My Random Reflections @ 46

July 12, 2018July 11, 2020 / Adeola / Leave a comment

For my random reflections at 46, my thoughts are varied (as usual) and the physical and emotional pains l feel are real. I cry many times for Nigeria. I’m living through some of the saddest days of my life as a Nigerian as l continue to see the disconnection between the people and the government. I kept a mental image of the country Nigeria ought to be and l compare it with the reality that l face everyday as a Nigerian-born and my heart bleeds, profusely.

By Adeola Aderounmu

A trailer fell on Lagos road due to the bad state of the federal roads. (c) Adeola Aderounmu, Lagos. July 2018.

This is the 11th edition of my random reflections. I have done this for a decade to mark the celebration of my birthday. However it is hardly a celebration now because as l take a look at my country of birth Nigeria, all that comes to mind is the tragedy that befell the country.

Today’s Nigeria is a far cry from what the founding fathers dreamt of. Nigeria in 2018 is mostly in the hands of criminals who people wrongfully tagged as politicians.

The things l will write about today are repetitions (more or less) of what l have written about in almost 20 years.

Nigeria had gone a full cycle. Western Nigeria especially had gone from being one of the best places to live in the world (during the 1950s) to probably the worst place to live in the world today. This can be argued depending on the writer or speaker.

If you think about the fact that Lagos of the 1950s was ahead or at par with London and Paris in terms of development and compare the 3 cities today, you may perhaps decide on which part of the argument you want to pitch your tent.

Many Nigerians are growing up without the knowledge that western Nigeria was the tourist destination and medical health center for other commonwealth countries in the 1950s. The University College Hospital in Ibadan was among the best places to receive medical help at that time.

Many people have grown up not knowing that Nigeria was meant to be a super power based on regional government. It was on that path until the mid-1960s when things began to fall apart. The 1966 military coup and the civil war from 1967 to 1970 set the tone for what Nigeria is today.

Nigeria is now ranked as the poverty capital of the world.

The way things are now in Nigeria should bring tears to the eyes of anybody who has some sense and emotions.

You ought to be very, very sad if you can compare living in Nigeria with living in another country like Sweden.

If you travel on Badagry expressway and remain a normal person, you deserve some accolades. If you wake up early to go to work and return late at night, you need a thumb-up. If you are sick and manage to remain strong through it, you are the man/woman. If you struggle between thick and thin to put food on your table, for yourself or for your family, that is an everyday miracle.

The stories of our struggles in Nigeria are endless. The people running the government of Nigeria at all levels ought to be arrested, prosecuted and tried for crimes against human dignity as well as crimes against humanity.

The people of Nigeria need to get up one day and march down the entire country with a resolution that never again shall we be slaves in our country.

There is no justice from the Judiciary. There is no justice from the security agencies. There is no where you can turn to in Nigeria and find peace and equality for all men and women.

It is almost wrong now to describe Nigeria as a country because for a country to exist the welfare of the citizen must be paramount.

Nobody cared about my welfare in Nigeria. My basic right to education was long gone. Job creation and availability are not guaranteed as both public and private enterprises provide their own electricity and security.

A lot of enterprises, big, small and medium have closed businesses as they could no longer bear the cost of running businesses. Many have closed because of the raids from criminals and other gangs of unemployed youth.

Nigeria is as lawless as it can be. I can give examples of lawlessness from every office, organization and institution in Nigeria. I can give uncountable examples from walking down the streets and driving on the dangerous roads.

Most parts of Lagos are dirty and stinking. The roads, especially the federal roads are terrible and the worst in the whole world. Don’t believe the juicy images from Victory Island or Ikoyi. This is Lagos 2018! (c) Adeola Aderounmu. July 2018. Lagos

My frustration about Nigeria and how we got here knows no bound. My anger against how people behave, act, reason and talk is unquantifiable.

There is no plot for Nigeria at the moment. We sail to nowhere led by vagabonds!

One of the most painful things about Nigeria today is the lack of unity among the people. On the political stage, this lack of unity keeps the useless unitary system running from 1966. Nigeria will never make it as a country with the senseless system of government.

You must be a senseless person to operate or partake in a senseless system of government. Nigeria is a joke in the comity of nations and this system of government where one man sits in Abuja and tries to control everything in and around the country is the most telling on the intelligence of the most populous black nation in the world.

We are a bunch of jokers!

The unity that Nigerians need is the acknowledgement that the system of government needs to be dismantled without fear or war. The unity that Nigerians need is to trace their steps back to when Nigeria was among the global pacesetters in development and good quality of life.

Without that unity, Nigeria will remain permanently as the representative of the poverty capital of the world. For those who think this is unreal, my suggestion is for you to take a flight to Lagos and drive from the airport to Mile 2. From there take the ride of your life along Badagry expressway to Agbara and continue your journey to Atan towards Ota.

If you don’t find the pieces of evidence that Nigeria is a massive (s-hole), l’ll refund you for the ticket and trouble.

For my random reflections at 46, my thoughts are varied (as usual) and the physical and emotional pains l feel are real. I cry many times for Nigeria. I’m living through some of the saddest days of my life as a Nigerian as l continue to see the disconnection between the people and the government. I kept a mental image of the country Nigeria ought to be and l compare it with the reality that l face everyday as a Nigerian-born and my heart bleeds, profusely.

aderounmu@gmail.com

@aderinola

Lagos Flood, For The Rich And Poor

June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

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We can still thank the forces of nature for reminding us that there are still work to be done before the political-worshippers convert their beloved politicians to heavenly gods.

The governor is this, the governor is that, the governor is working, the governor is helping…nonsense talks. Who cares? What are the jobs of a governor? Why was a governor elected? Nobody is forced to become a governor or a politician. You become one because you want to serve.

But because Nigerians are used to politicians who steal and do nothing, they end up praising those who do something and steal at the same time.

Has any governor used his family wealth to develop any state? So, why the praise? Governors spend tax payers’ monies to develop a state (that is if they are working) or they spend federal allocations. Any acknowledgement or praise of that is mental slavery.

Anyway, whatever be the case, here are pictures collected from other places that show us how much work we have to do to keep the floods away.

There are floods of water and sewage everywhere in Lagos.

You can also see the connection between flood and bad roads in Lagos.

A simple google search and you can collect thousands of images about how serious and big this problem is in our dear Lagos.

Keep praising the politicians, kontinuuuu

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flood4 flood2 flood3 flood1

Internet images

aderounmu@gmail.com

Mr. Ambode, The governor Of Lagos Island And The god Of Lagos

May 28, 2017May 28, 2017 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

The hottest news from Nigeria this week is the sacking of a church worker by the governor of Lagos state. In a manner akin only to wickedness and evil machinations, Mr. Ambode, whom l have long regarded as the governor of Alausa and Lagos Island, threw out Venerable Femi Taiwo with a 24 hour notice.”

Ambode, the god of Lagos?

Venerable Femi Taiwon was the presiding chaplain of the Chapel of Christ the Light, Ikeja. His offence was that he was delivering a sermon and he did not acknowledge the presence of the wife of Ambode.

So Mrs. Ambode went home, probably cried and reported to his husband, the emperor of Lagos, Mr. Ambode. These people are devilish clowns.

My position here is not the same as standing with the church or any religion whatsoever. I care less because the church and mosques remain instrumental to the destruction of Nigeria.

My position here is standing against fools and arrogant people in government. Mr. Ambode has forgotten that he was a criminal who was sacked from the government. But like all criminals before him, he found his way back to power courtesy of the Tinubu’s grip on Lagos. But he will fall. He will!

Rather than cleaning up Lagos, Mr. Ambode is busy playing god.

Rather than put his wife and house in order so that his wife stops going around seeking recognition and acknowledgment, Mr. Ambode decided to terminate the appointment of the chaplain.

In my opinion, Mr. Ambode is not only foolish, he is also arrogant. Who does he think he is? The god of Lagos? Those who are close to him should tell him that he is on his way to perdition.

Even if you want to relieve the chaplain of his position because he was employed by the state government, why not give him 7 days or even 1 month so he can put his life in order while he leaves the employment of the criminal government?

I am sure several Nigerians have thrashed this issue on the social media, so l won’t flog it.

Mr. Ambode, what goes round, comes round.

President Buhari’s Festac In Governor Ambode’s Lagos

November 20, 2016November 20, 2016 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

(Images By Abiodun Popoola)

402 Road by 4th Avenue, Festac Town.

In the month of June 2016, I visited Nigeria. One of the most disgusting views in Lagos where l was resident was in Festac Town, the estate that everyone acknowledged had lost his glory.

In general l was appalled by the state of infrastructure in Festac Town.

It is hard to believe that Festac Town is home to the headquarters of Amuwo Odofin Local Government. It is hard to believe that there are politicians in Festac Town. It is hard to believe that there is a state governor in Lagos State.

A lot of things are rotting away and Festac Town that used to be the pride of Nigeria and Africa is now a desolate, rotten town.

In truth l dedicated a page on my blog to the lost glory of Festac Town. The original glory of Festac Town may never be regained. Still it does not mean that the things that could still be fixed should be left undone.

402 Road, Festac Town

Recently l wrote an article about the problem of sewage in Festac Town and the significance of the problem as a form of biological weapon against the people of Festac Town.

The article titled Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Please Clear This Biological Weapon! was published on July 25, 2016 both on the Nigeria Village Square and on my blog.

To ensure that the problem gains the attention it needed, l wrote the same article in the National Mirror Newspaper. It appeared on the back page on August 16 2016 under the banner Addressing Festac Town’s sewage menace.

Despite all the awareness that has been brought to the matter, it appears that the government (local, state and federal) did not get the message. A friend of mine visited Festac Town this November and the images that he brought back shows that no effort has been made to solve the problem.

4th Avenue, By 402 Road

Let me restate that we will continue to highlight this problem for as long as it exists. In as much as we all agree that Festac Town is a federal government estate, we must also never forget that it is situated in Lagos State and there is a governor and there is a local government chairman.

Invariably, the sewage system is bad in many areas in Festac Town. The worst hit area is 402 Road. The residents are flushing their toilets directly to the streets because there are permanent blockages to the original paths created for the flow to flow away.

The residents of 402 Road in Festac Town are breathing unsafe air, they are walking on sewage water/mud to get into their various apartments. The health impacts are huge and children are vulnerable.

The governor of Lagos State is responsible for the welfare of the residents anywhere in Lagos. That insinuation and argument that Festac Town is a federal estate does not hold water. The governor needs to initiate the contact with the appropriate authority and call them out to action.

402 Road, Market Place and Residential Area

Governor Ambode and the people running Lagos must know that Lagos is not Victoria Island and Ikoyi only. They need to look at other places and stop paying lip-service and eye-service to issues concerning maintenance and development.

402 Road, Festac Town

Photograph/Images By Abiodun Popoola.

Footnotes

Again, l repeat that it is possible for the governor of Lagos State to look at this problem and instruct the appropriate authority (federal, state or local) to act.

As it sems right now, the people of Festac are in a dilemma. FHA is not going to come down to make their environment germ free. The Governor does not care if they die of diseases.

As l have stated before, l will continue to write about this particular problem for as long as it exists. I pray for the grace to keep reminding the rulers and conquerors of Nigeria of their negligences and lack of committment to the people and country.

This problem is a struggle and we will keep reminding the conquerors of Lagos/Nigeria that they must serve the people.

The Rule Of Criminals

August 28, 2016August 28, 2016 / Adeola / Leave a comment

One of the challenges facing Nigeria and Nigerians is how to achieve or establish the rule of law above the rule of criminals in government and everywhere.

The Rule Of Criminals

By Adeola Aderounmu

Which Way Nigeria?

One is saddened that there is no end in sight for Nigerians being ruled partly by politicians who are absolute criminals.

Ordinary Nigerians are facing very hard and extreme economic hardship and they also have to continue to cope with the reality that some of those who they expected to be part of the solution are actually political criminals.

My recent visit to Nigeria left another deep cut in my soul. What l saw is that majority of Nigerians are still suffering!

The kind of suffering in Nigeria exposes majority of the population to conditions that are completely unacceptable for humans. People have no access to basic facility or infrastructure. This information is not news.

However what may be news is that several millions of Nigerians are now in new category called systematic beggars. People are begging for food and money from those that still have a little to live on.

What l saw in Nigeria revealed that majoroity of Nigerians not only lack the basic things of life, they also lack material comfort. Many people are running around on empty stomachs.

In 2012, l defined mass poverty using Nigeria as a case study. Since then the mass poverty situation in Nigeria has escalated.

Sadness is rampant. Deceit and mutual suspicion are written on everybody’s face. Today, a few people are tasking the government and police on the high rate of crime. The trend will continue because even the police are stopping people randomly on the streets and robbing them of their possessions!

Things are getting worse in Nigeria. The conditions of living are terrible. There is almost no word to describe the standard of living of the ordinary people. Poor is an understatement. What comes after low or poor standard of living? The living situations are extremely sad and disheartening.

At this sad point in Nigeria’s history, the lowest ebb the country has ever reached, one would expect that the government at various levels will show empathy and concern for the plights that have been inflicted on the people through years of misgovernance and negligence.

Alas! The present government is not helping matters in that direction at all.

As Nigerians are allegedly made to bear the grunt and pain of the decline in crude oil prices, the cost of governance itself remains at the same high level.

Governance in Nigeria is established on a twin culture of waste and propaganda.

The level of corruption in the present government easily contradicts the propaganda that Nigerians are paying for the low price of crude oil and the wastage of the Jonathan administration.

Nigeria does not depend on crude oil only by the way.

In any case if Nigerian politicians stop stealing and perhaps even start to drop some body and material weights, perhaps the effects of the drop in crude oil sales that have also also been aggravated by the Niger Delta Avengers would spread evenly among the population, and we can understand the situation together.

But sadly, as a manner of repetition, let me reiterate that the cost of governance in Nigeria remains high and wasteful.

Nigeria is spending a lot of money on arms of government that are invariably useless. The category that has been in the eye of the storm most is the legislative arm.

At the Senate and the House of Representatives, the revelations that have come to front since the emergence of the Buhari-APC mandate are shameful and scandalous.

A government that is fighting corruption mostly in the opponent camps yet housing criminals at its own backyard is a worthless government. That is what the APC government has become.

The scandals that have rocked the Senate where Mr. Saraki heads the other alleged criminals are enough to level it. But it stands as a monument of stinking corruption.

The scandals that have rocked the House of Representatives where Mr. Dogara heads the other alleged criminals are enough to sweep the house into the ocean so that it does not ever evolve again.

It is shocking that Nigerians know that they are partly ruled by criminals and they are suffering and living with the knowledge of the causes of majority of their problems. But they are not doing anything serious about it.

Something has to give in someday as a way of showing these criminals their ways out of governance.

We also actually need someone to remind this government of its virtual fight against corruption whereas the government itself is stinking and rotten, full of criminals in high and low places.

About 30 something years ago, when l was a little boy, l read an article in a newspaper. The title was: Who Is Fooling Who? I don’t remember the author but it mentioned that many things that are true today.

One of the challenges facing Nigeria and Nigerians is how to achieve or establish the rule of law above the rule of criminals in government and everywhere.

The political criminals are on the advantage because despite the fact that their criminalities are known and exposed, they have so far circumvent the law to their advantages. They have remain strong due to the weakness of the people and their passiveness to corruption everywhere.

The difference between common sense and political criminal sense remains crystal clear.

While common sense makes people leave the public scene in shame after a scandal, the political criminal sense makes people fight back using the weaknesses in the law especially in a nonsensical democracy like Nigeria where self preservation is the norm. Civility suffers.

The difference extends to the point that with political criminal sense, every scandal is tagged as a political witchhunt. The political criminal sense does not deny the existence of a crime or scandal. It just fights against it.

Invariably, the changed promised by the APC has turned to a sham, more so because of the political criminals that persist and control the APC government.

When l’d visited civil service establishments during my one month stay in Nigeria, the situation and conditions of services are even worse. The morale is down, many things are still being done just like before.

The workers still receive bribes, the police are on the roads doing the usual collection and false accusation. From the political criminals holding sway in Abuja, to the smallest streets in Nigeria, it is business of corruption as usual.

The things that have changed have brought more hardship to our lives. Things just got worse for the ordinary people. For example, under Mr. Fashola, Nigerians pay more money for darkness. There is promise of light and the bills are already higher for the services that have not been provided. What is 419 again?

The people earn less or nothing at all (when salaries are not paid for several month) but they pay more for everything. There are so many scams perpetrated by the Buhari-APC government that should have resulted to outright outrages.

But Nigerians are praying and fasting even on empty stomachs. Thanks to the magicians called men of God. Rather than build factories, more churches and mosques are sprining up everywhere in Nigeria.

Even in government houses where looting and stealing are taking place, there are churches and mosques in the premises. What is the meaning of den of robbers? Who is fooling who? Who prays in these religious houses and who are the political criminals in government?

It’s always a painful experience recounting the problems of Nigeria. Whereas we know that the solutions are easy. If people start to do the right things, just the right things, Nigeria will pick up.

But after decades of misrule and systemic disorientation,majority of the people are used to doing the wrong things. This cruel reality is what led to the emergence and sustenance of wrong doers and criminals in public offices.

So, the rule of criminals is very complicated.

There are other issues with the Buhari-APC mandate. Along with the painful existence of the rule of criminals, Nigerians are more than ever before battling with tribalism. Sadly too, the influence of religion in government has never been this prominent in the history of governance in Nigeria.

Up to the local government level, religious affiliation is a crucial factor in the curriculum vitae of office-seekers in Nigeria. What l saw in Nigeria shocked me!

That long-lasting solution of just doing the right things in public service eludes majority of Nigerians. But it must re-emerge side-by-side a political system or structure that is functional. That ancitipated change in political system has been called several names, from regional government to regional autonomy and even true fiscal federalism.

At this moment, at the end of august 2016, Nigeria is not working and the rule of criminals dominate the rule of law.

Nigeria needs a genuine political change.

Reference: Mass Poverty In Nigeria (2012) By Adeola Aderounmu.

https://aderinola.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/mass-poverty-in-nigeria-2012

aderounmu@gmail.com