BURNING POT BY PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON

 

Aunty Florence Goes To London

pcdbooks@gmail.com

 

 

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"... Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

I do not want to court controversy, I will try so hard in my admonition to keep sane. Sadly the operational word is 'try', so if I don't, its not for lack of trying. It only is a case of how does one keep sane in a nation that in itself has chosen to exist on its head.

 

 

So enter scene one; "...Took my daughter to school in London..."

 

"I visit my 14-year-old daughter in the UK every three weeks. I won't say because I am the first lady, stop playing my role as a mother. I have to care for my daughter. As a minor, she has to come home every three weeks. And I don't have any other child there that can look after her".

 

"My son is in Birmingham, which is far away from where my daughter stays. So, I am going to keep performing my role as a mother to my daughter. If I have to go back tomorrow, I will, as long as I am not using government funds".

 

"I went on an official visit to Taiwan with my husband and we did not go to London from Lagos as reported".

 

"We went to Dubai, Hong Kong,Taipei, Dubai and London, back to Lagos"

 

Those were the words of Alhaja Florence Ajimobi, JP (Jerusalem Prigrim), Oyo state First lady as one report addressed her. For the fashion designer wife of the Oyo state governor I honestly see nothing wrong with her comments regarding an alleged arrest over 'money laundering' in the UK.

 

 

While I see nothing wrong in her comments, I see everything that is wrong with the Nigerian state and those that parade themselves as leaders or wives of leaders.

 

 

An Aunty Florence, who has only displayed sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

 

 

For a fact, starting from the so inconsequential to the very serious. What is the testimony for a first family whose barely 14year old child cannot get a Nigerian education from even a primary level.

 

Is it surprising why we have conducted a funeral mass on our education. Do we still find it surprising when teachers are not paid, while quality and standards are left to the dogs?

 

The answer is simply, at 14 our kids are in London and with 'public-private funds', aunty Alhaja can visit every three weeks or less, infact by her words, if need be, she would visit London everyday.

 

I did a poor man's analysis, if a return ticket was just 100k, and 52wks made a year, divide that by 3wks and multiply by a 100k. Add mummy buy biscuits, and tuition etc. We have approximately a well equipped local pharmaceutical dispensary in any local govt area of Nigeria.

 

 

I love the fact Oyo is an ACN state that prides itself in doing things differently. Unfortunately few bark and bite dogs in PDP to take on them, if not, one ponders, what really are they doing differently than stealing the same way all politicians and most government personnel do.

 

 

The life of a government official in Africa, particularly Nigeria is probably only next to the heveanlies. Mischievous 'crappy' official trips to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Dubai, the same state that approved for legislators' wives to go to UK to learn how to cook 'oga must come home stew'.

 

 

Conscientious stupidity, really must aunty talk, yes o, they must...our leaders talk before they think because followership equally has a battered thought process. So we are in not too many words told to 'go to hell'.

 

 

I have no problem with elected officials that decide to school their wards abroad, if they so wish, they can go to Alaska or Iceland. I have no problem if a government decides to go to Somalia to seek investors, after all these days is Germany not the 37th state where all is taught about Nigeria?

 

 

Sadly for all the 14year olds that go to UK, what do we get in return.

 

 

For example according to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, barely 53 Percent Foreign-Schooled Doctors failed Induction Tests, it says only 94 doctors and dentists who schooled abroad passed assessment tests to enable them practise in Nigeria, after 200 of them sat for the tests.

 

 

What do we really lack, that makes a UK education any better, why is an Indian health system any better? The answer is simply,  sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity, the type that makes a state spend some $45M on an aircraft and can't spend $20 on educating pilots at home or build a hospital to cater for crash victims.

 

The money for the new toys (planes) being purchased by Rivers and Akwa Ibom states is from a Trust account, shaking my head sadly, such sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. Like our aunty JP, no one has asked you not to be a mother, no one has stopped a governor from buying a kite or jet but we have asked, provide responsible governance at home.

 

 

If Oyo state is experiencing rapid infrastructural development, educational and health turn around, who would care about who goes where and at what interval.

 

Aunty Florence for all we care can go to Afghanistan-Rwanda-Syria before London, na her sabi, if the amaechis and godswill want to buy airports or like a gov whose son is currently studying 'how to milk a cow' in siberia, na dem sabi.

 

 

The end of the story is while in Anambra state, at some flood camp, kids have not been to school for a six weeks, aunty Florence has gone to UK twice just to visit her little daughter.

 

Sad economic fortunes, lack of initiatives, and failed government promises all have combined to make living so hard, yet our governors are buying jets because really we can't do nothing than watch.

 

Aunty Florence and her ilks need to know that some can't afford a less than 1000k a year education in a public school. That families can't send kids to public Universities of 30k per year. Our public officials go to UK for everything, we sit at home for nothing. Time will tell.