FEATURE ARTICLE

By Ann Charles  (EMAIL) Washington Monday, October 1, 2001

A Reflection for Independence day

woke up this morning and called Port Harcourt without knowing it was Independence day in my country!! I was kindly informed by the telephone operator at the office I called that nobody was working today. Independence day!! Wow. I started thinking about the Nigeria I grew up in, the country I matured in, the country I ran away from and the country I am scared to visit. Was I independent, free to achieve and do my will according to the law? Hm. Got me reminiscing on my past experiences so in a nutshell……… 1980s As I remember it, Nigeria was fun filled. I was admitted into secondary school in 1982 and I graduated in 1988. Life was a ball. I attended a federal government college, then an elite [I mean the academically elite, sorry] school to attend. We had free notebooks and stationary for a while until the so-called austerity measure period of the early eighties. All I did as a kid was wake up, eat a healthy breakfast, go to school, learn something, go for lunch break and during break, have constructive socializing with my mates in other arms of my class, close for the day, do my homework and some studying, play with genuine friends like a kid and return to my bed safe and sound after school. Such dreamy times. Definitely, not the same today, at least not through my eyes. I maybe too old now to see the picture has not changed. But, if I am to be sane and with good memory, the times did change. 1990s So I attended University in Nigeria beginning from 1988 to 1992. Life was a ball for some part and crazy for a while there. When I started in my first year, the first terrifying incident of my life was a life threat from a secret cult member who had made an unsuccessful pass at me. I received on a nice and otherwise normal evening a letter on ruled paper written in red ink and delivered by an unknown messenger stating how I was going to be murdered and my remains thrown into a specific river because I had broken someone’s heart. At the age of 16 do I need to tell you I was half dead already? That instantly changed my interaction with my male peers. First I had to solve the problem. I could not tell my dad because his world was full of blame for me and I did not want him knowing anyone had made a pass at me. Then some of my classmates who liked me for different, sometimes unsavory reasons started approaching me with different irritating proposals. "They were there when the letter was written and they pleaded in vain", but then tehy went on to suggest that if I became their girlfriend I would be protected and the laundry list is long so I will stop here. What they did not realize was they had encountered a girl who was soooooo headstrong, I was ready to stop going to school rather than date someone I had no likeness for. Well, without going into details, I eventually solved my problem using my father’s long tentacles, MOPOL, the SSS and every uniformed man on the street. After this incident, I decided to befriend some of the fiends so as to have protection by virtue of being a friend. Luckily, one of them decided he liked me. He was so crazy, he was showing up everywhere I went. I rode him like a horse. I had him believing it was going to be some day in the near future and that I loved him. My main weapon was his open womanizing on campus. I told him if he could keep his pants up for one semester, we would be the hottest couple. Of course that could not happen. Mr E’s pants were so hot they never stayed on and God always provided me with a laundry list of his accomplishments. So, I was his hot to-be sensation with maximum protection from the cults [his cult was the biggest in my school]. Everybody except myself and Mr E thought we were dating. I could not have cared less at this point what people thought. Students were scared of me because of the evil atrocities of his friends. For some reason I think he provided finance to his cult so he did not need to do dirty jobs. So I graduated in time and I shed that skin. Somehow, he became a great friend. But now, I was in a position to tell him off if I needed to. There was no need to because of a friendship forged after 4 years. I have not seen him since 1992 but he is still dear to me and he saved me the agony of being harassed by other guys. While all this was going on, I also started spending more time in the city near my school. There were lots of charmers and parties and my social life pretty much revolved around city outings. It was safer to hang out with working class men. They asked and if you said no, it was cool with them. No one was interested in sending you death threats. They just wanted to have fun!!! And I had fun!! But then came post-graduation. I was able to obtain an enviable oil industry posting using only my charm. My policy was promise those randy men heaven and earth and never give in. I had learnt from my peers in college that the secret to collecting most of what you need is to never give in. Once you start a “relationship” with someone because of a material need they know about, you became talk of the town [they recommend your services] and you never get what you want. Good information for the others out there!!! It worked immensely for me and I never had to date anyone!! These fellows will cross rivers for you once you promise them nonsense. Nigeria, ah!! Then, when you are safely in, kindly tell them you have no time, keep scheming or remind them of their wives. I used to make effort to mingle with some of their wives relatives so they had no armory against me. So, the more men I rebuked, the hotter I became. I guess there was now some competition with a trophy for who could uncover the mystery. Then I finished my one year of dedicated service to my nation and within two weeks of returning home, using my charm again, I got myself into another oil industry job. It was not a job for anyone with a first degree in a science field but it certainly was a good paying job. I worked there for about three years until I started yearning for progress. My boss was pestering me with useless and annoying overtures, the only way my unit ever got paid was by lobbying one of the finance top shots who was interested somewhat in me. I would go to his office and book promising dates and demand money unless he pushed our checks. Of course, not using his brain at the time, he would push our checks in anticipation of some rendezvous. I must have made him about 10 failed promises. It is interesting how he’d become a kid and believe when I promised him these things. Poor guy is all I can say. At least I think I was civil to him and his unknowing wife. Sometimes I wondered if I was the only one with some knowledge of AIDS. The Present So, eventually, my games wore out, everybody knew my game plan, they knew I was a tight pant and they were not going to do me more favors unless I budged. Well, since I had an American passport I figured it was time to take off. Why take all this nonsense I thought when I am smart, able and willing to work and learn. That is the story of my arrival to the shores of this great nation. You see, I love this place. The sky has always been my limit and I can do that here. No one has time for nonsense. Get the job done and you get promoted. Anyone that dares interfering with your progress because of male-female issues runs a high risk of getting slammed with a law suit and losing his job. So people try to be civil. Halleluyah. I do not have to tell lies anymore, I do not have to scheme, I do not have to go for lunch with folks I wish were dead because my job is at stake, I do not have to “beg to apply”, I get paid when I work and the check is never delayed. The list is endless. So where did things go wrong in my world in Nigeria? I love Nigeria and recently, I have stopped asking people what the social scene looks like back home because I do not want to mar my memories. The problem of secret cults has spilled into the cities from the schools. A friend of mine recently visited Port Harcourt and he told me the talk of the town was cultism and everybody was a cult member. Even ladies. He went to a university in PortHarcourt and a man-o-war group was going through the dorms searching for wanted secret cult members and weapons. He also mentioned a couple of folks I knew were dead – secret cult victims and we are not talking three or four young men. About nine people, mostly younger men. He said the hangout joints were dry and when there were people together, they were cult members so you were not really a part of the deal. There was abject poverty and the average reasoning ability of his peers was much less than he had imagined. Most of his peers had no ambition, no jobs, no plans, no wishes, no dreams and only talked of “deals”. People were easily angered, ready to fight and ready to die, there were robberies here and there in Port Harcourt. Now I lived in Port Harcourt for a while and generally, compared to other cities in the country, it used to be one city with little or no robbery events. The Future So things have changed drastically and our leaders are looking for solutions. One issue I have not heard them discuss is the future. Where is Nigeria going with half the population made up of delinquent and undereducated youths? The current leaders are getting old having ruled for over thirty years. Even though some of them are intent on dying in office, one day, they will need to be replaced. That day is about ten to fifteen years away. We cannot make efficient administrators of young people used to inflicting harm or antagonism, we cannot have people thinking great thoughts when their lives revolve around petty territorial issue and, we definitely cannot have a constructive workforce when your ability to obtain a job is dependent on your charming ability or lineage. I weep when I think of the desolation. The disrupted futures. The lost hope. When are we going to highlight and discuss these problems before we are overwhelmed? When are we going to discuss teaching Nigerians to put “criminal intelligence” to good use? To stop writing those embarrassing emails my supervisors get at work soliciting bank information? When will we discuss how to assist the youth cultivate a culture of working hard and looking down the tunnel in anticipation of a bright future rather than an oncoming train? These young men and women are the future. They, like me, in their own time, will have to take on responsible positions and make decisions affecting other people’s lives. How can they do this when they are so derelict? I have searched in my logical and methodical mind for the root of the problem because without an identified problem, there is no perfect solution. I have toyed with the idea of widespread juvenile delinquency resulting from lead poisoning, due to years of lead in our automobile fuel. Okay, thi is far-fetched but listen. Should we find out if the problem does exist by monitoring for this in the population? And for those of you who think I am off the hook, yes, lead is associated with low IQ, reasoning ability, attention deficit disorder and juvenile delinquency just to mention a few. Even though I believe I have a point largely because we do not regulate automobile emissions and there are thousands of generators now, thanks to NEPA, I know it is a hard concept for our legislators because they might be lead poisoned themselves. The only thought that keeps me hoping for attention on this issue is the Roman empire and how they fell, supposedly because the royal family was lead poisoned from drinking wine in lead contaminated ceramics. Rome was ruled by a family of lead-poisoned imbeciles at some point in history!! Another idea I have toyed with is privatizing universities. Allowing Universities to source for funding and determine the crop of students they want. Of course some kind of affirmative action policy has to be in place so the very under-privileged in society have an opportunity to attend college. If colleges are privatized, they can offer higher pay to their workforce including professors, they can source for grant money even from international organizations, for projects to assist our development and in so doing everybody is busy and happy and getting rewarded. All the stories of distracted lecturers will be gone with the wind. More people will want to teach. Is this possible though given the current “you have to pass through the eye of a needle approach” to getting a doctorate degree in Nigeria, much more a seat on faculty? At least I am dreaming – a good sign. The third idea is developing the elementary through secondary education again. We previously had high standards. I cannot comprehend where the youth I meet today came from. A lot of them are “martians” - allergic to math and english as we knew it. If the basic education foundation is not strong, University is only a far-fetched dream. One more idea is having industry finance some of our educational institutions. In the Niger Delta, the oil industries should be funding research. Genuine research. Not that useless, worthless stuff they call Environmental Impact Assessments. They need to sponsor engineering and science faculties, environmental departments, medical schools, research in health impact of their operations just to mention a few. These studies are important because they reveal the status quo of things in the society they operate in and will save them future costs. They do these things in the United States and the rest of the developed world although on a smaller scale. I cannot see why they do not think it necessary or worthwhile in Nigeria. We are also human beings. If these institutions are well developed, they will not to need to waste all that money sending their staff abroad to learn every little piece of new information required for the job [I can hear folks at Shell cursing me out. The only opportunity to visit obodo oyibo]. There also has to be re-orientation of male and female workers about sexual harassment issues. My God. If nothing else, this should be a useful project. People need to be slapped with costly penalties. You see, not every one is stubborn like I was. Not everyone knew how to play games and scheme. Not everyone had sufficient money so as not to be enticed by money and opportunity flashing males. Not everyone was in my shoes. I aways knew I had a passport to America and that I could leave when I wanted. So I was full of bullsh-- There are more than a million vulnerable young women, fending for their siblings and entire families that will walk proverbial miles to stay on the job or obtain one. While I am not supporting them, they are easy prey for these powerful men because of their desperate circumstances. They need to be protected by laws. Strict enforceable laws. Then of course, there is the issue of economic growth………….poverty is a factor in almost all negative trends in societies around the world……… Anyway, I have given you sufficient junk to elicit responses/thoughts for the day. I hope to give you more insight into my world of thoughts some other time. I still think we should tie the solutions to our immediate problems with the future problems or else we will be running 40-50 year cycles of devastation. Without the youth of today, there is no promise tomorrow. I know we all want political office so we can fix things. Well, there are other subtle ways of doing things. Personally, I believe and know politicians’ hands are tied by their sponsors, even in the United States, whether they like it or not. Borrow a leaf from “Georgy” I tell folks. Every investment must yield returns. Let us reflect on the future of Nigeria today and free ourselves from the evils that plague our daily progress.