HOW MUCH LONGER SHALL WE CONDONE EXPLOITATION?

All Hope Lost?

I was having a conversation with friends’ a few nights ago and I suddenly realised that I may have been living in denial or false hope for a long time. Everyone who knows me knows I’m really passionate about Nigeria’s political situation and preservation of our history. I’ve always dreamt of having a career along the lines of human rights activism and fighting corruption. I’ve found myself constantly asking the question, “How do I begin?” but I’ve somehow managed to convince myself that where there’s a will, there’s a way. I’ve thus, always looked forth with optimism.

My friend’s and I started off talking about over-priced contracts being shared amongst people in public office then we went on to discuss the electricity situation, privatisation of every single sector in our economy and generally, what our future holds.

“Forget it! We’ll probably never have stable electricity in Nigeria. Owners of petrol stations and distributors of generator sets will never allow it” I’ve never fully understood how in a developing nation with a majority of the citizenry surviving on less than $1 a day, are able to pay PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) bills when they barely have power and also buy fuel to run their generators. Note that Nigeria is an Oil producing Nation yet we have to import most of our fuel. Comparing the pump price of fuel in Nigeria to that of other oil-producing nations with similar economies to ours such as Algeria and Libya, we have fuel pretty expensive. I will discuss the fuel subsidy removal topic on a later date.

So I asked my friends, how exactly can the electricity situation in Nigeria be bettered? Of course, we need to get rid of all firms exploiting our under-development for profit purposes, but with all their ties to government, how is that going to be possible? Our older generation politicians refusing to retire are worsening our predicament. How can an 80 year old man be appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nigeria’s Ports Authority? Are there no vibrant young men in the country?

The plight of the common Nigerian man is not meagre. Imagine a married man with 4 children living in a one bedroom apartment, surviving on our minute minimum wage, N18000 (Roughly £72) a month. Note that this man has to pay rent, PHCN bills, children's school fees and every other cost that family life incurs. This man probably has a hard labour job, working very long hours to make ends meet. On the other end of the living scale, there's the National Assembly member who lives in a Mansion, rarely attends/ is vocal in the law making sittings but has a salary of about N2,000,000 a month (roughly £8000) and if you include all the frivolous allowances he gets, he earns about N150,000,000 quarterly (roughly £600,000). Nigeria, we hail thee.

The main aim of my article today is to implore us, the youth to be more aware of the plight of our fellow country-men. We need to use every medium we have to raise awareness and bring about the change we so desperately NEED. I've had conversations with people that want to go into politics, and some of them have joked, saying things like "Ah, I can't wait to enter into politics, and get my own share of the oil money" Joke or not, we must not repeat the mistakes of our past leaders. All Hope is not lost! We may not have the answers to all our questions now, we may not have the solutions to all our problems but a keen interest in the affairs of our country and dedication to the CHANGE course would provide us with solutions in due course.

Quoting from Fela Anikulapo-Kuti's V.I.P ( Vagabond's In Power) "I say, everybody get him power (Everywhere!) Everybody get him power (Everywhere!)" Our voices united, are powerful. The change we seek, we shall get!

Love,

Onyi.

HISTORY MEMOIRS: NIGERIA FROM MY CHILDHOOD LENS

Who killed Marshall Harry?

Who killed Bola Ige?

Who killed Aminasoari Kala Dikibo?

Who killed Funsho Williams?

Who spearheaded all the other political assassinations that have taken place in Nigeria from the inception of our “new” democracy in 1999, till date?

As a 10-year-old child, I was pretty observant. I read the papers almost daily and I eavesdropped on political conversations in the family. I think what sparked my interest in politics was the murder of an Imo State senatorial aspirant, Ogbonnaya Uche, the father of a girl whom I really admired in primary school. I stood for academic excellence & distinguishment, and watching Ojiugo Uche (daughter of the slain politician) called out so many times to accept academic awards on her graduation marvelled me. I, just a year from graduating at the time, made a pact with myself that I too would be called out.

On Saturday 8^th February 2003, 3 alleged gunmen shot Chief Ogbonnaya Uche in his Owerri house. Being a frontline politician for All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP), major rival to the then ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). His assassination was suspected to have been politically instigated.

Before Ogbonnaya Uche’s assassination he was running for Imo State’s  Orlu constituency Senatorial seat. He was the ANPP flag bearer and his major opponent at the time was PDP’s Arthur Nzeribe.

Arthur Nzeribe is known to be the longest serving Senator in Nigeria, he’s known for his die-hard attitude and also as politician who cannot be double-crossed. I am not implying that Mr Nzeribe was involved in OGB’s murder but I am concerned that I did not find any records that showed that the police took in Arthur Nzeribe or any other political opponnents in for questioning after OGB’s assassination. I believe it is only logical that in cases that seem to have political involvement, opponents should be interrogated. After police investigations, a group of hoodlums were paraded as his assassinators, no political big wigs were indicted, OGB was laid to rest and the chapter of his assassination was closed up soon. I was only a child when all of this happened, but that was when I lost all faith in Nigeria’s Police Force.

I remember the name Marshall Harry vividly. Judging from how often his name was mentioned when I was around people in Port Harcourt who were interested in Politics, I viewed him as some sort of political legend. Chief Marshall Isokrari Harry was a very active PDP stalwart in 1999. He decamped to the ANPP (All Nigeria’s People Party) later on. He became the South-south co-ordinator during the 2003 General elections. It was recorded that Marshall Harry applied to use the Liberation Stadium Port Harcourt to kick off the ANPP’s campaign rally. He was asked to pay Seven million, five hundred thousand Naira for a stadium that was used earlier on by the PDP and they only paid Eight hundred thousand Naira. Chief Marshall Harry spoke out saying that he refused to be harassed and intimidated by the PDP. Marshall Harry finally made the payment of Seven million, five hundred thousand Naira to secure the stadium for use on the 8^th of March, 2003 but he was shot at his house on the 5^th of March, 2003.

On the 5^th of March 2003, the then ANPP chairman Don Etiebet released a statement making it known that he felt the PDP was responsible for Marshall’s death. I am writing this essay in 2013 but no PDP members have been indicted,

A group of hoodlums were paraded as the killers on national media, but were the sponsors ever found? The hoodlums didn’t take any of Marshall Harry’s valuables so the theory that it was an assassination with high-end sponsors is valid.

 In Port Harcourt circles, Aminasoari Kala Dikibo popularly known as A.K Dikibo was another name I always saw in the papers. I remember waking up one morning barely a year after Marshall Harry was murdered and hearing people say “Ah, they don kill A.K Dikibo oh”. The then President and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Retired General Olusegun Obasanjo declared in a media chat that armed robbers killed AKD. He was the Vice-chairman of the PDP South-south region, he was known to be very opinionated. He was on his way to a zonal meeting when he was murdered. Several questions arose as to what the purpose of the meeting was, If AKD was acting as an obstacle to the intentions of certain politicians, and so on. Are we going to pretend that he was slain by a group of armed robbers? There were no political connections? Lets assume that he was truly killed by armed robbers, why weren’t they found?

How can a Country’s Attorney General be murdered and up till date, his killers have not been found? How is it that all the people arrested and tried for the murder of the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF A FEDERATION were acquitted? This to me is very mind-boggling. Chief Ajibola Ige was murdered on the 23^rd of December 2001. 12 years on, we are still waiting on the Government and The Nigerian Police Force to tell us their findings after Investigating. We want to know what happened to Bola Ige!

The people mentioned above are only a few of the politicians who have lost their lives in Nigeria’s so-called “New found Democracy” I have asked myself a lot of times if Nigeria is worth dying for. I am not unpatriotic, I love my country but I feel like we are terminally ill. Any man with vision who tries to speak up against the ills in our government is cut down and the change we seek is still very far away from us. We are still burdened with the same under-developed infrastructure we faced in 1999 and in some cases, worsened situations. An example would be Federal Government Colleges and Tertiary Institutions.

The Government and the Nigerian Police Force owe the families of every single slain politician, reports on their investigation. I personally believe that most of the assassinations were spear- headed by people in the government at the time. We will never forget our slain heroes, they have been penned down in our history memoirs and their legacy would guide us, the youth. I can only wish that one day the killers amongst us face the music and pay the price for all the atrocities against humanity they have committed. 

EXPRESSION

I’ve had Tracy Chapman’s “Baby Can I hold you”, Big Mountain’s “Baby, I love your way” and Bob Marley’s “I wanna love you” on repeat for a while now. I love Classic love songs, I love to write letters to people I love; I guess that explains my obsession/fascination by the lyrics of these songs.

What completely fascinates me is the huge smile plastered across my face every time I listen to these songs, I feel like I’ve been transported to a different realm. One filled with happiness, joy, sharing, self-appreciation, LOVE.

Tracy Chapman’s “Baby Can I hold you” brings memories back to me. “Maybe if I told you the right words at the right time, you’ll be mine” Ever felt like you let good things go by because you held back too much? You didn’t just let the words out because you were scared of the outcome?

Life has taught me to take chances. Words are better expressed than left unsaid, whatever the outcome be. I love the person people I love make me become. I love how selfless I become; I love how ready I am to make sacrifices; I love how vulnerable I am for them; I love how in touch I become with my humanity. I was watching videos of Tracy Chapman performing live a while ago and I was in AWE. I preferred her live performances to her studio recordings, how is that even possible? She exuded innocence. Minimalism at its finest and Oo still so beautiful!

TRACY CHAPMAN

I love the feel good vibe Big Mountain’s “Baby, I love your way” and Bob Marley's “I wanna love you" give. Every time I listen, I imagine someone I am totally smitten by reading them out as poems to me. I live for expression. I feel like our life sojourn is too short to not express ourselves. Obviously, there are some things we need to hold back because they may not be of value to us or the people around us but everything with a positive impact, everything that spreads joy should be SHARED!

I keep wishing I was born in the Bob Marley era, I wish I saw him perform live. I love how his work has incredible content yet gives off such a feel good, chill vibe. Truly, Bob Marley is a legend.

I love how easy the advancement of technology has made our lives but I hate how lazy its made us become. I miss the days when people penned me letters/poems. I had a girls' weekend with a close friend a few weekends ago and she had a letter box. She had stored up all the letters people had sent her over the years. When she showed me the letters I had written her, I became really nostalgic. I wished I had kept mine. Life's unpredictability makes it necessary to preserve every good memory we have.

Do something spontaneous today. Verbally express yourself to someone, or even go an extra mile and write. Spread the gospel of love today and always.

Love,

Onyi.  

BRAND NEW ME

“I’ve got this, I found me, I FOUND ME’ – Alicia Keys in Brand New Me

I’ve always felt like Alicia Keys totally gets me. From If I ain’t got you to Teenage Love Affair and my boo, I feel like she’s played a crucial role in my teenage love life. I remember singing loudly in the shower or over the phone whilst talking to my love interest (LOL). I have a number of special memories created with her music playing in the background.

When she announced that her hiatus from music had ended, I was (still am actually) very excited. I didn’t really like Girl on fire at first; its grown on me now but let me get back to the crux, BRAND NEW ME!

The end of last year was a big relief for me. I’d spent half the year borderline depressed and finally I was becoming my jovial self again. To wake up with no worries and full of optimism seemed like a myth but it was finally happening to me! I was finally finding my light again. My tear filled nights and gloomy winter days changed me! I didn’t know I had “Free-spirit” in me; I wasn’t sure how much adventure I was open to. Thankfully, now I know.

Atelier is the French word for workshop, so this is basically my workshop. I am going to share my Interests (Politics, Fashion, Current Affairs, Lifestyle) on here & hopefully I find people that think like me & want to share stuff too.

TEASER;