Monthly Archives: July 2022

By Olusegun Adeniyi

In a pinned tweet posted six years ago, precisely 7th November 2016, Oluwatobiloba (Tobi) Amusan wrote what has turned out to be prophetic:Unknown now, butI will be unforgettableI will persist until I succeed. On Sunday night in Oregon, United States, Tobi Amusan wrote her name into sporting immortality. I took that phrase from Tim Hutchings, a former English athlete who ran the commentary at the World Athletics Championship Oregon22 alongside American athletic legend, Gail Devers. Amusanhas not only become the first Nigerian to win a Gold medal at the World Championship but also the first athlete to break the global record on the track twice within one night!

This perhaps is one of the most depressing periods in the history of our country. Our public universities have been under lock and key for almost six months with marooned students effectively having lost an academic season as a result of the strike by lecturers. The prevailing climate of general insecurity has reached Abuja where school authorities are asking parents to collect their children/wards and soldiers of the Guards Brigade are being ambushed by terrorists who appear to have infiltrated the Federal Capital Territory. The Naira is dancing Buga in the exchange rate market almost every day as prices of goods and services skyrocket. The energy sector has practically collapsed along with the power grids and oil thieves have hijacked the oil and gas sub-sector. Since we now spend far above what we earn as we continue borrowing to stay afloat, the macro-economic indices are, to put it mildly, frightening. Sadly, there is hardly anything to cheer in our country today.

To worsen matters, those who seek to become our next president are busy fighting dirty in the marketplace over inanities. Many of these politicians over whom Nigerians squabble and take sides as Christians and Muslims, according to a Twitter post, actually meet at secret fraternities. In any case, despite our profession of Christianity or Islam, we should all feel a sense of shame as to what Nigeria has become. That of course does not discount the issue of inclusivity in a plural state that a religiously balanced presidential ticket suggests. Or the provocation of some politicians hiring unknown godmen almost as if Christianity is about wearing ridiculous regalia. But these are issues that can wait. Today, I want to stand up for the champion, our own Tobi Amusan!

For Nigerians who may not fully understand or appreciate what happened at the World Athletics competition in Oregon, let me take them through the commentary that followed the amazing 100 metre hurdles race. Hutchings started it: Tobi Amusan looks at the clock. I cannot believe it; shes done it again. Two world records in one night and she makes history by becoming Nigerias first world champion. What a way to do it and what a stage on which to discover sporting immortality! Records can be broken; titles will stand the test of time and tonight shes done both two world records: 12.06. Tonight will never, never be forgotten by anyone lucky enough to be here. That was utterly extraordinary. We doubted she could do it again. How dare we? How dare we? Nigeria, a proud African nation, are on top of the world tonight. And Amusan has delivered an evening of unprecedented glory and speed. That was utterly, utterly incredible.

After describing the line-up of the eight athletes as the fastest in a World Championship final according to records posted by each of the contestants, Hutchings turned to his colleague in the commentary box: Gail Devers, I know that you have scaled the heights but surely, surely, we never would have expected two world records on one night. Surely, Amusan should have gone tired there, but she was even better.

Devers, an American two-time Olympic champion in the 100 meters and only the second woman in history to have successfully defended that title (with three Olympics Gold medals to her name), responded: I am going to tell you what I wrote. I wrote that let me put myself in her shoes Devers then went on to describe the difficulty that faces any athlete who breaks the record in the qualifying heats and the challenge before Amusan barely an hour later when she had to compete for Gold medal in the final: They are thinking that she cannot repeat (what she just did) but you got to believe in yourself. Its not what other people believe about you. Its what you believe about yourself and what you are willing to do. And on this night, she had to execute. And she did!

Hutchings was back: That was absolutely incredible. When you think, Gail, how long it took Kendra Harrison to break (Bulgarian Yordanka) Donkovas world record and she did it by a hundredth of a second. And suddenly, in the space of one evening, the record tumbled by a further 0.14 of a second which, for this event, is a colossal drop.

Devers took over, again: I mean, it is unbelievable like you said. I was there (in 1988) when Donkova made that world record and to see it come down twice. This is one of those days when people are going to be like where were you when that happened? And I am going to say I was right here watching. Hutchings interjected: And so am I. Toby Amusan is making history, the first Nigerian to win a world title and two world records in one evening. Unprecedented!

My friend, Chris Adetayo who shared one of the screenshots from Amusans twitter page believes that the story of Amusan is going to be a subject of attention by many motivational speakers. I feel inclined to join that crowd today. On 18th September 2016 when the (now former) World record holder, Kendal Harrison turned 24, Amusan tweeted a photograph she had taken with her and this message, Happy birthday @KeniUSATF. 100MHurdles World Record holderWatch out, Im gonna break it soon which she ended with a laughter emoji. And now, she has done it!

The story of Amusan is indeed incredible but there is also an unfortunate Nigerian angle to it. At the Rio Olympics trial in Lagos in June last year, Amusan posted what could have been a new African record of 12.3 seconds, but the timer failed her. About 80 meters into the race, as I approached the home stretch, from the corner of my eye, I couldnt help but notice that the display clock stayed at Zero the whole time. I had never experienced that before, Amusan wrote as she reflected on what might have been. the timer not working, happening during one of the biggest races of my career? Hell no! So, it was quite astonishing seeing all that effort come down to an important moment of just simply timing the final

That disappointment is now no longer important. When Amosun took the podium on Sunday night and the Nigerian national anthem was being played, she could not hold back her tears of joy. As expected, many have given their own interpretation. I am aware that we live in a country where the whole is less than the sum of its parts and we can spend a whole day lamenting about Nigeria. But the lesson from Amusan is that nothing comes easy and that you must work for your success. And as it is for individuals, so it is for nations. That is one take-away from Amusans story. Even with all her past disappointments, she set a goal for herself, put in the shift, and realized her dream. We can say the same for Ese Brume who won bronze at the 2019 championship in Doha but won silver at Oregon. She has already set her sight on an individual Gold medal at the next Olympics and I believe nothing can stop her.

There is a commercial that Globacom used to air of the British World Heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua speaking about the Nigerian spirit of resilience. Since I have elected to play the role of a motivational speaker, it is most fitting to repeat it here: There has always been a big piece of my heart as a Nigerian and I do believe that it is that piece that sets me apart. It always says to me, never give up, dream big! We have that same tenacity, that Nigerian fighting spirit that makes us game changers! We are relentless. We dont just face our challenges; we step into the ring to win again and again and again. If you believe in yourself, there is no limit to what you can achieve. Yeah, I used to be a bricklayer in England but now I am heavyweight champion of the world! he declared before he added: You need strength? Yeah, that comes from the hard knocks that life throws at us. And we are Nigerians, we know all about that. And finally: Its like when we are up against the rope. You dont stay down; youve got to fight. You have to dig deep to be a world champion.

So much for motivation. Now to the reality. In many different ways, Tobi Amusans breathtaking epic success captures the Nigerian dilemma. Here is a nation imbued with some of the most exceptional citizens with incredible world class talents from aerospace, cutting edge medicine to sports. Yet, despite a lack of preparation for anything, our talented citizens continue winning laurels to the utter astonishment of an embarrassingly incompetent officialdom. Here is a nation defined by a tragic mismatch between Africas most enlightened and refined civil society and one of the worlds worst performing states. Caught between the pride and optimism of our citizens and the tragedy of governmental failures, Nigeria is kept alive by the stubborn hope among the majority of our citizens that one day, bad times and atrocious leaders shall pass.

I join millions of Nigerians in offering my congratulations to both Tobi Amusan and Ese Brume.

Another Organised Waste of Time

I dont understand what point the House of Representatives wants to make with its proposed investigation of the fuel subsidy regime under President Goodluck Jonathan. For me, the so-called Special Ad hoc Committee to Investigate the Petroleum Products Subsidy Regime established on 29th June is no more than another organised waste of time. It is an admission that our lawmakers do not read their own reports. If they do, they will realise the futility of another probe of the oil and gas industry, after what they did a decade ago. Except of course there is something they are not telling Nigerians.

In 2012, following the crisis that followed the unsuccessful attempt by President Jonathan to fully deregulate the petroleum sector, the House of Representatives set up a similar ad-hoc committee to probe the subsidy regime. The current Speaker, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila was a prominent leader in that House. Chaired by Hon Farouk Lawan, who would later be jailed for taking a bribe from Mr. Femi Otedola, the committee conducted its sessions in public (beamed live on television) and received memorandum and testimonies from major stakeholders in the oil industry.

With the authority of the then Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (current Governor of Sokoto State), Mr Boniface Emenalo (secretary of the committee who would later be a prosecution witness against Lawan in his court case) availed me all reports, audio tapes and raw transcripts from the committee secretariat and provided clarification whenever needed. It took me two years before I eventually completed the work in June 2014 but given the political environment at the time, I deferred its publication till after the 2015 general election.

Principal testimonies include that of the then Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; then Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke; then Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN; two Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governors at the time, (Dr Kingsley Moghalu and Mr Tunde Lemo); then Chair of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs Ifueko Omougui-Okauru; then Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, Dr Bright Okogu; then Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Mr Elias Nban; and the then Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Commission (NNPC), Mr Austin Oniwon.

Also captured in the report were testimonies from 93 oil marketers and importers, heads of relevant institutions (NPA, Customs, PPPRA, PPMC, PEF etc.), senior officials from the Nigerian Navy, auditors appointed by the Ministry of Finance to verify subsidy claims, members of the professional bodies in the downstream oil sector, foreign oil traders, as well as the managing directors of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries.

Although I began the effort with a mind to put the resultant book up for sale, the end product was too voluminous. I ended up putting the 857-page book, The Verbatim Report: The Inside Story of the Fuel Subsidy Scam on my web portal for free download. So, if our lawmakers are interested in what transpired regarding subsidy payments, especially under President Jonathan, they should access the publication on http://bit.ly/1EY9s80.

Leadership and the Teens

And let me repeat: You are never too young to lead and never too old to learn. So, I call on the young generation to put its remarkable energy, insight and passion in the service of reconciliation and peace. The path is yours to construct and pursue.

The foregoing statement by the former United Nations Secretary-General, the late Kofi Annan, is the anchor for the 2022 edition of the annual Teens Career Conference of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), The Everlasting Arms Parish (TEAP). Speakers include Samson Itodo, Executive Director, YIAGA-Africa and member of the Kofi Annan Foundation Board, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, an award-winning actress and model, as well as Seun Onigbinde, a social entrepreneur, open data analyst and co-founder/CEO of BudgIT. The conference holds on 20th August, but participation is by online registration at http://www.rccgteapteens.ng

You can follow me on my Twitter handle, @Olusegunverdict and on http://www.olusegunadeniyi.com

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A Moment of Sporting Immortality - The Heritage Times

Austin Duffy, 47, was born in Dundalk and lives in Howth, north of Dublin, where he works as an oncologist at the citys Mater hospital. His two previous novels, This Living and Immortal Thing, shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish novel of the year, and Ten Days, about early dementia, were both set in New York, where Duffy met his wife, the painter Naomi Taitz Duffy, after winning a research fellowship to work at the Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer centre in Manhattan in 2006. His new novel, The Night Interns, follows three trainee medics on a Dublin surgical ward.

What led you to write The Night Interns?Its not a memoir, but I still have vivid memories of my intern year when I was doing medicine [at Trinity College Dublin in the 90s] and always knew I wanted to write about the experience at some point. Youre thrust into this world where you quickly find out the inadequacy of the theoretical knowledge youre relying on from your studies. I wanted to immerse the reader in the terror maybe thats too strong a word, maybe it isnt of being on call and being asked to be the first person to figure things out for people who are sick. The structure, with no chapters, no real breaks, is meant to make you feel like you cant come up for air.

Were you inspired by other hospital novels?No. While I was working on the book I reread Elena Ferrantes The Days of Abandonment, which has that very intense type of claustrophobic first-person narration I wanted. And this is going to sound very odd, but what really inspired me was coming across Hubert Mingarellis A Meal in Winter four or five years ago. Im stunned he doesnt get more attention; hes a bloody genius. Its this short novel humanising the experience of these three SS officers in a death camp in Poland, wandering around the forest at night, trying to keep warm and cook a meal, trying everything they can to get out of their horrific duties. Obviously Im not comparing theyre working in a death camp, and as an intern youre trying to help people, even though it doesnt feel like that some of the time but something just struck me about the group dynamic of these three recognisably human characters able to do nothing, really, but try to get through the night. I remember thinking, I need to set this in a hospital, I need to make these people interns [laughs].

Does knowing youre a novelist make colleagues wary?Not at all, but I can set their minds at ease: my characters are all fictional. People do sometimes sidle up to you saying, oh, I know who your man was [in previous novels]. Im sure Ill get that a lot with this, because there is a sort of villain in the book, but hes a total construct, not anyone I ever worked with. If he reminds me of anyone, its a particular non-medical person, but hes fiction.

How do you write?Ive a short train commute into Dublin from where I live. Thats 25 minutes writing. If I get to the station early, I get another 10 or 15 minutes, the same if I take a slightly earlier train at the other end. Add it all up and its the guts of an hour. If Im bringing my son to soccer practice, Ill be the oddball sat in the car with a laptop, but thats another 45 minutes or an hour of writing. By necessity its very focused: youre not staring out the window, you know?

Which came first for you, medicine or literature?Medicine. It wasnt that I had a passion for it, but back then [growing up in Dundalk] there didnt seem to be a huge amount of opportunities generally and it seemed like something that would be fairly open. I only got properly emotionally invested in being a doctor when I was a few years down the track. Ironically, the intern year was a help: maybe you wouldnt get that impression from the book, but it was good to feel part of the hospital, because as a medical student I hadnt felt like that at all and found it difficult to engage. I didnt really write properly until I found myself in New York in 2006. My hospital accommodation was like a box: no internet, no television, and at that point it was like, if youre serious [about writing], do it. I joined the Writers Studio in Greenwich Village, a weekly craft class that got me into the flow of writing every day. My first book took seven years but it grew out of an exercise from that class.

What novels have you enjoyed lately?Fernanda Melchor just blew my head off. On the jacket of Hurricane Season, Ben Lerner says she makes all other fiction seem anaemic by comparison, and when I read the book, I knew exactly what he meant. It made me feel the same way I felt when I first read Denis Johnsons Jesus Son. I remember picking that up randomly while waiting to meet someone in a bookshop, and they came up to me like: Are you OK? Whats wrong with your face?

Which writers made you want to write fiction?At college I read the same things everyone else was reading Camus, Dostoevsky but I was too young to get them. It was in New York that I really started reading as a writer. I remember being amazed by a Roberto Bolao story in the New Yorker. I read pretty much all his books after that. Hes brilliant, but he loses the run of himself in his bigger novels; I find him one of the funniest writers, and hes more able to sustain that humour in his short stories. Javier Maras was another one I first read in the New Yorker. I think it was a story where someone was sunbathing and it was just their observations around the pool... brilliant. Ive read all his books too but I had to stop because I was beginning to imitate him, and hes not someone you can imitate; youll just sound like an eejit.

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Austin Duffy: I wanted to immerse the reader in the terror of being on call - The Guardian

Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Bitcoin traders dont care about a recessionDebate over the definition of a recession, and whether were in one, feels like a distraction. (CoinDesk)+ Technically the US may now be in recession, but much of the economy remains strong. (The Guardian)+ Heres why the popular definition of a recession isnt official. (The Atlantic $)+ Bitcoins value is heading towards its best month since 2021. (Bloomberg $)

2 Iran is ramping up its drone productionIt wants to sell them to overseas buyers, reportedly including Russia. (NYT $)+ Why business is booming for military AI startups. (MIT Technology Review)

3 The CHIPS Act isnt going to fix the semiconductor shortagePartly because the shortage seems to be easing anyway. (Recode)+ The multi-billion package must be invested wisely. (Wired $)+ Chipmakers say they urgently need the subsidies promised by the bill. (FT $)

4 The Democrats did not release a deepfake video of Joe BidenDespite conspiracy theorists best efforts to convince the internet. (BBC)+ The biggest threat of deepfakes isnt the deepfakes themselves. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Online outrage is performative and fleetingRefusing to stoop to their level can make the whole thing less annoying to deal with. (The Atlantic $)

6 Sticky patches could revolutionize how we take ultrasoundsPatients could wear them at home, instead of attending hospital appointments. (The Guardian)

7 Chinas virtual idols are burnt outTheir adoring fans dont always consider the humans behind the animations. (Rest of World)+ How Chinas biggest online influencers fell from their thrones. (MIT Technology Review)

8 TikTok is driven by strangers, not friendsThe platform rejected the social model championed by Facebook, with great success. (New Yorker $)+ Instagram has sheepishly (and only temporarily) retracted some of its much-hated recent changes. (NYT $)+ Facebook has vowed to double the amount of AI-recommended feed content. (Motherboard)+ Snap and TikTok offer richer, more interesting recommendations than Google. (Slate)

9 This aging research institute wants to help you live better, not longerBut the shadow of the promise of immortality looms large. (Neo.Life)+ Saudi Arabia plans to spend $1 billion a year discovering treatments to slow aging. (MIT Technology Review)

10 Meet the humans keeping the cloud online Often under incredibly punishing conditions. (Aeon)

Quote of the day

"What frustrates me most is when I'm accused of twisting the truth. As meteorologists, we report facts. There is no conspiracy."

Meteorologist and weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker tells his employer, the BBC, about his frustration at the online abuse he received from climate change deniers during the UKs recent severe heatwave.

The big story

Meet the wounded veteran who got a penis transplant

October 2019

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The Download: a breakthrough climate bill, and Twitters terrible trends - MIT Technology Review