Last Christmas we were counting our money;
this Christmas we are counting our blessings.
By Rev. Fyne Nsofor and Family

Special to USAfricaonline.com
USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
NigeriaCentral.com
The Black Business Journal

 

"Last Christmas we were thinking about all the things we didn't have;

This Christmas we are thinking about all the things we do have.

Last Christmas we were placing wreaths on the doors of our homes;

This Christmas we are placing wreaths on the graves of our heroes.

Last Christmas we were counting our money;

This Christmas we are counting our blessings.

Last Christmas we were lighting candles to decorate;

This Christmas we are lighting candles to commemorate.
Last Christmas we paid lip service to the real meaning of the holidays;

This Christmas we are paying homage to it. Last Christmas we were digging deep into our bank accounts to find money to fly home for the holidays;

This Christmas we are digging deep into our souls to find the courage to do so.

Last Christmas we were trying not to let annoying relatives get the best of us;

This Christmas we are trying to give the best of ourselves to them.

Last Christmas we thought it was enough to celebrate the holidays;

This Christmas we know we must also find ways to consecrate them.

Last Christmas we were thinking about the madness of the holidays;

This Christmas we are thinking about the meaning of them.

Last Christmas we were getting on one another's nerves;

This Christmas we are getting on our knees.

Last Christmas we were giving thanks for gifts from stores;

This Christmas we are giving thanks for gifts from GOD. Last Christmas we were wondering how to give our children all the things that money can buy;

This Christmas we are wondering how to give them all the things money can't.

Last Christmas we were thinking about all the pressure we are under at the office;

This Christmas we are thinking about all the people who no longer have an office to go to.

Last Christmas we were singing carols;

This Christmas we are singing anthems. Last Christmas we were thinking how good it would feel to be affluent;

This Christmas we are thinking how good it feels to be alive.

Last Christmas we thought angels were in heaven;

This Christmas we know they are right here on earth.

Last Christmas we were contemplating all the changes we wanted to make in the new year;

This Christmas we are contemplating all the changes we will have to make in this new reality.

Last Christmas we believed in the power of the pocketbook;

This Christmas we believe in the power of prayer." This Christmas...we are thinking of you and yours. Have a blessed and CHRIST-FULL Christmas!
Rev. Nsofor of the West Africa Theological Seminary (WATS) in Nigeria is a contributing correspondent on values and ethics for USAfricaonline.com. He has been assisted by the Overseas Council International (OCI) towards completing his graduate studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the U.S. Nsofor has been a lecturer on theology, ethics, and hermeneutics at WATS. He may be reached at cfynensofor@juno.com

Are we Igbos or "Ibos"? By Chido Nwangwu
The "Ibo" misspelling reflect, essentially, a post-colonial hangover of British and Euro-Caucusoid colonial miseducation, misrepresentations, incorrect spellings and (mis)pronounciation preference. It is/was just easier for the White man/woman to say 'Ibo' rather than 'Igbo.' We must remember the late psychiatrist, pan-African scholar and activist Franz Fanon's mytho-poetic and insightful words in his 1952 book, Black Skin White Masks, that "A man who has a language [consequently] possesses the world expressed and implied by that language." Should Igbos and other African nationalities, incrementally and foolishly give up the core of their communal and national identity on the discredited altars of Euro-Caucasoid racist supremacy and colonial predations? I have two modest answers: first is No; and second is No.
Full Commentary appears here

Osama bin-Laden's goons threaten Nigeria and Africa's stability

What has Africa to do with September 11 terror?
Africans reported dead in terrorist attack at WTC
September 11 terror and the ghost of things to come....
Will religious conflicts be the time-bomb for Nigeria's latest transition to civilian rule?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ARINZE: Will he be the FIRST BLACK AFRICAN POPE? By Chido Nwangwu

AFRICA AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS
Beyond U.S. electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic republic hold lessons for African politics.
CONTINENTAL AGENDA
Bush's position on Africa is "ill-advised." The position stated by Republican presidential aspirant and Governor of Texas, George Bush where he said that "Africa will not be an area of priority" in his presidency has been questioned by USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. He added that Bush's "pre-election position was neither validated by the economic exchanges nor geo-strategic interests of our two continents."

These views were stated during an interview CNN's anchor Bernard Shaw and senior analyst Jeff Greenfield had with Mr. Nwangwu on Saturday November 18, 2000 during a special edition of 'Inside Politics 2000.'
Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the U.S., and immigrant home to thousands of Africans) argued further that "the issues of the heritage interests of 35 million African-Americans in Africa, the volume and value of oil business between between the U.S and Nigeria and the horrendous AIDS crisis in Africa do not lend any basis for Governor Bush's ill-advised position which removes Africa from fair consideration" were he to be elected president. By Al Johnson

LITERATURE
Since 1958, Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" set a standard of artistic excellence, and more. By Douglas Killam.
Johnnie Cochran will soon learn that defending Abacha's loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's case.

USAfrica The Newspaper voted the "Best Community Newspaper" in the 4th largest city in the U.S., Houston. It is in the Best of Houston 2001 special as chosen by the editors and readers of the Houston Press, reflecting their poll and annual rankings.

Steve Jobs and Apple represent the future of digital living

USAfrica FORUM
IN THE HOUSE OF MANDELA: A SILLY CRY FOR REPARATIONS
By Prof. Chimalum Nwankwo
Nelson Mandela, Tribute to the world's political superstar and Lion of Africa  
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's burden mounts with murder charges, trials
Why Bush should focus on dangers facing Nigeria's return to democracy and Obasanjo's slippery slide
Acts of Cowardice.
By Jonathan Elendu, contributing editor of USAfricaonline.com.
USAfricaonline.com is listed among the world's leading web sites by the international newspaper, USAToday.
Recent and continuing crises regarding Sharia in northern Nigeria and security of lives in Nigeria highlight the other issue whether the Obasanjo's government has failed to enforce basic human rights of all Nigerians? See the USAfrica Special reports.
Sharia-related killings and carnage in Kaduna reenact deadly prologue to Nigeria-Biafra war of 1967.
Is Obasanjo really up to Nigeria's challenge and crises? By USAfricaonline editorial board member, Ken Okorie. His commentary appears courtesy of our related web site, NigeriaCentral.com
Investigating Marc Rich and his deals with Nigeria's Oil
DIPLOMACY Walter Carrington: African-American diplomat who put principles above self for Nigeria

 

(USAfrica's founder Chido Nwangwu, left, with then U.S. Ambassador Carrington at the U.S. embassy, Nigeria)

DEMOCRACY'S WARRIOR
Out of Africa. …The cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but his voice is the property of the neighborhood. -- Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah. An editor carries on his crusade against public corruption and press censorship in his native Nigeria and other African countries. By John Suval.
September 11 terror and the ghost of things to come....
Shred of all polite, fine talk, the terroristic events of September 11, 2001, in New York, Washington DC., and Boston raise many questions. Among them: Are those wanton terror and wholesale visitation of murder and mayhem the ghost of things to come into the U.S as we glide into the so-called new world order? Whose order, really, is it?... Are those the signatures of a world gone awry, the continuing cannibalization of our world, our so-called civilization?
By Chido Nwangwu, Founder & Publisher. See DETAILS