#MeTooCampaign: Missing The Target

I daresay that the #MeToo movement, especially in Nigeria is fast becoming a dangerous nuisance. The recent wave of rape accusations against some well-known men is quite overwhelming. I call it too much information with no information. Coming to the social or traditional media to accuse someone of rape is nothing short of character defamation. What do you hope to achieve by doing that? You cannot get justice that way. Anyone can accuse anyone. That doesn't mean the accuser is right and the accused guilty. There are due processes that must be followed. There's the police and the courts. Naturally ineffective, I know. But before you come to fill our ears with your rape stories, go and report it first to those who are saddled with the responsibility to do something about it and we will make sure they do their job. But if you report to us alone, what can we do?? If I were the person you accused, I would simply sue you for defaming my character or counter-accuse you of being a drug addict who is mentally ill. At the end of the day, the matter will die a natural death or you will get into the trouble you were setting up for me. 

Looking at the COZA pastor case for instance, he has been forced to resign and well, that's about it. He would take legal action against his accuser as is his right and so far, he remains very innocent. But if the accusation was made through the right channels, he would have had a basket-load of trouble on his hands! If forcing him to resign was the accuser's aim, I daresay it was a very lame one. Being out of office doesn't stop him from continuing the crime, does it? He could go start a church of his own and go on to continue what he was accused of! In fact, the way the accusation was made has put the life of the accuser and that of millions of other women in danger. Such highly placed offenders will surely learn from this and decide to hunt down their old victims before they get the chance to speak out, while aspiring offenders would create a dangerous to-do checklist so they would not end up being accused too. So instead of bringing justice, this new wave of improper accusations would increase the chances of murder, threat, blackmail and further assault of rape victims by their attackers. It would also bore the initially sympathetic public and turn them against the alleged victims or accusers. All these would add up to totally discourage women/girls who have been raped to speak out to the right people. 

Accuse whoever you like, but just do it right. For your own sake and that of others like you.

"Rot in the system"

Recently, I was watching a brief summary of the presentation of the report of the transition committee set up in one of those Northern states. I knew exactly how it would end and yes, they didn't disappoint. The new governor bemoaned the failure of the immediate past administration and claimed that everything in the state was in pieces blah blah blah. We are very familiar with this, right? But have you ever stopped to think that such things are well-organized schemes to fool the people? When a new governor or president is elected, he quickly goes ahead to discredit his predecessor by outlining the debt, corruption and lack of funds in the treasury, and then he concludes by saying that 'even though we met a lot of rot in the system, we will try our best to pick up the pieces and put things in order'. In the next four years, he would do just that: pick up the pieces. At the end of his tenure, when you ask him why things are still bad, he'll say, "You know, we met a lot of rot in the system." That's the standard excuse. By the time he leaves office and his successor is elected and if that successor is from a different party, he'll also tell you that he met a lot of rot in the system and that he'll try to pick up the pieces. This is the excuse that they all use to cover-up for their deliberate failures and the funny part is that it never expires. Nigerians will continue to buy it. So as they get poorer, the politicians get richer. Why on earth can't we pull the scales from our eyes???

LEAVE THEM ALONE! 2 - Minding the African Business

Being victims of racism is not really a big problem for Blacks. One of our major problems is that we're too full. We're too full of good things, but too much of everything is bad. Take an empty barrel for instance. It's so noisy and troublesome. You call that a White man? Correct! Someone like Trump. But look at a barrel that's full. You know it's problem? It can't move! While the empty barrel is noisily rattling off to new things, the full one is just stuck there, grumbling. That's the Black man! Someone from Nigeria especially. 

Mundayan Living quoted Muhammad Ali as saying that despite all his success, America would always have its White idol and someone commented, saying: 'Was Ali really that insecure?' It made me smile bitterly. Because Ali and many other Black Americans are really very insecure. So insecure, bitter and angry that they can sometimes look very scary to not only Whites, but other Blacks. Think one-time racist, Malcolm X whom I think America honors out of fear than respect. Now, these guys, those of them that have decided to work hard, will always crane their necks to look at how the White man is faring. Is that really necessary? Why can't you just mind your business? Why do you think you should always be ahead of the White man? We're all equals! At least until somebody claims to be superior. Even then, it's not our job to answer them. Actions, they say, speak louder than words. And you don't have to act because the White man is watching or because you wanna prove a point. You have to act because you have to act, because you can act, because you should act, because you MUST act!

AFRICA: A Continent Misrepresented

I think I just found a few words to represent what I've been trying to communicate for some months now: "Africa is not a continent for Blacks alone". 

When people think of Africa, what comes to their mind is 'Blacks' or a 'Black country'. Black Americans regard themselves by default to be African-Americans. That's wrong! Africa is a continent. It is not a country, or a town, or a village like most Americans think. Africans are not a bunch of similar-colored straws, we are a very diverse continent. This great continent houses Whites, Arabs, different shades of Black, and even Semitics and semi-Hispanics. 

Let me give you an example to make things a little clearer. If you say you're in America and the weather's quite warm, I might think you're a liar. Why? Because my friend who's also in America tells me it's cold over there. But the truth is you can both be right! How? My friend could be in Chile and you can be in the US, but you're both in America! The same applies to Africa. We're also spread over two hemispheres. We have thousands of languages, over 50 different countries, different currencies, different flags, different religions, different forms of government, different laws, different mindsets, different climates, etc. etc. So it is very imperative you think of us as a continent, not as some obscure place. 

The word 'African-American' is wrong and abnormal. Compare it to British-Nigerian. Do they look alike? Of course not! One's nation-nation, another's continent-nation. Not everyone who's Black is African. So a Black person who's an American is a Black American. Everyone who's a citizen of and belonging to countries in the continent of Africa is an African, be he Black, Arab, or White!

LET'S BELIEVE IN US!

What the Americans have built doesn't necessarily have a reward system. You can call it propaganda, but it's well done and it works (though it's not so effective nowadays). It makes them have goosebumps, teary eyes, puff their chest and say with pride that their country is the greatest in the world. The old Brits and Americans would do it, but which Nigerian would do it? When I say my country is the greatest in the world, people (both Blacks and Whites) look at me like I'm mad. Yes, my country is the world's greatest! I know it, I believe it and I can prove it! If every African can do the same, Africa would be the one offering aid to Europe and America! It's because we don't believe in ourselves that's why we're behind. The Whites would be Okay if they don't believe we're great, but we would be sick if we believe them.

SLAVERY WAS AND IS STILL OUR CHOICE

Someone was once quoted as saying 'slavery is a choice' (was it Kanye?). It is actually the truth. Slavery is a choice. A lot of horrors happened during the slave trade era and the White man did a lot of evil things to Blacks, but you know the worst form of slavery that the Blacks went through? It was the slavery of their own minds! They could have set their minds free, but they didn't! That's what makes it a choice, their choice. There are many angles to this, but I'll highlight only a few. One: Many of the slaves were captured and sold to the Whites by their fellow Blacks. Two: Several attempts/plans to escape from slavery were foiled by some of the slaves themselves. Three: There is a big difference between love of life/hope and cowardice. The slaves were mostly cowards. They hardly ever stood toe to toe with their enslavers. They preferred to die from beatings than to die while resisting the beatings. Four: Many of the slaves allowed 'sticks and stones' to not only break their bones but to also break their souls. Five: They generally lacked unity or the nerve for open solidarity thereby throwing away all their leverages. Six: They nursed fear until it became even bigger than their enslavers and it controlled them completely. Lastly: The dependence of (Black) African leaders on their White superiors shows that we not only chose to be slaves centuries ago, but we still remain slaves till today! 

The White man came here, only to find people who never really loved one another, people who could not think for themselves but had to consult wood and iron to make decisions for them, people who were base enough to capture, kill and eat one another. It would have been extraordinarily kind and not very human if they hadn't taken advantage of the situation.

MOVING FORWARD

It's common to hear some Africans foolishly suggest that we need a bloody revolution to move forward. Yes, it's actually not totally untrue. Development usually follows such things, depending on the leaders involved. I mean, after the Nigerian Civil War, came our first and last major development in infrastructure and other areas. Rawlings' cleansing was what made Ghana move to its current manageable height today. Rwanda's genocide was the prelude to their development which has now put them on top of Africa. Same thing in South Africa and a few other places. But even though bloodshed has produced such results, it doesn't make it the best solution. The best solution is actually much more simpler and easier. 

 

Africa's biggest problem is lack of love. If you can't love your neighbor, love yourself at least. Develop yourself, gather knowledge, travel (if you can), keep an open mind and stop adopting twisted theories. If we all do this, Africa would automatically shoot upward. But we have to do it carefully and quietly, so our enemies would not know what we are up to.