Access Bank, black lives no matter, ni?

 Access Bank, Adeola Odeku branch must be the only bank in Victoria Island, still struggling with post-lockdown issues. The crowd there this afternoon was hefty.

Customers were issued tally numbers and sent under a canopy to wait. I got No 72 C for those wishing to see a Customer Care representative.

Those going to other sections had different tally numbers. I had no issues with my tally number as I thought it must have been a cumulative of customers from morning till then.

About 12 noon, a prosperous-looking Caucasian drove an SUV into the premises. Shepherded by a young lady, probably his PA, he went to the guards at the entrance and after speaking with them for a while, was let in.

People who had been waiting under the canopy became restless. They massed around the entrance asking why they let a ‘white man’ in and issued tally numbers to Nigerians. Abi black lives no matter, ni?

In the altercations, one man said he had been there for hours. That alarmed me and I stood up to speak to a guard. I asked what the average waiting time was.

Uncle did not know. He said it was all dependent on the work-rate of staff inside. I had no idea what the work-rate of people inside was myself. Neither did I know how many more prosperous-looking white men would still come. I quietly aborted mission.

Why corruption will not go away soon

 

Selfishness is at the heart of corruption. Most Nigerians are selfish. It's evident everywhere. 

Take traffic for instance. Where 2 lanes fuses into one and you wait for the vehicle in the other lane to go first, the motorist behind him will not wait for you to go next. Neither will the one after him. Nor the one after that.

You can be there for some awkward seconds or minutes before someone will allow you to join the traffic. It happens to me almost every time!

Sense of common good is dead. It's always me first. Sad.

The plight of the people of Issele-Mpitime

If you think your life is hard, consider the plight of the people of Issele-Mpitime in Delta State. Yes, government has long abandoned us to our fate in the area of potable water. However, while you can always help yourself by digging a well or sinking a borehole if you are rich, the people of this community are not so lucky. However hard they try, their borehole won't strike water, ostensibly, owing to their topography.

If you are not a Dangote or government, you can't muster the kind of funds required to get the heavy equipment to break the barrier. So, they came up with another solution you are looking at in these pictures. 

It looks like a well, but it's not. It is an underground rain water collector. It's their only means of getting water for household use. Rain water from the roof is funnelled into PVC pipes and connected to
the reservoir. The bigger your reservoir, the better your chances of having water all year round. If you are rich, you then put a pumping machine to get water into your overhead tanks for household use. For the poor folks, you draw the water with well buckets.

As for electricity, a resident said the community had not had light for years even though the town is electrified. Everyone has a generator.

As for security, there was none. Fulani herdsmen were gracing their cows on their farms and that resulted in several bloody skirmishes that cost them lives. Kidnappers wreaked their own havoc too. Life was becoming too brutish and callous until they were forced to form a security 'force' of their own. Now they have some measure of security through self-help. 

Their plight is emblematic of the failure of government in Nigeria. They provide their own water, generate their own power, maintain a self-help security arrangement. Yet, government does not exempt them from tax. Story of our life as Nigerians!

My beloved Africa!

Scientists developing vaccine for Covid-19 recently announced that they are ready for human trial. They admit they only know how the vaccine works in animals but have absolutely no clue what effect it could have on humans.

In spite of that, in Europe and America, online advocates sprang up and in no time thousands of male and female volunteers indicated interest to be vaccinated. Some are married; some are single; some are young; some are old.

When asked if they knew the risk involved, they said they did, but just want to contribute their own quota towards saving humanity from the virulent disease.

In Africa, online activists also sprang up. But their advocacy is to chase anyone from bringing Covid-19 vaccines to Africa. They claim Africans are not Guinea pigs. They claim vaccination is a way of putting the mark of the beast on people!

That, in a nutshell, is why Arica is how it is.