I’M HEARTBROKEN

I’ve been off Twitter for about a week now. Had a severe bout of the flu. I’m good now.

People who know me know that when I believe in something/someone I’ll run with it/them passionately, giving it/them my all. That’s till I no longer believe in them, till I feel like I’m being taken for granted, or till I get bored and decide to seek amusement some place else (third reason rarely happens).

In my short lifetime I’ve been involved in quite a diverse range of activities/causes; from organising album launches, press conferences, bake sales, even worked on publicity/branding for politicians as some point. Each of these events have one underlying factor that determined whether they were success or failures; whether all the organizers remained buddies or if we can’t bear to even think of each other now.

Trust.

This is what trust is NOT, and this is the best analogy I could think of (and not because I love beans)

a. We want to eat moimoi. We agree we will eat moimoi.

b. We (say 1000 people) decide (consciously or unconsciously) that Zainab will buy and pick the beans, Kudirat will grind and mix in the spices, and then Ifeoma will watch over the moimoi till it is ready.

c. We all go to the market with Zainab, help her carry the shopping. We all pick the beans, chatting while we work. Then we go with Kudirat to where she grinds the beans, maybe even argue about how much pepper and onions should be ground into it. On the way home, we buy garri and groundnuts we’ll use to eat our moimoi.

d. Ifeoma doesn’t call us, several hours after. In anger, we march to the kitchen to find that the stove’s cold, and Ifeoma’s not there. Our moimoi mixture is as we left it, uncooked. Furious but famished, we put our moimoi to cook. Later we find out that Ifeoma went to the neighbor’s to eat akara.

Trust.

Does Ifeoma think Zainab, Kudirat, or the 1000 will ever plan a meal with her again? It is for this reason, ladies and gentlemen, that I am heartbroken. Disillusioned. Disenchanted. Disgusted. Maybe even ashamed.

Samuel Johnson said, “the key is to get to know people and trust them to be who they are. Instead, we trust people to be who we want them to be, and when they are not,we cry”.

It is for this same reason I’m wary of the loudest voices since the protests started. ‘Saviors of the people’ have again risen up, denouncing the government (which is a brainless one by the way) in the strongest, vilest language possible. I see we’re also calling for the President’s head (which is justifiable in my book too) but have we taken a close look at the people chanting the loudest?

Let’s start with the individuals. Especially if you’ve been in government or in a position to make a change and you did nothing. You should hide your head in shame because sweet cheeks you are a part of the problem.

Still on individuals, sycophants, lying scoundrels giving wrong counsel to people in power for an extra buck. Shame on you. It just goes to show what you’ll be when you’re there.

Then, the ‘activists’. Once it suits your purpose, your battle cry is the loudest. You want the interviews, the international publicity; the power, maybe the extra follower on Twitter. If however there’s the slimmest chance that your interests might be harmed, you go oon self-proclaimed exile. And in doing so rubbish the credibility of your comrades on the altar of your greed. Shame on you.

The sensationalist. I would love to push this to the media but it is human beings who make that up isn’t it? And in these days of social media making citizen reporters of us all, kinda further widens the scope doesn’t it?  We publish/repost/retweet gore in the name of news, offend the sensibilities of everyone else with news that is as unfounded as it is ridiculous. Especially in times of tension or strife. Where is your conscience? Ok you’ve sold that. Did you sell your common sense too? “If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it” — Tennessee Williams. Same thing goes for dishonest writing/retweeting/posting/publishing.

Worst of all are the ones who are silent. Elie Wiesel said, “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victims. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”. But perhaps it is this quote by Martin Luther King Jnr that expresses my thoughts the most, ” our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Posterity will judge.

It is for these reasons I am heartbroken.

 

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3, 2, 1: AN HOUR WITH ONYEKA NWELUE

Wow, so it’s been a little while I did an interview, basically because I didn’t just want to interview people who’ve been interviewed so many times already you could practically quote the answers, and even before you asked! It’s more my style to uncover people behind things that have really impressed/inspired me, or shine my Fairy light on people/areas I think we should all be aware of. What comes to your mind when you hear the name Onyeka Nwelue? To answer this question you should be on Twitter and Facebook, be Nigerian (not compulsory but will help), and if not for anything, be aware of the #LunchwithGEJ saga that sparked not a few wars and set the juices of writers (creative or not) flowing. Some of the articles can be found here, here, here, and here. Sorry if I didn’t list yours!

Anyways, somehow, Onyeka and I got talking and I remember saying I would really like to look inside his head; understand the way he thinks. I thought about it for a couple days and then the light bulb moment came; why not do an interview? Ah ha!

Little background on Onyeka; he wrote ‘The Abyssinian Boy’ (DADA Books, 2009) when he was 18, won the 2009 TM ALUKO Prize for First Book, 2^nd runner-up, IBRAHIM TAHIR Prize for Fiction, nominated for the Future Awards 2010, lectured at NSS College, Ottapalam in Kerala, South India, appeared at The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival alongside South African writer, Andre Brink and has interviewed Wole Soyinka for the Guardian. He is currently working on his debut film, The Distant Light and second novel. The son of a politician-father, and school-teacher mother, Onyeka writes mainly on religion and sexuality. On to the interview, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Onyeka (right) and some good people

FGS: First question, tell me three things you hate?

Onyeka: I hate beans, dogs (I know someone will be pissed off right now) and poverty!

FGS: who is that ‘someone’?

Onyeka: A world-class flutist who has over nine dogs and loves his dogs so much, that he thinks they are human beings too!

FGS: So your parents didn’t force you to eat beans as a child? Mine did, and beans is one of my best meals today!

Onyeka: My mom did. My father is a good cook. He used to cook for us while my mother was trying to get a university degree. And he was just cooking beans and making pap in the morning and I was getting angry, but I couldn’t do anything.

FGS: Ha ha ha ha!!!! Ok, let’s move to question two; or maybe I should ask that later on in this interview. What do you think?

Onyeka: Go ahead. I am here to answer anything!

FGS: Tell me about you. What is it that we don’t know already?

Onyeka: I am 23 years old. You already know that! I was a seminarian for 6 years. I practiced Hinduism for some time and visited the Buddhist monastery in Dharamshala, India, thinking I would become a Buddhist, but no, I couldn’t. I tried other religions by reading about them and meeting people who were part of them and decided to turn to atheism, which I find satisfying right now.

FGS: You’re younger than I am (which isn’t surprising since I am older than everyone – Fairy sturvs)

Onyeka: I have studied Sociology & Anthropology for 3 years and gave up, by withdrawing officially and travelling back to India to train as a scriptwriter. I have also lectured at Centre for Research in Art of Film & TV (CRAFT). I teach Film Adaptation. Few days ago, which nobody knows, except people close to me, I’ve been admitted into Prague Film School, so I will be starting the session by September. I’ve struggled to make films (hopefully, my documentary will be out soon) and I’m working as the editor of FilmAfrique, published by the Africa Film Academy, curators of African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA). The last is that: I can’t hold my mouth. I talk a lot.

FGS: So, for the first time I’m having a chat with an atheist; I’m not going to pass the opportunity to ask some ‘home’ questions! What does that mean? I know atheism entails not believing in God, so what do you believe in?

FGS: *congratulations on your admission; I hope you’ll finish that*

Onyeka: Oh, thanks. I will definitely finish. This is something I’ve always wanted to do: filmmaking. I had imagined myself as an anthropologist for a long time and I found it awkward! Back to the question about God: truth is, yes, atheism is the belief that there is no God, but that doesn’t mean that I have a proof that there is no God or you have a proof that there is God.

FGS: So you just don’t believe.

Onyeka: Every one of us has questioned the existence of God, once or twice. There is no doubt about this. It is left for us now to choose what we want. I am happy I’ve chosen atheism, because it brought out another part of me that I didn’t know existed: that man who could tell anyone anything because there is no paradise for him and no hell…

FGS: Religion is the opium of the masses right? I spoke with a friend here in the UK one day on religion et al and he said he didn’t believe in God because his government takes care of him. Would you say the same?

Onyeka: Well, a friend said recently that I need to communicate with God. I was in the seminary for 6 years! God didn’t show. I was being bullied. I was maltreated and I also turned into a bully myself when I was made the Head Boy! So, you see? Man is your God. He rules over you and as time goes on, you become the Other Man’s God too. Life is just like that. There is nothing we can do with our imagination that much, but to think of someone who will always watch over us, even when we are in toilet. Or bathing naked in the bathroom; this awesome God is watching over us in the bathroom like a pervert!

FGS: Hmmm……

Onyeka: So, the answer to your question is this: if the God of your friend in the UK is his Government, my God is that person who is always by my side when I need help. No one can fault this conclusion and I think anyone who does, has actually seen God or ‘felt’ God as they always claim, which I find very ridiculous.

World Famous peace sign……

FGS: Ok, since this is just to get your thoughts on that, why don’t we move on to what I’m itching to talk about….the note you wrote about the lunch.

Onyeka: Okay. If you ask me, na who I go ask? LOL.

FGS: One question: What informed that article?

Onyeka: I don’t jump into conclusions. I was patient enough to wait for them to start blowing the smoke around and it was getting right into my nostrils. And I just didn’t find it funny that Chude Jideonwo was being attacked with fine grammar, which didn’t come off as insulting as it should when you write like a certain Onyeka Nwelue that didn’t go to school. And I am also not very good at running around the bush. I am not very good at looking at others being clamped down.

FGS: So who was being ‘clamped down on’? Because, it seemed to me (and a couple others who were made aware of the incident via notes that young people were just upset that there seemed to be a lot of secrecy about the whole thing)

Onyeka: I honestly felt if Feyi thought Chude went wrong somewhere, he should just say it, without running around like a village child…

FGS: Let’s be easy on our expressions………. what do you mean by running around? You said Feyi was ‘running around’.

Onyeka: He should not have gone to that length of wanting the dude to update his Facebook and Twitter, telling the world where he was and trying to keep them in the loop about the things that didn’t concern them. If he did in the past, he didn’t have to continue. If you read that Feyi’s stuff closely (and which you need to), he was being too personal on Chude and Amara Nwankpa, but the good thing these days is that these young men build some strong friendships after yabbing themselves and I’m sure Chude and Feyi are friends right now. He could have just done a less-worded note, saying, “Chude, this is where you went wrong.” And then try to tell us a bit about what they know that has been happening in the dark. That I can swallow and not comparing the young man to Tinubu, which actually annoyed me.

FGS: So from where you stand, if given the chance you would write that note again?

Onyeka: Mine?

FGS: yes

Onyeka: Definitely. I sat down in my office that very day reading all the Tweets and comments. Everyone abused me. They wanted me to write something more INTELLIGENT; that they read Feyi’s stuff and mine side by side and they wanted quality education, because Onyeka Nwelue is not educated. But hey, every writer single possesses a different style from the other. Feyi has expressed himself the way he wanted and I was there doing mine. I am sure if we meet, you won’t find me speaking English, so I would have even written the stuff in Igbo, ka o buru nani Ndigbo ga-agu ihe m dere…

FGS: lol!!

Onyeka: And please, don’t translate this to anyone who doesn’t understand it. Please.

FGS: I’ll try not to…. but you know I have a wide audience….

Onyeka: Please, don’t! FGS: I promise to try.

Onyeka: I have just finished my second book, narrated by a Chinese man and I have Chinese in it, which I’ve refused to translate. My first book I wrote some Hindi, which I intentionally refused to translate and a lot of Igbo words too. I feel people should know what they are supposed to know, so if I have to write that note again, I will do it in Igbo Language and you will find out that those people who think they have quality education (in English) don’t know anything at all…

FGS: So on to the second set of questions I was going to ask; what are two things you think people will absolutely love you for?

Onyeka: Nobody loves me, except my parents, my siblings, my publisher and my boss (who absolutely tolerates my eccentricism and mood swings). I don’t know why anyone should love me and arrogantly speaking, right now in my life, I don’t care!

FGS: Hmmm, don’t you ever feel lonely?

Onyeka and Jenny

Onyeka: Not at all.

FGS: So there are no two things that someone can love you for? This is an opportunity for you to sell yourself…. *wink*

Onyeka: Ha, ha ha. Cool. Let them love me for not believing in God. Let them love me for NOTHING. I just like it that I won’t have to sell myself or force anyone to love me!

FGS: Do you have a girlfriend?

Onyeka: We broke up with my girlfriend in March; we felt we should just take time off. But you see us together most of the time!

FGS: Forgive me if that question was a bit personal

Onyeka: No, it’s fine.

FGS: Where do you see yourself in the next three years?

Onyeka: I will be 26 years then! LOL

FGS: apart from advancing in years, what else will you have achieved/done?

Onyeka: I understood your question. I just don’t want to say anything about my plans. I have learnt not to talk about some certain things before they happen! Hope you understand?

FGS: I understand…

Onyeka: Thank you so much, my love, for understanding.

FGS: You’re welcome. What in your opinion is the problem with Nigeria?

Onyeka: I will definitely blame the ONE problem with Nigeria on RELIGION!

FGS: Seriously? religion? Not corruption, light or anything?

Onyeka: No. Religion. There is God, so if there is power outage, the old woman in the neighbourhood says, “God, please bring this light na.” The pastor milks market woman in the church, by using the name of God. They go home broke, because they are scared of not giving to God percentage of what they make in the market. Of course, God has directed those Hebrew retards to write it in the Bible, so they must do it. A woman who is so poor has to make a contribution for some Bishop Oyedepo guy to buy a jet and you don’t see it as a problem with Nigeria.

Onyeka: *unprintable*

FGS: Ok, how do we take care of the ‘religion’ problem?

Onyeka: First, we have to tax the church, the mosque and other religious centres in the country!

FGS: I saw that post on Facebook, so you think that taxing the religious institutions will solve the problems in Nigeria?

Onyeka: Yes it will, to a certain extent. The Government needs to watch them closely. They are the ones causing all the wahala in the country, I will tell you. They are the ones who feed the people with lies. They are the ones the people listen to, because they are believed to come from God. They are the ones who possess more power than the celebrities.

FGS: Ok, thanks for talking to me Onyeka. One final word; ANYTHING you want to say?

Onyeka: You are welcome! Final word: biri ka m biri. Please, don’t translate again. LOL.

FGS: So let’s say I gave you that opportunity again, but I said you had to give that final word in English……

Onyeka: Erm, it is difficult in English. Okay, I will just say, live and make we live. Is that okay?

FGS: Great! Thanks Onyeka!!!

Onyeka: Thank you so much.

Onyeka Nwelue

On that note, I give you Onyeka Nwelue, and wrap the first/second interview in the 3, 2, 1 series! Guess who I’ll be talking to next? Keep guessing, or tell me who you’d rather I spoke to, and why!

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3, 2, 1: AN HOUR WITH ELNATHAN

So I was looking through Facebook today, and I saw one article on the whole post election crisis in Nigeria that wasn’t inspired by hysteria, based on falsehood (whether partial or outright), designed to incite hatred, or full or ridiculous theories and postulations.

It was written by @elnathan, Abuja Based legal practitioner and writer. He’s a poet, writer (currently working on his second collection of short stories), blogger (http://elnathanjohn.blogspot.com/) and enjoys attending literary readings and critique sessions. Most importantly, he is single!

I caught up with him (wasn’t difficult at all) and I’ve reproduced our discussion (uncut), and then the article that caught my eye….

ME: First question, what makes you different from every one else?

ELNATHAN: I think that we essentially share the same humanity and are all different shades of the same color. I like to think that people are essentially the same. Apart from my name and distinctive dark shade, there is little else.

ME: Three things you hate?

ELNATHAN: I hate reality shows, hair on my head, and men that abuse women

ME: Nice! I wish I could pick up on men abusing women but that’s not the thrust of the discussion for today…

ELNATHAN: lol

ME: Where did you grow up?

ELNATHAN: Kaduna, U/rimi to be precise

ME: I lived in Kaduna myself for a bit, matter of fact I am told that I could speak Hausa fluently at some point in my life. What was growing up for you like?

ELNATHAN: Growing up was sometimes confusing, depressing, but was mostly regular boring stuff. Go to school, sneak out to play football, sneak to the river with my brother and pray that my father doesn’t catch us. It was depressing because I questioned everything around me and didn’t get any answers. I grew up faster than my age. I remember  at about 10 or so trying to force myself to imagine eternity, when I read about God not having a beginning or an end; I ended up with a massive headache. After those headaches I know better…

ME: lol! Do you still try to imagine eternity? What the after life holds?

ELNATHAN: Yes I still do, many times. I mostly imagine what it feels like to be dead…

ME: Now that’s not exactly a good line of thought is it?

ELNATHAN: Sometimes it is a necessary line of thought

ME: Do you think that people in Kaduna (and indeed other parts of the North) are thinking along those lines now?

ELNATHAN: I guess they would be thinking more about life than of death. A sad state of affairs, Kaduna; where humans strip themselves of humanity.

ME: According to your article, the trust the different cadres of people in the North had in their leaders has been eroded over time…

ELNATHAN: Yes, completely. The traditional institutions used to command so much respect and trust. These days people painfully aware of the betrayal of that trust on every level. Thus the leaders have squandered the goodwill they once had and are unable to be the stabilising force their positions demand them to be during trying and violent times like these. The political leaders have done nothing but loot the comm wealth and turned the political scene into a theatre of the absurd.

ME: In their minds, is Buhari’s loss at the polls an expression of that of that or is it a case of a sitting keg of gun powder exploding on relevant or irrelevant impact?

ELNATHAN: Buhari is the only one person in the entire sad equation of mistrust, mutual suspicion and injustice. Buhari’s loss at the polls was simply a trigger for the unleashing of a frustrated angry crowd of impoverished, uneducated people, whose condition is the result of a deliberate policy of Northern leaders to keep the people loyal and subservient to them.

ME: I asked that question because Buhari wasn’t necessarily popular in some pars of Nigeria, whether of his making or not

ELNATHAN: Buhari has long been a symbol in the North of clean politics, of integrity and of trust. He has a cult following in the North where people have lost hope in all their leaders

ME: What of other parts of the country? The other areas where he needed to win?

ELNATHAN: Well the unfortunate ethnic and religious divisions, deliberate misinformation, and dirty political propaganda has combined to make sure that certain parts of the country do not see Buhari as anything but a fanatical Muslim.

ME: I agree with that. Before I let my reader enjoy the beauty that is your article, if you had one wish now that were sure would be granted, what would it be?

ELNATHAN: Improved power supply in all parts of the country!

BUHARI, THE MANY NORTH’S AND JUSTICE

I have read many articles, intelligent and painfully ignorant, about the current crises, which any Northerner or perceptive observer could have predicted. I am neither shocked nor confounded by the riots and the killings.

I choose to ignore the ignorant comments especially from people who live on the other side of the Niger behind computers and blackberry’s who have no clue about the complexity of this ‘North’.

This crisis is a bit different in my estimation from the other mindless religious conflicts that have visited the north. For the first time in the North(especially the Muslim North), I heard young uneducated men expressing hope that for once there is a worthy man on the ballot; that at last their time has come. For the first time, there was actual trust in a person to whom they bequeathed all their dreams. This man was General Buhari. Anyone who speaks Hausa and knows the Hausa speaking people will know the importance of the concept of ‘amana’. Trust. It is the one thing that is cherished above most things in the Muslim North. It is not uncommon for you to meet a Hausa petty trader to give you goods without money or collateral, regardless of whether he knows you or not. In fact I still remember how my mother at the market in U/Rimi in the North of Kaduna city, would stop a Hausa motorcyclist (she always insisted on a Hausa man) whom she had never met, give him her shopping sometimes worth thousands and describe her house to him. She would pay him and not fret about the things reaching home. My mother always only bought meat from Hausa Muslims because she trusted that it would be fresh and that it was not a dead animal. In Hausa communities, shops would be left open when people went to say their prayers. Amana. Trust.

This is the trust that has been squandered by Northern leaders, notably in the past 12 years-members of the PDP led ruling class, and before that, military and traditional leaders. These Northern leaders have destroyed every level of trust given to them without questioning by their people. One man seemed to rise above all the filth, above all the distrust. They noticed his lifestyle. They didn’t see flashy cars in his drive way. They didn’t see his kids drive around town recklessly with loud music spending plenty money on their pre pubescent girlfriends. They didn’t hear scandals of massive overseas accounts. They met him at petrol stations. They saw an honest, straightforward, religious man. So when they went to the streets, they went first after their own leaders who had squandered this trust and those who they perceive had abetted them. Sadly, as with all mob actions, it provided the perfect cover for criminals, miscreants and those with sinister agendas (and there are plenty in this North- politicians, thieves and fundamentalists). So eventually, churches were burnt and innocent people killed.

However, the man is a Muslim and unapologetically so. He has not been afraid to express his ‘Muslimness’ in public. This alone is enough to constitute a problem in the North. For we are not one North. We are many North’s. There is the Muslim North. The uneducated rural North. The aristocratic North. The cosmopolitan North. The Christian North… each with its own interests and sometimes as different from each other as people from different countries. The marginalisation of minority groups in the North has also hurt Buhari who is seen as the face of the oppressor by at least some in the Christian minority. The countless religious crises have divided the North and created mutual suspicion, further highlighting the fact that the idea of a single united North is a myth. Some have suggested that Sardauna created one North and that we only recently created divisions. This is far from the truth. The facade which was One North was in fact a mix of dominant and dominated people, peace existing only because the quiet grievances of minorities like non-Muslims had not concretised into vocal movements for the exercise of rights. The Jos crisis is a classic example of the manifestation of decades of frustration among the minorities. That manifestation though reactionary is more than a knee jerk reaction. It is minorities paranoid about the increasing dominance of the majority and taking rash actions to hold onto power, land and resources in a region where the dominant sentiment among minorities is that if you are not Hausa Fulani or Muslim, you will be marginalised.

The decades of injustice meted out on Nigerians by their leaders have made eventual violent reaction inevitable. The many poisonous variables in our polity which have been allowed to interact under the lazy watch of Nigeria’s thieving political class have fixed themselves firmly in our polity. What we are now dealing with are just the early warning signs of a cancer that is malignant. Our mutual suspicions make us easy to exploit and set against each other, so that while we are fighting over whose god is bigger, our government loots the commonwealth. Where there is no justice there cannot be peace. An aggrieved man is many times an irrational man. It is wrong to always judge a reaction, which is unplanned, when you do not judge first, the action, which is planned. A reaction is many times worse than an action, for it is delivered without a sense of proportion, only a sense of wanting release. There is usually more passion in a reaction. He who sets a ball rolling should prepare to follow it wherever it rolls to.

This government has a choice. To move beyond its rigged landslide victory and actually give its citizens a semblance of justice. To move from the hawks that now have it by the scrotum, namely PDP party investors, and work for its citizens- give them roads, electricity and rule of law. To provide infrastructure and stop the massive looting of government resources that is now going on. Or. To oversee the early days of the disintegration of a Nigerian state that has miraculously held on for the past 50 years.

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NIGERIA, MY NIGERIA

I remember telling my friends (you know yourselves) that I felt unhappy about not being able to register and vote in these elections, and for obvious reasons. I mean, I could fly in and out of Nigeria (because I am a Fairy) but I’m not one to show off *wink*

I decided to do what I know how to do, write about it, and hope that enough people would read and see the importance of actively participating in their democracy, not just sitting at home and whining every chance they get. So from how social media is affecting/has affected our politics, to the Nigerian artistes whose work during these times I respect, to knowledge of the constitution being necessary, and even using a story someone sent me on Facebook about the value of our votes, I wrote. And tweeted. And wrote, and tweeted.

When the elections were postponed from the 2nd of April, honestly I was apprehensive, and with good cause. The wave of revolutions sweeping across North Africa has been knocking on our door for quite a bit now, and I hoped we would answer with our thumbs pressed against ballot papers, and give that answer only. And so even though we knew the background of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, how he is upright, ‘stubborn’, and does what he says, I was still worried. For over 87billion naira you should have locked down to the minute the timing and movement of all election materials; as far as I was concerned, there was no excuse for cancelling elections when the electorate had already spent half the day in the sun getting accredited. In spite of this I was very impressed with him accepting responsibility and apologising. At least he acknowledged that he (and by extension INEC) goofed, Maurice Iwu (immediate past Chairman of INEC) would have gone ahead with the elections and then declared them the ‘most free and fair since Nigeria’s independence’.

On the 9th of April, the elections into the ‘hallowed chambers’ of the National Assembly held in over 100, 000 polling units round Nigeria. Except for a few cases of foolishness by party agents, serving politicians, and the voters, the elections went smoothly. It was refreshing to see parties get seats in the house, and I’m looking forward to more fruitful debates, with varying opinions. It was also fulfilling working in the Social Media Situation Room (Abuja) with @bubusn, @debiemangut, @alkayy, @rmajayi, and @blazeotokpa; twas a really good feeling.

Saturday the 17th of April was the election for the highest office of the land, the Presidential elections, and based on the 9th, we inched towards the day with great expectations for a smoother, more credible process. Aspirants included Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Goodluck Jonathan, incumbent and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dele Momodu of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), and 13 others.

Now I didn’t work in the situation room this time but I followed the elections closely on and offline. By evening, it was obvious that the ‘contest’ was between CPC’s Buhari and PDP’s Jonathan, with Buhari winning states in the North and Jonathan dominating just about the rest of the country. I prayed for a run off, and for three reasons:

• because we’ve never had run-off elections before in the country (doesn’t count much as a reason I know)
• to pool all the votes ‘wasted’ (in my opinion) on parties no one was aware of!
• to increase the percentage of voters. A run-off would spike the interest of the electorate.

Those dreams were squashed by night when the collated results showed a gap in votes that only a miracle could cover. And since it is votes, and not miracles that count in this situation….

More results poured in by Sunday and a lot of people were already congratulating the incumbent on his victory and continued tenancy at Aso Rock. Foreign media had grown bored with Nigeria’s largely peaceful/uneventful elections and had resumed reporting on other troubled African countries.

And then we heard there were protests in Maiduguri, capital of Borno, a state in the North. Reason? The ‘people’ were unhappy with the percentage of the wins. The violence spread to Gombe and Jigawa later that night, where confirmed reports have it that a politician (name obviously withheld) lost his three children.

Monday morning, pictures of youths on rampage and the carnage they left flooded the internet as the violence several crescendos and spread to Zaria and Kaduna, both in Northern Nigeria. Emirs’ palaces, property belonging to stalwarts of PDP, churches, mosques, and INEC offices were torched; people were hurt, even killed, thousands displaced from their homes, youth corps members (who were ‘forced’ to volunteer as poll officers) were targets, it was just devastating. The youths were chanting (amongst other things), “sai Buhari, sai chanchi”, “we want Buhari, not an unbeliever”, etc.

And then it got into Abuja, with a bomb scare at the densely populated Wuse market, and skirmishes in other parts of

the city. And into Bauchi and  Benue States, more Middle belt.

Sadly, these weren’t the only hot spots; Twitter was literally on fire on Monday. Opinions (and the humans behind them) clashed, tweeps were blocked, feelings hurt, rumors and counter rumors peddled, and some outright inciting comments were made.

In all of this, I think we all agreed that the young people behind this destruction are hungry, and illiterate, and are causing this havoc on the orders of some politicians whose families are – as I type – spending extra time in gyms abroad in readiness for the summer holidays. Which is what delayed this chronicle till now….I doubt the rioters are both on the streets and behind their laptops to read this; or perhaps they are on the streets with a weapon in one hand and an iPad in the other?

I salute the government for reacting to the crisis (let’s ignore how long it took them to respond, at least they did at all) and evacuating people (especially corps members) from hot spots.  Just in case, these are the numbers for the National Security Agency; 09-6303520, 09-6303521, 09-6303522, 09-6303523, 09-6303525, and the SSS contact lines are 081-32222105, 081-32222106, 081-32222107, and 081-32222108.

While I sympathize with every family who’s lost someone in this crisis, I call on every one who reads this to abandon the blame game and channel those energies into brainstorming a lasting solution to this crisis. To the aspirants, this is the time to go back to the places where you begged for votes and beg them to stop this madness; use your influence over your followers to make yourself worthy of our votes in the next four years! Any grievances you have should be taken to the courts, especially now that the amended Electoral Act stipulates that the courts have nine months to address any squabbles from the elections.

To the media (local and foreign), this is not the time to be sensational with your headlines and stories. If you don’t have facts/confirmed reports, feel free to discuss health, fashion or fitness but do not peddle rumors or stoke the flames that are already overwhelming us. Please!

I’m looking forward to Saturday, only so we can get the elections over and done with.  As Gandhi said, “The cause of liberty becomes a mockery if the price to be paid is the wholesale destruction of those who are to enjoy liberty”.

Related Articles

• Amid rioting, Nigeria’s president declared election winner – Boston Globe (news.google.com)
• Nigeria: Zoned out | Editorial (guardian.co.uk)

NIGERIA DECIDES!!!

I am so excited, haven’t been this excited in a long time! Today, the 9th of April is a day that will go down as one of the most significant days in the history of Nigeria. Today, in my opinion laid yet another block in the foundation that is a New Nigeria. Why? Are you even asking?

When Egypt happened earlier in the year, I was excited at the strength of the people, the collective will of the people that transcended religious lines (producing one of the best pictures I have ever seen in my entire life, christians protecting muslims and vice versa), transcended socio-economic statuses, age, creed, you name it. The people had one demand, that Hosni Mubarak and his government leave power. It took a while, but he left, and every day, the symbols of his government are being removed too.

Someone said shortly after that Nigeria was/is not ready for a revolution, that we are not ready to die for the country. I remember replying that we don’t need to die for our country to be what it should be, that if change was a product of bloodshed, we’d shed enough already to make us a ‘world power‘! He said that we were ‘twitter/facebook activists’, who wouldn’t make any difference; I said that the fact that we existed as activists at all was a sign that we had had it, and promised, even in absentia, to prove him wrong.

Organizations like ReclaimNajia, EiE Nigeria, Vote or Quench, Rally For Nigeria, What About Us, Light Up Nigeria were the response by young people to issues that our elders have hitherto been unable to answer. Issues like electricity, security, health, education, employment, crime, you name it. From the 16th of March 2010 when young people under the auspices of the Enough is Enough coalition protested to the National Assembly, I knew it, I knew our time had come. For the first time in the history of the country, youths asked questions of their leaders. What About Us? What are your plans for our country?

Young people (18 – 35) in Nigeria make up 70% of the 150 million that is our population; that has been the driving force behind the campaigns to Register, Select, Vote,and Protect the vote. If only half of this demographic voted, rigging would be difficult. And thanks to mobile technology and apps like ReVoDa that birthed citizen journalists round the country, I knew something would give.

Then on the day of the National Assembly elections, there was the ‘logistics’ excuse and the elections were postponed. Originally, it was to be National Assembly : 2nd April,  Presidential : 9th April, and Governorship/State Assembly : 16th April. Attahiru Jega, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) moved the National Assembly elections to the 4th of April, but moved everything forward by a week the night before the 4th. The new dates became National Assembly : Sat, 9th April(today), Presidential : Sat, 16th April, and Governorship/State Assembly : Tues, 26th April.

Apart from the postponement discouraging people, last night we heard of an explosion in the INEC office in Suleja, Niger State. Amongst the dead from that blast were 6 corps members. Unconfirmed reports from yesterday had it that a young man in Kaduna who was ‘planting’ a bomb made a mistake and set off the bomb, on himself. Talk about karma being swift. Like I said on twitter last night, may God comfort all the families who have lost mothers, fathers, sons and daughters in any of these horrible blasts, and may the souls of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Despite all these, the turn out for today was at least 150% above what it was in 2007, when less than one-third of the voting population voted; some people were not even aware of the aspirants that would be representing their constituencies! Despite bomb scares, tales of violence, the scorching sun, snail-like activity at the polling centres, people went out, got accredited, and when the time came, they voted. Not only did they vote, but they waited for the votes to be counted, and then they tweeted the results. Nigerians challenged people who came to snatch ballot boxes – there are several reports of people overpowering and disarming thugs who came to cause confusion at the polling centres – they provided snacks and drinks for their brothers and sisters who had to wait in long queues for their turn to ‘press their hand’.

Today, according to Nigerian hip-hop sensation Naeto C, “things are not the same….levels don change now….” The revolution that has begun today will remain with us for years to come. And even though I am worried that from the results coming back we are voting largely along ethnic lines with the Coalition for Progressive Change (CPC) winning most of the seats in the North,  Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) seizing the West and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) trying to remain relevant in the East, I think that we are on the road to getting it this time, and that’s all that matters for now.

I’ll wrap for now with a tweet from @segundemuren, that “we exercised our right to vote because we want to develop. My prayer is democracy should lead to development”.

Related Articles

• Social Media and the New Dimension to Nigerian Politics (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• Jonathan votes, says Nigeria will not be deterred by anti social elements (vanguardngr.com)
• The Value of My Vote……. (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)

THE VALUE OF MY VOTE…….

Ok, this is one of those ‘emergency’ posts. I say emergency because I’m writing to get over something that has really made me angry today, and I desperately need something to distract/take my attention away from it/the person before I do something silly. Writing for me has always been a good way of escape, same way some people would work out (I’m too lazy), or pound the wall with their fists/head (I have a low threshold for pain).

Ok, so it looks like I’ve been a little silent about Nigeria, our elections, and the stunts INEC has pulled in the last week or so. I haven’t been silent, I’ve just been drinking it in (whatever that means).

As the general elections draw closer (barring any more postponements), politicians are getting desperate to get more people to cast their votes in their favour. I won’t mention specifics but one of the aspirants to the National Assembly has been kidnapped, there’s chaos in one of the states in the South South following the arrest and slamming of  a treason charge on one of the governorship hopefuls, there’s a war of text messages, accusations and counter accusations in the South West, and even from very far away, the tension is almost palpable!

Who are you voting for? Why? Are you voting for that person because your friends are voting for him? Are you voting because you believe in the person? What is the place of their track records, integrity, and more importantly the company they keep? Whether we like it or not, the maxim ‘show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are’ is very true. You cannot be friends with murderers, thieves and scoundrels and not be impacted/influenced consciously or unconsciously.

As we go to the polls again tomorrow, let us remember that planting mango seeds and expecting to reap strawberries is sheer insanity. We know who we should vote for, for all the positions. Note that I’m not (I’ve not) mentioned any names, or endorsed anyone. I just want you to, with your vote, tell the truth.

I’ll leave you with a story I read that captures the essence of all I’ve just said…………enjoy!

THE VALUE OF MY VOTE
Last week, I witnessed an amazing drama unfold as a politician tried frantically to convince my neighbour to cast his vote for a party. When the politician realized that his effort was getting him nowhere, he decided to use the power in his pocket. He brought out a bundle of N200 notes and dangled it in my neighbour’s face, basically the way you would dangle some bait to an animal you are trying to catch.

“How much is your vote?” he asked, with a deceptive smile on his face.

My neighbour hesitated for a moment, and then he grabbed a piece of paper and began to scribble down something. When he finished writing, he handed the piece of paper to the politician saying, “This is the value of my vote.”
The politician went through the paper briefly and then squeezed and threw it away, in my direction. He hurried away, saying that my neighbour wasn’t being rational.

My neighbour, realizing I was watching, picked up the paper and said, waving the paper at me, “Am I being irrational?”
I collected the paper and took a quick look at it. He had written on the paper the breakdown of his family’s expenses, which the government (according to him) had so far failed to provide or make available for its citizens. He then multiplied everything by four (4) years. Something like this:
Security – N20,000 per month x 12 months x 4 years = N960,000
Generator – N40,000 per 2 years x 2 = N80,000
Fuel for generator – N1,000 per day x 365 days x 4 years = N1,460,000
Potable water – N500 per day x 365 days x 4 years = N730,000
Healthcare Insurance – N10,000 per month x 12 months x 4 years = N480,000
Education – N5,000 per month x 12 months x 4 years = N240,000
Housing – N500,000 per year x 4 years = N2,000,000
Total – N5,950,000 (five million nine hundred and fifty thousand naira)

Realize the worth of your vote. VOTE WISELY.

Related Articles

• As We Vote Again (vanguardngr.com)
• VIDEO: Nigeria prepares for second vote (bbc.co.uk)

Still on that ‘vote’ matter…..

So it’s 2.17am and this daughter of Zion still cannot sleep. It’s amazing how I could almost never stay up beyond 11pm back home but sometimes, up till 4am my eyes will still be ‘shining’ here! And I have tried to help myself, even going as far as stopping my late night mocha but nope, that I’m writing this now is testament to the fact that it hasn’t worked!

I think it’s because I have to make a little trip today, that always happens. I’ve found that whenever I have to make a trip, the night before I won’t be able to sleep, and I always wake up like four minutes before my alarm. All that means that whoever sits beside me on the coach/train/plane would be left wondering if I was drugged because from the minute I buckle my seat belt, that’s it o! I won’t wake up till we get to our destination. Except of course, if it’s a really cute guy (not)…that’s not even enough to keep me awake!!

Away from me and my sleeping habits, I’ve been thinking about Nigeria a lot in the last 48 hours, especially because I can’t wait to be back home, and more especially because of the elections that are closer than we think. There’s been a lot of drama around the aspirants to various positions, especially those vying for the ‘HNIC’ office. There have been accusations, and counter accusations, misrepresentations, and I would assume that tensions are running high at this time.

Image via Wikipedia

It’s a welcome development (without the violence of course), a clear departure from the ‘it’s not my business’ attitude we’ve had during the recent past elections we’ve had. People are actually beginning to ask questions, and our politicians are slowly realizing that they’ve got to do better than just promise to build 300 primary schools in 15 minutes and in the next breath send their nuclear family on a 4year ’round the world’ vacation with tax payers money!

It is in our hands now, a friend of mine would say, ‘you have the yam, you have the knife; if you cut and share, we will eat’. We own the thumbs, we have our voters cards, please people, go out and vote o!! Our votes will count, if not for anything, a vote by us for candidate B is one less vote for candidate A, abi? Imagine if 1000 of us vote candidate B? That’s 1000 fewer votes for candidate A! Who said your vote won’t count? Please o, so that you won’t be a ‘weiste’!

Most importantly, we know that evil triumphs/prospers when good people do nothing, these thugs, kidnappers, robbers, ‘riggers’ are our people, we know people who know them, we know them; for how long will we mortgage the future on the scruffy payments we receive to turn a blind eye? For how long? The money will finish (and quickly too) because there are too many issues to sort with it! Why not install the right people (based on their track records, ideologies, integrity) who will sort out those issues for everyone?

Away from my ‘preaching’, I stumbled across two videos recently, and I loved them so much I had to share, and I promise to go to bed after embedding them!

This is a collaboration by artistes in Abuja for Nigeria’s 50th anniversary celebration, and includes heavy weights like Lindsey, Styl Plus, Jeremiah Gyang, Six Foot Plus, Solomon Lange, Naydo, Bem Sar, Pherowshuz, Samsong, Dayo Laniyi Benjamin, and a host of others. Beautiful song….

This next video is a short film that’s pushing the ‘go and vote’ message and features Julius Agwu, Adaora Ukoh, amongst others. I salute all the organizations that have sprung up to educate people on the need to go out and vote, and protect their votes….I’m talking organizations like the Enough is Enough Coalition, Vote or Quench, Cool to Vote, What About Us, and every other organization, keep the flame burning people!!

Bottom line, we’re all better off voting o, and for the right people too!!! I’m off to bed…(praying I wake up on time, I can’t miss my train)!