Behind the various negatives ever sold to us, the other side of the coin is marked with many hoarded positives. Many years ago, I lived in a neighborhood called Furaka, Jos. I had many male friends and sometimes in our idleness, we’d sit around and talk about girls. Akutse was one of the many girls we talked about. She was the oxygen of most parties around. Everyone assumed she was the loose one because she was always with one boy or the other. Of course, there were stories about many of her escapades which further reinforced our believes. Akutse got married to one Mr Bala two years ago. One day, Mr Bala was invited to talk at a singles gathering and while at it, he described meeting his wife chaste. I for one was surprised…
The story above though fictitious seeks to open up our mind to the dangers of single story. Chimmanda Adichie had In a ted show talked about the dangers of a single story. In almost every facet of life, there’s usually a well known story about a thing even though it is not the truth. I prefer to watch happenings behind-the-scenes. That way, the I am is allowed to see past facades. Facades are not limited to movies alone.
During the President Jonathan era, certain narratives were put up by the then opposition party. Every now and then, the mainstream media would dish out tales of missing billions and indicting allegations of corrupt practices. It was as if the phrase “grossly incompetent” best defines the president and his collection of ministers. While some of those accusations may have been true- after taking a bow out of office, GEJ as he was fondly called told his own story in a book titled “My transitions hour” and he responded to the many headlines that tainted his administration and those who had a hand in it. Sadly, the GEJ’s scenario is one amongst many others.
Everyone blames the presidency for the the exchange rate challenge bedeviling our nation. I too think that the man is complicit but it would be foolish to believe that the only reason we got here was because President Tinubu took hold of power. Have you ever heard about the several warnings put forth by Dr Ngonzi Iweala, Sanusi Lamido and other finance experts prior to the eventual ridicule of naira? Well, the warnings were the behinds the scene moments. We were warned to cut down on our unending affinity for foreign consumption, we were urged to support the indigenous products. Weren’t we told that borrowing does no good especially when it is use to fund recurrent expenditure? Tell me? the craze for Mercedes over Innoson is suppose to booster out economy right? But is the president the only one who goes about governance in foreign cars? While it is true that it is easier to vent frustrations against the government, it is also true that we aided the shameful dance of the naira amongst the comity of nations.
While we sit down to criticize, it is important that we deal first with the enemy within. Only then do we qualify to question the actions of others. If we don’t, we only make mockery of self.
– Olayinka Kayode writes from Mowe, Ogun State.
