The man who sold the world

What should Sir Bob Geldof do to follow the success of the Live8 concert? Dave Wilson has an idea.

'For the poor you always have with you, and whenever you wish, you can do them good.' - Jesus.

Is Sir Bob Geldof a living saint, or what? You bet your cotton socks he is! Not content to sit back and let millions starve in Africa, he decides to do something about it - the only way he knows how.

And last weekend, millions watched as the results of Sir Bob's good works were televised. The Live8 concert, an assemblage of the world's music fraternity, had one aim and one aim only - to raise awareness of the problems in Africa on the eve of the G8 summit in Glenfiddich. (That’s so rock and roll! - Ed.).

But now that the Orange amps have been unplugged and the Fender Stratocasters have been tucked away, it's all up to the democratically elected leaders of the world's richest nations to see what they can do.

There's certainly enough to do, that's for sure. And it's not going to be easy. There are issues with corruption in some African Governments, EU subsidies that ruin farmer's livelihoods, not to mention the widespread problems with AIDS and starvation.

But there's a bigger problem than Africa that's also on the agenda at the meeting of the G8 - global warming. And unless the world leaders decide to tackle that one too, then we could all be in the same boat as the Africans in a few years time.

I only hope that Sir Bob's wonderful efforts on behalf of the African people haven't distracted the attention of our leaders from this issue. If they have then, in a hundred years time, he may be regarded as the man who saved Africa at the expense of the entire planet. And I'm sure that’s not the legacy that the man would like to leave behind.

Not to worry though! There's still time for Sir Bob to make amends. Perhaps next year, he might consider staging another musical event to highlight the problems of climate change.

And who should headline the bill, I hear you ask? Well, given the nature of the concert, Snow Patrol might be an appropriate choice. I thought they were particularly good at the Live8 event and would like to hear them perform more songs from their album Final Straw.