I grew up in the North. I was born in Sokoto State which probably
qualifies as the nethermost part of Northern Nigeria. I attended a
Secondary School dominated by children and wards of the Sultan and his
ranking cabinet members.
I lived briefly with an Uncle whose
house was adjacent the Sultan’s Palace. This afforded me the opportunity
to befriend members of the Sultan’s household and earned me visitations
at the Sultan’s Palace.
I was equally exposed to the Northern
idiosyncrasy, their beliefs and general view of life. I can recite
several Quranic passages and I’m quite comfortable around my Muslim
friends. The only line I did not cross is becoming a Muslim despite the
earnest persuasions of my friends and classmates. Save for the resort to
extremism by certain misguided elements in the Islamic faith, the
average Northerner is a nice guy. Their word is usually their bond and
they take life quite easily.
They are not moved by ostentation
and unbridled ambition. The average northerner is not thinking of
building ten houses and having ten cars parked in major capitals of
Nigerian and foreign countries. His religion has thought him to be
Spartan, contented and unobtrusive.
That is why I agree with
northern elders who frown at the ‘westernisation’ of core northern norms
and values. They fear that the undue embrace of western cultures will
erode the core values of the north.
It is for this reason that
you see a shoe repairer or your neighbourhood ‘aboki’ who sells sweets
and detergents being able to support two wives and several children.
They simply cannot be bothered about the aspirations and pressures of
the corporate world.
That is why they can sleep soundly and snore to boot because they are a contented lot.
As
someone who grew in the North, I was able to inculcate some of those
cultures of northerners. I am a full blooded Igboman but I am not moved
by what moves my peers. I live and work in Umuahia, Abia State but I
sense an underlining difference in values between our people and others.
Here, you have to ‘gbuo ozu’ to be reckoned with.
The word
itself should have sounded an alarm to those who live by its dictates.
The literal meaning of ‘Igbu Ozu’ is killing a corpse! Its figurative
meaning is that you have acquired wealth. You have arrived. You have
bidden goodbye forever to the shackles of poverty. That is all that
matters and however you attain that feat is your problem. Curtis ‘50
Cent’ Jackson must have been talking about us when he sang Get Rich or
Die Trying.
Whatever happened to the old order of live honestly,
go to school, get a job and rise through the ranks? For instance, I know
people who are not necessarily rich but yet, they are icons of society.
I know a Bob Ogbuagu, I know an Anagha Ezikpe, I know a Joshua
Ogbonnaya, a Bath Nnaji, Earnest Ojukwu and several others who though
not rich by worldly reckoning, live a distinguished and honourable life.
Why can’t they be our role models?
I am worried, very worried
about a trend that has crept into the Nigerian system unnoticed and
seemingly unchecked. Our youths no longer have value for hardwork,
diligence, contentment and patience. They want it all and they want it
now.
Ask the average Nigerian youth who his hero or role model is
today and chances are that he will mention the name of the
neighbourhood fraud kingpin and the dishonest politician. They are awed
by the flashy cars, the bevy of beauties that flock around them and the
humongous houses they live in. nobody pauses to ask how the wealth came
about because it is all seemingly immaterial.
He more often than
not has a retinue of youths hanging around him and aping him. They pimp
for him, do errands for him that their parents should never hear of and
they hope to be like him some day.
More often than not, he is not
educated or at best, ill-educated yet he is a role model to many. As the
rave of the moment twins P-Square will say, I dey See Danger, Wahala
Dey!
The other day, I was reading in the news about the
scandalous mass failure in NECO examinations nationwide. This is
Nigeria. We have since moved on and the media that cried blue murder
have since latched unto other news. We all can’t be bothered so long as
we are not immediately affected.
Every Nigerian is a Local
Government unto himself. PHCN does not give us light, no problem, we
purchase a generator, no pipe-borne water, we sink a borehole. Our
schools are in shambles, we send our children to private schools, no
qualified doctors at our public hospitals, we go to private hospitals or
for those that can afford it, they go abroad. Nobody is asking
questions. If others can’t afford it, it’s their problem. Yet we expect
all to be well.
Now the question is, for how long shall we
continue like this? Nigerians are the most travelled people. By the
Grace of God and the benevolence of my employers, I have been privileged
to travel to 10 countries and about 14 States in America.
Each
time I want to travel and I get to the airport, I am struck by the
mammoth crowd at the airport waiting to ‘check out’. 80% of those who
travel do not intend to return until they can ‘show’ that neighbour,
aunty, girlfriend, etc who thought they would never be up to any good.
How they intend to acquire the means to show these people is anybody’s
guess.
On airplanes and at International airports, I see top
government officials. Nigerians are the most travelled people on earth.
Now the question is why can’t we translate what we see abroad to
positive developments back home? Why are we condemned to wallow in
mediocrity and backwardness?
I came to Abuja in 1998. I joined
the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Desire of Nations Parish and I can
say that that was the beginning of the change in my life. I listened to
thought provoking messages by my Pastors, Ikenna Okeke, Odun Emeasealu,
Kingsley Uluocha, Austin Ekhakheme, etc. I had leaders in Okey
Chikwendu, Bona Nwosu, Bankole Okpashi, Rogers Nwoke, Tolu Jinadu, Mudi,
Femi Blaize, Okey Uche and the likes.
The church was a
conglomeration of young professionals who knew where they were going to.
Average age was 32 and everyone was up beat and positive. We stuck
together, shared in each other’s joys and pains and watched each other
grow. It was very easy to aspire to greatness because you could see
greatness all around you. Young professionals who were diligent in what
they did and who were all evidently headed for the top of their various
callings.
Now why can’t we replicate that spirit nationwide? Am I
being idealistic? You decide. Why can’t we uphold diligence, patience,
hardwork and perseverance as a means to nation-building? Each and every
youth has a chance at being an Oil Company Executive, a Bank Manager, or
a top executive somewhere.
I have friends schooling abroad. One
is in his final year reading Law and already, he has offers from top
Wall Street firms queuing up to sign him up on mouth watering offers
once he graduates. He is not thinking of Yahoo, he is not thinking of
being a drug courier. He is actually keeping them all waiting while he
concentrates on passing his bar exams!
Now we don’t all have to
work for firms when we leave school. I was in Paris in February for an
African Leadership Conference and the Guest Speaker was Mo Ibrahim of
Celtel. He traced Africa’s problem to our mode of education. He
advocated a paradigm shift in our University system from the current
professional curricula which prepares our graduates for the job market
to entrepreneurial approach to education which enables our students
aspire to start up a business when they leave school.
Now my
head is not in the sky. I know there are impediments to that approach in
Nigeria from the seemingly intractable power conundrum to the Olympian
climb of getting capital for new businesses but for as long as there are
people who have surmounted those challenges, we can make it.
I
have an NGO, Caring Heart Foundation, which I am using to pair young
students with successful executives and entrepreneurs in the society. I
believe we can all do something about this situation in our various
stations and together, we can contribute our own quota towards the
building of a truly great and forward-looking Nigeria.
Sunday, 4 November 2012
WHEN HOPE TAKES FLIGHT, WHAT NEXT?
The scriptures say that our young men shall dream dreams and our
old men shall see visions. Sadly, the atmosphere for dreaming in Nigeria
is fast receding. Our young men have been condemned to have nightmares
while our old men have hopelessly relinquished their fiduciary
responsibilities.
Many a Nigerian youth go to bed hungry, angry, despondent, disenchanted, sad and bitter. The natural consequence of sleeping in such state is ceaseless nightmares.
It has become so difficult to dream because there are thousands of impediments to the actualisation of those dreams. For starters, when you share you dreams with supposed friends, they make it a point of duty to marshal out compelling reasons why those dreams will not see the light of day, at the end of the day, if your convictions are not cast in stone, you get dissuaded and you let the dreams die.
If you decide to plough on and follow your dreams, realities soon come crashing down on you in an unmitigated cadence. A classic business advice to young entrepreneurs and dreamers is to ask them to put their dreams and visions in writing.
I have been given that advice by mentors in the past when I verbally marshalled my seemingly lofty dreams to them. They smiled knowingly and asked me to go and put it in writing. Even the scriptures implore us to write down revelations, epiphanies and insights that we receive. This enables us to separate the real deal from brain waves. That way, on paper, you can eliminate the obviously inconsistent aspects of the dream and concentrate on the realities.
When these dreams are put together and steps are taken to actualise them, all kinds of obstacles come to the fore. As a young business starter, you require capital to actualise your business plans. How do you go about raising it?
Even before the current Sanusi abracadabra in the banking industry that has made borrowing seem like getting a visa to haven, borrowing was an Olympian climb. Banks require collateral and other forms of security for any loan they are advancing to you. Even if you want them to finance the equipments you require for what you intend to do, they will still require you to put down up to 40% of the cost of the equipment.
Now imagine a scenario, as I know is the majority case, where you go through hell to pay your way through school. You suffer deprivations, borrow from friends and classmates, face the humiliation of being walked out of an exam hall because you are yet to pay your school fees and you somehow manage to hustle your way through school.
Then you emerge with your certificate and join the labour market. After a year, you are yet to find a job. You decide that you want to start up a business. You come up with an idea and start hawking the idea. You approach banks but they politely tell you that they are not a charity organisation. You call friends, relations, remote acquaintances and all manner of associates for them to help you with the initial funds you require to start up the business but no dice. What kind of dream would such a person dream when he goes to bed?
This is a classic Nigerian story. We have Small and Medium Scale Agencies that are supposed to take care of these issues but they are bureaucratic cesspits of corruption. We have Micro-Finance banks but no thank you. We have commercial banks but sorry, we require a security that is worth more than the amount you are asking for.
On the average, any sensible business requires between 5 and 10 Million Naira to start up. Where will a poor average hustling Nigerian youth get collateral worth that amount that he will use to get a loan? You want to know if you have people? Try asking them to meet your need. They’ll suddenly stop picking your calls.
I have a friend whose story is real sad. He finished his first degree, looked for jobs for two years without luck. Then we his friends raised him money to go to the United Kingdom to prosecute his Masters Degree to brighten his chances of getting a job. He went to Aberdeen and finished his Masters and came back to Nigeria armed with a 2.1 First Degree in Chemistry and a Masters Degree in Applied Chemistry.
Friends, our friend is still hawking his C.V as I write. He spent six months in Lagos, no dice, relocated to Port-Harcourt to try the Oil Companies, spent another six months, no show. He has now moved to Abuja and it has gotten to the point where he states in his application that if his Masters Degree will be an impediment, they should ignore it and employ him based on his first Degree!
How will our young men dream dreams under these circumstances?
Ladies and gentlemen, the question is, do we then stop dreaming because dreams are increasingly becoming difficult to actualise? The answer is a capital NO. We can’t give up, we must keep pushing. We must keep knocking until someone opens.
Agreed that opportunities are becoming few and far between in Nigeria but for as long as there are still people who are succeeding, then we can’t give up. I know it seems like we are hoping against hope but what can we do? For as long as we have life, we should never stop dreaming, never stop hoping and never stop pressing towards the mark for weeping may endure for the night but joy will surely come in the morning.
Let us all make our selves ready to answer whenever we are called upon. A friend said that God only dances with people who are already on the stage. Another said that success is opportunity that met preparedness. We must all therefore be prepared to maximise opportunities whenever they come knocking.
If you want to travel abroad, then go get a passport. If you do not have a University Degree, it’s never too late. Take steps to get one today. Bottom line is that when the opportunity does come your way, may you not be the cause why the light will not shine upon you.
Ignore stragglers and loafers, you have no business with them. It’s like someone who is travelling abroad who got to the airport and started gisting with someone who came to see a traveller off. He has no destination so he is okay to gist forever, you on the other hand will be gisting with him and you won’t hear your flight being announced and you’ll end up missing the flight!
Seek like minds and those whose thought processes are higher than yours. Most of my friends are older than me deliberately for I want to know what they know. Seek the company of achievers and positive people. Stay far away from those who always complain and murmur for I assure you, it is contagious.
Lastly, hold steadfastly unto God for he is the author and finisher of our faith. The scriptures say that the race is not to the swift neither is the battle to the strong but it is unto God that showeth mercy upon whom he chooses to show mercy.
Therefore be strong in faith, keep dreaming, keep pushing, keep knocking and keep walking for verily verily I say unto you, your victory is around the corner.
Hoping that this little piece will restore someone’s hope and rekindle someone’s desire to dream again.
Best wishes.
Many a Nigerian youth go to bed hungry, angry, despondent, disenchanted, sad and bitter. The natural consequence of sleeping in such state is ceaseless nightmares.
It has become so difficult to dream because there are thousands of impediments to the actualisation of those dreams. For starters, when you share you dreams with supposed friends, they make it a point of duty to marshal out compelling reasons why those dreams will not see the light of day, at the end of the day, if your convictions are not cast in stone, you get dissuaded and you let the dreams die.
If you decide to plough on and follow your dreams, realities soon come crashing down on you in an unmitigated cadence. A classic business advice to young entrepreneurs and dreamers is to ask them to put their dreams and visions in writing.
I have been given that advice by mentors in the past when I verbally marshalled my seemingly lofty dreams to them. They smiled knowingly and asked me to go and put it in writing. Even the scriptures implore us to write down revelations, epiphanies and insights that we receive. This enables us to separate the real deal from brain waves. That way, on paper, you can eliminate the obviously inconsistent aspects of the dream and concentrate on the realities.
When these dreams are put together and steps are taken to actualise them, all kinds of obstacles come to the fore. As a young business starter, you require capital to actualise your business plans. How do you go about raising it?
Even before the current Sanusi abracadabra in the banking industry that has made borrowing seem like getting a visa to haven, borrowing was an Olympian climb. Banks require collateral and other forms of security for any loan they are advancing to you. Even if you want them to finance the equipments you require for what you intend to do, they will still require you to put down up to 40% of the cost of the equipment.
Now imagine a scenario, as I know is the majority case, where you go through hell to pay your way through school. You suffer deprivations, borrow from friends and classmates, face the humiliation of being walked out of an exam hall because you are yet to pay your school fees and you somehow manage to hustle your way through school.
Then you emerge with your certificate and join the labour market. After a year, you are yet to find a job. You decide that you want to start up a business. You come up with an idea and start hawking the idea. You approach banks but they politely tell you that they are not a charity organisation. You call friends, relations, remote acquaintances and all manner of associates for them to help you with the initial funds you require to start up the business but no dice. What kind of dream would such a person dream when he goes to bed?
This is a classic Nigerian story. We have Small and Medium Scale Agencies that are supposed to take care of these issues but they are bureaucratic cesspits of corruption. We have Micro-Finance banks but no thank you. We have commercial banks but sorry, we require a security that is worth more than the amount you are asking for.
On the average, any sensible business requires between 5 and 10 Million Naira to start up. Where will a poor average hustling Nigerian youth get collateral worth that amount that he will use to get a loan? You want to know if you have people? Try asking them to meet your need. They’ll suddenly stop picking your calls.
I have a friend whose story is real sad. He finished his first degree, looked for jobs for two years without luck. Then we his friends raised him money to go to the United Kingdom to prosecute his Masters Degree to brighten his chances of getting a job. He went to Aberdeen and finished his Masters and came back to Nigeria armed with a 2.1 First Degree in Chemistry and a Masters Degree in Applied Chemistry.
Friends, our friend is still hawking his C.V as I write. He spent six months in Lagos, no dice, relocated to Port-Harcourt to try the Oil Companies, spent another six months, no show. He has now moved to Abuja and it has gotten to the point where he states in his application that if his Masters Degree will be an impediment, they should ignore it and employ him based on his first Degree!
How will our young men dream dreams under these circumstances?
Ladies and gentlemen, the question is, do we then stop dreaming because dreams are increasingly becoming difficult to actualise? The answer is a capital NO. We can’t give up, we must keep pushing. We must keep knocking until someone opens.
Agreed that opportunities are becoming few and far between in Nigeria but for as long as there are still people who are succeeding, then we can’t give up. I know it seems like we are hoping against hope but what can we do? For as long as we have life, we should never stop dreaming, never stop hoping and never stop pressing towards the mark for weeping may endure for the night but joy will surely come in the morning.
Let us all make our selves ready to answer whenever we are called upon. A friend said that God only dances with people who are already on the stage. Another said that success is opportunity that met preparedness. We must all therefore be prepared to maximise opportunities whenever they come knocking.
If you want to travel abroad, then go get a passport. If you do not have a University Degree, it’s never too late. Take steps to get one today. Bottom line is that when the opportunity does come your way, may you not be the cause why the light will not shine upon you.
Ignore stragglers and loafers, you have no business with them. It’s like someone who is travelling abroad who got to the airport and started gisting with someone who came to see a traveller off. He has no destination so he is okay to gist forever, you on the other hand will be gisting with him and you won’t hear your flight being announced and you’ll end up missing the flight!
Seek like minds and those whose thought processes are higher than yours. Most of my friends are older than me deliberately for I want to know what they know. Seek the company of achievers and positive people. Stay far away from those who always complain and murmur for I assure you, it is contagious.
Lastly, hold steadfastly unto God for he is the author and finisher of our faith. The scriptures say that the race is not to the swift neither is the battle to the strong but it is unto God that showeth mercy upon whom he chooses to show mercy.
Therefore be strong in faith, keep dreaming, keep pushing, keep knocking and keep walking for verily verily I say unto you, your victory is around the corner.
Hoping that this little piece will restore someone’s hope and rekindle someone’s desire to dream again.
Best wishes.
LOVE, LUST, INFATUATION AND RELATED SUBJECTS
This is undoubtedly the most controversial topic I will be
addressing since I began writing. It is a subject fraught with mines and
any wrong step could have devastating consequences.
The issues to be addressed are as delicate as they are touchy and people are bound to take offence. Others still will question my moral right to pontificate on the topic at hand.
It is therefore proper that I begin with a caveat. The views I will be expressing in this article are entirely mine albeit products of my years of interaction and liaison with the opposite sex. I do not seek to judge anyone. I am only expressing an opinion and sharing insight on a subject in the hope that someone somewhere will read it and at least pause and take stock.
I have even questioned myself if I have the moral credentials to write on this subject. Those who know me know that I have had my fair share of liaison with the opposite sex so it sounds as if I am dissing those I have had dealings with. On the contrary, my experience on this particular subject places me in good stead to discuss it as I have enough experience to proffer a candid opinion. I leave the reader to decide for him/herself if I ought to be the one discussing it. If the messenger will be a problem, then by all means ignore the messenger and at least hear the message.
I am discussing the alarming rate of moral decadence in society. What transpires when a young man and a young woman get together and the middle ground between total lack of contact with the opposite sex and wild unrestricted debauchery.
I am discussing the seeming ease with which a lady gets into bed with a guy she barely knows and everyone moves on like that’s the way it ought to be. I am discussing the word love and how it has been bandied around so much that it is a wonder how people still fall for the word.
Am I then saying that love does not exist? Far from it. I am only saying that the concept of love as it ought to be is extremely rare in Nigeria of today.
People meet, get attracted to each other, hang out a couple of times and the next thing you hear is that they are in love. Brother gets a piece of the action, moves on and you here the sister sulking to all who care to listen that he has broken her heart. Really?
Now what does love really entail? The concept has been so bastardised that it is difficult to identify the real deal. There are different variants and I will discuss those hoping that shorn of all enhancements, people will see for themselves what they have been getting into.
When a young man and woman meet and before they can remember their names, they are already in bed, will any of them wake up tomorrow and listen the other’s professions of love? Am I then saying that its not possible for two people who meet and immediately sleep with each other to be in love. It is possible but highly unlikely!
More often than not, the attraction and motivation for that relationship is LUST and once a party (usually the male but sometimes the female) is sated, they move on and forget the other’s existence until such a time when they have run out of options for who to sleep with.
Another motivation for liaison is cash. Usually, a guy with the means will meet a girl and start wooing her. Next thing, he is showering her with gifts and giving her treats. She then feels an obligation to recompense him for his kindness and she goes to bed with him. As the gifts increase, so also do the sessions indoors.
Suddenly, brother hits a rough patch and the freebies cease. Sister puts up with him for a while and decides it is beneath her to hop on a bus with him or take a bike. Soon, frictions set in and they part. Were they in love? You decide.
Why is it very easy for women to fall victim of deception by men? Of course women deceive men too but the ratio is disproportional so we will concentrate on women here. Why is it very easy for your heads to be put in a vice and squeezed at will?
I have had beauty queens as friends and its ironic how lonely they are. Men look at them and assume that for them to be so beautiful, they must have it all going for them. Friends, more often than not, they are a lonely bunch. Those interested in taking them out see them as a trophy to be displayed to friends and acquaintances like hey, see the kind of babe I’m rolling with. To strike a balance, these girls milk these usually rich guys dry and move to the next one when he starts complaining. You want a trophy, then you must be willing to win a competition!
You should be able to tell when you are a trophy to a guy. There are two sides to the coin. If he doesn’t want his friends to see you with him, then watch it babe, you’re a booty call. If on the other hand, he’s overly enthusiastic to take you out and he’s just content with you staying glued beside him without any meaningful gist between both of you, then you’re a trophy.
Sisters, now now now, what are you still doing with that guy who only calls you when he wants to have sex and you say he is your boyfriend or that you both are in love? Wake up and smell the roses, you are nothing but a booty call. Check it, whenever he calls you and you come, he is in a hurry for both of you to get undressed and get the show on the road. Afterwards, he increases the volume on the T.V or he falls into a deep sleep with an annoying snore to boot. What kind of love is that?
Notice that he gets shifty and remembers an appointment when you come flying the red flag or you are not feeling well. Its simple, you are of no use to him at that moment so it’s best you get on your way while he calls someone else to serve the purpose.
You are actually not doing yourself any favours with a guy when you’re always available whenever he calls you. Once he calls, you drop all you’re doing and come running to him. Nah, that’s an absolute no no. Don’t you have a life? Trust me, men respect you more when you’re unavailable sometimes. Like you have an exam tomorrow and you have to read therefore you can’t come out or you had a long day at work and you’re tired.
He may seem disappointed at that moment but if he’s really into you, he’ll understand that your life does not revolve around his and cut you some slack. Trust me, when he calls you tomorrow, he’ll be nicer and actually ASK if he can see you and not just order you to come over to his place.
The key here of course is not to be a bitch about it and give him a hard time. If you play hard to get, then he’ll move on. If you stand him up on two dates, he’ll have to be a real schmuck to ask for a third. Strike a balance between here am I use me and I’m not available. That’s the key.
Sisters, it’s perfectly okay to ask a guy what he wants from you. He shows up at your house today, you all gist for three hours, the same scenario plays out for a whole week. Then step on the brakes and catch him off guard by asking him what his intentions are towards you. Look him in the eye when he’s answering you. You can define that relationship at that particular spot.
He invites you over to his house and proceeds to fiddle with your buttons after you have sipped from the glass of wine he offered you. Whoa, hold your horses mister, I don’t know you that well and we ain’t that close yet. What am I, a pick-up?
Now there’s this matter of reputation. People see people and form an impression about them and make assumptions concerning them. Three things lead a guy to form an opinion about you. The way you talk, the company you keep and the things they see you do.
If I’m new in town and each time you’re within my earshot, you use vulgar and lascivious words, if I’m not so inclined, I’ll think you’re a vulgar person and without having exchanged a word with you, I’ll tag you as a vulgar person and treat you as such so watch what you say, you never know who’s listening.
Flowing from the above, if I see you hanging around with the neighbourhood easy lay and you both are real chummy, I’ll assume you’re available for the asking and won’t bother forming any serious intentions towards you. Trust me, no guy wants to propose to a babe who he is worried all his grooms men would have slept with by the wedding day!
Lastly, if you’re always in the middle of a ruckus or you’re at every party holding in town, that don’t look so good. It won’t send a good impression. Another important point is dress sense. Now I’m no prude. I’m all for looking good. I’m not advocating we all wear dowdy ankle length boubous. Nah. All I’m saying is look good within the bounds of decency without throwing everything in our face.
Back to this love matter, from experience, I’d say just hook up with someone you have GIST with. The sex will fade, the money may dry up, the kids will grow up and leave the house. Every other thing will fade but so long as you both have gist, you’ll always stick together. And of course, whatever you do, ask God for direction. He’ll sort you out.
Bottom line is that we lie on our bed the way we make it. It’s totally your call to decide how you want to live your life. The company you want to keep and how you want to relate with men.
Just don’t go about telling everyone that your heart was broken when it all comes crashing down on your head.
As for single girls dating married men, you know exactly what you’re doing so no comment from me.
Enough said.
The issues to be addressed are as delicate as they are touchy and people are bound to take offence. Others still will question my moral right to pontificate on the topic at hand.
It is therefore proper that I begin with a caveat. The views I will be expressing in this article are entirely mine albeit products of my years of interaction and liaison with the opposite sex. I do not seek to judge anyone. I am only expressing an opinion and sharing insight on a subject in the hope that someone somewhere will read it and at least pause and take stock.
I have even questioned myself if I have the moral credentials to write on this subject. Those who know me know that I have had my fair share of liaison with the opposite sex so it sounds as if I am dissing those I have had dealings with. On the contrary, my experience on this particular subject places me in good stead to discuss it as I have enough experience to proffer a candid opinion. I leave the reader to decide for him/herself if I ought to be the one discussing it. If the messenger will be a problem, then by all means ignore the messenger and at least hear the message.
I am discussing the alarming rate of moral decadence in society. What transpires when a young man and a young woman get together and the middle ground between total lack of contact with the opposite sex and wild unrestricted debauchery.
I am discussing the seeming ease with which a lady gets into bed with a guy she barely knows and everyone moves on like that’s the way it ought to be. I am discussing the word love and how it has been bandied around so much that it is a wonder how people still fall for the word.
Am I then saying that love does not exist? Far from it. I am only saying that the concept of love as it ought to be is extremely rare in Nigeria of today.
People meet, get attracted to each other, hang out a couple of times and the next thing you hear is that they are in love. Brother gets a piece of the action, moves on and you here the sister sulking to all who care to listen that he has broken her heart. Really?
Now what does love really entail? The concept has been so bastardised that it is difficult to identify the real deal. There are different variants and I will discuss those hoping that shorn of all enhancements, people will see for themselves what they have been getting into.
When a young man and woman meet and before they can remember their names, they are already in bed, will any of them wake up tomorrow and listen the other’s professions of love? Am I then saying that its not possible for two people who meet and immediately sleep with each other to be in love. It is possible but highly unlikely!
More often than not, the attraction and motivation for that relationship is LUST and once a party (usually the male but sometimes the female) is sated, they move on and forget the other’s existence until such a time when they have run out of options for who to sleep with.
Another motivation for liaison is cash. Usually, a guy with the means will meet a girl and start wooing her. Next thing, he is showering her with gifts and giving her treats. She then feels an obligation to recompense him for his kindness and she goes to bed with him. As the gifts increase, so also do the sessions indoors.
Suddenly, brother hits a rough patch and the freebies cease. Sister puts up with him for a while and decides it is beneath her to hop on a bus with him or take a bike. Soon, frictions set in and they part. Were they in love? You decide.
Why is it very easy for women to fall victim of deception by men? Of course women deceive men too but the ratio is disproportional so we will concentrate on women here. Why is it very easy for your heads to be put in a vice and squeezed at will?
I have had beauty queens as friends and its ironic how lonely they are. Men look at them and assume that for them to be so beautiful, they must have it all going for them. Friends, more often than not, they are a lonely bunch. Those interested in taking them out see them as a trophy to be displayed to friends and acquaintances like hey, see the kind of babe I’m rolling with. To strike a balance, these girls milk these usually rich guys dry and move to the next one when he starts complaining. You want a trophy, then you must be willing to win a competition!
You should be able to tell when you are a trophy to a guy. There are two sides to the coin. If he doesn’t want his friends to see you with him, then watch it babe, you’re a booty call. If on the other hand, he’s overly enthusiastic to take you out and he’s just content with you staying glued beside him without any meaningful gist between both of you, then you’re a trophy.
Sisters, now now now, what are you still doing with that guy who only calls you when he wants to have sex and you say he is your boyfriend or that you both are in love? Wake up and smell the roses, you are nothing but a booty call. Check it, whenever he calls you and you come, he is in a hurry for both of you to get undressed and get the show on the road. Afterwards, he increases the volume on the T.V or he falls into a deep sleep with an annoying snore to boot. What kind of love is that?
Notice that he gets shifty and remembers an appointment when you come flying the red flag or you are not feeling well. Its simple, you are of no use to him at that moment so it’s best you get on your way while he calls someone else to serve the purpose.
You are actually not doing yourself any favours with a guy when you’re always available whenever he calls you. Once he calls, you drop all you’re doing and come running to him. Nah, that’s an absolute no no. Don’t you have a life? Trust me, men respect you more when you’re unavailable sometimes. Like you have an exam tomorrow and you have to read therefore you can’t come out or you had a long day at work and you’re tired.
He may seem disappointed at that moment but if he’s really into you, he’ll understand that your life does not revolve around his and cut you some slack. Trust me, when he calls you tomorrow, he’ll be nicer and actually ASK if he can see you and not just order you to come over to his place.
The key here of course is not to be a bitch about it and give him a hard time. If you play hard to get, then he’ll move on. If you stand him up on two dates, he’ll have to be a real schmuck to ask for a third. Strike a balance between here am I use me and I’m not available. That’s the key.
Sisters, it’s perfectly okay to ask a guy what he wants from you. He shows up at your house today, you all gist for three hours, the same scenario plays out for a whole week. Then step on the brakes and catch him off guard by asking him what his intentions are towards you. Look him in the eye when he’s answering you. You can define that relationship at that particular spot.
He invites you over to his house and proceeds to fiddle with your buttons after you have sipped from the glass of wine he offered you. Whoa, hold your horses mister, I don’t know you that well and we ain’t that close yet. What am I, a pick-up?
Now there’s this matter of reputation. People see people and form an impression about them and make assumptions concerning them. Three things lead a guy to form an opinion about you. The way you talk, the company you keep and the things they see you do.
If I’m new in town and each time you’re within my earshot, you use vulgar and lascivious words, if I’m not so inclined, I’ll think you’re a vulgar person and without having exchanged a word with you, I’ll tag you as a vulgar person and treat you as such so watch what you say, you never know who’s listening.
Flowing from the above, if I see you hanging around with the neighbourhood easy lay and you both are real chummy, I’ll assume you’re available for the asking and won’t bother forming any serious intentions towards you. Trust me, no guy wants to propose to a babe who he is worried all his grooms men would have slept with by the wedding day!
Lastly, if you’re always in the middle of a ruckus or you’re at every party holding in town, that don’t look so good. It won’t send a good impression. Another important point is dress sense. Now I’m no prude. I’m all for looking good. I’m not advocating we all wear dowdy ankle length boubous. Nah. All I’m saying is look good within the bounds of decency without throwing everything in our face.
Back to this love matter, from experience, I’d say just hook up with someone you have GIST with. The sex will fade, the money may dry up, the kids will grow up and leave the house. Every other thing will fade but so long as you both have gist, you’ll always stick together. And of course, whatever you do, ask God for direction. He’ll sort you out.
Bottom line is that we lie on our bed the way we make it. It’s totally your call to decide how you want to live your life. The company you want to keep and how you want to relate with men.
Just don’t go about telling everyone that your heart was broken when it all comes crashing down on your head.
As for single girls dating married men, you know exactly what you’re doing so no comment from me.
Enough said.
LET GO
There are people who can walk away from you.And hear me when I
tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk.. I
don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you,
loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying
attached to you. I mean hang up the phone.When people can walk away from
you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left.The
bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest
that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would
have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]People leave you because they are
not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make
them stay.Let them go.And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person it
just means that their part in the story is over. And you've got to know
when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying
to raise the dead.. You've got to know when it's dead.You've got to know
when it's over. Let me tell you something.. I've got the gift of
good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift, I believe in good-bye.. It's
not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever G od
means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat
I don't need it. Stop begging people to stay.Let them go!!If you are
holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never
intended for your life, then you need to......LET IT GO!!!If you are
holding on to past hurts and pains .......LET IT GO!!!If someone can't
treat you right, love you back, and see your wort h......LET IT GO!!!If
someone has angered you.LET IT GO!!!If you are holding on to some
thoughts of evil and revenge..... LET IT GO!!!If you are involved in a
wrong relationship or addiction... ..LET IT GO!!!If you are holding on
to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents..LET IT GO!!!If you! u
have a bad attitude.... ...LET IT GO!!!If you keep judging others to
make yourself feel better......LET IT GO!!!If you're stuck in the past
and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him.........LET IT
GO!!!If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship.
....LET IT GO!!!If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to
help themselves.. ....LET IT GO!!!If you're feeling depressed and
stressed ............ .LET IT GO!!!If there is a particular situation
that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying 'take your
hands off of it,' then you need to......LET IT GO!!!'The Battle is the
Lord's! T.D. Jakes.
DO NOT TERRORIZE ME WITH YOUR RELIGION
I must say first off that I was inspired to write this piece after reading Chidi Amuta’s back-page article in Thisday Newspapers of Thursday, November 18, 2010 titled ‘A Graveyard of Most Things’.
In the said article, Chidi wondered why most benefits of embracing foreign religions have eluded us. He alluded to the fact that those that introduced Islam and Christianity to Nigeria came with concurrent economic and moral values that go with the two religions and wondered why such values have helped develop the parent countries while seemingly getting lost in Nigeria where it was exported to.
That got me thinking and I zeroed the problem down to a position I have always held that in Nigeria, we elevate symbolic nuances of our religions to great heights while ignoring the basic tenets or practicing them in total breach of the original intention of the founding fathers.
I dare say that the Pharisees of biblical teachings must have established a strong satellite camp in Nigeria in days of yore which has grown exponentially and taken firm root in our daily endeavours. Unfortunately, Jesus is not here to physically excoriate us. We are simply put, a nation of hypocrites! (Yes, sue me).
How else would you explain a society that places such great emphasis on religious symbolism to the detriment of the actual teachings of the religion. Two examples will suffice at this point.
I do not go far. In my village, we have always had a Methodist Church where we worshiped whenever we returned for the annual Christmas pilgrimage to the East’ (I will discuss Christmas in another Note). There are three villages in my community sharing a common history and the three villages have always jointly worshiped in the Methodist Church.
Now out of the blues, about 10 years ago, a major squabble erupted regarding the name the Church should be called (a more than 50 year old Church that suddenly needed fresh christening). Protagonists and antagonists took sides and even people that were otherwise reasonable and of high mind were parroting a strange logic (or illogic) that since there were three villages worshiping in the Church, it would not be fair for the church to continue baring the name of one village only! It did not also help that the church was cited on a boundary between two of the villages.
Friends, I tell you that this debate led to boycott of church services by different villages at different times and tempers really rose to boiling point. Thank God it did not snow-ball into a communal (or is it fraternal) conflict among brethren that have always dwelt in peace.
At the end of a long period of tension, the matter was resolved by naming the poor church, (no pun intended), wait for it… Trinity Methodist Church, UUU. Yes, that is what is written on the signpost of the church as I write. Trinity not depicting the trinity that you and I know or have deduced from the bible or a dictionary, but trinity to connote the three villages that ‘own’ the church! The UUU also stands for the first letters of the names of the three villages! In other words, though the church sits on a land, no one can lay claim to it. It belongs jointly and equally to the three villages. That was how the matter was ‘resolved’ amicably and everybody resumed pious worship of God safe in the knowledge that no neighbour had any undue advantage over the other in laying rightful claim to the church.
Again, in a neighbouring community, a similar scuffle ensued owing to the mounting of a signpost at an Anglican Church that has always accommodated two villages. One day, an affluent son of one of the villages donated a signpost to the church and made the mistake of citing the location of the church in his village.
Pronto, the youths of the other village, not enamored by the niceties of diplomacy and dialogue, rose up in arms the next morning and uprooted the provocative signpost. I wish that were all. Whosai! They took the liberty of dispossessing neighbouring buildings of their windows and generally racked up a fine ruckus. In the proper Igbo tradition, the attacked village felt rightfully indignant at the unwarranted provocation and their youths, equally armed themselves and paid a retaliatory visit to the village where the aggressors had come from in the true spirit of ‘ubochi amuru dike na mba ka amuru dike ibeya na mba ozo’ (meaning the day a great man was born in a community, so also were other great men born in other communities. It’s a battle cry that comes in handy whenever there’s a need to raise testosterone levels a few notches higher).
Thus began a prolonged inter-village skirmish. I am made to understand that on Sundays, while coming to the disputed church, people of the two villages would conceal guns, machetes, cudgels and other choice weapons capable of causing grievous bodily harm under their fine Sunday apparel and while singing their hymns, they will be on the lookout for any sudden movement from their neighbours which will no doubt be met with equal and corresponding force. The biblical injunction of ‘watch and pray’ found potent adherents in that church.
Soon, it was decided that the two villages should not worship together again to avoid repeated altercations. A novel concept was created whereby one village would worship from 7am to 10am and vacate the church for the other village to come in and worship from 10am to whenever it suites their fancy to leave. The matter of who should worship first caused another great and mighty storm.
Thankfully, I understand an illustrious son of one of the villages has erected a structure and ‘relocated’ his people to an area of less resistance. Nonetheless, some die hards still insist that the church rightfully belongs to them and they have refused to forego their ‘rightful place of worship’ so that the other ‘infidels’ do not take undue glory. The matter still lingers.
I have raised these two examples to highlight what we go to church to do as Nigerians. The question is when these people go out on evangelism, what do they tell those they are trying to convert? One of the key biblical tenets is ‘love your neighbour as yourself’. Do these people love their neighbours? You decide.
It’s not quite different with Islam. There are probably more mosques in Nigeria than the entire Middle East where Islam originated from. In northern Nigeria, virtually every street has it own Mosque and affluent members of society build private mosques within their compounds yet the division persists.
A Yoruba Muslim is suspicious of praying in an Hausa-dominated mosque. Until recently when a young, debonair Army Brigadier General ascended the throne as Sultan of Sokoto, Northern and Western Muslims celebrated Sallah Eid on different days. It is quite more complicated than this. The recurrent skirmishes in the north are products of religious extremism. Is that really what the Quran teaches or are adherents of the Islamic faith interpreting the Holy Book to sooth their innate violent predilections? Again, you tell me.
In Nigeria, we practice religion to be SEEN and not to be emulated. A Muslim would rather pray in public so that his neighbour would see him praying as a true mark of observance of one of the 5 cardinal pillars of Islam. Our annual Hajj entourage is easily the largest worldwide. What about pilgrimage to Jerusalem? Ah, another matter. People go for sightseeing and to be able to affix JP to their titles rather than for spiritual edification.
Your neighbour wakes up at midnight to conduct ‘midnight prayer’ and keeps the entire neighbourhood awake with his supplications. Is he really praying to be answered or is he praying to be HEARD praying by his neighbours?
A man comes to you to transact business and the first thing he does is to identify himself as a member of your church. What has that got to do with the business at hand? Chances are that he will defraud you along the line. So much for being a ‘brother’.
We mouth platitudes promoted by our churches e.g you’re blessed, bless you, I am strong, I am rich, brother praise God, e.t.c. Our new wonder churches are another matter entirely. Thankfully, the Bible has warned that it is not all that call God father that will enter into the kingdom of God.
What then am I advocating? Let your religious piety speak for you by your actions and deeds and not by your words. Let me not know you as a religious person because you said so or because you act like one. Let your off hand actions and your unconscious utterances and deeds actually single you out as a good man. I am led more by works than by sight.
I do not have much respect for people who will want to intimidate me with their religion, their piety or their adherence to the style of the General Overseer or Imam. Be independently good and religious (yes, they go hand in hand) and all else will fall in place. Give because it is an innate quality and not because you want me to see what you are giving. Pray for me without telling me you are praying for me.
I once worked in an office in Abuja where a new guy was recruited. We explained to him the on-going scam in the company and enlisted his support. He declined to participate but did not stand in our way. Instead, he kept praying for us. We were neck deep and the money was good. One day, the sharing formula of a heist became a problem and a staff who felt short-changed spilled the beans to management. Pronto we were all rounded up and dispatched to the nearby police station to sing our hearts out. That day, a glorious thing happened. In unison, we the accused exonerated our pious colleague and vouched that he was not one of us. We were okay to go to the station but we insisted our colleague who was not a partaker be let go.
It was really simple. He did not judge us. He did not thump a bible in our face. He only admonished us constantly to change our ways in a way that we still had professional harmony. If I was going to change, it was because he walked his faith and was an all-round good person.
Brethren, let us drop all this hypocrisy. Deep down, we are not worthy. If not for GRACE, we would all have been condemned a long time ago. Jesus said he that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. To assume that your private sin is a small one while the drunkard and philanderer is definitely hell-bound is the greatest sin of all.
Let us stop judging our fellow men. Go light on the open show of piety and concentrate on working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. On the day of judgment, those people you worked hard to prove to that you are holy will not be there to attest to your holiness, they will be answering their own questions.
Concentrate on developing your own relationship with God for on the last day, every man shall answer for himself. Seek a church that provides you with spiritual edification and ignore all the razzmatazz, it matters little in the long run.
Seek the help of the Holy Spirit to help you rightfully divide the word of truth so that you are not tossed around by every word of doctrine. Above all, constantly beseech God for his GRACE. That is the ultimate weapon that is more potent than all our grandstanding put together. The day you start assuming that you are where you are or what you are because of your righteousness, brother, sister, I pity you.
The above is my two-pence on the subject. I hope someone is blessed. I leave you all to work out your salvation with fear and trembling while I work out mine. Thank you.
STOP MAKING TOO MUCH SENSE FOR GOD
‘Then Elisha said, hear ye the word of the Lord. Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be?......
….. and the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD’.
2 Kings : 7 V1,2,16.
This works pretty simply. What has God told you about your life that you have dismissed as impossible? How many prophesies have you dismissed with a wave of the hand? How many times have you scoffed when a man of God decrees a seemingly impossible thing?
Friends, we serve a God who delights in senseless sense! He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.
If you study this passage theologically, you will realise that it really wasn’t the fault of the guy who thought Elisha’s prophesy was impossible. Truth is that he had done the maths and by WORLDLY permutations, it was simply impossible for what Elisha had said to come to pass… alas, he didn’t factor in divine permutation.
Sometimes, God wants us in our bare form. Shorn of all the degrees, high titles, social standing and professional competencies. He wants a blank canvas He can draw a masterpiece on and clay He can mould as he pleases.
Often times, we attempt in our foolishness to help God by setting certain steps in motion that will ‘aid’ God in working wonders in our lives.
Brethren, today is December 20, 2010. For someone, a prophesy came forth that in the year 2010, something or the other will happen for you. You have by your own estimation made all the right moves to guarantee the miracle. You have cozzied up to the right professional and social circle. You have ingratiated yourself in the minds of all those who you believe it is in their power to bring about that turn-around in your life.
Yes, hard work and foresight is essential in the journey of life but not at the expense of the will of God for your life. Remember Jesus on the cross asking God to let this cup pass over him yet not his will but the will of God. Remember also Mary the mother of Jesus’ famous statement. ‘Be it unto me, according to your will’. The same Mary told the stewards at the wedding in Cana of Galilee ‘whatever he says unto you, DO IT’!
For some people, it is not late. Surrender yourself to God’s will, drop all baggages and inhibitions and with a clear heart, accept a prophesy without doing the maths and you will see God working wonders in your life.
Before this year 2010 runs out, someone reading this shall have a miracle of a magnitude he/she never imagined or never believed could happen this year. Amen. I await your testimonies.
As I sign off, I leave you with a few seemingly senseless things that God used to confound us.
1. The birth of Jesus Christ via immaculate conception
2. Shedrack, Meshack and Abadnego in the fire,
3. Paul and Silas walking out of Prison unshackled
4. Daniel coming out of the Lion’s Den unscathed
5. Sarah giving birth at age 90
6. Jesus turning water to wine
7. the wall of Jericho falling simply by shouting
8. Moses parting the Red Sea and other Signs
9. Elijah and the prophets of Baal
10. Cast your net into the deep
11. Who is this that even the wind and the seas obey him?
12. Jesus walking on water
13. Jesus rising on the 3rd day
14. A cruz of oil that was inexhaustible
15. 5 loaves of bread and two fishes feeding thousands
16. The blind seeing, the lame walking, the dumb talking
17. the deaf hearing
18. Sam Hart being where he is today!
Think of a seemingly impossible feat that God did and add it to this list. Lets glorify His name forever.
OLUSOLA AYODEJI AROGUN: ODE TO MY FRIEND AT 40
A lot has been written and a lot more said regarding the place of friends in the life of an individual. While some people have inspiring tales to tell about their friends, others yet have woeful stories of betrayals by those they took as their closest friends.
Today, I write on Mr. Olusola Ayodeji Arogun, my brother from Isanlu Isin in Kwara State who has been a rock, a friend, a confidant and an ally since we met. It may be shocking to say so in this year and age but I state boldly that for the Eight (8) years that I have known Shola as he is commonly known, we are yet to have our first quarrel. Not because i have not offended him, but because he forgives before you offend.
Such is the disposition of this perfect gentleman that his capacity for patience and accommodation is legendary amongst all those that know him closely. He doesn’t bear grudges, forgives easily, overlooks things that most people would latch on to make trouble and is as sincere as they come.
He does not smoke, does not drink, takes his God seriously without terrorising you with his piety and is generally an all round nice guy.
He is unflinchingly loyal to his friends and I can state boldly that Shola will protect his friends come what may. Shola will NEVER use your secret against you which cannot be said for most friends these days. He will never snitch, never backbite and never gossip about you. They have stopped making them like Shola.
He is also fiercely loyal to his siblings. He is providentially the eldest son of his father’s ten (10) sons (he had an elder brother who sadly passed on in the year 2000) and at various times, each of his younger ones have had cause to live with him sometimes three at a time.
He will go out of his way to ensure that his younger ones feel at home to the extent that they had the liberty to invite their own friends to come and squat with them in their brothers house. At a point in time, three of his brothers and seven of their Youth Corper friends were all living with Shola at his house in Umuahia and he was catering for them all. I never heard him complain even for one day nor treat anybody disparagingly. Even when he needs to send any of them on an errand, he asks nicely and adds please at the end to boot!
This fierce loyalty to his siblings would eventually play a major role in the break-up of a serious relationship he was into at the time.
Shola came to Aba in Abia State for his Youth Service in 1996 and at the end of his service year, he stayed back in Aba to work for Olusola Adekanola & Co, the Revenue Consultants to the Abia State Government then. Eventually, at the inception of democracy in 1999, he came to Government House, Umuahia to work as Personal Assistant to Chief Chuka Odom who held diverse positions in the Orji Uzor Kalu administration for 8 years ranging from Special Adviser to Deputy Chief of Staff, Commissioner in two Ministries and a whole lot more.
In 2007, when Chief T.A. Orji took over as Governor of Abia State, he retained Shola to serve as Abia State Website Administrator and Special Assistant on Information Technology. He diligently discharged this role until 2008 when he decided that having spent twelve years in Abia State, the time had come for him to pursue new challenges in another clime.
He voluntarily resigned his appointment with the Abia State Government and relocated with his family to Abuja.
To the glory of God, he immediately secured appointment with the Federal Housing Authority as a Personal Assistant to the then Managing Director, from there, he was employed full time in the agency such that even when the Managing Director was redeployed out of the agency, he was safely entrenched in the system. He is still with the Federal Housing Authority and God has been kind to him and his family.
A 1995 graduate of Computer Science from the Federal Polytechnic, Illorin, Kwara State, he has since topped that with professional certifications as an Oracle Certified Database Administrator (OCDBA) and an Oracle Certified Professional (OCP).
He got married to the then Miss Tosin Jagun in Lagos in December 2005, an event at which I was the Best Man, and the union is blessed with two beautiful daughters. Omotola and Omolola.
Deji (as I call you), as you mark your 40th Birthday today, January 17th, 2011, my prayer for you is that the good Lord, who has given you such a beautiful heart, should bless you indeed.
You are a good man therefore goodness shall never be far from your place of habitation. You are a kind man therefore men shall favour you and yours ceaselessly.
You are a large-hearted man therefore your barnhouse and your storehouse shall never run dry.
Life they say begins at 40. You began your own life before 40. Enter into your season of rest. You shall be like the tree planted by the riverside that brings forth fruit in season….and even out of season.
From the bottom of my heart, on behalf of the Hart Clan, I say Happy Birthday and God Bless You my best friend.
Sam Hart.
OF WAEC FAILURES AND THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA
There is fire on the mountain, and nobody seems to be on the run, there is fire on the mountain top and no one is a running…
…One day the river will overflow, and there will be nowhere for us to go, and we will run, run, wishing we had put out the fire…’
The above is an extract from the song ‘Fire on the Mountain’ by Bukola Elemide popularly known as Asa in her eponymous album. The song is a call to action and a charge on us all to arrest the rot in the system failing which we will have a heavy price to pay in the future.
My mind went to this song as I read the Newspapers on Thursday, August 11, 2011 with a bold headline proclaiming that of the a little above One Million Four Hundred students that sat for the 2011 West African Examination Council (WAEC) Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), One Million of them failed the exam.
The report then went ahead to detail the ratio of fail in all the subjects and the catastrophic inability of majority of the students to scale through the Mathematics and English hurdle. I was driving through Owerri that morning and Hot 99.5 FM, a private F.M Station was conducting an audience participation programme known as People’s Assembly on the issue of the WAEC failures.
The majority of the callers were understandably angry. They blamed the teachers, the politicians, the President, the Governors, the students themselves and indeed, everybody available to be blamed.
I hasten to point out that this is not the first time this event is occurring. On the contrary, this should be the fifth year running where students scandalously fail WAEC and NECO examinations. The percentage of failure has only increased each year.
The question then becomes what are the authorities doing to stem this tide? Unfortunately, I don’t see much going on. Two years ago, a large chunk of the budget for the education sector was hived off the year’s appropriation estimate and allocated to the five-lane expressway leading from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja into the city centre! Such prioritisation.
I am not Nasir El-Rufai. I do not have at my disposal, the luxury of stupefying statistics to buttress my point but I do know that over the years, scant attention has been paid to this debilitating national problem and from all indications, we have moved on to more newsworthy issues until same time next year when we will carry another banner headline proclaiming an even bigger failure rate.
At times like this, I am forced to look back at what was obtainable when I sat for the same examination. I make bold to proclaim that I attended a public secondary school. I attended Sultan Bello Secondary School in the old Sokoto State comprising present day Kebbi State and Zamfara State. I was thought by dedicated and hardworking teachers who took great pride in their work. Our teachers saw us not only as students but their children and wards and they took personal care to ensure that we excelled in all that we did.
My Juniour Secondary English teacher was Mr. Yau Manu Gyamfi, a Ghanaian who took extra care to teach us pronunciations and diction. May God bless him wherever he is today. In Senior Secondary, I was thought English first by Mr. K.W Owusu, another Ghanaian and later, Mrs. K. Ebro, an Indian who wore her Sari with pride everyday until I left that school.
Mr. Singh, a Philipino taught me Mathematics and we had a number of other expatriates mixed with dedicated Nigerian teaching staff who inculcated academic and personal values in us. I have seen some present-day Polytechnics and I dare say that our Introductory Technology Laboratory had more equipments and machinery than these Polytechnics!
At the resumption of every academic term, it was mandatory for us to write essays detailing our activities during the holidays.
We wrote essays on the special features of our localities, the qualities in our friends and our aspirations for the future. We had lots of books to read from. Brighter Grammar Parts 1-4 were my favourites. Books came from Macmillan Publishers and the likes. Schooling was exciting and fun.
A major feature of our Senior Secondary School years was the Inter-School Debating Competition organised by the State Ministry of Education. We competed with Federal Government College, Sokoto, Nana Girls Secondary School, Government Technical College, Farufaru, Government Technical College Dange-Shuni, Government College Zuru and the likes. We traveled to remote areas to debate with their schools in a state-wide competition.
The finals were usually a carnival event attended by the Military Administrator of the State who personally gave out prizes to the winners. I was in the debating club of my school and I shook hands with the Military Administrator for two years in a row as a winner with my school. Today, I don’t know if such things still exist. If they do, nobody gets to hear about them and I don’t know the level of involvement by government.
A little story on how I entered Sultan Bello Secondary School Sokoto will suffice. I had sat for the Common Entrance Examination for Primary School leavers which was then a requirement to get placement into Federal Secondary Schools. I had listed Federal Government College Okigwe as my first choice as my parents wanted me to attend a secondary school closer home having spent all my life as at then in Sokoto State.
When the results of the exam came out, I scored 501 and the cut-off mark for admission into F.G.C Okigwe then was 503. My father reckoned that being an indigene of the catchment area of the school, they would accept me so my mum and I set out by five p.m one evening to travel to Okigwe to see the principal and get me admitted into the school. The journey took all of 36 hours as we encountered armed robbers on our way and had to spend the night in a ditch waiting for the light of dawn to continue our journey.
By the morning of the third day, we arrived Okigwe and headed straight to the school.
We saw the Principal and after looking at my result, he politely informed my mum that I was not qualified to be admitted into the school as I fell short of the cut-off point.
My mum appealed to his pity throwing in the distance we travelled and our harrowing experience with the robbers but no dice. The Principal stuck to his guns. While we were pleading with him, a military officer walked in with his daughter and she had a score of 500. The Principal repeated his apology and turned down the officer’s request to admit his daughter. He pleaded and even subtly threatened the Principal all to no avail.
My mum and I had hung around believing the Principal would admit the officer’s daughter so that we could latch on that and insist on my own admission but after the officer left with his daughter, we knew the Principal meant business and we travelled all the way back without achieving our aim.
On return, we tried the F.G.C Sokoto which had a cut-off mark of 250 but they had exhausted their quota for non-indigenes and unless I was willing to change my surname to Abdullahi, Bello or Usman, there was no way I could be admitted. My father was not that desperate so we opted for second best which was the Sultan Bello Secondary School which admitted me.
Let me state here that I bore grudges against the Principal of F.G.C Okigwe for rejecting me for a long time but today, with the benefit of hindsight, I wish all Principals would be like him.
Today, I am aware that most teachers are frustrated at their job. They feel that they ought to be doing something better with their lives and at class reunions, they are ashamed to state that they are teachers. It was not always so!
These days, cronyism is the order of the day. School authorities defer to politicians and the likes and schools are afraid to fail children of big men so they just keep promoting them until they fail WAEC! This rot can be addressed by going back to the old system of excellence and merit.
Schools should have sports facilities where students are encouraged to engage in sports. That is where their competitive spirit is honed and no self-respecting student will want his mates to do better than him all round.
The advent of social media has come with its own ills. Students now spend time chatting on Facebook, tweeting and ‘Pinging’ on Blackberrys. These can all be educational tools. I am on all these social media and I state without equivocation that they are educative. It is only wrong use of them that has negative implications.
Finally, our governments should do more to enhance the welfare and remuneration of our teachers so that it will not be a flag stop for people in search of a better life. We all have a share in the blame and until we see it from that prism, the malaise will remain with us.
I close with Alfred Rewane’s submission. “When we were growing up, we looked forward to a better tomorrow with hope. Now that I am old, I reminisce on a yesterday that was far better than what I see today”. May that not be our portion. Amen.
…One day the river will overflow, and there will be nowhere for us to go, and we will run, run, wishing we had put out the fire…’
The above is an extract from the song ‘Fire on the Mountain’ by Bukola Elemide popularly known as Asa in her eponymous album. The song is a call to action and a charge on us all to arrest the rot in the system failing which we will have a heavy price to pay in the future.
My mind went to this song as I read the Newspapers on Thursday, August 11, 2011 with a bold headline proclaiming that of the a little above One Million Four Hundred students that sat for the 2011 West African Examination Council (WAEC) Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), One Million of them failed the exam.
The report then went ahead to detail the ratio of fail in all the subjects and the catastrophic inability of majority of the students to scale through the Mathematics and English hurdle. I was driving through Owerri that morning and Hot 99.5 FM, a private F.M Station was conducting an audience participation programme known as People’s Assembly on the issue of the WAEC failures.
The majority of the callers were understandably angry. They blamed the teachers, the politicians, the President, the Governors, the students themselves and indeed, everybody available to be blamed.
I hasten to point out that this is not the first time this event is occurring. On the contrary, this should be the fifth year running where students scandalously fail WAEC and NECO examinations. The percentage of failure has only increased each year.
The question then becomes what are the authorities doing to stem this tide? Unfortunately, I don’t see much going on. Two years ago, a large chunk of the budget for the education sector was hived off the year’s appropriation estimate and allocated to the five-lane expressway leading from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja into the city centre! Such prioritisation.
I am not Nasir El-Rufai. I do not have at my disposal, the luxury of stupefying statistics to buttress my point but I do know that over the years, scant attention has been paid to this debilitating national problem and from all indications, we have moved on to more newsworthy issues until same time next year when we will carry another banner headline proclaiming an even bigger failure rate.
At times like this, I am forced to look back at what was obtainable when I sat for the same examination. I make bold to proclaim that I attended a public secondary school. I attended Sultan Bello Secondary School in the old Sokoto State comprising present day Kebbi State and Zamfara State. I was thought by dedicated and hardworking teachers who took great pride in their work. Our teachers saw us not only as students but their children and wards and they took personal care to ensure that we excelled in all that we did.
My Juniour Secondary English teacher was Mr. Yau Manu Gyamfi, a Ghanaian who took extra care to teach us pronunciations and diction. May God bless him wherever he is today. In Senior Secondary, I was thought English first by Mr. K.W Owusu, another Ghanaian and later, Mrs. K. Ebro, an Indian who wore her Sari with pride everyday until I left that school.
Mr. Singh, a Philipino taught me Mathematics and we had a number of other expatriates mixed with dedicated Nigerian teaching staff who inculcated academic and personal values in us. I have seen some present-day Polytechnics and I dare say that our Introductory Technology Laboratory had more equipments and machinery than these Polytechnics!
At the resumption of every academic term, it was mandatory for us to write essays detailing our activities during the holidays.
We wrote essays on the special features of our localities, the qualities in our friends and our aspirations for the future. We had lots of books to read from. Brighter Grammar Parts 1-4 were my favourites. Books came from Macmillan Publishers and the likes. Schooling was exciting and fun.
A major feature of our Senior Secondary School years was the Inter-School Debating Competition organised by the State Ministry of Education. We competed with Federal Government College, Sokoto, Nana Girls Secondary School, Government Technical College, Farufaru, Government Technical College Dange-Shuni, Government College Zuru and the likes. We traveled to remote areas to debate with their schools in a state-wide competition.
The finals were usually a carnival event attended by the Military Administrator of the State who personally gave out prizes to the winners. I was in the debating club of my school and I shook hands with the Military Administrator for two years in a row as a winner with my school. Today, I don’t know if such things still exist. If they do, nobody gets to hear about them and I don’t know the level of involvement by government.
A little story on how I entered Sultan Bello Secondary School Sokoto will suffice. I had sat for the Common Entrance Examination for Primary School leavers which was then a requirement to get placement into Federal Secondary Schools. I had listed Federal Government College Okigwe as my first choice as my parents wanted me to attend a secondary school closer home having spent all my life as at then in Sokoto State.
When the results of the exam came out, I scored 501 and the cut-off mark for admission into F.G.C Okigwe then was 503. My father reckoned that being an indigene of the catchment area of the school, they would accept me so my mum and I set out by five p.m one evening to travel to Okigwe to see the principal and get me admitted into the school. The journey took all of 36 hours as we encountered armed robbers on our way and had to spend the night in a ditch waiting for the light of dawn to continue our journey.
By the morning of the third day, we arrived Okigwe and headed straight to the school.
We saw the Principal and after looking at my result, he politely informed my mum that I was not qualified to be admitted into the school as I fell short of the cut-off point.
My mum appealed to his pity throwing in the distance we travelled and our harrowing experience with the robbers but no dice. The Principal stuck to his guns. While we were pleading with him, a military officer walked in with his daughter and she had a score of 500. The Principal repeated his apology and turned down the officer’s request to admit his daughter. He pleaded and even subtly threatened the Principal all to no avail.
My mum and I had hung around believing the Principal would admit the officer’s daughter so that we could latch on that and insist on my own admission but after the officer left with his daughter, we knew the Principal meant business and we travelled all the way back without achieving our aim.
On return, we tried the F.G.C Sokoto which had a cut-off mark of 250 but they had exhausted their quota for non-indigenes and unless I was willing to change my surname to Abdullahi, Bello or Usman, there was no way I could be admitted. My father was not that desperate so we opted for second best which was the Sultan Bello Secondary School which admitted me.
Let me state here that I bore grudges against the Principal of F.G.C Okigwe for rejecting me for a long time but today, with the benefit of hindsight, I wish all Principals would be like him.
Today, I am aware that most teachers are frustrated at their job. They feel that they ought to be doing something better with their lives and at class reunions, they are ashamed to state that they are teachers. It was not always so!
These days, cronyism is the order of the day. School authorities defer to politicians and the likes and schools are afraid to fail children of big men so they just keep promoting them until they fail WAEC! This rot can be addressed by going back to the old system of excellence and merit.
Schools should have sports facilities where students are encouraged to engage in sports. That is where their competitive spirit is honed and no self-respecting student will want his mates to do better than him all round.
The advent of social media has come with its own ills. Students now spend time chatting on Facebook, tweeting and ‘Pinging’ on Blackberrys. These can all be educational tools. I am on all these social media and I state without equivocation that they are educative. It is only wrong use of them that has negative implications.
Finally, our governments should do more to enhance the welfare and remuneration of our teachers so that it will not be a flag stop for people in search of a better life. We all have a share in the blame and until we see it from that prism, the malaise will remain with us.
I close with Alfred Rewane’s submission. “When we were growing up, we looked forward to a better tomorrow with hope. Now that I am old, I reminisce on a yesterday that was far better than what I see today”. May that not be our portion. Amen.
CHIVALRY 101. 20 TIPS TO HELP BROTHERS SCORE WITH THE SISTERS
CHIVALRY 101. Tips to help brothers with their game.
We all have that one friend who doesnt have money, doesnt look that cool and frankly doesnt measure up to us but he always seems to score with the hotties around who cant seem to get enough of him. Well, brothers, you need more than a good job, good bank balances and good English to score with the sisters. Here are some few tips on chivalry which will help you. All views are originally mine with a little help from @yadoma.
1. Walking rules. On the road, stay on the side of traffic. Crossing the road or down a staircase, hold her hand and go first. Into an event, walk behind her.
2. When it looks like she's enjoying her conversation with her friend, thats not a good time to start yours. Let her be. Telling her she's being ridiculous is the worst way to stop her from being ridiculous.
3. With outstretched hands, "Hello, my name is Tom, whats yours" remains the best pick up line for ladies anyday. A little creative variation wont hurt but you must have the charm to pull it off.
4. Be confident but not cocky, assured but not proud, ooze class without coming off as trying to impress. If you give yourself compliment, you've lost the plot.
5. Ask direct questions while maintaining eye-contact but dont ask personal questions if you're just getting to meet her.
6. If you take her to Chopsticks on the first date, be sure you can sustain it and that YOU eat there.
7. Your salary, net-worth, people you know, the number of cars you own, your parents' pedigree and your favourite holiday destination are not first date topics.
8. Kindly dont whine about your Ex! Thank you.
9. Women like it when you trust them to drive your car. Especially the expensive one. Opening and holding a door for them works any day and for all ages.
10. If she stays late at your place and she has to go home, as much as you can, drive her home. Even if she came in her own car, drive behind her to her house.
11. After an evening out, walk her to her door, give her a hug, peck her on the cheek, tell her you had a nice time and ask if you can see her again. Dont go for the kiss. In Nigeria, it doesnt work. She doesnt know you that well yet.
12. Even if she's always available whenever you call her, make it a point of duty to always ASK if you can see her. Never ORDER her to come and see you.
13. If she's not the ONE, please dont take her to see your Mama. If you do, she'll think she's the ONE and start acting the part.
14. You dont always have to call. Believe me, she has a life and sometimes, your call is a distraction and she's only being nice by answering you. Alternative? Send a sweet SMS. Dont Ping her. It will require a back and forth which is even worse than calling her.If something just amused you at work, text it to her. She'll know you're thinking of her even at work.
15. Women love a man in a suit anyday.
16. Its okay for her to be your shrink but dont make complaints and whining a habit.
17. "Where are you" should not always be in the top 3 sentences of your calls. Sometimes, its really non of your business.
18. Know her favourite songs and let her know yours. Better still, have a joint favourite song... 10 years later, whenever she hears that song, she'll remember you.
19. Share a joint passion. Be it for professional, recreational or academic issues. It helps with the conversation.
20. And lastly, the old reliable; Buy her gifts. You musn't break bank. The Igbos call it 'packaging'. Its the thought and not the price that matters. You could buy her N500 earings and she'll rock them with more spunk and swag than the Swarovski heirloom her mama handed down to her.
These are tested and trusted chivalry tips. When i reach my 10th Wedding Anniversary shortly, i'll give marriage tips.
Happy New Year.
S.H.
We all have that one friend who doesnt have money, doesnt look that cool and frankly doesnt measure up to us but he always seems to score with the hotties around who cant seem to get enough of him. Well, brothers, you need more than a good job, good bank balances and good English to score with the sisters. Here are some few tips on chivalry which will help you. All views are originally mine with a little help from @yadoma.
1. Walking rules. On the road, stay on the side of traffic. Crossing the road or down a staircase, hold her hand and go first. Into an event, walk behind her.
2. When it looks like she's enjoying her conversation with her friend, thats not a good time to start yours. Let her be. Telling her she's being ridiculous is the worst way to stop her from being ridiculous.
3. With outstretched hands, "Hello, my name is Tom, whats yours" remains the best pick up line for ladies anyday. A little creative variation wont hurt but you must have the charm to pull it off.
4. Be confident but not cocky, assured but not proud, ooze class without coming off as trying to impress. If you give yourself compliment, you've lost the plot.
5. Ask direct questions while maintaining eye-contact but dont ask personal questions if you're just getting to meet her.
6. If you take her to Chopsticks on the first date, be sure you can sustain it and that YOU eat there.
7. Your salary, net-worth, people you know, the number of cars you own, your parents' pedigree and your favourite holiday destination are not first date topics.
8. Kindly dont whine about your Ex! Thank you.
9. Women like it when you trust them to drive your car. Especially the expensive one. Opening and holding a door for them works any day and for all ages.
10. If she stays late at your place and she has to go home, as much as you can, drive her home. Even if she came in her own car, drive behind her to her house.
11. After an evening out, walk her to her door, give her a hug, peck her on the cheek, tell her you had a nice time and ask if you can see her again. Dont go for the kiss. In Nigeria, it doesnt work. She doesnt know you that well yet.
12. Even if she's always available whenever you call her, make it a point of duty to always ASK if you can see her. Never ORDER her to come and see you.
13. If she's not the ONE, please dont take her to see your Mama. If you do, she'll think she's the ONE and start acting the part.
14. You dont always have to call. Believe me, she has a life and sometimes, your call is a distraction and she's only being nice by answering you. Alternative? Send a sweet SMS. Dont Ping her. It will require a back and forth which is even worse than calling her.If something just amused you at work, text it to her. She'll know you're thinking of her even at work.
15. Women love a man in a suit anyday.
16. Its okay for her to be your shrink but dont make complaints and whining a habit.
17. "Where are you" should not always be in the top 3 sentences of your calls. Sometimes, its really non of your business.
18. Know her favourite songs and let her know yours. Better still, have a joint favourite song... 10 years later, whenever she hears that song, she'll remember you.
19. Share a joint passion. Be it for professional, recreational or academic issues. It helps with the conversation.
20. And lastly, the old reliable; Buy her gifts. You musn't break bank. The Igbos call it 'packaging'. Its the thought and not the price that matters. You could buy her N500 earings and she'll rock them with more spunk and swag than the Swarovski heirloom her mama handed down to her.
These are tested and trusted chivalry tips. When i reach my 10th Wedding Anniversary shortly, i'll give marriage tips.
Happy New Year.
S.H.
MY TAKE ON FUEL THE SUBSIDY DEBATE
Written on January 7, 2012
The debate is raging. A lot of arguments have been marshaled for and against removal of Fuel Subsidy. Here's my take.
Preamble: As a policy of Government, Subsidy removal and or Deregulation as the case may be is A GOOD policy by any Government BUT under the right conditions and if the necessary parameters are in place. In Nigeria, we depend on imported fuel 100 percent and what is currently obtainable is that even though we are an oil producing nation, we do not refine what we produce. We export our Crude Oil and import refined finished products which are sold to us at international prices. Government has licensed Oil Marketers to import these products and sell to us the end users at the prevailing international rate. What they have been subsidizing is the rate at which petroleum products are imported to enable us buy it at a cheaper rate and now, having removed this subsidy, the marketers are now free to sell according to the price at which they bought. The argument for subsidy removal is that the funds used in subsidizing what we pay for fuel ought to be used in meeting infrastructural needs.
Now my argument.
1. It is my honest personal belief that Government ought to have first engaged resources in repairing our decrepit refineries and building new ones to enable them produce what we require locally which is about 12Million Litres daily (PMS). After attaining sufficiency in local production, Government can now allow marketers to buy from these refineries via NNPC and then sell according to the prevailing price. Removing subsidy now is akin to making Nigerians pay for Government inefficiency and inability to discharge its obligation.
2. Nigerians are not dumb people. We see evidences of Government profligacy daily. The 2012 budget contains sickening details of a Government which is not ready to curtail its excesses. The votes for food at the Villa, entertainment, a new residence for the V.P and the allowances for Government Officials including National Assembly Members depicts a government with surplus funds. More than half of the N1.3 Trillion supposedly spent on fuel subsidy can be cut from reducing wastages and excesses and they will still be comfortable. Nigerians are crying blue murder because the same Government which is asking Nigerians to sacrifice are not showing any signs of willingness to sacrifice themselves.
3. I run 2 businesses. Each of them employ 10 Staff. In my second business, 3 of my staff came late to work this morning. When I queried them, they said the distance from their home to the office for which they paid N100 in December now goes for 300 (one way). They had to trek half way to be able to pay N200. N300 return amounts to N600 per day. At the end of the month, they would have paid N18,000 on Transportation alone. Their salary is N20,000 per month each. Do the maths! I witnessed the pain first hand today. I stopped at a fuel station to fill my tank. I paid N12,000. It normally would have cost me N5000. While I was buying fuel, a commercial bus stopped to buy fuel also. As the bus was on the queue, a pregnant passenger noticed that the station was selling Kerosene, she alighted to buy the kerosene (which is scarce). By the time she finished, the bus had bought fuel and the driver had driven off. She was stranded as she had no other money on her. Events like this are bound to happen but if that women was able to get Kerosene easily, she wouldn't have needed to hop out of that bus.
4. The timing of the removal was deceptive and callous. Government said it was still consulting widely and hinted at an April removal date. Removing it on January 1st when everybody was out of station is simply indefensible. It shows a disconnect from the plight of the common man. Government should have done more to enlighten Nigerians and the resistance would not have been this vociferous.
5. I could go on but I'm sure I've made my point. My advice to Government is repair or build refineries, produce locally, then deregulate. Appeal to people and not leave them with a fait acompli and lastly, show evidence of your willingness to sacrifice before you ask the common man to sacrifice. Every Nigerian provides for him/herself what government ought to provide. We generate our own power and water, pay alarmingly for private education and healthcare and endure decrepit infrastructures. If Government removes subsidy on fuel, what then are they subsidizing for us? For this and other reasons, I oppose fuel subsidy removal at this time. Ndewo nu.
The debate is raging. A lot of arguments have been marshaled for and against removal of Fuel Subsidy. Here's my take.
Preamble: As a policy of Government, Subsidy removal and or Deregulation as the case may be is A GOOD policy by any Government BUT under the right conditions and if the necessary parameters are in place. In Nigeria, we depend on imported fuel 100 percent and what is currently obtainable is that even though we are an oil producing nation, we do not refine what we produce. We export our Crude Oil and import refined finished products which are sold to us at international prices. Government has licensed Oil Marketers to import these products and sell to us the end users at the prevailing international rate. What they have been subsidizing is the rate at which petroleum products are imported to enable us buy it at a cheaper rate and now, having removed this subsidy, the marketers are now free to sell according to the price at which they bought. The argument for subsidy removal is that the funds used in subsidizing what we pay for fuel ought to be used in meeting infrastructural needs.
Now my argument.
1. It is my honest personal belief that Government ought to have first engaged resources in repairing our decrepit refineries and building new ones to enable them produce what we require locally which is about 12Million Litres daily (PMS). After attaining sufficiency in local production, Government can now allow marketers to buy from these refineries via NNPC and then sell according to the prevailing price. Removing subsidy now is akin to making Nigerians pay for Government inefficiency and inability to discharge its obligation.
2. Nigerians are not dumb people. We see evidences of Government profligacy daily. The 2012 budget contains sickening details of a Government which is not ready to curtail its excesses. The votes for food at the Villa, entertainment, a new residence for the V.P and the allowances for Government Officials including National Assembly Members depicts a government with surplus funds. More than half of the N1.3 Trillion supposedly spent on fuel subsidy can be cut from reducing wastages and excesses and they will still be comfortable. Nigerians are crying blue murder because the same Government which is asking Nigerians to sacrifice are not showing any signs of willingness to sacrifice themselves.
3. I run 2 businesses. Each of them employ 10 Staff. In my second business, 3 of my staff came late to work this morning. When I queried them, they said the distance from their home to the office for which they paid N100 in December now goes for 300 (one way). They had to trek half way to be able to pay N200. N300 return amounts to N600 per day. At the end of the month, they would have paid N18,000 on Transportation alone. Their salary is N20,000 per month each. Do the maths! I witnessed the pain first hand today. I stopped at a fuel station to fill my tank. I paid N12,000. It normally would have cost me N5000. While I was buying fuel, a commercial bus stopped to buy fuel also. As the bus was on the queue, a pregnant passenger noticed that the station was selling Kerosene, she alighted to buy the kerosene (which is scarce). By the time she finished, the bus had bought fuel and the driver had driven off. She was stranded as she had no other money on her. Events like this are bound to happen but if that women was able to get Kerosene easily, she wouldn't have needed to hop out of that bus.
4. The timing of the removal was deceptive and callous. Government said it was still consulting widely and hinted at an April removal date. Removing it on January 1st when everybody was out of station is simply indefensible. It shows a disconnect from the plight of the common man. Government should have done more to enlighten Nigerians and the resistance would not have been this vociferous.
5. I could go on but I'm sure I've made my point. My advice to Government is repair or build refineries, produce locally, then deregulate. Appeal to people and not leave them with a fait acompli and lastly, show evidence of your willingness to sacrifice before you ask the common man to sacrifice. Every Nigerian provides for him/herself what government ought to provide. We generate our own power and water, pay alarmingly for private education and healthcare and endure decrepit infrastructures. If Government removes subsidy on fuel, what then are they subsidizing for us? For this and other reasons, I oppose fuel subsidy removal at this time. Ndewo nu.
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Those who Murder Sleep...
Sharhazard (Shazzy) was the 'in' place then and there were always Unijos school parties at Plateau Hotels (PH). Those were the days of innocence. Today, all you here about Plateau are bombs, raids by Fulani herdsmen, Hausa and Berom altercations and sundry unsavoury tales.
A friend of mine whose parents reside at Bauchi brought me his wedding card recently and the wedding was billed to hold in Bauchi on July 7, 2012. He called two weeks ago to say that guests were not comfortable with the security situation in Bauchi and it was agreed that the wedding be moved to Jos which was relatively calmer. Then last week, he called to say that his parents are insisting it has to be Bauchi and he's yet to decide where the final venue would be. How did we get to this sorry pass? We're looking for a safe venue to hold weddings? In Nigeria?!
Today, a serving Senator representing Plateau North Senatorial District, Senator Gyang Dalyop Dantong died at a funeral for those killed in the recurrent Jos crisis. It was also reported that Hon. Gyang Fulani, Chief Whip of the Plateau State House of Assembly and several others died at the same time. While initial reports put cause of death as bullets from Fulani Herdsmen who attacked the mourners at the funeral, Senator Dantong's family said he died of heart attack occasioned by shock at the tragedy going on around him. Whichever way, he was a victim of the violence currently ravaging the North.
II find reports of AK-47 wielding fulani herdsmen a bit difficult to digest. I grew up in the North and I'm used to fulani herdsmen. Those people have no business with guns. The most dangerous 'weapons' they carry are long sticks and an assortment of local charms. Where did they learn to shoot? Who supplied them with arms? What are they fighting for?
The primary purpose of government is the protection of lives and property and it is obvious that that purpose has failed in Jos. Note that there is a State of Emergency in place in these Local Governments where these atrocities took place and the Military via the Joint Task Force are supposed to be patrolling the area. How then did these 'herdsmen' unleash terror for two days in a row unchecked and unrestricted?
Kaduna is a ghost town, Bauchi is groaning under the burden of insecurity. Adamawa, Kano and Yobe are all writhing under multiple terror attacks. Commerce, Education and normal life is fast fading. What is going on? Who is responsible for all this?
One thing is clear from all this. This is beyond terror. There are political elements to this madness. Some people are benefiting economically, politically, sadistically and darkly from all these carnages and it is in their best interest to sustain it.
But as surely as the sun will rise in the morning, I know that those who murder sleep will soon look for sleep and not find it. The fire they are stocking will doubtless consume them. They are sowing winds, they can't escape the coming whirlwind. It will swallow them all.
Do not despair Nigerians. These too shall soon pass.
@hartng.
Sunday, 4 March 2012
First Blog
I just created this blog with inspiration from other famous and not so famous bloggers. On here, we'll share thoughts, experiences, ideas, viewpoints and takes on diverse issues. Watch this space. You regret it. count on you to make it a success via your comments and opinions on issues discussed here.
Love. S.H.
Love. S.H.
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