Nigerians: The Olodo Rabata Analogy By Prince Charles Dickson

By Prince Charles Dickson
Olodo rabata, oju eja lo mo je, oni je paper...yoruba folk song.
Its my last week in the United States despite all the positives, I
can't wait to get back home, but it saddens me that my beloved nation
remains at standstill, so many negatives, in fact a case of few slow
steps ahead, monumental strides backward.
The olodo analogy is the lesson I leave with, we are a people that are
easily blown by the wind. Olodo rabata is a phrase, I first heard from
my mom in a small song, it means a big illiterate, a forgetful person,
a dullard, some will say naïve. Olodo: Can't write letter O in the
alphabet--and rabata is used to emphasis BIG. SoI would go for, the
BIG forgetful people. Let me add a caveat, Olodos can be intelligent,
they can be smart but largely messed up for or by one ormore reasons.
The olodo in that song is said to only know how to eat the fish' eyes.
Literally meaning, what he knows is inconsequential, off the mark, off
the point. All noise and nothing more, need I add, the olodos are
largely jolly nonchalant fellows and hardly forceful on any matter,
small noise and they move along.
In no particular order, I have watched a nation of countrymen and
women that have become 'olodos'. Our retention span so very low, we
are hardly able to follow matters to an end.
We suffer low attention span, we suffer focus delinquency, like a one
year old baby, so easily excitable, we pick on every matter and like a
toy, after a while we drop it and move to the next one. Most times
what makes us cry brings us so much humor--Like did you watch the
'nack am apako' remix dub of the rivers assembly sagaor did you get
the Lyod prayers.
This is the orchestra of olodos-- I will remind us a few. There was a
certain Aluu 4, we even had a memorial song, signed petitions, so what
happened?
There was all that noise about that Perm sec cum first lady dame
patience faka jonathan aka 'resurrecter' aka 'small jesus'. After all
the brouhaha, she's still first lady, she is still perm sec, we just
forget and move on.
More recently, the governors' forum election, with all the video
clips, and all the "let's go swear before adeboye"--we are moving on
or have moved on, court or no court.
Remember that noise like a tsunami over Sanusi and Islamic
banking--what became of all the foolish arguments especially
against...or that Sanusi donated money to Kano? Olodos!
One day at a time Ombatse is like an auction market--going, going,
going and will soon be finally gone, a report, a recommendation and
the lives lost have just become collateral.
The baby factories of the east is getting a respite, no one seems to
be talking again. Pregnantors, pregnantees, buyers and
sellers--business continues, but really it was no new news in the
first place.
The Olodos naturally choose their battles based on sentiments and
bias,so often that it doesn't last, as very many times they forget why
they choose the stand they took.
How about the Facebook killers, very few, in fact less than a score
can tell you the exact status of the case in the law court.
Who really is eating the cassava bread, drinking the villa zobo and
chopping the local rice--olodos like drama. After we made noise of the
budget for feeding in the Villa or stationary at the VPs office, no
one is fasting non-stop over the matter. So till next year's budget
again.
I remember all that noise about Bank-ole and how even Tambuwal was
involved and bla bla bla--the storm is over and it is all story-story.
Did Tinubu, Orji, Fayose, and even Atiku no 'kwanta' (fight) with Obj,
so why all the drama in Rivers, we will soon forget. Whether Amaechi
goes to BBC hardtalk or Dame does soft talkof Amaechi being her son.
After the outrage of the Yobe school killings, over a dozen kids and
all the noise, we have moved on.
How about the mobile phones for farmers, what became of it, who got
it, was it dropped, will it continue andyes all the pension drama is
also vanishing, whether its finding billionsin a man's room or cat and
mouse of presidency and national assembly over budget, all just
disappear in public discourse.
Yes, tell me, how many still remember that stock market woman that
bought gulder and shrimps with stock money and the bribe that the
committee chair took to travel and did not travel. We have simply
forgotten and Nigerians are struggling for fish on their meals.
How about Justice Salami, the NJC, the ACN noise. I gathered the man
finally may just retire. All part of the entertainment called Nigeria.
Who recalls the "we will build airportsin every state", or the amount
of money spent for indoor independence party.
From governance tours to mid term report, or policy somersault. We
only grumble a bit but soon we forget.
I remember the plane buying pastor and all the noise, how about for
amnesty and against amnesty. There is ASUU strike going on, it won't
be the last strike. We are shouting over the Senate marriage underage
drama,soon we will move on to more controversies.We have watched there
will be no revolution by amaechi, to I will mobilize people on the
streets. We have seen don't vote Jonathan and Nigeria will
disintegrate and vote himout if Nigeria is to remain one.
Remember all the bank drama with EFCC and how it has been confined to
the past, sure like Major Al-Mustapha, and his release, everything
with us is treated with a touch, another small touch and we move on.
The truth remains that we are unable to keep it lock on an issue and
get done with it.
As I leave DC I borrow my friend Dr. Baba Adam's words "Interestingly
-"...when the City Planners sat down to design Washington, D.C., their
intention was to build a city that would intimidate and humble
foreignheads of state..." http://www.washingtonpost.com
/wp-/americanpresident.htm -
...the planners have succeed... just look at the Capitol, the White
House, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, the Mall, WWII / FDR
Memorial, the Pentagon, Martin Luther King Memorial, the Smithsonian -
especially Air and Space, Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington National
Cemetery VA, etc...
Which one thing have we stuck to anddone well and achieved its purpose
without forgetting why we were even on it--are we really ready to
change. Only time will tell.
Prince Charles Dickson 
Editor, burningpot.com
Nigeria's 1st Online Newspaper
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