As if I did not have enough to worry or get upset about already.
work has being more difficult since the beginning of this Month. I get to work late everyday, get home late at night everyday because of the incessant and unfathomabble traffic and fuel scarcity.
My family (majorly half -older-brothers) that suddenly sprang up after years of neglect to take over part of my property without my consent or knowledge and had the gut to tell me that "the family had decided" ( well, I will see them in court) and some friends that are worried I should leave them be so they won't do juju ( supernatural stuff) to me. I just wonder what our value system is all about. If we have to be afraid to challenge injustice because we fear they will have us killed spiritually or otherwise.
Whatever, I will see them in court if they don't back down. Fuel scarcity, power failure, my inablility to go to Shoprite to get cats food for my feline kids... etc
My family (majorly half -older-brothers) that suddenly sprang up after years of neglect to take over part of my property without my consent or knowledge and had the gut to tell me that "the family had decided" ( well, I will see them in court) and some friends that are worried I should leave them be so they won't do juju ( supernatural stuff) to me. I just wonder what our value system is all about. If we have to be afraid to challenge injustice because we fear they will have us killed spiritually or otherwise.
Whatever, I will see them in court if they don't back down. Fuel scarcity, power failure, my inablility to go to Shoprite to get cats food for my feline kids... etc
Then, I was on my way to work on this very day and there in the Molue "masses bus" that I entered since I did not want to sleep at the bus stop was this guy that had a disagreement over the fare with the conductor. They dragged themselves down and started fighting. There was a police officer in the vehicle and he got down, I thought to settle the fight but no, he took side with the conductor and started dishing out hot slaps on the passenger. He beat him till he ran!
What? Why would he do this? He has no right to but he did. He was satisfied with himself. He was carried in the vehicle for free as is the case with uniform people in Lagos. They ride for free and do all sort of favours for the motorists at the moment. They throw the dignity of labour and service to the people away so many times for freebies. They perpetrate injustice on inoccent citizens with no one stopping them.
Not that I have a solution to this because I don't. It became my fight when I told the officer that it was enough. The driver took it up with me and called me a crazy woman for carrying dreadlocks and an idiot for not minding my business. Well, I am not so mad on that remarks because the drivers and the conductors too can be victims of brutality the next day.
I don't know how we are going to do it but we have got to restore justice, selfless service and respect for human lives into our value sytems.
26 comments:
Guess it is ideas like that permit the perpetration of injustice... Fear of juju and all that ish..
Do what you have to do.. I'm sure you have the resolve to anyways!
i think the driver and conductor got temporarily caught up in having the baba dudu on their side, bcos, u're totally right, tomorrow, it could be them.
As long as we remain complacent in the face of injustice...it will continue with impunity.
To quote Margaret Mead: "never doubt the power of a group of small dedicated indivuduals to change the world...indeed it is the only thing that ever has"
I respect you for speaking up and deciding to go to court! And let us know how it goes!
As long as we remain complacent in the face of injustice...it will continue with impunity.
To quote Margaret Mead: "never doubt the power of a group of small dedicated indivuduals to change the world...indeed it is the only thing that ever has"
I respect you for speaking up and deciding to go to court! And let us know how it goes!
Our value system is totally skewed standy, the problem is Nigerians have lived in fear and suppression for very many years that it is difficult to see strength or any form of resistance emerge from the state of soporiphic complacency the masses are in.
Did you not wonder how come you were the only one speaking for that poor passenger and how the policeman thought you were a fool for not minding your own business? That's the problem, everyone is minding their own business as a result of fear forgetting that one day those things they kept quiet about may come back and bite them making it their business.
Poor Standtall...as if there was not enough problems in the world already. I feel sorry for Nigeria and even more so for myself for paying lip service and doing nothing. At least the likes of you write about it and bring it to the attention of many. Well done once again.
As for the family, oh well what can we do. You;ve got to do what you've got to do but let God go with you.
Great post, the same thing happens here, especially with bodaboda guys.
i don tire 4 d brutality of nigerian uniformed pple, esp d police. u take illiterate folks, give them some sort of authority by d uniform they wear, & daz it; they go insane. d driver dat was opening mouth 4 u was probably trying to save his head. maybe if u talked too much, police go take offense & na 4 driver body e do display am. they ma they know na snakes they r dealing with - they have to e extra careful, else they will b bitten.
as 4 ur relations, i think u should go 2 court. But, also get to have a family meeting 2 know exactly which 'family' decided what they decided. u have all d papers 2 d property, i hope.
when i think about it ..i usually just conclude..these current crop just neeed to be wiped out..(dont know if its do-able)..but i just dont see any other way...cos even the ones leaving the academies are mixed with the old set..the very next day..
i always keep a proper distance from them o...
This is really unsuprising,as we the innocent masses are used to such degradation...A change can be effected...we just need to persevere..I'm with you all the way...
All the Best in the case...i sometimes wondet if things cannot be resolved amicably...Sometimes...people just stretch others to thier limits...
As long as we continue to fold our hands and do nothing, stuff like these will keep happening.
I pray you win the case in court. Sorry about all the wahala.
nawa o
i hope your brothers back down..if not na court o..and pray hard too...it is well
i dont get it. if its ur property- then how can he lay claim on it?
As for the injustice in this world- it is so so sad. Even the injustice folks here face in the so called western world can be mind bugging.
hunn.. tough one, i think its the uniform that gets into their head, that's y they can humilate and brutalize citizens they r meant to defend. I believe its more like everyone is sitting on a keg of gun-powder and the day it will explode....
Good luck with your court case. As for the Juju... just another way to scare people.
ohhh I feel you. Sorry!
It's not easy to standtall and be a strong woman with values in the world but you keep on fighting and I know you will never give up.
You should def. go to court if they don't let up. Juju only takes power over you when you allow it to (meaning: when you believe in it)
i don't really know the family issue but i will commit it to prayers
about the cop and the conductor
na wa ooooo
that's all i can say
hang in there
Justice can only be restored one day at a time but it must begin with each individual...
We cry murder when we see others brutalized but do we also remember that we have also indirectly brutalized people when we buy or do illegal things...
God help Naija...!!!
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My sista, I applaud you for taking the time to speak on the matter. It is not easy to do the right thing at the right time.
I like to think that it is the little actions like that when done by as many as possible that can create change.
It would be great if the police officers wore their names on the back of their uniforms so that when they mess up, someone can record them on their video phone function and send it in to Fashola or whoever needs to know.
Anyway, sorry about this land wahala. Take them to court, do not back down for nothing. Sometimes, people think that women won't fight tooth and nail. Thus, teach everyone a lesson - give them hell.
No dignity in labour anymore! I hope you win court. Get a damn good bull dog lawyer.
More power to you sista!!! Most times I let them fight while I just read my book in the danfo. Lagos and its many frustrated peoples...
he said what about your dreadlocks? shuuuu!!! Anyways, u need not have waste your time on giving him an appropriate retort. It is so sad that the fear of juju (and all other sorts) inhibits our society so much...and is y the rule of law does not prevail in 9j. Do what you got to do sister! A 1000 may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand but no harm shall befall u - Psalm 91:7, 10
@ Danny BaGucci: thank you DB.
@ Doja 2.0: I hope it does. It has too really. I just dont know when or how.
@ Avarty: exactly. I have seen it happening so many times.
@NDQ: Thanks. A say ex-family (lol). Seems they are backing down but I need to get my C of O and they have the will...
@ PoeticallyTinted: I worry about the future of Nigeria really. We eems to be getting from worse to worst. We need to embrace a culture of respect of human rights among others before is too late .
@ SoopNija: thanks and I believe it's not too late to speak up, we can keep doing that in our own little way...
@ Lindah: thanks for your countribution. So, this happens in Uganda too. God help Africa.
@ FFF: Family meeting is a no no. It has never worked. We all have our property from our father as detailed in the will so I dont need to be in a mtg over what no one shd be delibrating about again, you know. And i can't meet with people that dont have respect for me cuz they are older!
@ Simeone: that is my question too, is it doable? And if new people come in, do they have the right orientation?
@ Rose: thanks dear. In fact, in the first place they need not get involved in my stuff without my consent, so they dont think of being "amicable" but being "unfair".
@ Artsville: you are right. We need to ubfold ou hands anyway we can to challenge injustice. Thanks for your support on my family issue.
@ Aloted: thanks dearie. They just need to mind their business is all. I hope they learn and leave me alone b4 I drag them down to court.
@ Tigeress: not that they lay claim on the entire property but they had a mtg that a part of it shd be sued y someone else in the family cuz according to them, that part is not mine... the will stated clearly who it belongs to hence my takign this up.
@ downtheaisle: it's the poor orientation and the fact that they think they can get away with anything!
@ Katztales: thanks. I do appreciate your support.
@ Adaeze; thanks love. I agree with you on the juju stuff and as for me, I dont believe in it.
@ Kafo: thanks jare.
@ Kémi Penélopê: deep insight, this is a good perspective from you.
@ SSD: thank sis for speaking up as someone who trully believe in justice. Thanks so much. And you are so right about the police wearing thier names where one can see it. I will so much love that. I am getting a flip camera soon to capture scenes like this for necessary actions.
@ LusciousRon: thanks! thanks!
@ lolade: hmmm how I wish I can read books in such situations. At times I dont get involve but to just feel sad all the way...
@ Omo Oba: thank you so much. Your support means so much to me.
This is why the overhaul that Nigeria needs will have to begin with re-education and serious reindoctrination. It is so upsetting that our people still devalue what is true and natural because it is different.
Sorry about the traffic situation my dear. As for your half-brothers, I go follow you pray because God na Oga over everything for this life. Taking them to court is a good step. Also try and find a couple of older people in the family that will support you.
On the passenger beating, that conductor and the police officer need to be hanged. What sort of madness are we cultivating in our society in the name of area boys/conductors? And isn't it only a policeman that does not know the law and his responsibility that will carry out such an unconstitutional, human rights-violating act? We need serious help, justice and the proper establishment of law. And all these toothless, uneducated, numbskull politicians are not fit for the job of re-engineering Nigeria.
You are right, because even though I am way up here at the Top of the World in Alaska, this causes me to fear - for you, and what these folks might do to you.
None-the-less, I admire the courage that you showed when you stood up to the cop and the driver and would never want you to shy away from that courage.
That is what makes you Standtall.
Now, how do we get you to Alaska?
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