By Martin A. Ugboma
As Nigeria glowed in the warmth of the rebirth of democracy after the brutal dictatorship of the man in the dark glasses, we showed.
The newly elected speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Salisu Buhari owned up to falsifying his age from January 1970 to January 1963 to meet the constitutional requirement that members of the house must be 30 years old.
He also confessed to a fake degree in Business Administration from the University of Toronto, Canada and forged a NYSC Certificate and was therefore forced to resign. At 29, he was not satisfied with being a member of the house, he yearned to be the 4th most powerful politician in the country.
But that is not the story.
Barely 14 years after, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed the same disgraced forger a member of the governing council of the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
As we know, if you live long enough, you will see enough.
Our Minister of Technology and Innovation, Uche Nnaji, has just resigned over allegations of forged certificates from the same University and the NYSC.
Nnaji will feel no shame or much in terms of remorse. His ambition to be Governor of Enugu state will suffer no fatal sore as he will take solace in the travails of Dr Okechukwu Ikejiani who was removed as Pro-chancellor of the University College, Ibadan in 1951 for forging a Doctor of Science degree.
(He was a qualified medical doctor) but was subsequently appointed Chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation.
We have normalized these scandals.
No shaking!!! Nothing dey happen.
And why should we shake when our politicians continue to flood the social media space with public demonstrations of affluence, showing off their convoys of always new four-wheel drive vehicles and retinue of phone and briefcase carrying of aides?
Why should we shake when Ethiopia has commissioned a 5000+MW power plant, China has the 20,000MW three gorges dam and has broken ground for a 60,000MW hydro electric project, and our senate is debating the return of a suspended female senator to the house?
Why should we shake when as has become customary, the Inspector General of Police has sent us to a brand-new website (For obvious reasons) to obtain tinted glass permits and the Nigeria Customs Service is demonstrating uncommon determination in its quest to implement a 4% levy on free on-board costs for imports?
And while we process these absurdities, we awake each day to new WhatsApp invitations for a committee of friends for a funeral or birthday celebration. In many instances, these committees are created even before the bodies are moved to the morgue. What role should your friends and acquaintances play in your quest for a befitting funeral for your unknown auntie, cousin or uncle?
Your friends, your true friends will always come together to do what they can to alleviate the financial burden we have placed on ourselves for these events. But it is shameful for the celebrant to be the organizer of these fund-raising committees. Oya, I have this event. Come together and raise funds for me to have a befitting celebration.
If you crave a lavish funeral or birthday celebration, please pay for it. Burdening friends and acquaintances is an admission of poverty and is totally unacceptable when your intent is to demonstrate wealth and affluence. And if this makes you feel shame, you can always quote the Holy book and let the dead bury the dead.
What is really the definition of a befitting funeral and how should this be funded? What drives our need to display affluence while we battle with school fees and medical expenses?
Apparently, our definition of a befitting funeral is a Roman feast where access to the venue is filled with a grilling colony of whole cows, goats, alligators and antelopes. A rowdy collection of masquerades, street vendors and musicians, beggars and pickpockets.
And we dare not forget the clergy who seize these opportunities for long rolling sermons and fundraising for some project.
It may be understandable that our politicians have immunized us all from scandal and shame, but we are surely pushing the envelope by our own actions. Looks like as schools change textbooks every year to force parents to purchase new ones and make it impossible for siblings to rely on books used by their elder siblings, we, the parents, are considering changing the student each year, so our wards never fail. As we say, nothing Musa never see for gate
But we must borrow ourselves some sense before we start seeing a committee of friends for the celebration of wedding anniversaries.
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