Music they say is food for the soul.
Aldous Huxley aptly submits and I quote 'After silence,that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music'
For the purpose of this article and for my eclectic taste in music, I will like to see myself as a connoisseur of good music. Did you laugh? Well, believe it or not, I'm as big of a fan of ABBA as I am of King Sunny Ade. I believe very strongly that good music should be ageless and should transcend generations. So has the works of Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie, Micheal Jackson, Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obe, Onyeka Onwenu, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and a couple of others.
Interestingly, these artistes serenaded my father and their compositions have somehow succeeded in enchanting me also. There's a very cogent reason. The singular word is 'Content'.
The meteoric rise of Nigeria's music industry is certainly remarkable. The artistes in my generation are making music in an era where a lot of money is circulating in the sector and I assume they could not have picked a better time to be musicians than now. We have international collaborations every other day now. Our artistes are breaking the Walls of Jericho and starring the biggest names worldwide in their tracks. Certainly, that must be some, if not a colossal improvement from the days of old.
A quick glance through the music player on my computer will leave a regular human being confused as to my personality and my taste in music. I stock all genres and artistes. A glance through will also reveal that two artistes have the most songs in my library. These two would be Asa and Lagbaja. Each must have about 20 songs against their name in my library. Again, it is not coincidence.
Whilst Lagbaja offers a purely afro-oriented style, Asa brings a certain freshness into soul music. Incidentally, both of them are skilled instrumentalists. Lagbaja is renowned for his dexterity playing the saxophone while Asa's expertise on the guitar is exceptional. I am a firm believer in the fact that the future of music lies solely in the ability to play instruments.
The age of music now in Nigeria takes consideration of commercial viability. Will the material sell in Alaba International? Will people buy this work? Will distributors make a kill from this album? In Nigeria now, the streets are not smiling, you either eat or get eaten. Understandable, considering the anarchy that currently pervades the land.
It is this marketability that has consumed the very soul of our music. It is often said that, for everything, there is a price. Our music today makes money even though they make very little sense.
How does one explain an adult man going into the studio for hours and the best he can come up with is 'free madness' or 'jonzing world'? How did we get to this point? One of the raves of the moment did an entire chorus with 4 simple words - Roll-on, Everytime, Gba Control.
Besides the senselessness of the lyrics these days, we now seem to focus on voluptuous half-naked women, expensive automobiles, night-clubs and premium brands of ethanol.
Explain to me in English how Olu Maintain croons 'Personality,... E tun wo boobie...that is all I see' (meaning, Personality...even look at her breasts...that is all I see) and he still gets women dancing. Or how Rayce sings 'Omoge...Shige e...Omoge...Shige e' (meaning, Lady, open your chest 2x). Amazing isn't it?
A hip-hop song in Nigeria today will not sell if the artiste does not talk about tossing dollar bills in the air and he does not recount how he buys Hennessy,Moet or Ace of Spades in the clubs every night. They know that's what a prodigal generation wants to listen to.
Unfortunately, I doubt strongly that my unborn son will be thrilled by Dami Duro or Gaga Crazy in 20 years time. Just as I now enjoy songs my father enjoyed, it'll be a pleasurable experience for my children to have the same. They certainly will not have that with 'Chop banana till you go yo'. No! Never, infact. I'm not speculating, I am certain!
What these artistes lack now is content. Bukola Elemide a.k.a Asa and Bisade Ologunde a.k.a Lagbaja are probably the only ones who will have a real shot at serenading our children. Without bias, kindly pick an Asa album or a Lagbaja album and listen to them. If you hear Hennessy, Bugatti or Dollars, please turn off the stereo and immediately let me know.
There's a message in every track. A salient and instructive message. The messages range from those of love and courtship, societal ills and bad governance to decorum and chivalry. Lagbaja continues to speak against bad leadership as Asa keeps reminding us of how we must wake up to our responsibilities as citizens and hold our leaders responsible. Please, listen.
There are also a few other folks who attempt to be constructive in their art. I have an eye on Nneka at the moment. She seems promising. The others need to attain a level of consistency to score points with me and a few people who I have conferred with who acquiesce with my perspective. I will understand though if they remain commercial in their work, after-all Ajala must eat after his sojourn.
Right now while Lagbaja's sonorous hits spews forth from my computer, there is a cacophony of new-age hip-hop bellowing in the background outside the room.
What the heck, shebi its to dance Azonto or Etighi...Lagbaja, gimme a minute, I'll be right back.
I'll have him and Asa for a lifetime anyway, the others are just till a new dance step evolves. So, why not?
Follow 'Wole @drwalls28 on Twitter.
Much has been said about the failure of leadership as the bane of the continued existence of the nation of Nigeria.
To a large extent, I agree with this submission. I believe our leaders from the days of yesteryear have not particularly done us much good. Having said that, my worry also lies with the quality of the followers. The average Nigerian. We must not lose the sight of the fact the these flops that have ruled us in succession were once average citizens. They were average Nigerians.
Everyday, when I look around me, all I see are regular citizens whose actions go a long way in explaining why the nation is in the state it is in. We are quick to tongue-lash our errant leaders when we the citizens haven't been particularly the best of human beings.
Its not GEJ who has refused to stay on the queue at the toll-gate. That's you, an ordinary citizen, who has decided the other folks who have joined the queue quietly are stupid. Do we blame GEJ for that?
Its also not GEJ who drives the yellow and black buses in Lagos that decide to park and pick commuters in the middle of the road while obstructing traffic. No, those are average Nigerians. Why should GEJ take the fall for that?
Its Sunday morning and the time is 6am, the traffic lights are red. Lagos cars fly across those intersections, beating the stop lights. Why? Because its 6am and there's nobody to arrest offenders. Do I blame GEJ for that? No! Regular Average Nigerians.
The okada man wants to make an extra buck so he carries a fare across the expressway. On a road where it is clearly written that commercial motorcycle operators are not allowed. GEJ?
There's a lot of traffic on Ozumba Mbadiwe, we are all uncomfortable and on the other side of the road, facing oncoming traffic is a vehicle with federal government number plate. They suddenly have rights that regular citizens don't and they take one-way roads like no man's business. Is that GEJ?
Just yesterday, we were in traffic on Apongbon bridge and the car in front of mine stopped abruptly and the driver hurriedly flew out. I was taken aback at first and he promptly zipped down and peed on curb. Right in front of me. Note that he had duly obstructed traffic while he answered Nature's call. He didn't give a damn! Well, just like GEJ but I doubt we can blame GEJ for this absurd behavior.
I was once arrested by LASTMA staff for making an illegal U-turn. Even though there was no sign that indicated turns were prohibited at that spot, what amazed me more was that my accuser could have stood at the spot and easily indicated to me that turns were not allowed there. Instead, he took the effort and time to tactically position himself immediately at the point where I completed the arc of the U-turn and promptly arrested me for an offence he could have prevented me from committing. Amazing! That's not GEj, is it?
Its not magic that the country is how it is. It isn't rocket science either. We are where we are because of how we are. Nigerians are inherently wicked people. Please don't confuse religion and spirituality with holiness and purity. They are ages apart as typified by Nigerians. We are just professional church-goers. Our hearts are dark...just like those of our leaders.
A friend once posted on his BlackBerry one Monday morning 'Funny she's listening to serious gospel music yet she abuses everybody on the road'. Typical. The curses fly out of Nigerian lips at spinal level. Reflex actions! We bring out the worst out of each other in Nigeria. When he's driving fast, you say 'see this one driving like a madman'. If he drives slow, it's 'why is this one driving like a fool'. We've all sinned and come short of God's glory.
We must start to work on ourselves as 'average Nigerians'. We must begin from there. We must first change individually before we ask for more from our leaders. They missed the opportunity to be better people as regular citizens thus their gargantuan failure as nation leaders and policy makers.
Let those of us who are not there yet start to live properly. Follow the rules even when nobody's watching. If you succeed in playing by the rules when nobody's watching, it's very likely you'll do same when someone is indeed watching. Ask God to help you exorcise that unwholesome spirit of wickedness. Its not your fault, it is how the society has wired us to be, but it should not be terminal and incurable. We must yearn for a change and change ourselves first.
Until we do, our fervent criticism of our leaders would simply be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Follow 'Wole @drwalls28 on Twitter.
Recently, civilization was taken back by another century by the progressive minded BRF-led government in Lagos State. While men like El-Rufai and Japh Omojuwa endorsed the supposed timely decision of the Executive Governor, other more critically thinking ones thought the action was ill-advised, even ill-timed at its best.
The government under BRF threw out almost 800 of the doctors working across the state in the General Hospitals and the Teaching Hospital. Now, I will not delve into what may have precipitated this imbroglio. That is now spilled milk. Rather I will only, in passing, draw attention to the alacrity with which a learned man like BRF sacked the medical doctors. It was probably the most risible action I had ever seen taken by any government.
A lot of us know of PTSD. It is a psychiatric condition that typically follows exposure to a psychologically traumatic event. Typically, the condition is an anxiety disorder and the patient may display a wide spectrum of symptoms ranging from anxiety to aversion to apathy.
What BRF and his goons have put the Medical Doctors in its employ through is arguably the worst form of PTSD. Aside from the sacked ones, even the unaffected ones have been infinitely cowered into their shells. They now cringe at the slightest batting of an eyelid by those in power. Some may argue that this was one of the actual objectives of the LASG. Some say the action was only designed to 'shake' the doctors and remind all the other civil servants in the State that there are indeed no sacred cows in the State civil service.
While the brouhaha lasted in the health sector, what worried me the most was the perception of the general public on the matter. I read with untold agony the derision and disrespect with which members of the public took the doctors to the cleaners. There was no derogatory name under the sun I didn't see in the newspapers. Suddenly, the doctors in Lagos were an anathema to the same people they laboriously toiled to offer medical services to. As far as Lagosians were concerned, the doctors were callous, ignoble and insolent.
Personally, after the recall to work, my own form of PTSD was in the form of apathy. Some others developed acute anxiety, some others aversion, some others actually developed the insolence they had been accused of inadvertently.
Every morning, I look into the faces of my colleagues at work. They smile when they can but beyond that, all I see is dejection and fear. There is no sense of fulfillment and the feeling of betrayal, not just from their employers and colleagues, but from the public is hard to miss. I then wonder, what quality of care these doctors will offer to the teeming patients who line up everyday to complain of one thing or the other.
You cannot give what you don't have and Newton also states that 'To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction'. During the crisis, the public showed little empathy for the doctors and now, those doctors have unfortunately also lost some degree of empathy for the patients. Most of them will probably not admit it but it is very true.
Prior to the fracas, I remember vividly how doctors in my center occasionally even had to contribute money for some patients. For drugs, for transportation, for their meals sometimes. I have a doctor friend who routinely donates blood to patients as he feels he has enough and should help those who are in need of healthy blood. I know how doctors prick themselves with needles and risk their own lives just because someone's wife or husband or father or mother needs attention urgently. Just two days ago, someone I know had to give intravenous Aminophylline to a woman who suddenly collapsed from acute sever asthma. He didn't even ask for gloves, he was so desperate to save the lady's life that he put his at risk by using a sharp without universal precaution and safety. Foolish, isn't it? After-all, who begged him?
Interestingly, the LASG in its folly laid off its best doctors. Take it from me, it is a fact. All the doctors that they had on their side were actually the noxiously sly ones who were deemed to be 'faithful to Hippocratic Oaths'. It is only out of courtesy and civility that I will refrain from mentioning specific names, at least as concerns where I work.
Every day, I now see doctors who can't wait to leave the employment of the LASG. They are almost itching to leave and their body languages fail to conceal this fact. Already, the lucky ones have started tendering their resignations. The ones that have not, have only not done so but for paucity of 'greener pastures'. Again, unfortunately, those leaving are by far the best doctors in the employment of the LASG. A doctor who despises where he works and resumes at his duty post everyday thinking when and how he can resign from his employment is certainly not the doctor I would like to see if I were a patient. Thanks to LASG, these are the doctors left to attend to its citizenry. If they've not left yet, then they are certainly contemplating their exit actively. Again, what is the quality of care such a doctor will offer to any patient?
After all is said and done, who suffers? Our politicians do not patronize the hospitals. Their family members will not visit either. Who visits? It is the same people who eagerly vilified doctors in the newspaper comment sections. It is the market woman, it is the career civil servant, it is the artisan, it is the okada rider. These are the ones who will continually suffer for not just the attrition of doctors but also the decline in the quality of care offered by the remaining doctors.
A school of thought holds that the doctors can leave and allow the contract-staff doctors take up the appointments. A Yoruba adage says 'the cane the husband used to flog the old wife is behind the door awaiting the new wife'. I wish the new doctors the very best.
Ironically, the doctors are now patients suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress/Sack Disorder. Most may still be in denial of this condition. It is not totally out of place for them to be. The mere fact that they can hardly wait to get new jobs is enough evidence that the clinical condition is progressing. Soon, the apathy will become full blown and they'll damn consequences and leave the system to rot.
A recent report released shows that Nigeria has lost 20,000 of its trained doctors to foreign countries and that the United States alone captured 4,000 of this number. These figures I earnestly anticipate will grow in the coming days and weeks. I read a comment on Twitter by some non-entity, he said the doctors can all go, after-all what impact had they made all the while they've been here. This person is an educated person. Worrisome.
The acrimony and contempt with which the LASG has treated its doctors will not abate anytime soon. Instead the decay will deepen and the rot will spread. Gradually, doctors will become persona non grata in the country. This will not shock anyone, as it is surely in keeping with any society on the road to perdition. Having a hard time recognizing any society sitting on a time-bomb? Assess the education and health sectors. There, that's your answer.
Meanwhile, my unreserved appreciation to Mr Raji Fashola and his goons. That decision he took that fateful Monday morning has revolutionized the way I see the health sector and the outlook of Nigeria as a whole.
What would be the point of beating a very dead, now rotten, horse....
Follow 'Wole @drwalls28 on Twitter.
Has 'I love you' now become a cliche?
The Good Book is complete as we know, it is literal and except in passages where our Good Lord spoke in Parables, we can safely assume the rest parts are literal in their meanings and the message they were composed to deliver.
Recently, following an article I wrote about marriage, two of my very learned colleagues rubbed minds on the issue and the recurring decimal in their tilt was the word 'Love'.
Many of us know the famous passage in the Bible that defines love in its entirety. The thirteenth chapter of the first letter of Paul to the Apostles in Corinth. Yes, that popular chapter read at weddings all across the world every week.
'Love suffers long and is kind; Love does not envy; Love does not parade itself',it is not puffed up'.
We often hear of couples who today bicker over money. Women call radio shows to say 'He does not do anything around the house' and married men call to say 'She never has time, she's always at work'. Guess what, the Bible says long suffering is an element of love. We also hear women say they are having problems because they earn more than the husbands and thus control the finances on the home front. Men, being very egoistic, begin to see every altercation as a deliberate attempt by the woman to rub it in their faces. Love does not envy and is not puffed up i.e cocky.
'Love does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil'
Interesting. Can you love someone who you address in a rude manner? When things are not going well financially, can the man come home to eat and he won't hear how he has failed career-wise thus does not deserve any food. When she has upset you pretty bad, can you address her without snapping when she asks for the silliest things. Many folks talk of issues like family planning and the man says he wants 3 kids and later the woman decides 'Look, I want 4'. The couple have money together and she wants to buy seeming frivolities. As the husband, will you 'seek your own' by authoritatively admonishing her silliness and as the wife, will you seek your own by insisting on being prodigal. When she's ovulating and hormonally imbalanced and is consequently ranting on flimsy issues, can a man just smile and say 'okay' and not tell her to 'SHUT UP, AHN AHN KI LO DE'?
'Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth'
Recently. a guy I know had serious friction with the person he says he loves. He told her the truth about her weight and she snapped. He's still confused as to the place of truth-telling in relationships. I don't know either so I've sagely committed him and his matter into the Hands of the Most High Jehovah. How do we react to the truth? Even in its crudest form? They say the truth hurts/stings. Can you hurt someone you love? Where then is the balance between speaking the truth and not hurting the second person.
'Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things'
Hmmmm. Dicey part. What is the extent of what a spouse should bear when in love? The Bible was simply absolute here. It says ALL things. Geez, that's deep. You mean to tell me, a spouse should bear a man's bad habits? He can chase all the small girls in the office because she is supposed to bear and endure all things? She can wear lewd blouses and skirts to outings or add weight like a pregnant hippopotamus and he'll have to bear it. After-all, that's what love does? And domestic battery? Should she endure that too? What is the extent of what a young Nigerian woman should bear and endure in a marriage? Remember the story of Mrs. Ogo Onuchukwu?
'Love never fails'
Love has failed once it falls short on every and any of the aforementioned qualities. So its a totality. It cannot exist without one quality. Just like every part of a hand is important and cannot be done away with. Its all or nothing. It is either you are in love or you are not. It is not seasonal. It is a way of life. It is life itself. Scary, innit?
The argument I anticipate naturally, is that I took the qualities 'too literally'. This may infer that your spouse or partner isn't quite acing it as concerns any or all of the qualities of love and you want to justify this shortcoming by grammatically and spiritually faulting my point of view. I understand. I am not a pastor. I read a New Kings James version of the Bible written in English and my comprehension of the simple manner in which it was written is what I have simply opined.
The truth is I'm yet to see love as exemplified by Christ. To suffer untold torture and give up one's life for another is the ultimate test of love. Love is selfless. You lose yourself totally and absolutely. It will never make sense to you literally. Love is blind! Though these days, my dear Nigerian sisters insist Love is not blind and that it in fact armed with bifocal glasses and binoculars. Forget all the 'baby, I love you and I'll die for you' or 'baby, if you leave me, I'll die'. Wash wash.
The story of my friend amuses me till this day. He and the girl he claims he loves (and tells he loves) were driving around Surulere and suddenly gunshots rang out in the air. In a flash, my dear friend had disappeared from the wheels and left the damsel in distress. He reappeared after the chaos had subsided and she did not believe he just left her. When I asked him, he gave a classical response. 'Wole, if I stay and them shoot me and I die, she no go remarry?'
Humans are wired to be self-preservative, that's why we have our fight and flight hormones. To love like our Christ is to lose our human form. Some say it is almost impracticable. Others say it will come naturally when you are 'born again'. Chris Okotie is born again and just last month annulled his second marriage and is scheduled for a third one in December. I also know many born-again Christians whose marriages have gone awry, yet they remain Deacons and 'professional' Christians.
Love is different things to different people. To me, love is Jesus. I doubt I'll ever fully comprehend His act on that cross. Then again, maybe its not supposed to be comprehensible to the human mind.
So, as D'Banj asked in the intro of the 2008 hit wedding song...'Are you in love?'
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'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. For Thou art with me: Thy Rod and Thy Staff, they comfort me' Psalm 23 vs 4.
Nigeria, how did we get here?
In 1967, the drums of war sounded across our land. What followed were three grueling years of carnage that would send over a million human beings to the great beyond. The bone of contention then, was the attempted secession of the Igbos spearheaded by the enigmatic Dim Ojukwu. The Igbos simply wanted autonomy and at the time, this looked like too much to ask for. That war ended 42years ago. Did we truly ever recover from that dark period?
Nigeria, how did we get here?
Since the first bomb went of in 2010 in Abuja, things have spiraled out of control. Lately, the news in never complete everyday without reports of a few people killed in some part of the country either by a suicide bomber or by armed gunmen. Now, Sundays in the North are like visiting Iraq. You are almost sure a bomb would go off and a few more Nigerians would lose their lives.
Many theories have been propounded as to what birthed Boko Haram. Some say the Northers want to truncate Jonathan's government and thus have sworn to make the polity ungovernable. Others say, the South-South want secession and have gone about this agenda by unleashing terror on the North. Many conspiracy theories, many names murmured, many fingers pointed. Still, the fear is palpable in the land. Things have gone haywire.
Nigeria, how did we get here?
A few years ago, suicide bombing was particularly alien to us as Nigerians. Today, the SSS is asking us to watch our neighbors and be extra-cautious when we sight strange objects and people. Today, churches all over the Nigeria have deployed all sorts of metal detectors in a bid to forestall any attacks. Today, people in the South and West of Nigeria, urge their Christian brothers in the North to stay away from church until further notice. The same Nigeria.
When the civil war started in the sixties, it was solely an ethnic war. It was thus a specific war as you could tell what tribe was at war with which. Today, all the ingredients for another war are on our kitchen-top. We just need to start throwing them into the pot and start mixing. All the elements of a classical war are staring at us in the face. We are on the road to perdition.
I am not going to attempt to share blame. No, No at all. The truth is, we'll never get anything done if we keep searching for who owns what and who rules who. Rather, I wish to warn the simpletons in our midst who still believe all is well. To be forewarned, is to be fore-armed. The forecast is gloomy and the outlook is eerie.
The Yoruba adage that says a pre-announced war does not kill a crippled man captures it very well and aptly. We can pray from today till tomorrow, as long as we have all those pro-war ingredients and elements on our worktop, a war is what we will get. Only a crazy fellow lights a match inside a refinery and expects there won't be an inferno.
Nigeria, how did we get here?
Some of my colleagues now refer to me, albeit precociously, as Nostradamus. The prophet of doom of our era. It is certainly not a title I take pride in, but my cynicism and pessimism are not baseless.
The elements of religious bigotry and intolerance were not present when the 1967 war sparked. In 2012, we have all the rudiments that set off the Biafran war saga in addition to the religious angle. The religious part is more worrisome as there are two culturally and socially accepted creeds in the land, Christianity and Islam and these very two are those set on this collision course.
I don't care who started it. I don't care who rules Nigeria. I don't care who swallows his pride and becomes selfless. All I know is that we are in reverse gear and are at the edge of a cliff. Something urgent and drastic must be done if this entity called Nigeria is to remain as a unit.
Unfortunately, some of my friends from the South-South have openly admitted to me that they will have it no other way. They maintain that the oil is from their land and they have been marginalized for so long. Now they are at the helm of affairs and they intend to ride the horse and their luck as far as, sanely and insanely, possible. An interesting point of view, if you ask me.
To those of you who have the means to flee, please keep that outlet patent. Ensure you have a valid international passport with an entry visa to any country at all. Ghana, Kenya, Grenada, wherever. Just have it. Rain it shall...salvation lies in building the ark.
Nigeria, how did we get here?
I don't know and I honestly don't care.
I just know we are on the road to perdition.
Follow 'Wole @drwalls28 on Twitter.
In less than 24hours, the good people of Edo State will be filing out to decide the course of the next four years of the existence of their state. I can only wish them well.
The sitting Governor Adams Oshiomole has certainly made a mark on the lives of Edo people as evidenced by the endorsements he has received far and wide. He has taken the same vigor and pro-activeness that earned him a good reputation as NLC Chairman into the Edo State Government House and one must commend him for that.
Not to play down Oshiomole's effectiveness and efficiency but its hard to do any wrong if you are taking over from Lucky Igbinedion and Ose Osunbor. Lucky raped Edo State mercilessly everyday for 8 solid years and did it very confidently. Osunbor was so inert that I won't waste time berating him.
The main contestants for the Edo prime office are the incumbent and Maj. Gen. Charles Airhiavbere (rtd). While the latter has been automatically and fundamentally faulted by his running on the platform of the PDP, Mr Adams has enjoyed appreciable goodwill from all walks of life.
I try to remain as non-partisan as possible in my perspective, thus proceed with an open mind.
Two days ago, I heard the old warhorse, Chief Tony 'Mr Fixit' Anenih, addressing a rally on behalf Charles Airhiavbere and he told Edo people at that rally that PDP now had a candidate that was going to provide schools, hospitals and roads and maintained that Adams Oshiomole was an irresponsible man. Now, this is the same old man that raised Lucky Igbinedion's hands in 1999 as the savior of Edo State. We all know how that turned out. It is thus safe to say that either Papa Anenih has developed full blown senile dementia or he is just a terrible judge of people and character.
It is also hard to ignore the mischief the PDP has played in Edo State. Last week, social media was agog with news that the Oba of Benin shunned the President and other high ranking criminals who had come to his palace on a courtesy visit. The Oba behaved honorably and I must say I was thoroughly impressed by his firmness. A lot of people do not know GEJ went there with Charles Airhiavbere and the Oba in trying not to give the erroneous impression that he was endorsing the PDP candidate wittingly declined a public reception for the misguided entourage. He however hosted our dear President privately.
We can also not ignore the inundation of the streets of Benin with troops of the Nigerian Army, almost in a manner suggestive that the Presidency anticipates a war in Benin during the elections. GEJ certainly chooses carefully when to wield his power as C-in-C and order out the armored tanks. Thumbs up Sir.
In terms of the quality of the competition, Adams has little to lose sleep over. My concern however is the disturbing trend of Nigerian politicians especially Presidents and Governors and their demeanor during their second terms in office.
We all remember a certain Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who when he took over as Ogun State Governor, we all believed was the man sent from God. As a medical student then, I plied the Benin-Sagamu expressway a lot and I remember vividly during OGD's first term, how Ogun State Road Maintenance Agency (OGROMA) dutifully did repair works on that expressway. It was more interesting to note that the expressway was not a state road but a federal one. OGD was that selfless, he claimed he was using state funds to fix federal infrastructure. He was well applauded for his intiative and strength of character. Alas, the tragedy that befell Ogun people in OGD's second term is now written in marble. It was a different man that returned for the second term and he stole as if he had overnight, developed a obsessive-compulsive disorder to loot or better still, had been possessed by an ogbanje spirit or demon. Some even proffered theories that OGD's alter ego was the one that ruled between 2007 and 2011. He was simply on a rampage.
More recently, Babatunde Fashola, a man tagged the most progressive Nigerian Governor showed us how a first term can be on Earth and the second, on Pluto. The buzz BRF generated in his first term was almost hysterical. 'Eko o ni baje' became a common line in almost every household in Lagos. Even though a school of thought holds that BRF's seeming infrastructural development was simply completion of projects initiated by his predecessor, he still shone very brightly. In his second term however, BRF has toned down on the action and is now a 'Nigerian Politician'. Even though he has not been totally somnolent in his second term, he certainly has lost some steam and gained some hefty security vote sums.
Some of us remember BRF's response when asked about second term during his first term. His response was that only dull kids repeat a class so why would he repeat his term if he didn't fail. That's now water under the bridge. No be so?
This is why I am genuinely worried for Edo people as they exercise their enfranchisement at the polls tomorrow. Yes, of the candidates standing for election tomorrow, Adams is eon years ahead of his contenders. But Edo people must be wary as they thumbprint. They must not just speak tomorrow, they must decide to be heard. This involves holding whoever wins tomorrow accountable once the term begins. They must start to plan on how to #Occupy the Government House in an unflinching and fearless manner should the Executive fail to deliver on its pre-election campaign promises. Enough of the sweet words, they must demand action.
Personally, I strongly recommend the idea of second terms should be done away with until our politicians prove to us that the second term won't be a pension-plan tenure for them. They know they are leaving at the end of that term thus throw caution to the wind in their service. They have absolutely nothing to lose, they cannot be unseated, except through death, till they complete that term. Some may argue that second terms aid continuity in government;I also think second terms abet corruption. We must weigh these very carefully.
May the best man win tomorrow.
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So, 15hours ago, I idly tweeted 'Nigeria's a blogger's dream. Everyday, you get an issue more unbelievable than yesterday's own to rant about'.
Not even that prepared me for the shock I got when this morning news filtered in that my dear Dame Patience had just been appointed as a Permanent Secretary by the Bayelsa State Government. I laughed so hard, I almost ruptured my diaphragm.
All I could ask was 'How did we get here?'
I am not a career civil servant and apparently I don't know enough of civil service rules and regulations as I always believed the post of Permanent Secretary was one earned by many years of meritorious civil service. I erroneously believed career civil servants who had risen through the ranks and served diligently and religiously were eventually made to write a qualification examination to assume the revered post of a Permanent Secretary.
Evidently I was thoroughly mistaken.
I'll not attempt to get into Governor Seriake Dickson's head to try to decipher what may have transpired to earn Mrs Jonathan the post. To a lot of us, it is no longer news that Dame is more powerful than Bayelsa's 24 first class traditional rulers and in fact, maybe the most powerful 'Bayelsan' alive today. Such is the ferocity and magnitude of this power she wields that Chief Timipre Sylva today faces potential jail time if the courts determine he is indeed culpable for all the fraudulent allegations leveled against him. His woes today are not unconnected to his abrasion with Dame Patience. I also assume Governor Dickson has sworn allegiance to this Rivers State-born Bayelsan Queen Ant. Surely, that must be a basic prerequisite for any mortal who attempts to occupy the government house in Yenogoa.
I can understand Dame's meandering across the globe to spend this oyel money. I can even understand her blatant disregard for the rule of law as her dear hubby has brazenly told off Nigerians with his 'I don't give a damn'. What befuddles me is the slight with which the BYSG treated its civil servants. There are Directors and Deputy Directors across all the ministries in Bayelsa. Surely, one of such must have been denied this promotion by Dame's appointment. Except there was a qualification examination and an interview, advertised in the national dailies, from which Dame emerged as the best candidate, which I strongly doubt (pun intended), then certainly there has been an injustice.
Besides her glaring non-qualification on the basis of the span of her civil service career, Dame also does not possess the educational qualification for this post. I will honestly like to sight her O-level WAEC result. If Dame truly sat for the same SSCE I wrote and successfully made 5 credits plus ENGLISH and Maths then we have no right to question JAMB for reducing cut-off marks to 180 in 2012. I will pretend she doesn't claim she earned a BSc. from my alma mater as I am now excruciatingly ashamed of that institution. Another salient question we must ask is what managerial and administrative experience Dame possesses that qualifies her for this post.
I however do not blame the learned legal practitioner in the person of Seriake Dickson who deemed Dame eligible for this post. When there's no law, there is no sin. The barefaced lawlessness in the land couldn't have slipped past Bayelsa. Kudos to him. Another sound decision from a Nigerian lawyer.
Dame's ascension to power in Bayelsa reminds me vividly of my childhood. Then, my father was still a serving Military officer and my mother was very quick to inform any uniformed personnel that accosted her for anything that she was a rank higher than my father, even though she was a civilian. Her point was that, she was probably the only civilian who could give direct orders to my father and was self-assured of that fact. Same is the rise of Dame Patience, shes's the First Lady, she has Ebele's ears and heart in her palms.
It is pretty obvious now that the First family really could not be bothered what our perspective on these issues are. As far as they are concerned, we can whine all we want and grumble as loud as we like. They are here to stay and the earlier we got used to them, the better for all of us. Common sense will not prevail in this dispensation, it will be business as usual and who knows Dame might tomorrow be the Minister of Finance if she performs well at her new position.
Today, it is Dame Jonathan's appointment by a 'clinically sane' government as Permanent Secretary that is amazing us. Tomorrow, only God knows what this government will throw at the Nigerian people. We take each day as it comes. As usual, we'll say 'It is well' and move on.
Meanwhile, I am itching to read Reuben Abati's two-cents on this astounding appointment.
Congratulations Dame! Long Live Bayelsa State. Long Live Nigeria.
P.S; My candid advice to the civil servants in Dame's ministry, kindly procure crash helmets. You'll need them during the weekly management meetings. Goodluck! (Oops, not that one o, the original Goodluck Goodluck!)
Follow 'Wole on Twitter @drwalls28
A hip-hop song in Nigeria today will not sell if the artiste does not talk about tossing dollar bills in the air and he does not recount how he buys Hennessy,Moet or Ace of Spades in the clubs every night. They know that's what a prodigal generation wants to listen to.
