My Generation.... In our time

Euphoria does not last very long for me. Usually, upon the accomplishment of some task, one is expected to have a feeling of, well, goodness ( for want of a better word), which raises your spirits to some point where your person seems to transcend every possible limitation that your environment can offer. Even if it is for a fleeting moment.

Alas, for me, that moment is less than fleeting. More like milliseconds, because the moment the high of achievement starts to elevate me, the realist that we all seem to possess (if you've read Carl Jung's work and his theory of a collective consciousness that is shared by all human beings) starts to remind me
of the very glaring, obvious - but not insurmountable limitations of my environment.

This is not about the purported "agreement" that has been reached between ASUU and the Federal Government - although it was a catalyst. It might seem like over-flogging the issue, and prudence would say to let sleeping dogs lie and let us all get back to doing things the way we have been doing them - the "Nigerian" way. But then, it would just be keeping with the trends of the times in which we live, and the time that was before that, and the time before that as well. We always fail to learn from our lessons!!!!. Who knows, maybe it might be proven by the "oyinbo" researcher as a general black man thing, just the way they came up

with some ludicrous thingy about our swimming abilities as a race. Damn you Michael Phelps!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The generations preceding ours always like to tell us about "the good old days". When if you went to school, you were guaranteed of getting a good job, a Naira was equivalent to a dollar, and generally people could be trusted,and when they ate a full chicken in school. It is only natural for anyone to think his/her era was the best and the purest - ask Atilla The Hun, he would tell you!!!!. But here is what they consciously and graciously ignore - that the generation that they were raised in is chiefly responsible for the problems that they nag about, and that we have to live with as a people.

Let's take it from this angle, Nigeria just turned 49. One year short of the diamond age of 50 (correct me is I am wrong about that oh, I am not perfect), and I saw quite a few mixed reactions about it on our friendly neighborhood social network application - Facebook duh.
While some were jubilant, praying, some were pissed, some were optimistic, some almost gave up hope of things ever even thinking of pointing (not moving ,mind you) in a positive direction. The point here is this, we keep bitching, hoping, praying , prophesighing(that is how they pronounce it in some places oh!!!!), but really we never do anything concrete to affect the situation, at least not in positive manner.

I saw a video recently, and the twat that recorded it really pissed me off.

Here is the basic gist, twat here was about to travel out to Istanbul (hope he speaks Turk) from the MMIA, and through the departure tunnel that led to the area that the flight was going to boarded from, there was no lighting (why that was, the moronic nagging buffoon didn't bother to ask, and hence left it out of the video).

Who knows, the circuitry for that tunnel might have failed, there was no lighting. And this moron had to go on and on about HA!, Nigeria, International Airport, no light, my country, big shame, blah blah blah. Of course, our super-sized egos never let us point the blaming finger in our direction.

Here is me on it, tell us something we don't know!!. In case the whiner didn't realize, these things happen in other countries that we aspire to be.There is no light in the country. And he failed to make mention of the fact the an airport authority official was trying to effect the situation by getting a rechargeable lamp to lead the passengers through the tunnel.

Before you draw knives, I admit it was kind of depressing, but someone decided to do something RIGHT. Not just something, she made the attempt - minuscule and insignificant as it seemed, and it made a huge impression, on me at least. She got them through the tunnel.

The new fad among people my age is to start taking leadership courses. Nothing wrong with them, if anything they should be encouraged. But ladies and gentlemen of my generation, it takes more to be a leader than speaking plenty grammar, wearing fine suit, playing determined, reading the bible, praying, buying the leadership seminar material etc. It takes doing something substantial, tangible. Effective.


Now, here are a few things we should realize, the people that organize these programs, do so in the hope that you will take certain lessons from them ,and apply them across a variety of facets in your life - personal and social, not just financial and spiritual. But lo and behold, their effort ends up in play acting and the creation of an appearance of determination by the "leaders of tomorrow".

As disjointed as these arguments may seem, keep calm and let me illustrate the link. Twat above was going to Istanbul - and i seriously hope it was for business, because that funny I am American/British/Aussie from Naija accent won't get him far. He didn't have any possible idea to even identify that a valid attempt at a solution was being executed in front of him, for him!!!!!!!

That woman was a leader, the same way Fashola is, she saw a problem to be solved, and attempted to solve, even in the most inadequate of environments. Which is better and more than most people have ever done in their entire existences!!

Where were we. The way forward. Let's take a cue from those who came before us, so as to avoid their mistakes and keep us from being grumpy old people in 35 years, who will have to listen to members of that generation tell us (rudely albeit, children are getting saucier by the year) we have failed them. I personally see it as torture if i have to listen to my children ask me why we let things get so bad. What answer(s) will I give them? None. The same way none was given, because there are no answers. Effort is not rewarded, only results. My brother told me this, and I take it to heart in everything I do.

Let us start with the ideal way things should be, and not take quick fixes. If a building is going to come down to achieve the better tomorrow we all crave, so be it. So I start by suggesting these for our current ASUU quagmire:

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) should:

1. Be part of the negotiations as much as ASUU and the FG. heck, it's our educational sector as much as it is theirs. It is OURS.
2. They should compel the FG and ASUU to put whatever common grounds they reach into writing. Legally binding writing. Such that this will be the last strike that we will witness for 50 years!!!


Until this is done, let's put up a stand and tell them we won't be National Resilience Limit statistics survey participants anymore. Tell them, that until they solve this problem with a seal of permanency, that they do not have students, that they do not have a system. That they have NOTHING.

I would rather stay at home than plead to be passed out into a system that is primed for failure. Let's get the wheels turning in the right direction, please I beg you.

I don't know what else to say. If we don't fix it ourselves, they never will. Because they never tried. Rather than us bitch about the possible might that we have as a country and as a generation, and the lows that we currently are in like the Istanbul bound twat. Let us knuckle down and do everything that is possible to fix it.

My words are my first line of offense. My actions are next. The discipline with which I act will be the third. Let's roll up the sleeves, and do the work.

The Nigeria we dream about, it's existence and continued existence lies in the content of our actions towards making it happen!!!

If our world is in darkness, then we are the light. When we shine, our world glows. Period.

Minority Report

I have come to the realization that there are certain things that are ALMOST impossible to change. And that's because those with the capacity to effect the change are in the minority.

Not to be confused with the concept of minority and majorty in relation to numerical strength of each side. Looking beyond numbers, majorities and minorities exist because of the age old quest for the control of resources.

In recent classes with Dr. Ehon this second semester (that just will not end!!) and last semester's course with Dr. Akinfala and Dr. 'Foluso Ayodeji, all lecturers of the department of Psychology, of the University of Lagos, we discussed ( to some great extent) the concepts of minorities, majorities and what makes them so. Among these factors, population size, geographical location size were mentioned. But the major determining factor the control of resources - political, economic, and social. All of this in the context of ethnicities and ethnic groups.

I started thinking about this when I started taking a peculiar interest in conflict - sources, causes and resolutions. It prompted the viewing of certain scenarios with a totally different eye.

The majority is not those with the larger number, in fact it could be a single person, but the power (which is the ability to make others do a task which they would normally not do), which they possess is what makes them the majority. Hence, when there is a single person with the ability to see through his choices, and get it done is therefore seen as the majority.

Majority is then defined as those with the ability to influence events in their favor, either by the usage of sheer numerical strength, control of resources, use of power etc. The minority hence becomes those who do not have all these wonderful possessions that their opposing numbers have.

This is about us the minority. As an individual, you are compelled by the structure of societal institutions and the organizations which exist within them to remain a "minority" until it is decided upon by the "majority" to ascend into the realm of the majority. But in the interim, whatever happens to you as a minority, you have to accept it as such. Take a look at a few scenarios:

You are a student, and you happen to possess information that contradicts your lecturer's knowledge, and you introduce it to your lecturer, and he refuses your point of view. He does this because you are the minority. Even if the whole class agrees with your point of view, and forms a numerical definition of a majority, the sad lot is, we still all are a minority compared to his awe-inspiring founatin of knowledge, which only he seems to possess, and know that only he possesses, and with which he forms a majority. Annoying isn't it.

The above illustration is just an everyday scenario, "you are the little guy because we say so". Simple. And that is because we do not possess the same kind of power that they do, and the ability to use it.

This can be taken as a view of our basic societal ills, bad leadership, tyranny, autocratic democracy (in truth that is what we practice).

I have come to the conclusion that I am a minority, with the power of a majority ( all within the context of this insane argument).

Let's put this in perspective with a few current national issues.

ASUU and the FG are showing their majority power. They influence policies which affect every single public university attending student. But a comparison based on numbers shows we are more than they are,not just a majority.

Now this is how we become a majority. I remember a particular day in my final year in secondary school, the whole senior year were flogged for standing our ground and saying that we were not extorionists and "taxers". After fatigue duty aka grass cutting, and flogging, by very experienced hands, the teachers had the audacity to say that they wanted to come teach. On that fateful day, at around 11:30 am, when Ms Uche Nwoko (English Language) came in and wrote on the board her subject name, Chinonso (fat Chinonso, SS 3L) calmly walked up to the board and wiped it down, and told her that, I do not think we will be having lectures today. We could have gotten our asses kicked again, but the message struck home, the majority had been unfair, and by their actions instigated a rebellion. And rebellion is permissible when the majority effs things up amazingly well - see John Locke and his work.

Think of how much we could change with just a calm protest - not MASSOB and Biafra, OPC and Arewa, MEND style o. Just standing firm, and wait for the "majority" to hang themselves with the rope of their dumb actions. Think about it.

Before you crucify this, I know that the minority is still the minority because of fear, fear of losing that little which they have, have it taken away by the powers that be.

But it could be a different world. Just imagine,touts wouldn'tbe able to extort all the bus drivers, police men wouldn't be comfortable asking for 'weekend kola", because we know we can say no to unfair treatment and get away with it. And most importantly, ASUU and the FG can't play chicken with millions of students lives because we could flip both of them the bird and tell them to take a flying leap of Zuma rock.

If only we could give up that little that we have (subsidized education) for that which we really want ( good and qualitative education).

This train of thought costs a fair bit, some might an arm and a leg. But the benefits will live forever, as long the minority know that they are the true majority.

I am Adesina Ademola P., a member of the minority. This is my Minority Report

I do not settle !!

The whole concept of settling down really bites me, and it's hitting close to home now more than ever.

I will be graduating in a little bit ( not with a sparkling result, but a good and extremely useful one nonetheless), and my lack of a current stable relationship becomes more obvious than ever, and it's because I choose not to settle for just anyone, but look for and FIND "the one".

Not that I have never been in a relationship ( been dating regularly since I was 15 years old - records prove this), but I have not kept a stable relationship in quite a while (and it's not because of my fictitious and overblown promiscuity), but rather because of the previously mentioned reason.

Growing up, we all had visions of the perfect relationship: Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl is crazy in love with boy, boy feels the same about girl, and they date, boy gets a good job, they marry, have kids, boy turns to man, never strays, and girl keeps her body looking like Iman Abdulmajid at 54.

That's kinda out of a romance novel by any author other than Danielle Steele ( things never end well in her books), but the sad truth is that's not how things really go (at least for most people). Rather:

1. Boy meets girl, and is crazy insane, going ape-s**t for her;
2. But girl is having none of it, she's looking for someone more mature (and sees them too - by going to weddings and looking for church brothers);
3. Boy makes a move, girl doesn't see it his way, boy is crushed;
4. Girl dates the supposedly responsible and mature "boy" that is actually a boy in a man's body.

The years role by, boy becomes more "mature" and starts looking to "settle down" after being crushed and also crushing in return. Girl has had her fill of "hit and run" gentlemen and starts to look to "settle down" after the same scenarios pass for her.This is where the real fun starts. The church groups, the blind dates, the wedding ground hunting schemes, the single profile statuses on Social Networking sites etc.

In the interim, a lot of happiness has gone out the window from the actions of both boy and girl - now man and woman ( one more desperate than the other).

If they had sought true happiness, they probably would never need to settle ( PROBABLY, NOT DEFINITELY).

Now back to the top of the story ( the concept of settling down). When we settle, it's out of fear. Oh my God, I'm going to be left out of not having what eveybody else is having - a seemingly complete, yet grossly inadequate life, by most of our personal convictions and definitions.

In recent conversations with friends, we discussed our hopes and dreams for our immediate futures, and a core topic was "THE WEDDING". How they would all love to get married in time ranges from immediately we graduate to 3 years.

But then, to whom? is the question that we ask. To a random target compliant individual (i.e. right age, right height, right profession, right ethnic background etc - ergo the option that comes your way, that you settle for ) or the one that makes you believe that miracles happen because everyday you spend with them is a miracle of birth to you ?

I would rather wait for the merger of eternity to come, pay in full for it and get the eternal benefits of devotion to the ideal of affection and the greatest of friendships, than settle down and have a time-based contract whose benefits dwindle with each passing year.

I do not settle because I do not compromise on my future, and the happiness which it contains. I do not settle because I believe in the existence of true love.

The very first one.

It is not going to be an hour long speech. I promise. Just wanted to say hi, and officially make my very first blog. I like a lot of stuff, and I think about even more. Hopefully, I will be sharing those thoughts on this forum with everyone.

Cheerios, and don't forget.
BeCool