No, I choose not to succumb to laziness. I was thinking of just recycling my Mothers’ Day article for 2011 but common sense has prevailed and here I am doing what gives me pleasure and fulfillment. I was getting so soaked in the kind of unnecessary busyness that has come to characterize my life of recent only to be jerked back to reality by a popular mart where I bought stuff that it would be Mothers’ Day on March 18.
There were conspiracies against this celebration of motherhood but I have weathered the storm to make sure this gets posted at all costs. PHCN did their best and my ever troublesome generator joined the conspiracy. Work did not allow the space and time but I am squeezing out the time and space to do this because mothers are one in a kind.
If I will forget everything, it definitely will not be one of my nursery school songs. “Who sat and watched my infant head, when sleeping on my cradle bed, and tears of sweet affection shed, MY MOTHER”. This was one song we all sang with devotion back then. We were actually oblivious of the important role of mothers back then. We just caught fun singing about Mummy.
There is always this bond, that ties the mother and the child. The kind of bond that nobody cannot explain. Ever seen a lunatic look admirably at her child? That is to tell you they also have a period of sanity after all. They are so aggressive when it comes to their children. Try everything and you will get away with it but don’t you ever mess with a made woman’s child. That’s the power of the mother-child bond; one of the mysteries of creation that is simply beyond human comprehension.
Make no mistake, you have a mother, but you have mothers as well. Your biological mother only brought you to the world. Mother figures get to emerge in one way or the other in our life’s journies. You say no? What about your primary school teacher? And for those privileged to attend playgroups, what about the Aunties then, the ones who changed your nappies?
What about that aunt that took care of you and your siblings? Or that neighbor that fed you and your siblings when Mother came late from work? Have you spared a little thought for the friends that your mother have, those ones who always cared for you all. They also are your mothers, they are the ones I call mother figures in our lives, they are indispensable.
In the Yoruba setting, there is a proverb that says “oju kan nii’bimo, igba oju lo n wo”, which easily translates as “one person gives birth, two hundred people train the child”. This goes to say that no one individual has one mother, we all have mothers and mother figures or whatever we choose to call them. They are the ones who have formed us into what we are.
Let me get a little explicit, without a mother, our fathers’ seeds would be very useless. It would be mere liquid as there would be no eggs to fertilize. Daddy’s only contribution was the semen and from there mother took over. She bore the pregnancy and took care from the moment the child arrived. Does father have enough time and emotion to care that much? Mother it is that can do all and more.
Therefore today, I say to my biological mother, Aunty Vic and all the mother figures in my life, HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY. Also to all potential mothers, I beseech you to be wonderful mothers who will make your children proud of you. The way I am proud of my mother and mothers. At the risk of over-emphasizing the celebration, HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY, tell her you love her and show it in a special way.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
CELEBRATING ‘HER’
Waking up this morning, I tried as usual to remember whose birthday it is on March 8th so as to keep the reputation that I never forget birthdays. I racked my brain to no avail. Again I tried to remember what the exact thing happening today is. Of course after a few minutes, I remembered that it’s the day of our women, International Women’s Day. It’s the day set aside to celebrate womanhood starting from girlhood, 'ladyhood', spinsterhood, motherhood, 'grandmahood' and whatever-hood.
In our daily lives, I have noticed that we do not accord these ones the respect they deserve. That we choose to celebrate womanhood one day out of the many in a year is not too much. My favourite musician, the masked Lagbaja is one I will always refer to in celebrating women. He rhetorically asked in one of his songs “who is man without woman?”. We all are nothings, without them. In his exact word, Lagbaja said “nothing, nothing at all”.
We do not eulogize our women enough and it is a real shame. Think very deep and you will realize that without our women, life would be incomplete. Our semen would have nothing to do if there is no woman to shed the egg. In the procreation process, she does the bigger percentage of the work. Let us get real, the only thing the man does is the ‘love making’ aspect of the thing. Thereafter, the woman is left to do the rest. She carries the baby in her womb for nine months, nurtures it to growth.
The woman is a special creature, made by the creator to help the man. I seize every opportunity to celebrate them not minding their excesses. Now the whole stuff is not about paying lip service. It is time to actually change a lot of things pertaining to our Eves. Every woman is a girl and deserves to be treated as a chic. Every girl is a woman and should be treated just that way. We have to start showing them respect.
Methinks it is time to stop suppressing our women. Our culture relegates them to the background so much so they are not given enough chance to express themselves. Have you ever taken time to ponder on what the women of the olden days would have achieved if many of them had the opportunities we presently have? Most of them made their homes even when their husbands had little or no time for them. I may be wrong but I saw that in my now departed patrilineal grandmother.
I have seen girls grow into self-made women who are being celebrated today. The allure of making history is one too much ignore for many of them. They therefore succeed where some men dare not tread. If those ones are suppressed, they would not have been blessings to our world. Our grandparents humiliated women in their days, it is time to rise above that. Women are also human beings, ones to be treasured and respected; valued and adored. I hope we can do more of that.
Some women may hurt you with their actions; many others may get you depressed by their inactions. Like one of my twitter friends said today, they may even not reciprocate your good gestures, just manage to take them the way they are. Reject the temptation to generalize as it may rob you of the one woman that is your ‘own angel’. Accept them just the way they are, after all not all men are even half as good as them sometimes.
So much to say but I have to keep this short. Please learn to show some more respect, love and whatever positive you can, to the women in your life – wife, mother, sister(s), niece(s), cousins, as from today. Care for them the best way you can; Be the reason they smile, chuckle and even laugh hysterically. May we all find peace and love; and may our womenfolk be blessed. Happy International Women’s Day.
In our daily lives, I have noticed that we do not accord these ones the respect they deserve. That we choose to celebrate womanhood one day out of the many in a year is not too much. My favourite musician, the masked Lagbaja is one I will always refer to in celebrating women. He rhetorically asked in one of his songs “who is man without woman?”. We all are nothings, without them. In his exact word, Lagbaja said “nothing, nothing at all”.
We do not eulogize our women enough and it is a real shame. Think very deep and you will realize that without our women, life would be incomplete. Our semen would have nothing to do if there is no woman to shed the egg. In the procreation process, she does the bigger percentage of the work. Let us get real, the only thing the man does is the ‘love making’ aspect of the thing. Thereafter, the woman is left to do the rest. She carries the baby in her womb for nine months, nurtures it to growth.
The woman is a special creature, made by the creator to help the man. I seize every opportunity to celebrate them not minding their excesses. Now the whole stuff is not about paying lip service. It is time to actually change a lot of things pertaining to our Eves. Every woman is a girl and deserves to be treated as a chic. Every girl is a woman and should be treated just that way. We have to start showing them respect.
Methinks it is time to stop suppressing our women. Our culture relegates them to the background so much so they are not given enough chance to express themselves. Have you ever taken time to ponder on what the women of the olden days would have achieved if many of them had the opportunities we presently have? Most of them made their homes even when their husbands had little or no time for them. I may be wrong but I saw that in my now departed patrilineal grandmother.
I have seen girls grow into self-made women who are being celebrated today. The allure of making history is one too much ignore for many of them. They therefore succeed where some men dare not tread. If those ones are suppressed, they would not have been blessings to our world. Our grandparents humiliated women in their days, it is time to rise above that. Women are also human beings, ones to be treasured and respected; valued and adored. I hope we can do more of that.
Some women may hurt you with their actions; many others may get you depressed by their inactions. Like one of my twitter friends said today, they may even not reciprocate your good gestures, just manage to take them the way they are. Reject the temptation to generalize as it may rob you of the one woman that is your ‘own angel’. Accept them just the way they are, after all not all men are even half as good as them sometimes.
So much to say but I have to keep this short. Please learn to show some more respect, love and whatever positive you can, to the women in your life – wife, mother, sister(s), niece(s), cousins, as from today. Care for them the best way you can; Be the reason they smile, chuckle and even laugh hysterically. May we all find peace and love; and may our womenfolk be blessed. Happy International Women’s Day.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
FEBRUARY 4 REFLECTIONS
I have been intentionally quiet for the better part of this year because the prevailing situation in my country has activated a combination of sadness and anger in me. I am just finding my groove little by little. I had lots to write on in the first month of the year; I was buzzing, raring to go. I had my articles- motivationals, politics, every day living, and others as early as the tail end of 2011. However, the unfortunate fuel subsidy removal crisis put paid to all of that.
My head just went blank after that infamous announcement in the afternoon of New Year’s Day. Everything I was to write about ran away and anger seized the whole of my being, sadness took up companionship with the anger. I was no longer myself. The well of ideas dried up, setting me back momentarily, and threw me into the no man’s land of semi-writer’s block. I would not write anything with the level of anger I was feeling.
Lots of events have happened after that period. Events that have shaped the way this year may likely go in my dear mother Nigeria. Government came up with different techniques – blackmail, appeals, propaganda and other things in their black book. People rose for or against the ‘subsi-sh*t’ thing. Some stopped short of calling some of us names because they felt we were unnecessarily antagonizing the President and his team. We were to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Virtually every Minister became a guest of the NTA, the state owned TV station. Even those ones whose portfolio have little or no relevance to national development. The other members of the team started saying their own bit of jargons, to curry the favour of their inept boss. The most annoying misfiring tongues in the heat of the crises belong to the dishonorable Minister of Culture and the now retired Hafiz Ringim. Words I don’t want to remember again.
A few weeks after all the controversies, what do we have? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Where are the hurriedly commissioned mass transit buses? Has electricity improved one bit? Has government expenditure been cut? Has corruption reduced? Is it still not business as usual? Where in God’s name are all the promises? Instead of that, terrorists have permeated every aspect of our daily lives. Bombing at will, taking lives at will, with reckless abandon.
I have seen that this set of people we have as rulers as of now, are nothing but rulers. Nothing seems to be working on the national front. Some people have seized the country by the scruff of the neck and are blowing the hell out of the northern part of Nigeria with the government either not doing enough or having their efforts sabotaged. Things we have only seen on TV now stare us in the face, they have become reality. It sucks big time that nobody is actually taking enough responsibility for all these.
Fellow Nigerians daily die avoidable deaths in painful manners. Deaths that could make one cringe, the kind of death you don’t want to experience. Someone walks on and unsuspectingly a bomb goes off. You cannot imagine these things happening in Nigeria like ten years ago. We saw these on TV. Someone said these are signs of the end time. I totally agree with them but how come these things don’t happen in Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Benin Republic? Is it not end times there as well?
What I think is we have loads of problem and the ones saddled with that responsibility are not doing enough to get us out of the woods. While they are not doing what they should, we should stick together as one, rise beyond ethnicity and religion or whatever divides us and confront our challenges. Nigeria shall be great again, end time or not. Preach peace, act peace, live peace and we shall overcome. It is our turn to do something about Nigeria, let us act.
I’m outta here…xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
My head just went blank after that infamous announcement in the afternoon of New Year’s Day. Everything I was to write about ran away and anger seized the whole of my being, sadness took up companionship with the anger. I was no longer myself. The well of ideas dried up, setting me back momentarily, and threw me into the no man’s land of semi-writer’s block. I would not write anything with the level of anger I was feeling.
Lots of events have happened after that period. Events that have shaped the way this year may likely go in my dear mother Nigeria. Government came up with different techniques – blackmail, appeals, propaganda and other things in their black book. People rose for or against the ‘subsi-sh*t’ thing. Some stopped short of calling some of us names because they felt we were unnecessarily antagonizing the President and his team. We were to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Virtually every Minister became a guest of the NTA, the state owned TV station. Even those ones whose portfolio have little or no relevance to national development. The other members of the team started saying their own bit of jargons, to curry the favour of their inept boss. The most annoying misfiring tongues in the heat of the crises belong to the dishonorable Minister of Culture and the now retired Hafiz Ringim. Words I don’t want to remember again.
A few weeks after all the controversies, what do we have? Nothing, absolutely nothing. Where are the hurriedly commissioned mass transit buses? Has electricity improved one bit? Has government expenditure been cut? Has corruption reduced? Is it still not business as usual? Where in God’s name are all the promises? Instead of that, terrorists have permeated every aspect of our daily lives. Bombing at will, taking lives at will, with reckless abandon.
I have seen that this set of people we have as rulers as of now, are nothing but rulers. Nothing seems to be working on the national front. Some people have seized the country by the scruff of the neck and are blowing the hell out of the northern part of Nigeria with the government either not doing enough or having their efforts sabotaged. Things we have only seen on TV now stare us in the face, they have become reality. It sucks big time that nobody is actually taking enough responsibility for all these.
Fellow Nigerians daily die avoidable deaths in painful manners. Deaths that could make one cringe, the kind of death you don’t want to experience. Someone walks on and unsuspectingly a bomb goes off. You cannot imagine these things happening in Nigeria like ten years ago. We saw these on TV. Someone said these are signs of the end time. I totally agree with them but how come these things don’t happen in Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Benin Republic? Is it not end times there as well?
What I think is we have loads of problem and the ones saddled with that responsibility are not doing enough to get us out of the woods. While they are not doing what they should, we should stick together as one, rise beyond ethnicity and religion or whatever divides us and confront our challenges. Nigeria shall be great again, end time or not. Preach peace, act peace, live peace and we shall overcome. It is our turn to do something about Nigeria, let us act.
I’m outta here…xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Monday, January 16, 2012
THIS IS FOR YOU MOMMA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Another January 17 breezes in and despite the prevailing situation in Nigeria, it is time to celebrate my Mother. I feel blessed that a wonderful woman of unputdownable virtue and unquestionable character is the one I have as a mother, my biological one. Momma's birthday in itself is a reason to celebrate and forget whatever mixed feelings I've had Nigeria for now.
It is a fact that everyone says their mom or dad is the best in the world. I can however say without any contradiction whatsoever that in choosing the best mothers, Iya Seye stands right in front of the queue. I cannot start listing the virtues that make her qualify but I know I am very demanding and I have just been careful not to judge every other based on what Momma is to my Dad, myself and my brothers.
She is the epitome of loyalty, something very scarce in the womenfolk nowadays. Momma is a planner per excellence. When the resources are in excess quantity, she manages it so well that when scarcity comes, you'll never feel it. I know, and can say that about her. She's always ready to give a smile, I mean a big smile.
I have learnt a lot of things from her and every single thing I have learnt has put me in good stead so far. Lessons that I have picked up from her life of sacrifice have been the basis for my way of life. I know times that Momma has sacrificed her happiness to make some people happy. It is from her that I learnt what living for people means. She has always done that with her resources, no matter how little.
I can never explain the level of loyalty she has shown to folks around her. Very loyal to Dad and her friends. I have even had cause to disagree with her on the level of loyalty to folks who are utterly disloyal. She just looks me in the eye, and tells me its a form of investment that has a way of coming back to one. And to be honest, it happens that way in most cases.
I have a very demanding Dad. Momma however takes it on the chin and makes sure she does whatever it is that her husband wants. She never sits when she's not satisfied with things around. She always wants her house neat. She is always putting things in shape and doesn't want things scattered. I learnt from her that even the minute details count.
For example, Momma hates her pot black. I can say with all pride that her kitchen is neat in its own way. She will not rest until it is perfect enough for her. My mother still does her laundries and that of her husband, and if you're washing when she is, she will help you out, in most cases. I get to ask myself what she is made of. A very hardworking woman, even Mother Eve would be proud of her.
So much to say but where do I start? I have said I will celebrate this one-in-a-kind woman while she lives and beyond because she is a rare one-a mother, a sister, a friend. I am short of words Maami and I do not think I can ever say enough, how I feel about you. I'm proud of you Momma, and I love you big time.
My prayers? Not very many. That you'll live long enough to reap all that you have sown. For you to live long enough to see us achieve what you have always dreamt for us. That I will, Yinka will and Nifemi will, marry wives that have all your positive attributes and more. That everything due you, every of your rights, will be delivered to you this year.
You'll age gracefully and in happiness and sound health. All your sacrifices will not be in vain. Right in the very presence of everyone who has written you off shall you rise to heights hitherto unexpected. Iya Seye, Aunty Vic, Sister Sola, igba odun, odun kan o. Happy Birthday Momma. I love you big time; and I love you more everyday. Hugs and kisses Mommaxoxoxoxoxo
It is a fact that everyone says their mom or dad is the best in the world. I can however say without any contradiction whatsoever that in choosing the best mothers, Iya Seye stands right in front of the queue. I cannot start listing the virtues that make her qualify but I know I am very demanding and I have just been careful not to judge every other based on what Momma is to my Dad, myself and my brothers.
She is the epitome of loyalty, something very scarce in the womenfolk nowadays. Momma is a planner per excellence. When the resources are in excess quantity, she manages it so well that when scarcity comes, you'll never feel it. I know, and can say that about her. She's always ready to give a smile, I mean a big smile.
I have learnt a lot of things from her and every single thing I have learnt has put me in good stead so far. Lessons that I have picked up from her life of sacrifice have been the basis for my way of life. I know times that Momma has sacrificed her happiness to make some people happy. It is from her that I learnt what living for people means. She has always done that with her resources, no matter how little.
I can never explain the level of loyalty she has shown to folks around her. Very loyal to Dad and her friends. I have even had cause to disagree with her on the level of loyalty to folks who are utterly disloyal. She just looks me in the eye, and tells me its a form of investment that has a way of coming back to one. And to be honest, it happens that way in most cases.
I have a very demanding Dad. Momma however takes it on the chin and makes sure she does whatever it is that her husband wants. She never sits when she's not satisfied with things around. She always wants her house neat. She is always putting things in shape and doesn't want things scattered. I learnt from her that even the minute details count.
For example, Momma hates her pot black. I can say with all pride that her kitchen is neat in its own way. She will not rest until it is perfect enough for her. My mother still does her laundries and that of her husband, and if you're washing when she is, she will help you out, in most cases. I get to ask myself what she is made of. A very hardworking woman, even Mother Eve would be proud of her.
So much to say but where do I start? I have said I will celebrate this one-in-a-kind woman while she lives and beyond because she is a rare one-a mother, a sister, a friend. I am short of words Maami and I do not think I can ever say enough, how I feel about you. I'm proud of you Momma, and I love you big time.
My prayers? Not very many. That you'll live long enough to reap all that you have sown. For you to live long enough to see us achieve what you have always dreamt for us. That I will, Yinka will and Nifemi will, marry wives that have all your positive attributes and more. That everything due you, every of your rights, will be delivered to you this year.
You'll age gracefully and in happiness and sound health. All your sacrifices will not be in vain. Right in the very presence of everyone who has written you off shall you rise to heights hitherto unexpected. Iya Seye, Aunty Vic, Sister Sola, igba odun, odun kan o. Happy Birthday Momma. I love you big time; and I love you more everyday. Hugs and kisses Mommaxoxoxoxoxo
Thursday, November 10, 2011
ADIEU PASTOR SAMUEL ADETUNJI OWOYEMI (1930-2011)
I sat down in my office that fateful morning, playing with my phone because I had a little let-off from my normally busy schedule. I was trying to do many things at the same time play some music on my computer, playing game on my phone, doing a few chats with folks and a few other nothings. Impulsively, I scrolled to check the updates on my messenger and I saw a very close friend with sad emoticons, he was asking rhetorically, why do these things happen?
That was some minutes before ten in the morning of September 15. Going further down my contact list, I knew the inevitable had happened. The elephant has fallen; read a display. I knew I had to confirm something somehow. I picked up my phone and dialed and the voice at the other end said what I knew had already happened. The exact word I remember hearing was Baba don die o. I sighed, re-adjusted myself and took a deep breath.
That sums up how I knew about the passing unto glory of a father and an encourager. I have known Pastor Samuel Adetunji Owoyemi, whom we all called Baba Owoyemi right from my childhood. Permit me to get a little emotional with this piece. Baba Owoyemi deserves this and more, for he lived a life that was exemplary. I am struggling to find the right words that would tally with how emotional I feel. I do not feel sad at his exit, I only am going to celebrate this impactful life well-lived.
I have known Baba Owoyemi since my childhood. As a child, I remember he was calm and articulated his points whenever there was anything to discuss. His messages in our old SPAC, St. Pauls Apostolic Church, were not the speaker blaring, altar stamping, grammar blowing ones. Yet they had this way of sinking into ones system.
The Yoruba word kami kami kami is one I heard for the first time, from his mouth. It was in one of his wisdom-laden messages. I was nothing more than seven years old then but by the end of that Sunday service, I knew what kami kami kami meant. He carefully chose his words and had an illustration cum example for every situation he explained. Wisdom was never lacking in his words.
There were lots of situations in which his wisdom was brought to the fore. He was like a mentor to many up and coming young men back in the days. Shortly after his demise, I was talking to a father figure whom I hold in high esteem. This person said without mincing words that the fact that he has a roof over his head is down to Baba Owoyemis persistence, regular encouragement and advice.
Daddy Owoyemi always had a word for everyone. If you were doing good, he had a proverb to urge you on. If you were not doing something to be proud of, he had your kind of proverb. I vividly remember when there was a debate about indecent dressing. He simply said something which is translated as there is no dress code anywhere. Anyone who wants can walk around naked, and anyone who is ashamed can wear his or her undies around. It took me long before I knew the weight of that statement.
Baba and Mummy, both resting in the Lords bosom now, exemplify love and oneness. They together had this special interest in peoples lives and progress. I can count off my fingers, lives that have been touched by the simplicity of Daddy Owoyemi and the concern Mummy showed while they both were here with us. They personally touched me with their oneness. I saw only one thing with them both, love as of old. I know I am not the only one who saw that.
Getting closer, Baba had this way of encouraging my immediate family. There were tough times when my Dad faced a challenge in his career. He had this way of always asking after him; he was just so concerned. He would always want to know the most recent development in my Dads place of work. He had this way of asking my mum about us all. Iya Seye, e ma pele. Alagba nko? (Seyes mother, how are you? How is Elder?) He never looked down on anyone, instead he urged us all on.
My mom had a fracture on her leg in 2007. I remember Daddy Owoyemi came to visit my mom. He did not send anyone, he came himself. What made it so humbling was that it was shortly after Mummy passed on. For someone who was still mourning the passage of his other half to come on a visit to an ailing person was the height of it all. He said specifically that Mummy would have come to see you if she were to be alive and I owe her this visit.
Personally, I have heard only good words from him all my days. As a six or seven year old, Baba always said I had Akinkanju, it meant nothing to me then but I knew it was a good word. All through my university days, while some people scorned my choice of Animal Science, he always told me that the future of our country rests on agriculture and that I had taken the right step. He said that time and time again. He repeated it the last time I saw him before his passage.
At the end of my service year, I gave him a litre of wild honey, being what I brought for him from Taraba state. He looked at me and my mother and said Seye has brought me honey. He is saying my life should be sweet. Seye, may your life never know bitterness. I was moved by his appreciative spirit. He regularly asked about my job and told me to stay focused in my career. You are destined for the top, just stay focused, he always said. Baba, I remain focused Sir.
I will always remember a father figure, my adopted godfather and a great encourager and lover of all. Like we always say, we love you, but God loves you more. I will always miss your words while I hold on to the ones which drive me in my pursuit of excellence in life and destiny. You live on Baba; for life after death is what people speak of you after you are gone; and I have only good words about you.
Rest in the bosom of your God till we meet to part no more.
Adieu Baba, O daaro sir.
That was some minutes before ten in the morning of September 15. Going further down my contact list, I knew the inevitable had happened. The elephant has fallen; read a display. I knew I had to confirm something somehow. I picked up my phone and dialed and the voice at the other end said what I knew had already happened. The exact word I remember hearing was Baba don die o. I sighed, re-adjusted myself and took a deep breath.
That sums up how I knew about the passing unto glory of a father and an encourager. I have known Pastor Samuel Adetunji Owoyemi, whom we all called Baba Owoyemi right from my childhood. Permit me to get a little emotional with this piece. Baba Owoyemi deserves this and more, for he lived a life that was exemplary. I am struggling to find the right words that would tally with how emotional I feel. I do not feel sad at his exit, I only am going to celebrate this impactful life well-lived.
I have known Baba Owoyemi since my childhood. As a child, I remember he was calm and articulated his points whenever there was anything to discuss. His messages in our old SPAC, St. Pauls Apostolic Church, were not the speaker blaring, altar stamping, grammar blowing ones. Yet they had this way of sinking into ones system.
The Yoruba word kami kami kami is one I heard for the first time, from his mouth. It was in one of his wisdom-laden messages. I was nothing more than seven years old then but by the end of that Sunday service, I knew what kami kami kami meant. He carefully chose his words and had an illustration cum example for every situation he explained. Wisdom was never lacking in his words.
There were lots of situations in which his wisdom was brought to the fore. He was like a mentor to many up and coming young men back in the days. Shortly after his demise, I was talking to a father figure whom I hold in high esteem. This person said without mincing words that the fact that he has a roof over his head is down to Baba Owoyemis persistence, regular encouragement and advice.
Daddy Owoyemi always had a word for everyone. If you were doing good, he had a proverb to urge you on. If you were not doing something to be proud of, he had your kind of proverb. I vividly remember when there was a debate about indecent dressing. He simply said something which is translated as there is no dress code anywhere. Anyone who wants can walk around naked, and anyone who is ashamed can wear his or her undies around. It took me long before I knew the weight of that statement.
Baba and Mummy, both resting in the Lords bosom now, exemplify love and oneness. They together had this special interest in peoples lives and progress. I can count off my fingers, lives that have been touched by the simplicity of Daddy Owoyemi and the concern Mummy showed while they both were here with us. They personally touched me with their oneness. I saw only one thing with them both, love as of old. I know I am not the only one who saw that.
Getting closer, Baba had this way of encouraging my immediate family. There were tough times when my Dad faced a challenge in his career. He had this way of always asking after him; he was just so concerned. He would always want to know the most recent development in my Dads place of work. He had this way of asking my mum about us all. Iya Seye, e ma pele. Alagba nko? (Seyes mother, how are you? How is Elder?) He never looked down on anyone, instead he urged us all on.
My mom had a fracture on her leg in 2007. I remember Daddy Owoyemi came to visit my mom. He did not send anyone, he came himself. What made it so humbling was that it was shortly after Mummy passed on. For someone who was still mourning the passage of his other half to come on a visit to an ailing person was the height of it all. He said specifically that Mummy would have come to see you if she were to be alive and I owe her this visit.
Personally, I have heard only good words from him all my days. As a six or seven year old, Baba always said I had Akinkanju, it meant nothing to me then but I knew it was a good word. All through my university days, while some people scorned my choice of Animal Science, he always told me that the future of our country rests on agriculture and that I had taken the right step. He said that time and time again. He repeated it the last time I saw him before his passage.
At the end of my service year, I gave him a litre of wild honey, being what I brought for him from Taraba state. He looked at me and my mother and said Seye has brought me honey. He is saying my life should be sweet. Seye, may your life never know bitterness. I was moved by his appreciative spirit. He regularly asked about my job and told me to stay focused in my career. You are destined for the top, just stay focused, he always said. Baba, I remain focused Sir.
I will always remember a father figure, my adopted godfather and a great encourager and lover of all. Like we always say, we love you, but God loves you more. I will always miss your words while I hold on to the ones which drive me in my pursuit of excellence in life and destiny. You live on Baba; for life after death is what people speak of you after you are gone; and I have only good words about you.
Rest in the bosom of your God till we meet to part no more.
Adieu Baba, O daaro sir.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
PRAYERS FOR OUR LEADERS
IN recent past, President Goodluck Jonathan’s luck appears to be running out. He has come in for series of scathing verbal tirades and attacks from people due to the policies of the federal government. He is not the only one in this boat as many state governors and legislators at both state and federal level have also been seriously criticized. I see no reason why people should not pour out their minds and rain invectives on these people, I only see a need to redirect and re-channel our anger. It would be better if we daily pray for them, as my religious inclination says ‘prayer is the master key’.
I plead one thing however, please respect my position as prayer does no harm, it on the other hand does a lot of good. What I know is that in whatever we do, we can never over-emphasize the beauty of prayer and what good it does in our lives. There are countries whose leaders do not need any prayer before they do what must be done but what do we make of these ones who specifically ask for our prayers? I owe them, you owe them, we owe them; and I will pray for them.
Our leaders believe in the existence of God, that is the best thing about them. Do you want to know the worst? They do not act as if they have a God in their lives in most cases. They only do things they deem appropriate, they do things that please them without caring a hoot if they hurt their followers. They have given a new definition to leadership and followership in this part of the world. They have asked for prayers, they will receive it in tons. I only need a resounding “Amen” or its equivalent as we pray.
Many children have been sent to the great beyond in this country. Many avoidable deaths have occurred due to the bad nature of our hospitals and medical facilities. Many homes have been thrown into avoidable mourning. Dear Lord and God, we seek help for our leaders, we pray that you touch them and let them notice our medical plight. We ask that you touch the reasonable parts of their brains such that they will hear and feel our pains.
I remember King Pharaoh of Egypt. He was hard-hearted and his people paid for it. For every leader that has refused to heed his followers’ pains in Nigeria, we pray that their immediate families will pay for it with their lives. We ask that they experience the sorrow parents are made to go through when their children die avoidable deaths. We also seek for them, the total disappearance of their happiness in every sphere of life. Is someone saying an “Amen”?
We daily suffer rape in this country. Our daughters and daughters are being raped with no one doing anything to punish the wicked ones. I do not expect anything from them, are they not also rapists? Raping our heritage and commonwealth, draining the life out of our country. For every way in which we have been raped therefore, may the same bitter pill be forced down the throat of the evil men who have done that evil act. May they suffer the same calamity they have caused us in every aspect of their lives.
I have noticed one thing. Everyone who has stolen our money, looted our treasury and kept the stolen cash stashed in foreign countries have one thing or the other to spend the loot on. Yes, they build houses and use state of the art wonder on wheels. They however get to suffer a lot of terminal diseases. If it is not diabetes, it is either liver, lung, kidney disease or another kind of unexplainable infirmity that they suffer from.
As long as they keep stealing and leaving us poor, that will always be their lot. As they get healed from kidney failure, may they fall to heart diseases; as they get healed from diabetes, may chronic ulcer follow; as they get healed from lung cancer, may epilepsy seize their bodies from them. Anyone who steals from our common heritage will always have negativities to spend it on. May they never find rest or peace in every area of their lives, their bodies will rise and fight against their souls.
They have asked for prayers, they shall get it in abundance. Please start thinking of the prayers you will say for them as well. I am just starting. I just want a resounding Amen, Amin or whatever represents it. Our leaders daily ask for prayers, they are too busy to pray themselves; some others are dumb and cannot use their mouths to ask God. Some of us have the time and resources to ask God, and that we shall do for them. We shall give them the prayers they deserve.
The majority of the people they rule, the ones they trample on, are not able to eat one square meal not to talk of three. Yet they eat and drink aplenty, they live without recourse for tomorrow, not caring if the man on the street whose vote along with the rigged ones brought them to power. I therefore ask on behalf of others in my shoes, that bitterness shall be the end of the sweetness of the food they daily consume. It shall neither nourish nor add to them.
The food they eat while hard working people suffer shall serve as poison in their systems. It will even lead to some taking the quick route to the Almighty to answer for all their deeds while they held sway here. The lucky ones will suffer diarrhea and if they choose not to change their ways, they will easily go the way of the ones who will go on a journey of no return. Hear me Almighty God and see this as a prayer from the heart of a patriotic Nigerian, who wants the best for his ilk.
Whenever pensioners have to go for their screening, I feel pity for the old people. Senior Nigerians queue inside the sun for hours while they wait to collect peanuts to keep body and soul together. The ones saddled with the responsibility of taking care of them do not care enough if these senior citizens. For everyone who has played a part in making these people go through this much stress to collect the ‘coins’ being paid them, their latter ends shall not be peaceful.
The wicked ones who make majority of our senior citizens go through hard times in claiming their pensions shall suffer at the tail end of their lives. Their old ages shall be spent in darkness and illness. Every ill gotten wealth of theirs shall be spent on one condition or the other. They shall not enjoy the beauty of old age. They have denied these people the joy of old age, they shall reap the same thing. Their old ages shall be spent in that bit of suffering they have caused these ones.
Should I go on? For a few more lines I will. Peace has gradually given way to pockets of violence in different parts of the country. Government knows them they claim, but they cannot do anything. Talk of a toothless bull dog. Since the ones who lead us can do nothing about the ones who have sent peace on recess in our country, I will do well to raise a standard against them. They also deserve some prayers, or what do you think? Just give me the Amen as I declare their portions on them.
For every leader beside MEND, Boko Haram, the bombings and killings, the face of God will rise against them as in Psalms 34, “to cut off their remembrance from the earth”. For every life they have taken, they shall be reduced; In every way they have risen against peace in this country, their peace of mind shall be taken. For every instrument of the evil ones, the MEND and Boko Haram dumb fools, their lives shall have no bit of tranquility, shameful and ignoble deaths shall be theirs.
I have not finished, for every agent of destabilization in this country, their lives shall be turned upside down and they shall not have rest in every aspect of their lives. As for them and their sponsors, bloodshed will be a regular occurrence for them and they will never find rest till they exit the face of the earth. Their lives shall be turned upside down the way they have turned lives upside down. Evil shall slay them and their lives shall be made desolate (Psalms 34:21).
I have the urge to go on but I stand the risk of boring you with my kind of prayer. I also stand the risk of being selfish (of course I am not). It would not be bad if you will also keep praying for them in your own way. I have done mine, I want you to do yours as we get on the road and march against every evil one who has pushed our backs to the wall. I say these prayers with all available honesty and patriotism and if I have any other ulterior motive, then may all I have asked for these one be my portion.
I’m outta here…xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I plead one thing however, please respect my position as prayer does no harm, it on the other hand does a lot of good. What I know is that in whatever we do, we can never over-emphasize the beauty of prayer and what good it does in our lives. There are countries whose leaders do not need any prayer before they do what must be done but what do we make of these ones who specifically ask for our prayers? I owe them, you owe them, we owe them; and I will pray for them.
Our leaders believe in the existence of God, that is the best thing about them. Do you want to know the worst? They do not act as if they have a God in their lives in most cases. They only do things they deem appropriate, they do things that please them without caring a hoot if they hurt their followers. They have given a new definition to leadership and followership in this part of the world. They have asked for prayers, they will receive it in tons. I only need a resounding “Amen” or its equivalent as we pray.
Many children have been sent to the great beyond in this country. Many avoidable deaths have occurred due to the bad nature of our hospitals and medical facilities. Many homes have been thrown into avoidable mourning. Dear Lord and God, we seek help for our leaders, we pray that you touch them and let them notice our medical plight. We ask that you touch the reasonable parts of their brains such that they will hear and feel our pains.
I remember King Pharaoh of Egypt. He was hard-hearted and his people paid for it. For every leader that has refused to heed his followers’ pains in Nigeria, we pray that their immediate families will pay for it with their lives. We ask that they experience the sorrow parents are made to go through when their children die avoidable deaths. We also seek for them, the total disappearance of their happiness in every sphere of life. Is someone saying an “Amen”?
We daily suffer rape in this country. Our daughters and daughters are being raped with no one doing anything to punish the wicked ones. I do not expect anything from them, are they not also rapists? Raping our heritage and commonwealth, draining the life out of our country. For every way in which we have been raped therefore, may the same bitter pill be forced down the throat of the evil men who have done that evil act. May they suffer the same calamity they have caused us in every aspect of their lives.
I have noticed one thing. Everyone who has stolen our money, looted our treasury and kept the stolen cash stashed in foreign countries have one thing or the other to spend the loot on. Yes, they build houses and use state of the art wonder on wheels. They however get to suffer a lot of terminal diseases. If it is not diabetes, it is either liver, lung, kidney disease or another kind of unexplainable infirmity that they suffer from.
As long as they keep stealing and leaving us poor, that will always be their lot. As they get healed from kidney failure, may they fall to heart diseases; as they get healed from diabetes, may chronic ulcer follow; as they get healed from lung cancer, may epilepsy seize their bodies from them. Anyone who steals from our common heritage will always have negativities to spend it on. May they never find rest or peace in every area of their lives, their bodies will rise and fight against their souls.
They have asked for prayers, they shall get it in abundance. Please start thinking of the prayers you will say for them as well. I am just starting. I just want a resounding Amen, Amin or whatever represents it. Our leaders daily ask for prayers, they are too busy to pray themselves; some others are dumb and cannot use their mouths to ask God. Some of us have the time and resources to ask God, and that we shall do for them. We shall give them the prayers they deserve.
The majority of the people they rule, the ones they trample on, are not able to eat one square meal not to talk of three. Yet they eat and drink aplenty, they live without recourse for tomorrow, not caring if the man on the street whose vote along with the rigged ones brought them to power. I therefore ask on behalf of others in my shoes, that bitterness shall be the end of the sweetness of the food they daily consume. It shall neither nourish nor add to them.
The food they eat while hard working people suffer shall serve as poison in their systems. It will even lead to some taking the quick route to the Almighty to answer for all their deeds while they held sway here. The lucky ones will suffer diarrhea and if they choose not to change their ways, they will easily go the way of the ones who will go on a journey of no return. Hear me Almighty God and see this as a prayer from the heart of a patriotic Nigerian, who wants the best for his ilk.
Whenever pensioners have to go for their screening, I feel pity for the old people. Senior Nigerians queue inside the sun for hours while they wait to collect peanuts to keep body and soul together. The ones saddled with the responsibility of taking care of them do not care enough if these senior citizens. For everyone who has played a part in making these people go through this much stress to collect the ‘coins’ being paid them, their latter ends shall not be peaceful.
The wicked ones who make majority of our senior citizens go through hard times in claiming their pensions shall suffer at the tail end of their lives. Their old ages shall be spent in darkness and illness. Every ill gotten wealth of theirs shall be spent on one condition or the other. They shall not enjoy the beauty of old age. They have denied these people the joy of old age, they shall reap the same thing. Their old ages shall be spent in that bit of suffering they have caused these ones.
Should I go on? For a few more lines I will. Peace has gradually given way to pockets of violence in different parts of the country. Government knows them they claim, but they cannot do anything. Talk of a toothless bull dog. Since the ones who lead us can do nothing about the ones who have sent peace on recess in our country, I will do well to raise a standard against them. They also deserve some prayers, or what do you think? Just give me the Amen as I declare their portions on them.
For every leader beside MEND, Boko Haram, the bombings and killings, the face of God will rise against them as in Psalms 34, “to cut off their remembrance from the earth”. For every life they have taken, they shall be reduced; In every way they have risen against peace in this country, their peace of mind shall be taken. For every instrument of the evil ones, the MEND and Boko Haram dumb fools, their lives shall have no bit of tranquility, shameful and ignoble deaths shall be theirs.
I have not finished, for every agent of destabilization in this country, their lives shall be turned upside down and they shall not have rest in every aspect of their lives. As for them and their sponsors, bloodshed will be a regular occurrence for them and they will never find rest till they exit the face of the earth. Their lives shall be turned upside down the way they have turned lives upside down. Evil shall slay them and their lives shall be made desolate (Psalms 34:21).
I have the urge to go on but I stand the risk of boring you with my kind of prayer. I also stand the risk of being selfish (of course I am not). It would not be bad if you will also keep praying for them in your own way. I have done mine, I want you to do yours as we get on the road and march against every evil one who has pushed our backs to the wall. I say these prayers with all available honesty and patriotism and if I have any other ulterior motive, then may all I have asked for these one be my portion.
I’m outta here…xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
INDEPENDENT THOUGHTS
INDEPENDENT THOUGHTS
With the reality that Nigeria’s independence anniversary was drawing nigh, my head was clouded with different thoughts at different times last week. My dear country was clocking 51 and there was a heavy cloud of gloom. Tension was as palpable as it was close. It was so close that one could feel it like rain droplets. What with the security challenges headed by the dreaded Boko Haram and other problems presently bedeviling the country?
I have known my country as one that has gone and is still going through thick and thin. Quite a lot has seemed right and wrong, or wrong and right, as the case may be. I have memories of different things in my twenty something years on earth, all of which have been spent as a Nigerian. I have tasted a little of the goodies that the generation which failed us have left behind for us. I have had a swallow of the suffering with which we have been drenched as we grew up.
I titled this as shown above because the thoughts have come to me independent of our independence as a nation. While I grew my mother used to give to myself and my then only brother, two biscuits each to take to school. I ate the popular Okin biscuit and the equally popular Nasco wafers. We had cartons of both in our house. How many people can afford to buy that again? If it would be well said, then may the labour of the leaders in our recent past ‘ever be in vain’.
I do not want to lament about the wrongs in my dear country, I will try as much as possible to focus on the goods, the positives. Isn’t that what our leaders want? I will for once try to please them. Back in the days, we had the luxury of TCTC luxury buses (in Ibadan); we would queue and wait with glee while the buses plied the routes. Today we have Call-A-Cab. Isn’t that an improvement on Trans City? At least we charter Call-A-Cab at N600 per hour.
Even if the old NEPA also cut power then, we still had light everyday to watch Wrestlemania. Our black and white television never lacked regular supply of electricity. We saw Yoruba drama like Omo Arayele (how do I translate that?), Feyikogbon and Arelu; we saw Koko Close and New Masquerade back then. Now we have stepped up, we have provided a source of income to generator manufacturers and dealers all over the world and that has contributed some more to the revenue they pay the government. Our electricity generating, distribution and transmission equipment can at least rest very well now due to the inability of the people in charge to replace or maintain them as the case may be.
The water taps were running at full capacity but government was paying too much in salaries and allowances. Therefore little by little, the water corporations went into coma and if not for the fact that some state water corporations now produce sachet water now, they would have gone into oblivion. Of course, we have pure water companies now. So where government has failed, they have given us another source of income by making it easy to produce well water in sachets to help hospitals make more money.
Thank God things have improved a lot better as we do not have to go to the river to fetch again. For people who can afford it, boreholes can be drilled; others who have no financial capability to drill can buy water and pay a token. That has actually reduced the rate of cholera and other water-borne diseases. I therefore see no reason why we should not celebrate 51 years of nationhood. It is not all doom and gloom; there are reasons to be positive.
Need I say that there are lots of schools that litter our areas now? The government schools have been replaced by lots of daycares, nursery and primary schools, as well as private high schools and tertiary institutions. I served in a nursery and primary school built from mud bricks. Each class had one arm, I mean nurseries 1 to 3 and then primaries 1 to 5, all had one arm. Is that not much better than government schools where there is equally no furniture. Students at least can make do with whatever is available while the nouveau riche send their children to other schools where they will not learn what it means to be Nigerian.
I also thought about the improvement in the way we have bred different categories of people. Nigeria has brought up the very gentle set of people, who have in turn become mumus. They refuse to stand for themselves even when their rights are being trampled. They only siddon look, waiting for God intervene while they are being taken for a ride.
My country has birthed first class hustlers, who can thrive and survive anywhere. Thanks to our leaders past, most of who are heroes the other way round (I never called them villains), we daily struggle to achieve everything. If you do not know, that is something to be proud of. You can stand up to an American, a Dane, a Briton or even a South African, and tell them confidently that all you have achieved is by pure human effort, not government support via social security or whatever it is.
We have consciously unconsciously (I know what I mean here) created people who have to fight to get everything. Check out Niger Delta militants, Boko Haram and other freedom fighters. The Niger Delta peeps did not get the attention of the people that mattered until they took up arms against their country of birth. Same with the Boko Haram peeps now. I am also thinking of starting mine if per chance, someone will notice me for bombing vegetable farms and other notables.
We keep saying there is nothing good about Nigeria but have we not booted out the very corrupt military? We asked for democracy and we have it already. Democracy and even some more craziness, Lootocracy has joined our democracy. We chased those ones who told us to our faces that they stole our money and effectively replaced them with those who daily feed us with different reasons why the treasury is being regularly devoured and the foreign reserve is being depleted.
Some people curse my country but I see no reason for them to do that. Some call me names for saying what is obvious. Why do you expect us to buy fuel and petroleum products on the cheap? Because we are producers? That is not enough reason. It gives us the opportunity to know how much our country daily makes from oil and tells us nobody cares for us; we are on our own in this beautiful country. Expect more from next year.
I am even baffled when people cry because government wants to remove the subsidy on petroleum products. It only goes to strengthen the point that no one cares the slightest hoot about us. That is about the only thing we gain from them and they still want to remove it. It is to tell us to buckle up and tighten our belts that they say better days are coming, but some see it as harder days. I however see it as just that, better dey come. We will buy fuel at N250 per litre when the better days come.
Independent thoughts… I could go on and on but God, someone else should also comment. I still have them in my head and that may necessitate part 2 of this writing. In the mean time, please read this and let me know the thoughts that have been ringing in your head (like my coconut head) as we remember our independence in Nigeria. The only thing I want is your own independent thoughts in form of comments.
The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain; the labour of the leaders in our recent past shall always be in vain. Happy belated 51st birthday Nigeria; Happy independence to my family and friends; Happy independence anniversary to everyone. God bless Nigeria at 51 and beyond.
I’m outta here…xoxoxoxoxoxo
With the reality that Nigeria’s independence anniversary was drawing nigh, my head was clouded with different thoughts at different times last week. My dear country was clocking 51 and there was a heavy cloud of gloom. Tension was as palpable as it was close. It was so close that one could feel it like rain droplets. What with the security challenges headed by the dreaded Boko Haram and other problems presently bedeviling the country?
I have known my country as one that has gone and is still going through thick and thin. Quite a lot has seemed right and wrong, or wrong and right, as the case may be. I have memories of different things in my twenty something years on earth, all of which have been spent as a Nigerian. I have tasted a little of the goodies that the generation which failed us have left behind for us. I have had a swallow of the suffering with which we have been drenched as we grew up.
I titled this as shown above because the thoughts have come to me independent of our independence as a nation. While I grew my mother used to give to myself and my then only brother, two biscuits each to take to school. I ate the popular Okin biscuit and the equally popular Nasco wafers. We had cartons of both in our house. How many people can afford to buy that again? If it would be well said, then may the labour of the leaders in our recent past ‘ever be in vain’.
I do not want to lament about the wrongs in my dear country, I will try as much as possible to focus on the goods, the positives. Isn’t that what our leaders want? I will for once try to please them. Back in the days, we had the luxury of TCTC luxury buses (in Ibadan); we would queue and wait with glee while the buses plied the routes. Today we have Call-A-Cab. Isn’t that an improvement on Trans City? At least we charter Call-A-Cab at N600 per hour.
Even if the old NEPA also cut power then, we still had light everyday to watch Wrestlemania. Our black and white television never lacked regular supply of electricity. We saw Yoruba drama like Omo Arayele (how do I translate that?), Feyikogbon and Arelu; we saw Koko Close and New Masquerade back then. Now we have stepped up, we have provided a source of income to generator manufacturers and dealers all over the world and that has contributed some more to the revenue they pay the government. Our electricity generating, distribution and transmission equipment can at least rest very well now due to the inability of the people in charge to replace or maintain them as the case may be.
The water taps were running at full capacity but government was paying too much in salaries and allowances. Therefore little by little, the water corporations went into coma and if not for the fact that some state water corporations now produce sachet water now, they would have gone into oblivion. Of course, we have pure water companies now. So where government has failed, they have given us another source of income by making it easy to produce well water in sachets to help hospitals make more money.
Thank God things have improved a lot better as we do not have to go to the river to fetch again. For people who can afford it, boreholes can be drilled; others who have no financial capability to drill can buy water and pay a token. That has actually reduced the rate of cholera and other water-borne diseases. I therefore see no reason why we should not celebrate 51 years of nationhood. It is not all doom and gloom; there are reasons to be positive.
Need I say that there are lots of schools that litter our areas now? The government schools have been replaced by lots of daycares, nursery and primary schools, as well as private high schools and tertiary institutions. I served in a nursery and primary school built from mud bricks. Each class had one arm, I mean nurseries 1 to 3 and then primaries 1 to 5, all had one arm. Is that not much better than government schools where there is equally no furniture. Students at least can make do with whatever is available while the nouveau riche send their children to other schools where they will not learn what it means to be Nigerian.
I also thought about the improvement in the way we have bred different categories of people. Nigeria has brought up the very gentle set of people, who have in turn become mumus. They refuse to stand for themselves even when their rights are being trampled. They only siddon look, waiting for God intervene while they are being taken for a ride.
My country has birthed first class hustlers, who can thrive and survive anywhere. Thanks to our leaders past, most of who are heroes the other way round (I never called them villains), we daily struggle to achieve everything. If you do not know, that is something to be proud of. You can stand up to an American, a Dane, a Briton or even a South African, and tell them confidently that all you have achieved is by pure human effort, not government support via social security or whatever it is.
We have consciously unconsciously (I know what I mean here) created people who have to fight to get everything. Check out Niger Delta militants, Boko Haram and other freedom fighters. The Niger Delta peeps did not get the attention of the people that mattered until they took up arms against their country of birth. Same with the Boko Haram peeps now. I am also thinking of starting mine if per chance, someone will notice me for bombing vegetable farms and other notables.
We keep saying there is nothing good about Nigeria but have we not booted out the very corrupt military? We asked for democracy and we have it already. Democracy and even some more craziness, Lootocracy has joined our democracy. We chased those ones who told us to our faces that they stole our money and effectively replaced them with those who daily feed us with different reasons why the treasury is being regularly devoured and the foreign reserve is being depleted.
Some people curse my country but I see no reason for them to do that. Some call me names for saying what is obvious. Why do you expect us to buy fuel and petroleum products on the cheap? Because we are producers? That is not enough reason. It gives us the opportunity to know how much our country daily makes from oil and tells us nobody cares for us; we are on our own in this beautiful country. Expect more from next year.
I am even baffled when people cry because government wants to remove the subsidy on petroleum products. It only goes to strengthen the point that no one cares the slightest hoot about us. That is about the only thing we gain from them and they still want to remove it. It is to tell us to buckle up and tighten our belts that they say better days are coming, but some see it as harder days. I however see it as just that, better dey come. We will buy fuel at N250 per litre when the better days come.
Independent thoughts… I could go on and on but God, someone else should also comment. I still have them in my head and that may necessitate part 2 of this writing. In the mean time, please read this and let me know the thoughts that have been ringing in your head (like my coconut head) as we remember our independence in Nigeria. The only thing I want is your own independent thoughts in form of comments.
The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain; the labour of the leaders in our recent past shall always be in vain. Happy belated 51st birthday Nigeria; Happy independence to my family and friends; Happy independence anniversary to everyone. God bless Nigeria at 51 and beyond.
I’m outta here…xoxoxoxoxoxo
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