THAT WASSAIL WAS NOT NECESSARY: Felicitation, ovation, consecration all these things are concomitant to some achievements and probably calls for some celebration but throwing them up in the sky for a show of dignity to me is a bit.......If you have done all you needed to do and finally you believe you are there to me this calls for inner evaluation and humility should also be part of the recipe. I have heard it so many times that if you have got it, you must flaunt it…..I am not one that believes in such at this point in my life. I believe in minimalism and the more infinitesimal it is the better for me. No matter how much I have, I believe it is a crime to humanity to display it so wantonly without compunction or scruple. This is not me being cheerless but life and the passage of time does have a way of mellowing people and change their perception about certain things and direction to the real meaning of life. I am at that age and point in time in my life that I have learnt to decipher what is important from what is necessary. Even in those years that I would embarrassingly spend so much on a hand bag and ostentatious items, I still used to have that pang of guilt that it was not right. Not right in the sense that I have no right to be abysmal to the plights of others to the extent that i would spend so much on items of no real value when humans are dying to even have a decent meal a day. Aberration i believe. The day this really dawned on me and I was haunted for years, I was in Nigeria on vacation sometime in 2007…..I was at the passport office to get a Nigerian passport and was so dehydrated and desperately needed a drink. So I walked down to a kiosk they were selling food. I saw a grown man that could be a chieftain, a doctor, lawyer, proprietor of a school, a dad, uncle brother in fact this man could have been anything of great importance. The man ordered for food, the woman gave him such a little soup that probably would not even be enough for a little child without a piece of meat and the biggest eba I have seen anyone consumed at a seating. And across to where I was sitting there was another man with all sorts of meat in all variations okay what we call assorted. My mind was racing why would this woman be this wicked to give this other man such a little portion of soup with no meat and such big eba, I was seriously troubled and could not hold it down. I walked up to the woman and asked her quietly what the issue was with man; she explained that the man could only afford fifty Naira soup and one hundred and fifty Naira eba and she chuckled realizing my anguish. I gave her one Thousand Naira to feed the man properly. She said to the man oga Obi God don butter your bread screaming across and I hated that so much. This aunty gave me money that I should feed you proper o! Come thank am o! Madam you don’t have to shout i cautioned her oh! aunty sorry I just dey happy too because even the one wey him dey chop he never pay me……This then made me realized why she would give a grown man such a little quantity of soup. The man said aunty and started praying you know how they carry on……Nor be meat be my problem o! As I don find this eba to take hold foundation he edon do me abeg no vex make the aunty give me the money instead. I felt so bad and I can be too overly emotional I believe I dropped a tear that a grown man could be so happy for just one thousand Naira that was nothing for me then and still is nothing today. Before I left the place I just discreetly squeezed 10k into his hands rushing out this man grabbed me and started crying that they are about to evict him from his room with three kids and that I have just paid his rent for six months that God had answered his prayer. I nearly said i have just given you money and you are calling God but i held back lolz! There is nothing that breaks me down as see a man cry. I pulled him out and asked him how much it would cost to pay his rent for five years if ten grand could pay for six months, five years cant possibly break the bank. He did the calculation and it still was not up to 100k chicken feed then less than $1000…..Gosh I started feeling so bad that this is what I spend on some poxy mules and here was someone almost dying……At that point it dawned on me that this our country was in serious trouble. His rent was paid in five years. I vanished into the passport office as I was done about to enter my car I saw this man again I could see the difference in him within hours and on the same day. THE WHOLE GIST: I was in a shindig yesterday, I am not so much of a Nigerian party goer but this was hubby’s associate’s 50th Birthday party so i felt obligated. The display of wealth through the scrumptious meals, the sheer outright show of opulence without any scruple is so unforgivable. No expense spared for this man and his wife to display to those that cared to know that he has got it and it must be flaunted. Nigerians are too superficially annoying.........The summation of that party being totally modest could not have been less than N50M. I did not know that they do rent women to attend parties I saw it yesterday. Business and empowerment abi? Another jobs creation avenue? Who said Nigeria is not working? Okay this is part of the event management or event organizers i have been hearing? Wetin i know sef? SMDH! So i would sit on my medium size ass waiting for a party that i would be invited to and i get paid in return for attending the party? I am doing something wrong or in the wrong vocation. Hmmm! How and when did we get it all this muddled up and messy?.........It could only happen in Nigeria sadly enough. Sunny Ade collects N10M for a single appearance so you do the calculation. His fortissimo alone on this occasion disturbing the other neighbors so not cool. The various aso ebis, those serving food, drinks, water, light chops, the scrumptious meals, in various forms and cuisines of all the nations he has been to and those he has invited……..OMG! What a display of avarice and unnecessary greatness just to celebrate a birthday? I was not impressed not that the party was not well organized in fact it was one of the best, anyone that is anyone was in attendance, women of every shades and colour hmmmm! But why this display of affluence in the midst of so much hardship and poverty simply to socialize? How could someone have such a wassail when there are Nigerians that have not eaten a meal today and are not even sure of when and how the meal would come? There is no money in the system and some other people are spending so much and actually buying tickets and importing friends across the world to attend this same party...........I met a long time friend that lives in the States that i have not seen for only f...k knows how long. She too was imported all expenses paid. I simply would not do such nonsense now when I know how bad the situation is in the country and with Nigerians. There are those with money than all the Gods in the world but they respect humanity and do so much to alleviate the suffering of others because they know that is the noble thing to do after all we are all members of the same humanity. I think what i saw yesterday is unforgivable. I would do much for those that are not as privileged as I am for that would be a better, somber and a befitting birthday present to a great person. Oba Otudeko of Honey well group bluntly refused such on his 70th birthday, that man could have or can afford to close down Lagos on that occasion but he opted for a Church thanksgiving service and rather donated a mammoth amount to motherless babies homes across the nation and helped those in real needs. That is what i am on about...Service to man is service to humanity anything else is mere display and silhouette. Please people sometimes let’s be sensitive to others plights. I know it’s your money, you can use it and display it as you want but think of those not as privileged as you are, because that is it, you are just privileged but not better than anyone else. I just don’t fancy these things that is so unnecessary just me thinking. If you want to do it at least be discreet for what you take for granted others are praying for. Sometimes it is not what you do but how you do it. Across the Rubicon there is someone that can’t afford a piece of meat. #Thinking deep#
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:47:00 +0000
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