purposes of study or of improving their qualifications, like (for instance) the Commonwealth doctors who, to the advantage of their own countries, have enabled our hospital service to be expanded faster than would otherwise have been possible. They are not, and never have been, immigrants.
I turn to re-emigration. If all immigration ended tomorrow, the rate of growth of the immigrant and immigrant-descended population would be substantially reduced, but the prospective size of this element in the population would still leave the basic character of the national danger unaffected. This can only be tackled while a considerable proportion of the total still comprises persons who entered this country during the last ten years or so.
Hence the urgency of implementing now the second element of the Conservative Party's policy: the encouragement of re-emigration.
Nobody can make an estimate of the numbers which, with generous assistance, would choose either to return to their countries of origin or to go to other countries anxious to receive the manpower and the skills they represent.
Nobody knows, because no such policy has yet been attempted. I can only say that, even at present, immigrants in my own constituency from time to time come to me, asking if I can find them assistance to return home. If such a policy were adopted and pursued with the determination which the gravity of the alternative justifies, the resultant outflow could appreciably alter the prospects.
The third element of the Conservative Party's policy is that all who are in this country as citizens should be equal before the law and that there shall be no discrimination or difference made between them by public authority. As Mr Heath has put it we will have no "first-class citizens" and "second-class citizens." This does not mean that the immigrant and his descendent should be elevated into a privileged or special class or that the citizen should be denied his right to discriminate in the management of his own affairs between one fellow-citizen and another or that he should be subjected to imposition as to his reasons and motive for behaving in one lawful manner rather than another.
There could be no grosser misconception of the realities than is entertained by those who vociferously demand legislation as they call it "against discrimination", whether they be leader-writers of the same kidney and sometimes on the same newspapers which year after year in the 1930s tried to blind this country to the rising peril which confronted it, or archbishops who live in palaces, faring delicately with the bedclothes pulled right up over their heads. They have got it exactly and diametrically wrong.
The discrimination and the deprivation, the sense of alarm and of resentment, lies not with the immigrant population but with those among whom they have come and are still coming.
This is why to enact legislation of the kind before parliament at this moment is to risk throwing a match on to gunpowder. The kindest thing that can be said about those who propose and support it is that they know not what they do.
Nothing is more misleading than comparison between the Commonwealth immigrant in Britain and the American Negro. The Negro population of the United States, which was already in existence before the United States became a nation, started literally as slaves and were later given the franchise and other rights of citizenship, to the exercise of which they have only gradually and still incompletely come. The Commonwealth immigrant came to Britain as a full citizen, to a country which knew no discrimination between one citizen and another, and he entered instantly into the possession of the rights of every citizen, from the vote to free treatment under the National Health Service.
Whatever drawbacks attended the immigrants arose not from the law or from public policy or from administration, but from those personal circumstances and accidents which cause, and always will cause, the fortunes and experience of one man to be different from another's.
But while, to the immigrant, entry to this country was admission to privileges and opportunities eagerly sought, the impact upon the existing population was very different. For reasons which they could not comprehend, and in pursuance of a decision by default, on which they were never consulted, they found themselves made strangers in their own country.
They found their wives unable to obtain hospital beds in childbirth, their children unable to obtain school places, their homes and neighbourhoods changed beyond recognition, their plans and prospects for the future defeated; at work they found that employers hesitated to apply to the immigrant worker the standards of discipline and competence required of the native-born worker; they began to hear, as time went by, more and more voices which told them that they were now the unwanted. They now learn that a one-way privilege is to be established by act of parliament; a law which cannot, and is not intended to, operate to protect them or redress their grievances is to be enacted to give the stranger, the disgruntled and the agent-provocateur the power to pillory them for their private actions.
In the hundreds upon hundreds of letters I received when I last spoke on this subject two or three months ago, there was one striking feature which was largely new and which I find ominous. All Members of Parliament are used to the typical anonymous correspondent; but what surprised and alarmed me was the high proportion of ordinary, decent, sensible people, writing a rational and often well-educated letter, who believed that they had to omit their address because it was dangerous to have committed themselves to paper to a Member of Parliament agreeing with the views I had expressed, and that they would risk penalties or reprisals if they were known to have done so. The sense of being a persecuted minority which is growing among ordinary English people in the areas of the country which are affected is something that those without direct experience can hardly imagine.
I am going to allow just one of those hundreds of people to speak for me:
“Eight years ago in a respectable street in Wolverhampton a house was sold to a Negro. Now only one white (a woman old-age pensioner) lives there. This is her story. She lost her husband and both her sons in the war. So she turned her seven-roomed house, her only asset, into a boarding house. She worked hard and did well, paid off her mortgage and began to put something by for her old age. Then the immigrants moved in. With growing fear, she saw one house after another taken over. The quiet street became a place of noise and confusion. Regretfully, her white tenants moved out.
“The day after the last one left, she was awakened at 7am by two Negroes who wanted to use her 'phone to contact their employer. When she refused, as she would have refused any stranger at such an hour, she was abused and feared she would have been attacked but for the chain on her door. Immigrant families have tried to rent rooms in her house, but she always refused. Her little store of money went, and after paying rates, she has less than £2 per week. “She went to apply for a rate reduction and was seen by a young girl, who on hearing she had a seven-roomed house, suggested she should let part of it. When she said the only people she could get were Negroes, the girl said, "Racial prejudice won't get you anywhere in this country." So she went home.
“The telephone is her lifeline. Her family pay the bill, and help her out as best they can. Immigrants have offered to buy her house - at a price which the prospective landlord would be able to recover from his tenants in weeks, or at most a few months. She is becoming afraid to go out. Windows are broken. She finds excreta pushed through her letter box. When she goes to the shops, she is followed by children, charming, wide-grinning piccaninnies. They cannot speak English, but one word they know. "Racialist," they chant. When the new Race Relations Bill is passed, this woman is convinced she will go to prison. And is she so wrong? I begin to wonder.”
The other dangerous delusion from which those who are wilfully or otherwise blind to realities suffer, is summed up in the word "integration." To be integrated into a population means to become for all practical purposes indistinguishable from its other members.
Now, at all times, where there are marked physical differences, especially of colour, integration is difficult though, over a period, not impossible. There are among the Commonwealth immigrants who have come to live here in the last fifteen years or so, many thousands whose wish and purpose is to be integrated and whose every thought and endeavour is bent in that direction.
But to imagine that such a thing enters the heads of a great and growing majority of immigrants and their descendants is a ludicrous misconception, and a dangerous one.
We are on the verge here of a change. Hitherto it has been force of circumstance and of background which has rendered the very idea of integration inaccessible to the greater part of the immigrant population - that they never conceived or intended such a thing, and that their numbers and physical concentration meant the pressures towards integration which normally bear upon any small minority did not operate.
Now we are seeing the growth of positive forces acting against integration, of vested interests in the preservation and sharpening of racial and religious differences, with a view to the exercise of actual domination, first over fellow-immigrants and then over the rest of the population. The cloud no bigger than a man's hand, that can so rapidly overcast the sky, has been visible recently in Wolverhampton and has shown signs of spreading quickly. The words I am about to use, verbatim as they appeared in the local press on 17 February, are not mine, but those of a Labour Member of Parliament who is a minister in the present government:
'The Sikh communities' campaign to maintain customs inappropriate in Britain is much to be regretted. Working in Britain, particularly in the public services, they should be prepared to accept the terms and conditions of their employment. To claim special communal rights (or should one say rites?) leads to a dangerous fragmentation within society. This communalism is a canker; whether practised by one colour or another it is to be strongly condemned.'
All credit to John Stonehouse for having had the insight to perceive that, and the courage to say it.
For these dangerous and divisive elements the legislation proposed in the Race Relations Bill is the very pabulum they need to flourish. Here is the means of showing that the immigrant communities can organise to consolidate their members, to agitate and campaign against their fellow citizens, and to overawe and dominate the rest with the legal weapons which the ignorant and the ill-informed have provided. As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see "the River Tiber foaming with much blood."
That tragic and intractable phenomenon which we watch with horror on the other side of the Atlantic but which there is interwoven with the history and existence of the States itself, is coming upon us here by our own volition and our own neglect. Indeed, it has all but come. In numerical terms, it will be of American proportions long before the end of the century.
Only resolute and urgent action will avert it even now. Whether there will be the public will to demand and obtain that action, I do not know. All I know is that to see, and not to speak, would be the great betrayal.'

Right back to having a brilliant day :)

Growing Up

A Recipe for success in the Global South Economy

It has never been hidden that wealth is unequally distributed in the society that we all live in but looking at it from the wider prospect, wealth on a global scale is also unequally distributed. It seems that the gap between the Global North and Global South seems to widen with the North getting richer and the South getting poorer. For example, Multinational Companies which are great sources of attracting Foreign Direct Investment to developing or developed nations are heavily concentrated in the Global North with only a few appearances being made in the south e.g. within the African continent. Another example is seen in the exchange rate for currencies in countries that are developing. Currencies within the Northern hemisphere have greater value than their Southern counterparts. I could go on with a list of evidence showing the growing gap between both hemispheres but that means i'd be here for a long time!

Due to a module I took up in my 2nd year of University, I've been inspired to do a lot of thinking concerning the best way for Developing countries to strengthen their economies rapidly. With evidence of growth in Export Orientated Economies such as the 1960s Taiwan and South Korea and failure in the Import Substituting Economies of 1960s Brazil and Mexico; it's rather confusing to come up with what would be an 'ideal' system of political economy to act as a catalyst for growth in the Global South region. Honestly, I've never been a very keen believer in the doctrine of 'sharing wealth' or any other form of socialist propaganda. Rather I believe more in the system of Fiscal Prudence and wealth creation as it stimulates the economy and encourages Business and Enterprise. One may try and slate my argument by stating that such a system will undermine the working class. My response........NONSENSE! If for anything, such a system moves the working class to a more stable middle class level but i'd rather not go into that argument now.

Anyhooo, So i've decided that on developing the Global south, Governments in Less Developed Nations should adopt the Economic Theory of Classical Political Economists such as Adam Smith or Structuralists Methods such as that of Friedrich List (whose Ideas i admire but I do not believe would be able to work in an economy that is not fully ridden off of Corrupt Officials). Investment in the citizens through training and education is vital to having a productive workforce. A system of compulsive education up until secondary level must be laid down with the individual having the choice to go down the path of further education or training (e.g. Apprenticeships) being provided upon completion of secondary education.

Secondly, I believe that a healthy nation is a productive nation. The Millennium Development Goals signed in September 2000 recognizes the need for the improvement of healthcare in a lot of nations. Investment in Research in medicine should be a government's priority. Every individual is entitled to Healthcare even though it is a valid argument that the provision of free health care to all is rather on the expensive side. However in developing nations, the turnout of profit from their resources such as Oil (aka Nigeria) is a so enormous that the government CAN afford to invest in a system that provides free basic healthcare for its citizens whilst it actively funds research in newer effective methods of treating illnesses.

Thirdly, a system of Fiscal Prudence. Basically the idea that one reaps what one sows. Governments in developed nations have been known to be selective in industry that they support that will encourage the country's economy to grow rapidly and to e honest this is an old trick that I believe dies hard. Selective but wise investment by Governments could be a key to unlocking development in Less Developed nations. For example, in my home country Nigeria, I believe that the dependence on Oil is a major pullback in the growth of the economy. I was shocked to read that in a country that is blessed with fertile land, we still IMPORT FOOD! I remember being taught in primary school about Cash Crops such as Cocoa, Peanuts, Palm Oil and today I honestly wonder if the Cash resource being taught is OIL. Should the government invest properly and develop a sensible Agricultural Policy that embraces modern and effective farming methods then truth be told the economy is bound to grow.

I also believe in Laws governing the workings of Multinational Corporations within a country. A multinational country moves to a host nation because it is business wise for them and obviously guarantees them cheaper production costs. However in return these companies must abide to rules that ensure that those that work for the company are treated fairly. For example employment laws must be upheld; ensuring workers are not taken advantage of in terms of wages, working hours, working conditions etc. Also Multinationals should be encourages in actually investing in their host nation as they in reality make more money than the GDP of the host nations in Southern Hemisphere economies. Investment in infrastructure and human innovation should be encouraged and perhaps could be drafted into a contract of the terms of which a Multinational can come into a host nation. The host nation in return should perhaps be able to provide credible security and play its role in providing durable infrastructure to at least attract Foreign Direct Investment into their nations via Multinationals

Well that's all I can come up with for now but I believe I should be able to complete this later

Bad Day? Bad Life

Car parked, Two Piece Suit
Sweat pouring down, Busy Street
In you go, out with a bag,
A hit, Items fall, Eggs cracked

Stressed, Cigarettes and a hiss
It’s blazing hot and I see you’re pissed
Seat on the pavement, I’m behind you,
Al fresco with this sandwich, its tastes good

You turn, a smile I ask how you are
“Bad day at work, don’t feel like I’m going far,
I work all day without a decent break
Not enough holidays or time off for Christ’s sake!”

Another puff of the stick, yes get your temporary high
Life’s a bitch, we live it and only God knows why
Tell me more ‘bout your day
Your anger seems to be making my day

“The pay is crap, can’t do much ‘cause it takes the piss
With it, I can only eat, join the gym and play some tennis
Fuel Prices rising, I don’t know if I can keep my car
Struggling with the mortgage, I’m making fewer visits to my local bar.
Anyway, I’m leaving now have a nice day”

You get up; I see your designer belt
This heart to heart we’ve shared is definitely not heartfelt
Walk to the car I wonder, “did this fool ask about my day?”
Talk ‘bout yourself don’t care what I might have had to say.
Key’s in the keyhole, the turn, Ignition, You’re off
My bed’s made, “This Park should be quiet tonight”
My dinner would be that lady’s left over Chinese
Perhaps these eighty pence can buy some drinks.
“Park warden better not work tonight, or it’s under the bridge again
He thought he’d had a bad day, he’s seen me,
He’ll be thinking again.”

The Adultress

They called her the Adultress 
Said she lived to impress 
The lives of other men but him 
His heart loving, her eyes dim 

Her affairs, she made no secret 
His ring, she threw in a shit pit 
His love she claimed was public 
Behind closed doors, he was a sick pig 

Foundation and eyeliner coated 
Her face blank, you didn't know it was wounded 
Her weakness, her figure, pretty slim 
Couldn’t fight back, used her beauty to hurt him 

But a lady never speaks of her antics 
Society does, Judges her, people speak 
Of her wounds they kept quiet, he was right 
They'd claim to hit her. She hurt him out of spite 

His many women, they never judged 
His seed in different homes, they accepted 
Illnesses contracted, they treated 
The wounds he inflicted on her they ignored 

Now she's found another man 
He won't hurt her has better plans 
Her face he'll kiss, her wounds he'll dress 
Yet you'll still call her an adulteress 

The London Diaries......Day 1

I love London. I can't help it. No matter how much I may try to get away from it, I love London. Today, I decided that I will make the most out of my mum's oyster card. With Zone 1 to 6 fully loaded, there was nothing stopping me. Making sure that my Phone battery was fully loaded and my headphones were working normally, I put on my walking shoes and stepped out of my house hoping to cover as much as I could.

Getting on the Route 56 from Lea Bridge Road towards Clapton, I could not help but begin to think of many ways in which to write to my Local MP to conceive a plan on banning school children from speaking on the bus. Even turning up 'Testing Microphone' (why I love that song till this day I do not know) to the loudest and gazing hard out of the windows, I could still hear the little girls speaking about their 'boyfriends' and the little boys talking about their latest 'creps'

Delighted, I got to Clapton and got off and then boarded the bus 253 heading towards Euston station. What followed for the rest of this journey was what I like to call 'The Race Transition'. Don't judge me but If you live in Hackney and have every boarded the 253 to Euston or boarded the Route 73 to Victoria you must agree with me that as the bus comes out of certain areas the 'hue' of the people in the bus changes. I've always wanted to make a short film on this but let me put it this way...Popsy doesn't want to invest in a camera and I'm saving up for holiday! Back to the point, I actually enjoyed this journey as I had to take this bus to Secondary school every day till i finished my GCSEs. Gazing out of the window I couldn't help but notice how much I had missed and how much had changed since I left London. The new buildings springing up in Manor House, how Finsbury Park was looking rather quiet and less congested, the missing KFC in Fonthill Road; I was shocked. Approaching Camden I saw things were still the same. Camden was still its urban dream and my 99P shop was still standing. The goths were still alive lol! As we pulled up to Euston I was utterly shocked. New shops had sprung up where I used to sit and just chill with my friends after school and yes Krispy Kreme had done it. They had finally put the Cornish Pastry shop out of business!! I grabbed a donut though :)

Then I decided to walk to Kings Cross. The walk from Euston to Kings Cross is short and beautiful. London captures you in its metropolitan beauty just in a 5 minute walk. Then I saw the hotel that has been built and Saint Pancras and thought......How much will they charge? I laughed, got on the bus 73 and made my way to Oxford Circus.

I wont even bother describing the Oxford Circus journey. I'll just propose to the Mayor if he or she ever gets to read this blog; 'BORIS IF YOU ARE STILL MAYOR WHEN YOU READ THIS, MAKE OXFORD CIRCUS A PEDESTRIAN ONLY ZONE!' Right Rage over, back to loveliness :)

I then decided to attend the premiere of the Harry Potter movie. Well I wouldn't say attend. Simply because I stood, didn't see any celebrities and thought ' I don't really like Harry Potter as a film or novel so let me not disprespect myself by standing with these fans'. So i decided to walk through the square and wandered for whatever reason in a park that led me to the front of Buckingham Palace. I stood there just thinking 'Is her Royal Highness in there? What's she up to? Maybe she'll look out of her window and see me' Then reality caught up with me and I moved lol next stop Chinatown. Love it Love it Love it!! Got myself a nice little boxed noodle take away and walked into Leicester square (or the Love square). It holds a lot of memories for me as I fell in love in Leicester square. Cheesy I know but hey a girl can't help it. Wandered round the square for a while and then wandered in and out of Soho with immediate effect lol.

Finally I got on the Bus 38 which is no longer bendy :( sad times for fare skippers LOL. A rather peaceful journey apart from the couple infront of me that decided to profess their love by snogging their faces off for the rest of my journey. Yup thats another thing you might want to consider banning Boris lol

All in all It was a agood day. Didn't cover as much as I wanted to but hopefully mummy dearest will leave her oyster card on the desk again and I shall continue to explore London in all its beauty!!

HEINZ

HEINZ
There is a striking similarity between a human and a can of baked beans
That is that we both expire; however a can of baked beans is luckier
Its expiration date is known to all
The owner and the tin itself know one day, it will be consumed
 
The can of baked beans serves its purpose in life
Which is to remain in the tin until the day it is consumed
All cans, regardless of where they are sold or their make
They all serve this purpose and serve it well
 
The Human however has its own purpose in life
That purpose is to live! Just live until that date comes close
How many humans do this is a question I ask myself as I write now
How many, my answer is FEW!
 
We spend our lives planning, We spend our lives judging
We spend our lives hating, We spend our lives loving
We spend our lives saving, We spend our lives spending
We spend our lives fighting, Which sometimes hastens our dying
 
But we are in a way better than the tin of baked beans
We have the ablilty to think, to breathe, to run
We can walk, we talk, we can achieve
Yet we sometimes forget to just live!!
 
So tonight I've made a decision
That I will live for no one and I will die for no one
That when I plan, I'll not forget to live
That when I frown, I'll remember to smile
That when my expiration comes, I'll smile and say:
I beat you to it Heinz!!!

YOU

YOU
You’ve picked the perfect time to drive me up the wall
Less than a thousand miles between us, but I can’t even call
Sometimes I think about the times I made you laugh
Then I find myself wanting to see you smile

Then like a flash it hits me
Maybe we aren’t meant to be
Damn I wish I could get you outta my head
You’re like my bug, my drug the thing that’ll leave me dead


Now I wish that I could hold you close tonight
Did I tell you I dreamt of you and it all was bright?
You were the star that brought me outta the dark
On my cheek you planted that kiss; oh boy it felt like we had a spark

I wish you felt what I feel, I sometimes think you do
My back turned to you I feel the warmth of your lips on my neck
Then I pull you closer our fingers entwined the world seems perfect
Pure silence but I can feel each heart beat

Shall I tell you I love you, shall I keep it to myself
In my dreams it’s all perfect yet it seems so close and real when I’m with you
Every second treasured, every hug loved I want more of you
Maybe I will maybe I wouldn’t, internally you remain
Ever so close to me, ever so close to me

And then you came along.......

I've never been one to document my love life but for whatever reason at the moment I feel perhaps I should just type. At 21 I don't feel I am qualified to recite whole 'Been there, Done that' line but for the most of what I've experienced from Love and Relationships my reaction always remains Wow.

Sometimes, maybe when I'm on a bus or a train and that Mary J Blige song comes on, I begin to think and compare and then curse a bit then smile and eventually just change the track. It's funny I guess when one sits to think about the people that have caused the heart to skip a beat. The people that we could never imagine being apart from. The people that we wish will just one day reciprocate that feeling. The people that we wish will stop and think 'Why am I not with you?'. Its amazing when you think about the power that we posses as humans. The ability to crush another just from deciding not to be with them. The ability we have to put a smile on one's face. Love they say is beautiful. Personally I don't know If i'll say its all nice and dandy. Truth is Love is bitter-sweet. Take or leave.

But yeah, I've been in love. For while it lasted it was amazing (well the good times). The hard part isn't necessarily being in love, I believe it is departing from it. Departing from the knowledge that you have a bond with someone which you perhaps once thought was unbreakable. Stage 2 after departure, the ability to bring yourself out of heartbreak hotel and getting back into the real world. That part I think is funny. For me perhaps for 5 months I was a Man Hater. It's the one time that Kelis's 'I hate you so much right now' becomes an anthem to you. You find that the likes of Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Whitney Houston become the most played songs. But then after a while you snap out of it. You tell yourself, yes I am me again. I have moved on. I won't let anyone trample on me again and for a while yes this is the plan and you stick to it.

You progress in this plan, you throw yourself into your work disregarding any other being being overly affectionate towards you. You work hard at building back your confidence and perhaps taking it to an even higher level. You change your wardrobe, you (if you are like me) write poetry about how much you feel better about yourself and then you meet HIM. Yup that sucker that just has to be good looking and throws you the 'I like you a lot line' Then you have a dilemma. Shall I? Is it worth it? Am i ready for another cycle of love and tears (because at this point you've perhaps become slightly pessimistic towards the idea of relationships lasting long) Well I have to stop here and figure out the answer.............

xxx

Next Stop is....

Hello. My name is Ngozi Medani. I am a Final Year Law Student. I am a girl. I am black. Yup intro's done. By July next year I will be an LLB Law with Politics graduate. I remember vividly before entering the University reading an article by the former Justic Minister Jack Straw in the Daily Mail (Yup i kick myself for reading the Daily Mail!) with the headline 'There are too many Lawyers in the UK'. I have also come across further articles complaining about the scarcity of Jobs in the Legal Sector. As a Law student this is very worrying as I amongst the hundreds of thousands of Law students will hope to get a job upon qualifying.
I understand that we are encouraged to broaden our horizons therefore apply to other sectors of employment but the question remains: Are there desirable jobs for us students that will not be graduating from so called 'Russell Group' Universities? The answer is rather unclear to me. It seems that the companies we seem to desire to be employer will first consider the top University graduates and then holders of 1st class degrees before the average 2.1 non Russell Group Graduate is considered for employment. These thoughts have inspired me to draft a sort of bail out plan should I ever find myself in competition from fellow 'Chosen' Students:

1) LEAVE THE COUNRTY ASAP: Yup there is a world out there. The UK does have a lot of lawyers and hey there are so many countries that I need to explore and perhaps have my own little effect on their legal system

2) SET UP A BUSINESS!: Innovation, Innovation, Innovation. Self Employment. Become my own Boss. Explore my more creative side and perhaps start up a little business for myself. Funding however could pose a problem but I'm sure there must be one amongst the thousands of quangos that can help out

3) GO BACK INTO EDUCATION: Mum and Dad always say, 'You are never too old to go back to school'. If one degree fails you......Perhaps do another. You might find an industry to be booming, Sit down think about the path to that career and then follow that path

Well those are the 3 plans that I have. What are yours? I'm not an inspirational speaker or writer and neither am I a writer but I hope that through this little post, you can sit down and think, What's the next stop for me after this degree?

SHIVER

SHIVER

At every kiss or its sound I tremble
Fuck this, fuck you fuck it all, I'm not on your level
Every touch Every cuddle destroys me deeply
And I sit and watch and try to smile faintly

Why it has to hurt I really don't know
Dearly I love you but not to make rivers flow
All to myself I want you selfish it may seem
But really you have to do this don't you, right in front of me

Now I wish I never met you, I wish we never knew
No one's every consumed my thoughts such in the way you do
Your look your smile your eyes knock me off my feet
Right now though that innocence I love is more bitter than sweet

So I wont bother again. Fuck you I'm off I don't give a shit
I'll get over you perhaps a cigarette and 3 glasses of JD
I'll rave, I'll write I'll dance I'll laugh
Go to sleep without you and sleep without a pain in my heart

Wait a minute who am I Kidding, I said this 3 months ago
When you hurt me left me thinking of you of nothing more than a ho
But then you are my fix, or like a drug to me, bad for me but I wuv you
Wow this is to deep, you'll never read but still Fuck you

The answer is within

First let me begin by saying that I appreciate the struggle. That I adore the freedom fighters that fought so hard to guarantee my freedom as a black woman. I understand that till this day there are still a couple of bumps in the road that will lead to a racism free world. Right now that that's done lets dig in :)

On many occasions whilst speaking to fellow young people of my color everyone is so quick to claim that the white man hates the black community so much and this is why we have been unable to achieve the level of success that we desire. My response, ABSOLUTE BULL****. The problem in the black community is that we have failed to unite as a race and learnt to accept one another. In other words, a great part of the problem is within the community itself. At this point i'm expecting the 'Oh no she didn't just say that'. Well i just did. There is disunity in the community and this is a fact. For example, the constant divide between Africans and Caribbeans, The constant argument of who is better between Nigerians and Ghanaians, We categorizing ourselves by the tone of our skin.

Another problem within the black community is that somehow we have misplaced our priorities. The amount of rappers/MCs/Singers/Dancers our community produces perhaps needs to reduce. Not that I do not appreciate the arts but we as a people need to start exploring other professions that will empower the community. Why can we not spout out Doctors, Lawyers, Economists, Scientist, you know actual professions that our future generation will aim to be like. Reading the biography of Malcom X, it saddened me that this man through the Nation of Islam tried to encourage the black community to unite and empower ourselves. Furthermore upon leaving the Nation of Islam El Shabzz(as he was known after) went on to encourage Pan Africanism. Today is the story the same, you ask yourself

Truth is that I could go on and on and on about the problems in the community that need to be fixed but then in doing this i might not have the time to finish my plantain. I want to be part of a community that is united. I am tired of the constant claim of trying to inspire people through music, LOOK ELSEWHERE! I am tired of the constant light skin v dark skin debate. I am tired of the constant accusation that when a black person simply refuses to adapt to stereotype that they are 'coconuts'.

Lets improve ourselves, Lets unite, lets be more creative and innovative, lets depend less on the government, lets stop blaming racism for everything and finally for heaven's sake please stop using the N word, because you are black doesnt make it any better for you to use it

Well i'm off to finish my plantain. Adios!