Written by:
Rev. Fr. Clement Muozoba
Awka,
Anambra State,
Nigeria.
okochacm@yahoo.com
08060843010
AKULA!
Akula or Ara ako describes a type of mental infirmity during which the sufferer is said to be semi conscious of his mental illness but is rendered incapable of stopping his acts as a mentally deranged person. This is regarded as the worst type of mental illness. However, my people do not often differentiate between the different forms of mental and psychological illnesses. Any trace of misbehavior that can be traced to disorder in the head whether it is akula or outright madness is given one simple name by my people. We call it ara – madness. A mad man therefore is variously described in Igbo as onye ara, onye isi mgbaka or onye isi mmebi or simply, akula.
I have viewed with consternation the trend of events in Nigeria today. I have also tried to interpret the signs of the time. None of my efforts seems to have been enough and therefore, I have not found any interpretation to the anomalies that bedevil the system. The disposition of the government at all levels is that of a bemused warrior who has lost the power to rescue. This could be translated to the country being mentally ill, knowing that it is such and being incapable of helping itself out of the problem. The Nigerian case is a complicated one because the solutions are everywhere and yet they cannot be found. This is akula!
Recently, the labour crisis that pitched the workers under the banner of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) against the state governments nearly wrecked the country. It was occasioned by the newly passed bill on minimum wage by which no worker would earn less than N18, 000 (Eighteen Thousand Naira) monthly. Prior to that, some workers earned as low as N6, 000 (Six thousand Naira). The Federal Government ordered the state governments to comply with the new law. Majority of the governors said they could not pay the new wage whereas some worked it out to pay just from salary grade levels one to six and make some little additions to other levels. It was then a collision course between the workers and their state governments. The result was strike action by the various state workers. Various negotiations and round-table conferences were of little or no effect. Even now, some states are yet to recover from the dust generated by the minimum wage saga.
In some states, it was alleged that there were plans by the workers to celebrate the governors’ funerals alive. In some too, the labour leaders were said to have been beaten up and incarcerated by the governors on spurious charges. In some states too, the labour leaders were said to have smiled to the banks, either they were bribed by the governors or by the opposition groups that wanted to destabilize the states. The worst is that in one of the states of the South-east, the non-indigenes in the employ of the state were sacked so that the indigenes could be paid the new wage. If a governor who professes One Nigeria could sack non-indigenes because of some confusion caused by the Federal Government, it means that his words do not correspond to his deeds. When one’s words differ from his thoughts and deeds, my people call such a person akula – onye is mgbaka!
Even as the battle for the minimum wage was yet to die down, another form of confusion was introduced. It is the removal of oil subsidy. In the first place, what is oil subsidy? Nigeria is 8th in the OPEC with one of the best crude oils in the world because our crude oil is sulfur-free. Nigeria has four refineries which from time to time, are either not working at all or not working in full capacity. For this reason, Nigerian oil is refined abroad and sold to Nigerians at exorbitant prices. But the Federal Government of Nigeria, being so merciful, in order to make the products affordable, subsidizes the prices with trillions of Naira over the years, amount more than enough to flood the country with as many refineries as the country wants. All of a sudden, the Federal Government woke up to the sad reality that the money for the oil subsidy is too much and should be removed. But a former minister of petroleum has said that the whole issue of oil subsidy is a monumental fraud and actually, non-existent. By the way, who and who own the refineries abroad? Some say it is our so-called leaders. Is it not madness removing the oil subsidy which does not exist in order to increase the people’s hardship? It is akula!
In an index of countries with the worst roads, Nigeria ranked 191st out of 192. Even the war-torn Libya is not like this. In fact, the Libyans confessed that they are comfortable with about 80% literacy level and that they earn monthly salaries, whether working or not. Their only problem was Gaddafi, who converted the country to a family business for 42 years. Is Nigeria better than Libya? As Gaddafi converted Libya to a family business, so also has a clique converted Nigeria to a private business, recycling themselves in the corridors of power, insensitive to the plight of the people. Their movement is mostly by air and the roads to their destination (Aso Rock) is not just well tarred but superbly decorated. For them, that is Nigeria. Any other roads can go to hell. The work on Onitsha – Owerri Road is yet to be completed since about eight years or more. In the same way, for about three years now since the Federal Government awarded the contract for the Enugu – Onitsha Road without mobilizing the workers, travelling through that road has been a hell of experience. The same also goes for the Second Niger Bridge which the Obasanjo administration awarded merely on paper. In the same token, the Benin – Ore Road has remained a barn for harvest of corpses at very cheap prices due to road accidents. No appreciable attention has been paid to these roads by the government. Our prayer now is “If we should walk in the valley of death called Nigerian roads, no evil should we fear for we already have death as a friend”. Yet, we have more than enough to construct these roads. Is this not madness? We call it akula.
Today in Nigeria, the fear of Boko Haram has become the beginning of wisdom. Recently, the radical Islamic sect made its greatest mark in terrorism when it killed about 150 persons in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state and Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State on Saturday, 5th November, 2011 in suicide bombing. This does not include the lives lost in their attacks on the Police and UN Headquarters, both in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria and some other selected targets including the INEC Headquarters and some places of worship. Their next target seems to be the Aso Rock since they have conquered every other obstacle on their way including the police, the military and the SSS. Virtually, the FG has no answer to their incessant attacks. What we always hear the president say whenever this occurs is that “Enough is enough”. We must remember that no matter how it is couched in lies, it was the fear of Boko Haram that forced the FG to celebrate this year’s independence in ‘low key’ within the confines of Aso Rock. However, we saw our president in far away Australia celebrating his lovely wife’s birthday. There is nothing wrong with this. But everything is wrong with it. The country’s independence was celebrated in low key and the First Lady’s birthday was celebrated in high key in a country with high level of security whereas Nigerians die daily because of insecurity. Yet we are told not to panic. If I’m told not to panic when I see my death face to face, what does that mean? It is akula!
What contributed so much to this unending story of akula is the loss of the sense of value in the country. Those we appreciate are the wealthy rogues who have acquired power or the powerful rogues who have acquired wealth. This has also manifested in the structure of our elections through which our leaders emerge. Prof. Jega honestly tried to make a change. But it was motion without movement because the rot is too much. In one of the senatorial zones, there was virtually no election but a senator emerged from the zone. There are many others like him. A good percentage of those who claim to be our leaders are best suited for the prisons. When those who should be in prison rule and those who should rule are either psychologically, physically or mentally imprisoned, what do we call it? We call it akula!
Nigeria moves fast towards the precipice. In 2005, the America’s National Intelligence Council warned of the possibility of Nigeria disintegrating before 2020. The then president, Olusegun Obasanjo called the council akula. Years back in 1967, the young colonel who later became the Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in the Aburi Conference, canvassed for a loose confederation with a weak centre as the best for Nigeria. The Gowon-led Nigerian Government called him akula. When Fela Anikulapo Kuti saw and sang about this decay years back, the Nigerian government called him akula. Even when His Royal Punkness, Charles Oputa sang his track, Akula and named the groups that qualify for the name, he in turn was called akula. Now, we find out that those who tell us the truth are those we call akula because Nigeria has refused to accept the bitter truth.
Rev. Fr. Clement Muozoba
Awka,
Anambra State,
Nigeria.
okochacm@yahoo.com
08060843010
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