Please!!! Ban Big Brother Africa (BBA)
Ihad thought this essay today would concentrate on the beginning; that it would serve a prefatory function by delineating what shall be, from today and henceforth, my focus in this column. I had planned to chart, in the manner of the cartographer, the pattern and style of my intervention as a columnist for this unarguably one of the most widely read newspaper in this country. But it did not take long before I realized that the beginning, like the origin, is already predetermined by He whose existence has no beginning. It did not take long before it dawned on me that there can be no other style or method for me here, as it is in other fora, other than that which would and should be fashioned against the depraved principalities of evil, immorality and dissoluteness which continue to threaten the very existence of our nation and the very essence of our being as culturally constructed entities.
Immediately I sat in front of my laptop to do this piece and the moment I did a cursory assessment of questions bordering on the essence of our existence as a nation, I came to the conclusion that the space yielded by The Daily Trust would serve no better purpose than that of seeking a return to life of decorum and dignity for all Nigerians. I came to the conclusion that any essay that would grace the pages of this tabloid must derive its mandate from the necessity to reinvent the Nigerian nation through a careful deconstruction of the contradictions that nest at the core of that geographical entity known as Nigeria.
Coming to that conclusion equally became easy when Big Brother Africa (BBA) “invaded” my homestead a couple of weeks back. But that did one other “positive” thing: it called my attention to the tsunami of 2004. The event of the tsunami was, in the reckoning of contemporary historians, unprecedented. It was, according to scientists, largely unpremeditated. But those imbued with learning and discernment, those who know a bit of the ways of the Almighty Allah would argue that whenever humanity decides to ‘invite’ the Creator into a duel and a fight, what usually result is untold natural disasters the like of which only the people of Ad, Thamud, Lut and Nuh would validate.
Thus I remember that hours, days, months and indeed years before the tsunami occurred that day, that year in 2004, nations bordering the Indian Ocean, like others across the world, had been immersed in iniquitous ways.
In parts of Asia, corruption had become the order of the day. There had been reports of women who had become tired of being women. In instances where they chose to remain as women, sexual incontinence had become commonplace. Some women had redefined their identities; they had taken pleasure in their sexual objectification. Such women derived pleasure and happiness in being seen as tools of advertisement, in being seen as sexual playthings. They had become worshippers of the new idol. The new idol was, and still remain women’s bodies.
But it was not only women that had descended into the abyss of Jahiliyyah; the abyss of ignorance. The tsunami occurred at a time some among men had also sought changes to their gender. A visit to parts of Asia then would expose you to the guiles and wiles of men who were no longer men. These were men who constantly sought to be penetrated. These were men who lust after their own gender.
In addition to the insuperable scenes of homosexualism, the hitherto unfamiliar sights and scenes of fornication and adultery had become familiar. There were lots of women who had no suitors; there were lots of men who could not afford the wedding ring. Yet, men always wanted to be men; women always wanted to be women, particularly those who are, in American parlance, “straight”. Thus where marriage becomes impossible, extra-marital affairs become, for the faithless, excusable.
But all of the above were actually not the most iniquitous event of the period. The most atrocious sin of the period - and even now - happened to be the culpable silence of those who know but refused to warn people against the imminent punishment of the Almighty. Parents beheld their daughters in gowns and garments which left little to imagination and yet shrugged it off. Boys went about in the city with earrings, sagging trousers and yet no voice of rebuttal was heard from their fathers.