AfriSlide: A Round Peg in a Round Hole

Peopled by misfits of various descriptions, agencies and corporations the world over are ailing from square pegs in round holes. We do not need to go far down memory lane to see the wreck of square pegs in holes not squared.
The story of Paul Wolfowitz readily comes to mind. The tenth president of the World Bank and former United States Deputy Secretary of Defense, resigned “forcefully” from his position as World Bank president on June 30, 2007 in the wake of a scandal. He arranged a lucrative pay raise and promotion for girlfriend Shaha Riza, and this made him guilty of breaking bank rules. An internal panel tasked with investigating the matter would also find that he tried to hide to hide the salary and promotion package from top ethics and legal officials within the bank. The reported added an unsettling phrase: “a crisis in the leadership” at the World Bank.

Wolfowitz thus became the first World Bank president to ever leave the bank under the bank under a cloud of scandal.
John Terry, one-time Chelsea FC and England captain, was in the news in January 2010, when he got Vanessa Perroncel, ex-girlfriend of Wayne Bridge his team mate, pregnant. Vanessa had Bridge’s girlfriend before the split. Meanwhile, John Terry and Bridge were team mates at club and national levels, and the former would almost immediately have a fling with the model. The culprit arranged for an abortion and a super-injunction to quell the news. However, a High Court overturned the gagging order.

Consequent upon the scandal, the English FA stripped the defender of the armband, thereby leading to the choice of Steve Gerrard as the new national team captain. The rage and chagrin was untold amongst management and the fan base. Joyce Meyer aptly quips, “Your gifts will take you where your character cannot keep you.”

Any organization that parades competent men without character will be a breeding ground for scandal and infamy. An organization that houses men of character with no competence celebrates annoying orthodoxy. A competent man without character soon becomes a culprit; a man of character without competence is a conundrum. The world is in dire need of men of character and competence. Both will have to merge to enable the lion and the lamb to dwell together.

AfriSquare, an agency that trumpets the African story through a global prism, strives to tower high on the wings of character and competence. AfriSquare and Landslide, a sensational Siamese twin with genius artistry, attempts to redefine journalism and film production. This hub shatters and reinvents the status quo.

There is no form of writing endeavor- from biographies to book authorship- that this agency, studded with creativity and grey matter, does not undertake. Mainline film production, skits and other related, user-friendly products come to the fore. It is where the proverbial rubber meets the road.