"ANYTHING NOW GOES"

"ANYTHING NOW GOES"

Nigeria is such a wonderful country that has lost herself in time and her people are almost oblivious of her glorious past. The images and videos of those days before and after independence clearly showcases a nation laden with potential and hope.  I debated with a few colleagues today about the source of the black man's trouble;  the presence or absence of a genetic etiology. 

One of us asked if it was due to the fact that the colonial masters left too soon and I was of the opinion that that was not the reason why we had fared poorly as a nation thus far.

The white man left institutions for us. A good proportion of the steel brought in to lay our rail tracks pre-independence remain in-situ. The wooden panels and concrete utilised to construct buildings within the premises of the University of Ibadan for example from the 1940s-1960s remain solid and in better condition than the buildings currently under construction.

Photographs taken in the past when compared to those of exact spots today clearly reveal how this once potentially great nation has paled and worn out by greed, corruption and indiscipline. We should naturally weep when we see such but the tragedy is that most Nigerians would not even recognize that those old images are in fact Nigeria. 

I watched part of the news yesterday night and could not help but be astonished at some of the reports.  In one story, a good number of aggrieved youths protested in Abuja with placards that spelt out the reason for their gathering.  These ones were promised Nigerian immigration jobs after miraculously surviving the immigration exercise stampede last year.  Some displayed their medical records and investigation request forms which had what appeared to be covering notes written on them by the immigration service in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. 

Goodluck Jonathan had graciously lavished immigration jobs on 3 members each of all confirmed deceased applicants but these promised ones were left out in the Pankshin cold displaying cardboard papers with "shot" change written upon.  One major thing they accused the ministry of interior of was releasing lists of mysterious people who were not affected directly or indirectly by the stampede. Jonathan did a lot of transient things solely for the elections which have unfortunately vaporised following his failure.  Electricity distribution in large parts of Lagos have now become non existent one wonders what happened to the previous rationing formula prior to the elections. Many federal workers got paid their March wages way before the end of the month and this was inclusive of those centres where it is customary to receive wages between the "35th- 40th" day of the month. Great gesture to impress voters one would say but it failed woefully. 

Another story was about the delayed handover from the erstwhile chased out inspector general of police to the acting IGP and local Interpol boss.  It was quite informative reading between the lines of the comments made by the sacked IGP when he eventually showed up in his safari suit to surrender his throne. The "uniform" chaos of the police still baffles me till tomorrow.  The new guy Arase was shown walking into a building with other junior cops and there were those in blue shirts, greenish "MOBILE police" colors and of course those in the old black and the new camouflage blue-black.  

New IG. Google images

I still wonder why the police need to wear camouflage just like I wonder why the immigration service and customs also do.  It is only the Civil defence crew I have not seen in camouflage.  They will need red and blue outfits to balance up. I saw a mobile police officer today wearing what looked like army issue "desert storm" boots.  The green khaki and light brown footwear did not blend at all but I'm sure the dandy cop wasn't in the least bothered because that is just what was supplied to the police. Is it too much to demand some consistency within the ranks of the police? 

The minister of information addressed a press conference to clarify previous comments about the hand over date being the 28th of May instead of the day after.  She talked a bit trying desperately hard to convince her audience that the 28th was only going to be about a dinner and that she was misunderstood during her earlier announcement.  I watched on nonchalantly until a point when she addressed the president elect as just "Buhari" without any reference to protocol or am I just overreacting? 

The final story that I remember upset me was that the Nigerian football federation had announced a new kit deal with sports giant Nike.  Who signs such deals without any elaborate launching program and contract details? It only happens in Nigeria I guess;  they assured Nigerians that the 3 year deal was worth it financially while they held the details to their chest and away from intrusion. Why did the NFF suddenly return to Nike which they dropped in 2003? The executive then opted for Adidas over hummels because of the brand name even though the Danish company had a far better offer on the table than the very deep green pyjamas like and bland jerseys used by the super eagles during the 2004 nations cup in Tunisia. 

Osaze's breakthrough tourney. Shocking jersey.
Google images

The story about the numerous "vote for APGA and die" coffins used to decorate Abia roads was just for "tragic-comic" relief.

Lagoon submarine? Google images. 

24042015