SORROW TEARS AND BLOOD

"my people self dey fear too much

we fear for the thing we no see

we fear for the air around us

we fear to fight for freedom

we fear to fight for liberty

we fear to fight for justice

we fear to fight for happiness

we always get reason to fear

we no wan die

we no wan wound

we no wan quench

we no wan go

i get one child

mama dey for house

papa dey for house

i wan build house

i don build house

i no wan quench

I wan enjoy

i no wan go"

Fela Anikulapo kuti

Sorrow Tears and blood (1977)

As the huge wind of revolution and uprising sweeps across the African continent,one cant help but wonder what country gets hit next by this wind of change. The uprising started in December when a street fruit vendor in Tunisia set himself on fire, killing himself in the process to protest corruption ,unemployment and political turmoil in the country. Hosni Mubarak's Egypt was next to be hit with this revolution.The internet and social networking sites such as Face book and Twitter helped spread the movement for change in Egypt which has been under the helm of Mubarak (82yrs) since the assassination of its former president Anwar El-Sadat in 1971.The revolt this time is clearly fueled by the youth who are tired of seemingly unending relegation to the margins of their country's political process and are demanding change in the most fundamental of ways.

                                                     

African history in the last quarter of a century has been characterized largely by corrupt and  inept authoritarian regimes that once reigned supreme all across the African political landscape and has unsuprisinlgy hindered the growth and development of the continent which constitutes about 13% of the world population(as at 2008).African leaders are known to be power drunk and always wanting to rule for life,and this is one of the many reasons why political instability,crises,poverty,coups,mutiny,conflicts and all other social and political vices continue to slow the pace of growth and development on the African continent. The post of the president in the African setting is seen more like that a family title than that of a political post                                    

                          NAME                       AGE             COUNTRY            YEARS IN POWER  

1.           EDUARDO DOS SANTOS            68               ANGOLA                   22
2.          DENNIS SASSOU NGUESSSO     68               CONGO                       25
3.         PAUL BIYA                                       77               CAMEROON             27
4.         HOSNI MUBARAK                          82               EGYPT                        29
5.          ROBERT MUGABE                          86              ZIMBABWE              30
6.          MUAMMAR QADDAFI                 69              LIBYA                         40
7.          ZINE AL-ABIDINE BEN ALI           74              TUNISIA                    24
8.         YOWERI MUSEVENI                          67              UGANDA                  25
9.        KING MAKHOSETIV MSWATI III    42            SWAZILAND            25

                   

Lost in the thoughts of this political rumpus,i ask my self if Nigeria has the guts or impetus to follow the footsteps of her African sisters Tunisia and Egypt in demanding for a change in governance and demanding her people are being governed the right way by the right leaders. From my point of view,witnessing the type of demonstrations and uprisings calling for revolution in Egypt and Tunisia is far from happening in Naija( sorry aunty Dora) because a lot of factors are against this occurrence in the most populous black nation on earth.

                                                                              

After the devastating effects of the civil war( May27 1967 ) led by the Oxford-educated military governor, Major General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu,which claimed many lives and properties,Nigeria has had her share of political turmoils,religious crises,tribal conflicts and ethnic violence that have at one point or the other threaten to segregate her people .However,we have been able to over come this threats to the national unity and continue to live together as a single entity.

Nigeria,the most populous country in Africa had seemingly made an easy transition to independence in 1960. Nigeria's 250 tribes, each with its own language and customs is characterized

with different types of people, many of them separated by religion, culture, and language. The diverse nature of its inhabitants will make it difficult to find a common voice in staging a wide spread demonstration against its government like the Egyptians have shown. The diversity and differences in culture,ethnicity,tribe,religion and political ideologies are possible obstacles that may thwart or slow down a possible movement against the government of the day.  

The average Nigerian is more concerned about putting food on the table for his/her family than taking part in a protest that may end his/her life at the end of the day. like 2face sang,'nobody wan die but dey wan go heaven' call it fear or an act of cowardice,its very rare to come across a Gala hawker who is ready to light himself on fire to protest corruption in government.This however does not imply that Gala hawker as a man who is afraid of change,he is afraid of a violence engulfed change which at the end of the day may not necessarily guarantee victory for the people.

It will however be obtuse,if I rule out totally the possibility of a mass protest against the incumbent government in case things go wrong to the point that an uprising is needed to uproot our corrupt leaders like the Egyptian and Tunisian examples. we need to ask our selves certain questions before the thoughts of a revolution comes to mind. Is the Nigerian press ready to spark the movement for change against the usurpers in government? Do you,this reader,find yourself holding a placard,barring all brutality dished out to you by the army,UP-MESA  or police all in the name of fighting for change?Are you ready to sacrifice your self by blowing up your self up to kick off the movement to bring change to Nigeria?. Hundreds of innocent Egyptian citizens have lost their lives in the struggle for change. Many are displaced and the Egyptian economy which is the 2^nd largest in Africa behind south Africa records losses  of about $310M per day.Are you ready to endure this hardship and possible loss of life?

These and many more questions need to be answered before thoughts of a revolution or an uprising comes to mind. Nigerians are known to be very prayerful people,a reason which many believe has kept us together till date.we can only hope but pray the coming elections provide the ideal president with the political sagacity to steer Nigeria and its wonderful people forward in peace and unity.Only time will tell if we are ready to thread the "Egyptian  path"..we cannot afford to witness another period of SORROW TEARS AND BLOOD...we just cant!

please note that the article above does not in any way represent the opinion of the General public,its  just a personal thought inspired by the evergreen music of the Late Fela Anikulapo kuti and Black coffee thus which i have decided to put into writing...

Heromplane,Shrek and Things....

You know that very awkward moment in life when you are like yessss "it has BE for me today"aka temi ti bami..alias e don happen?,The moment you start thinking what’s the worst that can happen? that's how to describe the night of January 7th 2011..it was my birthday eve and sum few friends of mine decided we go clubbing since its d first Friday of the year..at first i felt reluctant cus 1,its my birthday 2mrw and 2,my new year resolutions this year was to stop chewing my nails and quit energy drinks for good (and maybe to get a girlfriend sha) so i had no motivation to club,then i remembered my friends were paying so wada hell..lez go there.Getting to our location on Ajose Adeogun,the place was full of fun seekers (1st turn off),after staying on the queue for about 30min(2nd turn off),we approached this hefty looking bouncer(3rd turn off),after passing 2 of my friends in,he shoved me by the arm and said 'guy,how old you be? u no fit enter this club abeg...it took me roughly 18 brave seconds to summon courage and give a reply to the monstrous Shrek looking creature and all i could murmur was "u say wetin"..dont blame me,if u sef see dis guy u go sempe....he looked me in the eye and said,please leave the queue and come back when you are older....who the hell are you binsh? do you know my age?do you know who i am? uhn! uhn!! uhn!!!**that was my mind,not me o** i was getting embarrassed and wished this stupid ogre will just stop shebe and let me enjoy my birthday eve jejely,i couldn't even tip d guy cus i remembered all i had in my wallet was 3k and 8 expired atm cards..he claimed i looked under aged and therefore would not allow me in.in my mind i was like,if only dis guy could remove d chew gum from his face and look at me dada..how can sum1 call a whole elder like me under age? the Mushin traits in me was tempted to react angrily,but thanks for the little tushness i had left dat reminded me i wouldn't love to spend my birthday on a hospital bed because a slap from this guy would definitely gain me an automatic admission in LUTH...so i just walked away peacefully before he slaps the soul out of me.But forget my janajala stature oo,Major General Mohammed Buhari was head of state when i was born and if u don't believe me AXE ur mummy..awon eleyi wan old gan :p

I wonder if Arsene wenger is shagging Bendtner's Mom ..what if i kiss my second cousin,is that incest too? what if the Nigerian union of boli sellers decides to go 'on strike? and God forbid o but what if I wake up one day only to find out the world is left with flat chested females only*snaps fingers backward repeatedly mumbling the words 'i reject it" continuously*) you see the crazy things i think up all in the name of boredom?trust me guys,boredom doesn't kill,cus if it does,it should be my remembrance already..house don tire me,and the bad news is service doesn't commence until June. February March April May June? 5 good months,hin sure die,i go don give person bele before June .i needed a change of environment badly cus iv been thinking too many crazy random stuffs lately and needed a break from the whole issh..my mother once asked why i looked worried,and i explained to her that i think my head was gonna blow soon,trust my ever caring mother,she said i should move far away from her so i don't stain her white lace with blood when my head blows..i think i need a DNA test asap.

Remember my last post about Heromplane ba?(notice my Abuja accent ?) MY TRIP TO Abuja offered me the chance to enter HEROMPLANE for the first time in my life and to be sincere,it was an orgasmic experience.....yes.....i came! when the chance to visit Abuja came knocking,i didn't even give it a second thought,i booked AERO sharply,ignoring all the rumors i heard about the airline pushing their plane to start or jump starting it before take off,wetin consign me after all na hin cheap pass? Getting to the airport,i tried comporting myself so people wont notice im a 1st time traveler,then i thought warreva men,nobody came to this world via a plane jare,there is always a first time and im gonna enjoy mine..my seat was the window side and i sat comfortably behaving like one "tokunbo" i was smiling through out and the lady beside me couldn’t comprehend why the lunatic beside her(me) kept smiling for no reason. im sure she thought i was going to bite her sooner or later. immediately the plane took off, right inside me i thought i was gonna vomit but i just didn't know where to so i was looking for the right spot to mess my self and the foolish me choose the window side when I booked my ticket just in case I was gona throw up....i know im a bush boy,,*shrugs*

All of a sudden,i was getting Horngry ( dont bother checking the dictionary for horngry) and some crazy thoughts started ringing in my head... if this plane should crash right now?how much will they pay my mother as compensation? what if a terrorist abducts me and demands a million Naira?,where i go see money for ransom,me that it took me almost a year to buy Blackberry,the only way i will get 1million Naira now is by winning the Glo millionaire promo,those terrorist will so beat me ehn...was lost in thoughts when i heard a voice ask what will you like to buy sir? For one reason or the other i just kept smiling back at the hostess without reply,the lady beside me was getting uncomfortable with my willy willy traits,whether its her attractive mammary glands or me being starstruck talking to a hair hostess,all i did in reply was to shine my 32 like a roasted goat head...i looked down the window and the sights of rocky mountains scared da shit outa me..if this plane should crash right now,where will they find my big head ? will my blackberry survive?...i was getting so scared of my own thoughts and wished this damn thing will just land already.... this must be the longest one hour of my life cus getting to Abuja was so much a relief for my bladder which was going to burst any time soon for holding too much pee...oops! i have to stop right now cus my flight to Lagos is about boarding,thanks to AERO for delaying my flight for 3 hours... wish me a safe flight back to GIDI..

#Gbagaun with the fear of God @ heart