Angaladikibo, the Watcher of the Mangroves, sat quietly in the Parliamentary Hall of the People of the Waterfronts, waiting for the appointment time to begin deliberations. Others too were seated, waiting patiently. He gazed intently at the Mangroves through the window. He could not help it. The Mangroves have a special attraction for him and he has never been disappointed as they pour their wisdom into him whenever he spends his time gazing at them.
As usual, the Mangroves did not disappoint Angaladikibo. They opened his inner ears and he heard them as they spoke to him.
“Angaladikibo, tell the People of the City that two elephants are not supposed to fight each other. Just imagine the size of a full grown elephant and then imagine two of such creatures fighting. No, two elephants must not fight; they are not dogs or baboons. The consequences of their fight would be two disastrous for the forest. The entire forest and not only the grasses, would suffer. Tell the People of the City that although the wisdom of a man is not directly proportional to his age, the aged is expected to exhibit a good dose of wisdom.
“That brings us to the issue of who a statesman is. Really, who is a statesman and what is he supposed to do to retain his statesmanship? Angaladikibo, a statesman is a man who is a respected leader as it concerns the affairs of a nation or internationally. He is not a diplomat who tries to impress on others that a blackboard, despite its colour, should be called a white board because that would impress his employers. A statesman is a respected leader and so is not supposed to tell lies or speak tongue-in-cheek. His words are easily lapped up by his followers and even others. This is the crux of the matter. Being aware that he is a leader whose words are swallowed sometimes without scrutiny by his followers, it behoves on him to choose his words carefully. He must go a little bit to the left and little bit to the right, as a leader once said, so that the centre would be suffused with love and happiness. But, he must speak the truth and forewarn where necessary.
“Angalakibo, we view the crucifixion of General Mohammed Buhari over his comments in these perspectives. He was said to have stated, “God willing, by 2015, something will happen. They either conduct a free and fair election or they go a very disgraceful way. If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.” Now, the big question is, should a statesman utter such words? Yes, if he has to remind his fellow People of the City that “those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable,” as stated by one of them, John Kennedy, as far back as 50 years ago; yes if actually those he was referring to did not conduct a free and fair election in 2011 and are planning to do so, and yes, if he felt deep down as a leader that an early warning would avert any form of hanky-panky, three years to come, when elections would be conducted. But no, if he knows that some of his followers may take it for granted that those who would conduct the election rigged, once they emerge winners, even if the election was free and fair. No, if the leader knows that his previous warning against election rigging had led to avoidable bloodshed, not the blood of dogs and baboons, but that of fellow human beings.
Really, a leader with conscience would be in a quandary as to which way to follow, since keeping quiet would be a dereliction of duty as a leader and uttering the truth would instigate some to take the law into their hands, unreasonably. However, a statesman must know that he is regarded as an experienced politician, especially one who is respected for making good judgments. Whatever be the case, the leadership should not over react, but silently take the cue and assure the people that all would be well and no dog or baboon would shed blood as due process would be followed in the conduct of the elections, come 2015.
“Angaladikibo, the Watcher of the Mangroves, we will repeat once more that two elephants must not fight in the forest because of the disastrous consequences. In fact, they should not even fight on the rocks because no one would guarantee the safety of the rocks. If you spare a minute to think, you will realize the number of casualties the fight between the Lagos state government and the medical doctors have claimed. Besides, if not for this fight of the elephants, how would we know that even professionals, trained meticulously for several years, could be employed as causal workers? One would never have known that even medical doctors would be sacked en-masse and be easily “replaced’ by colleagues, just as bricklayers are employed and paid off on daily basis. The strength of poverty is indeed enormous. Poverty has so blindfolded the new 373 medical doctors employed on casual basis to replace their 788 senior colleagues, that they forgot the wise saying of the old cooking pot to the new cooking pot. The new cooking pot has derisively laughed at the old cooking pot for being so black and the old cooking pot simply shook its head and calmly said, “Don’t worry, what happened to me will soon happen to you.”
“The new ’employees’ can never embark on industrial action, no protest. No contract of employment, no payment when on holidays, during illness, maternity or absence for any reason, no pension or gratuity. The assignment could be terminated at any time without prior notice. They would be paid at the rate of N5,000-N7,000 per four hours working session, depending on the doctors year of post National Youth service corps, NYSC, experience. Any absence without permission amounts to termination of the assignment. Now, if the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, that is at the bottom of the dispute, would cost the Lagos government an additional N33.5m monthly, according to the Lagos state Nigeria Medical Association, why not pay them, instead of resorting to employing casual labours and paying them twice what you would have paid them if you had employed them fully? It was the columnist, Segun Ayobolu, that stated, ‘Yes, the methods of the Lagos State doctors were clearly wrong, even unethical. But are their grievances genuine?’ He answered, ‘I believe so.’ Angaladikibo, remind the Lagos state government the saying of the wise Shakespeare that you don’t have to heat the furnace so hot that you do singe yourself.”
Suddenly, Angaladikibo was jolted out of his reverie by the action of the Oldman of the Waterfronts. The appointed time to begin deliberations had come and the Oldman got up abruptly, attracting the attention of the silent crowd. The ancestors must be appeased before any deliberation. He stretched his left hand and picked up the bottle of the local white brew, the favourite of the ancestors. His right hand picked up the little glass cup, permanent companion of the bottle of the local white brew. He filled it and began his call on the ancestors to take charge of the day’s deliberations.
“Odumodu, great ancestor of the People of the Waterfronts, he who dwells at the domain between the land and the sea, take and drink. The People of the City searched for you on the land. They searched for you in the sea. They never knew that you dwell at the domain between the land and the sea. You will never expose yourself to them because of their infectious corruptive tendencies.
“Your precious blood which you drained and stored beneath the Mangroves, your bones, deep in the mud, your flesh, and which the People of the City chanced upon and ignorantly nicknamed ‘crude Oil’, has so intoxicated them that their ways are now crude. You did not store your precious blood for them. You kept it because of your people, the People of the Waterfronts. Like the greedy nose of the rat that smells out what was not kept for it, the People of City found it and are now squandering the proceeds from it, the way thieves squander their loots. Take, drink and help us in our deliberations to find ways to redirect the straying footsteps of the People of the City.
“Otumo-Ogugu, Favourite of the Maidens, he who goes in and out of the Maidens as they perform their ablutions at the Waterfronts, take, drink and join your co-ancestor to find solutions for the madness of the People of the City.
“Osokolo, another Favourite of the Maidens, he who pursues the Maidens out of the Waterfronts, take, drink and proffer solutions.”
The Oldman of the Waterfronts refilled the little glass cup, drank all, signifying the end of the libation. He allowed the bottle of the local white brew and the little glass cup to move round the hall. ###
Kenneth Amabipi
