EXCITING NEWS: TNG WhatsApp Channel is LIVE…
Subscribe for FREE to get LIVE NEWS UPDATE. Click here to subscribe!
By Francis Ewherido
Very soon media houses will be publishing their Man of the Year. Before they do, let me unveil my own Man of the Year. That is one of the beauties of a one-man committee: decisions are taken sharp-sharp. My man of the year award for this year, unfortunately, will be won for notoriety not virtue. And the criteria are family and marriage-based.
Among my nominees are: Bello, that security man, who allegedly turned his daughter into a sex slave in the one-room accommodation his employers gave him. Sharp man, he did not want the world to know of his evil deeds, so he placed his daughter on contraceptives to prevent her from getting pregnant. But like smoke that cannot be curtailed forever, the news found its way to the public domain via his daughter, who could not take it anymore.
Our second nominee, Julius Ochim, also allegedly converted his daughter to a sex slave. In his own case, he did not bother to place her on contraceptives. Inevitably, the girl got pregnant. “Good man,” he did not abort the pregnancy. That was how he became a father and grandfather to the baby at the same time. What a feat! But he was not done, he continued with his escapade. Then it happened that in spite of her excess baggage (aka a child outside wedlock), a suitor came along to marry the daughter. Foolish people like us would assume that the man would heave a sigh of relief and see it as an escape route to stop the abominable incest. But no, like every jealous lover, he felt another man was trying to take his property. He became a stumbling block, until the daughter spilled the rotten, smelly beans.
Our next nominee is actually a group: all the paedophiles. They are so many, I have to group them. Every day, there is a news item of a man who sexually abused a minor. It is a cocktail of fathers abusing their own daughters, uncles abusing their nieces and neighbours abusing their neighbour’s children. The only common denominator is that the enemy is always within. Na who know man dey kill man, as it is commonly said. Put more appropriately, na who know pikin dey destroy pikin.
Still in the nominees list is that coward, who killed her three children and husband in a rage. Instead of waiting for the law to take its course, she committed suicide. We also have parents and guardians all over, who burn or lacerate children for stealing money or meat from the pot. Also, we have people who have underachieved. Instead of looking into their lives for solutions, they accuse their hapless old parents back home of witchcraft and butcher them to death.
Our next nominee is Mr. Andrew Ogbuja, the Benue State Polytechnic lecturer, who alongside his son, Victor, allegedly sexually abused 13-year-old Ochanya Ogbanje until she died of complications resulting from repeated assault on her under-developed vagina and anus. I am not nominating him because father and son shared the same female. That has been happening from time immemorial and is still very much with us. Long ago, I shared a cab with some prostitutes coming back from “work.” In the course of their many stories, one of them exclaimed: hey, if you see the boy pri*k, na hammer; e big like im papa own! See what I mean?
I am nominating Ogbuja because he and Victor allegedly started abusing Ochanya from age eight and the abuse continued for five years, no conscience, no remorse. His only regret was that Victor got there before him. Ochanya, by the way, is the niece of Ogbuja’s wife and Victor’s cousin. In a typical African setting, you can justifiably call her Mr. Ogbuja’s daughter.
Our last nominee is Mr. Edet Okon Asim, a former commissioner in Cross River State, who was recently exposed for allegedly sleeping with mother and her daughter. Like father and son sharing the same woman, it is not my business, but God’s, if mother and daughter share the same man. But when the daughter is under-aged, it becomes the business of all of us. Asim has allegedly been sleeping with the girl since pre-teen. Within that period, three abortions had been carried out. It was the third abortion that went awry and blew the lid. Now, they said the girl’s womb is perforated and she might not be able to get pregnant in future. When I hear stories of people like Asim, I am no longer surprised why Nigeria is where it is. There are too many dead consciences and mortgaged souls in positions of authority.
After applying the criteria, I narrowed the contest to Ogbuja and Asim. Among the reasons are: Both of them abused their victims over a long period. They had ample time to retrace their steps, but continued with their evil deeds. Both cases also led to deaths. Ogbuja and his son’s actions led to the death of Ochanya, while three unborn babies were killed, in the case of Asim. I had a difficult time deciding on whom to give the Man of the Year Award to. In the end, Ogbuja edged Asim to claim the Man of the Year Award for his unbelievable cruelty and evil deeds to a family member.
MUDI @50
A while ago, my home boy, Mudiaga Najomo, aka Mudi of Africa, joined the golden club. What has endeared Mudi to me since we became friends is his down-to-earth disposition.
Mudi has come a long way since 25 years ago when he came to Lagos with nothing but a dream and a determination to conquer. He has conquered and validated his names. Mudiaga means “stand firm.” Mudi has stood firm and bestrode the fashion firmament, not only in Nigeria, but Africa. Enajemo means “these are also children.” Mudi is not just any child; he is an illustrious son, who has lifted the name of his family, Urhobo, Delta and Nigeria. Mudi went into fashion at a time when it was not so fashionable and glamourous. By dint of hard work and perseverance, he has made his mark.
Youngsters need to learn from and follow the footsteps of Mudi. Many young people do not want to crawl before walking anymore; they want to start running from birth. They want to get rich quickly. They do not want to go through the grind like Mudi. I advise the youths to follow the footsteps of Mudi, the man when sabi.
Mudi continues to show the way by giving back to society. Recently, I travelled to Ughelli, Delta State, to see the roundabout he was reconstructing and beatifying to mark his 50th birthday. It was the only neat and sane roundabout on the dual carriageway from Otovwodo to Ekiugbo. Welcome to the golden club, Mudi.