Okoemu Is Saying It Out

NATIONS FAIL TODAY because their extractive economic institutions do not create the incentives needed for people to save, invest, and innovate.- Acemoglu and Robinson

In Nigeria, once you pledge your support for someone, it is wrong for you to ever criticize that person even though he is doing wrong. Don't even correct him. Sing his praise all through even though he is poisoning himself to death or destroying everyone like a US president. Else you would stuffs like this, ahh, I thought he is man... I thought you love him... Ahhh but you are his ardent supporter...

On this day, this month in 1944, my father was born. Happy posthumous birthday baba! Keep resting in peace baba

The Target 3
by
Okoemu Okoemu Okoemu, The Devil Himself

Etuaje was that smart little girl, no one knew where she got her smartness from, it wasn't her mother, and certainly not her father. It must have been one of her long ago ancestors. That was how hereditary trait worked. Not so long, she had got everyone talking and not making anyone suspicious of her intentions, she made it all look innocent. She knew, despite the blindfold, they didn't drive nor walked nor flew to that spot, there was only one way, it was by boat. The forest was close to a water body. Everyone had longed relaxed their ferocious looks and appearances. It was obvious Etuaje was not a threat. She could not possibly think of escaping, she was too young for that.
After nearly 72 hours, chief Dodo did not get a call but as he got into his Cardiac which he parked outside the state CID, he noticed an envelope, he at once thought it to be a letter bomb, and for fear, he ordered his body guard to open while distancing himself. The ferocious looking incredible bodyguard open the envelope, it was a letter from whosoever adopted Etuaje.
Immediately, chief Dodo made his way back to the police chief in charge of the case. He didn't even care to think of how anyone could be able to access such a specially made secured care in such an environment.
The police chief read through the letter carefully and sighed.
"Can you imagine the bastard... 200 billion naira? What is he taking me for? Federal government?" Chief Dodo blotter.
"Chief, we are going to do our very best, I just got off the phone with the I.G.P, she is deploying special squad from Abuja to join our men for the purpose. We will bring your daughter back alive and healthy." The police chief said, 'that reminds me, the IGP said the president has been trying to reach you but are not taking his calls.' the police chief said, chief Dodo only muttered something that sounds like 'he is mad'.
After Etuaje had studied all of them, she knew it was time to escape and she knew she was going to have to fight it through. She didn't care about her age or her gender. One thing marvelled them all, no amount of threat and fear could make Etuaje faze out. From the moment she was adopted, she didn't cry, nor show any sign of weakness...

You sit at a table somewhere after getting recharged and paid peanuts as stipend calling random numbers to ask if they are domicile in Edo State ànd if they are registered voters in Edo State and that they should please consider a certain candidate for the governorship without asking if the person gainfully employed, if the road to his village is built, if there is electricity in his village, if government has benefited him ever. See this idiot wey introduce herself as Matilda 07073793808, you lucky nor be physical u dey run dis nonsense.

The Target 2
by
Okoemu Okoemu Okoemu, The Devil Himself

It didn't take long before Mr. Ogbebor Stephen was arrested by the local police, transferred to State CID for case of kidnapping and others. He was arrested in his home just as he was returning from hunting games. He was unlucky that day, there was no game and because the police found on him his hunting gun, they immediately arrested him. It was swift because it was chief Dodo who gave the directives.
Mr. Ogbebor was an average man who was content with himself. His intolerance to negative living or lifestyle made everyone perceived him a bad man or most lightly, a wicked man. Everyone feared him because they thought he was capable of doing anything's one could think of. Even the billionaire Chief Dodo feared him. All these were because he didn't let anyone into his life hence no one understood him. His terror composure contributed to it all.
Chief Dodo sat there in the torture room waiting for the police men to bring him out. First he wanted to see them made him confess to his crime and then he wanted to gloat over his predicament and finally he wanted information from him as to the whereabout of his beloved daughter. At last they ushered Ogbebor into the room. Though he had been bruised and dealt with, he was unfazed. He sat down in his calm and didn't give Chief room to rant and brag.
"Dodo, you have the wrong guy..." He said in his usual manner of never address the billionaire with any of his numerous honorary titles.
"If I had the intention to hit at you, I will go for you not an innocent child." He said flatly
"You had better provide my daughter..." Chief Dodo was saying
"You see, I will do what I have to do not for your sake but for the sake of the girl... See, the guy you trusted mostly is responsible for your plight right now. And you won't suspect him because you are so bitter because I have always refuse to lord over me from day in spite of your wealth and power." Ogbebor said. Chief Dodo had no one he trusted so much or so it seemed and he took Ogbebor's words as bluff. He wanted his daughter back to badly and that was all.
When the blind fold was finally removed from Etuaje's face, she could not tell were she was, for it was a forest, a forest that was far from the rest of the world. At that moment, she began to think about how she would escape. She didn't recognize anyone around her, they were faces she has never met before in her life. Etuaje knew, if she must survive, she would have to survive by herself. Even though she knew her father must be putting the government on it toes right then, she knew with government, anything could go wrong. At that moment, an idea struck her, she molded to herself and smiled.
"I was food..." She cried out. The whole forest was too quiet that it was as if even birds were dead. If she must understood them better, she had to make them talk...

Development requires the removal of major sources of unfreedam: poverty as well as tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well
as systematic social deprivation, neglect of public facilities as well as intolerance or overactivity of repressive states. - Amartya Sen

Nuc Dimiti... Now your servant depart! Rest in perfect peace, Your Grace.

Shame on Edo Politicians

For over three weeks now, the university of Benin, Benin City has been shutdown. Every activity has been grounded. Students have been forced to hurt their academic programmes. It was a situation beyond the university management. A federal university in the state. Yet, not once, have Senator Neda Imasuen, Senator Adam Oshiomole and Senator Monday Okpebholo raise this issue at the Senate. Do these people know what is interest articulation and aggregation? The university is suffering power outage because of outrageous bill from the distribution company, these so-called senators have no idea that it is part of their functions to bring the issue before the flour of the Senate and call BEDC to order. Okpebholo is busy campaigning. He wants to be governor when he is failing as a senator. Nigerian, your children who are Students of university of Benin are at home because these so-called leaders are direction less and clueless. The same way we didn't hear senator ordia made some noise on the floor of the Senate, didn't move to invite the commissioner of police Edo State for questioning when over four commercial banks were robbed in broad daylight for hours in Uromi without interruption from any security agency. Till today nothing is heard from the incident which also claimed lives and led to closing down of banks in Uromi for more than six months.
I saw an advert of Odianosen Okojie, member federal house of representatives about enrolling over hundred candidates into St. Camillus School of nursing and midwifery, uromi- A PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS! it is obvious that a priest has pitched against our common patrimony. Whereas, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma's school of nursing has lost accreditation for sometimes now. Edo State House of assembly member will never sit to trash pressing issues, they are concerned about themselves. Rubber stamps, they function when executive want them to function which will never be in favour of the general public.
Instead of Odianosen Okojie to fight the executive to fix the economy he thinks he can fool everyone with such lame tactics. If the economy is stable and everyone is gainfully engaged, would there be anyone who wouldn't be able to enroll his child into any Institution? I guess no. Nigerians are hardworking and responsible people.

A Girl in my School

There was a girl in my school
She didn't know how to read
She didn't know how to write
She didn't know how to spell
She was always the last in her class
Her teachers badmouthed her
Her classmates teased her
Her mother abused her
Her father rebuked her and cursed her
He wanted her to be bright like the rest
She wanted her to be number one
They wanted her to be doctor or a lawyer
She wanted to be prove herself
To make them all proud
But her brain couldn't make it for her
She really have no interest in books
But she wanted to try
She just can't.

There was a girl in my class
She had a pretty long legs
One day, my school was
having inter-house sports
Everybody saw her, she was interested
The dull student was alive
All that she couldn't do with pen and paper
All she couldn't do with book and brain
She did them all with her legs
She beat every feet in all races
Even in jumping and throwing
She was that star
She was intelligent in this field.

When her father heard
He was angry and paranoid
Her mother was bitter and in pains
Her mates are busy topping the class
Aspiring to be engineers and professors
In the nearest future
Look at her, she is not ashamed.
Most of her teachers condemned her
Only a few praised her
Those were not enough
In few hours, she would be forgotten
Students who won international competition
For the school before it was established
Are still the most talked about in the school
Everyday there are always references to them
Even by teachers who never topped their class

There was a student in my class
She could pass any exam
Every student judged her a failure
Every teacher judged her a never-do-well
Her parents called her names
But one day, she found a way
There is intelligence that is far from book
It is skill, it is talent and it is passion
When she horned it
Even Olympic was not enough for her to dance
All eyes on her, all lips about her
My student took the world by storm
Her father was proud of her
That's my daughter
Her mother wore her everywhere she goes
She is my daughter
Her teachers loved her, they were proud of her
She was our student
Her classmates were proud of her
She was our classmate

There was a student in my school
She didn't know how to make a sentence
But now, she has turned the whole world around
Leaders dances at the opportunity to meet her
She has conquer her world
Yet, she can't read and she can't write
But she can run, she can jump
And she can throw and play.

-Okoemu Okoemu Okoemu, The Rabbi

Morality Discourse: The Selfishness in Divorce
by
Okoemu Okoemu Okoemu, Son of Man- S.O.M

A great part of the reason for divorce is blamed on the toxicity in the union. This i believe is merely an excuse for divorce. Every problem in marriage that leads to divorce are known from the outset, prior to marriage. The thing is that the couples choose to be ignorant of them or be blind to them all simply because of the benefits they stand to enjoy in the course of the marriage. Nothing a spouse turned out to be that was not in him or her from the very beginning. If you are saying your spouse is a be**er, a nag, a cheat or whatever, he or she didn't copy and starts being so just at the moment, those traits have been there from the very beginning. This is why even the mother church encouraged that all the ground work be done before one can come for marriage. Find out if your partner is abusive, toxic, a cheat, a perveate or on the other hand if he or she is complete in terms of biological makeup and otherwise, is he impotent or is she barren? Is he or she of the appropriate genotype or blood group and what have you? And most importantly, it is clear that no one is perfect however, are you prepared to tolerate and endure his or her excesses in the course of the marriage? Most people do not give a dime about any of the above perhaps because they are so desperate to get married or that they are so afraid that it will jeopardize their benefits.
Many people cannot call off a wedding because of what they stand to loose as in material things. A lot of people marry because of material gains as such, nothing else matters to them. This is why once the so called benefits stop coming the marriage will hit the rock. There would not have been much qualms about the marriage hitting the rock if not that in most cases child (ren) is involved and like what people fail to realize, the victim of divorce is not the husband or the wife, it is the child or children. The children are in a dilemma in such circumstances. They are or found themselves in a state of comatose. If you are a school teacher like myself or you have had the privilege to manage or work with children, you will understand that children of divorce homes are not just children, they are the true victims of divorce. It is for their sake you are suppose to do your homework and decide from the outset whether to get involved in that union or pull out without anyone getting hurt. But that is not the case, because people are so selfish, they proceed with marriage, why? The fear of loosing the material benefits from the spouse. People marry for different reasons, some for financial security, some for prestige, some for the mere idea of being married, some for class struggle while for some others it is for social protection. As it is now with most African living overseas, they get involved in marital union to anything and anyone; for what end? To enable them have the permit to be free in such country. These are far from the reason for marriage. The essence for marriage is companionship and procreation.
People don't care if they want to be each other's companions they are so concern about other things to be gained which are really not what mattered. Then when things don't work out as they envisage it, they get angry, pi**ed off and call for divorce. Marriage, a sacred vocation has become a mockery tool of contract that could expire within the shortest space of time. When the church and we the conservatives says there is absolutely no reason for divorce, we are saying there are practically many tasks that must be fulfilled before venturing into marriage and they are under studying your partner to know their true character to ascertain if it is what you can bear, tolerate, manage throughout the reminder of your life. There is nothing in this world that is a bed of roses. Everything stands the test of time because there was understanding of that thing. There are people who have spent over fifty years in their marriage union and still moving on. It is not the case that they had it all good, no. But that they understood themselves and know what they wanted from the union.
When you see a child who used to bobble is not keeping to himself, find out properly, get close to him, divorce has taken on his parents. Children who became victim of divorce suddenly withdrew from their regular self, their academic performances drastic decline and their creativity would drop. They are thinking about what side to pledge their loyalty. This is usually a critical dilemma they don't know who to trust. They are traumatized.
For the sake of your children, divorce should not be an option. This is why you should have seen clearly all the danger signs, all the red signals in the cause of courtship and resolved to pull out and not getting in and producing children, then you are pulling out. It doesn't make any sense. Every partner in marriages knew the odds before getting into the marriage. It is mere excuses saying you didn't know he or she had such character or he or she pretended. No, you pretended not to have known when you where supposed to have known.
Children are victim of abuse because by divorce you both have exposed them to danger and mockery or do you think their mates do not mock them? You are joking. They always feel attack anytime someone is raising issues of divorce, you denied them the love, care and protection the ought to enjoy from Parenthood simply because they are thinking about yourself. For instance if you say your wife is a nag, you have to divorce her for your own sake, yet she goes with the children, the nagging you couldn't tolerate, the children should go and tolerate it. They will learn and become nags as well. You divorce your husband because she is a cheat and you left your children with him to have freedom to watch him bring different ladies home, what do you expect those children to learn simply because you are personal about your own sanity? The list is endless, you leave a marriage and you leave your children to swallow all that you refused to swallow. Are you still wondering why there are deviant children and youths everywhere? It is better you stay single than getting married and divorce especially with children involved. There is no need to lie to ourselves, you had a foreknowledge of your partner characters you choose to ignore because of yourself. Your selfishness.

Where climate change is taken mankind is far, in the near future, plants would not yield any more, we would have to depend on artificially manufactured fruits and other plant produce. Corn, yam, beans etc would be manufactured from either plastic or iron or sand. Sand might be the most viable because the raw materials for plastic and iron are affected by climate change too. Food insecurity is going to be the next major war on the world. Let us keep advancing and exploring and exploiting nature. We will all be affected by the war at the end of the day. Go to cloud 9, go to the 7th heavens, go to the 9th circle of hell, build spaceship and go to those places. You will see what you are looking for.

-Okoemu Okoemu Okoemu, The Devil's Advocate