TWISTED

When I say certain things to fellow Nigerians, they sneer and call me holier-than-thou. But these things I say are usually simple things that an average sane normal human being would easily be able to do or relate with. 

The problem with us as a people is that we have found ourselves in a rotten society where it's easier and more commonplace to be wrong than to be right. It's now part of our culture for people to be twisted and think upside down. And it has become so suffocating that an average Nigerian now has a sort of Stockholm Syndrome. Some people do not like to be wrong and twisted, but the society seems to require it of every individual, so people are forced to be that way. When you see a fellow Nigerian, you expect him to also be twisted like you and if he isn't, which is not so common, you tag him a hypocrite or pretender because you now see being wrong and twisted as the status quo - a normal, a necessity. It's in you and you expect it to be in everyone else in Nigeria (even though you know it probably exists nowhere else), just as much as other Nigerians expect to see it in you. Such wrong and twisted characteristics include everything from corruption to dishonesty to substandard products/services. Doing these things make you feel normal and accepted by all, because that's what everyone else is doing, and you're not so wrong.

A family member would always tell me, "you have to do things that will make people 'respect you'". It doesn't matter if it's wrong or right, the most important thing is respect. In my experience, respect in Nigerian terms is hardly ever a good thing. It either means fear or popularity. And being popular in a twisted society can only mean that you're twisted. You earn respect because of how much government money you have stolen, how many women you have played, how much violence you have enacted and how much fear you have inspired. Such people almost always grow up to be leaders in the society at all levels. They become traditional, religious, government, security and political leaders. That's why the country has remained twisted: because the people, society and leadership are all twisted.

Coronavirus And Nigeria's Response

Ever since the coronavirus began its killing spree, there has been a lot of panic among people and various forms of responses from governments around the world. Countries in Africa have not been shy about slamming travel bans on developed countries who have been the most hit by the virus. But Nigeria, in her own special way, always has something funnily different to offer.

Our dear Federal Government, bowing to pressure, started with a very late travel ban on countries with more than 1000 cases of the virus, not effective immediately, but days later. Meanwhile, international airports continued to receive passengers from around the world. The height of recklessness, if you ask me. We've seen that the states, led by Lagos who has the most cases, are putting serious efforts into containing the virus, but our placeholder Federal Government has so far done little or nothing. Even the Senate President recently confirmed that the government was at zero level preparedness, financially and technically. No suitable medical facilities, no concrete plans and with funding being appropriated in lips and tongues.

The other day, I watched on AIT as two confused NCDC help line operators gave two different information when presented with a question of response to a potential case of the virus. That alone is enough to tell you that the Federal Government is by no means taking this virus very seriously. Correct information is not readily available, leaving Nigerians at the mercy of fake news peddlers like that bracket fool the Americans call a president. Instead of simply shutting down the airports, the Federal Government has decided to continue its unnecessary international 'good face', doing a peacock catwalk that nobody's watching, thereby putting the states through a lot of work with contact tracing and testing of arrivals. With a failed healthcare system like ours, such a pandemic is not something we should play ping-pong with. We are mighty lucky that sub-Saharan Africans are not very much affected by the virus, but luck can run out at any time. What would we do then?

While other countries have rolled out stimulus packages to cushion the effect of the virus' impact on citizens and their businesses, Nigeria whose poor citizens and constantly strangled local businesses need such stimulus the most has responded by announcing some half-hearted waivers and 'using shame to style-style' reduce the fuel price by a meager 20naira (US$0.05), even though international oil prices have plummeted. Grand wickedness and outright shameless robbery in all its ugly glory. Even while faced with the threat of a pandemic, the citizens of the failed state called Nigeria have not yet deserved pity from the heartless and lifeless government in Abuja. The question is, what did ordinary Nigerians do to this government apart from making the grave mistake of voting for it? Can't they be forgiven and treated nicely for once??

Religion: Why Be A Fanatic?

Religion is not really as tricky as some people think. It's just addictive and billions are high on it. Religion is just like music. It motivates, inspires, uplifts, encourages, teaches, preaches and many other things. And just like music, it's not something you should take too seriously. It's not something you should live your daily life by. In one of his songs, Burna Boy sang: "Anybody! Wey no want to soji... nack am something." If you go, in real life, to nack something on somebody wey no want to soji, you are on your own o. That's how it is with religion too. 

There are parts of the Bible (Deu 22:20-24) that dictate that any woman who just got married and was found not to be a virgin should be stoned to death, and any rape victim who was raped in the city should be put to death because 'she did not scream'. These were the commandments of 'God' as stated by Christianity. Islam also has its own list of terrifying ideals, like Prophet Muhammad (salla Allah u alihi wa sallam) marrying a child far below 18. I'm sure no one would wish such horrible things on themselves or their kids. So why do you live your life under the influence of religion? It's like somebody living his/her life by the lyrics of his/her favourite song. You're addicted. And when many others catch the same infection, it becomes a cult and a couple years later, a movement pops up, named after the singer of that song and before you say Jack, you might just have a new religion. That's how religions are created. Some clever dude just comes up with a lot of charisma that attracts people with certain things in common and in a couple years, the group becomes a religion, just like Nation of Islam. All these things are man-made. Yes, there may be a God. Actually, I believe there is a God. There was a Jesus, there was a Muhammad, there was a Buddha. But they were just like you and me, perhaps a little smarter or maybe luckier, otherwise they're ordinary human beings. There's no need to kill yourselves over what they allegedly said that God said.

South Africa and the Madness of Xenophobia

Recent waves of xenophobic attacks from the Republic of South Africa will not come as a surprise to those who know and have been following the country and its post-Apartheid struggles. Having been nicknamed the rape capital of the world (where at least 2 women/children are being raped every minute), crimes against women, children, vulnerable, defenseless and outnumbered people is extremely high in South Africa. An inept system, twisted myths, cowardice and a culture of denialism makes the so-called rainbow nation a very dangerous place to live in.

Government report say that 41% of REPORTED rape cases in South Africa have children & infants as the victim and it's estimated that 40% of women in South Africa will be raped at least once in their lifetime (Wikipedia). Only a tiny amount of the few reported cases lead to prosecution and since members of the police force are also perpetrators, there's neither trust nor serious action taken by the government other than lip service. With at least 46 children raped and 2 children, 50 men and 8 women 'butchered' every single day... rape, assault and murder seem to be deeply rooted in the South African culture. Studies and surveys have discovered that 2 in 5 men indirectly interviewed have admitted to having forced sexual intercourse with a woman. But the most alarming part is that it is extremely prevalent among the younger generation. A CIET survey found 60% of boys and girls believed that it was not violent to force sex on someone they knew while a quarter of 1,500 schoolboys interviewed said that gang rape was fun.

The cowardly act of rape is seen by South African males as a show of power and dominance over women, the government even stupidly referring to it as an evidence of partriachy in Black culture. To them, it's a manly thing. With a society highly saturated with cowardice, violence, unemployment and lack of proper education for most Blacks, crimes like burglary, robbery and murder are the only violent acts that can stand toe to toe with rape. In a country where the men are cowardly and idle enough to rape two women every minute, it makes perfect sense that they would turn their attention to visiting foreigners who their celebrities and local politicians have accused of 'taking their jobs and women'. For one, women are loth to fall in love with rapists, so it makes sense that their long-suffering women would gravitate to the less violent foreigners. Secondly, lack of quality & standard education, laxity
and reliance on miracles from churches among Black South Africans have made them ill-prepared for gainful employment and entrepreneurship. Inept leadership and governance, coupled with incapacity and corruption of the police force has further sunk the country deeper into a quagmire of poverty and hardship for the Blacks.

After suffering for so many years under Apartheid rule - poor education, a restricted world view, lack of exposure and gross inequality; Black South Africans have moved into an even worse post-Apartheid era, where they are free to do whatever they like, but have been unable to be weaned out of the violence that formed the basis of their lives during the Apartheid era. It is like a Stockholm Syndrome. They are comfortable with violence and have even come to love it. That's why the attacks have been treated with kid gloves by the government. Many have even come forward to justify it or lousily deny it. AKA, the infamous rapper, even claimed that only two foreigners were killed in the attacks. Such is the nature of indifference among government officials and the more educated masses due to the country's culture of denialism. Rather than fix a problem, they find it easier to first, deny the facts, before downplaying it or shifting blame to someone else.

It is true, some South Africans' claim that there are a large number of foreign criminals in their country, many of them Nigerians. But there are also peaceful and law-abiding foreigners too. I remember the rush among Nigerian youth, especially those from the West and East, to travel to that country. Some go there for legitimate business, having perhaps found a better business climate in South Africa while others go there for unpure and criminal purposes, having found gaping loopholes in the South African culture and system. It is this propensity to commit cowardly acts of violence that has enabled foreign criminal elements to thrive in the country. But rather than face the problem squarely, wild South Africans launch cowardly attacks on individuals and their businesses. The more educated ones along with their government perhaps feel it would be a good thing if the foreigners are gotten rid of once and for all, so while having the education-inspired civilization and lacking the bravery to publicly support the attacks, they hide their heads in the sand like an ostrich. Some denying South Africans claimed that the xenophobic attacks were perpetrated by foreigners and a tiny amount of their people, but they failed to express remorse or sympathize with the victims, instead they were strongly intent on being mere spectators and blaming the so-called thugs. Also, they stonily refused to apply adequate or even any pressure on their government to put an end to the attacks.

Bottom line, as was seen during the anti-Apartheid struggle, the South Africans are very much capable of forcing the authorities to focus and deal with the problem of xenophobia in their country. The fact that they were not so eager to do so can only mean that they are comfortable with it and would like to see it happen again and again, albeit more clinically. South Africa is perhaps the world's most violent nation during peacetime and currently, there are no indications of the abatement of this evil record. Therefore, it would be in the interests of every peace loving person, especially women and children, to stay entirely away from this fractured country.

Fly, baby. Fly

As a parent, you are the default legal custodian/guardian of your children. It means that you get to care for and supervise the children until they reach a certain age of independence and maturity. But if the law does not feel comfortable with your style of custodianship/guardianship, it will swing into action by taking away the children (though there's no guarantee that they would be treated any better by their new custodians) 

But here in Africa, parents aren't custodians/guardians, they are owners. In this continent, a man gives birth to children, gives them names, brands them with hideous marks and then puts them to work like farm animals. He sits back and counts them like chickens and like God, he feels satisfied with his work. He can treat them however he likes, because they and their mother are his property for life. In fact, they don't have rights. They are not humans and can never be humans without his permission. You can be sure that such children will grow up with a restricted view of life. They will lack wide imagination and their dreams and aspirations would be limited to their owner's farm and house. It's like buying a horse from a nearby local breeder. If not well secured, it will return to the farm where it was bred. Remember White Fang in Jack London's hit novel? He kept returning to his (mother's) owner even after he had been sold. It's a similar case with a number of African youths who have chosen not to move along with the world and instead remain in their owners farm simply because the homing magnet is very strong. It's all well and good to farm, produce food and run the nation's economy from the village, but if you remain in that little comfort zone of yours, you will learn nothing new. Your only aim would be to cultivate your owner's land and then inherit it after he dies and then your children will tow the same line. Meanwhile, you're locked out from the rest of the world and you have no idea that there are much better and more effective farm machinery than the hoe and the cutlass. Your ancestors used the hoe, cutlass and sharpening stone. You have used the same tools to work for your owner and after his death, you used them to work for yourself and your children will eventually inherit them after you die. Those tools would only be replaced when they are broken or lost, no new and better ones would be forged because you lack the education/exposure that will fuel and enrich your imagination. 

This whole phenomenon is the basic structure of many African societies which has followed a lot of them into the 21st century and has gone as high as the Federal level. Nigeria is one such example. In this country, there is no development because both the government and the people keep repeating old actions day after day and expecting progress all the while. That's actually the definition of madness. We really need to see a psychiatrist! If we must stop crawling and fly like other nations, we must ignore the constant beep of the homing signal and go in search of knowledge/exposure. Because your ancestors did it that way doesn't mean you should also do it that same way. There's a reason why your ancestors lived in the Stone Age while you're living in the Information Age. We must be ready to learn, unlearn and relearn with ease. From our past, we must 'Absorb what is useful, discard what is not and add what is uniquely your own.' - Bruce Lee.

Terrorism n Us

Make no mistake about it, but Nigeria is a far greater terrorist nation than most, if not all, Middle Eastern nations. Those guys over there are just fighting for their lives, ideologies or Western handlers. But here in Nigeria, there are millions of terrorist organizations fighting for more stupid reasons. Not only the Boko Haram, suspected herdsmen, IPOB, Shi'ites, the police, the military and the FG. All these are clearly terrorist organizations, but I'm talking now of the powerful sleeper cells that are even more dangerous than and provide manpower for these big organizations. These sleepers are the Nigerian people. I repeat, the Nigerian people. A terrorist is anyone who creates terror or fear in the hearts and minds of others and that's what Nigerians are good at nowadays. So a terrorist organization is any two or more Nigerians coming together with the same aim/objective. I'll explain.

You'll agree with me that our politicians are indirect terrorists, or rather, they sponsor terrorism. Bad roads, election violence, bad schools, bad economy, bad hospitals, etc. All these cause fear in our hearts. Who doesn't feel scared if they don't have any choice but to pass through one of the dilapidated roads in the country? Who doesn't feel fear when elections are approaching or when you're going to cast your vote? So if politicians are terrorists or sponsors of terrorism, who are these politicians? They are part of the Nigerian people! Yesterday, they were ordinary Nigerians, but today, they are politicians.. terrorists. The lawless policemen are also from the Nigerian people. Same with the brutal military and mindless paramilitary. Same with the lecturers who ask for sex in exchange for marks and threaten to fail the students if they don't comply. Same with the cultists. Same with every bad group of people in the country. They are not from Ghana, they are all Nigerians. They create fear in our hearts, but it was from us they came. We not only swell their ranks, but we also provide and shape their ideology.

Let there be a group of two or more Nigerians, then put one of them as the leader. There is a very big probability that the funds meant for or contributed by the group would be embezzled or misappropriated by the leader. And any group member who tries to stop him would be crushed or thrown out. He will oppress the group members and rule with force, impunity and terror. He will make them fear him, either with the use of thugs, threats or charms, or all three. This is what happens in government, in churches, in organizations and even in the family! It happens between brother and sister. When you give the children their food and you go away, the boy would take the girl's slightly bigger portion and give her his. If she tries to complain, he'll tell her to shut up, threatening to beat her or reminding her that Papa and Mama said she should always respect him because he's the man. This is us. This is Nigeria. This is terrorism in us. 

Is Our Hope Alive?

There is a saying that 'Nigerians are happy because they hope to be happy'. Though we are one of the most miserable nations on earth, we are still a very happy people. We're in a state of what Fela termed 'suffering and smiling'. Despite immense hunger, being the world's poverty capital, and lack of gainful employment, we still manage to work our facial muscles into a smile. But when you hear of so many Nigerians committing suicide with so much ease and frequency, you just have to ask, is that hope still here? Is it still alive?