My first post since October 2011. My apologies for the blogging slumber and any rustiness you observe during this writing,
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since October 2011 so which event should I start writing on. Is it the thousands of life that have been lost due to terrorist attacks in the North (seriously, we are really underestimating the degree of the violence in the North. The body count of victims of terrorist attacks in the past 12 months in the North only is higher than that of the whole Iran and Pakistan put together)? Or the President's willingness to negotiate with terrorist (anytime I hear him say that, I just pinch myself to make sure what I'm hearing is real)? All these issues depressing and put me in a somber mood. I'll rather write about less depressing issues like the latest viral video in Nigeria, "My Oga at the Top". Yeah, I know it's been like 2 or 3 weeks since the release of that video and all the hype and excitement is already dwindling but behind the humour and sardonicism, there are some important things to note.
On the morning the video went viral, I was going for a presentation with My Oga at the Top at my workplace. After all the initial jokes and banter we made about the man, we sort of switched to "serious mode" (the trip was obviously too long for us to spend all the time laughing). It was during that "serious mode" talk that he made me aware of the fact that the NSCDC (Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps) now carry arms. I was like "who the hell would give them arms?"(but then, I remembered the president we have in this country).
I've been thinking for the past few weeks why that agency should bear arms? What is even their responsibility (I don't want to check google but the roles and responsibility of an agency that bears arms should be very obvious to the citizens)? To be honest, I grew up thinking that the role the NSCDC played was like that of KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline). I grew up knowing them as people that help control traffic when "yellow fever" is not around (especially in the east) and they protect public property (like street light, water pipes etc) that's all! Some years back, the customs guys were given the right to bear arms (that one is a bit understandable because some of those drug dealers actually carry arms and involve customs officials in shoot outs) but the NSCDC, an agency which Nigerians barely know or hear about, who have no clear cut role or function, whose officers did not go through any kind of background check before joining the agency, carrying arms is just incomprehensible. They might as well give NAFDAC and FRSC officials arms!
Some few days after the video was realesed, it was reported that the major character in the video has been suspended (if you've not seen the video, this is a youtube link). And what surprised me most was that a lot of people were supporting his suspension saying it is deserved because he doesn't know his agency website. In my opinion, I don't think that is a valid ground to suspend an offical. In Nigeria, IT literacy is poor. I have come in contact with a a lot of students who don't know the URL of the web portal of their University, every time I'm on the queue to use the ATM, i meet at least one person who doesn't know how to use the machine and I can go on citing more and more examples of how poor our literacy level as regards technology and the Internet. It is ironic that a lot of the people who are making the loudest noise about the whole issue and who support the suspension of the man are just as ignorant as him (they might not even know what NSCDC means who may be hearing it for the first time). I'm not a fan of the man, but I'll rather have a leader who doesn't know the full website of his agency and is honest than a leader who is a tech guru but is corrupt. Our reaction towards the video is a clear representation of our disdain for public officials which in my opinion is acceptable but we took it too far with this man.
Now the dust is slowly settling and the sales of "Oga at the top t-shirts" is reducing, Nigerians are waiting for the next official that would fall prey of their harsh criticism and judgement in the court of public opinion. I just hope that we not only laugh and mock these people but we also learn. From this, I think it is obvious that the whole country needs proper orientation and sensitization on Internet and technology issues because at this time and age, a good and sound knowledge of this is required.
BUT SERIOUSLY... the URL of this blog is butseriuosly.blogspot.datsAll!
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