Half-Truths: Six And Half A Dozen

I'm not one of those who believe in New Year resolutions. I discovered at a young age in my life that there really wasn't any point making any. The older I've become, the more I have realised that resolutions are what they are. Mere words. This is why the only resolution I make now is to strive to be closer to my God in the new year. This 2013, I broke my own rule. I made a resolution besides the regular one I stated above.

This 2013, I made a resolution to completely ignore any of Nigeria's antics in global self-ridicule. I made a mental note to stop hassling myself about Nigeria's dire state. I promised myself that I would not devote time on this blog to ponder on Nigeria's sorry state. Alas, I'm about to break that resolution.

Sometime in January, my President was at the World Economic Forum in Davos where he granted an interview to CNN's Christiane Amanpour. The seven and a half minute show of shame can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwGzypkUS8A 

In this interview President Jonathan graciously asserted that the power sector was one of the areas where Nigerians were particularly happy with what his government has done in the last two or so years. What followed was an uproar on social media. This uproar was not from Americans or Iranians. It was from Nigerians who took to social media to call their own President all sorts of unpalatable names. Even that did not shock Ebele as this is something he is now accustomed to. The drama, unfortunately, did not end there.

During a football game in America, there was a power cut and again Nigerians, not Americans, went gaga on Twitter. We went on about how it was a usual thing for power to elude citizens in Lagos and indeed Nigeria. Barely two weeks before, our President told the world that Nigerians were happy with him as the power had improved remarkably and now the same Nigerians-who are supposedly ecstatic-are tweeting that the power situation is horrid. Christiane Amanpour must have been very befuddled. So she compiled a small report about what the people on Nigerian streets were actually saying about the power situation. If you haven't seen it then watch here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGNIUNtCF48&feature=share 

What followed this short exposition by Amanpour was outrage from a few people including Maupe Ogun. She demanded an apology from Amanpour for making a joke out of Nigeria and went on about how there had been an improvement in the situation which the CNN lady deliberately kept quiet about. Maupe, in my view, did not just bite more than she could chew by trying to take on Amanpour, she also did so unreasonably. What exactly has Amanpour done that she should apologise for? Did she concoct those tweets sent in by Nigerians? Did she pay the Nigerians that tweeted to rubbish Nigeria? What was even funny about the snippet of our shame that she helped us broadcast to the world? Or was this, indeed, her only crime?

I have inadvertently caught Maupe Ogun on her daily show on Channels TV. From the little I've seen the only striking thing about her is that her command of the English language is better than that of our First Lady and Karen Igho. I also understand she holds a Masters degree from a British institution and was so outstanding that she was invited as one of the journalists that anchored a Presidential chat with the incumbent sometime last year. If I remember correctly, Nigeria was not any better at the time of that media parley and Maupe and her colleagues were well aware of that fact. Instead of taking the golden opportunity to ask Mr President some nerve-racking and hard-hitting questions, Maupe sat there smiling from molar-to-molar like a village virgin who was about to be deflowered by the rich village Chief. I found it sickening. I find it even more sickening that she went after Amanpour for no sensible reason.

I do not know what part of Lagos Maupe resides and how outstanding PHCN is in her neighbourhood so I won't understand where she noticed the improvement. Where I live there's hardly power when I am going to bed and when I'm leaving for work in the morning. How PHCN fares in between that time I can't even attest to. I am speaking entirely for myself as those Nigerians,not Americans, in Amanpour's report did for themselves. We must appreciate that for a country that is perennially in darkness the generality of the people will notice any slight improvement in power supply. And even where this power has improved, at what cost is it in terms of Naira and Kobo.

Christiane Amanpour isn't our enemy. Just as Rick Ross wasn't when he came to shoot a video in our slums. Just like the Ghanaians that told us the truth some months ago that resulted in the small fracas between them and us on social media. They just told us the very ugly truth! This same truth we do not like to hear. We delude ourselves with the 'only Nigerians have the right to taunt Nigeria' concept. It is silly and excruciatingly dull of us to continue to think this way.

While I appreciate the crave for public attention by the likes of Maupe Ogun, I must implore her to do so within the confines of common sense. Her grudge is misdirected as Amanpour does not-and will never-control what Nigerians in Nigeria tweet and say in front of a camera. Next time, Maupe, 'look face' before you pick a fight. My candid advice for Maupe is to, in fact, aspire to achieve Christiane Amanpour's feats in international journalism. The woman has been to war-ravaged regions to report crisis all over the world and hit hard at political leaders across the globe with daunting questions while Maupe sits inside Channels studio every morning hugging an iPad in the name of presenting a talk show. No offence, Maupe, but next to Christiane, you are featherweight and will remain such if you do not begin to apply yourself more to objective journalism. Ants do not go to war with elephants my dear.

Meanwhile, like the folks in Lagos in Amanpour's video, I think the power is just as abysmal as it was years ago. I still woke yesterday night drenched in sweat because there was no power and the weather was hot. I will still get home today and not even bother to flip the switches because I'm almost certain that there would be no power in them. In fact, when I do get home and hear the freezer rumbling with power I get worried. That is the honest truth.

Amanpour and the rest of the world called our bluff. They saw through our frivolous claims. They are not our enemies. Enemies do not tell you the truth like they have done.

We call it six. They called it half-a-dozen.