The Dutiful Kid Shall Gain

Listen! Being a boy or girl doesn't matter, if you develop the habit of turning your back on good guidance and the wisdom that your mom's trying to impart; if you think helping with household chores or errands is a mom or maid thing, or will make a mess of your ‘Swag’ perhaps; if you hate doing anything, yet you want everything, maybe thinking that your mom is too raw to manage your affairs, if she has to plead with you to obey her instructions...

If all you could offer from school was a note saying how habitually ill-behaved you’re, I swear down you’ll grow up to busy yourself on things of no value, you’ll wear an empty ‪backpack or ‪purse [Bagi-Poxotane] containing a scanty makeup kit perhaps, and one China phone; you’ll pointlessly be sprinting between the Traffic Lights and Senegambia area, claiming the stupid cliché that “there’s no time” [‘Wator Mang Soto’,‘Jot Amut’], when as it happens, time is the only thing you've in abundance.

If you don’t make appropriate and sincere amends, none of your justifiable ‘hustle’ or “Raba-Raba” will work out, and you wouldn't have cause to blame anyone but your misguided self. Shit’s ‪‎Karma my dear, they say it’s a b*tch and I believe

If you ask me, don’t take disrespectful behaviour for stubbornness, and when you do what you do, bear in mind that every action has a consequence -May this generation and the ones to come be blessed with dutiful kids and painstaking parents; parents who’ll be able to meet their responsibilities. That way, no parent will blame any specific generation whilst absolving the generation that nurtured that generation. Amen! 

Originality!

I was chatting with someone on Facebook and the person asked about my body type; and since I am fond of coining words, I did a coinage to describe my physique. It was a portmanteau of ‘Skinny’ and mountain ‘Kilimanjaro’ [representing tallness]; and the coinage became ‘Skinnymanjaro’, denoting the condition of being tall and skinny, and having long, lean and dangling limbs.

After the chat, I thought the word was awesome and I should probably own it, but I had to Google it first; I do that all the time, just in case; and to my surprise some seemingly popular dude had already taken it as his profile name on ‪‎Facebook, ‪Soundcloud and ‪‎Instagram, even though his goes as “Skinnyman Jaro” [spaced]

Now the point I am trying to make, or the moral of this short account goes on to confirm Abraham Lincoln’s quote that “Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new after all.” It goes on to endorse Marie Antoinette’s quote that “There is nothing new except what has been forgotten.” It confirms what Stephen Fry said: “An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them.” It confirms Ralph Waldo Emerson’s paradox that “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” and Coco Chanel said: “Only those with no memory insist on their ‪originality”

Now I can confirm that it is not unusual for people to inadvertently think or express the same thing at different times and in diverse places. I believe ‪#‎authenticity is what is of the essence; trying to say or do something that has never been said or done may be easier said than done 

Mumu Education!

In both Armitage and Nursat High, I have to admit that relatively, I spent more time in the garden or on the basketball court than in the classroom, and I am not trying to be apologetic. As a matter of fact, if I have to start all over again and under the same circumstances, I will do the same shit.

Do you know why? BECAUSE I believe in the fact that getting it and making use of what you’re being taught is more important than a 100% classroom contact with ‪#‎zero student engagement. The student I believe is supposed to make the most of the classroom, by way of attention, unfettered curiosity, optimism and passion, and not the classroom taking advantage of the student.

Trust me, before opening my little grocer’s shop, I was a teacher for 6 months and resigned 3 times, so I know what I am saying. You can spend donkey’s years in the classroom, adding your beautiful bass voice to what’s being said, and still come out MuMu - don't laugh, it is happening!

Yet you wonder why some of us are rolling in academic circles with no academic sense; creating topics to discreetly brag about the Diplomas that we “bag”. In fact I don’t like that ‘bag’ word even though it implies ‘taking possession of’.

I believe a qualification is not supposed to be ‘bagged’, it has to be shown in the way you act, your non-judgemental attitude finely tuned; you don’t have to say you have it for people to know it, leave that to the rappers, yours should noticeably enhance the way you function – no offense, it's the moment of truth! 

Power is Crooked

When I was in Armitage High School, I witnessed a shit-stem called “New Council.” it is a time when the forthcoming senior students are newly given period in office as school councilors, whilst the outgoing cohort is busy preparing for their final exams.

Since the new regime is one that had suffered a great deal of unfairness in the hands of many councilors prior to them, they’ll want to get even, but because the ones that meted out the injustice on them are not there, they’ll ludicrously dispense their anger on the innocent lower-graders and green-leaves, as if that will reverse anything.

The egoism and vengeance of the era is manifested in diverse forms; from the bombastic rhetoric of the ‘Wannabe-Soyinkas’, the torturous early morning wake ups, intimidating enforcement of prayer times, the arrogant drumming of the resonant gong, very harsh lunch and dinner regulations, constrained evening games to the eleventh-hour rush at the bathrooms; from night studies to juniors to bed and lights out; the school feels like a penal complex and every junior student was doing time. You may even become a target for refusing to share your provisions with a certain broke councilor.

I remember sweeping and scrubbing the whole of "Fulladou Kunda’ [a male dormitory], at night whilst everyone was at the hall enjoying the ‘Musical Night’; and this punishment was simply because of a negligible misconduct, but I later figured that my crime was grave because I denied this dude a tin of canned beef. I also remember being asked to kneel on piercing pebbles whilst holding a chair up in my hands, because I refused to be the only one who does the stupid toilet for three Sundays running.

No junior student takes pleasure in this pain in the arse; in fact we all wish the chapter was completely crossed out. However, as soon as you get closer to your time in power, you become blinded by your desire to rule, and trying to selflessly use your accrued resentment to change the shit-stem will no longer occur to you; you only want to even the score, but with a completely innocent group of players, so shit becomes absurdity in rotary motion.

I don’t know if “New Council” lived on because I didn’t get to enjoy my own period of influence; I moved to Nusrat, but the reason I am telling this story is that I became an adult thinking those days are long gone, but to my surprise, I am seeing the same shit in corporate circles and that sucks; is like humans dissent only when they are trivially at the bottom, but give them a small dose of authority and they’ll start to behave in very selfish ways, doing exactly what they used to gripe about; burning their bridges behind; being unfriendly to the very people they were beneath with, even if those people were their very best friends. Humility was apparently something they advocate but never had. 

Misplaced Priorities!

I need to say this; and I am not trying to be antisocial or something, but just take a moment and think about it. I am sure y’all have seen someone holding someone in the wrong, simply because one of them couldn’t grace the other one's ceremony with his/her presence; I am saying “his/her”, because I have seen men do it these days

If you ask me, I think it is so insensible to haul someone over the coals, or stop talking to someone simply because you had an event and that person couldn’t be in attendance; especially when you could more sensibly take the substance of his/her excuse into consideration. At times the apologies are legit.

Sometimes the timing and spontaneous nature of festivities may not be to everyone’s advantage; or maybe an invitee was so broke that he/she couldn’t afford the ‘semi-obligatory’ gifts or the requisite ‘Ashobi’; or possibly your ceremonies have become so many and so ‘lucrative’ that someone’s now gotten so pissed; anything’s possible.

**BUT to tell the truth, you cannot throw more than ‘twenty-ten’ ceremonies in one season and expect everyone to make your day on all of them, ‘Lorlu Du Dem!’

You see, I know all these because where I live, every slight event is cause for festivity; folks will distribute candy as token of invitation to some toddler’s “Baffday” or ‘Kindergarten Graduation’; or they’ll do a ‘Taki-Gorr’ and then an elaborate ‘Taka’; ‘Muur’, ’Jaybal’, ‘Endoo-Sait’, ‘Yorbu-Wolis’, ’Ndey-Ndikeh’, ‘Samba-Sohor’, ‘Tana-Mbirr’, ‘Nyambo’ then ‘Ngenteh’; ‘Nuyou Bayi Compin’, ‘Sayti Yayi Tuur’, ‘Ngomarr’, ‘Yekal-Gorro’, ‘Waache-Kamil’, ‘Premier-Njekeh’, ‘Ziar Demkati Mecca’, ‘Terangal-Oujajj’ and the ‘Oujajj’ will be forced to give some ‘Yorbal’ that he/she didn’t cater for…. and so forth, and so on!

Now who has the stamina for all these in ONE season? LOOK! Is not like you’re being rebellious or rude, if you have a genuine apology for not attending someone’s event, just try and make up for it, and that is if you can; but if the person is rigidly like: “Yow Bahulor, Lutah Nyowulo Suma Porogaram Bi?” Tell him/her to leave you in peace; you can only go to a “Porogaram” when you’re able to; nobody’s obsession should constitute an urgent situation on you.

Moral Decay!

Before civility slapped us in the face, our part of the world used to be one place where even the word ‘sex’ was unmentionable. Sadly, [d]evolution came and swept away that singular identity; our minds got opened YES, but the hearts became bleak. The bracket of tolerability made wider and morals more or less gone astray; HOLY LORD!!! Now we don’t only go on about that ‘S’ word, we employ it against one another.

Social media blazed a trail for folks who find it okay to treat ‘former-friends’ and ex-lovers as evil creatures who must be ruined at all costs; to turn relationships into ‘relation-shits’. Friends, spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends developed into imminent enemies; each one holding onto the other person’s top secret, patiently waiting to let it slip as soon as what they've is no longer beneficial.

See, my mom [God bless her wise soul] once told me, that being a gentleman or lady is not about “swag” or “chic”, it is one who’s well-mannered and considerate, one who has a high standard of proper behaviour; one whose good manners include the preservation of good relations, even with ‘EXs’. It may be easier said than done, but it is doable. These rare breed of incredible human beings are not “losers”; they’re endowed with a gift of ‘fortitude to accept’.

They realise that nothing is permanent; not even the title of a ‘Permanent Secretary’, and that when a relationship is over, there is nothing left to fight over, but in view of the fact that the two involved have had a history of great experiences, cherishing some of those moments, outgrowing pettiness and pushing aside emotions is the best thing to do. They appreciate the fact that even if intimacy is expired, the good values of a once beautiful companionship shouldn't.

Granted, feeling betrayed is a clumsy thing to contend with, especially by someone you called a best friend, someone you had put your time to, someone you used to listen to; BUT LISTEN, do you want the person to grace you with a faithless presence, or would you rather let go and maintain the peace?

What are you trying to achieve by sullying and smearing the image of the individual? Can’t you consider those moments that made that person feel comfortable to trust you with what you’re now exposing? Why are you taking joy in revealing someone’s dirty laundry on social media? Why do you want to defame, discredit or bring shame on a reputation that you’ll never be able to rebuild? Aren't you in some way showing the world the type of backstabber, blackmailer, gossipmonger and betrayer you can be to everyone else?

I thought I should say this!

Even The Brain Needs An Antivirus!

No disrespect to the Creator’s creation, but I think the inventor of the CPU (Central Processing Unit) of the computer took inspiration from the human brain, because the two are not unlike; of course with the exception of very special instances talked about in the good books and the Chinese made brains.

Hahatai! Asatafirullah! but it’s an analogy anyway OASN, I believe that every person is born with a brain that is totally unlived in, waiting to be fed with essential and sometimes redundant software; or call them programs and operating information. The software installation gets done in the course of dealings with things, parents, peers, teachers, role models, mentors, media, etc.

Like all common computer programs, there are viruses, hackers and other infective agents that are raring to infect the system. In the case of the brain, such agents typically consist of those who’re green with envy, narcissists, dream-killers, killjoys, sycophants, sociopaths, hypocrites, liars, cheaters, mischief-makers, lowlifes, rumormongers, self-seeking retards and the rest.

Without proactive combat, these viruses can have very detrimental effects on your psyche, such as corrupting your system and destroying your dreams, your decency and every other moral value you may possess. That's why, you got to get yourself a very strong antivirus; you know that software that the IT people install on their system to detect and destroy viruses.

***BUT shout out to God for that free antivirus in the form of humankind’s natural wariness; under no circumstances should you lose yours; and make sure you ‘run’ it before deciding on who is harmless or harmful; look into every bloodclaat smile, see if it reaches the eyes of the one smiling before making room for him/her.

Like The Boss [Rick Ross] said: “some people will crack jokes just to get close to you” and to get details about you, to misrepresent those details, call you names or even reduce you to rubble, because their finest day is contingent on your most awful day, but by God and the antivirus, they’ll never see you stall....Blessed Love