UNEMPLOYMENT – THE CURE (Part 1)

I finally decided to write this piece, after having convinced myself that I truly have a solution to the Unemployment plague eating at the large population of Nigerian youths. And indeed, I must point out that, this is a solution that actually works if put to practice.

First of all, to understand the enemy (unemployment), we must totally break it down. Therefore, let’s ask ourselves ‘When did unemployment become an issue in Nigeria’. I’ll let you answer that in your own words, but my answer to it is that ‘Unemployment became an issue the moment education became about securing jobs’.

You must wonder how I came about my answer. Well, I came to that conclusion after I had a chat with my father about how his generation never had a problem with securing jobs.

DISSECTING THE PAST

In the past, in Nigeria, people went to school for the sole purpose of being distinguished from illiterates. Then, there were two categories of people in the society; the educated and the uneducated. But all held one thing in common; they were all gainfully employed.

It’s a fact that most societies, towns, or villages in the past had either a trade or a profession that they were popular for. For example, Epe was, and still is,  a fishing Town, Ikeja people were known for basket weaving while the northerner were basically known for farming and cattle rearing. Thus in every town/village/society/region, the trade/profession is passed on from generation to generation.

Everyone was skilled and there was always something for everyone to do. Always someone who needed an extra-hand to help with excesses from his trade/profession. Even if you had to go to school, you would still have a piece of land to farm or your herd of cattle or atleast, time to go to the market to sell.

So what went wrong?

In my opinion, the misapplication of the concept of Education, and ofcourse, misdirection by the Government.

Watchout for part 2

NIGERIA AT 52

"Aba Saheed: A NATION OF IDIOTS Compass Mon may 25 2009"

We are all damned silly. Stupendously silly. silly to the point of stupor. Stinking silly swine. That’s what we all are. Not what we had always been though, Not until 1979 anyway when this columnist cried out in the Nigerian Tribune that Nigeria harboured the largest collection of silly men and women in the world.

And that silly sting had stayed with us ever since. I mean ever since some silly men imposed some silly men on all the silly people of this country in 1979. If you want to remember, it was that year that the leader of the silly men announced to the larger community of silly men that the best man would not be fit enough to lead the nation of Africa’s most enlightened people. And the best man was rigged out of contest and was made to bow at the feet of the cabal of silly men.

That idiocy which captured the body and soul of the nation has refused to go, and I am told it will never go voluntarily.

You wonder how a nation can continue to stomach the horrible things that assail it every day. How a people have become so helpless that they allow themselves to be bedraggled by less than 3000 heartless men. Those who hold this country by the jugular are less than 3000 nationwide. All former political [mis]rulers and their collaborators. And the present crop of day light robbers who have infected Abuja with a plague.

Every day, newspapers and television screens and radio airwaves are awash with news of billions of Naira ‘missing’, ‘misappropriated’ , ‘embezzled’, ‘stolen’, and so on and so forth. At the end of the day, all of us idiots merely leave our mouths ajar, mumble some curses at beer parlour joints and resign ourselves to suffering unending.

Roads were meant to be built, contracts were awarded, adequate fees paid, and all we get in return are the death traps on Ibadan-Lagos express, Lagos-Benin human body-parts supermarket, gorges on motor ways across the land. In some cases whole vehicles are swallowed up by deep gaps in the middle of the road.
/ SPAN>
And how do the idiots who populate the country react? They rain curses and move on. And their tormentors are grinning from ear to ear in their ill-gotten military contraption called Hummer.

You see councillors who were mere truck pushers yesterday now donating brand new jeeps to their wives or girl friends as birthday gifts and no questions are asked. Why? In a nation of idiots, everything goes. Idiots all over the world are known to be timid people. Nigerian brand of idiots are worse than timid. They are zombies made worse by collective spell heaped on them by the day-light robbers who have imposed themselves on them.

But this nation had not always been like this, This had been a country of brave men and women who fought the colonial masters to a standstill. This was the country of Queen Amina. This was the land of Jaja of Opobo. This was the20territory of Bashorun Ogunmola Olodogbo-keri- keri. The land of Lisabi Ogbongbo-akala. The land of Queen Orisamuro Eriwo . This was the country of Herbert Macaulay. The land of Raji Abdllah , The land of Aminu Kano . This was the country of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka. The land of Isaac Adaka Boro . The land of fiery Josiah Olawoyin. This land produced the great Nnmamdi Azikiwe. The legendary Sir Ahmadu Bello came, saw and conquered. The Kiniwun Onibudo, the Olumoko, Agbola’ya bi aara Obafemi Awolowo was a nationalist of this same country now overgrown with timid weeds.

Perhaps all of us idiots now suffering in inexplicable silence are waiting for the one-man suicide squad Tai Solarin, Bala Usman, Omorogie Ohonbamu, Bros Kanmi Ishola Osobu, SLB Labanji Bolaji, Comrade Ola Oni, Comrade Niyi Oniororo, Wahab Goodluck, Pa Imoudu, Genius Ayodele Awojobi to come from their current places of abode to free us from this suffocating slavery on our soil.

It was in this country20that the inimitable Fela Anikulapo Kuti carried coffin to harass Obasanjo at the Dodan barracks. The same Fela carried loads of ‘poo’ to block MKO Abiola’s house to protest ‘unfair treatment’ by Decca. Dr Beko Ransom Kuti led hundreds of thousands in protest to confront the fierce military tanks of Abacha in protest against the annulment of June 12 elections.

Now the generation suffering the most are still waiting for Ebenezer Babatope, Yemi Farounmbi, Gbolabo Ogunsanwo, Felix Adenaike, Arthur Nwankwo, Haroun Adamu, Tola Adeniyi, Rasheed Gbadamosi, our respected Gani Fawehimi, literary icons Soyinka and Achebe….men in their late sixties and mid seventies already shopping for travel agents for the best ticket out of planet earth to fight for them.

I should remind the people in their 20s and 30s that they are the ones whose present and future are being trampled upon. It is they, more than any other idiots in the idiots country, that are having their lives and the lives of their children ruined by the massive stealing going on in the country today. And they should know that throughout history it is only people under age 35 who initiate and lead revolutions.

How is a country the size of Nigeria with all her resources not able to supply ordinary electricity to her citizens? Imagine the billions of Naira lost daily because of lack of power. Imagine the number of industries that have closed down. Imagine the multiplying effects of lack of electricity on the nation’s security and social/economic well being. How is a country with all God has given her unable to provide drinking water? Why should Nigeria fail in providing gainful employment to her teeming population? Why should over 20 million children be out of school nationwide?

And yet all of us idiots watch in helpless resignation the men who led us into this mess living in vulgar opulence, feeding fat on our stolen money, sentencing our daughters to prostitution, and we do nothing.

This nonsense can not continue.

Imprisonment is not the answer. Imprisonment did not work in Ghana . It did not work in China . It did not solve the problem in Louis X1V’s France . It did not solve the problem in Russia before the Bolsheviks came with their chopping axe. No, Romania did not yield to imprisonment. Ask them in Ethiopia ; Meriam Mengistu led all to the chopping block.

If I am one of the 3000 men who have brought Nigeria into this mess, come for me today, take me to the Bar Beach and chop my head off. "

Rauf Aregbesola Wins!!!

Finally justice has been done. Today, an appeal court sitting in Ibadan declared Rauf Aregbesola as the bonafide winner of the 2007 Osun State Gubernatorial Election.
While I rejoice at this news (because I'm hoping to get an appointment in the new cabinet), I'm also saddened because this is only a reflection of the rotten electoral system we run in this country.
My suggestion on this issue is that whenever such cases as this arise in the future, there should be a sort of punishment for the culprits... Like a jail sentence or something. Imagine a mandate-thief walking free after after 4 years of unlawful occupation of the Governor's office; making policies for the state and all that.
What do you think?

The Library Vs The Internet

The topic of this post has been a topic of debate in recent times.
Although we might try to ignore the fact that there exists a sort of competition between the Internet and the traditional library as a place for research.
While some people prefer to make their research with the ease provided by the internet, others claim that they would rather stick to the traditional library simply because they wouldn't want to miss the feeling of holding a book in their hands.

This post seeks to sample your opinion.

A DAY WITH THE POLICE Contd.

That same day, When I closed from work, I went to Computer Village with my friend (that was around 4:00pm). As we walked past the Police Station inside the Computer Village, I heard someone whistling (a sign of calling). At first, the lagos boy instinct in me prompted me not to look back but the curious mind that I have made me look back and by the time I realised that it was a mistake, it was too late. One of the policemen in mufti beckoned at me but I ignored him.
Seconds later, the same man tapped me on the shoulder and said "police. We'ld like to see you". Almost as if he knew the next thing I was going to say, he brought out his identity card and I just nodded in defeat. All this while, my friend who was already shoving his way ahead didn't notice all the drama so I had to shout his name among the crowd.
As a law abiding citizen who respects the uniform a lot, I followed the policeman to their post and there a asked me what was in my bag and I told him it was my laptop and he asked me to show it to him. I brought out the laptop, handed it to him (and that was another mistake). He then asked for the receipt...
At this point, I think its really better if I tell you all about the laptop itself. I bought the laptop on the second day of January 2009. I bought it at a company inside the Awolowo House Building close to the Ikeja bridge. The reason most of these policemen ask for receipts is that, they believe that any young man with a laptop probably bought it off a friend who naturally wouldn't issue any receipt for the purchase. If they confiscate your laptop because you were not able to present the receipt of purchase of the laptop, they'ld simply say that someone reported a stolen laptop case to their station earlier that day and that your laptop fits the description of the missing one. If you don't know your way out of such matters with the police(no be my mouth dem go hear say teacher mama don die), you might be on your way to being charged in a case of theft, robbery or even burglary and you know what that means?
Now, as the policeman asked for the receipt, I just kept a blank face and simply said I didn't have it on me. Immediately, he gave it to one of the constables on duty and she went inside the office. So for the second time in one day, my laptop has gone into custody.
Thoughts of the things I could do and say to the policeman just kept streaming through my mind but I noted that he would already be anticipating such move from me and that might be a mistake (take it from me, if you have better things to do, avoid arguing with a Nigerian policeman). I decided to disappoint the man.
The company where I bought the laptop was just 5 minutes away from the police station and specifically I patronise that particular company for my computer products because of their finmesse in record keeping and afer sales service.
I walked up to the lady constable and demanded that a tag be placed on my laptop and before I left, I remember telling her how much trouble she'ld find herself in if I come back to find anything has gone wrong with my laptop. It was almost 5:00; the official closing hour for most private firms. I wasn't sure if the office would still be open at that time but I couldn't leave my laptop in custody either so I sprinted over to Awolowo House across the road and to my own advantage, the company was still open and it took less than 3mins for them to find my records on their database of customers and my receipt of almost 2 years was reprinted for me and stamped.
Two interesting things happened back at the police station. First, I went to the lady constable and I showed her the receipt. What she said coupled with the expression on her face when she said it really amused me "na wa for you ooo. Why you go collect receipt now?". Although I was amused, I showed no sign of it. She still refused to release the laptop and insisted that I wait for the mufti man. When the guy came and I presented the receipt to him too, he looked at it like he wanted to tear it to pieces... The show of frustration and anger really gave me a good laugh. He scrutinized every alphabet and every word on the invoice and then he said the second dumbest thing I heard that day "shey na this one you dey call reciept?".
At the end of it all, they released my laptop to me while I laughed my way out of their tiny container turned police station...Phew!!! What a day!

A DAY WITH THE POLICE

It was one of the days during this holiday. I was going to work and I saw Hursh Puppies (nickname for one of my brothers Moshopeoluwa Ayomipo Osho) as he was about to board his car. Seeing that it would be an opportunity to join him for a free ride to Ikeja, I hopped into the car. Little did I know that it would be a real interesting one.
As we left home, Bro. Shope picked two other colleagues around the estate and the four of us hit the road. He stopped over at the filling station for gas and the action of the day started immediately we left the fuel station.
We noticed a car trying to overtake ours and someone from the car was pointing at the tyre at the passenger's side. All of a sudden, the car just crossed us on the road and Bro. Shope was forced to slam both legs on the brake. Four policemen alighted from the vehicle and they demanded that we all alight from the car. "wetin dey inside your boot?" one of them asked. "Nothing" replied bro. Shope. "Open am make we see". As bro. Shope took the inquisitive policeman to his boot, we were also being questioned. The one with me was a confused albino (not sure if he should be an albino). He first said "wetin dey inside your bag?". "My laptop" came my frustrated answer. "Who get the laptop?" he asked. Again I said "na my own". Then came the dumbest question I have ever heard in my life "can I search the laptop?". I didn't even know how to answer the question. To cut a long story short, one who seemed to be the leader of the team of morons in new police uniforms, called out to the others and they let us go.
Back in the car, we were still expressing our surprise at the embarrassing stop and search and wondering if it was a tipoff or just a random thing. They didn't even ask for the car particulars as usual. Not even for the tinted permit... Can you imagine? I was even happy that the one asking to search my laptop didn't ask for the receipt of the laptop for then I would have been in trouble (that day I was carrying my laptop in a new bag and the receipt was in the old bag).
And that was just in the morning... Wait till you hear my ordeal in the evening of the same day...

AFFIDAVIT!!!

Although today is not the first day I've witnessed this menace; infact, I've been subjected to it for quite a while now, but today, I feel so compelled to talk about it.It's about the menace in the name of affidavit. 

Anybody who walks or works around Ikeja GRA or High Court or even the General Hospital Ikeja , would be aware of my obvious irritation.

See, since I'm on holidays and I get bored easily, I got my self a job at Ikeja Old Secretariat and thus I inevitably have to go past the General Hospital and then the Lagos High Court every morning. Now here's where the problem is, it happened like this the first time, I'm walking on my own jeje like the honourable man that I am (winks) and suddenly I hear affidavit from my right; I look and I see a man waving a sheet at me. As a confirmed lagos guy, I understood and I shooked my head in the negative. One would think that after that, I'ld be left alone in peace but alas! after just two more steps, I heard affidavit again! I looked and shooked my head again. Between the General Hospital and the Lagos High court, I got the same call more than 20 times.

Everyday this is what I go through. But the question is... Is it legal for this people to be touting affidavit? If not, then why isn't anyone doing anything about them? Even though they are right beside a police station and a High court for that matter!

Affidavit...