BONNY CAMP, VICTORIA ISLAND, LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA.

        

          ATTENTION!   SALUTE...........
 I just got back from work  and decided  to  collect my clothes from my tailor who has a shop at Bonny Camp. Now  Bonny Camp is actually a Millitary Catonment? okay  interpret : a place where soljas sorry I meant Army officers live, however they live alongside civilians and of course trust Nigeran Army officers they use every opportunity to show ?no display their superiority. On this day after a very hectic day at work after getting home and overcoming the legendary 5 oclock Adeola Odeku traffic, rather than just sit back and enjoy the rest of the cool friday evening. I decided to go to  my tailors shop and   I decided that rather than taking the car  ,I'll walk, its much faster.. yes oh  the traffic was  terrible. So I walked from Adeola Odeku to the Camp!. Mehn when I got there,  I didnt see the crowd standing outside ( honestly,I dont know why I didnt see that crowd  it would 've saved me the embarrassment that followed)so I just walked in , just before my left leg crossed the gate , I heard a menacing voice that made the leg hang in the air( all of a sudden my leg had a mind of it's own). The guy just walked up to me with the  aura of one who knew he was in his territory and no one could trespass!, I put on my most charming smile I should 've known that night wasn't one of those nights when  a charming smile from a young lady would get  the lady what she wanted! with a squared shoulder and a gruffy voice  he asked me who I was, demanded for my gate pass , what I wanted to do  who I wanted to see.I explained my mission to him with a smile on my face. The guy no shake, he just  move his hand to the direction where people  stood . They looked  weary, with anxiety written all over their faces!( the crowd I didnt see initially that now came into my full view stood) he motioned for me to join them. My feets refused to move as I stood , still smiling at the guy, then the Lawyer in me flew out, I started talking....  I knew he didnt understand but I just continued sha, hoping he would be swayed with my polished English and High sounding Legal jargons, the guy no move, he just gave me one hard look that conveyed a million messages,I quietly with all humility left,  I bristled with anger inwardly but it had to be controlled and contained because I knew there was nothing I could do!(really, there was nothing I could do,  it was like David looking  at Golaith, only that I had no stones and  sling and even if I had I dared not use it on him).


But I was very Lucky,   I was not hurt or assaulted ,the danfo driver who had just  very slightly brushed an Okada man just infront of Bonny camp,was not so lucky. The Okada man was carrying an army officer. The impatient Okada driver, ( charateristic of okada drivers anyway) tried to make his way through a very small opening in between the danfo bus and a road pavement rather than wait for the traffic to ease up. The'Okada driver forced his  okada through, just as the bus was about to move along with the traffic, in the process the bus  brushed the Okada mirror, the bus conductor offered a quick apology( unusual for conductors too, may be the presence of an army officer on the passenger's seat had more to do with  the unusual good conduct for a conductor! pun intended.) Immediately the traffic eased up, the officer jumped down from the Okada,with no warning  he 'woozed' the conductor a quick hot slap, then he went to the driver's seat  held the neck of the driver's shirt and draged him into the middle of the road, with both hands he draged both parties into the catonment, kicking , slaping,  hitting,all the passengers got down and started pleading  earnestly. It all fell on deaf ears, as the ugly proud officer was intent on dealing with  driver and the conductor who apperently were very young men. I saw this with my own eyes   because I was one of the passengers and it was pathetic to watch really pathethic, I felt very helpless and my Law degree for the very first time felt useless.

This got me really thinking in your own country one can't even move around freely!One might be tempted to say that it was a Military Cantonment  so they have the right to 'call the shots,' but really  do they?. Again if they 'call the shots' within their territory only, Nigeria would,  be better for this, but this has never been the case. It seems that the era of Military rule In Nigeria has done more harm than  we  anticipated or imagined, The idea that the Military is superior to civilian is so entrenched in the  psychic of Military officers that it will take more than  'democracy' to change the line of thought. The fact that  we have a civillian as president does little to help the situation. Uzoma Okere was one brave lady  who after being violated publicly refused to swallow the humiliation. But there are many Uzoma Okere's out there who would rather accept their plight  than  take the matter to court and there are still many Arogundade's swinging their kobokos lying in wait for thier victims.

 I recall that President Barack Obama had  given "Marching orders" to General McChrystal for making statement that in President Obama's opinion undermined civilian control over the military. Now, General McChrytsal is reputed to be one of United States esteemed Military Commander. Infact,  as at the time he was  dismissed he was  the Commander of all US NATO Forces in Afghanistan. What did General McChrystal , such fine gentle man do to warrant  a dismissal from the white house,  he gave an interview with a magazine that had Lady gaga on the cover. INTERPRET:  Magazine given to frivolous stories,  wherein he expressed his work place greivances and proceeded to criticize the white house.As expected, the dismissal generated a lot of response and controversies but the message was clear. Today no one is in doubt  about  who' calls the shot 'in the United States, between a Military General and a Civillian President. Maybe our own President should start giving 'Marching Orders 'to  top Military officers who err,when the younger officers see that their 'ogas' can be disciplined and called to order then they will be compelled to behave properly and the  question of who is superior to who would be finally answered, until then some of us would have to avoid visiting  Military cantonments and pray not to encounter any Arogundade, such a sad sad situation we have in our country.


 AND TWILIGHT TO THE RESCUE.( ON A LIGHTER NOTE)

This is a little stale, okay actually verrrrrry stale
 So I have been teased by friends that people have different addiction, wine, women , Cigarette, shopping, mine ; Twilight. This is not completely true, as with many young Nigerians, I cannot afford the luxury of living in fantasy land for too long as  something  will, must jolt you into reality, its  either fuel scarcity, or finances, or crises in the north, or a set of old potbellied military leaders who feel young people cannot lead except them.
However it, is partially  true   because after watching twilight Saga I got all foru novels by Stephenie Meyer and I have to say for a first time publisher she tried, tried ke , with all the money she raked in from the movies and the sale of the books, i'll say she did incredebly well so kudosss to Stephenie Meyer.

 For the average Nigerian  guy it's all crap. A vampire guy in love with a  human girl, who  loves her vampire boyfriend sooooooo much that she  would rather be dead than be separated from her ' blood sucker lover' and really it is crap. But once in a while  to keep one's sanity in a country like this ,it's nice to  see a good movie  So,  after an anoyying day at the catonment ,for the umpteenth time I watched Twilight Saga which is the only part of the twilight series that makes sense anyway. Breaking Dawn is also very interesting though. It will be nice to see how the directors would portray a half vampire half human baby.