OPEN Letter to Dele Momodu

Dele Momodu is Publisher of OVATION Magazine

Written by: Ashimole Felix

Dear Mr. Momodu,

Compliments of the season.

I hope the Xmas was as eventful for you as it was for many of us common Nigerians, who could not afford 100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira about $833) to attend OVATION RED CAROL or visit any other attraction centre controlled by the invading Lebanese businessmen in Nigeria.

I did not celebrate Xmas, for I am yet to make a head of this over commercialization of a common carpenter’s son, who rebelliously came to show a new order for a one on one relationship with God. Apart from this theological reason, the current wind in Nigeria , did not give me room to celebrate. This I clearly stated in my article, EXODUS-Ndi Igbo alago, published in Dailytrust Newspaper of Wednesday December 26th, as Why Do Ndigbos Travel for Christmas.Having detached myself from the madness around me, I could forage through the national dailies at a leisure pace. It was at this point that I came across ThisdayNewspaper of Saturday December 22 at my sister’s house. I must confess, that I hardly buy newspapers. Reason being poverty! When I see a juicy headline, I salivate like a castrated bull in the harem of ewes on heat. The heart is willing but the flesh is weak. So when I saw your column PENDULUM I voraciously read the article What’s wrong with the Blackman In response, I hurriedly, wrote you a reply and sent to your email. Ever since the reply, I have been regurgitating the content of the reply and wonder if I was bare enough for you to understand me beyond the portrait of a messiah I attached

This morning 28th December, the internal volcano in me blew its top. I heard that Mr. Ribadu, the EFCC czar had been ordered to forward march to Kuru for a refresher course at National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies. I have no problem with this and whatever consequent effect it will have on the “wining” war against corruption. But my heart was broken when this statement “What does Ribadu need to learn from NIPSS” was credited to ThisdayNewspaper. My mind went back to your article and I had peace for I have found what is wrong with the Blackman.

When the gatekeepers of national conscience do not see the need for continuous education, we are doomed. It is the stagnant attitude of African leaders that has placed us at an unenviable position and made us a parasite in the global village. With respect to your article, it has made Nigeria a mammoth among lively giants in Africa . Even “dwarfs” in West Africa , have better infrastructures.

At the wake of independence across Africa, you will agree that the pre-independence nationalist anti-colonial activists/leaders, personified in the likes of Nkrumah, Zik, Jomo Kenyetta, Odinga Odinga, Patrick Lumumba, Benbella, to mention but a few, were philosopher activists and never ceased to increase their knowledge. Our dear own Zik, even mastered and domesticated the Englishman language. These men burnt the midnight candle, despite having “arrived”. (most are western educated) They spun out economic theories. Julius Nyerere and his revolution in Tanzania is a classical example.

But what do we have today? Leaders with the mentality expressed by ThisdayNewspaper. Am I surprised? When ThisdayNewspaper is busy organizing musical shows that does not add to the intellectual out put of Nigerians.

These modern day pirates in political parties, haven gotten to power by riding on the back of common Nigerians, now fart at our heads without respect. If not how could the editorial board of ThisdayNewspaper, allow this goof? It has shown us that this I know it all mentality, is at the root of the underdevelopment snail progress of Africa, nay Nigeria .

The management and staff of ThisdayNewspaper, may be sympathetic to Ribadu, but things should be seen from a desentimentalized point of view. This brings me to another problem with the Blackman. Deification.

This is one of the hangovers from our African Traditional Religion. But politics being what it is has corrupted this noble concept. Like Louis of France, who saw himself as the state, most blackmen in position (private corporate companies inclusive) of leadership think in this same fossil. Ribadu made the same mistake and now Nigerians wont rest, for fear that without Ribadu, the war on corruption will go the way of Hitler’s third Reich. This is the same situation at NAFDAC. From Mobutu to Mugabe to the recent attempt on constitutional adulteration by the Obasanjo, it is obvious that Blackman leader believes he is indispensable therefore must be in power even if he is senile and is sustained by exotic drugs from India that was once underdeveloped.

Leadership in the blackworld, should be thrown to the young and dynamic. If the older generation is afraid, they should remain young by enlarging their minds and not be obsolete as ThisdayNewspaper wants Nigerians in position of leadership to be.

Akin to constant renewing of the mind by reading, research and writing, is adaptability. The world is now a global village, but most blackworld leaders still dump their inability to develop on slavery and colonization. These leaders should wake up and pilot their people out of poverty rather than lazily going cap in hand begging for repatriation. So long as they keep blaming the arrested development of Africa as a result of the exportation of her prime work force in the 14th century, we black people can not step into and dominate the current super-sonic infotech highway. If you research into the productivity of pure Blackman in America (one who spent 18yrs in Africa before going on economic exile enhanced by visa lottery), in America, you will agree that there is nothing inherent bad in the colour black but the leadership has refused to create the requisite mental environment for these talents to manifest and attain to the greatest height that their God given potentials can carry them within a lawful boundary.

Mr. Momodu, I do not claim to know all the problems with the Blackman, but having seen this far, I am at peace that there are others with greater vision that will see better and where I have over looked the minute but obvious.

I think Basil Davidson’s The Blackman’s Burden Africa and the curse of the Nation-State, will be helpful.

Thanks.

Ashimole Felix.

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