Monday 23 November 2009

In Nenwe, who will cry when you die?


Dear Sai,
Permit me once again, to fraternally GANG UP with you on this one. My brother Ken Mbah, is happily another "gangster" on this. His fingers were faster than mine.

Sai, in 2004, Engr. Chris Nwonye put it very crudely, again we were pretending to be discussing dreams of and projects for Nenwe. He said, it is all talk, talk and more talk, "but when it is time for action, the room suddenly becomes empty". I followed up with a question, "is it the same thing as oroo ovohu? You were there, Sai.

Do you again, remember our discussions on how to help build St. Peters Nenwe? It was punctuated by money, money, money. Remember? Also try to read our various contributions on Water, Light, Road, Culture and Hospital projects in Nenwe. There is always a booby trap.

You have followed up with the various Health Projects by Dr. Chukwuali and his group of professionals. While reasonable men and women are making donations, eccentrics are busy either attacking the philosophy of the initiative or the esometric (I am not sure about this one) of the organizers.

May I request the Moderator to RE-publish names of all donors in those previous Health projects and other developmental projects in Nenwe so that we know who the real enemies of the town are. Development of Nenwe town is not by e-mail. We need money, yes, money, ideas, responsible ideas, suggestions, not distractions; not brain waves. Money, money, money.

Each time there is a noble idea on the table, we resurrect Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Thomas Paine and some times, Mark Antony, to use Brutus to kill our ambitions. We show our mastery of grammar, even if our ideas are damn shallow. And the only reason is because a friend once said NIU Lagos embezzled money contributed before the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914. By the way, money contributed by others?. Visit the archives and read my piece on PhD - Pull Him Down syndrome on NOL.

AS if to reasure us, Chief Martin at that time, suggested that if we are afraid of embezzlement, we should send all the money to him and he would send same to his mother for safe keep. He went further to say that he runs a scholarship program and beneficiaries receive their money through his mother. But no, it is not enough assurances. The only story that sticks is how a friend said NIU Lagos could not account for money contributed by OTHER well meaning citizens, before Socrates was born.

I appreciate the apparent anger or loss of faith shown by my brother and name sake, Kalu Onyemaechi on the lack of depth of discussions on NOL, but we know the source of our distractions. And only when we run out of ideas, do we retreat from NOL and return as a tree to make a forest.

Let us be more practical - let us contribute money and pursue one project for Nenwe. NPAUSA is working on water. Let NOL work on making school chairs for our junior brothers and sisters whom we abandoned decades ago and who are still sitting on bare floors in Nenwe schools. Let us extend electricity to the more than 85% of the areas where there is no electricity currently. "Suddenly, the room becomes empty" and meaningless grammar takes over.

There is a Nenwe Scholarship Program, contribute to it. You don't have to be a Bill Gates or an MO Ibrahim to make an impact. There are families in Nenwe who have not even one person in a primary school. It is not out of choice. They are our relations, mine and yours. Grammar can not send them to school. We have called for donations to support the Nenwe cultural fiesta, give us your ideas, if you are afraid of your money.

It is regrettable and shameful that people who are ensconced in the comfort provided by others are the same ones shooting down any useful suggestion that would move Nenwe forward. And we are quick to refer to past heroes of Nenwe as if we have learnt anything from their bravery.

In my subject line above, I have parodied a book, Who will cry when you die, by Robin Sharma. I recommend it for everyone to read.

As ever


Chief Cyril Onyemaechi Oleh
(Okwuru Oha)

Abuja - Nigeria

"If we fall back, should we complain others are rushing forward?"

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