Angaladikibo, the Watcher of the Mangroves, gazed at the mangroves through the window of the Parliamentary Hall, as he waited for the appointed time. He does not engage in idle gossip. He would rather immerse himself into the world of the Mangroves than to waste his precious time engaging in useless talks. However, this is a peculiar mark of the People of the Waterfronts. They would rather go within themselves in quiet moments to communicate with their maker, as the holy command stated, “Be still and know that I am God. Not so, for the People of the City. Their propensity for noise making never allows them to sit still for a moment and see within, the wonders of their creator. Silent communication with the almighty is strange to them. They must shout on top of their voices in their prayers, as if to demonstrate the great distance between the earth and the sky. The Almighty will not hear them if they do not shout. Strange!
The People of the City felt it was waste of time for Angaladikibo to gaze at the Mangroves whenever he decided to be alone. Unknown to them, gazing at the Mangroves was Angaladikibo’s key to go within himself and communicate with the infinite. That is why he comes out of it with wonderful insights that baffle them.
Angaladikibo, the Watcher of the Mangroves, was communing with the Mangroves when his inner vision opened and the Mangroves began to speak to him. One secret the People of the City do not know is that in the inner worlds, you can discern within a minute, what will be explained to you for days here. Who will say he has not traveled from one city to the other, nay, from one country to the other, within a single dream? Can you do that in the physical within the same short space of time? So you see, the Mangroves could reveal to Angaladikibo myriads of things while he waits for the appointed time to begin deliberations in the Parliamentary Hall. They spoke and he listened.
“Angaladikibo, there are two Nigerian twins in Waltham Forest, in northeast London. They are Peter and Paula, barely eight years old. They have made British history as the youngest students to enter high school. They are the youngest to ever pass the University of Cambridge advanced mathematics exam. They have already set world records when they passed the A/AS-level maths papers. Peter and Paula are supposed to sit for it at the age of 17. They only received two hours extra tuition a week.
“Angaladikibo, the world’s youngest DJ is just 11 years old. He is Jack Hill. He is from Western Supper-Mare, Somerset and he achieved the feat just five weeks after a car ran over his right hand. Jack mixed ten songs in just one minute. Hear what the little boy said, “It was fun making a new world record. I have missed DJing and its nice to be back playing songs. I wasn’t nervous because the mix is quiet difficult and you only have six seconds per song to cue, sync and mix so I don’t even have time to get nervous.” By the way, it is good that you also know that Peter and Paula’s sister, Anne-Marie, who is now 20, holds the world record as the youngest girl to pass the A-level computing when she was just 13.
“Angaladikibo, you must have been wondering why these things are revealed to you. It is to tell you to beware of what the majority believes. Think for yourself. Change your consciousness and you will change your life. Now if it is true that no one comes back into this world and that all the dead are still waiting for the judgment day, where, when and how did these kids acquire the experience to perform these feats? Will you sincerely say they possessed extra-ordinary brains or are just blessed by God to achieve that? No, Angaladikibo. We all come with a baggage of experiences acquired in earlier lives and a little practice triggers off the memory and the child is pronounced a prodigy. God was never partial to endow some people with extra ordinary brains, while others remain dullards. Get that into your consciousness and know that whatever you are engaged in now, follows you wherever you go. Be careful what you say, what you do, what you think. Like boomerangs, they come back to the source. If only the People of the City know this simple truth, they would be careful with their actions and would not impoverish the people.”
The Oldman of the waterfronts got up suddenly, interrupting the reverie of Angaladikibo. The appointed time to begin deliberations has come and the ancestors must be appeased. He stretched his left hand, picked up the bottle of the local white brew. His right hand went for the little glass cup and he filled it. He left the table and walked to the entrance of the Parliamentary Hall, stood, facing outside and began his call to the ancestors. The people of the Waterfronts waited in silence.
“Odumodu, great the ancestor of the people of the Waterfronts, dweller at the domain between the land and the sea, listen for our call. It was you who said that a father will never forsake the child that remembers to give him a shot of the local white brew to clean his mouth. We have obeyed you accordingly. Take, drink and carry out your fatherly role.
“The People of the City told us that by the end of last year, they will give us 5000 mega watts of electricity. We do not know what that means. By the end of the year they said they got up to 4,420 mega watts. Now they are telling us that it has dropped to 3200 MW. Remember, Odumodu, we never saw or experienced this increase or decrease in megawatts. We still suffer the same power outages. But what is baffling us is whether megawatts are like the Bonny river that flows and ebbs at specific times. Meanwhile the expenditure on them continues to flow without ebbing. Take charge, Odumodu and let us enjoy the dividends of democracy as they call it.
“Odumodu, they say the dreaded sect, Boko Haram, is persisting because the federal government failed to listen to suggestions on how to curtail it. If it is true, we urge you to open their ears to listen.
“Odumodu, the People of the City have gone mad with the funds of pensioners. We are not suspecting you, our great ancestor, but we fear that your cause on them for misusing the proceeds of your precious blood which they ignorantly called “crude Oil,” might be at the root of their recklessness. Odumodu, we venture to say that normal sensible human beings will never frustrate old men and women who worked their entire useful life out for the nation, by stealing their funds. A staggering sum of N152bn, able to take care of a state in Nigeria for some months, was stolen by fellow human beings appointed to secure it. Odumodu, we hesitate to agree that the fellows who did it had their senses intact while doing it. Take, drink and let normalcy return to the City.
“Otumo-Ogugu, Favourite of the Maidens, he who goes in and out of the Maidens, detecting the unfaithful ones, take and drink. We plead that you join your co-ancestor to clean the minds of the People of the City. They have stolen so much that if they are not checked, they may sell the entire City some day.
“Osokolo, another Favourite of the Maidens he who pursues the Maidens out of the Waterfronts, we need your help. We need to check the People of the City. Take and drink and assist your co-ancestors to calm the stealing nerves of the People of the City.”
The Oldman of the Waterfronts ended his libation, filled the little glass cup and swallowed all. The bottle of the local white brew and the little glass cup went round and the People of the Waterfronts took a glassful each. Angaladikibo got up immediately the bottle of the local white brew and the little glass cup returned to the table.
People of the Waterfronts, the People of the City are heartless. When they are hungry and they enter into a man’s house, they don’t steal the soup and the garri alone, they take away the pot and plate and spoon. That is the only way to explain the heartless stealing of the pension funds. However, that is not why I got up to speak.
“The People of the City should know that the Creator never forgets. He dishes to all what is due them, not a penny more, not a penny less. You must have heard of an accident that occurred along Lokoja-Abuja High way, killing a 34 year old lecturer of the University of Ibadan, yet her nine month old baby survived. Yet the People of the City will not learn a lesson from it.
“Just imagine that the People of the City are annoyed that the sons of Odumodu are having only 13% of the proceeds of their own resources. Can you imagine? And the very people going against it were taking 100% of the proceeds of their own resources. Bonga oil spill by Shell and the Chevron gas explosion resulted into fire burning for almost two months. Can anyone quantify the danger done to the environment? Did their agricultural products destroy their own environment? The same set of people are alleged to have stopped the president from paying the N500billion the federal government owed the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. They also allegedly stopped work on the East West road saying that the road should not be dualised. Grandpa, please let me wet my throat. The People of the City are getting on my nerves”.
The Oldman of the Waterfronts first filled the little glass cup and swallowed before allowing it to move to Angaladikibo. ###
By Kenneth Amabipi
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