If you must buy a baboon don't
buy the one with a 10% discount
#amebo#
My friend Abraham Madu shared
this, "Before you do anything,
first Think!
THINK stands for:
T--True: Is what I write true?
H--Helpful: Is what I say or do
helpful?
I--Inspiring: Is what I do, write
and say, inspiring?
N--Necessary: Is what I do say,
or write necessary?
K--Kind: Are my actions, words
kind to others?
I as a matter of me look at issues
from the larger picture. I do not
just dabble into matters, I THINK,
I look beyond sophistry,
anchored more on bare-face
political partisanship, and
ethnicity or group affiliation. I
leave room for human frailties
but I THINK before I write or talk.
"If Obi is also guilty of
deportation of beggars out from
Anambra then he doesn't have a
say on why Foshola deported
some beggars to his state and
whoever criticize Fashola here is
only a mere tribalist." Kolawola
Afolabi--a Yoruba.
"Please, if you're in support of
"deportation" of any Nigerian
from any part of Nigeria, kindly
remove me as your friend on
Facebook and in real life before I
do so. You either have a low IQ
or you're callous." Paul Ohia--an
Igbo.
We have left the underage
marriage for under-thought
deportation. My worry for this
admonition is that we have taken
for granted the deportation of
Nigerians, from one part of the
country to another as normal.
The truth is a new nation is
emerging, like a friend said "very
soon chairmen of local
government areas, within a state,
will deport 'non-indigenes'.
Whether Rivers, or 2015, Yerima,
underage marriage, Oristejefor or
Asari, Buhari or GEJ, all are
situated in dichotomies, APC is a
Muslim party, does it make PDP
any Christian? Our dichotomy is
not a subject within the shores
of this nation that one talks
about without understanding, it
evokes a lot of passions from the
heated arguments which it
generates, everyone holding dear
to their values, and
idiosyncrasies. A lot has been
written, on old perspectives
likewise new viewpoints--now
we are deporting.
Again our propensity to think as
easterners, westerners,
northerners, middle belters, all
depending on the turns of event
comes to bear.
Every nation has one dichotomy
or the other, if it is not the north
vs south, it is versus blocs,
religion or even ideological
dichotomies. There are several
reasons why such dichotomies
exist. Sometimes it is a function
of creation or political
correctness like we have in the
Nigerian case.
In our sensationalism, we have
in every sense approached most
problems sectionally thereby
creating all kinds of unnecessary
petty-culture-ethnic-religious-
parapoism and bourgeois
mentality in dealing with our
national issues.
Dichotomy is one that is used by
political apologists as a socio-
economic weapon and the
current deportation saga is one.
Apart from the positive, our
dichotomy has been used to
exploit and bamboozle the
masses without major
consideration being given to the
dynamics of the law of
development which in essence
deals scientifically with the unity
and struggle of opportunities
and opposites.
Another musing on this
deportation saga is that in truth
only a social revolution can
solve our problems, be they
political, economic or social. In
this sense we need more than a
free, fair and credible election,
what we need is the progressive
element (Sadly that progressive
element today is largely on paper
only) to come together as a
striking force. Because they have
a revolutionary duty to this
nation to help in striking a
balance, to disabuse the thought
pattern that has been built.
There is an ideology of hatred,
one that props up again and
again, Lagos in West, Anambra
in the East, North vs South,
Muslims vs Christians. This is a
factor that reactionary elements
within the system use in battling
the progressives. Like several
years ago, the first coup, or the
OIC saga, the problem still
persists, this deportation saga
borrows a lot from bourgeois
theories, which essentially is
directed at confusing our
intellect, like we try to argue
within the parameters of “anti-
class theory”, “theory of
undevelopement”, “take off
theory”, “theory of cooperation”,
“theory of external push”, “end
of ideology theory”,
“convergence theory”, “the
theory of the periphery in the
periphery”.
Wonderful sociological concepts
that do very little in helping us
shift in the way of progress
because only few theories work
for us..."theory of corruption",
"theory of bad governance",
"chop I chop theory", and "killing
for god theory", "dame, amaechi,
and goodluck theory", "pdp and
apc theory" and now the
"deportation theory".
Dichotomy is everywhere, just
back from the US. But when not
managed it only retards
conscious development of the
people, creates inter ethnic
hostilities and allows for
continued exploitation from and
management of political power.
This deportation saga again
exposes us to one thing and it is
the national question. What is a
nation? We can not fully
understand the implication of the
Fashola action without
answering the national question
scientifically in relating this
phenomenon to our socio-
political economical
development, it is important to
look at the historical
development of the national
question.
The national question “is a
question of solving vital national
problems of social development,
abolishing national oppression
and inequality, eliminating
obstacles to the development of
peoples, including achievement
of factual quality and
internationalism in national
relations.”
The Lagos action brings to
question the concepts of
“national character”, “national
culture”, national
consciousness”, ”national
philosophy and psychology” all
often used and discussed
without carefully and critically
understanding their
contradicting class nature in
antagonistic societies and their
relative independence.
Nigeria should be a nation of a
lasting historical community of
people constituting a form of
social development based on the
community of economic life in
combination with the community
of language, territory, culture,
consciousness and psychology.
But are we?
Are we a nation of various ethnic
groups moving towards greater
realization of cultural
togetherness, peace and stability
for all?
The summary of this admonition
is both a warning and a
challenge on the basis of what I
have outlined; it is only fair and
fitting to direct our critical
analysis of the Nigerian political
climate in the form of serious
warning that all is not well. We
cannot abdicate our
responsibility to do and say what
is right and chose which battles
to fight on the premise of
parochial locus standi.
Deportation is WRONG in the
Lagos context! Whoever started
it first, and whoever is
retaliating.
We need to come to gripes with
realities of the moment which
point to the inevitabilities of the
future, because time is running
out, at us to initiate a wind of
hurricane of social revolution.
Are we ready, only time will tell.
Prince Charles Dickson Editor, burningpot.com |
Wettin dem dey talk of sef?