Adios Valverde...

Valverde has been sacked as Barca's manager halfway into the season with Barca at the top of the league, and having qualified for the knockout stage of the champions league. It may seem harsh but I think Valverde can leave with his held high. He gave it his best, but with Suarez now officially out till the end of the season, Valverde has to know deep down in him, that Barca, as currently managed, cannot win this season's champions league. In fact it is debatable they'll even win the La Liga title this season. He can spare himself the certain grief that will come at the end of the season. On the other hand, I think we Barca fans have been spoiled by all these years that we might have unrealistically high expectations of our team. For Valverde to be fired after winning the La Liga title 2 years in a row (and could possibly have won it at the end of this season if he had stayed) speaks volumes abt the unrealistic expectations of the Barca faithful. I know we long for the breathless spectacle of the last decade, but we have different players now. It may not be so easy to replicate the magic of those magical years. We have to recognize that that era is now a distant memory, and strive to rebuild something based on the players we currently have. That must mean that judging Valverde harshly in light of the Guardiola years will soon turn into some self-propagating curse. Future coaches will be weighed against the accomplishments of that stellar team, and being found wanting, will equally find themselves getting unceremoniously ousted as Barca continues to pursue a rapid ever-disappearing identity.

Happy New Year 2020

Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year 2019

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy New Year 2018

Happy New Year Everyone!

When Ignorance and Self-hatred Masquerades As Wisdom and Patriotism

Reactions to the Kaduna declaration has been fast and furious. Many Nigerians seemed to intuitively understand that the Northern Youths acted brashly and against the interests of peaceful coexistence in Nigeria and condemned the quit notice given to the Igbo in the North. I equally aired my thoughts moments after the news broke.

Well, here's the view of a Nollywood actress that goes by the name Cynthia Amadi:

This is a shameful video. It reminds me of the fact that at the height of the Nazi-led holocaust, there were Jews who sided or supported the Nazis and helped to massacre their own kith and kin. Isn't it sad to see that some Igbo people have internalized the hatred and bile, or swallowed the ugly stereotypes about Igbo people that are spewed by non-Igbos? It is especially maddening because you know that the true tribal bigots who hate the Igbo can always justify their anti-Igbo xenophobia and hatred by pointing to misguided Igbo people, like this woman, who spew this sort of arrant garbage. 

For example, it is always common to see people who want to halt the Igbo aspiration for a new deal start offering their thoughts that they think the Igbo people are not united and mist first of all be completely united before they should seek self-determination. Pray tell, do they think Igbo people are robots or machines? Do Igbo people not have the freedom of independent thought? Of course there is no possible way every Igbo person will agree on a particular matter (we are talking about over 50 million people worldwide). Using that criterion, can any nation of people ever be called united? Are all Yoruba people for instance in complete agreement over whether they should remain in Nigeria or form their own independent Oodua nation? Are all Hausas/Northerners for that matter content to remain in Nigeria- are there not sections of them that would prefer an independent Arewa nation governed by Sharia law? 

If you want to know whether the Biafrans are speaking with something close to one voice, conduct a referendum in the East on this matter, and I guarantee you that given the prospect of leaving Nigeria to form their own nation despite all the warnings about the pitfalls that could bedevil a new Biafran nation, the Biafrans would choose to leave this union with something above 90%. That is as close as you can possibly be to complete unity. Of course there are smatterings of Igbo people here and there who would want to remain in this union for reasons best known to them. They will of course be free to give up Biafran nationality and remain Nigerians. As a matter of fact, if you go through the rest of her bitter emotional complaints about the Igbo people, any smart Nigerian can see that the same can be said for other ethnic groups by wayward misguided people within their ranks. If a misguided Igbo woman thinks Igbos are the most wicked ethnic group, it is because she has mostly dealt with Igbo people. If this woman was honest, the kindest, meekest, nicest people she would have also met are the same Igbos she condemns. In a similar manner, there are Yoruba persons that will tell you the Yoruba are the most wicked, or Hausa persons that will confess about the brutality of the Hausa. The point is that such persons are not representative of their ethnic group, and in any case, whatever faults they think they find are HUMAN foibles applicable to all - whether they are Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Welsh, Catalonian, Eritrean, Pakistani, Timorese, etc.