2008 and the facebook Magic

2008 and the facebook Magic.

Sylva Nze Ifedigbo

Perhaps the most remarkable thing that happened to Nigerian youths in 2008 was facebook!

Without exaggerating, 2008 will go down as the year when Nigerian youths became possessed by the spirit of facebook to such levels it became not just a norm but an amazing phenomenon.

Time was when in the company of pals, the popular talk was of e-mail addresses, later it shifted to phone numbers, but now the predominant question is; are you on facebook?

Now, if you are less than forty, can use the internet and you don’t know about facebook or are yet to be caught up in the frenzy, then you are either uninformed, irretrievably eccentric, an un-repentant member of the old-skool, or just plain dumb. To such people do I owe the almost irrelevant task of explaining what facebook is.

The best I can offer-and I hope the owners will concur- as a definition is that facebook is an online forum of people which provides members with an almost limitless chance to do a wide range of things among which includes keeping in touch, exchanging messages and pictures, chatting, and making new friends.

It sounds very ordinary right…just like any other internet forum? But I can assure you that in reality facebook is much more- too big to be put down on paper. It is something one shouldn’t just read about and hope to get the gist; you should be part of it to really understand.

Agreeably, there are hosts of other websites that offer the same services, but facebook stands out for its craze among Nigerian youths occasioned by the popularity it suddenly started enjoying in 2008 which has led to an explosion in its membership here. I can arguably say that it is the single largest collection of Nigerians both home and abroad on the internet and though most people joined out of peer pressure, the unique value which I call the “facebook magic” has kept then in, daily expanding this congregation of happy people.

Recently, one of our popular standup comedians remarked that Nigerians have now taken over the ownership of facebook, a joke that is not far from the truth. Due to the unique possibilities for networking which the forum provides, most Nigerians have taken advantage of it to do so many things which the designers of the site might never have imagine in the outset.

Nigerians have greatly exploited the potential of keeping in touch at little or no cost which the forum provides and are doing great things with it. There is currently now virtually no notable Nigerian town without a group on facebook. This has advanced the “town union” concept of the 50’s and 60’s to a web based gathering. In this case there are no membership fees or scheduled meetings days. Every one from that town can join and every second was a meeting time. Facebook has now made it possible to get to meet and interact with members of you place of origin, no matter where you are now domiciled. I need not begin to enumerate the gains of this here.

Like the towns groups, we also have a cult of “Alumni /Old Students Associations of various schools and Universities” on facebook. You are able to find lost old friends, old schoolmates and folks who moved out of your neighborhood years ago. There are other groups, most not originating from Nigeria but which are populated by Nigerians. It’s often a cargo-cult thing, any of your friends join and you join. Avenues for making new friends is limitless and do you seriously want to get through to someone…any one really, a star, a celebrity, role model, someone you admire, or even a foe, here is where you find such a person.

When the Nigerian Uti Nwachukwu was in the BBA House, a group was formed on facebook- the Uti Nwachukwu fans group- to shore up his image and provide the much needed home support. Today, when a person dies, his friend’s form a group for him on facebook -sort of an online condolence register- at which other friends can register memoirs and express their condolence to the family. If you want the easiest and cheapest publicity for an event, put it on facebook.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of facebook is the ability to make a comment on virtually every thing. It is this unique feature that really generates the exchange and discussion that makes facebook the place to be.

Every one enjoys the right of an opinion and freely expresses same on facebook and like in every human society the comments range from the good, humorous, bad, teasing and the ugly.

Before one runs away with the impression that facebook was just another social forum where youth while away time let me point out here that facebook enjoys many intellectual discussions and has the potential of galvanizing the youths into establishing a new order.

During the last US elections, facebook provided the forum for many to offer their political ideas and for many who could not vote, donating their status in support of Barack Obama offered a unique opportunity to make a resounding statement in support of Change and I saw in that more than youths whiling away their time on the internet. I saw my generation joining strongly in world discourse and making a strong statement at that.

The global economic meltdown has also been argued out by Nigerians on facebook and you need to see the various solutions proffered especially as it affects us. The leadership woes back home is always an issue for Nigerians living abroad and if only the technology was not a bit ahead of most of our leaders; one would have suggested their joining in to feel the pulse of the led.

No doubt, there are some people who use facebook for shoddy acts and scam like many of our youths are want to do on the internet. The sincerity and innocence of the relationships made on the forum have been taken advantage of by few bad eggs to do various things which ultimately end up in unsuspecting members parting away with money or choice items. This is seriously condemnable and the relevant Government agency whose responsibility it is to check cyber crime should begin to take interest.

The recent advent of facebook mobile has made it even all more fun and easy to enjoy the facebook magic and remain connected with the rest of the modern world. So possessed are we that one now wonders what life was like without facebook. Yours sincerely caught the bug in 2007 but it was not until 2008 before the madness became full blown and in all honesty, it’s been a most worthwhile experience.

Incase you are not yet on the forum, I would wonder what you are still waiting for. Hurry, come join the rest of the world…there is enough room for every one in the inn. It would be a tragedy to let this pass you by for as some one once said, the beauty of life is in participating in all what was en-vogue (in the positive sense) while you were young.

Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
nzeifedigbo@yahoo.com

CAN GENUINE GOOD WILL FLOW AROUND AS FREELY AS CHRISTMAS HAMPERS?

Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
One doesn’t need to be reminded about what time of the year it is. You can feel it in the very air you breathe. What ever the clime you are domiciled at-winter or harmattan-, the verdict is the same. If I should put it like a friend did on facebook recently; “the three wise men from the east have set out” or more understandably –if it’s really necessary-“Christmas bells are ringing”.
It is not equally news or strange to us that at this time of the year, gifts of very forms prominent among which are large baskets of goodies called Christmas hampers are flying around. It is generally accepted that this is a time to share and show love and it is not unusual to have staff giving gifts to their bosses, families exchanging the hampers and of course a great chunk of unspent government funds being criminally appropriated to that effect.
Giving gifts at Christmas with all purpose and intent is civilized practice. The question however is the amount of sincerity that goes with our giving. In a nutshell, what really is the motive of our generosity at this time and what really is it expected to achieve?
This is not intended to be a sermon. It is entirely a serious moral question which we as civilized people and our Government too should pause and ponder over. As we share and make merry at this season, how much thought do we spare for those fellows who like us possess the full God given right to a good life but who accidents of birth and other circumstances which they had no control over have placed in what we call a less privileged position?
From Sokoto to Yanegoa as it is from the North Pole to the South pole of the planet earth are people who the season hardly means anything to because it would not in any way change the condition they find themselves in.
These are people who are too poor to even afford a single meal a day and who can thus not afford to even remember it is Christmas. People who are terminally ill and live daily on the hope that there could be a medical miracle. Families displaced by all sorts of natural disaster, famine and disease. Child soldiers and malnourished babies in war torn states like Sudan. Old people abandoned to die in poorly kept homes. Pensioners who are owed months of their entitlement. Your junior worker in the office who’s take home pay can not in all sincerity take home. Those kids that approach the window of your car in the hold up, a plastic plate in hand. Etcetera.
These are the people who in my thinking require to be reminded that it is Christmas and in whose hands those basket full of goodies would make much more sense.
It is easy for us to pass off the responsibility by stating we are not the Government or I don’t have enough for my self. In fact we are all giving to not even thinking about it. But if the birth of Christ which we are gearing to celebrate really means anything to us, then we should begin to think differently…what so ever you do to the least of my brothers that you do unto me.
At this season, our Government makes a good show of giving. Abuja the seat of power in Nigeria is currently flooded by these trademark hampers. In the ministries and parastatals, there is almost a stampede with contractors falling over each other in an effort to both appreciate and clear the way for the future. The national assembly and the various homes of our law makers are in similar shape. Same goes for our thirty six other state capitals.
What great difference it would make if a similar vest is exhibited in addressing those issues that have a direct impact on the lives of the people. Wouldn’t it have been a more joyous Christmas if there was one single thing our Government could point to as being their achievement this year?
Genuine good will encompasses-but is not limited to-our conscious effort to lift the burden off another’s shoulder, giving out our surplus to the fellow next door who hasn’t got any, executing government contract according to the specifications, not having more than our fair share of the common wealth, speaking out against injustice and corruption in all places, using our position for the good of the majority and showing love to others irrespective of colour, tribe or creed.
Often, we spend much time, and expend so much energy doing some rather irrelevant things thinking they matter when all we need is a rather ‘insignificant’ act that costs much less but which lightens another’s face with a smile. That is exactly what the King to be born will rather have us do.
If genuine goodwill flows around as freely as Christmas hampers, Nigeria and indeed our World will be a better place for us all. Think about this as you celebrate.
Merry Christmas.
Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
nzeifedigbo@yahoo.com

WURUWURU INCORPORATED

WURUWURU INCORPORATED
Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
It was the late Dele Giwa who once said Nigerians were unshakeable, how true he was.

Friday, 12 December, date of the Supreme Court ruling on the disputed 2007 presidential polls. The voice of a female announcer on the network service of Radio Nigeria came up on the car stereo of the commercial bus I was in, announcing that the Supreme court had just validated the Election of Umaru Yar’adua. As though being prompted by a whistle, the announcement was greeted with a spontaneous outburst of long hisses followed by side comments from the commuters much of whom I never knew had their ears to the not too clear car stereo. One vocal commuter summed up the displeasure of the whole in these words, “that one na news?”.

In other words, didn’t we all know in whose favour the ruling will be? Don’t we all know that the “Do or Die” status former President Obasanjo accorded the election continued even to the courts?, were we not already aware of the scheming in high places to ensure victory for the PDP? Or was it even fathomable that the Supreme Court would in present day Nigeria, invalidate an election that kept the ruling party in power no matter how flawed?

In all sincerity, the Supreme Court did not disappoint me and indeed a host of Nigerians who knew better than to live in the false hopes of the wrongs of the 2007 elections being re-written by the Supreme Court. Indeed, Nigerians were not even interested in the already certain out come of the ruling which made me wonder why the Police had to take the pains of beefing up security in and around the Supreme court and on the streets of Abuja. Except for jubilant PDP rented crowd, who else were they expecting to see whiling away precious time protesting or other wise on the streets of Abuja.

As far as I am concerned, what the Supreme Court did was simply to differentiate the number six and half a dozen. I heard lines in the judgment to the effect that though there was clear breech of some provisions of the electoral act, they were not substantial enough to invalidate the entire process. When then, I wish to ask the Justices will the breech be “substantial” enough to lead to an invalidation of the process. When we take up the Kenyan example or perhaps after the now famous sixty years set period for the PDPs reign is over?.

Experience has shown that election rigging are perhaps the most difficult cases to prove in the court. When appellants have taken the pains of assembling as much evidence as possible and have taken time to marshal their argument as clearly as possible, it baffles me that the Justices would come around and with a vault face tell us the evidences were not weighty enough to annul the election.

One begins to wonder, can there be something like a partially valid process? I was thinking-perhaps rather ignorantly- that a process was either valid or invalid. Now, I know better, our Supreme court Justices whose rulings are law have just let us know that one can partially breech the law or put more appropriately, one could be an armed robber but not dangerous enough to be called a criminal.

Doesn’t it ever irk these guys that they have become so predictable? That we know their schemes long before they even implement them? That we don’t even care again what they do? That we have become so desolate that challenging them now seems a complete waste of time?

Today there would be high fives, sharing of banters and merriment in the Villa. We are sure to even hear things like “this was a victory for Democracy and rule of law”, but it does not in any way and shall not in any way burnish the fact that seats deep in the hearts of all Nigerians that the 2007 elections were the worst there could be. Even the victors know this, and we leave them to live with it.

Sylva Nze Ifedigbo
nzeifedigbo@yahoo.com

IN THE SHADOWS OF OUR PARENTS

Much of my 24 years on earth has been a conscious effort to please my parents and to live up to their high standards. It was their call. Every thing had to be the way they wanted it. They gave me the name I bear, decided the schools I attended, regulated my friends, and influenced what I studied in the university and by extension my career line.
I mean, I couldn’t have done otherwise. Obedience to parents is not just an African value; it is also a biblical teaching and if you had disciplinarians as parents, you would appreciate the import of the saying “spare the rod….”. I thus was a very obedient child with the huge pressure to deliver and fear of failure that went with it.
As important and innocent as parental guidance is in the life of their children, it is important to note that the effort to make our kids into what we want them to be might not always be the best for them. Naturally, responsible parents want their children to be successful in life and this often drives them into taking various decisions for their children some of which might not just be what they were cut out for.
First of all, setting certain high standards for your kids develops in them the fear of failure which could ultimately be their doom like the character Okonkwo in Achebe’s Things fall Apart who was pushed by a determination to prove he wasn’t a failure like his dad into greatness and equally into committing suicide.
Choosing careers for kids could lead to life long regrets as most parents often do not take into cognizance the talent, interest and capabilities of their kids and would rather they studied the popular courses; medicine, law engineering and the like. The kid in an effort to keep his reputation of being a bright chap would work very hard and graduate but might never find fulfillment in that profession.
The same scenario plays itself out in other situations like in choosing life partners, job preferences, etc. I have a friend who has a wonderful entrepreneurial spirit and has developed a winning Business plan for an SME, but his father has decreed much against his wish, that he must go to the UK for a Masters after his youth service.
A great percentage of Nigerian youths find themselves in the same predicament.
While I hold nothing against my parents for the decisions they’ve taken or made me take all these years,-though I am not at home with some of them,- I have however decided that from now henceforth, I shall be responsible for my actions. This doesn’t in any way suggest my doing away with their superior advice and wise counsel, it only means that in taking decisions especially on issues that relates to my life and future, the first consideration shall no more be what would be pleasing to my parents, but what I want for my self and how such a decisions fits into my plans for my life.
We must at a certain age begin to mould ourselves into our dreams, not that of our parents. We must be bold enough to leave the comfort zone of our parent’s protection and chart a course for our own lives. It doesn’t mean we should rebel, but to find a way to make them understand that we’ve got some plan which can work out fine with their support. If you show confidence at what you are up to, your parents a sure to give you some benefit of doubt.
The crux of this discourse is that, we shouldn’t let anything keep us from pursuing our dreams and finding fulfillment in our own lives. Our parents have had their own lives. This is ours and it is incumbent on us to make the best of it.

Sylva Nze Ifedigbo