PER ARDUA AD ASTRA

Air travel is such a kaleidoscope of experiences, serving a flavourful dish with a potpourri of pyscho-social condiments - some spicily educative, some saltily annoying, and others so blandly humbling that it evokes nothing but acceptance. First, we all need to agree that air travel is one of the greatest proofs of the limitlessness of the human spirit. An airplane remains one of the inventions which pushed human advancement to the next frontier, cutting down travel time across the planet, leading to easier and better collaboration, and of course facilitating the growth of the global economy. Interestingly, the ease with which humans readily trust aircrafts to always take us home is a successful psycho-social experiment which should never be taken for granted. For context, we are expected to always look right, look left, and look right again before crossing a road, and for wider roads, we basically mount pedestrian bridges to help us cross, yet this requires less than a minute; but we have no qualms at all filing into a gigantic contraption which weighs thousands of kilogram, flies suspended at 15,000 metres above the ground, speeds at sometimes close to 1,000 km/hour, and sometimes stay in the air for hours on end, yet we always trust in the aircraft and the pilot to take us home. That is some mind-numbing reality when we really think deep about it.

The planet is very big, but in relation to the world, it is also a very small place, and everywhere at any time is simply a microcosm of the larger world. This is very true of an airport. The symbolism of age - children being carried in trolleys, teenagers acting with little or no care in the world, adults trying to keep everything and everyone together, elderlies needing help every step of the way, even needing wheelchairs - all of them with the sole purpose of getting into a plane to take them to the next place, which to some is home, and to others, another departure point. Every trip having a beginning and an end, just like every human has a beginning and an end. There is no place where the diversity of this planet is also as evident as the airport, well maybe in a Natural History Museum, but then those specimens don’t talk back to you, do they? Different Races, Tribes, Languages, Attires, Food, etc are always a staple at every airport. Sitting at the airport is always like watching an episode of a reality television series where the goal is to make the society’s diversity stand out, by following the rules and blending in.

Interestingly, this idea of "blending in" leads me to the next perspective of air travel - processes, procedures, and interconnectedness. Air travel has as much must-followed process as a high-stake surgical operation. From having an International Passport or a National ID, to obtaining a Visa (where necessary), to ensuring your luggage is the right count, weight and size, to knowing when to get to the airport, to knowing how to and where to check in your luggage, to knowing what is permissible on the plane, to how to navigate Customs and Immigration, to how to find your boarding gate, to how you find your seat once you have entered the plane; and how to walk back the entire process in a reverse order after landing at your destination is one long unbroken chain of processes, procedures, and interconnectedness. This same surgical precision applies to lifting off, flying, and landing a plane. A deeper perspective of this is understanding that air travel perfectly mirrors how Natural Laws and how Social Norms work, and any attempt to tweak or twist always leads to chaos and catastrophe.

Finally, it would be remiss of me to talk about air travel, and not highlight the glaring classism that air travel lay bare, especially the in-your-face way it reminds those of us still flying “Economy” or "Coach" that we still have some way to go. From the luggage check-in where the “Sky Priority” Class, the code name for “First Class”, “Business Class”, and “Frequent Flyers”, can carry excess luggage for free; to the waiting time where they can have access to Lounge Services, as complementary perks; to the actual boarding of the plane where they are allowed to go in first, and the masses like us in Economy have to see their faces and the comfortable seatings they have in the front of the plane, as we trudge to our chairs at the back of the plane; to the food and drink served on the plane, where they get served like they are at their homes, and we get served like we are in a boarding school; and how when the plane lands, they get to disembark first, before we peasants are allowed to stand up, because they have somewhere important to be, and we just have to wait in line. This is not me whining, this is me just pointing things out, believe me, I am far from whining.

I am realistic enough to acknowledge that the human society is divided into strata, and each stratum has its costs, perks, and accoutrements, and that the appeal of inter-stratum-mobility is one of the driving forces of human prosperity. Do we need to do better in reducing the gaps between the strata? Of course, and that should be our primary focus as humans, and that should be your takeout, or is it takeaway, from this post. How do we do better? I know the one of the ways is to always be a good neighbour, and to always live by the age-old maxim “do unto others as you would have them do to you”. If you can think of yourself less as the centre of the universe too, I bet that will also help. Long story short, I do not have the answers, but I am open to making the world better, and I am willing to make the sacrifices required, and I would be glad if you can do to. It will not be easy, but that’s the whole essence of “per ardua ad astra”.

Thank You!

God Bless Us All!!

See You Next Time!!!

~ SirRash

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Instagram: @the.sir.rash

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Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

COVID-19 - THE HARD TRUTHS FROM THESE TRYING TIMES

If someone were to tell me in December 2019 that there would be an occurrence in 2020 which would lead to a near collapse of the financial markets, nearly wipe out the global transportation and tourism industry, put almost all the nations of the world on self-imposed lockdown, I mean basically ground the entire world, I would have simply taken the person for a clown, and if they were to insist on keeping their position, I would have recommended a psychiatric evaluation. Such was the strength of my faith and belief in the social, mental, scientific, and technological evolution of humankind that I could not foresee all of us abandoning life as we know it and scampering for shelter far away from other humans as much as possible.

Let us face it, the world will never be the same again, even after we have been able to arrest the Covid-19 pandemic, but then, why should it remain the same? The current situation has brought to the fore the indispensability of many of the issues essential to the dignity and respect of humankind and how we have for a very long time paid lip-service to them, and that was when we were not outrightly denying their importance. Issues of affordable universal healthcare, social safety net, fit-for-purpose public infrastructure, public programmes planning and execution, and social integration as a whole have been totally neglected, and we can see in real time how nations and societies are paying the price for their laxity. The US is leading in Covid-19 death rates because their healthcare system is broken, and they have a leadership gulf at the very top; Nigeria is struggling to stem the tide because the health and social infrastructures are grossly inadequate and we cannot even effectively give financial palliatives to those who need them because we do not have genuine and verifiable data, and of course we have a leadership gulf at the very top too; and the Northern European Countries are handling the situation well because they have always been structured and they have social safety nets such that they didn’t need to change much to cope with the pandemic.

Brace yourself, even when the Pandemic is over, the fear will remain for a long time, the fear not just for ourselves, but for our kids, our siblings, our colleagues, for all our loved ones altogether. What will be gone though is the trust of social existence – partying, clubbing, even lounging in open spaces such as bars, beaches, and malls will no longer be trustworthy, and we might find ourselves going back to living like cavemen, coming out for sunlight once in a while. Of course, I kid, but when you consider the fact that we were already talking about going to live on Mars, and we already have shuttles which can make such trips multiple times like your normal airplane, you will understand that going back to not being able to gather in public or use public transportation to cover distances of a few kilometers is like a thousand-year regression. Brace yourself, wearing of face masks will be compulsory for months to come, at least wannabe ninjas will be happy at these.

Now back to the hard truths from this pandemic – we the masses have suffered the most and we will suffer more, unless we change our perception and approach to governance and leadership. When we abdicated our responsibilities and left leadership and governance to demagogues, charlatans, misfits and rogues, of course they cannot suddenly develop competence during a crisis, they can only respond to the limit of their abilities. We all have to be involved in choosing those who lead us, in determining those who chart the course for the present and the future, in keeping on their toes those we have surrendered our individuality and personal preferences to in exchange for the social contract of having the freedom to live and pursue happiness. We owe these duties to ourselves, and we will be doing ourselves a great disservice if we leave those processes to the misfits in the society. Most times, we delude ourselves with the fact that we can create enclaves with others who have broken free from the inhuman drudgery of daily struggle to make ends meet, and we have this false security once we go into our gated estates, but the reality as highlighted by the menace of “the One Million Gang” and “the Awawa Boys” during this lockdown is that no one is safe within the vicinity of heartless and hungry miscreants who have been armed by unscrupulous politicians. We are all in this together, and we have to fix it together.

As a parting shot, now that you know that everything is possible, it is now up to you to hold people around you accountable when they tell you it is not possible. Governments all over the world who said “Healthcare For All” is impossible are able to find funds to finance this Public Health Emergency; Governments who said “Guaranteed Monthly Incomes” are impossible are finding funds to provide Financial Palliatives to Businesses and Citizens; Preachers who said you must come to Churches and Mosques to prove your faith are now conducting ministrations online; Employers who would mandate you to suffer through hours of traffic on daily basis to  and fro the office are now encouraging you to work from home and use Zoom and Skype; lovers who told you they were always busy driving, in meetings, in open offices, and so on are now working from home, so what is their excuse for not keeping in touch now? Think about it. While thinking about it, continue to act safe and be safe. Together we will beat the pandemic.

Thank You!

God Bless Us All!!

See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash

Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

THE DANGEROUS NECESSITY OF SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

Let's start this trying to tackle some misconception - did Ganduje have the power to dethrone Emir Sanusi? Yes, he does. Governors have the right to remove First Class Traditional Rulers, and for those Traditional Rulers who are “unlucky” to be below First Class, they are on the stool at the whim and caprices of the LGA Chairperson, and they could be removed by the Chairperson at any time. To quote Abubakar Rimi, a former Governor of Kano State, "A traditional ruler is a public officer holding a public office, who is being paid by public funds, and whose appointment is at the pleasure of the state governor and who can be dismissed, removed, interdicted, suspended, if he commits an offence” This can be summarized as Elected Officials give the "staff of office" to Traditional Rulers, they can as well collect them back when they wish. And of course, many kings have been deposed by the Government across our history, from the colonial days, all through our post-independence days – the British deposed and exiled Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi of Benin in 1899, the revered Obafemi Awolowo dethroned Alaafin Adeyemi in 1955 for differing on the grounds of political affiliation, Sir Ahmadu Bello dethroned Emir Sanusi in 1963 on the grounds of mismanagement, Abacha deposed Sultan Dasuki in 1996, because, well, it was Abacha.

Now to a rather pertinent question - should Ganduje had dethroned Emir Sanusi? Of course he shouldn't have, no Political Office Holder should trample on Traditional Institutions in such a manner, but of course, politicians see themselves as demigods, and backed by the Constitution, they go ahead and rubbish Traditional Rulers - cue in Ajimobi who elevated 20 Family Heads to the level of Olubadan in 2017, just to belittle the Olubadan Throne, a tactic Ganduje also deployed in Kano in 2019 by dividing the Kano Emirate into 5 equal parts, just to reduce the influence of Emir Sanusi. A little tidbit – Ajimobi and Ganduje are in-laws, Ajimobi’s Son got married to Ganduje’s Daughter in 2018. Just think about it. When we consider that as a people, we have lost sight of our culture and lost track of our history, what we should be doing is embarking on massive reorientation of our values and reclamation of our culture, and the best avenue to do that is through the traditional institutions. No system of significance in Nigeria reflects our culture or embodies our history, not education, not legal, not economic, and not political. For the Government to keep stripping bare traditional institutions proves that those we have handed the reins of leadership to basically have no idea about social reclamation, self-realization, and national reorientation. This is what happens when we conclude that politics is dirty and we leave it to the dregs of the society, we will be left with scoundrels running our present and reprobates deciding our children’s future.

For Sanusi, I first took note of him as the CBN Governor, and one quality you can always ascribe to him is "consistency". He has always been "a principled man who speaks truth to power", and his fracas with the Jonathan Administration was based on exactly the same issues as his problems with the Buhari Administration as spearheaded by Ganduje. His message has always centred on "decrying profligacy, preaching accountability, and advocating social changes", those messages have not changed, but obviously, the politicians are tired of hearing them. Whether Sanusi appeals to you or not, you cannot rationally say that he has not been consistent in his positions, flip-flopping is not a jibe you can throw at him. Let me categorically say I always agree with Sanusi's positions, and I love the fact that he shares them at every opportunity he has. That is what I believe people who have podiums and audiences should do, use your platforms to call out the ills in the society, it will come with some sacrifices, but there is no gain without pain. For those who faulted his decision to become the Emir in the first place, claiming he had was too educated, too intelligent, and with too much finesse to go and hide all that within the confines of a palace, we have to understand that it was a lifelong dream for him, and if we all try to understand the concept of "self-actualization", we will understand that it was what he had always considered as the peak of his achievements in life. After earning a Bachelor and a Masters Degrees, he actually went back to the University to get another Degree in Sharia and Islamic Studies, to prepare himself for when he ascends the throne of his fathers - his grandfather and great-grandfather were both Emirs in their lifetimes. Did he know the pitfalls that such a move will present to him? I believe a man of Sanusi’s intelligence would have known, but he might have underestimated the ruthlessness and haughtiness of Ganduje once the lifelong politician got into office.

Now that he is free of the heavy cloaks and the mountainous turbans, Sanusi can choose to join forces with International Organisations like most intellects edged out of public relevance by our sordid politics, or he can even choose to seek an elective office in Nigeria to try and change things from within, but he must continue to speak truth to power at home, because therein lies the freedom for Nigerians. The more people with means and intellect who challenge the devilish political hegemony, the more the politicians continue to reveal their sinister capabilities, the more the people realise that the politicians are worse than vultures and scavengers, and maybe, just maybe, that will push us into action and take the country back.

Thank You!
God Bless Us All!!
See You Next Time!!!


Twitter: @SirRash
Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi
Instagram: @theaspiringsage

THE TRAGEDY OF ILLUSORY REALITY

Compliments of the Season from your favorite absconder from the creative duty of writing. I wrote on this blog just once last year, I actually managed to match my personal record of laziness set the previous year. This is not a record I am proud of, and this year, I have determined to pummel procrastination into submission and write as much as I can. So help me God. And for those of you who dropped some friends last year, I hope you have not started picking up some new ones already this year, just to come and disturb us at the end of the year with news that you will be dropping them again.

With the usual apologies, resolutions, and subs out of the way, let me get to the reason why I am here very early this year (aside pummeling procrastination) – I think reality is being replaced with illusion, so I need to find out if I am the odd one out still living here while others have migrated to an alternate world where white is black, and red is green. The reality, where we take everything on Social Media as the perfect depiction of people’s lives and we therefore judge our own lives as not being up to par based on that, has become such an epidemic. I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, but this is actually a deeper epidemic at the same level as substance abuse as well as pseudo-literacy, especially when you combine all together as it is common nowadays.

Every day, people upload dance videos on Snapchat and Instagram, and we are assuming they are always happy. These are all lies, no one person is always happy, and no one person, who is truthful to themselves, is always sad. People will most likely share the pictures of their vacation, but not the picture of the hard work which went into making the money to go on the vacation, probably they even took a loan to go on the trip. Your friends are more likely to share their pictures in a plane, but not in a NAPEP. You see, people’s DPs are their representatives, and their statuses are their alter egos, those are not their “real faces”, most of the savage lions on social media are real life lambs - everything is make-believe. That this illusory reality drives some people to having mood swings, becoming depressed, and push some to even end it all with suicide is extremely alarming and dishearteningly worrying.

Self-styled Influencers and Life-Coaches are the Platos and Aristotles of today sharing nuggets about all topics, half of which they do not have basic knowledge of, and most people take those half-baked information as gospel truth and start using them as gauges for their personal lives –

YOLO – Anyone ever told you you will live twice before? Even Bhuddists don’t believe you will come back as you.

Sleep is for the weak – OK. Be forming hard, by the time you have a nervous breakdown, it is a pity you will be a mental wreck and you might not even be able to differentiate between weak and strong.

Live today, tomorrow is not assured – Hmmmmnnnnn. Tomorrow will become assured, and you will have to live with the consequences of the horrible decisions and the stupid actions of today, and what do you do?

True love exists, and you don’t have to chase after it, it will find you wherever you are – Oooshey Love Doctor of the House of Romance. The one who compiled the encyclopedia of love.

Hey people, the hard truth is that we all cannot achieve the exact same things in life. Everyone is not going to be super rich, and we are not all going to be super-successful. By sheer serendipity, some are born far ahead of others, and they will always remain ahead bar some catastrophes of epic proportion. Not all children will be brilliant, not all marriages will celebrate diamond jubilees, not everyone will be healthy, these are just the realities of life. However, it does not mean we cannot achieve happiness or personal progress, we as individuals, and the variables within our individual control should be the yardsticks we use to measure our personal progresses which should determine our state of happiness.

You know your story, you know your dreams; you know where you started from, you know where you are going. Let’s continue to set realistic personal goals and dedicate all our means to achieving them. Let’s periodically take stock, carry out objective appraisals, and tweak when necessary, that’s progress. The misguided belief that we are the dregs of the Earth and that everyone else is flexing and happy based on what they post on social media or is nothing but an illusion. 

In a simple way, between the colour White and colour Black, there are countless shades of Grey, you could just be the dark grey at the moment, and frankly, everyone is just another shade of grey, just keep adding more of white, and you are on course to becoming your favourite shade of grey.

Thank You!

God Bless Us All!!

See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash

Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi
Instagram: @theaspiringsage

…OF VULNERABILITY AND THE ILLUSION OF ELEVATION

Since the last time I wrote here, some things have changed… Not such big changes, but big enough to make me become more introspective and less happy. I mean Life is TOUGH, at least I can speak for here in Nigeria where I live.

The first change is that I changed my job (Again???). Yeah, again. I finally left Telecommunications, I am now in Renewable Energy, Solar Energy to be precise, and while it is financially rewarding and interesting, it is also saddening because I get to come in contact with the real Vulnerables of the world, and that could be depressing, especially when you consider how minute your impact is compared to what they require to get uplifted out of their dire status.

The second change is that I have gone on and become a more open person who now interacts more with strangers and virtual friends, and what I see every day is that basically, no one has it together. We are all just trying to be happy, because happiness is such a fleeting state that you will definitely miss out on it while trying to own it, which is such a disturbing state of things because it means we are never happy, rather we are in an endless race in pursuit of happiness. This means that irrespective of education, income, social standing, and so on, we are all still in a state of flux and we are all still VULNERABLES despite all the illusions of elevation. I am now seeing Vulnerability not from the angle of lack of physical peace but from the perspective of lacking inner peace, calm and control.

The economic situation is terrible, this has been so for long, and it does not look like it is abating anytime soon, but even when by sheer dint of hardwork coupled with God’s blessings you are able to break the yoke and become self-sustaining and self-reliant, you are still vulnerable:

When you build a house and you need an electrified fence higher than your house to feel safe, you are vulnerable…

When you have a car, but you need to vary your routes everyday to avoid being trailed by people with sinister motives, you are vulnerable…

When you have kids but you cannot send them to public schools because it is pointless, and you are afraid of sending them to expensive public schools for fear of them picking up expensive terrible habits from the kids of the rich, you are vulnerable…

When you see every one of your mates emigrating from the country but you decide to stay put, you are vulnerable…

When you cannot access the best healthcare not because of your lack of trying, but because it is not just available, you are vulnerable…

When your kids understand technology better than you, you are vulnerable…

When everything is confusing most of the time, you are vulnerable...

You see, at the end of the day, we are mostly not in control, we are just playing and acting according to a script, and we cannot even control or determine when our character will be killed off. So, the best we can do is be the best of ourselves – treat others fairly and respectfully, live our life to the fullest, and above all, try to leave the world a better place than we met it such that we would have contributed our best to rid the world of the Vulnerables.

Thank You!

God Bless Us All!!

See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash

Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

…OF A NIGERIAN YOUTH AND THE QUANDARY OF ETERNAL OPTIMISM

This is the month of May, today is the 29th, and the appropriate greeting as a Nigerian is “Happy Democracy Day”, but I guess saying “Happy New Year” is not out of place, since I was here last in the year 2016. Yes, I know, I have promised I will not disappear several times and I actually did disappear, but if you know me very well, you know I usually keep my promises, and it is because I try so hard to keep most of my promises

that I have not been able to keep this one – you know, promises like never let the family lack, never let my day-job suffer, never let stress send me to the hospital, never pass up an opportunity to network in real life, etc.

So, here I am again confused as to what to write about, not as much what to write about, but what to write about it – I want to write about the future of those of us Nigerians forty years and below-  should I join the others and continue to wail and rail against the our present sad situation, or should I, like an eternal optimist that I am, choose to tell people that things are improving and they will continue to improve even when I know in reality we are moving at the pace of a faulty unicycle, when we really need to move with the speed of Virgin’s Booms. Let me make this very clear, I am not laying claim to superior knowledge, but I can boldly say it without any qualms that the youths are definitely not ready for the change we all crave.

The premise of my assertion is my interactions with the youths, they more often than not leave me feeling the situation is irredeemable because the discussions are never logical and the larger part of the time is spent arguing for superiority by tribe, age, religion, education, and political affiliation, they rarely display intellect or discuss ideas. They spend most of their time defending those who have put them in this quagmire of existence and I am always confused as to if they do not realise that those who constitute the political elite are the same people who have thrown us all into this abyss of wavering hope.

Societies grow when there are systems and structures which allow ideas to thrive, multiply, and morph into tangible development. Structures such as economic, education, healthcare, judicial, and so on. Those structures exist around here but only in a state of flummox. We have schools but not education; we have hospitals but no healthcare, we have a government structure but no economic development or judicial confidence. I fervently hope the youths realise that most of those who make up the political elite will not be here in fifty years, but most of us under the age of forty today will be here with our children, our grandchildren and possibly grandchildren. What kind of country will we have by then? One where the majority are uneducated, and sick, and uncouth, and unable to contribute meaningfully to the economy.

This is the time for the youths not just to stand up and be counted, or profess eternal optimism, but to get involved in grabbing the reins of leadership from the charlatans we have at the helms now and chart a new course for the country, for our children, and for generations unborn.

NB: Subsequent articles will detail my suggestions on how we take over our destinies.

Thank You!
God Bless Us All!!
See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash
Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

RIVERS OF BABYLON

It started out as a song playing in my subconscious, then I started humming it around the house and the office, then I started playing it out loud through my phone, and I had to go post the lyrics on Facebook, and now it is at the top of my “most played” playlist. I am referring to the popular Boney M song “Rivers of Babylon” which has taken over my life in the last two weeks.

As someone who likes looking for Order within Chaos, and someone who considers rationalizing phenomena as important and as necessary as breathing is to continuous existence, I have been trying to understand why this song has suddenly taken over my life at this point in time. Like all Researchers worth the title would do, I decided to start from the beginning.

Boney M, I am sure have rights to the song, but the original writer of the lyrics is King David aka The Psalmist, the man whose favoured instrument was the Harp, and who has one hundred and fifty curated singles to his credit among which are the popular “The Earth Is The Lord’s And The Fullness Thereof”, “He That Dwelleth In The Secret Place Of The Most High”, “I Will Lift Up My Head To The Mountains High” and the seminal “The Lord Is My Shepherd”. The lyrics to the song could be found in the first four verses of Psalms 137 and the last verse of Psalm 90. However, I am still not close to finding an answer to the question - Why does the song keep ringing in my head?

To answer this question, I had to summon my inner Bertrand, Descartes, Nietsche, Kierkegaard, Kant, Freud, Orwell, Marx, and Awolowo; and ask series of questions about Life, Living, Existence, Afterlife, Happiness, Purpose, Fate, Choice, Spirituality, Love, and a whole lot of other concepts. Suffice to say I did a lot of thinking, probably became enlightened a little more, definitely got a bit more confused, but with a better understanding of why the song has been ringing in my head.

I believe the song is a summation of the state of humans in the present world, a world where divisions are being accentuated, where bigotry and hate are being encouraged, where diseases keep finding ways to morph, where wars have become the norm, where poverty and hunger keep growing exponentially, and where humans seem incapable of providing far-reaching and long-lasting solutions.

This world is not our home as we love it, this must be a captive colony of the wicked, this is Babylon, our home is in Zion; but we are here and we are expected to be happy and show love to everyone, but how do we continue to be happy and loving when sadness permeates everywhere? How do we continue to be model human beings when that represents the exception at the moment? As it stands, when we cannot fathom a way out of the pervasive quagmire, we turn to the Most High and offer supplications and hope He will accept and prepare a place for us somewhere else, a place far better, peaceful, and inspiring than this Babylon.

The song represents my conscious cum subconscious view of the state of the world at the moment – disillusionment, shame, and hopelessness.

I am not giving up though. I believe we can still salvage the world. Believing is a start, isn’t it?

Thank You!
God Bless Us All!!
See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash
Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

PSEUDOS AND PHONEYS

They donned Shirts hand-woven by Racism,
Suits designed by Bigotry
Shoes crafted by Xenophobia
And Hats made by Homophobia.
Then they stepped out looking grimy, in their stinking Regalia of Hate,
And called themselves Nationalists.

They all want their Country back
And are willing to trade their Humanity
And Civility
And Consanguinity
To make great again
What had already been collectively made Great.

Self-inflicted Fractures…
Self-induced Dislocations…
Self-performed Dismemberment…
Now the world is sliding
Into an abyss of disenchantment
And those who seemed to represent sanity
Are the Clowns currently Dancing Naked on the Expressway.

Their Actions; and Our Collective Reactions, or Inactions
Will either make the World Great Again
Or make us all scurrying to vote for Earthexit.

Thank You!
God Bless Us All!!
See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash

Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

Google+: Rasheed Adewusi

THE CONUNDRUM OF BEING A NIGERIAN

Nigeria is one big conundrum, and Nigerians are one lovely nebulous people, we share so many similarities and at the same time so many differences. Nigerians are adept at adapting to situations, especially difficult and unwarranted situations - for instance, Nigerians buy land from some families, lands which they do not own, but only occupy, because the government actually owns all the land and everything therein; then Nigerians build houses; sink boreholes to provide water; erect fences and gates, erect self-contain at the front for the security personnel, thereby providing their own security end-to-end; and then they buy their own generators to provide electricity, or probably go for solar panels on the roof, or go for battery powered inverters, or a combination of all options, thereby becoming their own electricity generating and distributing company. When there are many of such house-owners in the area, they form a Community Development Association (CDA), they contribute funds and tar the roads, they contribute funds and erect electricity poles and cables, they contribute funds and buy transformers and lobby power-company officials to connect them to the electricity grid, then they call on the Local Government Chairperson or the Commissioner or even the Governor to come and commission all the projects. Please, take a moment to reflect and let all these sink in – Nigerians take over the responsibilities of Government, then call on the Government to come and take the glory. We are nice like that. We will rather fight our long-time neighbour who is from another tribe or believes in a different creed in defence of a clueless minister (who is oblivious of our existence by the way), because the Minister speaks the same mother tongue and wields the same Holy Book as us.

Nigerians who work in structured organisations pay income tax in form of PAYE, actually, the Government takes the tax before Nigerians collect their salaries. Those who work in the informal sector pay all forms of levies. We pay VAT on almost everything. We pay stamp duties on almost all bank transactions. We indirectly pay all forms of duties e.g import, excise, etc. We pay for licences to own a vehicle, and to drive the vehicle. In Lagos, we even pay Consumption Tax whenever we have the temerity to go to eateries and hotels rather than bukas. Then we still have to provide basic amenities for ourselves. In Nigeria, the only things we do not provide for ourselves are those things the government do not allow us to provide for ourselves, like fuel and a standing army. Yet, we still find it rational in our minds to continue to fight ourselves on behalf of the same Government

We are capable of expressing righteous indignation at being labelled “a fantastically corrupt nation”, and we are at the same capable of expressing righteous indignation at people who demand government accountability. Ironic, is it not? We are confused like that. Those in Government spend all their time making u-turns on promises, skirting around important issues that affect the most of us, and displaying verbal acrobatic skills on pointless issues like “threatening to impregnate a colleague” or “defending other corrupt colleagues”; yet we only try to match them by labelling ourselves “Hailers” and “Wailers” and ensuring that all our reasoning and positions are determined by those nomenclatures. We spend all our days criticizing smart moves, defending senseless positions, and justifying insanity based on our tribes or political affiliations. Nigerians, I know you love your religion, and your tribe, and your political affiliations; but can you find some space in-between exhibiting all those loves to show some love to the whole humanity too and allow rationality to take precedence over emotions sometimes. See, the problem is that humanity precedes and supercedes every other thing, and if we allow humanity to be wiped off, there will be nothing to defend or criticize again because we would all be gone, as in wiped off, obliterated…

Thank You!
God Bless Us All!!
See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash
Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

...OF PARADOXES AND MORE PARADOXES

I have mulled over a befitting title for this post over a million times (I kid, maybe just over a thousand times), and I have not been able to settle on one as at the time I am writing this first sentence. I want to write about something very real and ever-present, and I want to write in my style of fluid narration, with in-depth description/exposition when necessary , all conveyed in a vehicle of subtle humor and satire, with the very serious message in there for all to see and appreciate. I want to pass across a very important message, but without boring you to death or scaring you to hell, I want to sound funny and interesting without coming across as a clown, I want to make people simultaneously laugh and think, and then go out to contribute to making a positive change to themselves and the society afterwards. This is the Paradox of trying to be a Conscientious Writer.

Interestingly, President Buhari, who strode into Aso Rock hailed as the “Uprightest President Ever Liveth” kept the nation guessing and anticipating his Ministerial List for four months. He kept moving back the release date like Davido’s sophomore album. We were all anticipating the “Baddest” List, but when the List finally dropped, it felt like Wizkid’s “Ayo” Album - made up of materials we have not just grown accustomed to, but also tired of, because they have been circulated as “Official Singles” or “Leaked Singles” in countless DJ mixtapes.

In fairness to the President, he defended the eternity it took for the List to be released:

“Fellow Nigerians, there have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the apparent delay in announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be anxious. Our government set out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handing over notes from the outgoing government only four days before taking over. Consequently, the Joda Transition Committee submitted its Report on the reorganization of Federal Government structure after studying the hand over notes. It would have been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not finalized the number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of governance.”

In fairness to Nigerians too, it was the President’s handlers, loyalists, and sympathizers who kept inundating us with tales of how the President was scouring the length, breadth and the nethermost parts of Nigeria to unearth untainted and incorruptible androids to work with him in bringing about the much vaunted change; so do not accuse of insatiability when we complain after seeing names like Audu Ogbeh and Rotimi Amaechi on the List. The lesson here is: the APC is now in charge, we need less of propaganda, and more of implementation of policies, this is not hip-hop, so we do not need to roll out the hype-machine and try to sell Wizkid as the new Fela. This is the Paradox of running a Government: it should be less of hip-hop style promotion, and more like whatever else is big, serious, broken, affects a lot of people, and needs fixing... something like Nigeria.

In similar vein, accusations have been leveled against the President that he is running a Gerontocracy. Of course, the accusations are not completely baseless, but we need to look at both sides of the coin here. Nigeria, towards the end of Jonathan’s administration had become rudderless and directionless, we were actually on the verge of an implosion, and most of the ills were brought about by the conscienceless people President Jonathan surrounded himself with. As such, if the new Sheriff in town is only comfortable working with only the people he can vouch for, I think it is understandable, and considering the President is a Septuagenarian, it is only logical most of the people he can personally claim to have close affinity with will be within the age bracket sixty to eighty years. This however presents another conundrum: how will the Youths garner the experience to take over the reins of Leadership in the nearest future? I have heard many “Young Ones” blame the “Old Ones” for how the Youths are today, claiming the erosion of our value system is the fault of those who have been steering the ship of the nation since Independence. I quite agree to a large extent that role models are scarce, but when you look at most of the Youths who have been in positions of authority, you realize they are not different from those they blame. In this blame-game, the “Old Ones” consider the “Young Ones” inexperienced and untrustworthy; while the “Young Ones” believe the “Old Ones” are archaic and immorally-entitled. This is where the Paradox of Leadership in this dispensation emanates: how do the Youths garner experience and enhance their reputation to step up into higher roles if they are not given responsibilities?

Pervasively, there are so many paradoxes around, so many that we have come to fully accept them as normal: we build beautiful cities and then spend more money providing security in the cities than we spend providing education for children in the cities; we have many smart gadgets now, but we cannot say the same about human beings; we drink alcohol both when we are extremely happy and when we are extremely sad, and everytime in-between; we make advances in technology, and we seem to simultaneously take equal giant strides in birthing or unearthing humans who seize the technology to terrorize us all. Maybe this is how our existence is to be: to always pursue happiness but never catch up with it; to always preach love and show apathy or outright hate; to always promise freedom and deliver bondage. I guess this is the Paradox of our Existence which Shakespeare captured succinctly in the first quartet of Sonnet XXXV:

“No more be grieved at that which thou hast done:

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud:

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.”

I think I will simply title this piece “Of Paradoxes and more Paradoxes” and sign out till next time.

Thank You!

God Bless Us All!!

See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash

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INSPIRATION FROM AN UNLIKELY PLACE

I don’t know if you really know your Bible. No, I do not mean whether you are a Christian, or whether you go to Church, I mean, really know your Bible. Well, you don’t have to feel guilty, you are not alone *winks*. Staying on course, let me quickly take you to that part of the Bible, the New Living Translation Version of the Bible, in the book of Job, Chapter 1 Verse 7, Satan went before God:

God: Where have you come from?

Satan: I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.

Now, don’t start getting funny ideas, you are not God, and I am definitely not Satan, but given that it has been ten months since I last showed myself here, you are totally within your rights to ask me “Where have you come from?”, and I am sure the best answer I can give is “I have been patrolling the Earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

Surprisingly, many things have not changed since I was here. You know the way they say the more things change, the more they remain the same, that is exactly the feeling I have right now. Since the last time I trod this path, the PDP has gone from being the Ruling Party to the Opposition Party, but the size of the Government is still huge, the Naira is still reeling, and Boko Haram is still on rampage; the United States and its allies have bombed more terrorist camps with more advanced drones, but insurgency is dishearteningly still waxing stronger and spreading its tentacles across the globe; a lot of us complain about the depth and essence of music and movies being churned out on daily basis, but the bottom just seems to be coming closer to the surface (you must have heard Ladi); and Arsenal have spent about £150m over two years on players, four of them from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, and Chelsea, and Arsenal have won three trophies in those two years but the media and opposition fans are still convinced Arsenal is a stingy club, there is just no pleasing the haters I guess; and the Company I “work with” has succeeded in sending most of the “expatriates” either back to their country or to a direct competitor, and have successfully replaced them with Nigerians, but the more things change, the more they remain the same, and sometimes, they even get worse.

However, unlike the bear, I did not just curl into a crevice and go into hibernation (How does a bear actually live with itself after coming out of hibernation, knowing it has just slept away a huge chunk of its life? Has it never heard of sagely sayings like “Life is Short” and “YOLO”?), I have actually been very active networking, building, and nurturing. I am really putting in the shift so that very soon, I will not have to introduce myself again because I would have become “Rich and Famous”, to borrow from Praiz. I get inspired everyday by people all over the world working assiduously to actualize their dreams, but nothing inspires more than when those people are close to home, when you know their stories, you experience their struggles and efforts with them, and you partake in the returns first-hand. There are a lot of dudes and dames out there doing a lot of good, and these more than anyone else have made my blogging-hibernation not torturous. There is JayOsbie, a young man full of ideas with an equal dose of energy and steadily climbing the ladder of success; there is Dawan, one of the most versatile people I have ever met gradually carving a niche for herself; there is SphinxPhoto who turned her hobby into a passion and now money is chasing her;  there is Fagro, my guy who is always so productively busy, Lagos with its perennial traffic jams is antithetical to his dreams; there is Dotun, my cosmopolitan friend striving to light up the world and simultaneously save the planet; there are my friends at work who made the days run by fast despite the stress; and then there is Family who always make me feel blessed beyond words and simultaneously encourage me to strive harder because I owe it to them as a life’s duty to always give them the best in life.

Like a pen, I have to at some point run out, and I think I have reached that point. I leave for today, and I promise not to go into hibernation again, and this is a promise I plan to keep.

Lest I forget, thanks Obums for getting me out of dormancy. Your words reinvigorated and prompted me to write this weekend. I really appreciate.

Thank You!

God Bless Us All!!

See You Next Time!!!

Twitter: @SirRash

Facebook: Rasheed SirRash Adewusi

Google+: Rasheed Adewusi