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I WANT TO BE A BOSS

Viewed externally, Aden was wonderful; the proverbial promised land.You could easily become wealthy there. In it, hard work was quickly rewarded. There, goodwill could be gained easily and honestly. Dubious individuals in Aden were even able to become wealthy through their trade. The country was great and hunger was difficult to hear of in the entire land. Even Aden’s beggars were always filled.

If you invested in Aden, you could reap twice your capital in returns. It was the toast of the countries around it. Human and material resources of various forms were available. It was a unique place – well positioned for commerce. That was the view of Aden from outside its borders. Inside the country, however, things were very different.

In reality, Aden was beset with many challenges. Its people suffered a lot. It had a high crime rate, poor infrastructure and so many other undesirable situations. That was at variance with the expectations and thoughts of everyone outside. Outsiders saw Aden as a haven but those within its borders felt otherwise. The land of promise was, in reality, a land of waste. In spite of its great potential, Aden was failing.

Different people groups in Aden traded blame over its failure. Some people believed Aden’s politicians were responsible for its situation. Some others blamed the older generation of its people, another blamed the youths for the trouble and the final group blamed Aden’s failure on its religious leaders. Sadly, as they played the blame game, no one proffered real solutions to help the country make progress.

“Is Aden under a spell?” Foreign tourists in the country asked that as they considered the divergence between Aden’s actual status and others’ perception of it. If other nations had half of Aden’s resources, they would have been five or more times better. Were Adenites blind to the riches all around them?Many of them, in reality, ran helter-skelter,never really pin-pointing their problem sources or the solutions required. They seemed to be jinxed and that was one thing that needed breaking.

A deep look into the situation of things would reveal that Aden’s political class looked out for themselves alone. They stored up so much wealth, as though they were keeping such for their unborn generations. It was the commonwealth of the people but it was being squandered by a few men in privileged positions. Such money was originally earmarked for strengthening the country’s development but Aden’s politicians channelled it inappropriately. One would think they will better the nation with such funds, share the wealth around, empower the young ones, make investment in the country to attract foreign investor, pull their hand off certain business to encourage indigenous private company to strive in them but rather they kept deferring action on important aspects of Aden’s development, complaining about the inherent hassles. They believed they could attend to those areas at a later time.

Aden’s youths, on the other hand, had a sense of entitlement to positions of prominence in the country. They were of the opinion that the country’s older generation of leaders in all spheres; religious, social, etc., had used up their fair share of time in leadership positions and should relinquish many of those positions to the youths. “They have sucked Aden dry and are eating tomorrow’s seed that is meant for us. Is our future the air they are to breathe?” One of the vocal youths shouted that as he aired his views during an interview in a local television programme. Aden’s youths’ agitations were met with stiff opposition from all groups, who insisted that the youths were largely irresponsible and grossly inexperienced to provide leadership.

Aden’s youths were young and vibrant and they were eager to take over the reins of power but were they really ready for that? Many of them were carefree and clueless about what it took to be respectable leaders. They were more interested in the recognition that accompanied leadership positions. They weren’t worthy of such. They were not patient to learn either and that was a particularly bad thing because with the largely irresponsible leadership in the country, there were few good examples to serve as role models.

Youths are young and vibrant and they love to exercise influence. Driving SUVs, becoming wealthy and rising to positions of prominence, were things young Adenites longed for. “Let us be bosses; let us be bosses!” they continually clamoured. There was nothing wrong with being bosses but most young Adenites were not ready for such. While a quick rise to riches and prominence was possible, the youths needed patience to go through the process of growing, to enable them achieve their desires over time. Sometimes, to be able to manage an SUV, one would need to learn how to manage a saloon car.

Youthful exuberance is a fact of life but the ability to listen and learn, rather than constantly argue to prove a point is a key requirement for leadership. Rushing into a position of leadership could result in a colossal failure.Being bosses would require being as capable as, or better able than,the older generation but most of Aden’s youths were not yet ready.They needed good tutelage. They were eager to become bosses but they really did not have the qualities or experience necessary to be effective leaders. They had a lot to learn, from mannerism to strategy and planning skills, to how to go about advocacy, executing plans and bringing about change.

On the religious front, what held sway was pitiable; the leaders of the various religions were not truthful. Religious leaders should encourage better morals and societal reforms but in Aden, they were selfish. Rather than preach to the people about the need for conformity with religion and to seek the general good,Aden’s religious leaders preached messages that were aimed at their own enrichment. They insisted that they had a divine mandate and were walking according to that mandate. They claimed that their mandate sought the best outcome for humanity. They constantly urged their congregations to give willingly, even to the point of debt, claiming that their message was divine. Their practice enslaved the people under the pretext of worship and piety.

Whenever the leaders of the various religions in Aden were asked whether it was the wish of their maker to see the land restored, they typically responded, “Yes” but their answers were usually followed by self-centred and self-promoting statements such as “He will change things around by himself” or “Things will get better when our people get into political leadership positions”; “…when our religion or teachings are accepted all over the country”; “…when our enemies who oppose our religion are dead”, etc.

Aden’s people groups continued to play the blame game. They were all implicit in the situation, however. The fate of their country was in their hands and their collective actions and inactions had placed them in their situation. Conscious, purposeful, effort on the part of every one of the major groups; the politicians, the elders, the youths and the religious leaders, would have returned the country to the right path but the will for that was lacking; everyone was after his or her own interest.

Until conscious action was taken to move Aden forward, positive change and development would remain dreams. It takes people who are willing to bring positive change to cause it to happen. Finger-pointing alone does not cause meaningful change. Sometimes it only results in causing infuriation between people. What could Aden have done differently? What exactly would have tipped things over for good in the nation? Working together, for the common good!

Aden’s possession of vast human and material resources was not in question. When outsiders praised the land, it was on the basis of information they had about it. A lot of misinformation had been peddled for years about the country but it was not true. Its people were not united. If the politicians were to use the nation’s funds for the very purpose that they were meant; if they were to be accountable to the people, rather than seek their own personal interests, things would take a positive shift.

If the politicians stopped their shameful display of ill-gotten wealth and if they focused on governance, which was the essence of their election, the citizens of the country and the teeming youth population would trust them more.Aden’s elders, while right about the situation with many of the country’s youths, were not helping matters. They were not consciously embracing even the few responsible youths, to inspire them and mentor them for leadership. They constantly castigated the entire group of youths. They had no plan for them. A nation that neglects its youths endangers its future because those youths might become clogs in the wheels of progress rather than a formidable force for the implementation of future initiatives for the welfare of the nation.

On the heels of the politicians and elders in Aden, if the religious leaders would begin to speak the truth and live with a good conscience before God, the people of Aden would be in better hands. It is important to walk in honesty. Using the name of God to deceive people and for personal enrichment was shameful and absolutely condemnable. It was sly and unbecoming for people who were supposed to walk in truth. They needed to repent. They needed God’s forgiveness. They also needed the people’s forgiveness.

Aden’s religious leaders would do well to retrace their steps and begin to preach the truth to their congregations. They would do well to place their needs last because in service to God, reward comes from God Himself, not from people. God may enrich a person through others but no one would need to manipulate others in order to make that happen. Preaching peace, love, kindness and other godly virtues should have been the priority of Aden’s religious leaders.

If Aden’s youths would be more responsible and less self-centred; if they would have the future of their country at heart, transiting to leadership positions would be easier. Their expectations of a sudden rise to prominence were unrealistic and irresponsible. Giving national political power to unready youths was a recipe for trouble. Rather than clamour for the politicians to quickly relinquish their positions to the youths, the youths should have first demanded that the politicians become more responsible. Following that, they could have called upon politicians and elders to institute systems for grooming young people on the qualities and imperatives of leadership, to prepare them for those roles in future.

“We want to take leadership!” That was the clamour of Aden’s youths. In truth, they were each saying, “I want to be the boss!” Leadership is not about wielding power whichever way one wishes. It is about taking responsibility for stirring the direction of movement. It requires knowledge, selflessness and sacrifice. Being the boss is not the imperative of leadership. The youths in Aden would need to learn that.

If all the people groups in the land looked at the bigger picture, they would really be able to move the nation forward; they would tap into a goldmine beyond the material resources of the country; their hearts. With that, the treasures they had constantly sought in other countries would be uncovered on their own soil. Aden would then be almost limitless and it citizens would be the better for it.

Written

By

Ikenna I. Anyadike

Edited by Chudikufu Onianwa of ChuDifu Projects

THE REVERSE NORM

“Ẹ kúrò níbè, make I pass!”

“If you try it you‘ll see the other side of me!”

“Go jor, you no fit do anything!”

These loud verbal exchanges between two drivers preceded a completely unexpected situation on a road in Lagos one day. The next sound was from a collision. Following that, the front bumper of one of the drivers’ vehicles fell off. It was badly damaged. “Ye!” everyone seemed to scream. The lady behind the wheel stepped out. Her brand new SUV just had its first collision. On seeing the damage done to her vehicle, she was enraged. Yetunde had worked very hard to purchase it. To have this experience, barely a week after making the purchase, was something she was not going to take lightly. Pointing angrily at the other driver, Yetunde yelled, “See what you’ve done? I warned you but you didn’t listen. You must pay for this damage.

The other driver, now out of his own vehicle, bowed his head in regret, crying pitifully. He was a danfo bus driver. “Sorry, madam; abeg, no vex; na mistake.” A mistake! Was that the best he could do; beg her and state that he had made a mistake? Yetunde was not having any of his pleas. It was not unusual for danfo drivers to flout traffic rules in a bid to quickly drive past others and they typically escaped, unchallenged. “You will repair my vehicle! You people never learn. You kept on insisting while I was being gentle with you on the road and now you want to beg your way out of trouble? It will not happen.” “Ah, no be so I want am o!” the man exclaimed. “No vex, ma. Na the first time I don get this kind matter before. Abeg forgive me. I no get money; I be poor man. How I wan take fix this motor?” The man prostrated before Yetunde, with tears running down his face. His humble expression was completely different from the defiance he had demonstrated before the accident. Yetunde was not willing to allow the man go without a commitment to repairing her vehicle. With the position of both vehicles on the road and Yetunde’s insistence on the man’s commitment to pay for the damage, a traffic gridlock was about to occur.

At first, only a few people showed any interest in the drama that was playing out until it was obvious that the traffic congestion that would result from it was going to have an enormous effect on vehicular movement. The passengers in the bus started to plead on the driver’s behalf. As much as she wanted to listen to the passengers, Yetunde could not quite bring herself to do that. She thought about the fact that they had no financial stake in the situation beyond whatever little amount they must have been charged by the bus driver. Why would she listen to the pleas of people who had paid less than two hundred Naira for their transit when the damage to her bumper would likely cost something in the range of two hundred thousand Naira, in view of a replacement? It did not make sense to her and so she ignored them. “Madam, abeg help am; I be woman like you”, one of the passengers in the bus said. The statement infuriated Yetunde. “Have you seen the damage?” Yetunde asked. “Can you write me a cheque for the repair now, so I can forgive him?” The bus passenger suddenly realised that her request to Yetunde might have been unreasonable.

Other road users gathered around the scene, some looking at the damage to the vehicle, others trying to persuade Yetunde to drive off to another side so that they could pass on by. Yetunde was adamant about remaining on the spot, as she believed that moving away would allow the driver of the bus make a run. She was determined to secure his commitment for repair, at whatever cost. The pleas of some other road users and their accusations at her, saying that she was insensitive and self-centred, angered her the more. “Insensitive?” she yelled at one man. “Do you consider yourself sensitive, for asking me to let this man go when he stubbornly ran into me? He left his lane on the road and veered into mine several times, back and forth. Give me a two hundred thousand Naira cheque now and I will leave. Do that if you are sensitive!” Hearing Yetunde’s estimate of the cost, the driver became faint. People had to hold him up. The man who had accused Yetunde of selfishness slowly backed away. Two hundred thousand Naira was a lot of money.

The difficult thing about the situation Yetunde faced was that nobody seemed to be reasonable enough to proffer a solution. She knew she should not prevent the free flow of vehicles but she risked having the driver of the bus run away and no one was offering her a solution to that. Everyone seemed concerned only about having a path to drive through. As others began to rail more accusations of insensitivity at her, she considered her safety. “What if I’m eventually mobbed by some of these people?” she thought. She considered counting the situation as a personal loss and moving on but a part of her believed that she had to stand for what was right. The driver had been callous, even at a time before the collision, when she had wound down her window, he had waved his hand abusively at her.

The situation was getting worse. Even the passengers of the commercial bus had become abusive towards Yetunde. “Take this your jeep away!”, “Wicked woman!” one man shouted. Another implied that she was not the owner of the vehicle. One other person even dared to imply that Yetunde had been at fault for not allowing the driver room to pass by. Horns were blaring all around Yetunde. Still in contemplation on what to do, she took a heavy breath. She wondered why in spite of her innocence, she had to put up with so much unkindness from the other road users that she had thought should have been more sympathetic. People were all around her at that time and she was about to have a panic. Before she could make her next response, she noticed three men walking briskly towards her. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw who they were – two officers of the Nigerian Police Force and a civilian. As the people in front of her made room for the passage of the men walking towards her, she felt sure that the matter would finally follow a logical sequence and that she would get justice.

“Good day, madam” the more senior police officer said. “What is this about?” Yetunde proceeded to inform the men about the situation. She narrated how everything had occurred. The bus driver agreed with her account but appealed for mercy. Before he spoke, some of the people standing about the scene had begun to withdraw. They weren’t interested in having an engagement with the police. They were afraid of the police. Before Yetunde gave her account of the situation, however, some of the passengers of the commercial bus had tried to dissuade the police officer from giving her any attention. They openly accused her of fault in the situation. The bus driver had been quiet all that time. He could not shake the feeling of guilt he felt because it was obvious to him that he had caused the situation. The civilian who was with the police men asked the passengers of the bus to be quiet. It turned out that he had witnessed the accident himself when it occurred and he had gone to call the police officers when he felt that the situation was likely to end with injustice for Yetunde. On hearing the bus driver’s admittance to his fault, the passengers of the bus were no longer daring to make further accusations against Yetunde. They were all mute.

Gbenga, the more senior police officer, did not see reasons to ask for more witnesses since the danfo driver had admitted that Yetunde was honest about the situation. However, people around the vehicles started to give their own testimonies and the majority admitted also that the danfo driver was at fault. This was a surprise to Yetunde. The same people who had been insensitive and who were not proactive in helping her out of the situation were expressing their opinions in her favour nonetheless. Why then were they not more sympathetic earlier? It may have been the typical behaviour but it was not proper. What would have been right was for them to help her get things sorted out, rather than simply accuse her of obstructing the flow of traffic. It would have been best for them to empathise with her and help her with a way forward, rather than simply seek their interest in driving past, since they clearly understood what had happened. To be certain that there was proof of the accident, Gbenga asked his junior colleague to take photos of both cars and their relative positions, using the junior officer’s mobile phone.

Gbenga and Festus, the two police officers, made haste to get everyone back in their vehicles but first they instructed the danfo driver to refund the transportation fares to his passengers. “E jówò ẹ má bíịnú“ the commercial bus driver responded. He explained that he had beckoned on an empty bus, close by, to help him convey his passengers for the rest of the journey. Typical; they usually had difficulty refunding collected fares. Festus, the junior officer, sat inside the danfo bus, as a guarantee that the driver would not escape. That encouraged Yetunde as she walked into her SUV and made an attempt to adjust its position so that the danfo could move through. When the accident happened earlier, she had made sure that she blocked off any reasonable space through which the driver of the bus could pass if he intended to drive away hurriedly. The damaged bumper of her SUV was now resting on the back seat of her vehicle. Within a short time, when both vehicles were safely parked, not obstructing traffic, the other danfo bus arranged by the driver was available to take his passengers to their intended bus stops. The passengers got into the other danfo and were driven away along the route.

The driver of the danfo continued pleading for mercy. He turned towards Gbenga. “Ẹ jówò sir, tọrí Ọlórụn. It was a mistake. Na accident, true to God!” Gbenga asked him “Was it me you hit? Focus on the person you offended.”  He turned to Yetunde. “Ah, my sister, please help me beg the officer, make them no put me for jail.” Yetunde ignored him as he lamented and shed what she believed were crocodile tears. “Ah! Mọ tị gbé!” Ah, my own don finish” he kept exclaiming. Yetunde turned to the gentleman who had brought the police officers with him. His name was Tunde. “Can you imagine that this man wants me to just let this go, after he willingly hit my car? Where would the justice be if I did that?” “Don’t mind him”, Tunde said. “He is just pretending. If you let him go, he will do the same thing again, or even worse. These people sometimes act as though they don’t have consciences! A few years ago, a friend of mine was hit from the rear, in his car, by a danfo driver. The impact was so great that my friend in turn ran into the danfo in front of him. The driver of the one in front came down from his bus, with his conductor, and they started beating my friend. Rather than admit to his fault, the danfo driver that caused the accident joined in the beating until someone called some police officers and that was how my friend was saved. He was hospitalised for days.” Yetunde had goose bumps, as she imagined herself as the victim in such a situation. “You should thank God nothing worse than this happened, while trying to do the right thing”, Tunde said.

“At a point I almost gave in because the pressure was too much for me. Even the passengers were calling me names.” Yetunde said. “Well, that is the unfortunate thing about our dear environment. People reject what should be the norm and accept the reverse instead. I hope such behaviour change for good. All it takes is for people to remove their eyes from themselves for a while and to consider others.” A panel beater and car painter had been called in. They looked at the damage to the bumper of Yetunde’s SUV and the scratches on the front side of the vehicle and they gave quotations for repairs. Following that, the police officers took Gbolahan away in his bus, while Yetunde and the panel beater followed them in her car. Yetunde thanked Tunde for his sacrificial effort and they exchanged phone numbers, promising to stay in touch. As Yetunde and the others left, Tunde entered his own car, which had been parked ahead of the scene of commotion and he drove away.

Ẹ jówò –Please

Ẹ kúrò níbè- Leave There

Ẹ má bíịnú- Do not be angry

Ẹ jówò tọrí ọlórụn- Please for God’s sake

Mọ tị gbé- I am ruined/dead/in trouble

Danfo Bus- Commercial Bus

By Ikenna Anyadike

Edited by Chukwudifu Onianwa, of ChuDifu Projects

IF ONLY HE COULD BELIEVE

John woke up at about 2.30am one morning and attended to some work that he had to complete. After some time he prayed and then he went back to work. At about 4.40am he had an impression to go to bed, as he was to have a family prayer later, requiring him to be awake by 5.50am. As he lay on the bed, he felt strongly that he would fall asleep, as he asked God to grant him rest.

After a while on the bed, John started to doubt that he would be able to sleep. He questioned whether it was God that gave the conviction that he would fall asleep. At one instance he felt the urge to use the restroom. God comforted him with an assurance that he would have rest so he lay on his bed. The swinging sound of the door in his parents’ room made him wonder if it was already time for the family devotion. It couldn’t have been. He asked God for help to sleep. A deep impression he received was to think of heavenly things but his restlessness would not help him concentrate.

John lay down with his belly on the bed. That was his regular sleeping position. He thought it might help but then again he turned the other, saying in his heart, “If God can bring sleep, my position doesn’t count.” A while later John returned to his former position. His father peered into his room. Ideally John would have started a conversation with his father at this point but he lay still, after which his father left the room. He checked the time. “5.33am – wow!” There was little time left. “If I can still sleep, I will share the testimony with everyone”, he said to himself. He was now more focused on this “testimony” than he was in actually sleeping.
After thinking through the great testimony that he would share if he could get some sleep, John looked at the time. “5.44am – unbelievable!” He wondered what was happening and then within minutes his alarm went off.
There is a lot to learn from John’s experience. Someone might wonder if John had heard from God in the first place. Had it been God, that gave the original conviction that he would be able to fall asleep? Yes, this was the case. God communicates with us and gives promises and assurances in spite of visible challenges that would make his promises seem unachievable. It is our responsibility to believe and allow his promises materialise in our lives. Let us analyse this case a bit.

God gave John a promise of rest. John did not believe and he became distracted – thoughts of using the restroom, the noise from the door in his parents’ room and other issues began to weigh in on his thoughts, rather than concentrate on the issue of concern – his rest. It is the same with our daily lives: we receive messages from God but our surroundings cause us to be distracted from the messages and promises that God gives us. Sometimes the distractions we get are from family. At a point John was convinced to concentrate on heavenly things. This was as good as a formular. In spite of that, John could not achieve the goal of falling asleep. He may have been having difficulty imagining heavenly things as someone who had not been to heaven before but all he would have needed to think of was a place with peace and serenity, where the streets were made of gold. That might have been enough.

At a point John altered his sleeping position in a bid to sleep. He didn’t need to do that. Already it was his custom to sleep on his belly. Assuming that God would bring sleep about through a different sleeping position was unnecessarily presumptuous and a waste of the already little time that he had left. It is definitely possible for God to do something in a different way from what one has previously experienced but there is no reason to expect also that everything he does will be in a manner different from what he has previously done. Since God had been faithful in bringing sleep when John lay on his belly, considering the other sleeping position was just not necessary. John had not yet demonstrated belief in God with the normal routine so the new one he instituted was just not needed.

John’s silence upon his father’s peering into the room was a good move because he saved himself the trouble of having to enter into a conversation, which would cost him the goal for which he lay on the bed. However, having realised that the time was short, beginning to think about the great testimony he would be able to share in the end if he was able to get sleep in spite of all the oddities that he “might soon experience” was a silly and needless time waster.

Finally it was 5.44am. Incredible! Did this mean that God was unable to fulfil His promise to John? Could it be that he who said, “You will sleep” could not do as He had assured? Tick! Tick! Tick! The alarm went off. Was it God who spoke from the beginning? Our walk with God often follows a similar pattern and we conclude that it is not God that is speaking to us. God speaks to us but our doubt can overshadow His word in our lives, in which’s case we would end up in a ditch, looking for a way out. May God help us in our walk with Him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

By
Ikenna Anyadike