NIGERIA, A NATION OF PARROTS.....??

                                                            
Parrots are the real deal! Aside from dogs, I love them for pets. I think it would be nice to have one sitting on my shoulder like Treasure island’s Captain Flint on Long John Silver’s, squawking out “pieces of eight”. But thing is that the ones that give us so much fun and entertainment by their fusillade of mimicries are usually incarcerated. They are freedom less.  Truth is also that the frequent repetitions could grate your nerves especially on a day your emotional fuse is short. Free Macaws fly unhampered; they are nobody playthings unlike their imprisoned counterparts.
 
I heard a song Fela sang about twenty years ago yesterday and it was saddening to note that the same things he was crying about are still the issues plaguing us today; it is just that they have gotten worse. Power, water, transport, bad leadership, etc, have been Nigeria’s perennial thorns, penetrating the heart of its citizens.


The miasma of pain and the anguish from the Dana air disaster still hangs over this nation like a cloud of putrefaction over a mangrove swamp. And the whole nation is agog with the tragedy of it all. Knowing Nigerians, the whole episode would soon dissipate like tendrils of fog on a sunny morning except for the families directly involved. The agony of losing a loved one may wane with time but it never completely goes. It is a big gash on the heart that never completely heals.


Sadly enough all we do is talk! We organize a jamboree of lamentations, participate in an orgy of sorrows, dance along in the carnival of tears, orchestrate a fete of sadness and that’s where it all ends. ALL WE DO IS TALK! The carousel of destruction keeps up its monotonous circle, the wheels of déjà vu keep spinning, we have been at this point before and here we are again. A lot of noise was made just a few years ago when we lost some stars amongst them school children and the illustrious Bimbo Odukoya. The Corpers that were gruesomely massacred after the elections have been forgotten. We talked then and nothing happened, and the same circle of carnage keeps repeating itself. We parrot away while everything seems to be going to hell in a hand basket.


A lot of hue like the bright plumage of our focus bird is made, we cry until we are blue in the face yet all we get are a few seedlings of placation to smooth a few ruffled feathers while the prison wardens in their flowing robes shake their head in amusement wondering what the whole chatter is about. They are so used to our ineffectual cacophony of bedlam, the tweets, chirps and chirrups that do no good.

Panels are set up over and over again, but at the end we realize they are just like avian parades where a lot of meaningless songs are sung. After a while we don’t even remember where, and when it all ended, if it ever ended or if there was ever any verdict/conclusion.

We revel in the sensationalism of the latest broadcast and try to out tweet ourselves like that would qualify us to win the award of the most informed African Grey. We are like zonked out drunks snoring on a bed of vicious vipers oblivious to imminent cataclysm unless we wake up real fast.


But the talk is surely enough, is it not? Passengers of Charon’s canoe feel like they are on a sun filled trip as they are ferried across the Styx to Hades comparative to the kind of blackout our nation has but it doesn’t matter so long we have enough to buy fuel into our multiple generators. New kids get wiped out like old lessons on a blackboard by the duster of malaria and other ailments that should not even kill an ant if not that we have greedy rulers who keep stuffing their maws with sweets from the national treasuries. But what is the big deal if we live in upscale areas with more mosquito nets than metal grills in “Alcatraz”. A Neanderthal shows more intelligence in deciphering the letters on the Sumerian stone than our so called leaders depict even in the reading of the alphabets, but what do we care so long they continue giving us the million dollar contracts . Bombs go off at the pace of exercise induced heart beats but don’t matter much so long it happens far away from us.


So why not just talk and retreat into our gilt edged shells, bury our heads in the sands, Ostriches of self deception. With all our prattle we have become inured, developed thick skins that makes an elephant’s seem as soft as a Vaseline lubricated baby’s bottom.


The reality should have started to dawn on someone by now that the gap is now being bridged, almost no one is safe anymore whether home or abroad. We cannot remain ornamental talkers. IT IS EITHER WE DO MORE THAN TALK OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES (SOME HAVE ALREADY PAID WITH THEIR LIVES)!!!


There was a time during the exodus of the Hebrews when they were plagued by the consequences of their sin and all they did was moan, mourn and plead. While this disaster was going on, one brother was busy grooving with a Midianite doxy perpetuating the root cause of the nation’s problem until a fellow named Phinehas took a spear and lanced the couple through. That single action stayed the hand of the plague. This hero of Israel took action instead of talking. He struck at the heart of the matter, took out the root cause of the evil but before he did that 24,000 people had died. I am not advocating violence but we have to take action until the jokers who are up there start to take us seriously. Our destiny and that of our progenies are at stake here. WE HAVE TO TAKE CONTROL!!!


Some people say we should keep praying. I strongly believe that if you are a Christian, about the most potent force you can exploit is the power of prayer but prayer is not everything. There is no better model of prayer than Elijah the Tishbite(anyone who prays down rain knows a thing or two about prayers) in the scriptures but when Israel was infested with the bugs of bad leadership, aside from praying, he confronted the king and his henchmen. King’s Ahab’s regime was reminiscent of Nigeria, spiritual darkness that could be likened to PHCN power, famine that caused economic hardship, Jezebel his wife, a terrible first lady, murdering of anyone who stood in the way of their gain like they killed Naboth and the roll call of evil goes on. While other prophets were hiding in caves, Elijah confronted these people and started a spiritual revolution that toppled them. He put some of their spiritual advisers to the sword. Someone had to account for all the bad things going on like extirpating the lives of infants on the altar of Baal.

In the movie "the Good, Bad and Ugly, someone wanted to kill "Ugly" and droned on and on until "Ugly" was able to get a vantage point of shooting at him. I never forget what he said, "if you want to shoot, shoot! Dont talk!

Allow me to digress a bit but if any of you leaders are reading this, you might not have figured this out though it is not rocket science, the airline you didn’t do anything about might cause the death of you or your loved ones, the gully in that road you refused to build might end up swallowing your soul like a Venus fly trap eats up a fly, the hospital you neglected might be the one that your sole grandchild would be taken to in an emergency before your jet gets ready to evacuate her abroad and by then it might be too late. The schools you refuse to build might raise the assassins that will have you in the cross hairs of their rifles tomorrow. Don’t be deceived, whatsoever a man shows that shall he also reap, it is a given. You cannot run away from this one.

Nigeria is our kingdom; the ruler is never more than the people especially in a democracy. We call the shots and that had better begin to dawn on us.


Elijah knew something about the kingdom of God that most of us have not cottoned on to…

“THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT IN WORDS BUT IN POWER”!!!

ROBERTO DI MATTEO.....

                                                                            

I wanted Chelsea to lose! You know how the story ended, don’t you? Thing is, I used to be a blues fan. I loved the two dreaded wonders who with Van Basten helped Netherlands win the 1988 European cup. When Ruud Gullit went over to Chelsea from AC Milan to become a player coach, I naturally followed him and became a diehard fan of the blues. All through the Italian revolution that had Gianluca Vialli, Pierlughi Casiraghi, Roberto Di Matteo and Gianfranco Zola play for the club, to when it became a veritable melting pot of nationalities with the Spaniards Ferrer and Sergi as full backs, the Norwegian, Tore Andre Flo, the Uruguayan, Gustavo Poyet, the Dutchmen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and the goalkeeper, what’s his name now….ah ha.. Ed De Goey and until Claudio Ranieri took over with Mario Melchiot (subjectively, he is one of the best right backs in the world, who did not fully fulfill his potential) running down the right flank. Then the Special one took over, I respected his confidence and absolutely abhorred his pride, same reason I can’t abide CR7 but absolutely in love with Lionel Messi because of his humility. I turned my back on Chelsea!

The last Champions league finals will go into the annals of football history as one of the best ever. It had enough heart stopping drama to make it a Hollywood production but it was said that Michel Platini tried his best to make ensure it was a Barca, Real Madrid finals and failed. To me even a classico could not have ended better than the match we saw, nail biting tension and all. The rapid succession of classico games played recently has made them a bit monotonous for me; personally I don’t think it would have made a great final. Thing is that lots of the time in life we try to work things out with our own wisdom and strength like  Mr. Platini but if you are a Christian, wisdom should tell you that God has better things in store for us, so it does not pay to try and scheme our way through life. We should play by the rules and quietly trust God. For example if as a lady, you have changed everything about yourself just to make a guy slip a band on your finger, you are probably trying too hard, it is not supposed to be that difficult. The dude is not your knight in shining armour my sister, please walk. There is a better guy in store for you. Cheating to make a quick buck is also not worth it and the list goes on. Absalom, the son of David used every kind of manipulation and machination to dethrone his dad in his bid to become king and died in the process. Since his dad loved him so much, he would most probably have become king if patience had been a virtue of his. Machiavelli was wrong; the end never justifies the means if the means is wrong.

One thing that astonished me was the way Chelsea and its fans believed even when the deck was obviously stacked against them. They dug into the trenches and fought the fight of their lives. In life, it’s not over until it’s over. It does not matter the disadvantage you have or the hand life might have given you, NEVER QUIT, NEVER BACK DOWN, SIMPLY BELIEVE, HAVE FAITH!!! FAITH MOVES MOUNTAINS!!!

My buddy bro Emeka told me that even though the odds were against Chelsea that they had something, someone who will make all the difference, that is Didier Drogba (humble fellow he is I must say), and I laughed him to scorn. My laughter came back to haunt him and not as Casper the friendly ghost. The Ivorian turned out to be the ace that changed the game. In the game of life we all need aces even God after using all the plagues in the world had to resort to the blood covenant to break the hold of Pharaoh and Egypt over the Israelites. WHAT IS YOUR ACE??

How powerful can cards be in the game of life? After seeing The Gambit of the X-men fame using explosive cards to do away with enemies, you would agree with me that cards can be dangerous in doing a foe in, wild-cards. Against Bayern Munich, Ryan Bertrand was a wild card, an unforeseeable and an unpredictable element that helped to clip Arjen Robben’s wings. God’s a master of wild-cards. Moses was reared in Pharaohs household, Jesus was born by a virgin, veterans of war could not kill Goliath with the best of war armaments and here comes “lil” David and brings the man mountain down with a sling and a stone, ridiculous. If these are not wild-cards then I don’t know what is?

Study life! Czech studied the penalties of the Germans and came away unbowed. We all need to be students of life; this is one of the sure ways to avoid being victims. Samson was betrayed once by a Philistine filly and did not learn his lesson; he later fell for a Philistine vixen and lost his life. Understanding life helps us know the direction to face when things get kicking. It saves you from projectiles that could topple your aspirations.

Believe and invest in a dream! Roman Abramovich did not let up on his dream and invested billions into it. He came away with the grand prize!

I have been plunged into darkness before. Black and stygian, boiling and living, its maws filled with poisonous fangs, breath full of peppery mist and bowels filled with pain that stung like a sting ray until every cell of my being was marinated in excruciating agony. But even though the pain has almost being buried in the sands of time, I still remember the sweetness of the embrace I got from pals who tried to ease the pain (Dego, Nonso, Dozie, Pst Toyin, a million thanks). One of the things about that game I would never forget was when Didier gave a broken, confused Robben a hug. There is nothing like the hug of empathy, an embrace of comfort. Seriously, I have never been able to understand people who leave a wake of pain and hurts wherever they go. The bridge of relationships is one of the strongest things ever, makes that of San Francisco seem like a makeshift tangle of raffia and bamboo sticks. Let us always endeavour to reach out a helping hand, a loving hand, a hand of camaraderie.

Then of course, the Hero of the whole saga, Roberto Di Matteo! This brother makes a cucumber seem hot and sweaty. He is the James bond of the round leather world. I can almost wager that he introduces himself by saying my name is Di Matteo, Roberto Di Matteo.  He is suave, debonair and urbane, can keep his shirt on intact after a battle with a wounded lion. Dandy and cool, he led Chelsea to an unbelievable victory. I told someone recently that one of the worst tragedies in life is committing suicide; it’s an extremely stupid act, absolutely foolish. This is because the winds of fortune can blow in your direction at any minute, the fact that you seem down on your luck today doesn’t mean that your situation has been cast in stone. Ask Roberto, outcast eighteen months ago, hero today. Even when the cup was won, he did not exhibit the kind of euphoria that would make one think he never expected it. His stone cold nerves of steel showed that he knew he had it in him, so it was going to be sooner than later. The thing in life is to keep investing and practicing so that when the platform of fortune shows up, we would be ready to perform on the grand stage.

Loads of people have concluded that the Chelsea victory was as a result of serendipity but I beg to disagree. Fortune favours the brave. That victory came by sheer grits, tenacious guts, meticulous preparation, strategic planning and good management powered by an exceptional Italian. Roberto Di Matteo, I DOFF MY HAT!!!

This whole tale of fortitude and unbelievable triumph sparked off the timeless verse Paul told the Galatians in my heart and it’s been burning like the fires in Vulcan’s forge.

“BE YE NOT WEARY IN WELL DOING, FOR IN DUE SEASON, YOU SHALL REAP IF YOU FAINT NOT.”