Andrew No Check Out O!

The lives of our people are abysmally devalued; same way our currency is daily experiencing a freefall devaluation in the money market. The exchange rate is so ridiculous that the average person can offer his or her life for as low as five thousand Naira in Nigeria, far less than 5 Dollars, to gain admission into prison of political servitude, the next four years of their lives.

In the eighties, Andrew cried out in anger, “No light, no water. Men, I’m checking out.” Veno would later enthuse in her popular song “Nigeria go survive,” in which she warned, “Andrew no check out o!” I wished he didn’t listen, maybe he would have lived a better life a little longer. Andrew’s voice is still echoing from the depth of the earth, “Men, I’m checking out!”

“Andrew wey no check go regret am last because 3 decades after,  light and water no still dey. In fact, to be a man in this country, one has to be able to provide his own accommodation, electricity, water, private school for his kids and community security, all without the help of government.” That remark was made by a frustrated Nigerian youth, about a decade ago, when Naira to Dollar was exchanged at 360 Naira. Today, Naira is 1,600 to one Dollar.

Do you still blame the youths, whose lives are daily enshrouded in the frigid bowel of a cloudy future? Do you still ask why they flee the country? Common on now! It is now that I know that the greatest national tragedy is not natural disaster, war, or economic holocaust but the deprivation, impoverishment and oppression of the masses, by the brood of crooks in power.

Kilo’n’sele si Afrika? What’s happening to Africa? The poor majority now virtually offer themselves for servitude, “Why should we die this way, buy us and our lands for bread and we will be servants to the [Government].”  They willingly sell their future for packs of noodles, tins of cereals, granules and grains, while some religious and political elites live in luxury and flamboyance at the expense of the poor.

I long to see that day, when my people shall look them in the eyes, spit into them and holla: “May your money perish with you!”