Monday, 22 July 2013

On Various Matters Arising

Well I really don't know how this experiment is going to turn out.  Earlier on today, I decided to join the growing army of bloggers.  I've never really thought of myself as much of a writer, but I do enjoy reading and debating and I'm hoping to be able to spur a number of debates over time as I foray into this world of blogging.
My areas of interest revolve around, societal norms (as I'm worried about the rapid erosion of our local value systems), governance, business, career development, politics, foreign affairs and last and certainly not the least, sports.
I find that there is so much to talk about and discuss in this social media age.  Today for instance brings to fore the following;
·         The Nigerian Senate's passage of a resolution to amend Section 29 of the constitution, in such a way and manner that it recognises and legalises the marriage of women below the age of 18.  This in my opinion creates significant ambiguity around the age of consent, and as such very wrong. I do not agree with the provisions and I find it an extremely sad development that will lead to an increased exploitation of the female gender going forward.

·         There's also the furor surrounding a list created by the UK based Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority showing that Nigerian Legislators are the highest paid in relative (per-capita) terms and 2nd highest  paid in absolute terms. This provides further evidence of our non-justifiable extremely high cost of governance.  It just doesn't seem right that the country spends so much on funding government when we are in dire need of an overhaul of value adding infrastructure.  I know it’s a gradual process and there are supposedly ongoing efforts aimed at re-prioritising government expenditure, but the earlier we are able to achieve this, the better.

·         I enjoyed watching the British Open Golf tournament this weekend.  I was watching it with my old man all through Saturday.  By the end of Saturday's round, no one would have put his money on Phil Mickelson with Garcia and Woods on top of the leader board.  However, Mickelson showed why golf is so many times called the game of life, as he proved the old adage of "it's not over till it’s over".  Congratulations to lefty for a fantastic last round and an even more fantastic back nine.

·         Another weekend has passed in the current transfer window, and my noise making Arsenal fan friends have still not bought any player worth talking about.  I am a Chelsea fan by the way and was able to see Mourinho coordinate the team against a Malaysia select 11.  Not that the team played fantastically but you could already see signs of Mour's more conservative style taking shape.  It was good to see Victor Moses score a goal and play well.

Well that’s the entire gist I have for my first ever blog. Hopefully next week, I’ll have more exciting stuff to share.