Nigerians, You Lost A Paradise (A Photo Essay)

April 30, 2014April 30, 2014 / Adeola / 5 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

In several of my essays on Nigeria I have made references to what my parents told me about Nigeria. I remember one story about my mother walking about Lagos in the middle of the night. She told me there was nothing to be afraid of living in the old Western Nigeria. People lived like normal people and go about their businesses round the clock.

There was 24 hours a day form of existence, transportation was uninterrupted and life was full of hope and happiness. The future looked super bright. When she told me stories about Nigeria in general, she brought the good olden days in Western Nigeria to life in my imaginations.

Unfortunately for Nigerians the future is here now and it turned out super bleak-full of extreme hopelessness and frustrations.

Invariably Nigeria was once upon a time a paradise on earth until some people decided to reverse the gear of progress. Greed and outright madness took over the people-both civilians and military-entrusted to manage the affairs of Nigeria. Sometimes these people have not been chosen, selected or elected; they took over governance by force or through violence. Then they enforced their own rules and mode of governance.

Nigerians lost their paradise when they could not take back the control of their regional and geographical areas from the tropical gangsters who strangely are somehow still in control of the affairs of the land until today.

My mother told me that security especially took a turn for the worse after the civil war ended. In general, evil rose after the war as weapons remained in the hands of the people. Greed and selfishness set in at different points during pre and post-independent Nigeria.

In many ways too numerous to describe here, Nigerians lost a paradise

Cross River Conical Stone

This conical stone is from Cross River State. It stands in front of the National Museum in Lagos. One of the things that went wrong in Nigeria was the drop in the standard and value of education. How many Nigerians visit the museums to learn about their history? Today the ignorant people who run Nigeria’s education have suggested that history should be removed from the curriculum. Nigerians will forget their history totally and the magnitude of historical distortions 100 years from now will be better imagined than experienced.

Brass smith in Bida

This is a man doing his work. That was Brass smith in Bida. We always say there is dignity in labour. Today that expression belongs to the dustbin in Nigeria. Several Nigerians just want to be part of politics so that they can steal and accumulate money and wealth for themselves, their families and unborn generation.

Those who are not stealing in politics are also looking for ways to cut the corners in whatever they do. In public and private enterprises the “make quick money syndrome” has taken over almost everybody. People now believe more in “if you cannot beat them, join them”. Such is the low mentality of an average Nigerian today.

Honesty is now a disease in Nigeria. People who are honest and trustworthy in Nigeria have joined the list of endangered species. One day somebody told me that I cannot be a politician in Nigeria. When I asked him why, he told me that people working with me will either kill me or poison me if I prevent them from stealing in politics.

He said they might even cut my head off. He was trying to emphasize that I cannot do politics in Nigeria if I am not ready to steal. From what we see and know about Nigeria today, that illustration is correct. It’s very sad, disheartening and a piece of the evidence that the paradise may be lost forever.

Decorated Pots, Sokoto

Here above is an image of a girl selling decorated pots in Sokoto, Northern Nigeria. This must have taken place at those times that my mother described to me and what I will call Nigeria’s golden years. At that time when there was still dignity in labour. Some of the pots are not decorated but they look so beautiful you want to have them for your next party or family cooking.

Old Western Nigeria

Western Nigeria was part of the regions that made up the Nigerian paradise of the olden days. It is hard to miss the blend of even development and environmental preservation. Look at the beautiful trees among the industrial revolution of old western Nigeria.

One cannot miss the hard work and the quality of the products that this craftsman is making. The image did not say where the man comes from but he was well dressed in native agbada. Interesting I have at least 4 of the items in his production line in my possession.He was not only selling cultural products, he promoted his culture as well by representation.

The woman carried healthy fruits. She was also well dressed in Iro and Buba. She looked healthy and happy. She was probably selling the pineapples or just on her way from the farm. Agriculture was the backbone of the Nigerian paradise. Crude oil later became a curse.

A Market Place in “old” Nigeria

This is another beautiful image from the time when Nigeria was a paradise on earth. It was at that time that it would have been proper to describe Nigerians as the happiest people on earth. Some recent global reports describing Nigerians as the happiest people in recent years when the security is low, the roads, schools and hospitals resemble monuments of catastrophe, the economy is good enough on paper only and at a time when majority of the people are living dangerously from hand to mouth, are not only misleading but also irony of the highest order.

The Famous Kano Mosque

In my recent but last essay I described religion as one of the greatest problems in Nigeria. Religion is one of the reasons why Nigeria went from paradise to hell on earth. These are people worshipping peacefully at the famous mosque in Kano. People worshipped peacefully across Nigeria in the olden days. But the agents of prosperity in the face of dwindling economic fortunes changed the mode of worship in Nigeria forever.

Rather than guide the people to demand good governance and accountability, the foreign religious institutions in Nigeria headed by the new-age Nigerian overseers told people to pray. At the same time the people whose actions and activities contributed to converting Nigeria from paradise to hell were active members of various religious organisations.

The situation remains the same today as looters parade churches and mosques every Friday and Sunday. Nigerian looters are popular faces at religious crusades. Religion became a means to wealth for the religious rulers and many young people today are religious fanatics especially after years of joblessness. Politics in Nigeria got contaminated with religion and the outcomes including terrorism and mistrust in the society remain devastating to this day.

Nigerians love to chase shadows. Oh! How they enjoy denying the knowledge of basic truth! Apart from the resurrection of regional governance (the possibility of which is already being thrown away at the “organised” national conference) another hope for the restoration of the Nigerian paradise will be the total eradication of religion(s) from public service.

Issues like pilgrimages for example need to be taken away from government functions. Churches and mosque in/around government establishments need to be demolished. People need to just do the right thing rather than hide under the umbrella of religion while they ruin the state or country.

People don’t need to pray for good roads, good schools, and good hospitals and so on. What Nigeria need across all her geographical regions are the good and honest people who will use the budgetary allocations to do these things. Prayers don’t build roads or schools when the funds have been stolen or embezzled. That is common sense and application of the knowledge of the truth – that which always set people free.

Meeting of the “WAYs” Water, Rail. Road , Old Lagos.

In this picture we see some of the things that millions of Nigerians today have no experiences of. There was a functional train in service. The roads are clean and motor-able. The cars were in the correct lanes-2 lanes and no mad driver on an artificial third lane. There are no LASTMA people on the road; people had a sense of belonging and responsibilities.

On the right side the area is enough for pedestrians and cyclists and on the left side, there is a bicycle track along the major road and also there is a pedestrian path with adequate distance to the train tracks. Life was good, normal just like in a paradise. The street lights are standing upright and there is a stretch of beautiful garden in the middle adding glamour, peace and tranquillity to the streets of Lagos in the old western Nigeria.

Apart from air travel, all the other modes of transportation are depicted in this image. There are no ferries in the image but the idea was to state that they were all available in the old Lagos.

This is the type of image of Nigeria from the past that some people will never know about. Millions of Nigerians have lived and died within the period that the paradise was lost. This means that they actually, sadly enough, passed through life without the experience of a good life or the taste of the real meaning of life. If nobody talks about these things and if nobody makes reference to the things that existed under regional governments millions of Nigeria will live and probably die not knowing that there entire future and happiness were stolen from them even before they were born.

All of my life time in Nigeria, I do not recall the privilege of taking a ride on the train. One day however I took the “Baba Kekere” ferry service from Mile 2 to CMS. It must have been some time in the mid 80s. But as a young boy I remembered the many rides on the LSTC buses in the late 70s and early 80s. I know the number on the buses and their destinations from Festac Town. Those were the end of the good old days.

In today’s Nigeria the paradise is lost. This lose will be permanent for several millions of Nigerians living in Nigeria unless radical political changes and turnarounds occur today.

The paradise will remain lost if one man or a group of people can steal 20 billion dollars and walk free. In the 1970s we saw a man making brass in Bida, in the 80s we saw a man from Minna who stole more than 12 billion dollars of Nigeria’s oil money. He walked free! How did Nigeria go from promoting dignity to embracing criminals? The answers will shed light on how to lose a paradise in 20 years or less!

Nigeria lost their paradise because they allow military juntas and politicians to handle public services and politics like profitable businesses that is devoid of probity and accountability. The paradise will remain lost in the face of non-sensitive rulers and non-functional political structures.

The negative outcomes that follow a lost paradise are too numerous to elaborate but they are largely visible on a day out in various parts of Nigeria. Nigerians need orientation in almost all aspects of their lives. Social studies, moral instructions and history were part of the foundations and orientation in primary education. They still cannot be overemphasized in a society with solid foundation in education.

In a lost paradise, pensioners are crying, students are not getting the correct education, graduates are jobless and the society is on a free fall. In Nigeria, a country heavily polluted from all angles, good health is a luxury. There are almost no consequences for political and economic crimes. There is no sense of belonging and the first and the last law is the same: the law of self-preservation.

When I think about the issue of electricity in a lost paradise, I can’t recollect much from Obele Odan in Surulere but it has always been a pain to recount what we went through in Festac Town. We got a beautiful town with our own transformers and local power system.

Everything went down the drain right in front of our eyes. Growing up in Nigeria for my generation was a traumatic experience. Yet we were not given any social or psychological help by the state or the federal system. We fend for ourselves.

At that time (when I was growing up) the system was under the management of the wasted generation. These are the words of Wole Soyinka, as he aptly described his generation, my parents generation unfortunately. Until this day in Nigeria, the mis-management of Nigeria remains largely in the hands of mostly crooks, criminals and idiotic people who cannot manage their homes. How they got to the positions where they have to manage public services and government institutions summarises the story of Nigeria as a lost paradise.

A paradise can be reclaimed. Nigerians, you lost your paradise when you gave up your sense of belonging in the various regions and allowed a powerful center to destroy the entire system. You cave-in and followed a “rotten head” all the time. The paradise lost is actually the sum of all your negligence and attitude to work, environment and life.

It’s going to be a hard fought battle, but you need to bring back the paradise for the sake of your children and children’s children. Take another look at the images in this essay; you’ll see there’s a need to do away with the rotten head or any rotten head for that matter.

Do away with the center altogether. Claim back your regions, do the right thing all the time when it comes to public service and dedication to local and regional development. Be selfless and content. Start your charity (in this case your love of humanity) again, from home. It will spread. It will bring the paradise your children deserved.

aderounmu@gmail.com

PHOTO CREDITS

Akwashi Conical Stone (from Cross River Area)

(By Elisabeth Seriki)

Brass Simth Bida

By John Hinde F.R.P.S

Decorated Pots, Sokoto

John Hinde

Western Nigeria

John Hinde

Famous Kano Mosque

John Hinde

Market

Photo by E, Ludwig, John Hinde Studios

Lagos, Meeting of the Ways: Water, Rail, Road

By The Railway Printer, Ebute Metta

As Nigeria Nears the Edge….Again

January 13, 2014January 13, 2014 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

These are no ordinary times in Nigeria.

Terrorism has taken over most part of the North East. The Political parties are at war even though they share the same idiotic ideology-to loot and destroy the system for personal gains.

This ideology is easy to deduce because of the ease with which prominent members move from one party to the other. If the ideological differences are stark and distinct, it will be almost impossible to move from PDP to APC for example or vice versa.

There is violence across the country. In River States, there has been series of bombings on some establishments. The rise in violence in River States has now reached the stage where THE POLICE are now shooting at people. A man was shot this weekend. The police have denied the shooting of the politician and his group of demonstrators. But shots were fired.

Across the states in Nigeria, there are struggles in pursuit of the 2015 elections. Since 2011, there has not been any formative governance in Nigeria. As soon as one election is over the winners start to loot AND the plan for the next election starts. Nigerian politicians are totally useless and corrupt. No brains!

This is so because the judiciary and the system of law is totally useless as well. The rulers of Nigeria starting from the presidency are corrupt and lawbreakers. Murderers have been freed by the government of Goodluck Jonathan. Convicted people have been forgiven and corruption and senselessness reached new heights. In the history of Nigeria, there has never been a good government, and what is happening nowadays is the most useless form of governance ever known.

But the fault does not start and stop at the presidency. In Nigeria generally the people are so brainwashed that any attempt to let them know the truth is totally crushed. Many people have grown up not knowing the essence of life and the meaning of public service. Nigeria is no ordinary country!

The major political parties in Nigeria are run by criminals, looters and thieves. It is so bad that it is alleged that the drug baron wanted in the US who was Obasanjo’s friend is now the political ruler of the PDP in South Western Nigeria. Obasanjo loved him as a friend and now hate him as the ruler of PDP in the South West. How times change!

The Nigerian system is so heated up that it appears to be a keg of gunpowder.

The North wants back power, the East, West and South are all embroiled in a serious political tug of war that no one knows when the violence will tip over. If this is added to the terror in the North, the days ahead may be the worst days for Nigerians since after the civil war in 1970.

But all of these madness is avoidable if the clueless rulers of Nigeria can wake up tomorrow with some drops of sense in their brains.

One singular act of decentralizing the power in Abuja will almost end the political tussle in Nigeria.

If the power of governance given to Abuja is taken away, there will be no struggle to get there. If the power is given to the councils and regions, the political tension will sublime and everybody will go back home to run things locally. To some extent, removing the “ruler” or “warlord” of Abuja will be a step in the right direction.

The establishment of independent electoral institutions will avail much in Nigeria. The enhancement and fucntion-ability of the judiciary will be immense in pushing the regions forward. By being functional, the police and judiciary will today round up more than 99% of Nigerian politicians including former rulers and their cronies for looting, stealing and pushing Nigeria to the precipice.

Evil is deep rooted in Nigeria and it is hard to bell the cat or lead reforms. This is the dilemma that faces Goodluck Jonathan because somehow, his hands are full of blood stains and his cupboards of skeletons.

It will be hard to liberate Nigeria at one go. The violence that is about to be added to the war in Northern Nigeria will take things out of control and the effects will be devastating now in 2014 and worse in 2015.

To cure or free Nigeria/Nigerians is not in the hands of Goodluck Jonathan, it is a burden for all Nigerians.

Things That Happen In Nigeria (Part 1)

July 30, 2013July 30, 2013 / Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

I remember that sometime in the late 1990s I filled and submitted the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) form for employment in Nigeria. This is 2013 and no sane person in the Human Resources Department of the Federal Civil Service Commission of Nigeria has contacted me to inform me about the status of my application.

I would not be wrong to conclude that no one cares about my application since employment opportunities in Nigeria has been totally reduced to man-know-man and other unspeakable conditions. Unspeakable in the sense that nowadays you can be even employed in certain public and private institutions just like the same way people do “black jobs” in other climes. It is wickedness of the highest order if 30-70% of my income goes to a certain beneficiary because he/she helped me to secure a job.

On the homepage of the FCSC there are no available jobs and that would probably make your online application a ghost search. This is where the paper form becomes a gold search and your personal connection with top government officials a clear advantage.

This year (2013) you will need about N25 000 to collect the civil service application form for employment. This fee may not be an official requirement but since we are talking about Nigeria many idiotic things are deniable yet applicable. I can only imagine how many Nigerians have applied for employment into the Federal Ministries over the years.

In Nigeria unemployment is at a world record level. Around 90-100 million Nigerians are unemployed-that is ten times the total population of Sweden! More than 30 million of these people can be categorised as youth under 40 years of age. This is a large market for fraud (and other atrocities that have invaded Nigeria over the years) if you ask me. Just like in the cursed oil business in Nigeria, there is a likelihood of a cartel presiding over the direct embezzlement of the applications fees for the jobs that do not exist. Nigeria is a failed country I have no doubts.

One of the problems with Nigeria is that you don’t even know who is doing what. Nigeria has excessive administrative jargons which promote inefficiency and aid massive corruption and ineptitude. There is a man called Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji who is the head of the Civil Service of the Federation and there is a woman called Deaconess Joanna Ayo who is the chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission.

They can now start to look at my application and let me know where I stand regarding my application submitted several years ago. In fact the Director Generals in the various Federal Ministries in Nigeria who are given 4-5 allocations of the application forms need to bury their heads in shame too. Not a single job is advertised today on the FCSC homepage!

But wait. Who talks about shame or crooks in Nigeria? Nonsense! Almost every civil servant and private employee in Nigeria will do whatever it takes to earn substantially above his/her income because of the unrealistic and useless wages approved by the corrupt federal and state governments in Nigeria. I mean who can live on N18 000 monthly in Nigeria? Is there any family in Nigeria that can live on N50 000 monthly? The latter would be still almost impossible if all the children are deprived of any form of education. Those who earn bigger still try to live above their incomes.

The systemic nepotism and corruption that has overtaken virtually everything and anything Nigerian has become an almost incurable spiral network that span from Aso Rock in Abuja to Igbogila where my grandfather lived and died several years ago. If you are not corrupt in Nigeria you are an endangered species.

Aso Rock in Nigeria is where all the monies from the four corners of Nigeria are supposed to be gathered before being re-distributed to every Dick, Tom and Harry that govern one way or the other in Nigeria. This type of government that creates a million loop holes is the most useless form of governance that I have seen in my life.

It must take nonentities to start and sustain such a system of governance. Posterity will neither forget nor forgive those who destroyed the Nigerian Federation and substituted it for the destructive unitary system. It must also take a great deal of indifference and careless followership to allow the reign of a useless and worthless system. My anger knows no bound.

A systemic destruction of the moral and social system in Nigeria and a parallel replacement with the business of trust in God and Allah rather than the entrustment of societal and ancestral values in capable hands have derailed and submerged Nigeria/Nigerians in what looks like an everlasting doldrums.

I’m never going to be able to calculate the amount of money that has been stolen from innocent and desperate applicants in the name of Civil Service Employment opportunities. The affected departments in Abuja should stop this exploitation and looting.

Once upon a time in Nigeria merit took the forefront when people were given jobs and responsibilities. We know how times have changed very badly for Nigeria. Today in Nigeria any useless or insane person and even a criminal can occupy any position in public service as long as the person is connected. Gone are the days when things were done correctly in Nigeria.

Federal character destroyed partly the merit system in Nigeria. An inexplicable affinity for sudden wealth and insatiable greed aggravated the situation. Tribalism and nepotism completed the destruction. In Nigeria today public trust is zero. The governments are not working. People do what they like and live recklessly. Life is not appreciated in Nigeria. In extreme situation, the people and the government bend the constitution/law to perpetrate their evils, in broad day light!

How can you change for better a system where everybody is looking suspiciously at the next person and over their shoulders? How can you change a system where people believed that their neighbours can be responsible for their misfortunes and bad luck? How can you change people who in these entire dilemma run between mosques, churches and fetish shrines while perpetrating all sorts of evils in offices, environs and homes?

Personally my mind has continued to jump between hope and hopelessness for Nigeria. I feel hopeful for the great minds that are produced in Nigeria. I feel hopeless because in public and private enterprises everybody becomes a vulture ravaging what is left of the national cake in the name of self-preservation. Nigeria is not working.

Since it appears that only a handful of people are genuinely interested in saving Nigeria, I have for the moment aligned my mind along the possibilities of the changes that may come with self-determination, national conferences, referendum or outright political re-structuring that will bring back regional governments. I will continue to argue that there will not be a magic formula for Nigeria (if she is to recover say in the next 50-100 years) but not even getting started along that recovery road remains a lingering sad situation.

A memo to Barack Obama and the world media

March 10, 2013 / Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

The world needs a rethink about the expressions Nigeria and Nigerians

I am a yorubaman from western Nigeria.

The Yoruba people are not terrorists and we don’t kill foreigners.

The people of the other regions can also speak for themselves. They also have bloggers and media outfits around the world.

In northern Nigeria, a place I have vowed never to visit or travel to in my lifetime, many of the states are occupied by terrorists and they are the ones giving the bad terror image to the “rest”.

In my write-ups I will now start to use the following expressions from now on

Western Nigeria
Eastern Nigeria
Southern Nigeria
Middle-Belt Nigeria
Terrorist-Occupied Northern Nigeria

I am not a fan of Obama’s drones and I hate that men, women and children can be sent to their graves by unmanned machines called drones. The drones go against protection of human rights.

However, please when sending your drones, as you and your allies may be thinking, be clear on your mission and statements.

Don’t ever tell the world you are sending drones to Nigeria.

Your drones are likely heading to Terrorist-occupied Northern Nigeria.

I speak for my people, the Yorubas. We live in an area called the ODUDUWA LAND or ODUDUWA KINGDOM or ODUDUWA REPUBLIC

I do hope the world is watching and taking notes that Nigeria as a country is a complete fraud made in 1914 by the British.

Nigerians as you call them will never be one people, will never be one country. We all made mistakes in the past and now thinking it will work as one country. That will NEVER happen.

The people occupying that area are too diverse. I am a yorubaman and I don’t even understand 99% of the Yoruba languages. The languages are so diverse that you only master your own mother tongue.

If I don’t understand all of my own people-their languages, their behaviours, their mentalities and so on- what time do I have to accommodate an insane terrorist from the North?

The bulk of my friends are from Eastern and Western Nigeria and I am pleased with that.

So, please let us start to reconsider our vocabulary when talking about the people of the regions until now called Nigerians. We are not the same and I bet many people would like to dissociate themselves from the useless terror-prone and terrorist-occupied Northern Nigeria.

CNN, BBC, The rest of the world, please take note.

3 Lebanese, 1 Briton, 1 British, 1 Greek, 1 Philippino and 1 Italian murdered in Terrorist- Occupied Northern Nigeria

March 10, 2013 / Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan, otherwise known as JAMBS has claimed that it killed 7 foreigners kidnapped in Bauchi State Nigeria.

If the world was sleeping before now, maybe it is now awake.

If anyone was in doubt that Northern Nigeria is in the hands of terrorists, maybe that doubt has now been cleared.

You can tell that the system of government in Nigeria is a complete fraudulent system where money comes in from the oil region and is paid directly to the state governments. In some northern states, these monies have been used to sponsor terrorism: that was why Jonathan said that Boko Haram was in his government.

Now Boko Haram has a breakaway group even more deadly than Boko Haram.

Since the system of government and the nature of Nigerian politics are all about fraud and been irresponsible to the citizenry, it has been relatively easy for terrorists to establish themselves in northern Nigeria.

Nigeria is not working and those still clamoring for the continuity of Nigeria are either selfish or shallow minded. For example, I will not be able to associate myself with the terrorist-occupied Northern Nigeria. How then can I say that those terrorist and myself are from the same country? I forbid that.

I am a yorubaman and not a fellow citizen with the fools killing foreigners. They do not represent me and they are not close to my line of thoughts and way of life.

More importantly we now have a wake up call to their resolve Nigeria’s problems through the constitution and referendum or keep with the terror from the north and maladministration from the center. The 2 latter receipts are sure bets for violent disintegration of the British invention of 1914 called Nigeria.