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ibnaija@yahoo.com Political Scientist USA

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RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT PEPPERSOUP

t Mama Bola's Peppersoup Parlour located off Aggrey Road in Port-Harcourt, there is hardly a shortage of conversation amongst the working and middle class patrons. Over the years, many political ideas have been hatched there. It's a place where many go to indulge cheaply in the affairs of the stomach. The atmosphere there belies the very essence of the Nigerian problem, making it almost impossible not to draw parallels with the larger society. The tables are so close to one another that one could easily hear the discussions of others and often times those discussions are about the political and economic situation in the country. While I was in boarding school, I could remember sneaking out many times with a handful of friends to languish at her Parlour.

Peppersoup Bowl

As frequent customers, she was always generous with her serving spoon, often fishing in the big simmering bowls for the choicest pieces of bush meat. She had a special afinity for us and would always serve us from the finest and latest pot with alarming generosity not usually extended to other patrons. The bowls were very cheap in those days and even now. Then, a bowl which consisted of lots of goat meat, fowl intestines (yes people eat those) and sometimes cow tripe (the inside of the cow) cost only N5.00. We are talking about a sizeable bowl that sometimes was big enough to serve as a helmet. Now, it's about N9 to N12 depending on the size and contents. When one adds drinks to the mix, the tab, considerably, was still reasonable by Nigerian standards.

At the main entrance into the Parlour, there are many signs and posters. One of them read, "At Mama Bola's, we guarantee you a sneeze" in reference to her peppery liquid which is capable of clearing one's sinuses no matter how congested. It behooves me -that the big drug companies have not tapped Mama Bola's recipe into their sinus remedy drugs. And Mama Bola is right each times. At noon, when the Parlour is packed, one would often hear sneezes coming from all directions. You will hear some say, "Excuse me...." and then a loud sneeze follows. Some are not that cautious as they would just sneeze and not even say "Excuse me". They must have been raised by a pack of wolves.

Peppersoup Pot

No one went in there without a hand or pocket full of napkins as they are often out of napkins at the Parlour. Sometimes, the line is so long that people would sit outside just to have a test of Mama Bola's best. And her Friday special which often consists of an assortment of meat, we are talking goat, cow, bush meat and all, has been the driving force behind her fine reputation. Next to the above sign is another that says, "No Pain, No Gain," which in the context of Mama Bola's enterprise, means that the eater of peppersoup must suffer the pepper to enjoy the meal, a concept quite applicable to life.

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But while the meaning may stop there for Mama Bola and her patrons, it's necessary that we go a step further and apply this old phrase to the prevailing sad and depressing condition in our country. Every nation on earth has had to go through some growing pains. Some of these nations are enjoying their gains now because they have endured their pain. Today, the great nations, the US, Britain, Japan, Korea, etc, all have gone through growing pains. But in Nigeria, it has been all pain and no gain. For forty-four years, we have been waiting for the gain, but to no avail. In spite of our enormous oil wealth, we continue to be considered one of the poorest countries on earth. In spite of our oil wealth, we continue to import oil for our use, in spite of our oil wealth, our roads are death traps and our hospitals are places to contract diseases. Nigerians have been going through the pain, but when will they receive the gain?

The main problem of Nigeria lies with our leadership. Every progressive nation must have visionary leaders who can foresee the future. With only twelve years of planning, the US through visionary leadership was able to put a man on the moon. With the right leadership, the sky will be our limits and we will begin to correct some of the ills that are plaguing us. Let's take a look at countries in the Middle East, particularly, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the like. They are rich and even though they have smaller populations than we have, they have made very good use of their oil resources. Nigeria could have been the Saudi Arabia of Africa in terms of physical development. But our leaders rather than investing the money in the people and in structural development siphon it all abroad as we have seen in the case of Dariye, the disgraced Plateau governor who was arrested in London for money laundering. Simply put, this is precisely the reason why we are experiencing such pain as a nation.

The poster at Mama Bola's Peppersoup could not have been any more pertinent to the reality on the ground. The case of Nigeria runs smack of the logic. We have in the National Assembly legislators who want to go on strike because a minister called them fools. Our president seems to have neglected his mandate and is now serving Africa as the head of the African Union. Seemingly, the whole country is on the verge of precipice even as we get ready to celebrate our 44th anniversary and as the north introduces its own Sharia regime. Nigeria has been a huge disappointment to many who held it out as the beacon of hope. Those who rushed to Nigeria in 1999 when democracy was reborn have since packed their bags and headed back to hence they came. Today, we have Nigerians taking citizenship of every country on earth even Togo. Our leaders ought to imbibe a dose of reality and work on behalf of the people. Otherwise, the people should and must revolt against ineptitude and disingenuity for in a democratic society, that is their right.