Tochi's Death and MEND

My mind could'nt help reverting to the last Friday hanging of of 21 year old Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi as i watched the Shell Cup finals on TV.My day had been depressing and i needed some cheering up.So when the match came, i was glad.At least it was football.I was turned on the more by the "fact" that the lads actually looked young.Well, it was good match ( between Govt College, Kano and Asegun Comp.Ibadan), so i sat back and watched.

But somehow that same match further kept reminding me of what a Tochi at 18 had been looking for in Singapore.Where to play his football. If only Tochi had an oppurtunity to compete in a Youth tournament such as this, probably he would have gotten a club here.The "ifs" in my mind were legion. I thought...but who would actually want to stay here when you can have a better oppurtunity at life elsewhere.This is the trajedy of our country.The death of people and dreams.

If only our Government had realised that the news of Tochi's hanging would do more damage than 6 months of ajalatravelling on the Heart of Africa image making project would have done, probably they would have pleaded on his behalf on time.If only we had more purposeful leadership, jobs, housing, food, fuel, education, medicare and oppurtunities, probably Tochi wouldnt have gone to Singapore.

My friend, an automobile spray painter travelled to Malaysia, a Singapore-like country about 2 years ago to seek greener pastures.Jobs werent coming because so many could afford to repaint their cars and he had expectations to meet from 367 degrees around him. So he took the plunge. Since then i've met only one person who had spoken to him since he travelled.I hope his case wont be like Tochi's.I fear for him. May Tochi's soul rest in peace. I hope i wont have to repeat this prayer for my friend. I guess that was the cause of the depressing feeling as i lay supine last Sunday.

MEND AND THE REST OF US

While the match was on, downtown Port Harcourt was held hostage by militants of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). An eyewitness confirmed that the youngest of these armed-to-the-bone combatants couldnt have been more than 22 years old. But despite the restraints of age, these guys were able to sack the Central Police Station and the Nigerian Prisons, throwing the jails open and setting case files on fire.It is regretable.But this what eventually happens when senile old men sit and dine in peppersoup parlours and the youths are neglected.This guys didnt run away like Tochi.They stayed to fight.Though criminals, they have a cause and the earlier we and the Government start to see Justice in their agitations, the better for all of us.

Global Weirding!

I felt so uncomfortable last night because the heat was unbearable.NEPA or PHCN didnt help issues.The generator had a deserved break due to the astronomically-increased fuel price.Worse still, the humidity was stiffling.So, i was lost as to what to do. And when i'm lost, that's when my mind visits Lalaaland. I started wondering while rolling on the floor(after having migrated to an area without a carpet) when all this will end.Somehow, (though i wasnt sure if i wasnt dreaming) i found myself wondering...What would happen if the Artic Ice Shelf get to melt and Europe becomes as hot as Damaturu and the desert starts encroaching on Port Harcourt and the whole of Victoria Island and Lekki is flooded perenially and there are Tsunami's off the coast of Bonny in Rivers State and... and i cant put on a shirt anymore...would it still be as as a result of global warming? So while checking my email today, i decided to do a little research and i found an interesting name for it in "Double Tongued Dictionary".I think it fits perfectly but it scares the hell out of me! They called it Global Weirding.


global weirding n. An increase in severe or unusual environmental activity often attributed to global warming. Related: ecotistical, sheerblading.

Perfect, isnt it?

A Nigerian King and Jesus..

After his sentencing (to death) by a Lagos High Court on Thursday, January 11th, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo aka The Most Holiness Reverend Doctor King proclaimed thus; "I am not afraid to die.It is a privilege and honour for me to die by hanging.I am following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. After all, he died on the Cross by hanging".

By the man comparing his drooling mouth to Christ and ascribing "death by hanging" to Christ, he shoots up straight to the No 1 position on my list of blaspheming religious people in Nigeria. His points were not even helped by the hanging today of Barzan al-Tikriti ( whose head was decapitated by the hangmans' nooze)and the previous hanging of Saddam Hussein. Does the Bible say that Christ was 'Hanged on a Cross'?

It's a shame to think that sane people would actually be caught in this man's web of deceit.Now ,come to think of it, most of the members were even graduates of tertiary institutions.Hypnotism?. This Owner of the Christain Praying Assembly kept sex slaves who served him stark naked and warms his bed when his libido demands that. One of such slaves confessed that she aborted three of his babies on his instructions.Its also known that a cough while service is on attracts a fine of N25000, and that folks were not allowed to use the restroom.You can actually pooh and peeh on your seat! Other details are equally sickening.


Issues came to a climax when on July 22, 2006 he sprayed petrol on six of his members and set them on fire. He had accused one of his sex slaves of unfaithfulness and the six set aflame were those who knew of the infidelity and kept mute.He was sentenced to death by hanging and 100 years for a 5 count charge of attempted murder.

The question remains.How gullibe can the average Nigerian be and how much deceit can we take from religious people?.

BERTI VOGTS...

Welcome.Your records with Scotland wasnt good...But welcome anyway!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To Martin Luther King Jr...(a different kind of King).Happy Birthday posthumously.

And then darkness...

AND THEN DARKNESS...


'Twas a hushed tale
Of a commonwealth flowing home
We've gone to stake a claim
A search for light before dusk was due

On an empty stomach rumbling with greed
We came; with diverse vessels
Seeking a path through our poverty
A fare for a seasonal ritual

In the grassland; a carcassland
Of torn engines and the living dead
Our fate hung on a light
Around this tempting pool of darkness

Our eyes had sought the Rocks light
Hoping it will make us light
From the yolk of a penuric existence
It came though; with it a scorching comfort

And it came, a light came
Through nowhere, like a spirit
And it dawned on us
That dawn's come, then 'twas darkness again


Endi
Port Harcourt
January
2007

For those that lost their lives (and those that will lose their lives) in pipepline fires.