Mamie Nyanga!

www.mamienyanga.com

2011-03-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

I'm now a .com!! yay! thanks to my lovely friends Jean Luc and Kyansa. I'm so happy and grateful! You rock guys! so everybody let's move to http://www.mamienyanga.com/

The cool thing about this is that I no longer have to use videos from Youtube only like blogspot restrains me too... Yay!

Not So Happy Birthday..

2011-03-06T02:11:00.000-08:00

Today is my 30th birthday. I had planned to tell you the many ways in which I am not in crisis but my heart is so heavy.

I've lost a friend today, his name is Michel M.M. A very nice, well mannered, ambitious and hard working young man. It is so surreal, I'm still trying to digest the news.
There are days like that when you want to shout "what is the point of all of our travails if we don't get to enjoy their fruits?" when you wanna say enough already with the taking but you remember all that is given to you by the grace of God.
I remember him talking about his karate class in Karen's living room. And all the great conversations we had about our plans and our future. The type of conversation we so rarely have with our countrymen here.
I remember how I met him in SMC's Cafeteria in the spring of 2001 with my friend Bamba Mbow, with his large "Hollywood white" smile telling me " I know who you are... You don't know me but I know your name is Sophie and I've been waiting to finally meet you" and I thought it was a prank...
Over the time we grew close and he was a brother I like to have around when we had parties at home. We would have hour long conversations and huge laughter... And he would always tell me we cannot live in the same city and only meet on parties.He was an over achiever and a very determined person. Last time I saw him was yet at another party...I can't believe he is gone. I love him dearly and I am already missing him a great deal.
RIP

Northern California!

2011-03-05T03:53:00.000-08:00

Northern California is so country. At places it reminded me of the Moungo Region in the Cameroon coastline with all the barracks, tole sheds, the orchards and the farms... it brought back so many memories...

Reminded me of Mbanga ....

So much for the copycats…

2011-03-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

Last week as I told you there were supposed to be riots allover Cameroon… Instead , Douala which is usually the hot spot of all insurrection in my country was pretty quiet except for the administrative quarter. Reportedly as soon as the protest of less than 50 started the police rounded them up and drove the protesters to 12km outside of town to give them a walk for their money… You got to give it to them, our officials have a great sense of humor!

Not so funny, it was later reported that some of the protester ended up in jail.... Still Compare these handful of people to the thousands in Egypt or Libya...

Last week too in Senegal, a young man set himself ablaze in an attempt to emulate the Tunisian revolt.

There are several lessons to be learned here: First of all, you cannot start a revolution just because someone else did. Whatever happened in Tunisia, Egypt and now Libya worked because there are large enough number of people living in these places at a point where the quality of life can be relatively traded for death. Second of all, the political climate has credible alternatives to the status quo: In Egypt for instance, the people trusted their army as a reliable alternative government whereas in Cameroon everywhere we look there are steady elements of the system intertwined with the people interest. To finish Egypt and Tunisia were grassroots sprung not the doing of a political party. You cannot says the Cameroonian people approve what we are doing no: The Cameroonian people has to be part of it for it to be successful. The fail attempt of Mba Obame to claim victory of a presidential election 2 years after contest just because of the Ivorian template is another great example of why social change cannot be artificially produced.

Back to LA!

2011-03-01T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm finally Back to LA with a lot to say... I had a bunch of stuff ready but I could not post them because my Internet access was very limited where I was. Nonetheless I'm back and if you will forgive the fact that some of the stuff is a bit outdated, I will be glad to post.
First of all let me tell you about my trip. I went to Sacramento, CA and I loved it!
I love travelling but I rarely get to indulge.. So I had this year old invitation from my friends Tidiane and Dominique and I thought now that I am unemployed it's great time for me to take them up on it. Before I even get to the trip let me tell you how awesome these two are!
Let start with Dominique: Dominique is a complete sweetheart. A kind, openhearted fun loving guy from Ivory Coast. He is ~~like~~ a brother to me. He is featured in a lot of my stories because he is the ultimate sidekick. I forgot to mention he is a great dancer and a great cook! He is the first person I allowed to call me So-So and now everybody does it... I really hope we stay friends for life because he is the bomb and if you don't know him yet then you should envy me cuz he is awesome!

Now to Tidiane: I met Tidiane through Dominique about a year ago and he is a character... I actually wrote a poem about him and I told them I would. He is picturesque. He should be a model or something like that... In another life he must have been a mandingue warrior... He is extremely sassy but of a very few words. He has this nonchalant majesty almost like a lion in the savanna which is both peaceful and domineering given his Apollonian stature but he is the sweetest person ever. Perk: He is a great cook.

Needless to say I was spoiled to the core for almost a week by these two! I was so spoiled i am rotten! I don't even know how to get back to my normalcy. I'm still blushing for the way I stuffed my face there.. ugh
Great folks!

( PS: I'm not kissing ass, they don't read this blog... lol!)

Before We Blame The Western World for All Of Our Woes

2011-02-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

A Muslim friend of mine posted the following Article on his Facebook page and a lot of concurrent testimonies ensued about the same phenomenon being spread as much in the mosques here in the US as it is in Northern Africa. I just think it is unfortunate that we are claiming all these chauvinistic panafricanistic ideals and yet can't even consider each other with dignity.

Egypt's Race Problem

By: Sunni M. Khalid

Posted: February 3, 2011 at 2:53 PM

For too many Egyptians, sub-Saharan Africa is a stereotypical exotic land of thick jungles and masses of poor, starving and black-skinned savages.

Because of my looks, my religion and my name, I have frequently been mistaken for Arab during my travels throughout the Middle East. It has been a mentally liberating sensation -- to leave the racial politics of the United States (in reality, this is simply the process of exchanging the ethnic politics of one land for those of another) and not to be regarded as simply a nondescript "black."
Over the years, I have, at various times, been mistaken for many different nationalities. But when I am in the Middle East, strangers most often mistake me for Egyptian. Of course, many African Americans look like Egyptians, right across the color spectrum. I would often scan a crowded street in Cairo and pick out the faces of Egyptians whose visages reminded me of family or friends.
Almost every time I arrived at the Cairo airport, the immigration official would examine my passport closely. Inevitably, the official would ask me a series of questions.
"Is this your name, Sunni Khalid?"
"Yes."
"Are you Egyptian?"
"No."
"Is your father Egyptian?"
"No."
"Is your mother Egyptian?"
"No."
"Where were you born?"
"Detroit."
The official would immediately become suspicious. After all, to his eyes, I looked like an ordinary Egyptian. Finally, another immigration official would show up, repeating the same series of questions. I'd have to repeat my answers a third or fourth time before still more disbelieving immigration officials.
As a last resort, I'd often put my hands up in a boxer's stance and start jumping around, throwing punches in the air. Then I'd turn to them and say, "I'm like Muhammad Ali-Clay." That would always bring smiles.
"Oh, you're a boxer! Do you know Muhammad Ali-Clay?"

"No, I'm like Muhammad Ali-Clay," I would say. "I'm an African-American Muslim."
Quickly, those quizzical looks would be replaced with smiles and handshakes. As they stamped my passport, the officials would tell me, "Welcome home."
But other blacks, whether American or not, have fared much worse than I did; they are never mistaken for Arabs.
Slender, beautiful, blue-black-skinned Southern Sudanese women, who walk around Cairo with their thick, kinky hair woven distinctively in intricate braids, are routinely the targets of verbal public abuse. Carloads of Arab men drive by, hanging out of windows, shouting catcalls, or making loud demands for sexual favors.
Over the years, Egypt has had a particularly difficult time coming to grips with its African identity. Many Egyptians do not consider themselves Africans. Some take offense even to being identified with Africa at all. When speaking to Egyptians who have traveled to countries below the Sahara, nearly all of them speak of going to Africa, or going down to Africa, as if Egypt were separate from the rest of the continent.
More than a few Egyptian women, for example, told me that they disliked the dark-skinned former President Anwar Sadat, ridiculed for years as "Nasser's black poodle." Sadat, whose mother was Sudanese, they insisted, "did not look Egyptian enough."
For too many Egyptians, sub-Saharan Africa is a stereotypical exotic land of thick jungles and masses of poor, starving and black-skinned savages. Ironically, a little more than a generation ago, Cairo was the nerve center for the continent's liberation movement. Today the state-controlled media devote scant attention to the affairs of the continent below the Sahara. Even the occasional visit by a head of state from sub-Saharan Africa is greeted with smiles by snickering Egyptian government officials, especially when African visitors choose to wear their national dress.
This was not always the case. In 1966, following the coup in Ghana, Egypt's first president, Gamal Abdel-Nasser, sent for the Egyptian wife and half-Egyptian children of Ghana's deposed leader, Kwame Nkrumah. Nasser died suddenly in 1970, and much has changed since then.
Sub-Saharan Africans, who have fled as refugees to Egypt from Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea, are routinely targeted for periodic security roundups in Cairo. In December 2005, Egyptian riot police brutally attacked a camp of Sudanese refugees in Cairo who were protesting their treatment. In front of TV cameras, at least 28 and as many as 100 refugees were killed, and hundreds of others were injured, arrested, imprisoned or deported. There was little public protest.
My wife, Zeinab, a Kenyan Somali, endured a series of racial indignities during our time in Egypt. She would shop Road Nine, the trendy commercial drag in Maadi that caters mostly to foreigners and wealthy Egyptians. More than once, she would be standing in line at the checkout counter, when an older, fair-skinned Egyptian woman would arrogantly walk from the rear of the line and place her packages on the conveyor belt in front of Zeinab, as if my wife didn't exist. Indignantly, Zeinab would glare at the woman and dump her packages at the back of the line -- or even go so far as to grab the woman by the collar to make her point.

One afternoon, as we ate lunch at our favorite restaurant in Cairo's sprawling Khan el-Khalili market, we noticed two scowling Egyptian women staring at us from across the room. I left Zeinab to go to the restroom. As I returned to our table, one of the women who had been glaring at us earlier, an older Egyptian woman, accosted me.
"Don't you know better?" she asked in Arabic. "How dare you bring a woman like that into a place like this?"

As far as this woman was concerned, Zeinab, dressed casually in slacks, her hair in braids, was obviously a "Sudanese prostitute," and I was taken to be her Arab "john." Certainly, in her eyes, no respectable Egyptian man would ever cavort publicly with a black woman.
"Excuse me, ma'am," I replied politely in Arabic, "you've made a mistake. That woman is my wife."
My protests were futile. The woman kept tugging indelicately on my sleeve, castigating me for my "scandalous" public behavior.
Before I left Cairo, I met a group of sub-Saharan African students enrolled at the prestigious al-Azhar University. They told me about the racial harassment they were subjected to on a daily basis on the streets of Cairo by Egyptian Arabs.
"I learned something much different from what I believed," said Bala, a native of northern Nigeria and a graduate student at the American University in Cairo, who lived in Egypt for six years. "I thought [the Arabs] were our brothers in Islam, but they don't bother about that when you're black. ... They pretend that you are a brother in Islam, but this is different from what they hold in their hearts and in their minds."
He told me that for many Muslims from sub-Saharan Africa, the spiritual solidarity with Egyptian Muslims was misplaced. "I was coming out of masjid [mosque] in a place called Dar-el-Malik," Bala said. "So we used to say 'Salaam' to one another when we came out of salat [prayer]. There was one child, called Mohamed, and we were used to shaking hands with him. And one day, I came out to shake his hand and he refused. He told me his father told him never to shake hands with a Sudani -- that is black. So he is telling me his father told him he cannot say, 'Salaam,' to any [Africans]."
Through Bala, I met other African students, including some who were studying at al-Azhar University, with the hope of returning to their native lands as imams and religious scholars. Some of the students told me that they experienced racism within al-Azhar to such an extent that they eventually renounced their vows as Muslims.
Some Egyptians, they told me, called Africans hounga (a nonsense word) or asked, "What time is it?" This was apparently done so that the sub-Saharan Africans would look down and be reminded of their dark-skinned wrists, where their watches might be. The jokesters would immediately laugh, but the Africans wouldn't catch on to the joke until much later.
"Egyptians ask you if you live in trees," Bala said. "Or, 'Why are you black?' 'Is your country hot?' So, this is how we know that there is something called racism here. We are Muslims, not because of the Arabs, but Muslims despite what the Arabs have done to us. Even my worst enemy, I would not ask him to come to Egypt for studies, let alone my son."
As Egypt moves forward in a post-Mubarak era, it will have to look at healing many of the wounds that have been opened and have festered over the years. This includes mending ties among Egyptians across religious lines, between the Muslim majority and the Coptic Christian minority, as well as across racial fault lines, with more acceptance of the non-Arab Nubian minority and the significant number of African refugees living and working in Egypt. How these minorities are treated in the future may speak volumes about how far Egyptians have come, or have to go, in treating one another.
Sunni M. Khalid is the managing news editor at WYPR-FM and has reported extensively throughout Africa and the Middle East. He reported from Cairo for three years.

Events! Van Vicker in Cali!

2011-02-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

Van Vicker finally decided to make it to the West Coast... He is premiering his Movie Paparazzi- Eye in the Dark In San Jose, Stockton and Oakland: March 4th , 5th and 6th...
For more info click here.

En voyage!

2011-02-27T13:04:00.000-08:00

Hello Darlings,

I'm in Northern California with limited web access... I'll post more original content when I return. Til then I'll try to share a bunch of cool stuff from the web. All should be good in the next 48 hours.

Kisses!

Je me demande bien ce qu'elle dirait cette semaine l'amie Calixthe?

2011-02-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

Ode de Calixthe Beyala à Khadafi

Dans une tribune au Figaro le 11 décembre 2007, Calixthe Beyala a dressé une ode à Khadafi. On peut y lire :

''"Le colonel Kadhafi est un homme hautement respecté dans son pays et en Afrique. Ce respect n’est pas lié, comme aiment à le clamer les langues chagrines, aux pétrodollars, dont, dit-on, la Libye regorge, mais à ses actions. Il a été de tous les combats de libération des peuples opprimés. Les combattants de l’ANC en Afrique du Sud ont été heureux de le compter parmi leurs plus grands soutiens, et les Noirs maltraités de l’ancienne Rhodésie lui doivent un morceau de leur accession à l’indépendance. Autour de sa personnalité se cristallisent les mille espoirs de l’Afrique de demain, celle qui aspire au bien-être, celle qui veut compter et compte déjà dans le concert des Nations, celle qui, pleine d’espoir et dont les yeux sont braqués sur l’horizon 2015, attend impatiemment que se confirme la création des États-Unis d’Afrique, cette organisation qui la verra plus forte, plus unie, plus que jamais pacifiée.

Oui, Kadhafi en est un des symboles forts, il en est ainsi, et pour moi qui ai visité à maintes reprises la Libye, je n’y ai point vu de peuple opprimé tel que décrit dans la presse, je n’ai point rencontré d’homme affamé, mourant sur les trottoirs. Tout au contraire, j’ai été dans des hôpitaux gratuits, ultramodernes, où chaque ci toyen avait accès aux soins ; j’ai rencontré des hommes heureux de me dire qu’à vingt-cinq ans, chacun d’entre eux avait automatiquement droit à un appartement climatisé avec eau et électricité ; j’ai rencontré des jeunes femmes rieuses, voilées certes, mais souriantes, car, grâce à Kadhafi, elles fréquentent de plus en plus les universités, elles sont avocates, femmes d’affaires, médecins, mal gré le courroux des chefs religieux, qui voient leur pouvoir s’effriter face à cet homme qui a donné une place importante aux femmes dans un pays musulman ; ce n’est pas moi qui le dis, mais les statistiques des Nations unies soulignent qu’au pays du Guide, un fonctionnaire sur cinq est une femme. J’y ai vu de magnifiques avenues, des enfants scolarisés, je n’y ai pas vu de Libyens faisant la queue devant les ambassades étrangères pour y quémander un visa, afin de fuir leur terre. Bien sûr qu’il traîne comme tout un chacun des scories, mais cela mé rite-t-il un tel déchaînement de haine, d’anathèmes ? Pour ma part, je n’ai malheureusement pas vu, à la courte échelle de ma vie, un pays parfaitement démocrate, égalitaire ou du moins pratiquant une équité sans faille."''

Au sujet des protestations de Rama Yade, elle écrit préférer : "entendre Rama Yade, notre jolie sous-ministresse aux Droits de l’homme, tenir des propos aussi insultants contre la Chine et plus particulièrement la Russie. C’est curieux, mais on a la désagréable impression qu’elle ne retrouve sa langue que lorsqu’il s’agit de l’Afrique. Curieux !"

Elle est en revanche beaucoup plus séduite par le discours de Nicolas Sarkozy : "Je me suis toujours opposée aux discours de Sarkozy relatifs à l’Afrique. Voilà qu’il me plaît qu’il reçoive le colonel Kadhafi avec les honneurs dignes de son rang. Voilà qui me fait sourire. Voilà qui me met quelque baume au cœur. Voilà qui apaise quelque peu les relations France-Afrique. Voilà qui réconcilie quelque peu, juste un petit peu, les Afro-Français avec leur nouveau président."

vendredi 14 décembre 2007

Un Autre jour Une Autre Bourde!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3s5c1_kadhafitentative-viol-clash-hinterm

Rape, kinda rape, life and choice

2011-02-25T00:18:00.000-08:00

Things that make me scream~
It really is a man's world I guess...

Camerounais, il faut changer !

2011-02-23T14:18:00.000-08:00

By Jessica Dina

L’état de décrépitude avancée dans lequel se trouve le Cameroun, au mépris des petits sursauts que des vendeurs d’illusion mettent en avant, est suffisant grave pour qu’on se remette rapidement en question. Il ne s’agit pas seulement d’un problème matériel se traduisant par la pauvreté du plus grand nombre, mais d’un problème de moralité. Le constat est clair et sans appel : Il semblerait que le Camerounais soit un être malhonnête par défaut, porté sur la corruption, le vol et les détournements de fonds, qui n’a aucune notion de l’intérêt commun, et pense que toutes les valeurs morales prônées telles que l’honnêteté et l’intégrité n’ont de réalité que dans le monde des idées. Ici sur terre, il n’y a que la roublardise qui paie. Voilà la devise, même inconsciemment, du Camerounais, à tous les niveaux de l’échelle sociale, au regard de nombreuses expériences malheureuses.

J’imagine déjà les objections que peut susciter une telle affirmation. Si vous, lecteurs, vous considérez que vous ne rentrez pas dans cette catégorie d’individus et vous sentez offusqués par cette affirmation, je ne peux que vous féliciter, car vous êtes exceptions et méritez de véritables encouragements. Mais ôtons les œillères que la fierté nous oblige à porter et regardons la vérité en face ! Le Camerounais, dans son pays d’origine, évolue dans un système auquel il adhère déjà tellement pleinement qu’il tente de l’exporter avec lui quand il s’envole vers d’autres horizons.

Plusieurs éléments peuvent parfaitement illustrer cet état d’esprit.
Des plaintes fréquentes sont émises, à propos du racket orchestré par les agents de la douane aux deux principaux aéroports internationaux du Cameroun. Ce qu’on oublie de mentionner c’est le taux impressionnant de voyageurs camerounais qui transportent des biens et marchandises devant faire l’objet d’une déclaration et soumis à des taxes. Si il est anormal que des voyageurs soient littéralement agressés par des douaniers soucieux de leur soutirer quelque devise étrangère, il est également anormal que le réflexe du camerounais soit de se soustraire aux taxes qu’il doit normalement payer. Combien d’entre vous n’ont pas eu recours à une connaissance, pour esquiver les contrôles de l’aéroport, car pleinement conscients du contenu douteux de leur valise, d’un point de vue fiscal ? Combien d’entre vous falsifient les déclarations sur l’honneur du contrôle sanitaire pour payer 1000 à 2000 frs CFA de moins que ce qu’ils auraient payé s’ ils avaient juste dit la vérité ?

Parlant toujours de douanes… A la décharge de tous les commerçants véreux, le système douanier camerounais est tellement opaque qu’il est impossible d’évaluer objectivement le coût de revient du dédouanement d’une marchandise. Les moins scrupuleux des douaniers en profitent pour inventer des taxes fictives dont les recettes atterrissent directement dans leurs comptes en banque et servent à financer les nombreux châteaux à la périphérie de Douala. Malheureusement, que dire également de tous les importateurs, réguliers ou occasionnels, qui sont toujours à l’affût des bons coups et réseaux pour esquiver le paiement des taxes ? Si la priorité dans la lutte contre le détournement des fonds porte sur le secteur douanier, comme neuf autres secteurs, ce n’est pas seulement la faute de l’administration tant décriée, mais également d’une grande partie des usagers, qui, sans doute lassés de subir la corruption, ont jugé intelligent d’en devenir des éléments proactifs.

Les policiers et gendarmes, « mange-mil », sont considérés par la plupart des automobilistes comme l’ennemi public numéro 1. Les contrôles inopinés, les contraventions fictives, la quasi-mendicité orchestrés par ces derniers en agacent plus d’un. Pourtant, on constate que ce sont ces mêmes automobilistes prompts à la critique qui n’hésitent pas à affronter bravement les routes sans toutes les pièces officielles nécessaires à leur véhicule, à glisser les premiers un billet de deux mille francs au policier lorsqu’ils lui tendent un dossier qu’ils savent incomplet .

Que dire des parents qui se proposent spontanément de payer une place à leurs enfants dans des établissements où ces derniers ont lamentablement échoué le concours ? Et cette pratique vulgarisée qui consiste en réduire son âge réel et qui n’est pas seulement l’apanage des footballeurs ? Quelle confiance accorderiez vous à un autre camerounais dans le cadre d’un business ? Pour ceux qui évoluent en occident, quel sont les premiers adjectifs qui vous viennent en tête lorsqu’il vous est demandé de caractériser le « milieu camerounais » ? malhonnêtes, menteurs, ne reviennent-ils pas fréquemment ?

Je pourrai m’étendre ainsi à l’infini sur ces petites pratiques de malversations, tellement courantes chez les camerounais qu’elles en deviennent normales. L’excuse habituelle est que la conjoncture au Cameroun oblige tout le monde à s’adapter. Tout le monde se dit victime, et n’estime pas avoir d’autre choix que de se plier à des pratiques, qui, une fois généralisées, font du Cameroun la rivière de crocodiles dont beaucoup se méfient. Lorsqu’on naît, et qu’on grandit dans cet environnement, on est nécessairement soit même infecté.

Il est temps de cesser l’hypocrisie qui consiste en rejeter la responsabilité entière de l’échec structurel camerounais en un homme ou un parti. Non pas que le régime en place au Cameroun depuis presque trente ans ne soit pas à l’origine de ce qui se passe. Le paradoxe est du même ordre que de se demander qui, de l’œuf ou la poule, est à l’origine de l’autre. Autant les théories de Darwin ou la genèse dans la bible peuvent apporter un début de réponse à ceux qui veulent résoudre ce paradoxe, autant le simple bon sens nous amène à désigner le premier responsable des problèmes camerounais. Au lendemain des indépendances, le Cameroun et les camerounais étaient différents. La situation s’est lentement détériorée lorsque les personnes de rang ont réalisé peu à peu que le navire avançait sans véritable commandement et qu’aucun compte ne leur était demandé par rapport aux responsabilités qu’elles avaient vis-à-vis du peuple camerounais. « Le rang ne confère ni privilège, ni pouvoir, il impose des responsabilités » Cette phrase de Louis Armstrong aurait dû inspirer l’élite camerounaise chargée d’œuvrer pour le développement du Cameroun. Occultant son devoir, elle a mis un point d’honneur à satisfaire d’abord ses envies de plus en plus gargantuesques au fil du temps, sans que le président de la république ne s’y oppose. La gangrène s’est ensuite lentement propagée vers les couches inférieures, au point où de nos jours, la corruption est généralisée. Le système s’auto-entretient, et les camerounais suicidaires ne sont plus en mesure de distinguer ce qui est bon, ou mauvais, dans l’intérêt général qui se confond à l’intérêt personnel, tribal, ethnique.

Le système corrompu et peu fiable produit son élite qui est à l’image du peuple au service duquel elles sont : obnubilée par l’intérêt personnel, au détriment du bien commun. Cette élite veille avant tout à la perpétuation du système qui leur a permis d’arriver où elles sont. D’où la nécessité pour les Camerounais à qui il reste encore quelques bribes de morale et surtout de raison, de remettre en question leur comportement au jour le jour.

La perte d’intégrité, au plus bas de l’échelle sociale, par nécessité ou par choix, contribue à fortifier un système dans lequel les camerounais savent pourtant que leur présent n’a aucun avenir. Comme les vampires se nourrissent du sang de leurs victimes, le système corrompu camerounais que tout le monde souhaite combattre, vit des écarts de comportement du peuple, à tous les niveaux de l’échelle sociale. La ménagère qui choisit de soudoyer un professeur afin qu’il fasse passer son fils en classe supérieure refusera de l’admettre, mais elle n’est pas différente du ministre véreux qui détourne en toute impunité les milliards destinés à construire une nouvelle centrale hydro-électrique, et est donc responsable des différents délestages qui ont empêché son fils de réviser correctement. La boucle se boucle, et le vice s’autoalimente.

Pour que le Cameroun change, nous devons d’abord changer nous même,apprendre à résister aux sirènes de la facilité, faire de l’honnêteté et de la vertu, les piliers de notre société. La rigueur et la moralisation, ironiquement, restent encore les meilleures armes pour fragiliser le système camerounais actuel qui a montré ses limites. Nous devons changer !!

No need to say I approve This message!

No Shame to Their Game!

2011-02-23T00:50:00.000-08:00

This morning is suppose to be the beginning of a riot to end Cameroon's president Paul Biya nearly 30 years reign.
While I am a big supporter of change for my country, I don't believe that rioting just to do like our northern brothers in the Maghreb is the way out of our predicament. I'll comment more on that by the end of the day when we see what happened. Til then check out the leftovers of former Tunisian President Ben Ali... Ridiculous: just to think that there is enough in this single house to build a local school nursery and many other first aid projects... SMH

Sunday Soundtrack!

2011-02-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was blissful despite a soaked SoCal weather! I had a great time at a mixer courtesy of Jife & Co will tell you about that later... When I got home, I had a chat with a former friend who wanted to be a lover and that I wanted to keep as friend on love and consumption; the whole rigamarole about not being friends with someone from the opposite sex. Check why I'm calling him former...

every guy's dream it seems..

Men are really from mars. I am dumbfounded that someone would tell me the only way they can befriend someone of the opposite sex is if they are dipping in their panties. So what are women? walking fuckholes? He goes as far to say he has never had a female friend before, and has too much going on in his life to be investing his time in a female friend he is not doing. Mind you, he is in a relationship! I say if you were to say that and were single I would totally understand: However, if you have too much going on in your life, messing around while already involved in another relationship should be the last thing on your mind! How about that?

I call that consumption. It's not love, it's not even likeliness, it is pure consumption. For me it's like going to the mall smelling the Cinnabons and making my way to the food court. if they are not ready there will be a slight disappointment but I won't carry it all the way home: they are only valuable during the enjoyment. For me it's just like that. Making that kind of statement and "I really care about you" should not even be uttered in the same mouth. True feelings are not bargained: whether it's love, hatred or indifference they are not conditioned. So let call it like it is. You are an unavailable person who wants a cheap playmate. I actually realized while writing this that I forgot to ask him what was the policy in case the bedroom performance was not up to part... Shhsh stuff women get to hear... Good Sunday y'all!
I have nothing against friends with benefits but let not try to pee on people and tell them it's raining. This is exactly how people set themselves up with bitter EXes... I'm not even looking at the scandalous love triangle in the background... gives me the hibigibies, uuggh!

Building to March 8th

2011-02-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

March the 8th is a very important day for me: it's the international day of women.
If you haven't roger that yet, I'm a feminist. So for the occasion I've decided to give you an opinion piece centered around women and gender rights once a week til then and perhaps beyond depending on current events and my inspiration.

For starter let me tell you how I became a feminist, what it means to me and where I see myself as a young African woman in the world.

As long as I can remember my family has been dominated by females. Not only in number but also in actual power of decision. Back in the days, and in some areas til today, having a girl in Cameroon was like having no child because in most Cameroonian tribes, females are not eligible to take over their father's wealth, names and cannot perform certain tradition rites relative to their family status in the traditional society. This position became later very detrimental to the condition of women in our society. There was no point investing in their education because when they would get married ( marriage being an automatic part of a woman's path in the Cameroonian context) they would take all that investment to their husband's family.

While one could argue that such considerations can be washed off through education, anyone who has been exposed to West African men will tell you that having a male child is still an unshakable value that goes up to tell the virility of a man.This belief is so strong that even the most educated people in Cameroon are still trippin over the gender of their children.

My father, who found himself with 4 daughters and no boys decided to make the best out of his rather "unfortunate" predicament. My sisters and I were taught how to assemble furniture and gadgets: From changing car tires to fuses and setting up the stereo and satellite TV Box at home. We were at it! He took us to church on Sunday mornings and to the Soccer games if we were good in the afternoon. There was nothing we could not do in the name of gender.

My Grandfather, the second most important male figure in my life, liked character: if he felt weakness in you he would really make you feel like a stepchild but if you could stand up to him, you would definitely win his heart... He made a point to toughen my notoriously "precious" self by teaching me how open a bottle with my teeth and kill chickens!!??

These little achievements were only possible under my father's roof and fed my self esteem big time. When I went to my relatives for the holidays or the weekend, I was always stunned by my female cousins catering to their brothers and being helpless in front of mere task as taking the trash out. The very strange thing is that those "princes" had no problem taking care of themselves when they came over to our place where gender equality ruled! I can even say that our competence earned us a bit more respect than they had for their helpless sisters...

One very key element of my life was also that I had a working mom: My mom worked and went to school so she would always come home later than my dad. My mother lives in the belief that the sky is her limit and was more of a cheerleader than the enabler that my father was.

The mighty capable girls of my parents only had one command that was stated in many ways depending on their mood :"My girls are definitely better than many of those useless boys these people have been parading around", "Do not ever make me sorry for having girls!" yeah, basically "Do not to embarrass us".

One of my dad jokes or threat was that if we were mischievous he would marry us off; the usual formula was " You are beginning to cost me too much, if you break this X one more time I'm marrying you off to the first person who can refund me all that I spent on you so far".

By the time I was 14, I realized there was no dowry in my family therefore it was an empty threat: however, every time one of us is on the edge of trouble, my sisters and I over the years keep asking the troublesome one if she is ready for marriage... LOL

And Marriage or the intricacy of it in the Cameroonian society in mutation was a big factor in the formation of my feminist conscience. My numerous female cousins were for the most older than me, married or about to be by the time I entered puberty. I found out at 12 that a husband could prevent you from travelling, holding a job or attending school not by sulking around the house, but because even in a pending divorce, a married woman still needed his written permission to enjoy these privileges that I beheld as rights. As I grew, I began to see my female relatives and family friends being dealt all sorts of hardships due to their gender and I asked myself what contest did they fail to have been born women?

When you asked yourself such question you also begin to wonder if you would have rather be a male. For me the answer is and has always been No. I like being a woman. I actually love it. I like looking pretty, pampering myself, I like the skin that I'm in. Then I resolved that if I was not going to allow myself go through the kind of things I'd witness and was not going to change my gender, the only option left for me was to do my best to change the state of things.

I did not say I'm going to become a feminist. I just grew into feminism as my stands on various issues got closer to feminists ideals. As a matter of fact, in my early years, I did not like being called a feminist because of all the negative ideas of bitter, male castrating bitchiness associated with the concept: But overtime I got completely confident in who I wanted to be and am a very proud feminist because I am not trying to take anybody's place in the world, I'm not out to say "death to all male kind" for treating us like crap all these centuries, I'm not out for revenge or blood, all I want is to be treated fairly when I put my sweat in my work, to be respected socially to be valued and recognized just like anybody else. For me that's what feminism is about.

Other Events...

2011-02-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

I completely forgot to mention this weekend other big Happening: The Long Beach Annual Reggae Festival, which is probably the biggest reggae festival in LA County.
I never attend because I can't stand the smell of weed even outdoors: Plus you can never tell what will happen in a large inhibited crowd.
The lineup this year includes amongst others: Richie Spice, Gyptian, Israel Vibrationsm, Half Pint, Freddie McGregor and Marcia Griffiths...

This Weekend Events

2011-02-17T00:14:00.000-08:00

This Weekend is the All-Star Game Weekend, yay! And for once it's in LA double "Yay!!"
You are wondering why I'm talking about the weekend on Wednesday, well it started today with the Los Angeles Pan African Film Festival. I had set to see at least 3 of the movies featured unfortunately due to bad weather and unusual sleepiness I was grounded today.. Good Thing They are showing more than Once. It would be such a shame if I completely miss it because they are featuring the movies at a theater in Culver City at about 8 minutes on a bus from my house ( 5 minutes driving), that I really have no excuse not to attend at least this year! It runs from the 16th through the 23rd of February, go check it out...
There are a few movies I want to see so badly:

The Figurine
CIS Las Gidi
Wamba

There are a lot of other great ones but I watched some of them already like the Cameroonian Movie Hanging with the Boys ( Sortir du Nkuta) or The Ghanaians I Sing Of a Well and The Perfect Picture

Why Buju?

2011-02-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

By JENNIFER KAY, Associated Press Jennifer Kay, Associated Press – Sun Feb 13, 7:38 pm ET

MIAMI – Grammy-winning singer Buju Banton checked out some cocaine, put some on his finger and tasted it — all of it caught on law enforcement video inside a Florida warehouse. Now he has another chance to explain why.
His second trial is scheduled to begin Monday, just a day after his 2010 album "Before the Dawn" won the Grammy award for best reggae album. The trial comes five months after a previous jury hung on federal drug trafficking charges that could put him in prison for life.
Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, claims he was entrapped by a confidential informant and got in over his head while trying to impress the man, who implied he could help Banton's music career. The U.S. government says Banton conspired with two associates to buy a shipment of cocaine from an undercover officer.
The two other men pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with investigators. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled next month.
Banton, 37, was arrested in December 2009 at his Miami-area home.
He remained in custody until November, when another Jamaican singer, Stephen Marley, reggae legend Bob Marley's son, posted his South Florida home as bond. Banton has been on house arrest except for a Miami concert last month to raise money for legal expenses.
Federal prosecutors initially charged Banton with drug conspiracy and gun charges, and in November added two more drug-related charges.
"Buju is not guilty. The number of charges doesn't change that," Banton's attorney, David Markus, said in an e-mail. "The prosecution wasn't happy with the first trial, so now it is trying to throw as many charges against the wall in the hopes something sticks."
Markus has argued the singer, who rose from the slums of Kingston to massive success in the 1990s, was a victim of entrapment by an informant who's been paid $3.3 million for working with law enforcement over several years.

During his first trial, the Rastafarian singer, his long dreadlocks tied in a braid, testifed that he talked a lot about cocaine with the informant, Alexander Johnson. But he said he was only trying to impress the man, who claimed to have music industry connections. He said he had no interest in buying or selling drugs.

"I talk too much, but I am not a drug dealer," Banton said on the stand.
In excerpts from their recorded conversations from July 2009 through December 2009 that were played for the jury, the husky-voiced singer told Johnson that he financed drug deals and that he wanted to sell drugs in Europe, buy drugs from the Caribbean and South America, and use Johnson's boat to transport drugs. The men met on a trans-Atlantic flight at the end of Banton's European tour for his album "Rasta Got Soul."
Assistant U.S. Attorney James Preston argued Banton's conversations with the informant put the conspiracy into motion. Banton testified that he never wanted nor expected Johnson to set up a cocaine deal, despite what he said in the recordings.
Johnson testified that he surprised Banton with cocaine at an undercover police warehouse in Sarasota on Dec. 8, 2009. Surveillance video shows Banton tasting the drugs.
The singer was not present two days later when his two associates, Ian Thomas and James Mack, were caught on video trying to buy the drugs at the warehouse.
His Grammy-winning album's 10 songs were recorded in Kingston, Jamaica, before his arrest. The singer worked with producers and engineers over the phone from jail to finish the album before its September release.
In an e-mail from his manager last week, Banton thanked his fans for their support and celebrated his fifth Grammy nomination.
"'Before The Dawn' is a prophetic album and if it happens to win I am grateful," Banton said. "If it doesn't, I still say thanks for the appreciation and the recognition because music is an art form that cannot be denied by any living soul. Music is my life."
In Jamaica, some fans have theorized Banton was framed by the U.S. government or gay activists who have protested violent, homophobic lyrics from early in Banton's career as a brash dancehall singer. Shows in several U.S. cities were canceled on his 2009 tour because of the protests.
Banton jabbed at his detractors during his Jan. 16 performance in Miami, referencing one of his controversial songs and the messiah of his Rastafarian faith.
He said: "Why they want to see Buju Banton cry? Is it because I said 'Boom Bye Bye'? Is it because I say Selassie I? Is it because I'm black and not shy?"

Happy Valentine!

2011-02-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

I do not celebrate valentine. Don't panic I'm not an altermondialist fighting the pink and red consumerism frenzy that this day brings about.. I just was never in a position to celebrate valentine. And for cause: I have never been in love or in a relationship during valentine and I actually remember breaking up weeks or days right before then : Truth be told, the most that I can recall is a date on valentine 2 years ago can you imagine!?

Would I celebrate it if the two previous conditions were to be met (being in love and in a relationship)? I don't know.It is a strange feeling to be a hopeless romantic and not having been part of the mecca of public display of affection that valentine is...
I remember discussing valentine with one of my friend who was complaining about his girlfriend's attachment to it and he said that valentine is everyday for those who are in love... So my dear friends I guess screw valentines and salutes!

This is not about Ivory Coast: Paternalism, Heroism and Other Smoke Screens

2011-02-14T13:22:00.000-08:00

There is a debate this weekend on Ivory Coast Post Electoral Crisis Taking place next weekend on CNE and someone asked me to attend because of my "Pro-Ouattara" stand (whatever that means).

As a young African, I find it rather unfortunate that manicheaism has become the standard in appreciation of events. If you are not with us, you are against us: There are no if , and buts. I don't believe that there is one single sane person out there who wishes his country ill; Just like I do not believe that a group or individual has the monopoly of the solutions to all the problems of his country. Proof? even the worst dictators out there thread in the name of the greater good; the only difference is that they are on an egotistical megalomaniac trip that perpetrates in them the idea that they are indispensable. So they are not against their country, but just usually lose the insight of the consequences of their government on the people.

After all let's not forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and that only very few people can summon the courage to admit to failure and let someone else takeover especially when they are are in the public eye. We've all seen Hosni Mubarak on TV last wednesday talking like without him his country would spin out of control when he asphyxiated it for over 40 years...

Panafricanism and Nationalism To The Rescue

I once answered to a friend of mine who called me a sellout just because I did not see the evil french man hand's in every predicament of subsaharian Africa that I was a "Pragmatic African". Here is my position: Leaders must do what is right for the interest of their people at every given time; if they are scrupulous and decide to have regards for the rest of the world while doing so great! If they don't, let the rest of the world get leaders of their own that will protect their own interest. In the meanwhile, no matter the philanthropic lefty idea they behold, let not fool ourselves: most westerners are glad to enjoy goods and comfort emanating from the exploitation of others and if those said worldly humanists were to find themselves in the precarity in which we are dwelling in the 3rd world today in the name of same charitable principles, they would be rioting.
This is why I do not hold grudges against any western nation that preys on Africa but on Africans for victimizing themselves. It is a cynical vantage I concede, but it is as real as it gets. Our hunger for heroes has brought us to a dark place where we must have a vilain and must have a hero.
The problem is that the hero is never held accountable. Batman never gets arrested for being a vigilante, or called out on his philandering ways... Does Superman ever gets questionned for his excessive use of force? So why would the "fathers" of our nations be challenged?
The essence of the Hero status is that he is doing something that the common of mortals is not expected to pull off and therefore cannot be questionned. He knows best and in that way is a tyrant depending on what side you are looking at; And if he fails, it must be a trick of the vilain who is at it again.
If you have any doubt about this analysis, just look at the opacity of the political life in most of our countries.
The reality is that if there is a billion to buy cars, presidential planes and watchanmacallit, There is money to build schools hospitals and roads: That being my premise, I only look at results and thereby refuse to swallow that infrastructures were not built in a country where leaders drown in luxury because another country only gives them a tiny portion of their natural ressources: it's plain Bullshit.
I think it's about time people STOP trying to save us whomever they may be whether it's from within or outside. Seriously, I would really like for each of us to take control of things and hold people accountable for their actions and you will see how we can all get along. Michael Moore once said on Jay Leno's "every government should be scared of it's people for democracy to be effective".

" when people show you who they really are believe them"

2011-02-13T00:44:00.000-08:00

This is a special opinion piece on my girl Renkah's request.
She asked me to write about it following one of our numerous talks... I strongly believe that half the time we get let down by setting ourselves up for disappointment.
From the time you meet them through your conflicts and even til your final fallout, folks tend to remain consistent. People are who they are: Don't ever fool yourself to think that there is something special about you that prevents the mischievious persons in your life to do onto you what they've been known to do to others. It's all a matter of opportunity and disposition. Unless you can guarantee that you will never step, offend, be misunderstood by your friend, or most importantly behold something of comon interest, you are pretty much at the mercy of their true self when push comes to shove.

In french we say " A l'amour comme a la guerre" meaning in love as in war, a con will be a con and a push-over a push-over. So ask yourself what is the worst they have done and what could they do? If you have the answer get ready because you are up soon!

Your Famed Ass Owes Me Big Time!

2011-02-10T23:44:00.000-08:00

Sadly, I am often taken to the singlely unsignificant decision to blacklist an artist from my life and media players: It's not that I'm some bitter lady plotting in the confinement of her room; it's that something must be done and sometimes, just sometimes, I believe that if more people express their disapproval of the talent's behavior, the slow fault back to commonality will do them right.

While I do understand that everyone has a bad day, I also believe that most of us don't get to carry about our attitudes to our bosses at the work place without consequences; so why should they come in the public where people who cut their checks mingle to put a fuss?

Last Summer I banned P-Square from my media players and the ban lasted a good 6 months and believe it or not it was well deserved and soothing to the annoyance they had brought upon me. Check this out: Last year a US Tour was pompously advertized to several major cities. The benevolent fan that I am even went as far as promoting the event free of charge just because we so rarely get to have successful african events in Southern California due to the size of our community: Hence, anytime one comes my way whether I'm attending or not, I really push it to my contacts. So well done that summer that I had brought my friends to purchase $150 VIP Passes to the Redondo Performance Arts Amphitheatre to watch P-Square and J.Martins...

Let me tell you the show was set to start at 8 PM so my then pregnant sidekick and I were flying over the 405 Freeway in order to get there early before any lines forms. Before I go any further let me tell you what the $150 charge was for: a concert and a private afterparty.
I won't go into details but just know that we got no after party and a 5 minutes show from the Okoyes. I was livid. They made sure to blame it on the organizers but come on, these guys did not show at the venue til 11.45 PM and the venue shuts down at midnight! As of today the only apologies I've seen were from the event promoters on their facebook page: No refunds issued and No words from P-Squared who had also that week cancelled their Atlanta show without prior notice!
Why should I buy downloads and concerts tickets for such ingrates? (Yes, I do buy!)
So I blacklisted them and warned my BFF to keep their music off her playlist when we are riding... She is still laughing about it but I took my ban very seriously!

Here is a snippet of the 5 minutes show: Nice but unfortunately I did not pay for 5 minutes but for 2hours!

I'm not singling out P-Square or musical performers, but athletes too; Look at the last World Cup in SA: If you were Cameroonian or French you had every reason to feel disrespected and unappreciated. Overpaid spoiled nouveau rich idiots that got millions to go embarrass their countries with total disregard for the stans.

Over the half baked performances or lack thereof. Let's move on to the jerks: The snobs and the rude ones. I call the Master P's, Loretta devine, Tyrese Gibson, djimon Hounsou and Geremi Njitap of this world for those who have ever had the displeasure of meeting them in person... Terrorizing staffs, brushing off fans, ignoring them, giving dirty looks back for greetings... Come on guys who made you?

My Favourite Blogs!

2011-02-09T02:15:00.001-08:00

On my daily tour ( Yes everyday I do a 10 sites roundup to the least):

TMZ : What would be my life without Harvey Levine? lol
Bossip : Watch out for viruses my sister knows something about it...
Mediatakeout: It is THE black gossip blog ... I just wish sometime they would be less ghetto... I guess that's also why I lik'em...
Camfoot**: Because i'm Cameroonian and I like Soccer!! They have daily updates on Cameroonian soccer and players from around the globe inclding the local as in back home MTN championship... For true Football fans.. the comments are priceless... If you don't know any there is nothing like and angry african and when it comes to snide and smart comments in french or english there is nothing like a Cameroonian!
Cameroon-info.Net** : Again don't even read the articles jump straight to the comments section although they often turn into tribalist or anti-french rants half the time you will be rolling on the floor laughing... But it is one good cameroonian information website.
Bellanaija.com: It is a nigerian blog turned website that is focused on arts and culture. I think that nigerian culture has been very underrated for a long time and they are coming back with a vengeance! If you could just click on the link you'd see exactly what I'm talking about... From music to movies and fashion there is really a lot to be said and discovered. Sometimes you get free downloads how's that for perks?
Linda ikeji : There are thousands of nigerian blogs on the web but Linda ikeji's is by far one of my favourites. She is about my age 29! Yeah (wink wink) unpretentious, relatable and a yound entrepreneur... her blog is half way between a diary and a gossip column...
Kilon Sparkles ? : His blog is very personal, I feel a bit intimate...
Stella Dimoko Korkus: She's been Stella's Groove, Stella's New Groove, Ofolofofo, and I don't know what... this is not a blog that I visit everyday but more like once every other week because it is not always updated... What I love about this blog is that it is acidic: This may explain why her blog had been shut down quite a few times to reborn under new grooves every other time. I love that she does not hide behind flattery and calls out every one.
The Fashionalists ***: This is one of the best fashion blogs out of Belgium it's ran by two young people in love with street fashion and armed with a camera... It's trendy, clean and quite sexy. upon their first year on the web they have already earned recognitions from their peers and the prestigious ELLE Magazine Belgium edition... I wish them good luck!!
Africahit.com ** : It's definitely the most comprehensive West African entertainment website. It's one of my favourite because there are not a lot of internet presence for Francophone African culture. And not only do they manage to really cover that (the gossip as well) they also reach out to the anglophone side which is great! Plus it is regularly updated (almost daily) and you can also get really cool downloads. Nothing like free music!
Grioo.com *** : Grioo is like a melting pot of all that interest the black diaspora of metropolitan France. It is politics, culture and sport for the black community in france... Sometimes they tend to go people which makes me grinch but overall A for effort in a community that is not so web...
Camer-sport.be***: Its ca Cameroonian sport website out of belgium. they are updated daily but th writing is poor and sometimes opinions and facts can't be told appart.
Nollywood Uncut : It's a Nollywood specialty webzine. Their updates are random and they mostly cover events with few interviews... I'm a nollywood buff .
Online Nigeria : Do I need to say more? it has the perk of a very elaborated movie gallery when you click on videos and you'll quickly find out that it has a Ghanaian counterpart named Ghana Nation .
TV5 Monde+ Afrique ***: This is where I go to preserve my french. They have a good library of quality African Francophone movies, documentaries and TV shows for the homesick.. delightful you can also watch the news... How about that?
Rue89*** : If you are an angry lefty French, loving conspiracy theories this is the place for you.

*** content in French Exclusively!
** Some alternates French and English without steady patterns..

No Sand in My Gari!

2011-02-09T01:50:00.000-08:00

I told you yesterday about that party I'm planning to attend... Well This morning I woke up to find out my beloved sister is flaking out on me and won't attend. I'm disappointed but understanding: The poor thing has school the next day and really I don't think it's worth it given that she can barely keep up with her current schedule: My recently unemployed and single self however could definitely use a kick in the mojo!

My sister going MIA, I definitely don't want to go to the party alone; I do have friends but most of them are males, some in a relationship most of the rest single. The female ones are in couple as well or will not attend because it's a sunday.

Here is the trick: when I go with my sister or my girlfriends , it's a couple of very attractive young women people want to talk to: If I go with a male friend, or a couple friend, there might be room for confusion.

Do I get there and ditch them? or do I just not go? the player that I am ( yes, I said it ah han!) is quite puzzled.

image courtesy of http://www.getaboyfriend.org/

There is nothing like a homeboy to kill your game or as we say in cameroon "pour sand in your gari" ... They usually don't have to do much. They just have to stand around you and if they are demonstrating the slightliest bit of attention like bringing you a drink or checking on you, everyone in the room assumes you are an item and your evening is done for it! Very few guys will be bold enough to talk to you thereafter...

Sometimes, they will just goof around when you are trying to roll your best game and totally shatter your composure...
Despite all this wisdom I asked a guy friend of mine to tag along... Taking a male friend along is not always bad if he himself is a player, once you get in, he gets lost and knows exactly when to rescue you from the drunk stalker ( Great perk!). My friend I'm going with is a new acquaintance, so let's hope his blood is hot and see how it will all play out!

Another Day, Another Video Fail..

2011-02-09T00:41:00.000-08:00

P-Square and Tuface Idibia's "Possibility" One of my favorite nigerian tune of 2010... I love lazy music, anything that has a reggae roots or balade feeling to it... And this one definitely sits in there: It's not trying to be hip or pop not even RnB...it's just an easy play. I definitely see the concept of the video but I can also see a great miss.

Jude Okoye should just open that wallet sometimes. At this point of their career this type of student project just doesn't cut it anymore... Let's do things right. I've seen a lot of nigerian videos lately and this one is pretty "meh". Come on... On a side note I read a lot of critiscism on nigerian blogs about the video being shot in South Africa: well, they can shoot on the moon if they care but at least, if you are going to travel that far for a clip the result better show and this is a big miss. Enjoy the song nonetheless!

Dbanj Debutes New Video!

2011-02-09T00:30:00.000-08:00

There was so much Hype about this video, But quite frankly I'm disappointed... Actually it's not so much the video I think the arrangements on the remix are not right. When snoops starts rapping there is too much noise around... And the vixens in the video!? Come on as an Angelina I can say any corner strip club has better eye candy ... something is just off. I just feelk like it was a missed opportunity for Dbanj to use this featuring to promote himself outside of nigeria...