BURNING POT BY PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON
The Point And Kill Fish, Jonathan And
Nigeria
pcdbooks@gmail.com
A buggi karfe da saura'n zafi, in ya fuche sai a wahalla (Strike while the
iron is hot, you will suffer if you allow it to get cold)
In most parts of the North and I dare say most of Nigeria, night crawlers,
joint ‘attenders’, even in families, many would be familiar with the term
'point and kill'. We are customers of various kinds, types and versions of
peppered soups, from goat head, chicken head, and all sorts of head, bush
and domestic meat, intestinal, fish both fresh and unfresh.
However for most persons that do the fish variety, nothing beats it all
for a good relaxant like the fresh fish, in its candor, swimming in the
little water provided for it in those round rubber plastics, they are
popularly referred to as point and kill.
The point and kill is left alive in the water, it plays around with its
family in its semi-natural habitat, unknown to the fish, its days, nay
hours are numbered--at the customers discretion, it’s only a few hours,
the fish is picked and at the whims of the customer, killed, the fire has
been on for a while and the rest is history as the stomach is already in
eat-mood for the fish.
How does the killing of this fish affect our leader, lord and emperor, Eze
Jonathan and his PDP led government?
What has fish got to do with anything, how is it connected to the serious
task of nation building? The President coming from the riverside knows the
essence of fish in every home both as food and for economic purpose.
The point and kill is in the little narrative a tale in purpose...The
customer knows what fish he/she wants. You point at it, it is picked and
killed, it finds final abode in the stomach.
In the past one year, it has been demanding for this government, it has
faced challenges both self-inflicted and otherwise. Some say it was even
programmed to fail, others say, its failure is even part of its make-up,
but truth is that it has failed to pick any particular point to kill...
Pointing out that there are problems that are not necessarily your making
is far from a show of confidence in dealing with the issues headlong. He
met corruption in the system, for twenty years and running the electricity
problem has moved from no water in the dam, to plenty water, snake in the
turbine to no gas.
Jonathan was part of Yar'adua's bloated 7 point agenda, it transformed,
with no shoes, promised fresh breath, sadly till now, they are all yet to
point out a matter for the kill.
Many keep insisting on the need to just pick a fish, kill and deal with
it, we are all witnesses of the stale air as a result of leadership's
inability to point out a matter and followership's constant grumbling when
it could equally kill a matter with focus. The elite cum political class
bring all manner of distractions at any point we seem to be focused on
making a focal stride--Ask Farouk Lawan, Otedola and that fuel subsidy
matter.
We are not short on policies, we do not lack manpower, but there is an
acute shortage of focus, a lack of driving force, no mission statement,
seems there is no predetermined destination, just a feeling that all will
be well, sucking in on hope like an addict and his marijuana.
Like the cat fish in the point and kill situation, it would be killed, it
is a matter of when and how, but meanwhile it is content just jostling in
the water. If only it knew that death was near...
Our leaders and even citizenry do not understand the wisdom in not losing
an opportunity when it is ripe. Taking right decisions at the right time,
this being crucial else we lose the chance which may not be regained. On
the contrary, we allow the iron get cold and we try to bend it.
Let us take these bites; Michael Jordan was cut from his high school
basketball team. Michael Jordan said, "I've failed over and over again in
my life, and that is why I succeed." Beethoven's music teacher told him he
was a hopeless composer.
Thomas Edison, when he was 4 he was sent home from school with a note. The
note told his mother that he was to remove his son from school because he
was "too stupid to learn". Thomas' mother decided to teach him herself. He
only had 3 months of formal schooling yet went on to create numerous
inventions like the phonograph. He was also partially deaf in one ear.
While we may argue that all these persons I have mentioned are all not
Nigerians I have picked them on purpose. Jonathan lacks focus, has no
direction, I am happy that in recent times he has even said he does not
care if he is insulted, I equally agree with him, because all millions of
Nigerians want from him and his team is focus, to point and kill, by all
and any means necessary.
I would end this admonishment with this old Indian fable, an ancient
Indian sage was teaching his disciples the art of archery. He put a wooden
bird as the target and asked them to aim at the eye of the bird. The first
disciple was asked to describe what he saw. He said, "I see the trees, the
branches, the leaves, the sky, the bird and its eye…"
The sage asked this disciple to wait. Then he asked the second disciple
the same question and he replied, "I only see the eye of the bird." The
sage said, "Very good, then shoot." The arrow went straight and hit the
eye of the bird.
As Nigerians, unless we focus, we cannot achieve our goal. It is hard to
focus and concentrate, with all the corruption, mismanagement, confusion,
insecurity and more, but it is a skill that can be learned. But do we have
goals, do we have purpose, what do we see, any fish to point and kill, so
that we can satisfy the appetite for a semblance of good governance,
social justice and fairness--Time will tell.
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