Friday, March 23, 2012
Trayvon Martin
I am shot and killed in a residential neighborhood. My cell phone is on me and my friend is on the phone, and I am found to have been carrying only a bag of candy and a drink. 911 calls from neighbors record my screams for help, in the moments before my death. No one uses my cell phone to locate my family. No one canvass the neighborhood to see if someone... there knows me. I am a John Doe in the morgue for three days. But, my body is tested for drugs and alcohol. My killer is not tested for anything. My killer is questioned and released, and he is still free today. I am Trayvon Martin, and We are better than this.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
WEALTH AND ITS STENCH
Having looked at me through the window of her Land Rover 4 jeep, she strode out in her Louis Vuitton suit and amazing gold jewelry and uttered amidst other things, “…and why are we bothered about this minimum wage issue? There is no one in Nigeria that lives on less than 20, 000 naira a month. If the government implements the wage scheme or not, it makes no difference!”. She further called on me to validate her statement by informing the team just how much my parents gave me as monthly “pocket money” as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan. At this point, the fear of overly embarrassing the woman held me back from announcing that my father sometimes gave me 500 naira and did not expect me back home for 2 weeks! That I believe is a plight the multi-millionaire director in my office cannot wrap her mind around.
The huge gulf between the rich and the struggling in Nigeria is so wide that it represents a semblance of the pit between Heaven and Hell in the biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man. More often than not, we hear it told that the average Nigerian survives daily in poverty. What we do not hear often is that the comfortable Nigerian does not have a clue what it means to be an average Nigerian. Worse still is the realization than Nigerians who were raised in the mire and by virtue of either strokes of luck or opportunity have crossed the gulf, can also no longer identify with the realities of their lowly beginning. Reports show that income inequality worsened in Nigeria from 0.43 to 0.49 between 2004 and 2009, and this is correlated with differential access to infrastructure and amenities. In particular, there are more rural poor than urban poor, resulting from the composition of Nigeria’s economy, especially the energy (oil) and agriculture sectors. Oil exports contribute significantly to government revenues and about 15% of GDP, despite employing only a fraction of the population. Agriculture, however, contributes to about 45% of GDP, and employs close to 90% of the rural population. This incongruence is compounded by the fact that oil revenue is poorly distributed among the population, with higher government spending in urban areas than rurally. High unemployment rates render personal incomes even more divergent. Moreover, the process of oil extraction has resulted in significant pollution, which further harms the agricultural sector and creates temporary and permanent mishap to the already impoverished population.
While the affluent wallow in a flurry of vanity, the erstwhile poor cannot even afford the luxury of contentment, however godly they may profess to be. Rural poverty tends to be evenly distributed across the country, rather than concentrated in specific geographic areas. However, in some zones the poverty situation threatens to worsen considerably, such as in the northern area bordering the Niger, which is arid, marginal to agriculture, environmentally damaged and densely populated. The fishing communities living in the mangrove swamps and along the Atlantic coast are among the poorest in Nigeria, and while we oftentimes wonder why this is so, I dare to mention the following two practical occurrences;
Certain communities exist in Nigeria, even in parts of Lagos state where electricity is inexistent. Water supply is alien, basic health care is unavailable and road networks are unborn children. What they do have however is good natural food. However, that food is probably considered too good for such people and as such, oil spillage and environmental pollution kicks in, destroying the one good thing that these rural communities hold dear. When this is not the case, traders from the urban settlements remember these people and purchase their hard work from them at ridiculous prices to sell to the bourgeoisies, once again without giving them what they need.
Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan claims to have risen from the mud as under-privileged, and with this profession, kidnapped the innocent minds of Nigerians into the false imprisonment of foolishness with which Nigerians cast their hard earned democratic votes. Here lies the question; in what way has the same man proven to identify or even recognize that there are underprivileged people in Nigeria? Has he made lives better in the rural areas? Has he conceived any projects to educate them? Have there been plans to feed those dying daily after drinking dirty water and no carbohydrates to complement the water?
As bewildering as it may be, and truthfully so, suffice it to say that a man whose problems are “what bank to stash his billions without raising suspicion”, “where to park his newly acquired fleet of cars since the compound is filled”, “what island to spend the next weekend or holiday” or “what country he still has not visited”, can NEVER fathom why it is said that there are people in Nigeria that do not have clothes to wear or food to eat. Like the variation between angels and demons, people who spend hundreds of millions on renovation of houses, purchase of property in high brow areas of Lagos and Abuja, will never be able to comprehend the occurrences in the villages of Iroko, Odioma, Obioku or remote areas of Jigawa where transportation is still on animal backs and not automobiles. Even within Lagos, the plight of married women backing children under the hot sun on their ways to beg for money or buy vegetables cannot be understood by the rich who sit still in their gold plaited upholstery and instruct other people to buy seasonings and vegetables from Shoprite.
If the essence of this piece is to bridge the gap, I dare to say it is impossible. This is just an issue that genuinely bothers me and I believe calls for attention. And if indeed a person who has lived in abject poverty at some point in life cannot make moves to alleviate the plight of those still in that position, then I wonder if anyone would ever be able to take that step. Rather, we witness people running over beggars on the road with their cars and burning down the hamlets they reside in.
May we never be too comfortable to become insensitive.
The huge gulf between the rich and the struggling in Nigeria is so wide that it represents a semblance of the pit between Heaven and Hell in the biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man. More often than not, we hear it told that the average Nigerian survives daily in poverty. What we do not hear often is that the comfortable Nigerian does not have a clue what it means to be an average Nigerian. Worse still is the realization than Nigerians who were raised in the mire and by virtue of either strokes of luck or opportunity have crossed the gulf, can also no longer identify with the realities of their lowly beginning. Reports show that income inequality worsened in Nigeria from 0.43 to 0.49 between 2004 and 2009, and this is correlated with differential access to infrastructure and amenities. In particular, there are more rural poor than urban poor, resulting from the composition of Nigeria’s economy, especially the energy (oil) and agriculture sectors. Oil exports contribute significantly to government revenues and about 15% of GDP, despite employing only a fraction of the population. Agriculture, however, contributes to about 45% of GDP, and employs close to 90% of the rural population. This incongruence is compounded by the fact that oil revenue is poorly distributed among the population, with higher government spending in urban areas than rurally. High unemployment rates render personal incomes even more divergent. Moreover, the process of oil extraction has resulted in significant pollution, which further harms the agricultural sector and creates temporary and permanent mishap to the already impoverished population.
While the affluent wallow in a flurry of vanity, the erstwhile poor cannot even afford the luxury of contentment, however godly they may profess to be. Rural poverty tends to be evenly distributed across the country, rather than concentrated in specific geographic areas. However, in some zones the poverty situation threatens to worsen considerably, such as in the northern area bordering the Niger, which is arid, marginal to agriculture, environmentally damaged and densely populated. The fishing communities living in the mangrove swamps and along the Atlantic coast are among the poorest in Nigeria, and while we oftentimes wonder why this is so, I dare to mention the following two practical occurrences;
Certain communities exist in Nigeria, even in parts of Lagos state where electricity is inexistent. Water supply is alien, basic health care is unavailable and road networks are unborn children. What they do have however is good natural food. However, that food is probably considered too good for such people and as such, oil spillage and environmental pollution kicks in, destroying the one good thing that these rural communities hold dear. When this is not the case, traders from the urban settlements remember these people and purchase their hard work from them at ridiculous prices to sell to the bourgeoisies, once again without giving them what they need.
Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan claims to have risen from the mud as under-privileged, and with this profession, kidnapped the innocent minds of Nigerians into the false imprisonment of foolishness with which Nigerians cast their hard earned democratic votes. Here lies the question; in what way has the same man proven to identify or even recognize that there are underprivileged people in Nigeria? Has he made lives better in the rural areas? Has he conceived any projects to educate them? Have there been plans to feed those dying daily after drinking dirty water and no carbohydrates to complement the water?
As bewildering as it may be, and truthfully so, suffice it to say that a man whose problems are “what bank to stash his billions without raising suspicion”, “where to park his newly acquired fleet of cars since the compound is filled”, “what island to spend the next weekend or holiday” or “what country he still has not visited”, can NEVER fathom why it is said that there are people in Nigeria that do not have clothes to wear or food to eat. Like the variation between angels and demons, people who spend hundreds of millions on renovation of houses, purchase of property in high brow areas of Lagos and Abuja, will never be able to comprehend the occurrences in the villages of Iroko, Odioma, Obioku or remote areas of Jigawa where transportation is still on animal backs and not automobiles. Even within Lagos, the plight of married women backing children under the hot sun on their ways to beg for money or buy vegetables cannot be understood by the rich who sit still in their gold plaited upholstery and instruct other people to buy seasonings and vegetables from Shoprite.
If the essence of this piece is to bridge the gap, I dare to say it is impossible. This is just an issue that genuinely bothers me and I believe calls for attention. And if indeed a person who has lived in abject poverty at some point in life cannot make moves to alleviate the plight of those still in that position, then I wonder if anyone would ever be able to take that step. Rather, we witness people running over beggars on the road with their cars and burning down the hamlets they reside in.
May we never be too comfortable to become insensitive.
Friday, March 9, 2012
REMINISCENCE
Retrospect and reflection are two words in English language, the usage of which I enjoy. And thankfully, they are the reason I sit on this mattress at 3:05 am, putting finger to keypad to produce what you now read.
It's been over 730 days since I last put pen to paper for a decent writing, the reason; none and motivation; nill. However, the thirst for consistent improvement disallows me from sulking over it. Rather I "press toward the mark". And since writing this piece is something that so matters to me, I might as well write about something else that so matters to me: "The person I wish to never leave".
My life, short so far has unfortunately been characterized by influx and exit of many gems, some of whom I wish I had not met at all yet and others I hope to meet again. None however can I say has become permanently resident in Sanmi Abiodun's "Book of life". Without shifting blames or taking responsibility for the exits, I make bold to say that at one point or the other, many of those people mattered to me, so much so that I never envisioned their exit. Chief of these which I remember with teary eyes, was someone I fondly called "Olaitan mi", who once looked me in the eye after bouts of "that guy used to be very close to me" and "this girl used to be my best friend", said by me about different people at different times. Olaitan mi said, "Sanmi I never want to just be a part of your history or someone else you used to be close to". Sadly so, she attained that abhorred status barely three months after.
Reminiscing however, I do not consider myself one of the best friends or people on earths surface, but I do realize and often too, that I am a highly emotional being, churning out kilotonnes of love and affection to friends and friend's friends alike, as often as I can. If truly I possessed such a huge reserve at all is a topic for another day. And if I receive at least a tithe of that affection in return is another topic entirely which sadly may never arise on this blog. What you need know however is that I love to love.
Like I learnt however at the meeting of the Eagle Toastmasters Club which I attended last saturday, it is imperative every now and then that we pause, reflect and "get back on board". Adhering to that, this piece is intended to discuss the person I never wish to part ways with and not the persons I have parted ways with.
Getting back on board, more often that not, I have selected my friends and acquitances myself, ofcourse with adequate consideration of circumstances, proximity and similar indices. This particular person however directly or otherwise departs from the norm: A mutual selection. Back in my third year as an undergraduate, I met a young distraught lady and in the course of counselling, I discovered that one of her major aches came from her lack of good friends. After inquiring on who she would like to have as a friend in her class, she named another girl. I asked her to name a second person. She came up with none. Two years later, in my final year as an undergraduate, my flair for counselling attracted another weary young lady to me and after a session with her, I discovered she also could really use a good friend, so I asked again "Who would you really want to have as a friend?" She named the same person the first lady named 2 years before. I once again asked for a second option of who she considered a friend. She came up with none. At that instant moment, my destiny of becoming best of friends with the said "friend" was sealed. Need I say however that I ensured that both ladies became friends with the "friend" as well.
Omobonike in my opinion should be included in the English Thesaurus as one of the synonyms for the word "friend". She epitomizes dauntless sincerity, selflessness, honesty, truth and dignity. Whether these are premised on a bouquet of experiences and lessons learnt, or divine construction as an friend, I can not tell. The end discovery of the past 6 years of my personal observation however has been a lady clad with multiple values, virtues and divine endowments. How one human engages selflessly in aiding the growth and development of other people, has time and again totally beaten my comprehension. What I am confident about is that Omobonike does it for neither personal aggrandisement nor material gain. And that I must say has toppled my list on the Laws of Attraction.
Two years of intimate rapport and personal experience with Omobonike has taught me several lessons and I enumerate:
1: Never shut the door of a relationship until you are sure you will never need to walk through it again. And you can never be sure.
2. The good and evil that men do will not only live after them, but may become all they are associated with.
3. A friend today may either turn out to be a dangerous foe or a better friend. But the fear of the dangerous is no reason not to keep a friend today
4. Loving those that love us is no task. Loving those that don't, is love.
5. We meet to part and we part to meet, but the fact that a song will end in 3 or 4 minutes is not enough reason not to enjoy the music. Give your best irrespective.
Having said these, I take a quick scan of my relationships and acquaintanceships over the last decade and I realize that many of the friendships I have had, I never deserved. And while I hope never to lose the one friendship with Omobonike that I hold so dear now, I resolve to take a drive into yesterday and grab hold of some of the friendships I never considered vital.
You may want to do the same!
It's been over 730 days since I last put pen to paper for a decent writing, the reason; none and motivation; nill. However, the thirst for consistent improvement disallows me from sulking over it. Rather I "press toward the mark". And since writing this piece is something that so matters to me, I might as well write about something else that so matters to me: "The person I wish to never leave".
My life, short so far has unfortunately been characterized by influx and exit of many gems, some of whom I wish I had not met at all yet and others I hope to meet again. None however can I say has become permanently resident in Sanmi Abiodun's "Book of life". Without shifting blames or taking responsibility for the exits, I make bold to say that at one point or the other, many of those people mattered to me, so much so that I never envisioned their exit. Chief of these which I remember with teary eyes, was someone I fondly called "Olaitan mi", who once looked me in the eye after bouts of "that guy used to be very close to me" and "this girl used to be my best friend", said by me about different people at different times. Olaitan mi said, "Sanmi I never want to just be a part of your history or someone else you used to be close to". Sadly so, she attained that abhorred status barely three months after.
Reminiscing however, I do not consider myself one of the best friends or people on earths surface, but I do realize and often too, that I am a highly emotional being, churning out kilotonnes of love and affection to friends and friend's friends alike, as often as I can. If truly I possessed such a huge reserve at all is a topic for another day. And if I receive at least a tithe of that affection in return is another topic entirely which sadly may never arise on this blog. What you need know however is that I love to love.
Like I learnt however at the meeting of the Eagle Toastmasters Club which I attended last saturday, it is imperative every now and then that we pause, reflect and "get back on board". Adhering to that, this piece is intended to discuss the person I never wish to part ways with and not the persons I have parted ways with.
Getting back on board, more often that not, I have selected my friends and acquitances myself, ofcourse with adequate consideration of circumstances, proximity and similar indices. This particular person however directly or otherwise departs from the norm: A mutual selection. Back in my third year as an undergraduate, I met a young distraught lady and in the course of counselling, I discovered that one of her major aches came from her lack of good friends. After inquiring on who she would like to have as a friend in her class, she named another girl. I asked her to name a second person. She came up with none. Two years later, in my final year as an undergraduate, my flair for counselling attracted another weary young lady to me and after a session with her, I discovered she also could really use a good friend, so I asked again "Who would you really want to have as a friend?" She named the same person the first lady named 2 years before. I once again asked for a second option of who she considered a friend. She came up with none. At that instant moment, my destiny of becoming best of friends with the said "friend" was sealed. Need I say however that I ensured that both ladies became friends with the "friend" as well.
Omobonike in my opinion should be included in the English Thesaurus as one of the synonyms for the word "friend". She epitomizes dauntless sincerity, selflessness, honesty, truth and dignity. Whether these are premised on a bouquet of experiences and lessons learnt, or divine construction as an friend, I can not tell. The end discovery of the past 6 years of my personal observation however has been a lady clad with multiple values, virtues and divine endowments. How one human engages selflessly in aiding the growth and development of other people, has time and again totally beaten my comprehension. What I am confident about is that Omobonike does it for neither personal aggrandisement nor material gain. And that I must say has toppled my list on the Laws of Attraction.
Two years of intimate rapport and personal experience with Omobonike has taught me several lessons and I enumerate:
1: Never shut the door of a relationship until you are sure you will never need to walk through it again. And you can never be sure.
2. The good and evil that men do will not only live after them, but may become all they are associated with.
3. A friend today may either turn out to be a dangerous foe or a better friend. But the fear of the dangerous is no reason not to keep a friend today
4. Loving those that love us is no task. Loving those that don't, is love.
5. We meet to part and we part to meet, but the fact that a song will end in 3 or 4 minutes is not enough reason not to enjoy the music. Give your best irrespective.
Having said these, I take a quick scan of my relationships and acquaintanceships over the last decade and I realize that many of the friendships I have had, I never deserved. And while I hope never to lose the one friendship with Omobonike that I hold so dear now, I resolve to take a drive into yesterday and grab hold of some of the friendships I never considered vital.
You may want to do the same!
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