Nigeria

Daybreak 2015

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Mr. Abati’s call to stone corrupt rulers was re-echoed recently by Mr. Amaechi. When the people start, both callers will receive massive doses of stones and that makes it very interesting

Daybreak 2015

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

As week 47 of 2014 went by, we saw traces of what can escalate across the country in 2015.

The redemption of these aggregates clumped into one country can still be negotiated before it is too late. It is late when negotiations are no longer possible because of the total breakdown of law and order.

Things are happening, and very fast too.

Nigeria still holds together because of that attraction at the center where the milk is thick. It is holding together because across all the state houses in Nigeria there are still billions of nairas that can be be looted or carted away.

In 2011 it was easy to predict that 1999-2015 will be among the worst years of the Nigerian life. In that essay I wrote about the 4 wasteful years ahead of Nigeria. It is not as if all the years since 1960 have not been wasteful enough.

As 2014 draws to a classical closure Nigerians are faced with what appears like the greatest suspense of their lives since 1999 when the country was returned to pseudo-democracy.

It is so bad that one group is already chanting the songs of a parallel national government. But they will first show the people the evidence of a man who eats the coconut that has been broken on his head.

Those who hope to win from the catastrophe in Nigeria and those who hope to fight the power that be don’t even know yet what daybreak 2015 holds.

It appears that the things that Nigeria has been running away from for too long may catch up with her in 2015. May be…

Nigeria and Nigerians need a political solution.

The need to restructure the geography of Nigeria in a way that is devoid of political selfishness and greed has been neglected for too long.

Rather than solve the problems relating to autonomy, resource control or even regional government, the selfish central governments (military and civilians) always ended up dividing or approving the creation of states after states using parameters that are devoid of common sense and logic.

Along with all the problems of corruption, improbity, impunity and general executive recklessness, the creation and existence of non-viable states in Nigeria has also contributed to the problems of Nigeria.

Apart from tribal and even religious conflicts, the creations of non-viable states have contributed to the slow economic growth of Nigeria. The over-reliance on the sustenance of the country on petroleum products has always been a recipe for disaster.

Rather than solve the problems, the foolishness of political rulers in Nigeria also led to the so-called federal character. Merit, common sense and integrity were thrown out of the windows.

All kinds of foolish people, nonentities and incredibly bad characters have contributed to the destruction of public institutions in Nigeria in what they called federal character. These characters came from everywhere in Nigeria and from all kinds of tribes and political parties.

The need for a political solution cannot wait any longer. The government also neglected her duties of protecting human lives. It is better to use the available institutions of governance, while the opportunity lasts to settle political problems.

When the members of the House of Representatives finish jumping all the fences and walls in Abuja, it may be too late to find a political situation.

Another problem that Nigeria has neglected for so long is the issue of conducting credible elections.

Elections in Nigeria have always been a charade that reduces the collective intelligence of Nigerians. The way elections are conducted in Nigeria invariably implies that nobody in Nigeria can add 3+4 and get 7.  It’s like Nigerians need a double dose of common sense.

We have seen Nigerian governors proving that 17 people can be majority and 19 people minority. We now see in Ekiti where 7 people can be more than 19 people. Is this political dyslexia or an outright demonstration of political necrosis? Is Fayose trying to make a new statement: that everybody in Ekiti is daft? This is a reflection of a national disgrace since 1959 when Nigerians lost their ability to count and add peacefully.

Nigeria is imitating foreign democracies and that is what makes it very unreal. When the legislators are meeting in the governors’ offices or when the legislators receive cars or expensive mobile gadgets as gifts from the governors, what kind of nonsense democracy is that? It doesn’t make sense at all and it is sustainable because everybody is a thief, or waiting to be one.

This is so regular in Nigeria that political office holders spend the people’s monies like criminals without any repercussions.

These anomalies are possible because over the years almost all political office holders have rigged their ways into power. Criminals have used force and ill-gotten money to facilitate their emergence to political stardom.

When these atrocities are added to impunity, lack of justice and sadly a followership that is willing along the evil trends, it’s not hard to see why elections remain a charade. I must have told the story of how cutlasses and weapons are used to guard “thumbing” centers in the Niger Delta. It is the same in many states in Nigeria. The most violent party usually wins overall. They tell us INEC counted….nonsense!

It is against these backgrounds that Mr. Amaechi and his gang warned that the APC will form a parallel government in 2015. He is aware of the situation and how governments have changed hands over the years in the Niger Delta and elsewhere in Nigeria. He is a beneficiary of this madness, as his former friend too Mr. Jonathan. Do I need to elaborate?

The fear of Daybreak 2015 is turning out to be a nightmare for both APC and PDP. To form a convincing national government by the PDD or a dreamland parallel government by the APC will rest on the people of Nigeria.

It will depend on whether impunity is still allowed at that time. It will depend on whether the politicians can look back at their collective foolishness and selfishness at the same time that the people will look back at their resilience threshold and say, there was a country.

For the things that hold Nigeria together can as well end the fake union. We are talking about one of the most corrupt countries in the world where the present lazy ruler had the audacity to state that stealing is not corruption.

The sustenance of Nigeria despite all her ills is partly due to the corruption that envelope all participants in politics and even public (civil) services. Corruption may tear Nigeria apart as the race to the treasuries continues to heat the polity.

This corruption is used to massage the egos of the elites who think they have Nigerians in the palm of their hands. To a large extent, they do.

For example, the global price of oil dropped in recent weeks. The prices did not fall in Nigeria, one of the several pointers to the crimes committed against the people daily. Nobody is even complaining and the government keeps ranting about subsidy.

By stating that subsidies will be removed, Nigerian economic magicians are saying be ready for harder times ahead. What will happen if the subsidy is removed in 2015? Will the people stay quiet? Can life in Nigeria be bitchier?

Many states in Nigeria are parasitic. They cannot exist without the so-called monthly allocation. The resources locked up in some of them remain largely untapped. When tapped, one criminal minister and some local stakeholders connive with international criminals mainly from China and cart away the resources, almost free of charge!

Now the states that are productive and enterprising will suffer austerity measures like the parasitic states because of the revenue formula system. In general the common people will groan more everywhere.

The political rivalry between APC and PDP is extremely unhealthy. It may add some hot spice to a country already on a free fall. What happened this week alone is a dress rehearsal for what the weeks ahead may look like. Daybreak 2015 will not be an ordinary one.

Insecurity is rife, record high. The BH war is ongoing. Lawmakers are jumping fences and running helter-skelter. The police are coming. The senate is confused. The executive is desperate. The governors are yelling at each other for crimes they have in common. The deputies have been estranged for long. Austerity measures of the Shagari regime have re-entered officially.

Many things are wrong. Nigeria enters an unpleasant national phase of both political and economic necroses.

It is neither safe nor advisable for any nation or country to head to an election year with so many problems unresolved or swept under a rug that is already stinking. The uncertainties with Nigeria are uncountable.

I think Nigerian rulers are taking a huge risk that may finally consume them. It was about time.

If the prices of petroleum products continue to fall in the global market, austerity measures will add to the sufferings of Nigerians. Resilience is overspent. Threshold record is broken.

There is always a constant alternative to political madness.

Examples Abound from Africa and worldwide.

On two separate occasions Nigerians have been urged to stone their rulers. Some called it a revolution.

Mr. Abati’s call was re-echoed recently by Mr. Amaechi. When the people start, both callers will receive massive doses of stones and that makes it very interesting.

If Nigerians can spare a season and pretend to love one another, they will unite; heed these calls and stone all the criminals in Aso-rock and all the government houses in Nigeria.

If the change turns out genuine, if patriotism takes over greed and selfishness, that season of pretense might orchestrate the freedom that has eluded the people in this geographical clump for more than 100 years.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Threshold

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

There are plans to postpone or cancel the 2015 elections due to insecurity in substantial parts of the country. This will create an inflammable volatile tension that may be impossible to quench when it implodes.

Threshold

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

By Adeola Aderounmu

Nigeria in 2014 is one of the most complicated places of earth.

The damage done to Nigeria and the psyche of Nigerians through 54 years of misrule is multifaceted.

The damage also includes the dearth of intellectualism in the public spaces. Where available, it is manipulated to suit evil desires of the rulers and politicians.

One of the most stupid debates one can imagine gathered momentum in Nigeria in recent weeks. Even former dictators and political rulers are discussing about their religions or faiths as the 2015 political season draws closer.

Nigerians are aligning along ethnic, tribal and religious lines for the 2015 national elections.

If the politicians, political godfathers and public office holders are also discussing their religions rather than their political pedigrees, patriotism and the positive thrusts that they could bring into offices, then Nigeria is on the threshold.

The permanent cracks called 36 states of Nigeria may collapse in an unexpected fashion.

The fertility provided by Boko Haram (BH) will not be an unexpected catalyst.

The ripened assimilation of religion into Nigerian politics is not an isolated phenomenon and it did not happen overnight. It was influenced by distrust and lose of political ideology.

Nigerians have been completely brainwashed by foreign religions mainly Christianity and Islam. The people are divided and separated not only by tribes (or ethnicity) but also by religious affiliations.

It is so sad and appalling that the religious denomination one belongs to affects also how one is perceived or received by other people sharing even the same religion.

The ascendance of religion in public and political life in Nigeria is one of the saddest events that befell the country. It brought a shade on all the anomalies that characterized the failed political structures and systemic collapse.

Religion was made one of the safe nests of criminals who have misruled Nigeria since 1960. It was the perfect cover for the promotion of idleness and crimes against humanity.

Nigerians swallowed political lies and religious fallacies hook, line and sinker. They left governance in the hand of crooks and let it rot.

Religion becomes an evil item the moment it is allowed to leave its terrain as a private experience and brought into public spheres. In Nigeria this has been the trend, the country is already suffering from the dividends of religion in public offices.

If Nigeria finally trips over the threshold (probably catalyzed by the BH war) those denying the negative roles of religion in politics and public life will be overwhelmed by both the existing polarity in the polity and the war already consuming substantial parts of the country.

The failures of the Jonathan-led weak unitary government and the Nigerian military to stem the BH war will continue to fuel the speculation that Nigeria is at war with itself. It will continue to promote the theory that the government of Nigeria is at war with her citizens.

Goodluck Jonathan was one of the weakest governors ever produced in Nigeria. Under him Bayelsa and Bayelsans simply went to sleep. His weakness as a ruler will probably explain why he needs so many attack dogs who are getting fat and building pot bellies on tax payers’ money.

Political pedigree remains insignificant in the unitary form of government in Nigeria. Hence rather than performing and being proactive Nigerians are stuck with a government that react and respond to every criticism of the lazy administration with irritating comments.

For instance Mr. Okupe is not worried about BH because the BH war is yet to disrupt his breakfast. I have not found a more senseless reaction from someone to whom much is given albeit from looted treasuries.

The official response from the lazy and corrupt Nigerian government has now shifted to declaring the obvious- that Boko Haram is at war with Nigeria. We are now told that the war is not a religious war but a political one invariably because of the indiscriminate targets of BH.

The unpleasant reality is that the war is taking on both dimensions. One does not exclude the other. BH (regardless of who the sponsors are-the PDP, the APC, some international gangsters or even aliens) is succeeding so far with the war against Nigeria.

Unfortunately for everyone the perpetrators are making use of Islam as their platform for propagating the war. In that sense one cannot rid the terrorists of their faith. It does not matter what other people think, this is what they (BH) professed.

The inability to tame BH and its alleged sponsors (allegations ranging from APC to PDP to international sponsors) has brought potential doom to the doorsteps of Nigerians.

Monsters usually go back to chase their makers and all. Can this explain the indiscriminate targets of BH and the recent invasion of Mubi, the hometown of the Badehs? Whose home town is next? The inactions of a weak government will avail much.

People are still arguing: we have always had these problems; Nigeria is not going to break.

Yes we have always had problems but there was no BH occupying an entire region.

Though there is a war going on, many are still saying we can’t afford another civil war.

Blind faiths promoted by different religions have reached new heights and unprecedented dimensions.

Distrust will never disappear from Nigeria. It was partly distrust and fear of domination that destroyed the first republic in 1966.

There will always be distrust and the fear of marginalization too.

Nigeria is at a threshold, the most fragile since the end of the civil war in 1970.

Mr. Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP are making plans to postpone or cancel the 2015 elections due to insecurity in substantial parts of the country. This will create an inflammable volatile tension that may be impossible to quench when it implodes.

Everything in life has a limit. Luck is not an exemption.

Nigeria is in a dire need of a political solution. It is getting too late. The country and the people are slipping precariously into a season of electoral chaos.

The BH war, incessant tribal and religious conflicts in several places, inter/intra-state political enmity and the supra religion-based 2015 elections are super enrichments for calamities and self-destruction mechanisms.

Even in the face of distrust or mistrust, leadership and development in region-based government across Nigeria was still functional until the senseless coups of 1966.

A political option for Nigeria is to retrace the map of regional government and initiation of a referendum on resource control.

Obviously, there are more problems and divisions in Nigeria today compare to 1965 or 1966.

Therefore a modification of the regional government map to accommodate present day agitations may not be a suggestion that is out of place. It is an option far better and more preferable to what BH war has carved out for everyone involuntarily (as the lazy government looks away).

After 54 years of mostly misrule and deviation from what is normal, I always insist that Nigeria will not get a magic dose and no suggestion will be an overnight maneuver to paradise.

Every day breakfast is interrupted in expected and unexpected places and there are no helicopters to evacuate the Nigerian species that are not connected to the Badehs, the Jonathans, the Okupes and the Abatis.

What if breakfast is interrupted in Otuoke tomorrow?

One day perhaps breakfast may be interrupted at Aso Rock Villa-Nigeria’s citadel of corruption, and mis-governance.

On such a day, the bitcoins supporting pseudo unity, political and religious fallacies would have been overspent, the permanent cracks will collapse and it may be too late to reverse the threshold.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Simple Things

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

The simplest things in life have become the most difficult to achieve or recover in Nigeria. In a society where self is the most pursued ambition, the concern for others become secondary or non-existent.

Simple Things

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

The invention of the battery and electricity took place more than 200 years ago. When a country claims independence in 1960, it is natural to expect that a phenomenon already established should be easily sustained or adoptable.

This is an example of a simple thing.

Nigeria was/is not troubled with the task of discovering electricity; she just needs to produce and use it according to laid done principles. How hard is that?

It is too simple.

That the use of constant electricity is impossible in Nigeria 54 years after the so-called independence means that the handlers of Nigeria (both at the presidency and the state levels) are either brainless or heartlessly wicked.

Any other excuse (like pushing blames to institutions or persons after all these years) will be an act of self-delusion or complete senselessness.

There are so many simple things of life that remain elusive to / or were taken away from ordinary Nigerians. When they are available or affordable, they become like gold. Take education for instance.

Just ordinary simple things!

At a time when elementary school children were already going to schools with mobile phones in Europe and other places, it was used as a reference point in Nigeria. For example, people say, that lady with a cell. Some may say, the man whose mobile phone is always ringing during a church service.

In the year 2000 mobile phone was used to raise the statuses of Nigerians. Nonsense!

It was therefore a Nigerian miracle not performed in a church when Obasanjo opened the market for GSM applications in Nigeria. Some people still worship him for that without asking first what the heartless people and criminals heading the Ministry of Communications did with our land telephones.

Nowadays simple things are miracles in Nigeria.

Therefore in 2015 if Nigerians luckily arrived at the polls, they will be choosing among men and women according to the levels of non-performances, regions, tribes and religions.

Election is one of the simplest things I have seen.

In normal situations, people vote for candidates with dependable track records and people of mostly impeccable character (at the time of their entrances to public offices).

This is so simple, and the votes are counted!

Unfortunately for Nigerians, after many years of disorientation by both civilian and military governments, the majority have thrown away both their moral compasses and their sense of reasoning. This is sad because the institutions of governments at all levels have been bastardized. 54 years of social maladies!

Simple things became complicated and Nigerians reached a point of no return.

Hence, the amount of criminalities perpetrated since 1960 or 1999 or even in the last 4 years will not count substantially when people turn to the polls next year. Religions, regions and tribes will be more significant.

Nigerians won’t think about the men who truncated democracy albeit an imperfect, corrupt one. They have since allowed them to rope with ordinary politicians and made sure that both groups rape the country in similar manners.

Revolution is actually a simple act too.

It ranges from using mild but sustained, consistent, and purposeful civil disobedience to extremely violent measures in ensuring for example that public servants and politicians who have stolen from the national and state treasuries are made to face the music by force or they’ll run to exile.

It is a way to change things, mostly for the better. It is a way to seek changes until people understand that government is for service, not for stealing or enrichment.

Referendum is a product of a mild revolt and the subsequent outcomes always bring new awakening no matter what.

When the laws of a country are functional, the need for revolution is actually not necessary. A referendum will do. It is a simple thing.

It is a simple fact that the law system and the methods of justice in Nigeria represent ridicule for the African (black) race. There are so many looters in/out of government offices across Nigeria and they will decide the turn of things to come in 2015 if the people remain as they are-endorsing social maladies and accepting criminals as rulers, brothers, sisters and families.

Nigeria surprises me in how it held together despite all the atrocities of the politicians and the other categories of failed citizens entrusted with the policies that dictate the way of life and the value of it.

Nigerians shock me more than their country does.

How a people so diverse in cultures, languages and ways of life generally remain organized in corruption and sustenance of failed unitary governance must shock the most brilliant philosophical anthropologists.

Some votes will be counted, the rest will be adjusted by the electoral commission/commissioners according to the party that spend or spray the most looted currencies to the electoral commissions.

Nigeria will never be an ordinary country for as long it holds together. Unless a good change occurs, what may even follow Nigeria may be worse.

Many Nigerians lack the knowledge that simple ideas brought into actualizations can bring peace and prosperity to everybody. The wickedness and selfishness that reside in their hearts as a result of several years of absence of both sensible governance and patriotism speak volume.

Politics, pure criminal activities including armed robbery and religious frauds, are among the commonest methods to inexplicable wealth in Nigeria.  Yet the popularity of these vices grows.

The simplest things in life have become the most difficult to achieve or recover in Nigeria.

Where do you find a Nigerian politician who has not misappropriated public funds? It is therefore not a surprise that in 2015 every dick, tom and harry is venturing into politics-to become criminals accepted by the society.

Nigerian politics is also wasteful, probably the most expensive to run in the world.

A person who loots public funds and thereby living above his income and claim the grace of a god is a criminal except in Nigeria.

If you want to achieve holiness as a Nigerian even as the people you are supposed to serve are still living in penury, then visit Mecca or Jerusalem. The zombie people will even pray for you!

These things happen in Nigeria. People are praising a god or running after one god after stealing from the common wealth that is supposed to be used for developing the society and infrastructure in general.

The man who steals praises a god, the man who is robbed hopes on the same god. Both of them are stupid but the one who is robbed probably needs to be induced with a dose of cerebrum.

The bands of failed politicians ruling in Nigeria for example since 1999 have not been able to stabilized or improved electricity. They cannot account for the funds invested because the funds were mostly stolen or looted.

In several ways many things that are common sense, easy and simple have been thrown open as wild dramas in Nigeria.

A criminal becomes a state governor. Checked and move on!

A fraudulent person becomes the political godfather of a political party. Checked and no case!

A known convict is elevated in public life. He’s our son, checked!

A man who cannot explain the source of his wealth becomes the kingmaker and the most important socialite. Don’t jealous him, pray to god to give you same wealth!

These things, revealing simple facts but serious anomalies, should earn condemnations and they should spin the law into action. But they don’t in Nigeria. Useless law system!

These simple things that should arouse a revolution of minds, thoughts and actions have become seated as the standard and way of life.

Nigerians are hypocrites. They pretend to be united but they are far from it.

They are mostly divisive on simple matters that common sense can dictate. The dimension has become cancerous.

Simple things have become unhealthy debates on social networks taking on ethnic, religious and tribal dimensions. Reasons are clouded. Silly!

The future is bleak when criminals, sycophants and ass-lickers continue to cross carpet or leave Aso rock for governor’s offices and other appointments and vice versa.

The future is bleak when criminals flow from one section to another because the rest of the people remain silent or accomplices.

It is possible that more than 70% of Nigerians will live and die without experiencing the simple things that make life worth living.

They will not live with constant electricity and they will not live with constant flow of water in their homes. They will not live in standard apartments, flats or houses as these will remain the exclusive rights of the few, mostly rich.

They will not have basic education and their health statuses will be largely unchecked.

These simple things that elude Nigerians, these simple things that are easy to correct but remain ignored put a gigantic question mark on the mindfulness of the Nigerians.

The commonest (and probably also the most unacceptable question) to social critics is “what are the solutions?

How can we not know that the solutions to these problems are very simple?

People in public offices and positions of authorities should do the right thing or get booted by law or force or revolt!

How hard can it be to know that when a criminal or groups of criminals continue to have their ways that the problems (like lack of electricity, lack of clean water, lack of good roads, lack of proper public education) will persist?

How do we think? What are our views of public service?

What are our obligations to humanity and posterity?

But these simple things are complicated because many people are greedy and they will hide the truth just because of the things they hope to gain. They ignore their mindfulness.

In a society where self is the most pursued ambition, the concern for others become secondary or non-existent.

Nigeria will never get a magic dose. I know about the clamor for regional governments which may be a step in the right direction. Even secession is in the air.

How to take care of the simple things will be a concern no matter what type of dispensation that emerge in 2015.

The saddest thing will be a carry-over of the status quo.

aderounmu@gmail.com

The Dream

/ Adeola / 4 Comments

“To live long, love other people including your family as you love yourself. Don’t be greedy because that is the origin of sadness. Be careful to learn every day”

The Dream

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Olawale had a dream.

When he woke up, he had forgotten the dream. He was afraid because he had forgotten the dream. In his village, the people always say when you forget your dreams that the gods may have forsaken you.

Nobody knows if the postulation is superstitious or not. Some people thought it is a way of promoting spiritual awareness and consciousness of the unseen dimension or the supernatural world.

They say that dreams are the revelations of the things to come. They say that dreams are ways to remember their forefathers and it will be the way that their children will remember them.

Dreams can be the substantial evidence of reincarnation and the fulfilment of the wish to live forever.

It is like that. Our departed parents and grandparents come to us and we go to them in our dreams. Olawale remembered one of his father’s postulations.

Therefore the gift of dream and the gift of memory are cherished among the dwellers.

In this village, you will never tell anyone about your dreams if you don’t remember them.

By following their dreams many people have accomplished outstanding feats. Many have found a way to move on with their lives, away from the points of hopelessness.

Olawale had forgotten some of his dreams before. It is not unusual for people to forget dreams. This is because the transition between night and day in our sleep is endless.

No one knows what breaks the transition for the people who return to day with consciousness.

It was in this village that people first ask if another person has woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

They think that the people who are angry in the mornings are those who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. They think that you lack spiritual guidance if you forget your dreams and that could be one of the sources of your anger.

Nobody is perfect and no mortal will always remember all their dreams. If they do, they will transform to gods and there will be too many gods for human needs and desires.

Olawale was also sad.

So for 7 days he almost didn’t speak to anyone. He only replied and gave short answers when people spoke to him.

His parents didn’t hear from him as much as they would have wanted. When he is returning from work, he usually pays them a visit on his way home. When he had gone home on another route, he calls them from a local telephone kiosk.

But this week is different because he felt inadequate for forgetting yet another dream.

On the 8th day he decided to leave the house and go for a long walk in the forest. He wanted to clear his mind.

After walking for just 15 minutes he was very tired. He was tired because he had also not been eating very well since the day he forgot his last dream.

So he said to himself, I will rest.

Then he sat down on a big stone. He rested. But he fell asleep on the stone.

He rolled off the stone and fell down on the other side of it. He was shaking. He did not know when he fell asleep. Now he was  awake and the big stone was above him.

As he was about to stand up, he saw a bag under the stone. But he was afraid because he didn’t know how the bag got there. He was more afraid for what could be the content of the bag.

As he was pondering about where he was and how a bag could have landed under a big stone in the forest, his “forgotten” dream came back to him like a flash.

Eight days ago, he had dreamt that he became a very rich man during his middle-age. So he was upset when he forgot the dream because he had a feeling it was something positive.

Now he remembered his dream and he saw a mysterious bag.

He started to ponder about the meaning of his dream. He was still afraid. He was not sure what could be inside the bag and he was alone in the forest.

How can a bag lie under the stone in the forest where nobody lives? He pondered.

He took the bag from under the stone and was surprised that such a big bag felt to light when he took it up. He opened it and found nothing but a letter inside the bag.

Dear son,

To be happy, you need to find the things that you like. Do them and you’ll be happy.

To be well, eat fresh food that you cook yourself.

When you get married, take care of your wife and children.

Don’t let the sun go down on your anger or frustrations.

Instead take a walk for life, for health.

Be of kind heart and show appreciation for the things you have.

Work hard and don’t forget to spend from your savings.

Contentment, not material richness, is the secret of happiness.

To live long, love other people including your family as you love yourself.

Don’t be greedy because that is the origin of sadness.

These are some of the simple lessons of life.

But be careful to learn every day.

The lessons you learn will guide you. They’ll enrich you.

When the alarm went on Olawale woke up and realised that he had been asleep for 3 hours. He was sweating, so he took a cold shower and spent the evening reflecting about his dream.

In it he learnt about some of the simple secrets of life in a letter that he found in a bag in the forest.

aderounmu@gmail.com

(c) 2014

Why Men Should Cook

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

Cooking can be a form of relaxation. It is surely art. A nation or a country can be built on well laid foundations that start from the family.

Why Men Should Cook

By Adeola Aderounmu

Time in the kitchen is time well spent

Time in the kitchen is time well spent

A nation or a country can be built on well laid foundations that start from the family. I have argued for parental leave for both mothers and fathers in Nigeria.

Unfortunately there has not been any progress in that area. The typical Nigerian life is driven by harsh economic realities and unpredictable socio-political circumstances.

In one of the most complicated situations in the world, the influence of culture and religion in Nigeria provide for a lot of arguments and discussions on the roles of men in different functional and complicated family situations.

All the men in my nuclear family are great cooks. How is that possible?

The credit goes to our mother who complemented our education effectively on the home front. In Western Nigerian secondary schools (during my time) boys are encouraged to choose Agricultural Science and the girls Home Economics.

As I recall now it seemed that the society also played a biased role in determining the roles of men and women. Therefore it appeared that unless the boys took great interest in cooking or their parents especially mothers taught them at home, they always ended up unable to cook.

Many are quick to emphasize that it is the role or even the “job” of women to cook. In traditional African settings that is largely true. The last statement can be expanded even as a topic for an academic dissertation based on the settings of the traditional African societies and the division of labor amongst the men, women and children.

It has always been imperative that women are able to cook, I may state.

My arguments in this essay are towards the men. I think that the men should be able to cook as much as the women. There are many examples of men who are better cook than their wives or the women in their lives.

These arguments are based on the realities of a changing world that cannot be locked up in the past.

Why should men cook? I will draw mostly from personal experiences.

Cooking as I have found out can be a form of relaxation. A wrong notion might be that a man needs a cold bottle of beer after a stressful day at work.

Cooking can relax the mind and body

Cooking can relax the mind and body

If your kitchen is tidy it is one of the best places to retire to after a hard day’s work. It is a place where you can either throw away your disappointments or show your happiness for the day.

Under any of these circumstances above there should be no hindrance to showing love and care to your children or to your visitors or friends depending on the company you keep after work.

Cooking is art. By systematically creating a piece of meal or a nice, tasty diet from essential raw materials, you might forget or relish about how the day has been and cherish the moment when your children, friends or family enjoy the products your serve to them.

A man should cook to ease the strain on the family.

The children should not suffer or eat junk food simply because their mother is working late one day a week. They should not bear the brunt of their mother visiting a friend during the week or attending a ceremony on Saturday.

If the man is at home, he should be able to stand up to the responsibility of keeping the family going and cooking should be the least of his worries.

There will always be situations when the man is alone with the children at home. That time should not be the time to put up the “I don’t care attitude”. It should not be the time to insult the mother of the children simply because she is held up with another activity.

Some men will never accept that they neglected the obligation of learning how to cook when they were growing up.

Men don’t cook in my family is an outdated expression. When I went to the university I always ate from mama-put is the outburst of a lazy mind. Wake up and look around you. Face the reality of your time and brace up for the era you live in!

Many students can cook despite the fact that they ate at Mama-put and other decent restaurant-which one is your own?

Cooking helps the women to appreciate and boast positively about their men. They feel a sense of gender equality without struggling to achieve it. In a functional family this can promote sexual attraction and help the family to stay psychologically healthy.

Pie: cooking is a form of art

Pie: cooking is a form of art

I do not mean that cooking prevent separation or divorce. It is just one of the ingredients that help as long as the relationship exists.

When both men and women take turns in the kitchen especially when the turns are not based on a schedule, it helps the children to understand that they are required to also take responsibilities for many things in their lives.

The act of pushing blames or looking for excuses start from the family and children learn too quickly from their immediate environment.

Cooking helps children to learn in diverse ways. Science, art, creativity and mathematics are all embodied into cooking.

In Nigeria I can recall that we learned how to cook using a lot of estimations in our judgments of what is required or needed.

Now when I cook sometimes with instructions and using units like “deciliter” or other measurements-I appreciate the level of my mother’s mathematics. It is almost unbelievable what our mothers did!

I know some men take to cooking as a hobby. This means that, by looking or by some sort of interest they just got going at cooking and found it easy and lovable.

I am sure this category of men have found cooking as a useful hobby at those times they are alone as bachelors or married men whose wives are away for certain reasons. They are able to step-up and take charge of the kitchen.

Turning this hobby into a responsibility will be useful on the long run.

From the foregoing, the ability to cook can also help men (and women) to live independently if they choose to be single.

In my family the time between the secondary school leaving year and the university admission year was reserved for intensive course in cooking with my mother. Invariably that was the time you take over the responsibility of cooking for the others in the family who are at home or getting back from work.

Long before that time, it was recommended to be an observer as mama dished out orisirisi from different pots on our stove that was powered by the kerosene.

Growing up in my family back in Nigeria, I know that both boys and girls have equal abilities in the kitchen. I mean a balance of culinary skills. What may vary is the creativity that we add as we went our separate ways.

The documentation of my days at Jaja and Mariere Halls of the University of Lagos cannot be complete without the flavor and aroma the boys in the halls added to the hostels every day.

Later on I met a friend (names withheld) who told me that he could hardly make a cup of tea. He was actually not joking that he cannot even fry an egg. He frequents my room at the College of Medicine in Idiaraba and I always try to show him how I cook. His case was hopeless. He is still my friend today.

When I have had visitors at our home in Stockholm, some people were unable to hide their shock as to the long time I spent in the kitchen. I cook and I tidy up after cooking. Then I tell them why men should cook and tidy up. I hope some women are not fighting their men based on my kitchen behavior.

I do not believe it is the role of women to always do the cooking or tidy up. My mother would chase me out of the kitchen if I start to cook when the kitchen is dirty. In some extreme cases that I remember, she will put out the fire from the stove and I have to take it from the beginning.

There is a time to add the salt and there is a time to slice the onions. No stones in the beans or you’ll eat all the beans yourself. The rice cannot stick together and the tomato sauce must be well fried. Oh Mamma!

Today I appreciate those teachings more than ever before. You will never see me in a dirty kitchen. I can get ill in a dirty kitchen and that is not an exaggeration. It is not a function of wealth but common sense and lessons about hygiene well taken from my mother.

In Nigeria, many families will probably be unable to synchronize their meal times but with proper planning breakfast and dinner at home should be a possibility. Depending on the weekend schedules, families should strive to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together.

People should stop giving excuses on why they cannot cook or eat with their family.

Like many other issues affecting the upbringing of children, many men will continue to blame it on “lack of time”.

There will never be enough time for what a man wants to do in his lifetime. The same is true for women. People should be taught how to manage their time using the family (spouse and children) as the starting point.

Parents should help their children to acquire cooking skills at home. Bring the children into a safe and tidy kitchen and show them how to cook.

It will be a long walk for the Nigerian society but it is achievable across all the regions if sensible and capable people take over control of the politics and the economy across all the various regions.

Nothing is impossible when there is a sincere roadmap that is not left in the hands of idiots and complete nonentities who are driven by selfish interests and absolute greed.

In Nigeria, it is imperative that the different regions are allowed to re-emerge.

There is a lot in the identities of each ethnic group that are submerged and lost in the name of unitary government that shows lack of respect to individuals and folk-group.

People should be allowed to tap into their cultural and traditional family values. They should be taught how to plan their homes appropriately with respect to family size and responsibilities.

It is time to lift the positive values within the family through regional adaptive education and merge them with the demands of a global village.

Properly educated children will build strong families and dependable communities. They will form the backbones of viable regions across Nigeria. The future can be bright and better.

My late mother’s teachings at home and an adaptive, undiluted education in Western Nigeria fit perfectly into a functional life at home and across the world.