As much as I never admit it, I am not too keen on writing anymore, there seem to be a love lost. I get it though, being relatable remains my drive, I really don’t want to be a generic version of any motivational speaker to any reader. . . you have your pastors for that! 😁 **insert sign of the cross. I more than often struggle with my own motivation, therefore even though there is possibly a lot I could share, I need that traction first to help keep character.

So the year is finally closing its curtains, and you know how they say ‘when life gives you lemon’ bla bla bla. . personally, I don’t think 2019 was really that kind of year. It was more like. . . already gained knowledge in contrast to a ‘presumable worse’ or in simple term, reality.

Donald Trump was impeached. .  just for formality, 😞 a massive protest in Hong Kong over an extradition bill, Liverpool are on the verge of winning the English Premier League title, Sowore arrested in court . . I mean, 2019 events almost did not happen in isolation, the shock effect wasn’t overly dramatic as a couple of these events could easily have been predicted. The entire year was more or less a subtle upgrade like (2015 – 2018) 2.0 version.

Scheming through thoughts, I think we all nearly had a fair share of our action – consequence moments when we had to deal with issues necessitated by our earlier decisions. This year made it hard to trade blames, whether rough or not, it still had this silky routine-ish feel. 🤔 It makes a bit more sense considering the fact that 2019 is the last year in the 20 10’s series and the end of the regular calendar decade.

The new forthcoming year 2020 for some, a new closure and for others, a new opening, however, it holds exactly the same meaning for either side of the divide. The concept of time I’d like to think is transcendent, we never really grasp its entire purpose, it could be transitional or transformational and as we surf through life tides, evolution becomes a must. This I believe is the essence of ‘living life.

So, 2020 . . . we go again! more drive, better motivation, more positivity, better results, more influence . . basically, forget perfection, just be more charismatic and human.

Top of the year to you! 🎉 let’s do this again.

Donald

2018! . . Another remarkable year has finally come to an end. Just like the ones before it, we certainly did have our lows, highs and moments of equilibrium.

Personally, 2018 was a good transition from 2017, I didn’t necessarily need to make a change in direction. All I did was follow path, regardless the speed I just needed to keep moving.

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It is my sincere intention to write about something else; funny, creative, witty . . . anything . . . satisfactorily beneficial to the reader but fortunately not, the ominous reality of the Nigerian society muddles my imaginative thinking.

 

I am not sure if this is a sequel to my “Nigerian Youth and Fruit of Ignorance” write-up however, the increased restiveness amongst the youth is calling for a re-colonization. Like, ok . . we have strayed far beyond our redemption point, let us just recreate our pre-colonial history, put back our chains, bounds or shackles and wait for our European masters. This way, we would possibly have a common interest again to unite us and rewrite our future while we plan a great escape.

 

So, maybe my above illustration is far reaching but you want to know what else reaches further, the fact that 3% of the Nigerian population controls over 80% of our ‘common’ wealth. Not disturbing enough? How about a video of 2 teenagers holding the head of another teenager allegedly for the purpose of money rituals? Or let’s try over 100 soldiers killed along with the other numerous ones ambushed and yet the nation isn’t even mourning.

 

Is it that we have possibly all turned accountants overnight that we see numbers only as statistics and monetary value? I mean these numbers represent people with real names, real identities, real dreams, real purposes and real passion.

 

YOUTH RESTIVENESS; Considering recent happenings, this isn’t about a struggle anymore, naaaah! . . this is beyond poverty and illiteracy, this isn’t spiritual like every Pastor would quickly reference, this even trumps man’s sheer wickedness, this is more of a generation unlocking new levels of foolishness causing a severe case of mental illness.

 

Unemployment, Poor education, Terrible Infrastructure, Bad Leaders, Inflation . . . we know! The question is which of these can DRUG ABUSE and CULTISM solve? As extreme as militancy sounds, at least it has in past years open windows for dialogue and negotiations .   . but still, only for the haphazard youths to showcase their gross scale of ignorance and mental illness on national levels. You can’t give what you don’t have.

 

At first, bad leaders were maiming us, consuming our present realities with greed and false sense of bravado. We got caught in the Nigerian struggle and tried to meet ends by our relentless hustle, but all of this is just a mere narrative because our present actions and inactions is causing a massive wreck to our societies as we begin to overburden the future with foolishness. From every possible indicators, our societal value system is on the negative side of a scale ruler.

 

Maybe foolishness is a black man’s curse, or maybe there is even a biblical explanation. The white man did introduce us to ‘organized religion, of course we spiced it up with foolishness and the after-taste is a fraudulent business ring with altars in front and mentally derailed people leading congregations selling prosperity and prophesies. They sure have made the devil’s work a whole lot easier, who knows . . he just might have taken a long vacation since we are on auto-spoil.

I so badly would want to elaborate on certain issues, but this piece clearly does not offer me the opportunity since it is more or less a reactive one. “In the name of the bad government, everything in Nigeria is wrong”. . this is what we believe, it is our creed, we repeat it with so much emotions that even our unborn kids will also share same sentiments, when in the real sense . . we are only trying to absolve our selves of our failed responsibilities. Blaming the government eases up our consciences, so even when we perpetuate a crime or fall out of place, the government holds the cross.

 

Trying to distinguish between the older generation and the youth is like comparing between extremely cold and extremely hot temperatures; different conditions but same cruel results. As much as the pseudo-titled owners of Nigeria have failed us, collectively, we (youths) currently show no potential difference. We seem to have mastered their deceptive tactics, we even apply the very principles to our daily interactions and dealings. We have ‘drunkenly’ raised the mediocrity ‘bar to ‘staggering’ heights.

 

Nigeria is like a case of bad car, bad driver and bad passengers. Ultimately, we only stand a chance if every opportune youth can;

 

• Build self-capacity rather than display of possession and unsustainable wealth
• Seek more relevant information and not just Instablog gossips
• Practice a religion of love and selflessness instead of sponsoring church billboards
• Understand how our actions can influence the society

. . and most importantly maintain a stable mental health . . . HAVE SENSE!!!

 

Now read this again and think of the 2 young boys who hacked the head of an innocent girl ripping her body parts for just 200k . . our society has become one mad house.

 

 

 

 

How did we get here?

Majority of problems we face today as a nation are a combined result of the different situations at different time points of our evolution as a country. However, one common consistent factor is the idea of Colonialism and Imperialism.

Colonialism is assuming control over a nation or a group. Imperialism is the political and economic control. So, Colonialism is a practice and Imperialism is the idea that drives the practice. . . . Shekina!

Going by our political history, I believe Nigeria was on a path of gradual development in the 60’s and 70’s however; the seeds of ethnicity and difference were equally being planted. The mostly corrupt political class (leaders) who were like our second colonial masters, rather than promote shared culture (nationalism) were nonchalantly busy promoting their colonial powers through institutions and cultural activities. What they failed to realize was the ripple effect their colonial styled dominance had on the people. The people were being recolonized culturally and this phenomenon is known as CULTURAL HEGEMONY.

In Marxist philosophy, cultural hegemony is the domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class who manipulate the culture of that society—the beliefs, explanations, perceptions, values, and mores—so that their imposed, ruling-class worldview becomes the accepted cultural norm.

Now the problem with this is that, if the colonial dominance is perceived as ideal and oppressive at the same time, the people naturally will begin to connive in their own oppression BY acting in means they assume to be of their best interest just to partake in the activities that are part of the dominant culture. As we know today, most known means of trying to fight such oppression is either harmful or illegal.

Nigerians and Nigeria leaders failed to grasp the real problem in its entirety and resorted to providing cosmetic solutions that are at best, temporary. As SITUATIONS worsen, these illegal partakers of the dominant culture grew in responsibilities and influence, just like the original colonialists. Consequently, THAT WHICH WAS SEEN AS A MEANS TO AN END HAS EVENTUALLY BECOME A MEANS WITH NO END. Two principal reasons for this; the insatiable nature of human wants and the continue regression of standard of living in the society.

Let us list some of the current flourishing illegalities and criminal activities in our present society: Corruption, Cultism, Robbery, Kidnapping, Exam Malpractice, Yahoo-Yahoo, Nepotism, Prostitution. .   .  the partakers, while attempting to solve their problem have ended up becoming a problem itself.

A better Nigeria?

As a writer, I try to be as objective as possible. As a thinker, I want to constantly process thoughts that would solve real problems. In the case of Nigeria, it is a collective effort that will be thoroughly backed by functional systems. Anything shy from this is scalar to our development i.e. magnitude without direction.

I react to stories these days by saying ‘We are all mad in Nigeria’. I mean, we are so lost in our problems that everything is considered entertainment. The world is evolving each second and we are yet to solve our “factory” problems otherwise known as follow-come.

Curing the entire nation is going to take a process, not necessary painstaking but deliberate and sequential. Only a DREAMER can lead us down the glory path, unfortunately, the only way a dreamer can become president of Nigeria or attain a pole political position is in his/her dreams.

We need to do better with our thoughts as individuals and as humans, it is a reflection of our choices. While people celebrated President Buhari during the last presidential election, I was clear about my choice and it rests on the system that saw President Buhari and Former President Jonathan as the ONLY people who could lead this country forward. Our problem was never Former President Jonathan neither is it President Buhari, yes they can be considered a problem too but the real problem is right there in the systems (situations). Until we begin to address systems and tackle situations, the result will be the same if not worse off.

I recently scanned through a documentary about SILICON VALLEY and I kept saying to myself, there is power in thinking. Reading some success stories of the big brands that started from Silicon Valley and how they have reshaped the way we see and live in our world.

Isn’t it funny how we have enough competent and qualified professionals in Nigeria yet we have remained a 3^rd world country? It is important we start identifying real problems instead of promoting hypocrisy and individualizing problems. Our society and institutions are being built on illegal platforms, when a problem grows beyond its population, then a massive fall is eminent.

Strangely, I am not big on reading books but it is important we train our thoughts. I would recommend to my friends a book titled HOW WE THINK by JOHN DEWE, A professor and one of the fathers of functional psychology. It was published in 1910. . . creepy yeah? I have the soft copy and I am willing to share.

We neither read nor think in Nigeria and oyibo man will say, critical thinking is the skill required to transmission the solving of commission problems in transmission, transmission.  .  . Please, I’m sorry.

 

 

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think” -Albert Einstein

“We don’t narrate things as they are because we see things as we are”.

We know the issue of problems as it relates to situations cannot be over emphasized, and as a sequel to my previous transmission, transmission of . . .Pls, I’m sorry…. on problem, this is a guide to problem solving.

I’d like to think that the essence of education is to equip us with competent skill, values and right capacity to solve problems. The regular school system in Nigeria barely teaches one to identify problems, which also is a problem. Gene Agre wrote many years ago in his article on problem and problem solving that “Some thinkers have even gone far to suggest that it is impossible to learn anything in or outside of school except as the outcome of solving problems”.

Problem solving is a process (not a singular action or event) of evaluating the details of the problem, which clearly refers to situations/conditions to yield solutions. Problem solving is a measure of an individual’s critical thinking skills. This is what I believe we lack as a collective group in Nigeria.

This year alone, lots of trendy headlines have been raised from issues bordering around corruption, prostitution, fraud, incompetence, thuggery, cultism and more. The reality is, Nigeria is like a thriving hub for every societal ill, and I sometimes begin to wonder if we have ‘trouble’ embedded in every section of our constitution. Armed robbery came and never left, Fraud visited and built a house, Terrorism transited then ended up owning an entire State. I mean, there is something fundamentally wrong with Nigeria and Nigerians.

While the political class over the years keep churning different initiatives to tackle one problem or the other, funds are being directly invested, unfortunately, the funds help to further fuel the cycle of profligacy in the society. This is why our problems are never ending!

Let’s use corruption for instance, Nigerians almost unanimously, agreed corruption was the bane of our failed developmental state. We ousted a regime in the last election in the name of change only to find ourselves in a position that is evidently twice as worse despite the anti corruption crusade. This is a practical example of how you can solve a problem but not solve the real problem. Critical thinking, an essential skill required for problem solving is like rocket science in Nigeria apparently. In the face of a problem, people tend to show much more emotion towards the surface problem, which on its own is only an outcome of the real problem.

Is corruption a problem? . . . . clearly, YES!!!

Is corruption ‘the problem’? . . . NO! . . Corruption is only a distractive outcome of the real problem. #CriticalThinking101

 

How do you solve a problem like corruption?

Identifying the real problem and proffering ‘systematic’ solutions. The worse thing we do around here is individualize a full-blown problem and solving it by trying to cure the individual. The arrest of a corrupt official would not stop corruption in this life or in the after life. Corruption in Nigeria is a problem that involves dynamic situations and this requires distinctive systems to fight. Corruption cannot be completely wiped out but just like in other advanced societies, it can be reduced to it’s barest minimum by X-raying the underlying situations and stabilizing the conditions. If you cannot identify the primary condition that makes the situation a problem, finding a solution becomes a failed-on-arrival enterprise.

I am not a huge fan of the leadership qualities of former President Goodluck Jonathan but I could perceive he knew something close to a progressive national blueprint; sadly he underestimated the power he wielded. He once said, STEALING IS NOT CORRUPTION and Nigerians in our usual scripted modus of unskilled thinking, ran with the out of context usage and labelled him the enemy. What he ultimately meant was the need for us to identify the real problem. Corruption may involve stealing but stealing on it’s own is not corruption. A guest comes to your house, takes your phone without your knowledge, would you rather say he is corrupt? We certainly experience corruption in Nigeria but most of the cases involving money were plain stealing. This is more common sense than critical thinking.

The Nigeria social sphere is presently being plagued with much dramatics and every gist these days seem to have a ‘lava’ effect. As much as I would fancy writing about the last episode of the stolen maze/maze runner or jump out of this moving vehicle like Dino but I’d rather sit and watch the royal wedding thinking how fraudulently unfair of me not to mention Ceecee’s name…like a big brother, I want to recommend the formation effective at the transmission, commission transmission, I mean, recommended transmission. . Sorry, I’m sorry please! I just don’t want to come across as a lazy Nigerian youth.

Having had interesting rows with a particular friend for as long as I can remember, I have decided to bare thoughts on the problem of a problem. Reason because, I realized we seem to be having problems with recognising the problem, which I think is a problem.

There is no problem solving without clear-cut problem identification, behind every problem is a root cause, which itself happens to be the primary problem.

(Oxford Def.) A problem is an unwanted situation or condition. A situation basically is the way in which something is placed in relation to its surroundings.

Agreeably, there is a reason behind every problem, and this reason is a problem on it’s own…correct? Going by above definition, if a problem is found in situations, situations can be said to be the reason for the problem and If the reason for the problem is a problem on it’s own, then ‘situation’ is the real problem.

Safe to say the problem is in the situation and not in a problem itself. Therefore, I believe “a problem is an OUTCOME of the real problem”. The real problem is characterised by situations and conditions presented in an unwanted way known as ‘a problem’.

 

Summary; A problem is a distraction, the real problem is in it’s situation. A problem comes in at least a pair (the distractive problem and a series of the real problem), there is nothing like a single problem. We tend to isolate a problem and proffer solutions that won’t even scratch the surface of the real or core of the situation and condition. This is why people end up multiplying problems rather than solve.

Hey friends, here I am again!. . . and to sprinkle a little honesty here, I have a blue cup in front of me . . . the content I SHALL NOT REVEAL I’m sorry. Anyways, did you read my last post? A POEM I wrote under 20mins . . . hehe talk about fresh oil of inspiration.

It is my birth month next, I’m still trying not to freak out cos’ I mean, last week still feels like April or ‘MAY-be March (pun intended), so how is it past mid July already? Not like the year has been that eventful, Ok…. apart from the fact that President Buhari from every indication is trying to secure a British passport and rule Nigeria from the diaspora. Read More

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