GENERAL Olusegun Obasanjo (retired) always seems to enjoy ruffling feathers.

But he really cocked things up when he, as a general in the Nigerian army, staged a coup d'etat in 1976. Fortunately he made up for it three years later when he returned the country to civilian rule.

As a civilian president between 1999 and 2007 Obasanjo had no time for cock and bull stories. He still rules, OK, this time as the country's Mr Rooster.

You see, when the chickens came home to roost at the end of his presidential term, the general had to seek new ways of earning a living. It was time that he feathered his own nest, so to speak.

Today the 73-year-old Obasanjo, who is not known for chickening out even when the going is tough, earns a living by selling, wait for it, chickens.

Instead of joining a chicken run or running around like a headless chicken like many African leaders do after losing power - and their heads - General Obasanjo has established a finger-lickin'' partnership with Colonel Sanders, he of Kentucky Friend Chicken fame.

The General supplies the Colonel with between seven and eight million chickens a year for the Nigerian market. With a large section of the Nigerian population enjoying the salivating taste of the Colonel's chickens, it is clear that the General did not count his chickens before they were hatched on this one.

In fact, his income as a chicken producer and supplier makes the salary he earned as Nigerian president look like chicken feed.

After all this, do you still want to know why the chicken, err the General, crossed the road?

Health Minister outfoxed

It is an understatement to say that the Mzansi tobacco industry was dealt a severe blow when more than a decade ago Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, then minister of health, pushed through legislation in parliament banning cigarette advertising.

Even though the cigarette business did not go up in smoke, the "burn" did leave a hole in the industry's bottom line.

British American Tobacco (BAT) has still not forgiven Dlamini-Zuma for taking away this important business tool, as doing business without advertising is akin to winking in the dark.

BAT has now seemingly outfoxed Aaron Motsoaledi, the incumbent Health Minister, by reintroducing cigarette advertising via the back door.

Over the past few weeks the company has been flighting radio commercials dissuading people from buying illegal cigarettes as the proceeds might be used to finance criminal activities.

The message coming from this advertising campaign is simple: don't buy contraband cigarettes; buy genuine brands that you know but we cannot mention.

If this is not a way to bring back cigarette advertising, Guluva does not know what is.

Small change

On Monday our former president, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter, who ruled this country with a disguised condescending attitude between 11 June and 11 July this year, returned to give us our meagre share for staging the World Cup.

The R681million we received was far less than the R1billion we were originally made to believe we would get.

After deducting the cost of building Safa House and the advance given to Bafana Bafana to prepare for the tournament, we were left with a mere R545million, small change compared with the billions that we were hoodwinked into spending on building stadiums we now cannot afford to use.