Nobody but nobody in the Nigerian society, particularly in Imo State who does not know that our society is a society of contradictions. Yes, contradictions in all manner of human behaviours. Yet, here in Imo State such contradictions could be found in every aspect of societal life.
In the area of economy, there appears in the surface a lot of activities. But beneath it, people are seriously busy doing nothing. Except public and civil servants and few in other employed labour, the people are hard-hit economically. Private sector has been crushed to death. Money circulation is at its lowest ebb. Economic activities are merely superfluous. Buying and selling in the market is at a stop-end. A trip to the market reveals that the majority of traders are busy doing other things such as playing games in groups, discussing politics, while some women cluster together to do what they do best, gossip, gossip and gossip. Some are involved in endless prayer section for miracles that have not and will not come unless Christ is here again.
In various Motor parks, passengers move in and out. Most of them aimlessly either to go to look where to borrow money or where to find day’s daily bread. The rate of passengers is at moderate level.
In fact, economically, the only very busy group is the tricycle group. Although they are busy conveying people to and from one point to the other, most of them are complaining of serious low patronage. Those who entered the business newly have found out that all that glitters is not gold. Yet the number of keke riders is increasing on daily bais. This continues to diminish the margin of profitability. Even those who do hiring to pay on daily basis, about five thousand per day, find it difficult to meet up this obligation hence they may bargain for a fake loss of the tricycle to the chagrin of the owners hence there appears to be an increase in the stolen cases of KeKe.
Another group that has been managing to exist are the newspaper vendors. Their fortunes also have plummeted. However, they now get bye by the fact, as the economy bites and bites harder, the populations of free readers has continued to soar higher and higher. This is their only solace. Today, we see at every newspaper stand, heavy cluster of free readers because they cant afford to buy a copy. But some smart vendors now charge a fee of twenty naira for every free reader and sometimes provide benches for them to sit down and have minimum of reading comfort. Some vendors have resorted to limiting the number of papers each free reader may read and the number of minutes or hours each reader may be allowed. The more papers one reads and the more time a reader spends depends on the payment. This is the only way for the vendors to break-even on daily basis.
In the area of politics, there are some many contradictions. A lot to talk of in politics. In pubs, hotel lobbies, market places, motor-parks, in offices and in fact wherever people gather today in Imo particular, the topic must be politically related. And there are so many issues to talk about the contradictions in Imo House, the contradictions among the political parties, the more you look and the less you see contradictions in the mesmerizing government perplexities; and of course, the endless and general feuds in many communities over the leadership of CGCs; the elevation of traditional rulers from being custodian of the people’s tradition and culture to that of political overlords which have tended to virtually wiped off the respect and royalty of traditional rulers.
There is also the contradictions, perhaps the most anachronistic of them all where a woman is the Commissioner for Community Government Councils and Cultural Affairs. Perhaps an ingenuous contrival that has a lot untraditional consequences yet to emerge and fully developed. Contradiction of a local government elections coming up on April 27 with the affirmation by Imo State Electoral Commission that, “no going back on that one.” Contradictions of unrealistic and utopian nonsensity.
Contradictions also exist in the judiciary where today only non-indigenous lawyers are preferred for major political cases where they are regularly smiling to the banks at the expense of the people; contradictions of endless postponement adjournments of cases particularly those that have potential political implications: contradictions between equity and justice versus “money justice and equity for the highest bidder.”
Socially, there are noticeable contradictions particularly in a State where the economy has nose-dived, yet more and more new hotels and restaurants are being opened. Fast-food and other drinking and eating spots are booming with customers particularly young men and women wearing smiling faces and enjoying themselves on daily basis as if Owerri is another city in oil rich Port Harcourt or Yenegoa or even in gas-rich Finima in Bonny where a can of tin milk may be sold at unbelievable price of two hundred naira yet it goes for easy buy.
Owerri, the Imo State capital due to those contradictions has become a kind of “mini-hollywood” in Florida or Ddizziny Island also in the seashore of Miami in the State of Florida. Many, today, believe that owerri is an unannounced holiday resort where those who make their fortunes in Abuja, Rivers and Bayelsa come to spend it. Because there are too many hotels and too many girls available to fill the needed gap.
There is also contradictions in the area of religion. It is not an exaggeration that there are more churches in Owerri than in any other State Capital in Nigeria yet Owerri is a city of social indiscipline and highest immoralities. In spite of the hues and cries by members of the public and the governor, against the proliferation of nude centres and spots, today, they still exist and young ladies are making fortune in those spots. Yet, at every corner there are churches and crusades going on yet there is sin and sin every corner kid napping, robbery, child trafficking, etc. Thank God the new Commissioner of Police is up in arms with miscreants. Contradictions indeed, church goers without bibles as telephone handsets have replaced bibles.
In the field of education as well, there are still some contradictions. Here is a State that ranks the highest in many educational indices at the primary, secondary and post secondary levels; a State where there are so many number of candidates for federal unity schools, WASSCE, NECO, and JAMB, yet there are no corresponding arrangement to absorb these teeming population of youths once they come out of schools at the secondary and university levels.
Even in sports, where the people take delight in the progress of Heartland Football Club of which the players have been playing with empty stomach and need urgent rescue. Contradictions made it possible for them to virtually walk to Gabon for an International Football Competition. Of course, they lost without kicking a ball.
In short, there are several contradictions in our society; culturally, we are mere copy-cats who wish to be like Americans and Europeans without behaving like them. A society where everybody that is somebody has the only desire to be rich without working for it; to get university certificates without reading for them; to answer doctor without even passing primary school formally; every youngman knows the name and brand of every new model of a vehicle, yet without working for it. A society of contradictions indeed.
Thus, the objective of this column on weekly basis would be to x-ray societal ills with a view to addressing and proffering solutions if only to make our society, nay State better. It is not just for mere building slogan without message, propaganda without objective. Therefore, as this paper, the Trumpeter trumpets, Nigeria turns, this column will turn with it because if Nigeria turns and we will not be in good formation when it turns to us again. We must turn along with Nigeria as it turns. That is the only way to maintain cycle balance.
