USAfricaonline.com has been listed among the world's leading
web sites by the international newspaper, USAToday.
What is the Magic Word? Abracadabra!
By CHIKA UNIGWE
What is the Magic Word? Abracadabra!
By CHIKA UNIGWE
I live with three children, all under six.
My daily life is fraught with stress ( who left all these toys lying
under my feet?) with life-molding decisions ( do we have cereal or
toast and jelly? ) with stimulating as 
well
as informative conversation ( do you know all the names of the
Pokemon characters?) and with miracles that we very often take for
granted ( Mummy, he‚'s standing!!He is standing!! ).
After five years, I thought I had seen it all.
Heard it all. Until today.
We were at the dinner table and my oldest who has just turned five
was taking his two and half year old brother through the drill of
"Bigboysbehavior". Ral, would not eat his greens. Stef, my five
year old was trying to coax him into eating them. "If you don‚'t
eat your peas, Ral, you will not grow big." That did not seem to be a
good enough incentive as Ral just kept staring at his plate with a
face as long as my arm ( believe me, it is a long arm). "If you
do not eat your peas, Ral, you will not go to Belgium with us in the
summer." Ral‚'s face grew even longer as he muttered, "I not
want to go to Elgium." As far as he was concerned, Belgium might as
well be the church I drag him to every week, where he has to be
on his best behavior. No thank you! Then, Stef had a brainwave. "If
you don‚'t eat your peas, Ral, Mummy will take your Barney and
give it to another child who eats his peas.", Ral gave me a look of
pained panic and began to pick at his peas. As soon as he threw the
first forkful in his mouth, Stef gave me a look of satiated pleasure.
I raise my children by the book ( i.e by all the rules of the
motherhood books I read) Stef, on the other hand, raises his younger
siblings by his book and he is a more successful "mother "than I
am.
At the same dinner table, ten minutes later. Ral lets out a screechy
"I want water, Mummyyyy." I ignore him.
I had been teaching him to say "please" whenever
he made a request. I figured that if I ignored him, he would realize
that something was amiss and correct it. He whined again, "I want
water, Mummyyyyyy." I concentrated on my food. He turned to Stef , "I
want water, Steffffff." Stef asked him in a mature voice, "and
what's the magic word, Ral?" My younger son, in an
I-know-the-answer-voice, replied "abracadabra."
Unigwe, an alumnus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; KU Leuven
and UC Louvain in Belgium, is USAfricaonline.com and USAfrica The
Newspaper contributing editor and columnist. She is based in Canada
and is the author of 'Teardrops', a collection of poems, and her
short story, 'Touched by an Angel', was broadcast on the BBC World
Service.
Nelson
Mandela, Tribute to the
world's political superstar and Lion of
Africa
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.'
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 slipperyslide
TRIBUTE
A KING FOR
ALL TIMES:
Why Martin Luther King's
legacy
and vision are relevant into 21st 21st
century.
DIPLOMACY
Walter
Carrington:
African-American diplomat who put principles above self for
Nigeria 
(USAfrica's
founder Chido Nwangwu with 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.
The Economics of Elections
in Nigeria
HUMAN
RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
How far, how deep will Nigeria's human rights
commission go?
Rtd. Gen. Babangida trip as
emissary for Nigeria's Obasanjo to Sudan raises curiosity,
questions about what next in power
play?
110 minutes
with Hakeem Olajuwon
Nigerian
stabbed
to death
in his bathroom in Houston.
Cheryl
Mills' first class defense of Clinton and her detractors'
game
It's wrong
to stereotype Nigerians as Drug
Dealers
Private initiative,
free
market forces, and more
democratization
are Keys to prosperity in Africa
Should Africa debates begin and end
at
The
New York Times and
The
Washington Post?
No
USAfricaonline.com
has been listed
among the world's leading web sites by the international
newspaper, USAToday.
Africa
suffers the scourge of the virus.
This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a
five-month-old AIDS patient (above) in a hospital in the
Kalafong township near Pretoria, South Africa, on October
26, 1999, brings a certain, frightening reality to the
sweeping and devastating destruction of human beings who
form the core of any definition of a country's future, its
national security, actual and potential economic development
and internal markets.
22 million Africans HIV-infected, ill
with AIDS
while African leaders
ignore disaster-in-waiting
In a special report a few hours after the history-making
nomination, USAfricaonline.com
Founder and Publisher Chido Nwangwu places Powell within the
trajectory of history and into his unfolding clout and
relevance in an essay titled 'Why Colin
Powell
brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush
presidency.'
Powell
named Secretary State by G.W. Bush; bipartisan commendations
follow.
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."
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
Johnnie Cochran
will soon learn that defending Abacha's
loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's
case.
By Chido Nwangwu
Apple announces
Titanium, "killer
apps" and other
ground-breaking products for 2001. iTunes makes a record
500,000 downloads.
Steve Jobs extends
digital
magic
Since 1958, Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" set a standard
of artistic excellence,
and more. By Douglas Killam