INTRO

Hello All, its been a while. Hope you still remember that this blog exists. So I am proud of myself for managing to bring y'all the top ten of 2009 before the month of January ran its course. I know its nothing to be proud of, with me abandoning y'all the way I have been. However I know you love me and will happily forgive me. So one of my goals for 2009 was to have more of the top ten come from 2009 and I am happy to tell you we succeeded. We went from two 2008 posts making the top ten in 2008 to four 2009 posts making the 2009 list. Now this could mean that I was better in 2009, or it could mean that people don't read my back issues anymore. No points for guessing which explanation suits me :D

CAVEAT

Before we dive into your top ten as measured by google analytics: the usual caveat applies: Most people come through my blog via the home page, so these may not be the actually top ten. However just like the last two years, it seems to be pretty accurate.

10. Sex Marriage & Religion
The first 2009 post that made the list. It was basically a discussion about the type of sex that is acceptable in a Christian marriage. As you would expect in a post of this nature the comments are where it is at. It is also one of those posts that I don't really have an opinion. A welcome change from my early years if you ask me :D

9. On Credit and Hair
Now speaking about an opinionated post :D. In this one Snazzy takes aim at the Nigerian patriarchal structure and takes no prisoners. He is not pleased no sir. The "commenters" are also not pleased and let us know it. It's one of the best comment threads I've had in a while. Takes me back to my heydays. Oh and it was another 2009 post :D

8. EFCC Palaver
This comes as a complete shock to me. This post was done 2 years ago, and hasn't smelt the top ten list before and now here it is chilling at number 8. The other reason that this post is interesting to me is that I have completely changed my mind. Which I suppose is a blow to all those people who claim I never change my mind :D. I am now a strong supporter of the asset forfeiture law. The law goes something like this: if you make N10 million a year and you just bought a N300 million house the burden of proof is on you to explain your source of funds if you can't you forfeit the asset to the government. Nifty huh? I heard about the US version first, though I think similar laws exist in other countries. EFCC Chairman Waziri talked about passing a similar law but it was dead on arrival for obvious reasons :D

7. Prelude to a Fraud
Number 1 two years ago, Number 4 last year, and now number 7. A little bit of investigative journalism from your friendly neighborhood Snazzy. I'm glad it is still here, but judging by the trends I expect it to fall out next year. It's worth a read if I do say so myself. The businessday article is still missing though; clearly permalinks don't mean anything to those folks.

6. Random Marriage Rant
Another one on patriarchy, this time on the hidden desire of all women to be housewives. Just for kicks, I'm going to try to write a post on the advantages of patriarchy just to balance things out. Though it is entirely possible I suffer from the male version of liberal white guilt :D

5. On Infidelity
An indepth survey of cheating in Nigeria... well that's the tag line anyway. I'm not really sure it succeeds, but the commenters liked it. It also has the distinction of being the highest ranked post that was written in 2009. Which is interesting cos even though only two 2008 posts made it last year, they ranked 5th and 3rd. Oh well quantity over quality is what I always say :D

4. Married Men & Single Girls
Another post that came out of nowhere to leap into the top ten. It was written almost two years ago, and on the face of it, it reads like an endorsement of infidelity. At least that is what I was accused of at the time. However I was truly trying to figure out why girls who didn't need the money and weren't greedy were going for married guys. It is an interesting read and I'm glad it got belated recognition. Oh and it was also when I came up with the "cheerleader effect" which is a very awesome concept if I do say so myself.

3. On Your Kneels
I actually am a very big fan of this post. It was one of those "damn I'm good" moments that makes me believe I'm not half bad as a writer. It strikes almost every note perfectly, and the sense of gleeful disbelief that I felt while writing it comes across pretty well. The outrage in the comments is also awesome, an worth a read.

2. Hot Girl Syndrome
Another one of those "inspired" posts. I have posed with this one enough so I'm not going to do that again. All I can say is that I'm glad you guys still like it. In other news, the lady that inspired the post is getting married soon. I like to think that I played a part in this by not being the one for her :D

1. Sunday Corper 2
Once again it's number 1, and once again I don't get it. I think it is a spam thing, but it may not be. The only other possibility is that people are greatly interested in my experiences with registering for NYSC Camp.

CONCLUSION

Well there you have it folks: Your top ten for 2009. I'm glad that I was able to meet my target for 2009, and I'm even "gladder" that y'all are still reading my back issues. As a special treat, (which will become a regular feature :D) I have included the links for the top ten's for 2007 and 2008 for any one who is interested in giving a look see. Thanks for reading guys.

Me: X & Y are getting divorced after about 6 months of marriage, the wife is getting the kid.

Friend: They have a kid? How is that possible they've only been married 6 months.

Silence

I just love the innocence that shows. Yes there are still pure people in this world, who think like that. That is why there will always be hope for the human race.

PS. It was longer than 6 months btw :D

PPS. Your Top Ten of 2009 will be up shortly

Crossing into 2010, there is sense of expectation in the year. The widespread belief that 2010 is the year we finally recover. All over the world people are lifting up their heads and saying that a change is finally going to come.

In Nigeria the sense is particularly acute because 2009 was the worst year for the country since the global financial crisis started. 2009 was the year that our own various home grown crises threatened to spin us into the abyss. However 2009 also sowed the seeds of the optimism that we as a nation share for 2010.

The Nigerian banking crisis may truly be the catalyst for a cleaner, more effective banking sector. All the banks (albeit with CBN largess) have managed to come through 2009, and there is the expectation that it will not be business as usual for the foreseeable future. This came at a significant personal cost to many employed in that industry with over 10,000 people losing their jobs at the various banks. These employees, are the casualties in the war for the banking sector and must be mourned.

The Yar'Adua government instituted the amnesty policy in the Niger Delta in middle of last year. There have been many criticisms trailing the policy, and doubts about the sincerity of the policy, but one thing is clear; the amnesty policy worked. It may not be sustained, and there are a lot of people predicting this. However I will like to point out that these people also predicted that it would not work in the first place. The amnesty has given us a real chance for peace in the Niger Delta, and the opportunity to grasp this chance has to be taken in 2010.

The government has made significant inroads in the power situation in Nigeria. The target was modest, the implementation was lax, the bottlenecks were out of everyone's control, but there is a genuine belief that 2010 will be a massive improvement in the power situation. I believe that the missing of the 6000MW deadline could turn out to be a blessing in disguise, but time will tell in that regard.

There are the hopeful noises about other infrastructure such as roads, railways, and submarine cables, and they fall into the general background of optimism that Nigeria's 2010 will be markedly better than our 2009.

However the main stumbling block to the optimism being realised is political.

First and foremost is the health of the President. There is a sense of ennui that has inflicted the country following the President's recent trip out of the country. There is a sense of major decisions not being taken, and political paralysis that comes with a lack of defined authority. This may not last as there are rumblings that there have been deals made to deal with the political crisis engendered by the president's health. Q1 2010 will give a good sense of this.

The second issue is that elections are in 2011, if 2010 is anything like 2006, then from the second half of 2010 nothing will get done. The election induced paralysis could be even worse that the speculation over the president's health as this affects the state and federal levels of governments in every state (except the few off-cycle ones).

Still 2010 has more going for it than against it, and I truly believe that Nigeria will have a decent amount to celebrate when we finally turn 50.