Sunday, May 25, 2008

Making sense of no sense

This week so many things have happened in our world, South-Africans who for years, I believed to be the most tolerant people on earth…have lost it. The Chinese are still trying to find survivors in the devastating earth quake and Yar’Adua gave an interview in the financial times London (chei! the thing pain me oh, me wey get plenty questions boku to ask, na those oyibo people na im you go grant interview? Haba!) which I read and laughed hard of course. Any other reaction from the cynic in me would have been false but first, let me talk about the South-Africans.

If there is any child that grew up following world events without the miracle of having cable TV, I guess I was one of them. For all their faults, Delta TV could at least arouse your curiosity for world events by flinging in one or two details in their often dry international news. The story of Nelson Mandela I followed closely after watching a documentary on television. After that, came a fascination with the man and his people. I listened to anything about South Africa, sang along with Majek Fashek’s “Free Mandela”, cried watching the film “Cry freedom” and danced like a possessed child to the musical “Sarafina”. I did all that with the firm belief that a country that produced a man as great as Nelson Mandela must be the most tolerant in the whole world.

The events of the past weeks have proved that there is no country that is safe from the wrath of the poor man. The poor people are angry, angry at their government and perhaps the world at large, for abandoning them in a continuous and hopeless state of poverty and misery. A country where the spread of A.I.D.S continue to devastate the population, a country that is synonymous with crime….yet, we are all surprised. We see the images of burning houses and violence and cringe...”not the home of Mandela!”…we are horrified. Oh, lest I forget, was it not the same look of surprise we had on our faces when the Kenyan situation came up? And not too many years ago, we had the same look on our faces about Zimbabwe, right? Right!
Let us not fool ourselves anymore in this world, poverty is real and it will drive people to commit the most inhumane acts. These acts, as bizarre as they might seem, did not happen overnight just as the refugees from Zimbabwe did not appear over night in the slums. Yes, let us all point our fingers to the source of the beginning of the problem…the problem of Zimbabwe…is anybody taking notes? Can anybody help the people of Zimbabwe? First driven from their homeland, they are now being burned and persecuted, yet; this is not a problem of the government of South Africa. It is the problem of Africa and what are we doing? Nothing, as usual.

That is why the interview given by our dear president was amusing. According to our dear president, he has been “planning”. Is it that we do not understand that time is running out? Even with the kidnappings of people in the Niger Delta, the violence and killings and now….a food crisis! A bag of rice has tripled this week…and we still have time? We are still folding our hands and waiting for what to happen? We think the frustrations of the South Africans are different? Why then, are people being kidnapped in this country? What have the innocent done to their captives? So many questions and unfortunately not enough time to answer them all. One thing is for sure though; we are running out of time. Let something be done or else, the wrath of the poor man will continue and who knows who the victims will be next time? Today, it’s the foreigner, tomorrow it might be you or me.

P.S: I bow for all these our governors sha, so if na to spend money for burial, dat one una sabi, but to fix road, na another thing. Na wah oh!

waffywaffarian@yahoo.com

6 comments:

guerreiranigeriana said...

i blogged about this the other day but wasn't as sympathetic as you...whether you are poor or not, one thing no one can take from you is the ability to think and reason...no matter how poor i am, there is no way someone can convince me that killing a man from mozambique will alleviate mmy situation...no way!!!...furthermore, why is it that the poor couldn't think of this when they had true foreigners in their countries, enslaving and exploiting them?...not now that their brethren have come trying to carve out a life for themselves...and again...let's take the excuse given by south africans that immigrants drive wages down...how?...is it not the employer who determines this?...yes the immigrant may be willing to take less because they just need any money, but it doesn't mean that the employer should exploit this...why not burn the place of employment and employers?...like n.i.m.m.o. says, e no make sense;)...

...as for yard-head...that one na joke...but i do agree that folks better peel their eyes...unfortunately not eneough people think...so when the poor get angry and start to look for a scapegoat, it can and will be anyone!...sorry such a long comment...rekindled my annoyance with this situation...

dblog said...

enjoy your article.... i pray u secure an interview with the president....i sure say the interview go bad since anger and hungry go dictate questions,,she!

guerreiranigeriana said...

you're right...it isn't sympathy per se...it's lack of surprise...i agree totally with what you said in the comment you left at my place...i don't know i continue to be surprised...i guess i hope lessons are learned or that people will stop and think...anyway...you made salient points at my place...thanks for adding to my knowledge and thought process...

TheAfroBeat said...

Agree with you and guerri on the poverty issue, it is spreading and takes no prisoners, but God made man man and not beast for a reason. Who are we to try and act the beast??

As for Baba Rule of Law, he needs to create and publish his workplan for his administration so that we can all see and assess accordingly. If his workplan says "Year 1: Planning", all well and good, but let the people know this, and then we know what to expect rather than wait and wring out hands in the darkness of no NEPA!!

How're things? Heard you were in Nigeria recently (Solo), how was it?

Waffarian said...

@Afrobeat: I dey jare, Nigeria was the usual...NO LIGHT! Warri was okay though...apart from some local govt elections that sparked a bit of violence here and there...it was funny cos during the days leading up to that, I was at a hair dresser's, and this conversation took place:

Hairdresser: You dis girl, na where u dey stay self?

Me: Effurun

Hairdresser: Ah! oya, make we finish, make you dey go house, trouble fit dey that side, and no enter bike oh! those ones don craise finish, after 7 o'clock dem go begin dey speed anyhow...infact, I go follow get taxi...no worry self, I go put you for better taxi.

That is the reality of Nigeria, with all the problems and violence...that humanity is always there...and that is so true of Warri..it is that paradox of life that makes the experience worth it...

Anyway, I wrote a bit about my experience on my other blog, "the waffarian blog"

naijaleta said...

Mai-gida grant Financial Times interview ke? For Hausa of for Turenchi?