Eko o ni Baje

It brings me much joy to write about your article on Lagos (February issue). I felt obliged to use this opportunity to show to China and the rest of the world that there is a home for them in Lagos. "Eko o ni Baje" is a popular local slogan in Lagos, Nigeria which simply means "Lagos will not spoil."

Recently, the Nigerian community in Beijing and across China together with the Chinese Government celebrated 40 years of bilateral trade relations with China. This is to show that Nigeria is happy doing business with China and is willing to do more.

The Eko Atlantic project is just one of the many projects and measures the Nigerian Government is embarking on in a bid to opening up the country to facilitate growth of the private sector and get an influx of foreign direct investment. There are many others, such as the Lekki Free Trade Zone and Light Rail Project to mention a few.

I know that China and its people are very welcome in Lagos and that China can help to bring a brighter future to the people of Nigeria.

Past records show that previous involvement of Chinese firms and investments in Lagos has helped to tremendously boost the economy, thereby directly and indirectly helping to affirm the slogan "Eko o ni Baje."

Keep up the good work as we look forward to more stories on China-Nigeria trade relations.

Ayodeji Idowu, Nigeria

Patriotic Fervor

I am a person who has never been involved in violence before, but I proudly quit my job as a journalist for the Daily News and participated in the Egyptian revolution from its beginning on January 25, 2011. Early indicators pointed out that what happened was not just a normal demonstration, simply because the success of the Tunisian revolution, and Mubarak's tyranny had crossed the line.

Egyptians, including me, suffered a lot from Mubarak's regime in terms of bad education, a declining health system, and above all, his caring more for the rich, leaving roughly 40 percent of society below the poverty line.

I had a strong belief that Mubarak is absolutely stubborn, but we as revolutionists in Tahrir Square in Cairo held on to the strong belief that Mubarak must leave. We chanted in once voice, "The people want the regime out."

When the announcement came of the resignation of Mubarak and handing over of power to the armed forces, which will rule the country for six months in a lead up to a new democratic era, we all cheered for joy.

The question is, "does Mubarak's ousting mean the success of the revolution," I do not think so. I believe we are still in the middle of the revolution as we are still fighting the counter-revolution. Protesters of Tahrir stayed in the square calling for the ousting of the Shafik government, which was appointed by Mubarak, and after Shafik's resignation, protesters stormed the state security headquarters. It was here that torture was practiced against political and Islamist opposition, and more recently where thugs stopped a march for women from protesting, and sectarian strife surfaced again between Muslim and Christians.

Despite the recent changes I still have fears for Egypt during the six-month transitional period. I love my country and want it to be a much better place in the future.

Muhammad Mansour, Egypt

The Human Condition

The tragic events in Japan let me pause to think about how calm the Japanese people have been throughout this ordeal. Watching TV footage and listening to people affected, one can see the kind of resolute stance taken and the absence of looting and plundering that so often characterizes human tragedy in other parts of the world. The world is now so closely related that any event like this affects us all. I also think that while in Asia most of the disasters are from nature, in Africa we seem to create our own disasters. A quick look around the continent shows conflict in every point of the compass. We cannot control nature, but we can control our own selfish, greedy nature. I hope all the dictators in Africa watch closely in Japan and see what happens there, beyond the control of the human family, and then think carefully about what happens in Africa, controllable by the human family.

Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe