1 10 31 https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/281f0e5b3d24cea99e0eb4258590752f.jpg ee6d38abe19fd8d46198f713a978e669 Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Width 300 Height 305 Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Juju" priest Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <p>This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.&nbsp;</p> <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> Description An account of the resource This illustration of a "juju" priest is taken from <a href="http://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/show/onitsha/item/6875">The Ibo Native Law and Custom</a> (pg. 28). African Studies Ken Lohrentz Nigeria Onitsha https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/83015e348cdffc962929502d70d40d5d.pdf 7c057a3d49bab30b8f0a37e7223d8b91 PDF Text Text I . , . . ?.IS. E R H -.,: --- .-. . -. . . . . HUSBAND -. $3 6~n@-me3N p -3-I** ................. c C ( f*!* P i. = - - -........... . .. -. PJram* cp .............. -- ���A WOMAN'S PRIDE I HER HUSBAND S MRS. CHINWE AKAOSA REVISED AND ENLARGED BY FELIX N STEPHEN . (Free Lance Journalist) Obtainable from :- MRS. P E. UNAIGWE . 6, BlDA ROAD, ONIrSHA. ��Preface This boodet containing ideas, originally launched out by a Nigerian married woman, in the difficult issue of marriage, is something very creditable. It will in the main, assist men and women when married, to live together, happily, It will not suffice to maintain, that a booklet of this nature, should .get into the hands of everybody by reading from other people's copies. Rather, it will be very essential for a person to own a copy. This will enable the person to think over the valuable ideas, herein contained. The characters used, are purely imaginary and bear no form of relationship, to any existing person. Upon being called upon to revise the book, I wilfully did it, since I am proud of the alertness of the Nigerians, both male and female, in all fields, these days. FELIX N. STEPHEN (PRSS Umam JOURNAL IS^) ! �OBEDIENCE IS A CHARhf FOR MARRIAGE LIFE Many people have often been heard saying that 'some women charm their. husbands, in order that they might be well loved. For my part however, i would very much disagree, since any attempt of that type, would only mean, a risk. The man's life, might be affected tragically. The -only suitable charms are :First: She '&st be clean both in appesfiince and behaviour. Second: Women ar6 supposed to cook and4:not : allow servants to go and manage. At'the same time, to teach their children the best domest work; for, the kitchen is t i e most reasonable ofiice for any married woman. Third : She should see that her husband 'take3 his meal in time. Fourth : She should keep her children clean by bathing them and also, make them have their meal in time. Fifth : She is expected to be in terms with her ncighbours. This will promote social life. Sixth : On no account, should she make it a polic$ to keep on purchasing things on credit. .:For, such might degrade her and a t the same time, affect the prestige of her husband. -All the �same, she should not go along to emulate some greedy women. who are very much after costly rind lovely dresses. Seventh : Husbands should always be greeted by their wives. This isvery pleasant and helps to bring about, more happiness. T H E TWO LOVERS. OKWERENKEDIKARA A N D HER HUSBAND. $ . a 2 �whenever people do, what is right in their homes. Jacob was the name of a certain man, who once existed. He married a woman who went by the name, Okwerenkedikara. The name in full, showed that obedience to the instructions of the husband, was a su5cient marriage charm. In fact, the name created a sort of sensation, whenever and wherever, it was mentioned. She took a very good care of her family and always agreed to what her husband said. She received strangers, both male and female, equally and before going Out to greet any stranger in their house, she would see that her clothes were clean and admirable, then with a pure heart and, smiles on her face, would present kola to them. Of course, through her husband. Afterwards, she would then advance, to greet the stranger or strangers, as the a s e may be. If it were her fellow woman that visited then1 with a child in her company Okwerenkedikra would take the child and then, present to the child with happiness and aduiration, something edible. Further, she would like to know, thecondition of health, of the stranger's relatives. �The .husband., himself,,~woul~ then,. be :..hnppy &ti 'his wi'fc .'and feel proud of her. -Jacob and his wife, had a daughter, called "Blessing" and s the'womlin called her husband, Papa "B".. Wheno ever one entered their house,'nothing but happiness, would' be noticed. For. proverbially. it 'has been maintained, that a child's countenance is takco into confidence before taking anything from the child. So, Okwerenkedikara's good charactcr, made the husband overlook certain things in their house and s t the same time, encouraged .him thiak of important improvements to be made. He was not the type that would spend money carelessly. When he wanted to drink wine. hc wduld go quietly into a pub and after while, would go to his' ho'u,e. He did not 'like to act as' some men, who feel that the: best way of relaxing, is to sleep overnight,. in the hotels. Thus, .his wife was quite sure of him and he. on his part, was respectful in all attitudes, towards her. a This of course, is one of the essential things in the life led hy a husband .and a wife. In fact, something of this nature, will surely prevent quarrels acd fighting. Yes! some men are ready to blame thcic wives every time that there. is discomfort within the family ciicle. �part,. k ~ c wthat . a man ..too, ;Iacoti.... on. his.. could--.be-wrong"an'&'so; .was' 'careful. Thus, both of them saw eye to eye in all affairs and in consequence, trained Blessing their daughter m d their . other. .Children successfully. why' because love involves if you want to marry. < lady try to marry a lady you love. Love is the one of the most important things in married life ' Love can make a man to forgive his wife whenever she offends him. Love could make the biide. and..:the.bridegroom to sit together to solve the .difficulties in their homes; because the devil .. a!ways .wants to reduce the people at peace. Thcdedil 'is always with his matches to separate the pecple in a family ,with his matches but if there is love, ,his aims will be in vain. So let every man and woman. boys and girls always try to love one another to be free from the snares of the devil.in the families for love is a good soup in our families. Marriage without love is like soup without salt. ' married how 'to maintain reffered to page best chsrms for Anq. woman who do not understand love in her home can only be' one..of this b.roklet, that is the husbands. �A LAZY MAN I MASTERED BY HIS WIFE S Once; there : was'. youngman called Alfred. ..After tiis eleinenlary" School 'career which of 'caurse, he successfully completed, he took to trade. It was' one Joseph,. who coached him. in the business. As a matter of fact, Alfred was very handsome and every person who saw him, liked him. Joseph gave him a .sum of six hundred pounds to purchase goods for ' sale. Unfortunately, however Alfred was the type, that would always like to mix up business with pleasure. Thus, while on tour, he might spend many days, purposely for pleasure and out of the money given to him for trade. Upon returning, he would tell every amount of lies, to his master, as to the cause of his delay.. The' experienced Joseph, then told him, that it would be proper foolishness, to keep on waiting his youth. H e further maintained, that it would not be advisable, for a . person to reap where he did not sow. Alfred did not care a bit. . ..After. some length of time, he was given money to be his own For that, a collective sum of three hundred pounds. was given out, jointly by hi3 parents and master. �He was very . rascal and so, could nor control the money. He was simply trying tn practise, what cleverness, !e had never przctised. The whole thing was then a loss to him. Even though the position was like that, yet Alfred thought it wise, to follow up his mates in marrying, as most of them had done so by Christmas. He actually did so. But in many cases, people hold that it is not the journey to Lagos that matters most, but the return from that town, which is considered to be one of the most difficult things. Alfred's wife, then ask for two shillings from him and with that, she began a trade in cassava. Gradualy, she prospered. Alfred himself, b-gan to grow very lazy. He was not able to continue his trade and slept very much, every day. He went very late to the m a r k t and of coruse, lavished his money on cigarattes and wine. Also, he kept on buying very costly clothes, until his money got finished. He was getting t o be good for nothing, when he was employed by the Council. A dog does not of course, leave its tail and so, Alfred, instead of working hard, continued to drink, during business hours. He was �soon 'dismissed and so, the next thing he did, was to assist his wife in peeling cassava for garri. His friends met him doing that one day, inspiie of the vain attempts made by his wife, to stop them. That was, when they called in, to ask him to go to meeting with them. He was greatly ashamed. But, it was no person's fault. For, Alfred was the cause- of his own ruin. The wife had gained control over him. Yes ! That is why, ,every man should try very much in his business. For, business should come first, before pleasure. AN ADVICE TO -YOUNGMEN It is indeed very necessary, for a youngman to be kery careful in w h a t e v e r he does, to get money. For, there is nothing as bad as a youngman, waisting his time. That is, instead of going to the market or work place when it is time to do so, he gets along, hunting for where to get palm wine, especially the overnight type, play Ludo . game or draught. As a matter or fact, it is not that these are not good. But, e v e r y t b i n g has its own . time. Therefore. indulging in them, ' �when the time is odd; is not advisable.3or such can bring about, misery, which will make a wife despise her own husband. There are many poor men, whose wives ought not despise them. For, nothing should happen, without a cause. The first is the type, that gets into that state, because of sickness. Another, is that, which is brought about by thteves, stealing or cheating or even clearing entirely, a man's goods. Also, some men become poor, through various type ot troubles, which might befall a man in this world. Any woman, who despises her husband, because of these, is surely violating the laws of marriage. Again, it is not good, for a youngman to make it a point, to go m d steal money or , play " way0 " so as to make his wife love or respect him the more. For, this is nothing but sort of commiting sin. MY HUSBAND DOESN'T LOVE ME Somebody who d o e s .bad, especially to her husband, will be surprised to find out, that she has actually cheated her own self. That was what happened when a certain lady met a native doctor and asked him to prepare a charm for her to make the husband, love her the more. �.The native.: doc!or, mas. not at all truthful .and .so, gave a .poison to the lady instead. She used it. in the food of hcr husband and the man caught tubrrculosk. Finally, he dicd. Mr. John bought the house a month later and sacked her k o ~ nit. Thus, the wolnitn. begin to suffer and then, came.to reialise, what she had done to herself. For; 'if 'a house does not fall on a widow, she .. may not easily know, that a married woman. stands a better chance.' Question : Is it neccsery for a woman, to be 'truthful to thc husland? Answer : Yes ! .It is quite necessary. For, it is through this, the .husband will know more about .the character of his wife. Apart from that, truthtelling, keeps the conscience at ease. WHAT CAN I DO WITH A WOMAN'S DECISION? The next, is about one man who felt that he could :not do anything useful, with the decision of a woman. .He ' was'quite careless and would not for anything sake, pay heed, to the pIeces of advice or warning, �given. .to him b y his.- Wife. It was for 'thaf"&ke, that trouble often' came up .in the fami!y. (Ejimke iishing against his wife Nkemakolam) The proverb, "one good turn, deserves. another,' 13 �is well justified. Yes. for when this is kept to, things would be normal. The wife whose name was Nkemakolam had a child called Chidubem. Nkemakolam tried all her best to get the husband pleased, but he would not. He did not like tc entertain visitors or even welcome them. There was no love in the family. Ejimke, the husband, was one day encountered by wayorists who told h m to bring three hundred pounds and have one i k ousand five hundred pounds, produced for him. The wife aarneci. But Ire would not pay heed ai d so, w:s out in th:: company of the gttmbiers. u .o ~:stru.:tcd him ,.o get an iron box, into whrcn tfe money would bt: put by the river god after szcrifices with a white goat, white hen and a white cloth, had been made. - Ejimke, had exhausted all his money and even borrowed some amount from friends. In the end t t e money was not got. The whole thing was a fake business. He grew very sad. His Child met him and asked what was the matter, he simply replied, that he should go and meet her mother. �(Nkcmakolam and her cldld Chidubem) The mother told Chidubem to leave up the matter and go to School. That of course, was the end of Ejklke. Later on. his son got scholarship and wmt rtn.! siudi:d Medicine Overseas, for eight years. �Upon his return, the mother who was still alive, was very happy indeed. ~e married, got childre2 and lived happily. And the father left their home and got lost like a sheep without a shepherd Qoestioa: Does a woman satisfy a wicked man? Answer: No, the day the wife does a good thing, that will be .the worst day for the man. Such husbands are never satisfied. It is very important for an unmarried lady to pray so that she will not be married to such men that are never satisfied. That God will give her the right husband. He has prepared for her and that the two will sit down and decide what to do. If it is man, that God will give him the right wife and the two will agree and they live happily. THE UNWISE COUPLE Some p e o p l e may say t h a t t h e y do . �not like to marry, becouse women are trmblesome. This is not wise. For, everything dcp:nds upon how a mat: p l a y his own card There was a man cal!ed Udxhuku He niarried Nwaobiora. Within the first week of their o marriage. Udechuku began : weep hirterly. NO person knew the real cause for that. The next thing heard, was his quest for the money he paid as bride-price. The inlaws themelves were surprised. One fun in the whole affair, was that he did these thicgs outside the kn~wledge of his wife, who kept on doing all she could, to keep him happy. When Nwaobiora discovered what was going on, she was very angry and so, decided not t o marry for life. She lived the life of a spinster and suffered greatly from the hands of ruffians, small boys who could not have been able to talk to her if she was still in her husband's house and, other sorts of low ranked people, who in some cases, abused and threatened t o beat her, even after using dirty words on her. - So now, it can easily be seen by e v e r y person and 3 1s o approvcd of, that n wom:tn's �pride, is her husband. When a husband misbehaves, the wife gets ashamed and degraded. But when the husband lives up to expectation, the wife is proud and she is right to do so. DO WOMEN KNOW THAT MONEY IS HARD ? People often say that women d o not know, that money is hard to get. This is actually a pity. AS a woman is the writer of this, she would by all means, feel that much thought should be given to the saying. There is no doubt, that some men are the real cause of it. For, they, while going ' 0 woo a woman, go to borrow about ten pounds, which they would use in sewing a suit. This of course, to persuade a woman, to decietfully think that they are wealthy. Further, they purchase about five pounds worth of a pair of spectacles and ten guineas worth of wrist watch. A very costly hat, would also be bought, to match. The nest may be the purchase of a scooter, even on hire purchace. Upon reaching the house of the prospective inlaws, it would appear as if his money were made up of �cash.;:.Well t h e'n;. there is no a x g u m e n t in ;. The man scooter the saying that, "No person would spit o t sugar, u put in his or her own mouth". �He may then go to write a letter of this type:"Joe's Mansion, P. 0. BOX 2914, Onitsha. 1st September 1960. My dear Cecilia, I am writing this to enquire first of all, about your present condition of healtb, together with that of your parents. Infact, neither tongue, nor words, can express the deep love, I have on you. Believe me dear, I cannot afford to miss you. You may be sorry to hear that my lorry that runs from Onitsha to Sokoto collieded on its way on Saturday last week. Do not worry.'For, that is nothing to me. There is still money, t o get into. the factory a brand new one. even today and I hare three youngmen trading for me now'at Lagos and it is sure, that they will be of great help to me, in the recovery of it. �Fdrget-ail--about it -however ano reply early, so. as to %able me know that you actually rkeiyed. it. Yours Lovingly, Joe. 'In time, Cecilia received the .letter and replied thus:"Central School, Ugiri. My dear Joe, 3rd -September, 1960.. I have received your letter.. I . hope. that you are i n good health. At any rate; I have leatnt of how your lorry.was involved in -an accident. May I know from you, when you . will come to . O U place - again. 1 earnestly expect you; For, .it will be a joy to me, for ..us. t o be .tied up,. .as a husband and wife. SO please, try to come again. DO, .send me some money, so that I can purchase certain . . . things that' I "nicd most. 1'. dd not think,that .. there i# anything, .that iii! .our getting marfled. ' ~ �I..... am. Y O U I:. ~~ncerely,.. ~ Cecilia?. .Here .,now, -haye k e n seen, one letter from ', . . . a man and another from a lady. What can easily ..- . t e understood is this, a mere assumption Infact, a ::vain one. N6.-'monev. :nc clothes-and no lorry. Yet, he would go to 'play politics in order.' to &wive a .lady.. I n the end, she agrees to marry the man.. . ; Convinci~~g parents, who finally agree, Loth her of them. marry and gc, to ti c man's house to live. one day, ... tbe man went to the .marlid and bought some clothes . of .twenty pounds. .in . .value, and ...... . . &Lo, begaw .to'.give a sum of ten .pounds per diem . & rhe.:wife; :.zis:chop nidti'ey:'. Joy* and noihinR but T rhii?, filled the mind: of theywife.Blit:sh&'did not he manhad ~ d u c e d .,the chop money . t o five. shillings. .The wife ;was (no longer pleased;.:Uithin . . . . a,., . short. .time, the.,graph descended. t.o two ..shiilings. and six peke. For, the man was tunning broke �> . . . . ,.?. .:$he?$if4'. oh! Bkt ,a&. part,..&odd-te8p&igf&, &&kt:.t&ci man7:bega&, give!';wn ;'$Kiltin& it6-rWer to;.:, as chop money.:;-Jhiti.:- later er: ?.an,be red?=$- b,t.0 ., give five shillings and then, to two shillings andsix pence. , : ,- .,.4: ..,, ,, �AN - ADVICE FOR ALL It is not advisable for a man to go about borrowing money and assuming that he is rich, only to convince a lady to have a very high opinion of his own person. This is nothing short of self-deceit It is not to marry a wife, that is the problem, But it is the maintenance. In short, it will be highly appreciable, for a small man, to present himself as such, before his wife. She then, can know exactly, bow best to make the estimates for feeding. much of course, to the conveoience of the husband, who is the breadwinner. Troubles will cease. Happiness will reign and marriage life, will be enjoyed. AID TO MARRIAGE LIFE In the main. marriage is a thing. quite sacred and sanctioned by even God himself. It is a scrt of unity. between a mln and a woman different parentage, that finally brings them to a state of brotber and sister. In many cases. the husband is the breadwinner and pilar of the fami!y, while the wife is the care-taker. �It does .,not. neoessarily matter, what might bc the rank of a " husband. When once a lady is attkcbed' to him as a wife, she is well respected. The next is, the question of peaceful living. This point, of course, seems a bit controversial in nature. For, it might be either from the husband or the wife. There are some men, who make themselves, difficult to understand. In fact, they always would like their wives to fear them. But, this is a type of motive. based upon some misdirected intentions. Truely, men who are feared. seldom do well. It would be far betttr, to be respected, than to' be feared. A man who is feared, can neither satisfy any person 'nor even be ,satisfied, himself. Thus, life shifts gently, from the atmosphere of gaiety, to that of melancholy. A husband who renders himself quite understandable to his wife, finds things easier and safe. Unlike the difficult charactered man. he lives happily and considers points with his wife in matters of mayor significance. ' More often their husbands, veniences, That would like to than not, m a n y wives extricate from the ghas.:ly hands of idconis of course, where the men give p r i o r i t y t o " t h e pieces �of advice, given to them, by such women. .The joy experienced, in a f a m i l y, .is .but a gift of God. This is evidenced . by the series of complaints,'. 'got' from some. men. . who keep on feeling that they are always worried by their2;wives. Yes, it takes time,' for one to .see. one's own faults. HAPPY LlVING Okpaku was the name of a certian woman, . . married to Nnaji. She was barren' and so, always felt. sorry .for . her situation..:. B u t..she could not help it, since, the question of getting a . child, cannot be' solved by any amcunt ,of fotce. Really. true 'love existed -between her and her husband;. . . . . Instead of abusing his wife,, as some .men do, he kept on comforting her and then, making her .. . . .to-feal hippy at home. ~ k ' f ~ r t h went to the extent er of telling her, that one 'day, God would, give them ,a chiid. Together therefore, both of 'them lived 'ljeacefully. .She was proud of her husband and so, did not look left or right. �No .. .other-man,-.was.. as dear.:.t.o:her, . as her own '.......; .. . . . . hu8bGkd ...lone. day, . some ..people met the 'husband . . . . . . . . . . . ..; 'and.asked...him to sack his wifl, as they said that ........... .. she was, not of any use.. But,.. he refused. Some ... women,. . .advised, the. lady - t o run away from her ....... . husband . . . . . . .and if possible, remain as a free-woman, so that she- might through a stroke of luck, get a child; :But she refused. 'It did not take long however, before they had twin born babies. So then, where there is love between a husband and his wife, much improvement,. is expected. The wife will respect her husband, very well and no other p e r s on, will hear their discussions, either sweet or bitter. ADVICE FOR SOME WOMEN WHO THINK, THAT FARMING WORK IS PUNISHMENT. . . , ., ow" ' cpi&on,' 'is it cot those who were In rich i n the :olden : days were rich farmer, ? Most of-them were very' energetic and could work out .the money for the training 'of their children up to . . Doctors :and Lawyers; So farming 'should not be neglected in. this .our present generation. If your �husband. tells you ; Dear'' you shall go home and do...~oni~ farming. .~lease'.donot say that.fie:wishes tb . puriisli you, :for i4r&ng .is .no .:.p u ~ i i h d ~ n It t; is when: :he has 'his own iliterest, we o u g h t to make or teach' our children how to farm for no one can live without food and also no one knows tomorrcw ; things may change at any time. So it is' better 'for some one to know how to farm. Do not be affended because you are told to go to farm. Let no woman boast that her father is a chief and her father has money. No c h i e f can rule without some food in his stomach. ~ o n ' tyou know that a Imngry man sees very far? How can we now neglect farming ? ADVICE TO ALL MEN Our older people say; when right hand washes left hand, let left hand wash right hand. Yo:l ought to help wives and be sympathetic with them. Most of our men are very rich, i t dosen't mean as. I have stated here that women are. su~posed go -to farm; you ought not take ..to farm work a s a punishment o n your wives. �ADVICE FOR YOUNG LADlES Whatever might be the rank of any woman, she ought not forget that her pride is her husband. He may be rich or poor. But he should not be neglected. For, it is on him, that the respect of the woman lies. Obedience to the husband's instructions, gives pleasure and helps in the unity of the members of a family. Women who think that lodging in the hotels and cheating men of their money, ought to rcmmember, that the time shall come, when they will no longer do that. For, by then, things will change greatly and they will be forced by age, to go home and become useless. There is nothing sweeter or more bitter than marriage. However. it depends upon how a man and his wife. may like to hve. If happily and in peace, then, there will be joy. But if unhappily and in pieces, then it is their fault. THE END. ���- CENTRAL Q t I W N G PRESS; &a 3 Mcorr Street, 9 . . , , d h r . ,. - .~ - P 0. 60x . ,. 225, a Nigeria. m i � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A woman's pride is her husband Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Akaosa, Chinwe Stephen, Felix N. Type The nature or genre of the resource Onitsha market literature Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Onitsha, Nigeria : obtainable from Mrs. P.E. Unaigwe Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1962? Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Nigerian literature (English) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl.c3268 Description An account of the resource Although this is one of only a few pamphlets written by a woman, this edition of '<em>A Woman's Pride is Her Husband</em>' probably from 1962, was "revised and enlarged" by Felix N. Stephen, another popular and prolific pamphlet author. This situation raises the question of true authorship, for the title of the pamphlet suggests that the writer is, and should be, a woman. Yet the pamphlet's style is consistent with Stephen's, and he is listed with "Mrs. Chinwe Akaosa," on the title page.<br /><br />In the preface, Stephen describes the original author as "a Nigerian married woman" who "originally launched out" ideas "in the difficult issue of marriage," (pg.2). Her name is not given in the preface, and there is a distinct lack of details about her. The Onitsha pamphlets often include photographs of authors or publishers, but none are provided with this work. Perhaps Chinwe Akaosa is a fictitious author, for no other pamphlets are attributed to Akosa. It is likely that Stephen, (a pseudonym for Nathan O. Njoku),described as a "Free Lance Journalist" on the title page, is responsible for much of the content here.<br /><br />This pamphlet makes interesting claims about gender roles in 1960s Nigeria, including the opening statement, "Obedience is a charm for marriage life," (pg.3). Much of the material is similar to American publications from the 1950s that provide advice to ensure a happy home from the likes of Betty Crocker. The pamphlet argues that a marriage to an unloving husband is better than the plight of a widow, for example. A section of the pamphlet that begins on page 8 notes that "A Lazy Man is Mastered by His Wife." And Stephen plays with the pamphlet's title, <em>A Woman's Pride is Her Husband</em>, when he states in the preface that he is "proud of the alertness of Nigerians, both male and female, in all fields, these days," (pg.2). Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/7af16e4439f8d25f168f36c0676d2d08.pdf 9574f775488611364676f57802719985 PDF Text Text I Ik..P P ��BEAUTIFUL MARIA ''EMMAN & MARIA'' Published & Obtainable from:- MICHAEL ALLAN OHAEJESI 17 Bright Street Onitsha. c A v ? A n m 216 Copy Right Reserved. Net Price. ��Contents Act one, scene one, the tussle 5 Act two, the love tutelage 8 Act two; scene one; the confession 15 Act two, scene two, the meeting. 18 Act three, the end of love journey. 24 Extra love dealers. 31 Wise sayings and advices 38 �PREFACE This is a drama, specially prepared for African readers anc!. actors. I t is a comedy which suits men aad women of all classes. To children, it portrays more of the type of life which ought to be led by youths of decent character when engaged in love affairs. Like my other drama pieces, I have no doubt that readers will equally enjoy it. The language is quite simple, infact such that it could easily be understood by anybody who can read a little. The characters used here are very fictitious and bear no form of relationship whatsoever to any existing persons, since the stories are in the main imaginary. This is an original work of the author and any person or persons who wish to dramatise it should obtain permission from the publishers. FELIX N. STEPHEN (Dramatic) �ACT I SCENE 1 THE TUSSLE M y master Emmanuel has refused eating anything for two days now. DAVID: IS he undertaking some religious fast? JOE: Not at all! It is rather awkward! He has been worried in mind over his failure in gaining the love of Maria. DAVID: But he is quite handsome and many other girls are after him. JOE: JOE: Well David, tastes differ! Maria has frankly told me that she will prefer me to my master. I very much wonder what the result of such an undertaking will have on m!, future a poor page of my own type without any type of attraction. I like your master very much. If I were a girl, I would not hesitate to rush to him and ask him to be in friendship with me. You imay' not think youiself attractive. But there is no doubt that Maria might have seen some attractive qualities in you, hence her statement. Handsomeness is not the only attraction a man can have. I have seen some ugly men who at the same time attractive. It might be through a man's gait of walking, how he barbs his hair, fashion, emoothness of the skin, how he laughs or comports himself or even how much he can d o at boxing or footballing o r racing, In short, sportsmen are always liked by girls. But what do you think of your master's treatment of your person? In the first place, according to what he presents himself to be - DAVID: JOE: �before me he is no less than any gentleman. Again he is kind. I can assure you that, I make quite a good sum from him every weekend. He is liberal. Many people think that both of us are brothers. He scolds me in private when I go the wrong way but defends me in public when any person underestimates me. I d o not wish to leave him in time anyway. I wish I can get a master like that. I was once living with one big rascal. A very chronic drunkard, a chain smoker and in his sight, every ugly women is beautiful. He would come home every night after all the pubs might have closed, staggering, cursing, swearing and vomitting. I was ashamed of him. One day I could not brook his treatment of me anymore and so went back to my parents. It was my sole intention to remain in his house not minding his fooly. But he would starve me at times and then g2t into the pubs for drinking of liquor. That is why you see me still living with my paren!s. D o you not think that you can help this man who has been all that kind to you? DAVID: JOE: What else can I do? Maria has said that she does not want to hear any message from him any mcre. In any case, if your master returns and finds me sitting at ease in his parlour chatting with you, do you think that it will not reflect upon you seriously? DAVID: JOE: Although my msster is not ill-tempered yet, I feel that he will not be back very soon. 6 �Did he tell you. to..where he was ,going? Not all that! DAVID: JOE: (ENTER EMMANUEL THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE) Welcome Sir! EMMAN: Yes thank you! Anjr person looked for me? JOE Nobody Sir. DAVID (Standing) Welcon~eSir. EMMAN y e s my friend Welcome too Joe, Is he your friend? JOE: He is my friend Sir. His name is David. EMMAN (Giving to Joe) Take this hmmount of five shillings, buy some light refreshments for your friend and after that send this letter of mine to Maria. But Joe, (patting him on the right shoulder) try to pull your weight before her. Present me in a reasonable way. If you succeed I shall reward you nicely. Meanwhile, I am going out. I hope to get Fomz good news from you, on my return. JOE: I shall do as you commanded. Thanks Sir! DAVID: I am very grateful to you Sir! (EMMANUEL LEAVES) What? Is this man like this? lo@: told you! I DO not worry again. We must convince Maria. Let us only hit a t a plan. JOE: I understand that many people have tried her and failed! DAVID: 7 �That does-not matter! Take me by my words! She does not know me, does slic? JOE: She does not !(now you at all. DAvrD: I shdl go in your company to her. In that case I shall use my mouth very well. JOE: That will be a grmt assistant.: indeed. But I hope your father will not be dfended? DAVID: No person wtll tell him. JOE: Thank you. L& us go. DAVID: (BOTH OF THEM LEAVE) ACT 1 E N 2 THE LCVE TUTELAGE I have blzen approached by Inany suitors, but I find it qui!p: difficult, to take a d~cision. TIIERL'SA: Coes it sitiwly go to m a n that none of them measurcs up to expcctatian? MARIA: MoI:~ of them are presentabl?. But inf-ct Theresa I only want to n;sks wri. that he to whom I shall agree to give my hand will not disappoint me later on. It is for this sake that 1 am of the opinion to give trials to many mco. He who succecds will do so, out of the gravity of love that he has on mc. T I I ~ ~ A : yo:^ at this stage no! Can guess of any man that is languishing for not being able to have secured your love? MARIA: I haw heard of one Emn~anucl.Really I cat: not jqst tell if !I= is scrious. I want to give him a tough time first. If I do not do so, he will deem me very cheap. His boy often comes here. MARIA: ��Personally I have many male friends. I do not like to keep to one. That is why it appears that I haw got some good amount of money MARIA: DO YOU think that all of then1 who come to you pay the money joyrully? TIIERESA: Whcther thcy d o o r not is not my rea! concern. It is my policy that wilkout their money I do not give out my love. BIARIA: Can that be taken as trc~eloye? THERESA: That is why 1 can say IS the best way for a woman to follow men. They are deceitful. IF you are soft with them, they become very insultive to you. MARIA: I will also like to have my own sound experience of men. But I shall like t o exp-riment on one man only. THERESA: (ENTER JOE AND DAVID) Oh! my little f ~ i e n dJoe how are you getting on with things these days? JOE: Just as usual, thank you! (Hands over a lctter to Maria) MARIA: From whom is this? JOE: A man who bas for some days now been ianguishing great1 y for having not been able to h a w your love. If it is from l o u r maslcr, w d I must have to suggest to you thst there is no need waisting rime. 1 had on some cccassions toid you frankly that I do not want him !o spcsk to' me on this matter anymore I repeat that if you would like to comc in as suitor that J shall not wasl timc to grant. MARIA: �I suggest that you read the letter. Who knows .whether the content might not agree with the former ones you had receivzd? THERESA: DAVID: 1 really see with you! MARIA: Against my will I open and read this letter. JOE: You may even find it quite interesting. Does it mean that you read the letter before bringing it to me? MARIA: JOE: I t does ~:otmezn so. I saw the mood in which he was while writing it. I wonder what it is that can convince any right thinking lady not be pleased with Emmanuel. In the first instance he is presentable, gentle, straightforward, liberal, inteligent and above all kind. Again he is optimistic of life. His fellow men like him and wish that he were a lady. As young as I am, I see clearly what some msn tend to prove t o be. If he w x e a big rascal, I could not have gone near to him. But he is a good breed and his parents are noblc. Such a msn i? rare to get in this era. Were it that love is not just a thing which cannot be helped Emmanuel, ought to have been without a companion. From all reports 1 have collected sbout Maria, I could easily predict that where she and Emmanuel are joiried up together the joy that will exist in such a company will be infinite. From my own youthful opinion I could say that tbere is nothing as good as two people staying together in peace and harmony. Life without true love appears to me to be not worth living. Please let me not be mistaken. DAVID: , �May I keep it crystd clear that I have come here neither to praise Maria nor Emmanuel. But I am of the type that without any fear of contradition approve a good proposal and condemn a bad one. What actually worries my mind is that I cannot easily tell if Emmanuel loves me as much as he professes to. MARIA: JOE: How many times do you expect to hear from me now the ynungman talks of you? He makes poems in adoration of your beauty which he maintains excels every other. You may not need a devil to tell you this. If there are more gentlemen on whom I rely, my master is a top class. I t is however, very puzzling to observe that he has such a very deep love for you. This is very much unlike him in his dealings with women. Suffice it then to say that the moment you cut off from this sincere request made by my master, my face, you will no longer see me in this house. F0.r me t o be in love with you and at variance with him, is one of the things that T consider most impraciicable in this life. Rather I shall be a very proud and happy person to have you in the house as my master's only mistress. Just now I cannot but b ~ dyou adieu! MARIA: Stay for a while Joe! JOE: There might be no need for that. The longer I keep here the more embarrased I become. If you really loved me as you claim, you could at least grant my request. �My mind is getting soft. 1 cannot give any rcply right now. I must have to see your master and discuss with him facr to face. MARIV: Well done: If you are in terms with one. the rest will repay you in such coins. I do not believe in ingratitude. I like fine .things and beautiful women. I shall be more grateful, when those whom I like realise the fact and then fulfil my dedres. You are not a babe. The time has come foi. you to apply your discretion in every matter. Even if your heart be as strong as stone, there is every reason to keep it a bit subtle, for you to be attached to a person of sound reputation who will cater for you in all aspects, is better than to be attached to a wretch who may be good at the onset and prove a regret in the end. DAVID: JOE: I now leave you to your conscience. DAVID: Good bye! MARIA: Thank you! (David and Joe Leavz) Upon seeing a page like. Joe, it may be thought that he is just a poor innocent fellow. But his words today proved to me that he does not seem as small as I think him to be. His friend s.eems to be more advanczd in love affairs. Perhaps. he is aware of my intentions. MARIA: - Men are never small. It will be highly misleading to deem any of them so. But what .are the contents of the letter? ~ERESA: �(Reading the lcrter aloud) "My dear Maria It is indeed a pity that you have chosen to torment a heart that loves you very dearly in this way. If I am allowed to confess, I must say that I am not a love-crazy stooge to another. Your beauty really bebitched me and your manners are so elegant that I cannot afford more than to have you nearer me. If you might have found me wanting in any, form of personal charm, implore thee forgive and only grant my humble request of your accepting me as a lover. MARIA I know very well that you might not deem it all that degrading when I make you realise that neither nor even Lucifrr himself shall take sides with you for keeping me at arms lenght where any mishap eventually b~fallsme for failing in this well determined attempt of mine. You m~ghtftel that I am worrying you very much, But I cannot help it, since it is a pressing need. Never on earth h2d I recieved a similar torture. No! not even in the business field. If I might be deemed behind in fashion, I must assure you that above that, I am a gentlcrnan. Shylock would like to cry at this hard heartedness of yours, Lady Macbeth wo~ild feel that this treatment of my person is rather wicked. Ebenezer Scrooge himself would also prefer your spending more than one hundred pounds to get this offer from me. Like every other good lovers, I shall be quite ready to do your wish 3s much as is withie my own capacity. Please take me serious! Consult any of your good , friends over the issue! You m ~ g h thave been misled to think that I am only pretending when I am really not. �Finally, I hereby wish to make it clear to you that t h ~ swill be my last letter to you relating the issue. Althoxgh I am not in a rage, yet I have the honour to say that %hereit is still very much against your wish to accept me-adieu! But even if I get another, I pray that ordinary connections between us not be servered, since my interest in you' is still strong and ever will be. Keep fit Emmanuel." THERESA TOme, it appears that the youngman is serious. MARIA what then is your suggestion, Theresa? THERESA Just now that it is burning in him I suggest that you accept him as a lover. Such a p t r s w will make an ideal husbmd. The wardings of his letter Portray him as a gentleman. MARIA: I understand, he really is, THERESA The earlier you met him in pzrson, the b-tter. MARIA Thank you that I shall d o now! (Theresa goes away. Maria sets out for Emmanuel. A C T 2 SCENE ONE THE CONFESSION I am sure that we had actudly tried to boast up the prestige of Emmanuel before Maria. Joe: I have no doubt that she was interested in our conversation with her. At this juncture David, I must have to thank you very. much for your activities there. Really, you spoke as if you had been very much advanced in the affairs of men and women. DAVID: �1 wish my mister were there to hear you urge Maria to accept him as a lover. If there is snccess in our vetiture, I owe it much to you. mvm: In fiiirncss of it all Joe, I have had a good experience oT love affairs. 1 had played it and still determine to plry it becaus:: it is a pleasure to do so. JOE: I have got some good savings this time and will like,to invite you to any girl, before whom I shall appza: as a ' suitor. But is it your wish that both of us shall remain to love ourselves for long? DAVID: m Joe: We had actually done everything that c be possible between two male friends. It is not all that essy to do more if not, we could have. DAVID.' JOE Where it all.turns into a miracle? We have it then. But no other type of miride can be easy. Tn life or in death David, I shall rind it very dificult t o forget you. : I always have. a very deep !ove Joe. when I mean to. Your own might not be as much. At any rate, life sccms to be a trial and men and women, all live by experiences. DAVID JOB : Yes, an exact type of experience that I have had in this house. Emmanuel has helped me in many ways. He has even found me an employment which coupled with serving him, affords me a comfortable living. David I know by all means that bo:h of us arc of the same age group. �DAVID: JOE: (Smiling) I believe so. One thing about you worries me a bit. Any body ~eeing you in a lady's atire will a t once mistake you for a member of the opposite sex. Even in manners you look romantic. In constitution, you also look effeminate. Yes, That is my way, while dealing with very intmate friends. But, for the second dme, I will like to know from you, do we really have any true love existing between both of UP or it is just a mere flattery? The question is bnffling indeed. For my part, I have nothin: to subtract from our already existing love. DAYID: Please d o not be suprised anymore at my repeated question in this respect. Tomorrow might Drove to be another thing hence for the purposes of certainty, I wish to get the assurance. DAVID: People may quarrel and forget. We are all human beings, with various temperaments. Our only guide ought to be that when you find me offending, please call me back to order amicably. This is always a very simple way of avoiding quarrls between two intimate friends. Even though I have declared my intentions to marry, yet, that will not - in any form interrupt our friendship. DAVID: Yes Joe, I know that none of us is a girl. But intimacy, a very deep one too, could compel us do anything. Take this ring which I have removed from my finger as a taken of remembrance. JOE: �ACT 2 SCENE TWO THE MEETING This lady they call Maria is giving me a very tough moment. According to the replies I got from her through Joe it sinlply appear that she does not want to see me at all. But why ? If I am very ugly, what of the mummies who still win the admiration of very beautiful women? If I am uncivilised, then I could have been given cold shoulders by the highly civilised company that I keep. Perhaps the minor deceives me. But then I am not deformed. Although I cannot boast of perfection in anything yet I can only realise the fact that I am not very far behind when compared with other youths of my own age. As much as I can observe my morals are not base and I am confident of that. For some days now I have not eaten anything. Why? Simply because a lady has not agreed to have me as a friend. This is foolishness. I am only very sorry for Maria, If she had but knonn my intentions she could not have behaved thus. For the sake of getting her come into amicable terms with me I belittled myself. Now, I should look for her no more! EMMAN: I should only bear the disappointment that I had, bravery. If Maria is very beautiful, �there are more. beautiful ladies. I shall take heart. I am confident of the fact that if I had not seen her, I could have met another, let her go ! This bluff is getting to be very much I can brook it no longer I must keep myself happy. (ENTER MARIA) EMMAN: What! Are you here? Yes my dear! EMMAN: I wonder what might have brought you to this house today. MARIA: Perhaps you were not sincere in your' appeal. EMMAN: This is where you might have got me wrong I do not intend to kill myself before you make sure that I love you. A few minutes ago, I was only resolving to look for another since all possible attempts to secure your love seemed to have failed. You will surely see with . m e that 1 had tried' a great deal to- make you realise my love on you. It, does not seem very safe to dispatch a page to a lady together with whom a man would like to be live eternally. But I did it simply to please you. Upon all such contemptious attempts, I could not b e favoured. Thanks be to Providence that you are now here. It is therefore your own turn to 'express your views, since I have determined to worship a lady no more. MARIA: Your speech frets me. 1did not suspect that the reception could have taken this very shape. Really speaking I do not hate you. Apart from the things 'you had told. me, I have heard good reports of .you. MARIA: 19 �Yes! I wish my speech could fret you the more.. Infact, I am determined to be on more drastic basis. MARIA: But what if I do not allow you get up to that extect ? EMMAN: In what other way, can I be.a stranger to your humiliating treatment of my person ? MARIA: Perhaps yon are hurt in your feelings. But p-rmit me to say, that I did not really mean to keep you so. EMMAN: I have read of people, who remained as bachelors until they died. It made no type of difference in their fame. No wonder, there are misogynists. But yet they survive and feel happy too. If I happen to miss a lady's love, what have I lost ? EMMAN: This is rather strange! are you quite sure that with your own hands, you wrote those letters to me asking for my love.? Can I believe your 'boy's story of your desire to have me as a friend or was it just a fiction? EMMAN: I wrote tho letters to you and I sent my boy to your house to make the request on my behalf. MARIA: MIA: What devil then might have triod to counterfeit the love crazy spirit in you. Much suffering over something keeps a person hard-hearted. You will bc wrong to blame me when instead of romantic words I began the reception of you with words of sorrow and regret. I am of the opinion, that man should control and not allow himself controlled by a desire. EMMAN: �MARIA: Can we forget the past and face the new? ( pausing for a while ) This will be s~bject to your being serious over what you mean. For my part, I had determined to have you and keep you as comfortable.as I can. You were only wasting time. But I shall be quite prepared to throw back the rage in which 1 had been and then if our plans work well, we tell of the early psrt of this meeting in stories by the fireside on cold nights. EMMAN: ' MARIA: That is indeed whzt I want. But Maria, your torture of me has been an unprecedeated one in the anals of the history of suitorst I even undertook some fast because ofit. Just at the verge of taking a strong decision, you entered into this room. But if l'do not really love you, why should I persist in having you. Love is a type of a magnetic force which when it draws up cannot easily be cast .away. EMMAN: It is for thie sake, that I' have turned to be a beggar to a lady whom I thought would sel with me and be greatful in lerting my wishes be satisfied. I have every hope that you aifl not think me ungreateful. If you do, then it is a mistake. Men are difficult to understand and they are never on the loosing side when the game of love is played, I ' a m but a lady, a n ordinary feeble creature liked because of my present appearance. Peradventure I becpme spilt, then it all means that I have got to be as MARIA: �helpless as a skiking stone; I do not take it that I have given you a c a m for a perpetual dislike of my person. I only feel that for the purposes of security, it ought to be necesary to get a fimi assurance from . a suitor and that should be conducted 'in a Kay not different from the. one I did. You are not ugly. You are not deformed. Your morals have been testified of by many people as eiamplary. I am even jealous of you. But how would you think it ~easonablc 'for a lady who wishes to exercise a lasting love on you to jump out and openly declare :so at once? True it is, that pkace comes.'after war. I can see here that you had spoken at length and of course not without bitterness. If you really mean to have' me, the gates of success are wide open. This I declare in' order to swerve your mind away from the misconceived idea of' me which seems to be infesting your mind, even at the moment. You might have understood my speech. It is not always possible, for ladies to men and gi5e themselves out to them. This might tantamount to cheapness and then the end is always fracas, .discontent and separation, a forced but quick one too. If I had no deep love on you I could not have allowed you to me so. Deep love on me and I have a deep love EMMAN: on you too. What then is the object of any form of disagreement ? . I am of the opinion that your former speech is from the bottom of your heart and so, I shall be a brute if I keep on prolonging the past. MARIA:. I had earlier, requested that of you. But where you still stick fast to your angep , 22 �well it then, me-an*. that I cannot do any other thing than to registcr it in my memory, that a man bas miguidedly disappointed a lady who loves him very dearly. For your confession - Maria, 1 am interested in informing you that I am not at all offended. I was only. trying your sincerity. Towards this, I feel that both of us might have agree in plan. If I have caused any. inconvenience, please pardon me. For 'it is after storm that the gentle breeze comes. Oh! for a hundred beauties Maria, I shall not have another if you once promise me true love, then I shall waste no time in sending for a priest to have us united. I am not out for any monkey love. I am direct in my dealings. and will always pray to God . that you be so too. Thus, peace and joy shall dispel all disp~rities. EMMAN: Much talkink and little deeds might be of no significant importance. If you were to enter my mind then nobody could have told you how much I love you. MARIA: It means then that none of us is mistaken to have come near each other. Let us now seal this blessed proposal with that sign that two great h e r s often show. EMMAN: I shall waste no time in obeying you my dear and my real husband to be. MARIA: ( They Kiss first and look at thems?lves eye to eye and kiss again.) 23 �ThiS AMAN: gesture has - convinced me of our, love. Your' willingness to have this with me means much. But Maria, your gentility makes mc - lovj you the more. Your facial. charm seems to bewitch me the more at every moment. Your shape is yet one of .the most ' attractive, thlngs in you tbat will, make other youngmen to jealaus me for securlng your hand. YOU are no .iess. Your physi0gti6~ is MARIA: not only' balanced but depfcts a lot of nobility. . . EMMAN: Talk no more my own angel of 'light: Our marriage is fixed ' against fen o~clock tomorrow morning. ( They kiss again )MARIA: i h a l l go away, prepare'ind come back. Thank you my sweet ..heart. ( Maria goes EMMAN: while Emmanuel escourts her for a short distances ) and comes back. ACT 3 THE ENDOF A LOVE'JOURNEY JOE: Ro& what I iave .heard' this afternoon 'in this town, I can guess. that my master might' .have succeeded in winning the love of Maria. However I shall not conclude just now. I must. have. to wait until my. master confirms it. But it is true and I wish if my only friend Dacid were here. .We eould have discussed at length since my master will no longer be an unhappy man. Very good ! Yes !. my master will now give m e a good .reward according to his promise. If it is cash, I must divide it into two equal parts. ,so that David. who contrri-. . ~ 24 �buted nwch towards the success of 'the ventnre, will have one half ( ENTER HELEN ) Welcome my dear lady ! How are you ? HELEN: Not very bad please . thank you. 1 am Helen, a sister to David, are you his friends Joe ? JOB: I am Joe. When is your brother coming here ? 1 want him earliest ! HELEN. i t was .on his instruction that I come here. JOE: That is very good of you. Both of you have the same resemblancr. Tnfact, were it not that you are clad in the attire of a lady, I could have wasted no time in calling you David. HELEN: At any rate I hopa that if you d o not sce him in time, you may like to have me as .a substitute. JOB: By a11 m a n s f m x t exerciss the same deep-ro~ted friendship existing between David and I 'on .any of . his relatives. Thank you very much ! HELEN: But you laugh, (alk and look like him too ? ~OE: Yes ! It is thz characteristic of our fdmily. HELEN: ~ o a Th?t.is : gpod indeed. HeLEN : YOU, being n male and I female, shall we not be tempted at times? JOB : God fcrbid ! Except my friend David approves of it. But I might find it difficult to yield t o such a temptation in the inrerest of our unrivalled love. ;cry �Kindly surppress your emotions ! David y o u friend. Did what ? Is he no longer your brother ? JOE: HELEN: Please listen. JOE: Yes ! I am anxious to know, whenever that name is mention, I am always very eager to hear ,everything without delay. David in short, is my brother as I told HELEN: you. Having been instructed earlier. I complied and hence I am here now. Rcally he is dead and buried. JOE: Perhaps I did not understand you well. Do you mean date, debt and borrow? HELEN: (Bringing out a letter) . Take ihis and read for yourself. Pirhaps it will explain the issue more. HELEN: (ENTER EMMANUEL) JOE: (Taking the letter and opening it, reads) "My dear Joe, I thought it a great deal of injustice to est away from this world without dropping a few lines for you. On my death bed, I managed to ovcrpower the pangs of death and then compile this to bid ycu goodbye, Herewitb my sister Helen. You quite remember how intimate both of us had been. Please, for tho purposes of consolation, you may have her near you. But where this is not to your help taste let not my. letter. I cannot it. This i s the uneptcted bitter end of mine and I must go. Please great your master and make it a point to help him get tired up to Maria. I could have done more as you know 26 �but the ineritable has now served as a barrier. Lament for me not very much, for I have gone to pay the sure price mankid. yours affectionately David". (Joe bursts into tears) Can this be true ? Yes, it is indeed. 0 ! confusion, why now? 0 Death ! have you come again ? You have snatched my parents from me and that was during my tender age, why have you come now to keep me friendless? David my own trust worthy companion who ka'rure prominently in Maria's residence during our last visit! He so praised my master as if both of them had once lived together ! He so spoke to Maria a bout my masters' dignity that the lady was trembling for having tri:d to 11 use the mau ! Cold hands of wicked death ! '1 The abstract agent of destruction ! You have wronged me. Why not take me too to that land instead of keeping me socially stranded ? O! David! David. How can I get another like you? O! my confidential, handsome and far sighted David! Only some days ago, we were cracking jokes over the solidarity of our affection and I did not know that death the idiot, would overlook every other person and steal the youth away. ' Afterwards, life is a slow process of death. It is only like the shadow of a well dressed man or woman which only vanishes as he or she leaves the mirror; T must mourn thy loss my only friend; 1 am even shocked at this. I came into this place with the happy news of m y vedding with Maria at ten o'clock this morning. I did not know that one of the agents who contributed greatly towards the project has now been snatched away by death. Rend your heart no more. God before things will soon assume a good shape. EMMAN: �I have corn.: to reward you for your faithful services to me. S o u will be free ,from me as from today. I shall marry for you. Towards that, if Helen will like to be together with us in this' house, the better. This will enable us to take heart whznever we think of David. Ycu and your wife, will live in this house with me and even though you are employed somewhere, yet, I shall maintain both 3f you for one year. I shall also be after your interest. (Handing over t o him) Take this bank cheque of one hundred pounds which you are privilleged t o use any how you like. JOE: Thank very much Sir, I a m - now a confused man betwean joy and sorrow. In view of the fact t h a t Joe an3 my late brother David were very frieadly, I d o not hesitate t o accept the offer which Enmanuel the owner of this house has made. 1 will like t o live with you and be a part and parcel of my brother's friend. JOE: Thank you Helen. I see with you and will neither add nor subtract from what you had already said. Take me as your brother while I substitute you for him. HELEN: I am now going for the priest who will tie us in holy wedlock. (He leaves) EMMAN: HELEN: JOE: Are gcu really in deep love ~ i t h David. Even if I-had the dagger at my neck saying yes, I must say it! HELEN: Where is that ring ? 28 for �JOB: Here i t is. (Showing it to her.) Who told you of it, was it David ? HELEN: JOE: HOW? Are you ~ a b i d ? HELEN: JOE: NO! I really gave i t to. you,! By all means, I am. Such a deceit might add more to my sorrow! 0 ! poor Joe! David is a man. Helen is a lady. How t h m can ?his miracle b e ? Perhaps you are not serious! Surely, you want to taste me. I am serious if you please. Now suppress your surprise and listen carefully. I am David your friend. This is my real face. Really, David is a feigned name under which I began to go after the death of my mother who mas the last to die, my father having died when I was only five. No brother and no sister. As a poor orphan, I did not want men to worry me about. Hence I clad myself in the attire of men, served m y first master who made no trace of the trick. HELEN: (ENTER MARTA) The man in whose house I am living now appears to have adopted me somehow. He too is quite igoorant of tbe whole affair. You wete also in the same soup. I love you and if you still remember last time, I demanded t o know from you if you loved me as much. I decided to try you and so did all that you might have experienced today. �JOE: (Embracing her and looking straight into her eyes) You are quite correct my dear! (Looking 'at her again and then kissing her once.) Former. bitterness is now changed into sweetness infact, an everlasting one. O! how deceitful is this life ? My sorrow, is now changed into joy. How glad ! At any rate in remembrance, of the whole issue, I shall not call you Helen but D. which is the beginning letter od David. HELEN: With all pleasurz Joe; (They kiss again) (ENTER EMMANUEL .AND'THE PRIEST) I have no doubt that both of you will make the second couple in today's engagement. MARIA: JOE: That is very sure. I am now a married man and above all, no longer a page. That is so. Now three hearty cheers for Joe's Freedcm. Hip ! Hip ! Hip! EMMAN: Hurrah! EMMAN: Hip ! Hip! Hip ! ALL: H u r r a h ! EMMAN: Hip ! Hip ! Hip ! ALL: H u r r a h ! (All of them clap and stand) PRIEST: Marriage is a means whereby a man and a woman are both united o n . earth in the visible form and also in spirit. When some .people ar: thus tied together, they cannot ALL: �be separated even in heaven above .because it is a command by, God. .Husbands, love your wives. In return, wives respect. your husbands. Now unto God the ' father Almighty, I dedicate Emmanuel and Maria who have today become husband and wife and also Joe and Helen who have bccomc husband and wife too. May the blessing of God dwell abundantly upon you ferever and ever ! ALL: A m e n ! ' " Then they unite tor life marriage and death will only depart them." EXTRA LOVE DEALERS .As a matter of fact, some women think that men are entirely stupid. Below is .given . an extract of a letter written by a spinster to one of her friends:My dear Julia, It is one of the most v onderful things that I had ever come across.. Since ' my arrival from home to this place, I have actaully not found things as difficult as I had expected. Men in fact e\en those of my father's age scramble for me and keep on spending tkeir hard-earned money for the purpose that will not in any form benefit them. In some cases, they even fight to have. me. I might go ' to b? the mediator. But more often than not, they refuse my appeals. When I discovered that it was only a way .of making the whole �situation worse, I stopped to pacify. them and simply left them to their foolishness. You might even be surprise to hear that not all of 'th-m are bachelors. In the night, I would keep on aondering how responsible they are. Truly some of them are wageearners whilz other arz wha! we in our local language cdl 'big men'. The latter comes in their cars and simply say, Lady get into the car"., Really, no price will be fixed. Well, it would o ~ l vbe a qustion of taking the lady to one hotel. There the bill for a stay will be. defrayed. But in the end, the compensation must be given to the lady. Of course, in such cases, nothing like thank you is said tq them. Rather than the men will be pleased and return thanks. " As a matter of fact, when I came newly, I alnays had to receive any amount given to me. But now, I have learnt to express my feelings, where the money is n3t something sufficiently enough. Even though this is the situation, ye: I must assure you that the part is not all that easy. Some of them who came are ruffians. The gentle ones do not worry at all. They feel that neither fighting nor no disgrace would solve problem. It is for this sake that I have been teld to charge them highly. That of course, I have been doing. You might be pleased to hear that I have now got one family iron bed a thing 1 did not at first think if possessing. In those days, I thought that any person who had one, was one of the richest. My trunk box is something sizeable and lovely. 32 �. -Indeed; it is :one .of.:the..:most.. cUt..staading in the .whole of.. our town.,: Again; I .am.: now. well. knoivn . a i d hany of the ..young inen'. struggle. .to.have me. Th: township is quite a good place I eat any time that I'like and of coarse, you. may not dare comparz my. food with what whom we take as the richest msn ie our home town takes. SO you see that the excessive libertjr that I enjoy, here is something epviable. I do -not even car to get married to any man again. For he cannot satisfy .,me as much. as I am a t the present: Jiving. I am only very sorry, that you are .suffering' at hbme. I have nowgot some-goldand you quite realize that your husband might not be able to buy that for you. In fact, my shoes now, number twelve in pairs. You may even have to unylerstarid that I no . longer. deal with inferior things. I only did that in those days when there was no.money O! I remember, of course, you need not be remainded how both of us suffered together. When I think of those bad old days and compare them with the present, I simply glorify God for his mercy towards me. X can 'only .suggest that you abaudon your' husbaod,and come to .this earthly paradise where tbings are most enjoyable. ,You will be surely enriched by men. You will be happy and at . the same tim'e free from the molestation of the man who calls himself your husband. Keep fit, Yours Sincerely, Arit James. �.Julia. had actl~ally lived ,with .her. husband for a period not belon three-years. The man hin.self was Etim. He did all he could' to keep the will quite comfortable. At any rate wh'en a man and a woman live together in' one room, there might be some type of misunderstan3ing a t times. But the young man tried very much to prevent any open quarrel1 that might come up. People mostly praised him for his mild temper and cool-head. In all dealings with his wife, he was very gentle and sincere. He was indeed the type th.it considered it worthwhile to desist from hating a wife simply because she had not l e t got any issue. Even when Julia had no child, Etim kept on managing things in that way. When he .could no longer hope to endure the troubles constantly given by his wife, he simply approached Emmanuel for some pieces of zdvice. That of course he thought would help him tide over the entire difficult situalion and then just as Emmanuel sat down one bright afternoon, Etim entered. . EMMANUEL: UP) ETIM: You arc welcome my dear! (standing Yes thank you. Please sit down. I have no doubt that. you will be pleased to .explain to me more about your family. But where it does nct conform with your own' principles, then you might simply have to pardon me. EMMANUEL: �EMMANUEL: In any case, I am opined that you as an experienced man, can agree with me that one of the problems facing men is the one of relationship with women. This is partieularly so when speaking about house wives. You seem to look somehow worried in mind. Perhaps, I cdn guess your trouble a bit. Oh dear! If you would not mind it, I shall be prepared to call you a soothsayer. You have actually mentioned the root cause of my distress. It is for that, I have come to you for the purpose of obtaining some advive. I always jealms people who live happily with their wives. For my part, I can only say that I am very unfortunate to have gat a type of woman that would bend upon kezping me in uttermost discomfort. She associates very much wlth free women and even though she is given full liberty in this house yet, she does not appear to have realised my kindness. I am even thinking of committing suicide because of this wicked woman. ETIM: (ENTER JULIA) I suspect that you might have understood that your husband is here. I am really very pleased to get you here. Your husband seems to have been somehow offended over your actions towards him. In fact, the earlier you ETIM: �make a change the better <I hope it will be. -I.am'.sure that if both of you remain in peace, there wdl not be much to worry for. Thank you Sir. Truly, I have decided not to worry in the house' any more. Just of recent, I received a letter from one of the ladies who was at first in this town. She is vary much desirous cf haviug me outside as a free-woman. She explained to m$ that there is a lot of money to be realised. Pleas'ure she maintains is abundant. JULIA: DO not worry. Thess things must pass away but .love shall not cease until such a time that the inevitable end of mankind will have to step in. EMMAN: In any case, God forbid that,. death should come at this time. Let us live and hope for future progress and betterment. Dismiss trouble, for it is bad. Stay in love and peace and comfort, will have to be in your room. Happiness will also enter and of course, you realise that it is a great gift. I shall not tell you that I do not querrel uith my wife. But we always settle things in a very amicable form. 'It is in that way we easily prevent people from mocking or laughing at us. EMMANUEL: �JULIA: I have actually heard and understood you. I shall no longer make a mistake of getting to be in dispute with my husband. I shall be prepared to accept him as my brother and then keep things going. I am also grateful at this. I trust that by the graGe of God, I shall be the last person to cause any rift within the family circle. I now say pos~tivelythat P shall kezp her happier since she has with her whole mind decided to be in pzace with me: I really love peace and hate pieces, You have lived for long, with your own wife and people envy both of yau. If I can onlv live like that, I *am sure that my days will be longer even when I am not God who ought to decide. ETIM: Let all things be so. I have heard your'assurances. When mistakes do not come up in love affairs, it is not all that easy to effect true love. Let us hope tbat God will seal up all that we might have said here. What I like in my life is to say something and mean it. If you d o so, there might not seem to be any type of misunderstanding which you will not be able to suppress. Men and women EMMANUEL: �always like la tnlk. But you should not be wor.cd. Keep cool all the lime and io thr en4 you will come l o a a l i w that i t is mare folly l o keep oo quarrelling sod creating confuadon hrrc an" there. m w : Much talking might not go to help us. We shall onlytry lo we i f wc can live up l o expmation. O m moa, I ray, thank you. Good hye m" dear ymngman. I hall not look h e n or l h s c for any advim again. The bad and lcccirfvl lrllsr that I got will not fake me away from the right path. Good byc Sir. ,"Em The E d TEE WISE SAYINGS A rtranar with hrtrer attitude en,ertains the host. Onc docs nor need any light i n the dark to rrcopnise hi* frirnd. Two husband do not reject thefood prepamd by n goad smiiing woman. One nn't see wcll i n the battle using mirror on her eye oat a Lime. Hiddcn words should never be told to ths talkerrivea. I f your hrolhcr'r purse catcher fire, wet youo immedialdy. No matter how tall you am, your shadow will atways noc he met while irackiog. �Wcsllb o f f e d fa a fool ia like water fillcdia a lcakio bucket. The birds take lhrmrelves as land awoers, yet fear the farmcrr. A haPw expiprcuion inspirer confideoa., We klmow ,those that wc lovc bur thore who lovc "a we Loow rare. Tho csltlc informs ita o w n that it is ready. How juvenile EIOYS PO d m his inteligeam. A good wife does thing8 accbrding to the husband's cammand. People 11auelling with Ihcir encmy, must understand that they arc rravelliqg alone. A thief has no stamp on his ram. A l l that you have to enjoy are all that you have 81 prescn,. DiRculBcs can be realis. by trying. Nothing Wid with tho mouth ,bat ir m e t . me wisc does not go to functions to f e d !hemselves but for understandings. The h u n m man r e m c m k n aU the food be r u s t e d when he i r hungry. I f )on hope on your parmta you will die poorly created. Hs who hasgooe to k i c o will s s j much of it. sew m , i went 10 ~ h cmarket with shrcla on his clothes. The wlf aduiwr term the b e instead of me hooey. r n e d a r not know the +vcl i l l n r u o f another. The vulrum islhe indicator of dead s n i m s b The fling bird dcfeslr the long ,,oatred human. N o t all !he lcavcr i o the bush are eatable mc 39 �He who kncws how a rogue breaks the door is a rogue himself. The good words in the jungle and its sufferings are tqual. How old a woman is, she is bearing sweetness to her husband. The goat will orver trace thz way of the hyene. The grave of a wlk lies where she married. To give to the new born is to provide for the old age. The appearance of the brave is an evidence of what he is. A person has the cock but public have the crow. Where the Juvenile points while crying there you will find thy father or mother. He who sleeps under trees does not mind the leaves A town may be far but there is another behind it. Never trust a person who does not mind his business. Wealth is not his that has it but he that enjoys it. The one cutting a path in the bush does not realise how crooked it may be He who suffers from yaws watches where he places himself The fowl dances happily at the function the hawk has not attended. If you dance while every music on, you will soon be lame in both legs. ��1 Intmrting Nm1s and Advisable Novels in rtwk. Eaough d i i u n t wl ba made in the price on quaotitj ordered, * il I i . .. ;'?P/ . ;I'... '.'$ The African Youths Guide 3s. dozen 12s A Guide to mmiagc 2 6d. dozts 12s. s Beam of women 28 6d. doun ga Braotifu) Abrmm in Crazy love Is 6il doma IOs Drunkard$ bClisws .barrrs Heaven 1s 6d dozen 9s Hew to su* in life 3 . ,dozen. 13s 8 M tf j : & act of true IoYe 2s dd, dozen 17s uiu $ in the * Naw to apoverty 1s 6s dozen 12s H & I Ibo, Y m b a d English m@e easy 2s. dozen 128 ~ Man 'spffbm is 6d. dozen gs ha'R3ogct 2s6d dozen I&, Iia in the romance of,&$iny 2s 6d. down @s M i i &tarfort's heart cries for T&b.g66, dome 1% o'0; I8 . NigeriainBeohelors Guide 28 2s, d* 66, ?Iknq .b1ooming beauty z,@& ,cif ;lOs ' love 2s 6d, dozen Ha ur pf man b 6d, dozen 9 Thc,.,W birtbry of Zik ZI, doze3 15s w.M is hard Is 3 4 dozea gs ?Be q&ror of life is 6d, d6zm 12s T e lif6.i~ prison yard is 6 d dozen 8s h the Two ie the romance of m%vay Iovtr 1s 6d. d p lk w Whrt w w ace thinkingabout men.(No. lbomb to wnmol)'1$ 6tl dozen IOs .Wbp mcd never trust women 2s 6d, dozen 13s Roamnary and the taxi driver 2s dozen 121 Sllfurday Bight disappointment 2s dozen 12s Zk la @C battle of freedom 2% dozen 14s i Lwe s h d mva d 3 dozen Us , The86 are few of the nowls have in stock and ~lrqmise ta add more in future. &large your vocab by reading novels. Send your qflcn todr forquiclr &livery. AU orders are posted f m . 1 qJ& p p all yid. m a p J - .. Printed by AN Star Printing P m , 62 IIReLa Road; O [ . n* � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Beautiful Maria in the act of true love : "Emman & Maria" Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stephen, Felix N. Type The nature or genre of the resource Onitsha market literature Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Onitsha : published and obtainable from Michael Allan Ohaejesi Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 196- Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Chapbooks, Nigerian Nigerian literature (English) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl.c3566 Description An account of the resource Felix Stephen advertises this play as a comedy that depicts moral behavior for those in love. He says that it can also be read, and notes that it was written specifically for African readers and actors, (pg. 4). This might suggest a performance history. However, performances would have occurred in schools or in social clubs, since at this time there were no established theatre groups in the region.&nbsp; <br /><br />The pamphlet cover has a woodcut of a European couple, perhaps French, in court dress. The play appears to borrow heavily from Cyrano de Bergerac,Shakespeare and from many of the comedy-of-manners plays written in the 18th and 19th century. It is fairly well developed compared to Stephen's other plays in the Onitsha Market Literature Collection such as, <em>How to Play Love</em>.<br /><br />The characters include Maria, Theresa, Emmanuel, and the servants David and Joe. David and Joe run love errands for Emmanuel. Maria, who is Emmanuel's love interest, wants to test any future lover for emotional endurance and commitment. Theresa serves as a well-developed foil to Maria. The servants serve double duty as plot developers and analyzers of class issues. In one potential plot twist, Maria suggests that she might accept a love application from Joe rather than his master Emmanuel. <br /><br />Maria: <em>If it is from your master, well I must have to suggest to you that there is no need wasting [sic] time. I had on some occasions told you frankly that I do not want him to speak to me on this matter anymore. I repeat that if you would like to come in as suitor that I shall not waste [sic] time to grant, (pg. 10).<br /><br /></em>However, this plot twist never develops and is replaced with the classic one of concealed gender identity. Joe is getting ready to embark on his own quest for a marriage partner when he stumbles on David's true identity as Helen. The play ends with Helen and Joe, along with Maria and Emmanuel, getting married in a nearly Shakespearean double wedding. This plot twist is discussed in the essay on drama.<br /><br />Like much of English comedy, this play relies on plot twists and servants to drive the plot and the humor. The pamphlet ends with a sort of epilogue to the play in which Emmanuel prevents a friend or associate's wife from leaving him for a life of prostitution followed by two pages of wise sayings. This ending suggests that this play was meant for the reader and consumer of pamphlets, by purchasing this play one receives the added value of advice and wise sayings. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/976c9b11b1ad05037151facc846f140a.pdf 2c961963053699bc7b9535cac737c8ab PDF Text Text BEWARE O F WOMEN ,WHY. WOMEN ARE NOT TRUSTED Price 2/6d ���BEWARE OF WOMEN N. 0. NJOKU DEDICATED Mr. B. A. CHINAKA SHELL B. P. Copies Obtainable from, NJOKU & SONS BOOKSHOP, c/o 6 Arondizuogu Street, Fegge-Onitsha, Price 2/6d. Copy Rght Reserved. �INTRODUCTION When you travel to other continents of the world you see that women of that parts, behave better and more lovely than our mongerish Afriean Women. Our womeu know nothing than to pretend, to talk lies. to trick and say, "give me money" if you don't give them the money your word will be ignored. They don't know how to serve, to obey, to love, to pet and talk the truth. They are rather licensed liars Only very few are fair. In order t o discipline them, this little but effective booklet, has been produced. For your information; the letters contained in this bonklet and the investigation conducted are imaginary, real names of persons are not intended to be mentioned, but if by accident any one mentioned in this booklet happens to be your name, please accept my sincere apology. I must he greatful to Mr. OKENWA OLlSAH whose valuable advlce a ~ correction, have:entirely helped d to give this work its position before the reading public. NATHAN NJOKfJ the Author, and also sole %tributor of the fo!lowing Book:(1) "No Condition is Permanent" (2) "A Guide to Marriage by N. Njoku (3) "Man Suffers" All orders to Nathan Njoku, 6 Arondi zuogu Street, Feggc. Onitsha. �Those who have been liquidated, poisoned and disgraced by women would agree with me that this booklet is a first class booklet for men. I read i t in manuscript and take this opportunity t o appreciate its excellent contents. The author Mr. Nathan Njoku, a young but experienced writer, is neither a hater nor antagonist of wemen, but lover of his fellow men, a bold and an impartial observer. To my own understanding this booklet is never telling you not to talk t o any woman, or telling you t o hate them or make them encmy. No, it is tellicg you to beware of them, that is to be on your own guide. I must congratulate Mr. Njoku for producing this fine work, and I recommend it, for reading, to you, your family your relatives and friends Read on The Editor. �CONTENTS Page 5 Beware of women Who is That? 6 No Money, You are Talking for Nothing 8 My wife wants to rule my house 11 My wife ran away from me Stopping twins for maintenance sake 12 My advice to men against women 13 14 A ran Away wife My w~fe taking all my money t o her family 15 is My husband wants to leave me 16 My lover wants to oommit :uicide 17 Question for every body 18 The woman who ran four-forty 19 How my enemy got me through my girl's friend 22 I called my dog 24 I went bazk to my friend She paid me aoother w i t 25 She took an offence Passers-bye separated us 26 > , My dog came out My enemies heard every thing 27 Another doctor called 28 No money again I had a friend 29 33 Still in love secretly Men are powerfill and d o suffer 34 Questions for men 35 47 Questions for boys 48 Questions for glrls 49 Marl versus money 50 Authors comment ., - ,9 I , 93 �BEWARE OF WOMEN Beware of women, because they can receive poison f r o n your enemy and givo you and you may die for it. If you are now in love with any of them, take time, be very careful otherwise your enemy who has been finding a way with which to kill you, gets you through her. Never give them your body entirely, know yourself. Don't trust them too much. The majority of them arc bad and dangerous, and if you don't take time they kill you straight ahead. They can also liquidate you and run "four-forty." They have caused some of our young men to liquidate financially. Some of these men are now hopdcss. Some ramble about, jobless. Some have started life afresh, and some had left from their respcetive home towns to follow the mocking home people do farming work. i I What do you think that these men could tell their people that happened to their money? I am saying with absolute certainty that they have notbing to tell than lies, if you hear lies not small ones but the ones that would, ever make people be sorry for them. I know that some would say that they were rubbed. If you have ears to hear, eyes to see and faculty to think, beware of women, especially street one;, but if you can't listen, I am afraid, you will go like this young men I will mention. Women like to engineer words, so don't believe all tbe things your wifc tells you. Somebody can 1 �abuse her and she tells you that, she was beaten up by the man. They like to say things in a way ghat it will hurt ono's feelings, if you follow them, you make mistakes, or do bad things. He who is not deceived by a woman, will be very hard to be deceived. Who Is That? Question : Who is that woman inside the black taxi? Answer: She is a married woman, by name Paulina. Her wedloek took place last Saturday at the Cathedral Church. Question: What is the number of the taxi? Answer: The number is OY 940. Thank you very much my imformant, I have written down the rlurnber of the l taxi in my dairy. I w ~ l try hard to find out the husband of that woman, and tell him what I saw. Don't go away yet my imformant. I sm still investigating, you know 1 a m now at WAR with African women. I first began it, because they are too pretentious, if any one of them will be bold enough to come out and challenge me, I will like it Ebee, who is that woman quietly walking along the back yard.? Answer: She is a married woman. She frequently visits that place, and I believe she is living a t the inland town. Question: May I challenge her? Questioner: �Answer: You cnn do so. Questioner: Come here this woman, who are you finding there? (the woman runs away). So you have ran away, alright I will hold you another day. Question: Who is that pretender? Answer: She is Miss Victoria. Questioner: Nonesence, she is now pretending as if she never talks to boys, but she likes boy; too much. Who is that, prouding? Answer: She is a lady, by name Elizabeth. Questioner: I am sorry for her. That Elizabeth thinks that she is beautiful, not knowing that no one admires her, Let us call her and know what she will do. Answer: If we cail her, she will think that we are interested in her thus thinking that she is beautiful. Questioner: Oh! yes, it i s true. Who is that walking along that street with shampoo head? Answer: Shs is Questioner I don't like her shampoo, very rough. Let us call her and criticise her. Answer. She will disgrace us. Let her go with her bad head. Question: Answer: Who is that lady speaking to a man in white 2nd white? She is Christiana. Question What is she telling the man? Answer She is telling the man to dash her the sum rc. woman, by name, Lucy. �£5 before they fall in love. Questioner: Oh! what are these nonesenses? What are these Chsracteristics of Africa women? Why are they too much after money? What caused all these? What time would all these deplorable things come to an end. Let me warm all African girls, ladies and women, that I will continue to bombshell them, unless they stop being after money, and purely show "natural love" on their boy friends. My fellow men the titlc of my action against warnan is"DISPLINARY ACTION AGAINST THE MALCHARACTERS O F AFRICAN WOivlAN" No Money You Are Talking For Nothing T o fall in love with an African lady or woman i s not an easy thing. You Rave got 13 spend a lot. If your pocket is not heavy, you are talking for nothing, none will listen to you. They will disgmcv you when you approach them. It seema like thzre is no exis~enceof "natural love" in Africa, Afrimn women p2y lips service to natural love, but none purely loves her boy friend. The ugly situation is that they only love the wealth of s inan snd hate his life. I know quits alright that not all women love money badly or a r t not sincere to men, but the bad oncs ars greater in nwnber. Question: Who is the woman that is crying? Answer: Sb6 is a married wornall by nanm Ogacha. 2 �Question: What is she crying far? Answer She i h crying because her husband married a new wife. She wished her husband to marry her alone; Question Who is that lady runniog four fourty ? Answer She is my girl friend. She has eaten up my money and when she sees that I cannot maintain her again, she runs four fourty. Question Who is that big man Y Answer He is a well known man in our town. He is finding a native Doctor who wiil cure his diseases which he got from his girl friend. if care is not taken he will soon die. Now, he has seen a native Doctor. And here are the doctor's ques~ionsand the man's reply. Dr. Yes, what is the matter with you ? Sickman Please I want you to examine me well because I am sic!<. Dr. Where does it troubles you much? I have waist pain and there is a big boil on my bottom and I feel pain when ever I urinate. Dr. Did you meet a lady ? Sickman Yes, I met a bar girl four days ago. You have been attacked by a disease, called Dr. (Orie Ukwu) 1 will charge you £1 5 to elire it. Sickman There is no objection, Hence you can cure it. I will be happy to give you any amount just try to cure me aa quickly as possible. Author-Comments: Sickman �My dear rmders I am still warning you to beware of women mos~ly bar ones. For many kinds of diseases are spread by them. Look at the story of the sickman you h a w just read can teach you a lesson. Infact men are flowers and women are butterflies, when a butterfly sees a ripe seed on the flower it will go and enjoy the flower and whon the flower fades away the butterfly go away. Piease, my fellow men, is it p o d for a n educated mas to marry an illiterate woman? No sir, cduclted man sboiild marry an educatcd lady and illi!erare man t o marry an illiterate lady. Because birds of the same fea:her flock together in the nearness proximity. Please, when you want to marry a girl d o not ;:im to marry a most beautiful gir!, bccaune it is dunpzrous to h x husband, boys and men will be attracted to follow her and thereby bring trouble to the husband. And most of those beautiful girls used to sell their bodies to men and boys In order to gc: money and drsses. You must try to m3rry a girl whic!~ is not too beautiful anti A tall man should marry a short not too I&. girl, and a short man should try t.1, marry a tall gr1. Some men marry in erder to get children, if not most of our young men woiild like to remain bachelors. �My wife wants to rule my house The letter reads: I have been married since a year with out knowing that the woman was rather sturbon sort of woman. The wwst thing is that, this woman does not want to get children, because she docs not want me to enjoy her. When ever I approached her, she disgrace me. When ever 1 pass an order to her she can not care to obey it. She kept on wandering from place to place. She wanted to rule the house. i sm now fed up with her, must I sack her? Advice: please gather her people first in her presence and tell them the story, and see what her people will say. After consulting her people. If she keeps on disobeying, and does not wish you to enjoy her so as to get chi!d. You know that she doesn't love you. Then you can sack her, because a man marries just t o get children. Do you know that some women are the cause of their husband's poverty? Yes, they d o ir by telling their husband to buy beads, clothings and wearing costly things es gold etc. When they fee their husband with about f 10, they began to tell their husband to buy this and that for them. Do not allow your wife to go in company with bad women otherwise she become8 bad also. You know that rotten apple spoils others. ( M y wife ran away from me) (Here comer a letter from a man whose wife ran away). �My wife and I recently celebrated our second wedding anniversary. Tho following dzy, after taken children to bed. She and 1 went to our own bed and covered, she questioned me. The question reads : . "Supposing your mother and I were walking down a street and were suddenly chased by a lion, and you happened to arrive there. Would you save your mother first or your wife? I told her that 1 would rather save my mother first. Then she became offended and departed from me. I told her ''Bye-Bye". Auihor comments : My deer readers, in this question will you szve your msther k t . -Jr your wife ? . As for me I will save my.motker first r.~ther than my wife. Because if my. wife dies I can marry another wife, but i E my mother dies I can never get another mother in my life. STOPPING TWINS FOR MAINTENANCE SAKE Here comes a letter from a woman who waats; to know a way to stop getting twins. I have been married for the past 18 months, and have two children twins, a g e d 10 months Before then I have bcen living in harmony with my husband. He always buy me what ever I offered him He has always bccn very much in love with me and treated me .kindly. But, since I save birth' to the twins He does not maintain mc again- When I request for money, he would to sag that there is no money. Therefore, I wish to find what l shall eat so �that I can not give birth to twin babies again. I feel that if I give another twin again, he can not have money to feed me with the children. (Mabel of Accra.) Author comments: My dear readers do you think that this woman who finds st way to stop from getting twins is a good house wlfe? I do not think because if she sees poison she will give to her husband. Therefore, "Beware af women". "MY ADVICE T O MEN AGAINST WOMEN" 1 Do not promise a girl whom you will rnarrb . that you are a rich person, you have a car, bicycles, £3000 in the Bank, that you will give her many servants while yon are as poor as a church rat. Then, when you marry her and she fails to see uoder measured things you promised her that you had. She will run away from you. 2. Don't marry a street girl if you want to get children. And to avoid disease to attack you. Do not attempt t o marry while you are vary Young, because you will become old a t onw. . 4. Do not attempt to marry while you have not enough money to maintain her. If you win a girl by lies, can you feed her by lies? I have seen young persons artempring to marry when they see that they have got up to £100, forgetting that t o marry is easy but security or maintenance matters. 5. D o not marry because your mate has married, because you d o not know how much he has. 13 �6 Do not go to any woman while you have a wife, because you are teaching your wife a lesson in short, to d o like wise and is againrt the law. 7 D o not take your wife to be au angel, by so doing she will brain you, 'and you d o what ever she says with-out consideration. 8 D o not sted because you have no money to maintain your wife. Do things f ~ her as you can. r g Da not love women more than. money* but .' . love money more than women. 10. D o not think for money ,and at the s3me time think for women, becasue tbe two cannot arrive at the same dme. Think how to get money first. Then, when you have got enough money, then you can think of marriage, because it is .natural desire, that a person must think of a wife when he is up the age. "A RIJN AWAY WIFE" Please when you see a run away wifa do not marry her. She doesn't belizvs in steady life. She will run again. A c ~ u ~ l l y , wife who runs away is a kind of a thing a which can happen to any person at any time. Infact, it is a very strange thing that a wife can leave her husband and go to another man to leave Independent life. They forget that the best wolves on earth are husbands. What; is the r c s c n of a rnn-a-way wife? Surely thers must be some reasons, husband goiog in search of glamourite? Children not forthcoming? In short if a woman �feels that she is not getting what she hopped from her husband she might run away, escape for a while to reconsider things, but perhaps the greatest reason for an African woman for running away is (Security), that means money aod things money can buy. There are two types of run-away wives. That is those who leave door open and those who shut it: Those who leave door open are those -who run to their brothers, sieters or aunt (known to be of good chsracter). They wished t o come back after settlement. But, those who shut the door are those who run t o a girl living d o n e and to be very interesting to pursuits involving males. These wish t o have a house of their own. a man of theirs and !he most important of all to gain some social status. Dear readers, beware of such women because they are wonders. If you marry them, they can leave at any time and go to other person. ''My wife is taking all of my m o n e y t o Family". her Here comes .a letter from a man whose wife sends his money to her family. 1 have married k r many years now, but t h e ~ e is some thing my wife does, that 1 d o not like at all, she does not know that we have our own family t o care for. She continues to oompel me to spend a great deal of money on her family. And when family she sees that I spend small money for mv she beoamc offended. Please I should like you t o advice me whether I should send away this woman �I say this hence, I am not prepared t o live with a woman who loves her own people more than she loves my people. (S. I. E. of Sapele.) An advice: Do not sack he€. List out what you planned to do in future. that should show her the light. But, if she continues spending your money foolishly, you can sack her, if you have money to marry another. "My Husband Wants To Leave Me" Here comes a letter from a woman whose husband wanrs to leave. The letter read.!:I got married to my husband six years ago Unfortunately I have not got any chi1d:fromj him.. I am so worried over it, because my husbrnd loves me and has given me all medical aid, but with out any fruitful result. As a result my husband has become annoyed and is now running after other girl. I am now afraid, because I may in the end lose my dear husband. What must I d o ? (Sarah of Zaria.) An Advise: Both of you must seek for expert medical advise. Examination can tell you whether the fault lits with either one of you, or both of you. The doctur can tell you what course you will take after the examination. Try to compel your husband to agree to see doctor. The doctor can also tell your husband not to attend to another girl again. �My Lover Wants To Commit Suicide Here comes a letter from a man whose lover wants to commit suicide. The letter reads:A few morlth ago I fell in love with a married woman of my age. I am a bachelor of 25 years. The woman is attractive and I find it very hard t o depart from her. We stay two miles away from each &her but we managed to visit frequently. She wanted to leave her husband because of me. When I rejected her idea of living her husband, she cried and told me. that she 'would commit suicide. What will I do, will I run away from her o r will 1 marry her? Ongenra of Lagos. Answer: I advised you to leave her because she will put you into troublc.$But, don't you know that to fall in love - witha married wotuan is dangerous? Therefore beware of her. "Are women dangerous to men?' Yes, women are dangerous to men because they soak the lives and power of men. Therefore men do not live longer again, like their f u e fathers in olden days they took their hearts. They confuse the life of young men. They stop young men from making progress in their business. They caused them to think of them instead of thinking for their business. They took away the little money a young man could use t o start life. Infact they cause young men to be weak and useless t o the nation. �After confusing them and see that they are no where again they run to any where. They keep on hunting for men as a hunter hunting for aoimsls. What can it profit a woman if she gains the whole world and lose her life? where there is happiness, there is danger. cgWomen have spoilt the world" women have spoilt the world by hunting after men who will give them money, which tbey will use in buying what they like. Men women m d children have lost the right way of living the life. Men want money, money! money! money! they cry" "Children want money" "Give me money, give me money, they shout". "Women want men, men, men, men they cry" If you go round the world, you will see that the number of harlots are greater thaq the number of the married women Now, the Eastern Government has started t o tax those harlots, I appzal t o men to watch their wives well so that they may not be confused by independent women who live alone. "QUESTION FOR EVERY BODY" Why do girls of nowadays d o not grow iall like the girls of ancient time? Is it because the world has changed, or is it because of their nature? When I was a boy, I saw that girls of thllt time grow very tall. But since about 10 years, ago, I saw that most girls �do not grow tall again, you will see a girl of 8 years bringing out breasts, when you look at her you sea her breasts pointing at you. Before two or three months, what you will hear is that the girl !is married 2nd h-s given birth to a male or female baby. Infact, some times I used to ask my parents this question. When I ask them they will only laugh at me and tell me that they do not know the reason. The only answers I can give in that my question are as follows:Girl do not grow tall again because of their wickedness. They do not care to respect their parents as the girls of olden days. They keep on playins with boys from that playing their minds changed. Then whst ever s boy tells them, they will tell the boy to give them money. If the boy gives them few pennies, they will agree what ever the boy tells them. Therefore. I appeal to fathers7 and mothers to take care of their children otherwise their names would be spoilt. THE WOMAN WHO RAN "FOUR FOURTY" Here comes a letter from one John Ibilo, who was entirely liquidated by a certain woman, he was in love with the woman and his relatives strongly protested against his befriending woman but he (John Ibilo) never listened to them. At last, he regretted but it was too late, this lztter reads: �I used t o hear people saying that women did liquidate men but I never agreed it, but now no one tells me to agree. I have seen every thing with my two eyes. There was certain time I fell in love with one woman. The woman was beautiful on her body but she was ugly in her heart. She had small eyes but she sees farer than the person with bigger eyes. She never talk too much but she was a slow poison. I n short, she was not a good person. But I never knew that she had all these bad qualities before I fell in love with her. Some of my relatives knew that I was in love with her and they strongly protested against ~ t , but I never listened to them. I thought that they were trying to prevent me from enjoying my youth. (When we started to make the love,) the woman pretended as if she was rich and needed no supporter. She told me that she loved me and not my money, because according to her, she said that she was richer than me. She began to buy petty things for me, when I ask her: "What will I buy for you," she repli:d,"I don't want you to buy anything for me. I don't want, just be sincere t o me in your words, I myself will do so to you." After sometimes this woman began to change small small, she stopped to buy things for me. She began to beg me money from small amount t o big amount. I started t o give her, with hope to recover them, because I thought that she was merely trying me. One day 1 checked up what I had given her, it £47 : 2 : 4d. Tbis amounted to made my business c a pi t a 1 which �was f250 to reduce greatly. I got financially difficulty and was unable to import articles steady as before. lnspite of the shortage I had got, I continued to give something t o this woman, because she had brained me up. I loved her without comparison. At arly time this woman visited me, she complained t o me that boys wsre worrying her for friendship, and she used to disgrace them so, when she said this, I began t o do tbinga which would make her had more interest in me. S o that boys would snatch her from me, I began to d o all these foolish things and my money finished. One day the woman came t o my house and I informed her that my money had finished. "Were you robbed" she asked me. I told her that I was not robbed, She thought that I was trying to know what she will tell me. But when she discoverd that my money had f~nlshed,caused by her, she ran "four-fourty". I never saw her again. Five times I went to her house but when she saw me coming, she ran inside the house and told her house girl ta tell me that she was not in, tbat she was out. This thing pained me a lot, nearly I got heartfailure and die. Then I remembered the protest made by my relatives which I ignored, and I regretted, but it was too late. I am now a motor boy. When ever the inaultive passengers insult me, I remember my foolishness, and bad life I played. John lbilo of Abbaki. Author's comments : If you are now in love with any girl, lady or woman, that she can Beware, bear in m i n d �liquidate you and run "fourty-fourty". The story of Mr. John Ibilo of Abbaki is a lesson t o you but if you don't want to learn something from it, I am afraid, you may go like him. HOW MY ENEMY GOT ME THROUGH GIRL'S FRIEND. MY Here comes another letter that will teach you a sense, from a young man whose girl friend poisoned. My name i s Benard B. Eke of P. 0. Box 14 Guzo. I fell in love with one lady in 1958, but I never knew that this lady only loved my riches and hated my life. In one of her flattering letter, she wrote: Fine Benard, bombastic Benard, I don't think that 1 can live in this warld without you, she used to call me "bombastic Benard" because I was she said that I love to use high English. impressed by this letter, and each time she wrote me; my love on her became stronger. T o be frank, I had a terrible love o n this lady. What happened? I bad one bitter cnemy, who was ready to give any amount of money to any body, who could k ~ l lme. 1 cannot imagine how that my bitter cnemy managed to know that I was in love with the lady. He approached her and promised her EL0 if she got my head. 'The lady under-took t o kill me with poison. She assured him that it was an ea>y thing for her. She also told him that I like to eat rice " t h r ee" much and that she would it cook that riee for me and put �poison and present it to me. The lady charged that my enemy k20 to do the job. The enemy agreed without pursueing the charge. He paid her €10 advance, balance on kill. What happened ? One evening, the lady came to me in my house. After formal greetings, she told, me to give her 6d to go out and buy "Oyoyo" rice hawked by Yoruba women. I was glad as she was able to ask me to give her money. I gave her -!I she went out and bought 6d rice and gd meat, and put it poison. She carried the rice and kept table, and ask me to come and eat, on my d~ning God so kind, 1 was not hungry that day. I told her to begin to eat and remain small for me. She refused to eat the rice and told me that she it, would not touch the rice unless I frrst eat because it was in my house. I told her that I was nor hungry, and that it was dangerous for one to overfeed himself. With amicable face, she begged me to taste the soup of the rice, in order to assure her that I was not annoyed. 'Nothing' like annoyance, annoyed for what' I said to her. She continued to force me to taste the soup in spite of what I had told her, but I resisted her. With a fround face, this dangerous lady called me: 'Bernard, Bernard' if you refuse to taste this thing, I will leave it and go. 'You can go', 1 tod her. She' meant it and gone. 'Bye Bye' I said to her. �I CALLED MY DOG I called my dog, and it came, and ate the rice. What next did I d o ? I went t o one of my mate friend and told him about the incident, He gave me advice and warned me t o ''beware of women" He also adviced me to suppren the terrible ove I had on that lady and sack h e r because she was after my head. He sunpected that there was poison in that rice if not so the lady should have to eaten the rice. I thanked him and returned my house. WHAT I S WRONG ? You see trouble, one Sunday evening, the girl came to my house again. But I never g w e her face as before. "What is wrong?" she asked me. 'Nothing', 'I replied her. She brought me some oranges. I accepted the oranges and put them on my table, The oranges in the real sense were not oranges but poisons. I never took the oranges, 1 threw' them away after the lady departed from me. I presented this lidy with sweet biscuits, but she refused to chew her share in my house.' may be she was afraid. She; told me: I will chew them in our house and give some to my junior sister'. 1 made n o objection "it is alright" , I only told her. After some pass-time conversation, she departed without both of us referring to the dash we had the first day she visited me. I WENT BACK TO THAT MY FRIEND What again did I do? I went back to that my male 24 �friend and told him that she had come again. Me was badly rtnnoyeil for my allowing her to enter my house again, but I told him that I was not born to treat people like that, no matter how I was offended or trespassed I told him also that I knew myself, and that I had known that the lady was trying to get my head. I also wid that my good friend that if the lady ventured to enter my house again, 1 would !ell her gently not to visit me again, but if she tried again she got it very hot. SHE PAID M E ANOTHER ViSIT Not quite two weeks,. the devilish lady visited me previor#ly, she paid me another visit, by evening. "Good Evening" she saluted me. "Good evening to you" I replied. ,Any how 1 gave her sent. Shct brought me another poisonous oranges I received the oranges and kept them by my side. I called my boy to get my table knife. He brought the knife and I took one orange and cat it into two and gave her one . t o take. She refused and sad that she had taking a lot of orange bcforc coming. 1 told her to taste small in order to assure me that she was not annoyed. If 1 am ~ m o y e d ,will I come here, I am not annoyed, I a m happy" she told me. I tried all I can to make her taste the orange bat she declineJ. By that time I knew rnore than I knew that she was badly after my head. SHE TOOK AN OFFENCE I called my dog again and threw to it the om, nge I cut which.the laciy refused to take her share. �What an annoyance! This dangerous lady was badly annoyed for this. She took an ofence. She told me. Straight to gtve her back the remaining oranges "What am I doing with your oranges? Iasked her. I gave her the oranges. She told me to pay her for nenethe one I gave to my dog. "You are ~alking sense" I replied her. She began to tel! me bad words and we began to quarrel, the quarrel developed a fight. She tore my shirt into piecea, and I slaped her twice. I never boxed her because I knew she could not reslst it, she will die. PASSERS BYE SEPARATED US Passers-bye separated us. Both of us were asked to ray what brought the fight. She distorted every thing: A single word never came out of my mouth 1 was mute. The passers-bye begm to accuse me, and gave judgeme~t in favour of tbat lady. I You can decide any t b i ~ g , told them. I never wanted to tell them why we fuught because I rlo longer wanred to reconcile wtth that lady as she was sccking for my head. MY DOG CAME OUT The parcial passers-bye dispersed with run when my dog which resembled tiger came out with mouth opened. That my dog hated to hear noise. The lady never followed [he passer - b y ran, because my dog had known her and she no longer feared the dog. She left with out run, but with big shame. When she was going, I told her that I no lcnger wantea her in my house, but if she ventured she took. �what she wanted. MY ENEMY HEARD EVERY THING Accordive to inf~rmation, I heard that the lady went t o that my bitter enemy and told him every thing that happened. Oral message t o the enemy, keeping him informed that I was aware that she was trying to k ~ l lme. I gat no reply. For three months, I ' don't see the lady, so I thought that every thing had ended, not knowing that there was a bigger plan. One morning, I wake up but was unable to walk, sweat was all over my body. I began to feel cool badly. Say by 10 a m I could not hear again. Every thing was by writing. If I wanted to tell something t o a person I writs it, and if the person wanted to reply, he writes his. Believe me, I was afraid and my people were afraid also. It was a wonder to us. I have not seen such type of thing. My people went and calred a Doctor. The Doctor examined me and called the sickness malaria caused by heavy sun. He charged £2;2/- (two guineas) to cum it. My people paid it. The Doctor gave me Fame tablets and drug. The first tablet I took made the thing more seriously. I nearly die. Each time I took the tablet or the drug, the thing became more seriously. My people reported this to the Doctor but the Doctor said that it was the reaction of medicine He told them not to fear. my people believed him but I never believed him because I �knew t t e re-action of med~cine. I told them by writmg that I would no more take the tablets and the drug. Told them also that I had no hope of recovery and that 1 must die. They began to cry as I could not withstand my own tears C joined to weep. We stopped when we saw a visitor coming ANOTHER DOCTOR CALLED My people went and called another Doctor. The D x t o r examined me and elaimed that it was nothing but bad blood. He gave his charge, Q : 31- (three guineas), and my people paid it. He gave me blood tonic and blood purif~er.None of these worked at all. My people called another Doctor when the sickness began t o change to many kinds of sickness. The Doctor as the one already called was unable to bring a cur% My people called another seven Doctors, one after the other but there was standstill, no improvement. NO MONEY AGAIN No money again for further treatment, so my people had to borrow L50 with interest. Opinion, invitated as to what way to follow next. This a as unanimous agreement to consult a native Doctor, My people consulted one native Ljoctor, who was also a soothsay (a person professing to tell the future). The �Native Doctor examined me and shouted: "They don maken mad". The Native Doctor said it was medicine buried by a lady in front of my house so wlaea I passed it over, 1 was affected. He said that the medicine was the one that caused madness but as God may like it, it change to another kind of sickness The medicine he claimed, was done by a Yoruba man. He charged E30 t o cure it, we agreed and paid him half of the money, balance on recovery. The Native Doctor began his work but it was very tough. He treated me, treated me, and got tired I myself, was also tired of taking herbs and washing with medicinal leaves. As tbe almighty God may like it, I was cured in 18 months time, a yew and six months, calculating as from the date the Native Doctor startqd to treat me. I never retaliated. I left every thing for God Not u p to 5 months. 1 recovered, I heard that thunder kllled that my bitter enemy. Not up t o quite 6 months, I heard again that, that lady was claimed by a motor back tyre. Motor killed her. Thus they lost their lives. Authors comment: My readers I know that you will derive sense from the story of Mr. Benard 5. Eke, who was once called "Fine Benard Bombastic Bmard" by his girl frieud,who late received money and made him *'medicine". If Mr. Benard was told in the commencement of their friendship that, that his girl friend could seek for his head. I don't think that he wculd agree the sayer. but now see what ,had hapoened. �NOW READ ANOTHER LETTER FROM A MAN WHO WAS POISONED BY HIS OWN WIFE I married in 1947 and wed in 1949. What a honney moon I and my wife began to live happily, not a small one, but a big one. She loved me quiet alright, aud I myself also loved her. We don't hide any thing for each other. If any body spoke to her on street, when she returned, she told me. She could not eat without me, I myself could not also eat or taste without her. We lived very good for complete two year, before devil came in. I HAD A FRIEND What brought trouble? I had a man: friend who was very handsome. Each time 'this my friend visited me, my wife admired him. He attracted my wife very much. To talk the truth so that the devd will be ashamed, that my friend never first chased that my wife. My wife gave him all impression and showed him likeness, before that my friend become interested in her. After, I heard that when I left for my work, that my friend came and began to play with my wife. That my wife had not raken her money and cooked fresh fish for me, but I heard that she used to buy fresh fish and caoked it for that my friend. I never took any action when I heard this because I don't d o my things like that, I wanted to witness every thing with my eyes. One day when I returned work, I saw my two tumblers broken into piece3, I asked my wife who broke them 30 �but she told me that it was our oneyear baby. After, from my house boy that it was broken by that my friend when he was playing with that my wife, after both had taken two bottles of beer. L heard I counted this two. One day again, I returned and saw peculiar thing. I counted i t three, and began t o keep watch of them. One day I left my house for my work, say . about 10 a m. the very day, I told o u r Manager, that I was attacked by big headache, and that 1 wanted to go home and rest for three hours he permitted me, because he was a good man. I went back to my house, and met both parties swallowing pounded yam with fresh fish. I looked on my bed, it was rough, nor as i t was 'in the morning, the very day. When that my friend saw me he nearly ran mad. Shame was his lot. That my wife herself could not know what to do, Only God knew how she felt. I never showed them that I was highly annoyed and offended. I brought out two bottle of beer from my cupboard and presented it to that my friend. He was unable to finish one cup, before I drank up the beer. I left him with thlt my wlfe and went back to my work. When I returned in the evening, 1 did not see that my wife she had packed her things and ran to her people. I waited her, waited her t o return but I could not see her, According to the native custom, it was my business to go to my in-laws whom I was mar marry their daughter, to �enquire why my wife ran end what was her anger. Upon all what she did to me, I carried two jars of tombo wine and went to her parents, when I reached to their house with some of my relatives, that my wife saw us and ran out. We formally presented the two jars of tombo wine to those my in-laws. After drinking the wine I told them the purpose of our coming. Those my in-lawn sent a messenger who called in that my wife, she greeted us with shame. My in-laws said that there was no need for long talk, because they had heard what they "called deplorable thing" it waa the tresspass she commited made her t o ran away they told us. They begged us greatly to forgive her because it was her first offence, They adaed that to err is human, to forgive is divine. I had earlier decided in my mind that wbat ever happened. I will not marry that my wife again. But I surrendered when an irristible presure was brought and bear on me, by my relatives to receive that my wife back once more. That my wife returned back to my house two days after we came to their house. We began to live again. Each time we went to bed, she began to beg me to forgive her. I told her that I have forgotten every thing, but I added: "let another do not happen again". She swore that she would uot do that type of thing again �STILL IN LOVE SECRETLY After all these had happened, I thought that that my wife and that my friend were n o more in love, that they had separated, but 1 soon heard that they were still in love secretly. I investigated and it was true. I went to one of my relatives and told him. He told me to prepare and sack that my wife. I was in preparation, that my wife gave me poison that my friend gave her to give me, so that if I die they would be chanced quite alright to carry on with their love and married together. The poison nearly killed me. I t suffered me and I spent £154 9 8d t o cure it. That my wife left me because she was induring the time 1 was s~cking formed th& I bad known that she was the person who poisoned me. After I heard that' she waa living with that my friend. They married for a year and one day, they got big quarrel, and fough:, and each sustained injuries, and they parted. This is the end . of my story. My name is Paul P. 0 Ebems, Private Mail Bag 2819, Kpoko. �Boys and girls, men and women and dear brothers and sisters in this life problems and happiness, man d o suffer till sweat comes out before he eats. In this troubled world man cannot record all what had happened to him in the scramble for money and the grievous disappoinments which life bas fired him. And I can tell you that man whether short, thin or poor cannot be taken as a small man because any man has a-way in which he shows his man. hood, -either by power, cleverness, foresight, commonsense charm or trick, (Men Die In Many Ways .Because Of Money A-tad Women ) Men die in many ways in finding money. Some men had died in the motor aceidcut, many had died for over -worki@ the~nselves . Restlessness of mind and heart-failure have killed milions of men. In fact, man do suffer, and man is a responsible being for the f o l l o ~ i n greasons: (1) Whether a man has money or not be must contribute financially to the development of his community. �(2) Whether s man is poorer than church rat he is liable t o tax. (3) Whether a man has money or not the desire for marriage sleeps with him on the bed every night. (4) Whether a man has money or not he is being looked upon by his relatives to help them. (5) Whether a man has money o r not he is rcsponsible for the maintainance of his parents. (6) Whether a man has money or not he i; responsible to maintain his wife and train his children. There are other numerous responsibilities which man baa. QUESTIONS FOR MEN (1) In what way is a man known? A man is known by courage, endurance, cleverness and hardworkkg. In what way does man overcomes his problems? (2) Man conquers his problems first by prayer, commonsense and contribution of advice received from wise thinkers. �(3) Is a man barn- to have thing8 easy ? Man is born to sweat before he eats; knowing this we need not worry our mind when e v e r we are troubled. (4) What type of men are expected bo sncceed in life. Men whoare expected to succeed are man who are courageous, patient, kind, honest, labourious and fearers of God. '5) What type of men are expected to fall in life ? Men have men gress who are expected to fall in life are men who too much competitional, minds men who envy, who are dishonest and men who hate the proof the others. (6) .What type of men are expected to be poor for ever ? They are men who hate to work but love delightful things. (7) They are also the type of men that are idle. What type of men are wanted ? Men wanted are men who understand others point of views, men who love their neigbbours as themselves, men who are faithful, simple sympathetic Godly and poor in heart. 36 �(8) What happens to men who arc arrogant and rich in heart? Fall and shame always be their lot. (9) I s it true that good men d o not have big money? That is a lie, the only thing is that good men d o not as di~honestand unfaithful men have money one day but have theirs gradually. (10) Is it true that wicked and bad men have money greater than good men? The fact is that a thief can have £10,000 a day but that money will finish within a short time while the man who gathers by labour increases daily. (11) I n what way is a bad man known? A bad man is easily known by wordsof mouth, attitude especially when you do a business of money with him. (12) In what way is a good man known? By words of mouth and actions you know a good man (1 3)What is that debt that a man owes his community The debt is wife. When a man marries he has paid his people. 37 �(14) Do men maintain. thelr parents greater than their girl friends? It is deplorable to observe that some men don't care about their parents instead they will maintain their parents who born m d suffered on them, they take to drink and maintain tbeir girl friends. I have seen many parents going naked while their sons wear robes and drive costly cars. ( 1 5) Are men who keep themselves clean wornanisers? Cleanliness is hoiiness so it is very foolish to think that those who keep themselves clean do so in order to attract women but do so for their personal pleasures and to have respect before the public. In fact, simplicity of dress and cleanliness of the body and mind is lifely. (16) Wbat does dirtinesb earns a man? Dirtiness earns a man under assesment of wealth, disrespect and disgrace. (17) Docs cleanliness mean wearing of rich clothes cosily hand-watch and gold? In short cleanliness means cleanliness of the body and clothes whether cheap or costly �-But it is not bad to wear embent watches and gold and robes if you have what is called money (1'8) Is it bad for men to rub Powder? Every tbing depends on having time and the type of business one does. If you have time to powder your face it is not bad. After all we d o things to keep our lives long, and have happiness. (19) What makes ,some men before to die poor? who had got money It is a shame 'to do a common work. (20) What type o f men regain their wealth afier life had below them? They are men who are not shy or shameful to do the work of a common man. Important words o f Advice auainst what may happ~n ro you in futxre. Here comes a letter from a man whose former boy asked to come and serve him seven years as he had served him and the advice given him and you. 1. Dear Master of Life, I heard that you are a Great master of life and a famous advicer and I have read your books and was convinced that you are a wonderful being I write. �to tell you my own miserable state. Furmerly I had many dependants and what was called money but now I a m no where. I have no perron t o help me financially except my former boy, Robinson, wbo insisted that he will not help me until I have served him 7 years he served me. Afier the boy said this my brain scartered and 1 was unconcious. What I did was to pray to God to take away my life insread I will live to serve tha boy who had served me. Now tell me what to do either to go and serve the boy or stand firm in my decision not to go and serve the boy however hunger worries me. E. Ojo, Shagmu W. Nigeria. Advice. : Your case is a difficult one but I will try. Nobody expect y ~ u , can tell whether you treated your boy fairly or not during his service to you. If you were cruel and gave h i m tough time it might be his annoyance and wriy he insist that he will not help you until you serve him for 7 years he had served you in order to return every wickedness for wickedmss. That is to retaliate. �But if you were fair to him and he insist, not to help you until you serve him then he has not the slightest respect and sympathy, and I a d v i ~ e you not to go and serve the boy because hie mind is not good to you and his aims at high. What I can tell you is: Forget the boy's money and take thing mainly for no condition in -this world is permanent and life you see is empty dream. Again from today stop to pray to God to take .away your precious life and never attempt to commit suicide for it is' agalnst the law of tho state and that of God. And don't have little mind, encourage yourself as a man by prayer and labour you shall regain your wtalth a n d become a . man who has a story of life to tell. Here comes a second letter from a k5-per month court messenger whose wife demands more than his salary and the advice given him and you. 2. I am a court messenger receiving . & per month. When I receive it I share it. . �I give my wife fi4 for what we will eat for one month. I use 5s. for my pocket money and save 15s.for our cloths and eventuality. But what is paining me now is the persistent complaint of my wife that hunger worries her at any time because tho £4 is not sufficient for one month. When I asked her to tell me the amount she thinks that will due for one month, she said £8. As 1 cannot afford £8 what will I do? I. 0. Iselle Ukwu W Nigeria. Advice :I don't think that your wife knows your r income. T y to make her know your salary to avoid undue demand becau~eshe is over assessing you. I n view of the present high cost of living manage to give her small amount to start small trade fmm there she can help to what y m ear. Here comes the third letter from a woman who explains why she divorced her husband and condemn men and advice given her and yeu. 3. Dear Mr. Okenwa Olisah. I have been reading your books with interest �I could gather that you are an impartial writer but J don't know how you wdl feel to read me criticise men as you are a man but any how I will strick because my pen is not a respecter of any body or a disrespect to well-fashioned gentlemen. I was in the School when a certzin young man approached my parents to marry me. The man was a Shop boy in the U. A. C. but when asked abuut his occupation he replied: "I am a branch manager of the U. A. C." He told me secretely that he had E2,000 Saving in the Bank and promise to please and maintain me if I agree to morry him. I was not impressed by the £2,000 he clammed to have had in the Bank t u t 1 was impressed by his promise t o please and maintain me. I was also impressed by his appearanze. I agreed and we married together. The first month I came to his house I received a good treatment. Every thing was normal. But when we entered the second month I experieneed a slight change. The third and fourth month were deplorable and micerable. The man started to show me h ~ s true colnur and I regretted my marriage with h ~ m . �He started t o beat me, started to make mouth at me for the shghtert offence, started to d o me a11 sort of things a man supposed not to d o his wife. What action did I take? I left the man with his insincerity, with his unfaithfulness, with his oruelty, witbhis senselessness and his wickedness. The attitude of the man has made me te condemn men and always look at them with unreliable eyes. The littles in them pretend to be big. No more with me and men I have chosen independent life. Elizabeth Nwa. Obikalu Oki, E. Nigeria ADVICE: Elizabeth, I can assure you that I am not annoyed because you criticised men of which I am among. I only against destructive criticism. I am also sorry for your broken marriage. Whom will I blame, is it you or the man for the failure of the marriage? I will not now blame any party for being responsible for the failure of the marriage until I hear both sides I have heard you but have not heard the voice of your former husband. �One book says: "Don't give judgement until you hear both sides of the case "Do you know Elizabeth that woman is born to be under man as man is born to carry the responsibility of woman? That a woman who is disobedient and has quick temper can not succeed in marriage? Referring to your decision to become an independent girl, it is the worst you have said. Do you know that an independent woman has no way to refute the charge that she is a prostitute? That is very hard t o resist the trials of men? That people will look you very down? Please revoke your plan if you wanr to save your self from blemish and regret. The last is your condemnation to entire men. You have misfired. Don't you know that all mcn as wrll as wolnen are not bad or good. To say the truth the number of good men leads the number of the women who are good. If you don't know, knaw it as from now. And it is unwise to assume that all men are unreliable simply because a certian man disappointed you. The fourth letter comes from !i man whose wife over-powers during fighting and the advice given him and you. �My own case is this : M y wife Paulinah is a strong woman and il tireless fighter. Instead I will overpower her during fighting, she overpowers me. Being that, she has known that she is stronger than me, she disregards my orders. Please tell me what I will do this woman?4. Okereke Uche, Abudu, N. Nigeria. Advice: There is no reason why a woman sbould overpower you, Why say what is expected from a woman? It m?ans that there is a certair thing you do. which makes you very weak or are you s~ck? You cannot do the woman any' thing than to avoid affray and keep your house in peace by displinary action. Don't fight next time, fighting lets some one down and you cannot reform a woman by beating her or quarreling with her. The fifth letter comes from a girl who is io difficulty in choosing a good husband arid the advice given her and yon. 5. Two men are coming t o merry me The one I love has no money to maintain me but the one I don't like has plentv of monev to give me. Please tell ma w h d L LAY. o Veronica 0.B Ebi. Onitsha 46 �Advice: If you know that you cannot marry the man whom you love because he has no money and cannot also marry a money man you don't like, wait for the man whom you love and at the same time have money. Be very careful in engaging a man. Try to know the work of money and love in marriage. QUESTIONS FOR BOYS In what way is a good boy know? A good boy is known by salutation, respect, obedience, devotion to his duty and quietness. In what way is a bad boy known? By carelessness, disobedience, stubborness and noise you knew a bad boy. Are parents responsible /or the rudncss of their children? Yes parents must share responsibility because some parents don't give their children training from there they grow up and become thieves, rougbian~, and disgrace to the community. Mother and father who is responsible to train their children ? 47 �Both are responsible. 5 In what way is a bey trained? By correction. advice and example, Not by corporal punishment. 6 What type of boys are wanted? Boys wanted are intelligent boys, clever boys and obedient boys. 7 What type of boys are filling up prisofi ? They are in majority bpys who refused the instruction:and the advice o f their parents. QUESTIONS FOR GIRLS In what way is a good girl known? I A good girl is-known by her shyness, quietness, respect, obedience and likeness to domestis work. 2 i n what way is a bad girl known? A bad girl is known by her lack of shyness shame known also by carelessness and weakness to domestic duty. 3' What type of girls are filling up horels? hey are in majority girls who are bad and those who don't want to be under men. 48. �"MAN VERSUS -MONEY1' The struggle for money has gane s o far, that some have now begin t o ask; which is it that controls the others, The lifelese or the animate men? The urleasines~money of this life, is mostly caused by money, many die in the strife' Others still remain in want. What evil has it not iatroduced? Where there is peace it intrudes. Those who have not often complain. Those who have it also complain. Dearest friends bas it seperated, son from father hits it disunited, husband and wife bas it hrought t o a clash, that is how money handless man's life. But m m is made to control money and not money to control man. In what whatever condition you may be let not money change your mind. T o the rich and poor give good treatment. for the Lord is the maker of them all. Remember the .great, "END" that respects none, and treat others as you would like to be trested. �BEWARB QF WOMEN AUTHORS COMMENT I am sure that you bave read Mr. Ebems enrefully and with undcratandiag. A word is enough for the wise, SO beware of women. The Owner This to cer1ify that this pgmpkt brloiogs tor .- ...... .-..." -....... ........"..-"" "........"-".." -"......-..-..- .. .......................... --.....Address: ,- ..........-.-.. "..-...-.---......-..--.-.. - . . . ..; Occupation .... .., , ................................ . . . . . . Native of . . - - . . -. . - - . . .----.-..-..-Date........."-...... . .......-.., . ----- ���� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Beware of women Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Njoku, N. O. (Nathan O.) Type The nature or genre of the resource Onitsha market literature Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Fegge-Onitsha : Njoku & Sons Bookshop Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 196-? Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Nigerian literature (English) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl.c3552 Description An account of the resource The cover of '<em>Beware of Women</em>' is upside down and backwards--a fitting situation for this title! The pamphlet begins its hostility toward women with a disturbing declaration: "<em>When you travel to other continents of the world you see that women of those parts, behave better and more lovely than our mongerish African Women&hellip;In order to discipline them, this little but effective booklet has been produced,</em>" (pg.2).&nbsp;<br /><br />The editor, presumably Okenwa, claims that the author, Nathan Njoku, is not a hater of women but an impartial observer. It is also made clear through a disclaimer that these letters and subsequent investigations are fictional--the product of Njoku's imagination. And yet the writer describes African women as greedy, manipulative and pretentious. Women are the enemy, according to Njoku,and they are just as likely to poison young men as liquidate (bankrupt) or cuckold them. "I am now at WAR with African women," declares Njoku, (pg.6).&nbsp;<br /><br />Njoku tells his readers "do not love women more than money, but love money more than women," (pg.14). But just a few pages later Njoku condemns women for loving money more than their husbands or boyfriends. The author even believes that the general wickedness of women has had biological effects. They no longer grow as tall, they develop breasts and become sexually mature at an early age, and they will accept a few pennies from boys and agree with "whatever the boy tells them," (pg.19).<br /><br />The anecdotes range from brief stories of how or why women will ruin the male reader and run the "four forty" (i.e. run away with men's wealth) to longer tales of how women will poison husbands and boyfriends for a little money. Njoku advises men that they have great responsibilities to their parents, community and children. He also says that a good boy is known by "salutation,respect, obedience, devotion to his duty and quietness", as opposed to a bad boy's display of "carelessness, disobedience, stubbornness and noise," (pg.47). Good girls are known for their "shyness, quietness, respect, obedience and likeness to domestic work," whereas bad girls "lack shyness [and] shame,"(pg.48). Overall, the pamphlet offers advice to men about why they cannot trust women,signaling a rift in Nigerian society over changing gender roles. The author,who also publishes under the name Felix Stephen, writes in most of his pamphlets about relationships with women and warns men away from marriage unless they want children. Women are viewed as threatening and only "very feware fair," (pg.2). Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/3cfa4757fece0587dc023abab6c977e0.pdf e2b0bbcc0a18bb199fc3dae1afc021ed PDF Text Text BNIBERY AND CORRUPTION I (BANE OF OUR SOCIETY) BY I M#RIUS NKWOH, B A. (English) Nigeria, . (Information Officer] Publicity Division, Ministry of Information, CNUOU--NIOERrA �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION (BANE OF OUR SOCIETY) MARIUS NKWOH, B. A. (English) Nigeria, (Information Officer) Publicity Division, Ministry of Information, �Dedicated to :My Mother. �BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Cocktail Ladies Talking About Love The Sorrows of Man The Voice of Umuchu Copyright Reserved First Impression 1965. Price 3/- �CONTENTS Chapters Pages Introduction . vii-xi Foreword v-vi . Prcfacc Corruption in the Police Department Corruption in the Railways . 12-28 . . 29-39 40-49 . . . 50-60 . 61-73 Official ~ o r r u ~ t i o n . . Official Corruption Continued . . 74-84 Corrupt Council . . . . . . BL-FL Corruption in Politics . . . . 96-108 Judicial Corruption . 109-1 17 . . . .. . . . 1l t L l 3 l Misccllancous Case of Corruption Conclusion �FOREWORD v Many who feel that they would like to know more about the social cancers that gnaw deep into the fabric of our social system find themselves unable to do so for the simple reason that adequate sources of information are not available. Relevant sources of information on this subject are not as easily available as the source materials for History, Geography, Literature or Law. The obvious reason for this is that the people who perpetrate these evils and know their mechanics, are not the people to cause their impressions and experiences to be recorded for future consultations. A man who desires to achieve posthumous greatness does everything under the sun to accumulate wealth which after his death will be distributed to a host of poor people who will attend his funeral, wearing caps of freedom and bearing evidences of his liberality. It is not for these people to question how the wealth thus distributed was accumulated. Theirs is to enjoy portions of that wealth. One of these social cankerworms is bribery with its twin brother corruption. The author, Mr. Marius Nkwoh, B.A. (Hons) English (Nigeria), has chosen this subject "Bribery and Corruption" as a compendious and imaginative headline under which he puts down his impressions and experiences gathered during a long period of research into the question of bribery and corruption, how they arose and how far they have putrefied our scoial system. What are the legal implications and what are the remedies? All these are described in the lucid language of this prolific writer on contemporary topics. I commend this book to all those who really want to know more of the causes of bribery and corruption, the various forms they could show their ugly heads, �and the methods of fighting against them. No amount of time spent in going through it over and over again could be regarded as time wasted. I congratulate the author for putting his views in prir~tfor public consumption. -F. 0 Zhenach6, Chairman, . Public Service Commission. �INTRODUCTION vii My concern so far in all my attempts at writing has always been to mirrior the social conscience of our age and to reform, where possible, certain ills of our society. I see into and through the conceits, hypocrises, weakness, selfishness and wickedness of mankind and laugh or weep. What can I do? I can't change the course of life were I even a Hercules. But I can comment and tell the truth as I see it; without hyprocrisy, without sentimentality, without any ulterior motive, without malice or bitterness. I have always thought that the business of writers is to commend the virtues as well as to expose the faults of their contemporaries; to confute as well as support a just accusation, to find out real crimes which are sufficiently grave and threatening to the social order and to caution people against same. There are certain social depravities which mankind has suffered through the ages and bribery and corruption are among these. Every Nigerian today agrees that bribery, corruption, injustice, jobbery, nepotism, favouritism, partiality, selfishness and other kindred social evils are wrong. Every Nigerian denounces these. evils publicly, in the Press, over the Radio, on the Altar, at the Pulpit and on a political soap-box. And we do this with the vehemence of the strongest terms! But does experience not show us that all these public denunciations effect little, if anything at all? How can we condemn these evils in the daylight when so many of us are arch-givers or receivers of bribes in the secret of darkness? Are we really sincere and do we really mean what we say? In many walks of life today, bribery and corruption are the order of the day. They are now accepted as a way of life at various levels. Service at times becomes self-centred. To get a job in many departments, it is �viii neither what one is nor one's fitness for the job that counts. It is rather the weight of one's enveloped purse that matters. One can be anything, yet one will get the job provided one knows the back-door. Those who can't pay, get nothing or if they get anything at all it is the worst that can be offered. I t is no wonder therefore that when one gets a job, one is not sufficiently interested in what one does but in what one earns. And this is why the generality of the public. meets with such inefficiency, incompetence and indifference in many offices and departments which are maintained with public money. What is'bribery? I t is the offering or acceptance of any undue value reward to do ro refrain from doing anything contrary to the values of honesty and integrity. Originally it meant alms, especially those given to beggars. Later on it meant living upon alms or professional begging and hence theft, plunder, spoil, which later on changed to blackmail. Bribery therefore means a gift received or given for corrupt purposes or a thing stolen or robbed. It is a reward given to pervert good judgment and by so doing corrupt the conduct of a person in a position of trust, for instance, an official or a voter. Bribery is always an undue reward for anything against justice. It is one of those unjust ways of taking another's property. I t is taking money or money equivalent from a man in order to do a service which we should do without remuneration from such individual. Gifts are sweet things and are capable of melting the hardest of hearts. Bribery and corruption are therefore sweet things to some people. But their effort does not endure. The cost of things may never bother us when another person is paying; yet the desire for many more beautiful and valuable things will continue. Who will �always pay for these desires for us? If there are no people to pay, of course the answer is that we shall have to steal such' things. And if we are caught, of course we will be tried and imprisoned. This is exactly the case with bribery and corruption. The indulgence is sweet; but one day is one day. The briber or the bribed will be caught, tried and imprisoned. We should therefore avoid these social evils and help raise the moral tone of our Nation. Bribery and corruption are things of the heart. One can avoid them by determination and selfwill. In this Republic* era, Nigeria needs youths who will rise above bribery, corruption, nepotism, favouritism,. jobbery, injustice, etc. Until each and everyone of us 1s determined to discipline ourselves and avoid these ills, all preaching and condemnation of bribery is sheer hypocrisy. And we need not deceive ourselves any more. Think how often you have seen the Police collecting two shillings from lony drivers! Think of the many times you have been refused promotion because you have not seen the "Oga"! Think of some allocation of land, some contract awards, some scholarship awards, some loading and offloading of goods in the Railway! Some Rigistry clerks of our Magistrate and High Courts are not too honest in the performance of their duties. There are thousand and one corrupt persons in this country, big and small, politicians or civil servants. Let's resolve now for a change of heart so as to fight this monster that is called bribery. That's the only way to avoid it. The fault of modem life is that sometimes thereis no honesty or sincerity in the things we do. We seldom love our work for work's sake:It is 'government work.' We perform it solely for what we can get out of it. 'Gwemment money is nobody's money.' The body is �our chief care. We make much o it; feed and pamper f it. We guard it from such little things as pinpriks. We flatter ourselves that all is well or must be well. Why not? We have plenty of money, (never mind how we got that money) plenty of nice robes, a chain of cars, buildings, fine girls (whether wives, friends or concubines) and the best that life can offer. But all these do not last because at times our honour has been rooted on dishonour and our wealth built on extractions from poor people. Even the dear body we caress so much is but clay and like its kind will surely split and crumble. And this is but Nature's way. Bribery and corruption are now a way of life. Should this be the case? Honesty is no more necessary for the effective performance of any task or achievement. We have cleverly discovered a short cut to richness - 'getrich-quick philosophy.' Honesty is no more necessary for any effective functioning of our moral selves. Even our body has been a thousand times prostituted to win certain ends. Some women cannot deny this because to some of them 'fair or foul is the strategm.' Honesty is no more necessary if we are to have and maintain pleasant relations with others. How can we when everybody suspects everybody? And this is the life we live today. The world is a slave to' gold. And the glitter of it has fooled people for long! I have been anxious, silent, pensive and sedentary. My days have been hours of care and my nights those of deep watchfulness. The things I see today! You too, I believe, see them. Our society is sick. Think of the crimes (highway robbery, murder, etc.) I hear of nowadays; the immoralities that have now become the fashion ('topless' fashion is even not my concern); the threat to human life and property by night marauders; bribery and corruption, nepotism and favouritism; un- �employment and dissatisfaction at every comer; uprisings and revolts throughout the world; assassinations and cold wars; tribal discriminations and hatred, political victimization, persecution and prosecution; the atrocities of thugs or what is now popularly called 'political stalwarts!' Where do we go from here? It is because of these ills of our society (and indeed the world's) that I choose 'Bribery and Corruption' as the province of my present investigation and discussion. I am not doing anything new. I am not even saying anything new. Many have written and spoken upon this subject. But I want to approach this topic from quite a different angle - how bribery and corruption really operate at different levels and places of our society. My investigation is conducted from place to place and not merely hearing reports and then rushing to make undue conclusions or generalizations. No, I will give in this book the exact descriptions of this public disease which is eating deep into our body system. And I implore all good citizens of this great Republic to raise their voices against this social disgrace. -M. U.E. NKWOH. �PREFACE PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION Dr. Zik in his Renascent Africa (p. 165) has this to say:- 'As in the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, so too in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Some leaders perch on alters defied with the stench of conuption, chicanery, egocentrism, tribal prejudice, cowardice, get-rich-quick philosophy.' Later on in the same book, he bitterly pointed out the sins of the blackman to the blackman. Said he:- 'The blackman is small-minded. He is petty. He is spiteful. He sees no good in the work of other blackmen. All he wants is for self, for family, for relatives, for immediate friends and for those who accept crumbs from him. Go to the public officers and you will see the blackman there. He damns; he curses; he swears, he orders; he threatens. - Go to the law making chambers and you will see him there. He will not co-operate. His task is to blacken the character of others and to paint them in sombre colours for his selfish delectation. Go to the make-believe homes of 'society folks' (do you call them contractors?). You will see the blackman there trying to live as a lord in a manor. Debts upon debts are piled upon his head. His very home is mortgaged. He will not scrupple to sacrifice his wife so as to keep with the Joneses.. . ' And Zik has not minced words at all. He understands the blackman, his weaknesses and ills. He has correctly described the type of blackman that is an easy prey to bribery and corruption. We know the truth he has spoken, but we pretend the situation is not as painted. Well, let's listen to another voice crying against the same thing. A certain young man, Mr. Ray 0. Nwaroh has C. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 13 to say about bribery and corruption, which he described as 'a matter for us all.' According to him "these words are so constantly used that the actual impact on people, if any, seems negligible. They have become such a cancerous growth in the community that some never think of either the repercussion or the harm they do the community at large. Any nation which has a conscience must do anything to eschew bribery in every form. In its totality, bribery cannot be justified, no matter by what name we call it (a tip, freedrink, entertainment or kola.) When many things go wrong now; they are often attributed to the aftermath of colonial administration, but mind, many things were not as bad then as now. Britain for their part, never left any legacy of bribery and corruption take ascendency over achievements and proved endownments? I wonder if this is the new gospel of Independence. "But who is to blame for this moral depredation? Let us examine our consciences. The recent talk by Mr. F. Iheanacho, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, was quite encouraging. He asserted that the public often tries to tempt those in position of trust. Therefore, we are the accusers and the accused. Today an average Nigerian believes that nothing goes for nothing. Any favour granted on merit, even with good intentions, is looked upon with suspicion. Why shouldn't a person have something he should have freely? He too, on the other hand, must feel some compunction if he had it, because the conscience has been morally distorted and socially debased. "The public often looks on the 'police' as the worst offenders in this considered field. But I say no. The clerks at the counters the motor car and cycle licensing �14 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST 4RIBERY AND CORRUPTION agents, nurses, road overseers, masters, men in the upper sector of the public life are all cited as co-offenders. A school leaver is put in a dilemma; if you do not bibe, you have no job; if you bribe, you break the law of honesty. But to avoid being called unemployed, he reluctantly succumbs to the second alternative. The appointment of the "X-Squad" was welcomed as a release. Why does it operate very inactively? Has it been bribed out? Did the members vie for office3 by bribing themselves? We are back where we were having moved in a vicious circle. Let the Ministers of Social Welfare take note. If this country is genuinely serious about curbing the menace of bribery and corruption, what helps do the different governments give to prospective prosecutors of the victims of this act? "They can't present an attitude of just being ignorant, or to say the least, not being interested in the affairs of the electorate save a t the election time. If the govemments are nonchalant, nobody would risk his personal freedom to organise campaigns and clandestine attacks. Let the government come to the help of people prepared to waylay bribe givers and receivers. By this means, the country will be cleansed of the leprosy of bribery to which it has been subjected and by which it has been menaced. "We must need imitate what is good no matter from what country it comes. Let us look round and see how the salaries of the Ministers in other countries compare with those of the peasants there. Is the gap so wide as to cause mass dissatisfaction? I am not a professional economist but in my humble opinion, salaries of legislators should be slashed to bring their scale in line with that of people working independently for themselves. Any commission set up in this country will fail in its �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 15 duty if the sky-rocketed.salaries of this mentioned class are not cut, importation of luxury cars banned, allowances reduced, plurality of income from appointment stopped, and rents controlled. These legislators, having given so, much with the right hand to secure a senior post.or a ministerial appointment, so much will be taken back with the left to replenish the gap already created; thus bribery in this country is circuitous. If you cannot bribe your way to promotion,:you must be static and eventually redundant, worse still, if you have nobody to put,in an influential word for you, you suffer the same fate. "Why have'we to raise such a hue and cry against one expatriate who asserted t h a t many Nigerians including Ministers are corrupt? Perhaps, it was the right thing from the wrong mouth. Why also condemn the Editor of the West .African Pilot who also claimed that corruption comes from.the upper segments of the Public? May be, the Editor is talking too much. After all, was the bitter truth not spoken? If there is a preferment by and a lobby to any Minister or Premier, can we not safely describe this act as corruption?. Let us examine the dangers we face when the traffic meri'are such as are mainly concerned with collecting cursed shillings from drivers. (a) Lives of passengers are endangered by over loading; (b) Proper road worthies of vehicles is never insisted upon. "Imagine the optional and forced contributions these vehicle owners' make. But we must pity poor drivers who are not prepared to corrupt, but to avoid waste of time, they are corrupted to corrupt. "It may be useless to launch the Six-Year Development Plan when the economy so raised will slip into the pockets of Machiavellis. The peasants feed the cow and they milk it. Let us first launch Six Years of Anti �16 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION Bribery Campaign. If the governments of the Federation are worth their salt, severe and effective laws must be enacted for curbing the menace of this plague. I will suggest right away - punishing the offender by the Firing Squad. Why can't Ministers, who by long service have out-lived their useflness, be changed? Why can't a Premier be removed, having lost the confidence of his colleagues? Why offer them bribe to. retain office? If I were such a Premier, I must resign having lost their confidence. "The concept of bribery is deeply implanted in the minds of the peasants by legislators who spend every available penny to go in to share the poor taxpayers' money, ride four cars, live in overplus luxuried houses. Peasants have their weapons, history has proved it. Imagine a candidate spending £3000 for an election! He must recoup himself of his losses as soon as he succeeds. I wonder if Parliament is the way to make money anyhow. 'If the Scholarship Boards at the Regional and Federal and Council levels offer awards to the highest bidder and not to the best qualified, we shall be guilty of dishonesty. Scholarship and appointments are said in most cases to be offered or distributed before applications are invited. Why this back door business? Unless a man is recognised for his worth and achievements and unless only the best is regarded as good enough for this country, the nation is corrupt and has no conscience. Concluding therefore, those who may be touched by my article, I impore their grace of pardon and ask them to join me as vanguards in this crusade, but for those who think that nothing can be done without bribe, can the nation rightly call them HONEST PATRIOTS" �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 14 Mr. Nkwaroh is but one of the voices crying in the wilderness, praying for the reform of our society. But there are still many more; people in high places and Iheanacho, Chairwith bigger responsibilities. Mr. F. 0. man of the Eastern Nigeria Public Service Commission, has also joined these many voices crying against bribery and corruption. Below is a text of a lecture he gave sometime on the topic. Said he:- "Bribery and Corruption are so evident all around us today that to those who would like to see these evils chased away from aU ramifications of our national life the opportunity to discuss ways and means of doing so is one to be hailed with the greatest enthusiasm. "I propose to discuss this subject not with any air of sanctimoniousness, or any intention of pointing an accusing finger at any or all of you. The problem of bribery and corruption is, I think, the first problem of our national well-being today. After the great battle of independence which raged and went by but only yesterday, the most serious hreat to our nationhood and independence today comes, but from bribery and cor~ p t i o n .It behooves all of us, therefore, Christian and non-Christian alike, to ponder the problem of combating these evils in all the spheres of our public and private lives. "The occasion of this meeting offers us the opportunity of pondering the problem and in that spirit I should like us to consider the subject. In order to be certain that we are thinking about the same subject, I think our first step in this discussion is to seek clarity on precisely what we have in mind when we speak of bribery and corruption. I do not think this is a difficult first step. There are several dictionary meanings of these terms, but a careful analysis will show that the differences �18 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION are only apparent and a matter of word usage. Fundamentally, there is general agreement as to what the terns cannote. "Bribery in ordinary usage is the offering of gifts in money or in kind with a view to procuring action, legal or illegal, in favour of the giver. It includes the soliciting of gifts as a condition or reward for performing one's duties. Thus it is at law a crime not only to offer but to receive bribes, and both the giver and the receiver of bribes are equally culpable before the Law. "Bribery is not only an offence constituted by law; it is also a grave social evil which strikes at the root of social cochesion. Its social consequences will indeed form the major part of this address but before we delve into that, let us consider the other term, corruption. Corruption in public life involves a state of moral deterioration. In such a state, those placed in authority are willing to sell their honest judgment for illegitimate g'i. They perform or are made to perform their public duties in disregard of the rules of public conduct laid down for the performances of those duties, and in response to the undue influence of the bribe giver or favour evidence of the promise or transfer of money or other gifts between the office holder and the person or persons excerting influence of him. "When a man of high rank and status aproaches a lowly public official and induces him to give employment to his brother, sister, relative, friend, or other connection of his in defiance of the rules of procedures for staff recruitment, and as a favour against the claims of other candidates, such a man corrupts the public official although he may not have offered the official any material gift. The corruption in this case does not lie in the �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 19 promise or offer of any gift but in the undue influence which the man is able to exert by the mere fact of his elevated station which places the official under severe duress and inclines him more readily to oblige the man against his honest judgment than to incur the man's displeasure. "This goes for all of us, high and low. No matter what our position may be, whenever we bye-pass the rules laid down and seek to obtain treatment for ourselves, our blood relations or our friends, we are guilty of corrupting the official whom we induce to confer such favours on us. I t is otherwise when a man in such a position makes such approaches as a means of by-passing some corrupt surbordinate officers who will not like to unless they have been given something beforehand. I push forward applications to the Heads of Department personally make such approaches when it comes to my notice that a suitably qualified applicant has been asked to pay some money before getting a job. The pity of it is that these applicants usually refuse to disclose the name of the officer who makes such a demand for fear of what might happen to them later. "Corruption in the public life of any country may be obvious or concealed. In the former case, it is easy to combat and the law usually does not fail to catch up with it. In the latter case, however, it poses a difficult and well-nigh insoluble problem. Everybody knows it exists and most people feel its pernicious impact, but no one can pin it down or I prescribe for its effective cure. You will come across it in every conceivable aspect of a person's national life. You will find it in the public official who is weak-kneed and without character and who on account of these failings is willing and ready to respond favourably to the blandishments of those �2 0 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION who seek to purchase his judgment. You will find it in politics in the practice, now common in many countries, of converting public money into party funds by clever and devious procedures; in corrupt practices at elections; in the demand by men and women in the villages for monetary or other reward for going to the poll to vote for candidates for parliamentary seats; in the consequent and all too easy propensity of many a politician in high office to trade on his public position. "This last manifests itself in many forms, including a good deal of ostensibly innocent goodwill presents and favoured consideration at the hands of local and foreign nationals and companies. You will find it in the contractor who buys his way to the away of a Govenunent contract and purchases the conscience of the Inspector of Works to the extent that they are no longer able to detect any fault in his manner of execution of his contract, even when he supplied saw-dust for cement. You will find it in the teacher who either sells examination papers to candidates or juggles with the marks awarded to candidates in such a manner as to reflect not the actual performance of the candidates, but the order of merit which conduces most to his personal whims add caprices or satisfies with wishes of those who seek favoured treatment for themselves or for their relations and friends. "You will come across it in the Judicial Officer who will either not give jugment at all or will give unfair judgment if he is not paid handsomely by one or other of the parties to the case. You will find it in the lawyer who knowing fully that his client's case is hopeless, collects exorbitant or even moderate fees from him on the false assurance that the case will be won with ease, although all he intends to do is to put in apprearance �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 21 in court in order to earn his fees. You will find it in the doctor who trades on the fortunes of rich patients by subjecting them to prolonged treatment for imaginary ailments diagnosed by him from no other motive than that of creating an opportunity of collecting excessive fees from the patients. You will find it also in the doctor who being a public official will not give patients proper and honest professional attention in hospital, but will prefer that they report to him at his home where he can charge them heavy fees to his heart's content. You will find it in the businessman or trader who engages in the adultration of his ware or supplies to customers articles which he knows to be inferior to what he makes them believe they are paying their money for. "There is no need to go on with this catalogue of corruption in various aspects of national life. Whenever a person either of his own volition or under pressure does that which is not in strict conformity with the rules for discharging the responsibilities of his position, there you are likely to have corruption in all its notirety. "I have dwelt longer on corruption than on bribery, because it is the wider of the two terms. This is not, however, to say that bribery is a lesser evil, because it is not. From what has been said it will be obvious that bribery and corruption are twin evils and for all practical purposes synonymous terms, carrying the same weighty and disastrous consequences for every nation as for every individual. "Although they are widely condemned throughout the world they tend to retain surprising vitality in the social life of most countries of the world. Indeed there are some who would l i e to see these evils openly recognised as respecctable methods of doing public business. For- �22 PUBLIC OUTCRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTON - tunately these are a microscopic minority the greater generality of mankind heartily condemns bribery and corruption as social evils, and rightly so. To understand the attitude of this majority, let us consider what the position would be in a state ridden with bribery and corruption, or in a state in which bribery and corruption are openly accepted as a way of life. "Because bribery 'and corruption reign' supreme in such a state no citizen can hope to obtain the usual, services which government owes him until he has paid for such services at every point of control by the public officials. The derk in the post office will not sell a stamp or money order or postal order to the members of the public, or deliver their mails to them until he has received sufficient reward from every customer who i . il wishes to be served by hm The clerk in the office wl refuse to file the petitions received at his office or will fail to bring them up to his superior officers who will deal with them until the petitioners have sufficiently oiled his palm. "The policeman on beat duty will conveniently go to sleep and let burglars have the run of the banks, of the government safes and offices, and of the houses of rich and poor citizens, unless the owners of these are prepared to pay through the nose for his vigilance. He will even close his eyes.to open acts of murder, arson and other felonious deeds and may glandly lend the weight of his evidence in court to prove that the murderer or the incendiary is innocent of the crime, depending on which party is able to pay handsomely for his testimony. "The members of the Public Tenders Board will extdrt so much money from the contractors that to win a government contract will sooner or later come to be re- �BRIBERY AND C O R R U P ~ O N 23 garded as a fatuous plunge into the precipice of financial ruin. Justice will be sold to the highest bidder by some of the judges in the local tribunal. The far-reaching consequences which will result from this state of affairs are too obvious for comment. But perhaps these are not immediately obvious to some, and for this group we may pause to analyse one or two of the possible consequences. "When justice is put to public auction, we may be certain that the end of the state and of social cohesion is in sight. For when you come to think of it, you will iind that the basis of the state and of the society encompassing it is the property rights of the individuals and groups of which the society is composed. The law exists to secure these rights but where justice is sold, only the rich and well-to-do can have the law on their side. Property rights will change hands and will tend to accumulate in the hands of those who have more than to spare and less in the hands of those who have little to spare. "Your plot of land, your house, or even your wife and children today may not be yours tomorrow because your covetous neighbour can tomorrow secure these for himself by taking you to court in a trumped-up case and of purchasing the co~science some of the Court Judges who sit over the case. Thus the "haves" will more abundantly and the "have nots" will have less and less until they have nothing. In such a state, the road to social upheavals, to revolutions, coupe detats and civil wars is not a very long one. All this is as it should be in the internal life of the state. "How about'its external relations? We are here concerned with the conduct of those who wield the scepre �24 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION of supreme 'authority in the body politic. We are concerned with the political office holders who in virtue of their own position at the apex of the pyramid of authority in the state exercise responsibility for the state's relations with foreign nationals and foreign countries. We are considering the conduct of such politicians and the consequences of their conduct in a stage of legalised bribery and corruption. Their ruling motive in such a state is, of course, the enrichment of their personal and private fortunes by trading on their official positions. "In their bid to amass private wealth, they hold truck with firms reputable and disreputable; they will throw open the doors of their country to all who are able to ~ t i s f ytheir appetite for gain, and they will not be inhabited by any visitations of conscience in selling the dearest interests of their country to those foreigners who are able and willing to enrich their private bank accounts. AU these will be perfectly in order since, ex-hypothesis, the state we are considering is one in which bribery and corruption are legalised. But retribution waits at the door post for both such a state, and the political office holders who indulge in this orgy of acquisitiveness. "When the social fabric has been sufficiently soaked and weakened by the effect of bribery and corruption, the handful of the wealthy who know how to bribe their way to the top find the tide of social upheave1 too strong for weathering. I n the tumult that ensues, the cry of the hungry masses is heard and the wealthy hpresented with the choice of delivering their wealth ?d hkir necks or both together to the masses. "They generally seek aid from their foreign payf maate~cbctwhe story o their end is invaribly the same. it ~ ~ f s f l s c ? p & c ~is usually as captives to their foreign �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 25 protectors and often at the price of their country's independence. I n the long run all will be quiet again, there will be a new redistribution of the social product, and a new alignment of the "haves" and the "have nots." But what a price has been paid for this? "All this is true of our hypothetical state of legaliised corruption. But no one who is alive to what goes on below the surface in most modem states will fail to recognise the close parallel in actual life to these pictures we have painted. Bribery and corruption need not be openly recognised or legalised to produce the consequences we have outlined. Where the attitude of the people to their evils is one of condonement rather than of unequivocal condemnation, the state is tantamount to one ~f legalised bribery and corruption. The consequences to be expected in such a state are neither more nor less than those we have sketched. Corruption in public life is another word for moral decay. "It is the kind of decay which once it sets in goes to the heart of the social fabric and shatters, deprives, and sweeps away the society in which it is permitted to grow. It has been the ruin of nations great and small, of empires which the clanger of steel and the assaults of armies could not subdue, of people now forgotten but once dominant and triuphant. Is it any wonder that from the first time man trod this earth and learnt to live in amity and fellowship with the members of his species, bribery and corruption have been condemned as social evils? Those who would condone these evils today do not stop to ponder their grave social effocts. If they did they would have no difficulty in seeing the urgency of the need to eradicate them from human society. "Indeed the major problem of bribery and corruption is not one of being able to see the disintegrating and �26 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION grave consequences of these evils. The problem lies in fact that although the greater majority of mankind fully appreciate the evil consequences.of bribery and corrup tion, the temptation to employ them as a method of securing personal advantage is almost always irresistable and not always sufficiently resisted by me. "What is the explanation of this state of affairs? It is simply that under the pressure of immediate necessity most of us are often prepared to sacrifice our long-term interests to our immediate advantage. But if we are not too far-sighted to recognise the self-defeating nature of our advantage, our consciences will sooner take up arms against bribery and corruption than use them as a weapon for fighting the battle of life. "As Christians, what attitude should we adopt to bribery and corruption? We have seen that these are evils which have a disintegrating effect on society because they involve the deprivation of the rights of honest and poor citizens by the wealthy. This is the exact antithesis of the golden rule, "Love thy neighbour as thyself." For whoever loves his neighbour will not wish to take his property or right from him. The attitude of all Christians should therefore be one of emphatic condemnation of bribery and corruption in every shape or form. To offer or take bribes or to condone the offering or taking of bribes is to be less than a Christian. Whoever practises these twin evils cannot claim to be a true Christian. "Is all this an altogether abstract discussion of bribery and corruption, unrelated to what goes on around us in this country? This is no place to wash our dirty linen in the public and I do not propose to use this occasion as an opportunity to proclaim to the world that our �BRIBERY AND C O R R U P T I ~ 27 public life is more ridden with bribery and corruption than that of other countries. "On balance it is probably true that we are neither better nor worse than other countries in this matter. Yet the admission must be made that the canker-worn of bribery and corruption does take its toll of our private and public life to an extent that must be alarming to those who love Nigeria. An all-out war on these evils is urgently needed to stamp them out. That war, if it is to succeed, must be fought in the hearts of the people of this country. The battle is not one to be fought by inserting a few neatly turned legal phrases in the State Book outlawing bribery and corruption. It cannot be won by smelling out and penalising one or two offenders whose distinguishing offence is not that they offered or received bribes but that after offering or receiving bribes they were too unlucky to escape detection. The battle will be won only when there is a change in the attitude of the entire people or of an overwhelming majority of the people, making briberly and corruption not only boo words but also practices that can be indulged in only at the serious risk of social ostracism. So long as we persist in the attitude which supports or condones the use of bribery when our personal interests are concerned and condemns it only when others use it, so long will bribery and corruption persist. "Next to a change of heart in society is a change of outlook and attitude in the individual. The one and only injunction given the individual was, and always has been, "eschew bribery and corrupt methods." This is an prescription and one which is gladly accepted and light-heartedly rejected. �' 28 PUBLIC OUT-CRY AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION "With Nigeria now an independent country matched against the normal excellencies of other countries, now is the time to take a firm and irrevocable stand against bribery and corruption. These evils once revaged most of the present day advanced countries of the world, including Britain, the United States of America, France, Germany, Russia and a host of others. But most of these can stand akimbo today and face debates on bribery and corruption with an almost sanctimonious, betterthan-thou smile on their faces. If they have been able to fight these evils to a halt in their society, we too can do the same in this country. "It is said that the battle of freedom is fought not in the history of a nation but in the hearts of its free people. Freedom from the evil effects of bribery and corruption offers us the challenge of the most gruelling battle after that of independence which we have just won. This battle must be fought not only in the law court but in the hearts of our people. I t will be won the day we reach the decision in our individual and collective minds that bribery and cor'ruption are evils, and resolve in our hearts to sets our faces against them." Many more people have spoken or written on Bribery and Corruption. I t is not possible to make extracts from all these and incorporate into this analysis of the evil. Suffice it to say that everybody who has spoken or written about this public disease is adding more weight and strength to the force of argument which will surely minimize the practice if not entirely pull down the superstructure of this plague. �CHAPTER ONE CORRUPTION IN T H E POLICE DEPARTMENT "Any person, who being employed in the public service, receives any property or benefit of any kind for himself, on the understanding, express or implied, that he shall favour the person giving the property or conferring the benefit, or any one in whom that person is interested, in any transaction then pending, or likely to take place, between the person giving the property or conferring the, benefit, or any one in whom he is interested, and any person employed in the public service, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment." Every society has its own ills; those cankerworms that fastly eat down the fabric of a community. Bribery and corruption are among these. Here in Nigeria, bribery and corruption are almost synonymous with the Police. Everybody believes the police are the greatest offenders in this respect. I shall however show that while some members of the Police Force are corrupt, they are nevertheless the worst offenders. Proverty, greediness or what may be described as economic and social imbalance have been the major causes of bribery in some societies. Added to these are low salaries, ignorance, prejudice, lust for offices, lack of moral conscience, feeling of insecurity resulting from poor or no education. In the Police Force, bribery and corruption are practised during recruitment, in the Investigation Branch, Traffic Branch, Water Police section, Immigration section and Township and Wayside police stations. �30 CORRUPTTON IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT The initial stage of selecting a police man requires no corruption because physical requirements have to be fulfilled; e.g. the chest must measure 36 inches and height not less than five feet six inches. What happens is that the selecting officer sees a man physically all right and asks him oral questions. From how the candidate answers these oral question shows the officer how intelligent or otherwise the constable-to-be is. The selecting officer then repeats this process with a number of possible candidates and having decided who are the clever ones, calls them together, collectively or individually, and tells them that the big man would like to see them. This seeing of the big man ('Oga') is in fact an understood from each affair. The big man wants £2&£30 and every one of the possibles and it is the selecting officer who is the middleman. The big man's share may eventually turn out to be £10 for every possible candidate whiie the rest goes down the pockets of the selecting officer. The possible constables-to-be however pay this required amount and then are permitted to sit for the written examination with oher qualified candidates but who did not pay anything. This is really the first stage of the corruption. After the examination, of course all those who paid will pass with distinctions and the list of passes ostensibly published. It may be that only five people are required and only those who paid of course turn out to be the five. They are asked to prepare to go to the Ikeja Police Training School for the real training to become police constables. These people are therefore going as corrupted persons who believe that everything in the Polic Force depends on corruption. One has only to pay through one's way. Naturally as soon as they come out of the training, they want to recover all the money they spent before entering and �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 31 to add some profits into the bargain. This is why many of them (Recruits) go to Prison immediately they are out of Ikeja Training School. In big stations (townships) these recruits will not be posted on beat duty as is required of them at least for a year so as to get themselves acclimatised to their localities and environments. What normally happens is that having known the game, they canvas for lucrative sections of the Force; e.g. the Investigation Branch or the Traffic Duties. The person in the 'I' Branch (Investigation Branch) is not naturally corrupt. What happens is that circumstances corrupt him. A complainant, for instance, may want a certain person who has offended him (seriously or trifflingly) to be arrested. To get a policeman to satisfy his pet desire, he tips the constable and the police man proceeds immediately to justify that gift of money. After the arrest, the complianant may desire to pursue the case further by offering the policeman more money to lock up his offender in the cell or to register a stupefying slap on his cheeks before his wife, children or girl-friend. The idea is to show the offender that the complainant is a big man. And many big men in our society do this! For all these obligations, the constable is of course thanked handsomely. You can see now that money is offered to and taken by constables for diverse reasons. Sometimes policemen threaten to arrest and charge people to Court purely or civil matters. This often happens in Rural Areas where people are very ignorant. There the policemen are 'terror' and what the natives do is to collect money and offer to them so as to avert taking them to Court. And the amount is always a handsome one. �32 CORRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT How do you know corrupt constables? Go to their houses or to their bankers or Post Office Savings Account. The furniture in their homes are all out of proportion to their slender earnings. Some of them have many landed property while others have a fleet of taxi cabs or lorries bearing names not their own. Alternatively, go to the Hotels and see how some Policemen (in plain dress) consume endless bottles of beer which wash down the sweet morsels of roasted chickens. And to round up, they branch off to their 'lodger-customers.' Do you blame them? Money is intoxicating and pushes those who have it to diverse directions. The Traffic Duties are the most lucrative side of the Police Force. A constable has only to be in this section for a year and then "commands thousands of pounds." Don't tell me "Traffic is no more lucrative." It is even more today. Many a time a passenger is travelling in a lorry which is stopped at certain points by Traffic Policemen. What did he see? The next he noticed was a little 'hush-hush' busines! He understood and money (the normal toll tax) passed from one hand to another and the vehicle passed as all right, despite the overloading and leaking tyres. This toll tax could be 21- to 51- or £1 to £5 as the case may be. Much depends on how serious or otherwise the offence is. Sometimes a passenger wonders why the driver of his lorry should pay anything at all even when the vehicle has complied with all the t r d c regulations - no overloading, the driving and vehicle licences being all up-to-day. Well, let me tell you why wise drivers always provide for a future rainy day and pay the normal toll tax (bribe) to the Traffic Police, even when their lorries are brand new. In every vehicle, no matter how new, �there are at least two traffic'6ffences if properly checked. As a matter of fact there are at least fifty traffic offences,, twenty-three of them for vehicles, 'seven for oninibuses or buses and the others for other 'types of vehicles. Let me give some of these.offences below:- ' Vehicle Offences Permitting a vehicle to be driven without-identification number (Dealer's Number in, front .and behind. Permitting a.vehicle to be drive without a vehicle 1 ' lcence. Failiig to give notice of chaxige of owneiship. Failing to provide proper sitting.accomodation. Permitting a vehicle to'be driven without efficient brake. Driving after sunset without the headlight. Sleeping whiie in charge' of a vehicle.. . Drunk while in charge of a vehicle. Failing to stop on demand by a Police Officer i n uniform. Failing to'stop aft& an accident. Driving recklessly or negligently. . Driving furiously to the terror of the public. Refusing to give name and address. Givinc false information. ~ o a d G g an insedure manner. in Overloading: Sitting on the tailboard. Distracting the attention of the driver. Causing discomfort tb uasserigers. 20. Failhito wear condukor's bidge: 21. Failing toexhibit tab1es':of fare. �COilRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT Selling goods or printed matter inside buses Damaging any part of the omnibus. Spitting on any part of the omnibus. Refusing to pay fare. Sinokiig in an omnibus where a notice prohibiting it is pested. Causing discomfort to other passcngen'; e.g. vomitting. There are many more traffic offences. Supposing a car is running on an untamed road during the rainy season and collects some quantity of mud which obscures the plate number; this car has already committed an offence. Although the offence is not intentional yet that's the law. To avert such trouble, the driver gives money to the Traffic Police. Somebody inside a bus may spit out from the window unknown to the driver. But this is an offence whether done inside (on the floor) or outside (through the window). The offence is not against the person who spat nor the owner of the lorry but against f the driver, even though he does not know o the incident. To avert such trouble, of course the driver tips the Police. Selling newspapers, printed matter or goods in a bus is an offence. Smoking is prohibited. Causing discomfort to passengers e.g. vomitting or adulterating the air is an offence. So many other offences compel the driver to give bribe to the Police so as to avert prosecution. There are, as I said earlier, over fifty traffic offences found in every vehicle. A driver finds it convenient to give 2/- to 5/- or any amount asked of him. It is more convenient for h i that way and the reason is simple. Failing to 'wntribute' or pay 2/- to 5/- or more when �BRIBERY AND GORRUPnON 35 demanded of him means wasting days at the Police Station and finally going to Court. But these days are of immense value to every driver and if eventually he is charged to court, he wastes more days there too. There are many adjournments to be faced. There are lawyers to be briefed and money goes in each case. This waste of time and money will teach the driver a lesson to pay up his dues on demand the next time he is stopped by a Traffic Police man. The Court might have fined him upwards of £20 to £30 when he could have paid only 21- to 51- to have averted this waste. This is a police man's logic for receiving bribe and drivers see the reasonableness. What is to be done? The police is as corrupt as the drivers who give him bribe. Why does a particular constable remain in the Traffic duties all his years in the Police Force or at least for the greater part of his stay there? Why does a particular constable stay a year or two in the Traffic duties and change to General duties only to return to Traffic again? Is it because he controls traffic more than any other constable? No. I t is because he can give out a huge part of his booty to his senior officer who is responsible for posting. And despite this huge part of his daily collections which is paid to his senior officer, the Traffic Policeman still has enough to spare. Even his immediate Sergeant can. get a share! A police man on 'beat duty' has no £50 to £100 to give to his senior officer after his normal eight hours shift simply to be posted to the Traffic Section. He will therefore remain in General Duties until he can pay through his way. This situation even induces him to demand and receive bribes so that he can bribe his senior officer whose duty is to post h i to the Traffic Section. Sometimes the senior officer likes to change the �36 CORRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT duties of some Traffic policemen and revert them to General Duties because some of them are not paying up their dues regularly. The officer wants obedient constables who will pay up regularly. He may have unfinished buildings at home. He may be contemplating to buy a transport lorry or plots of land. But he may have no This is the normal "hush-hush" business while checking transport lorries on the road. Is the Traffic Police Officer in front of the lorry checking or standing attention? This at the back of the s lorry, i he examining the soil or picking u p something? constables with sufficient money ready to pay before they are posted on Traffic Duties. Here "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush." And so the old ones are called and warned that they are not paying up handsomely and regularly. They are however allowed to continue �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 37 in their Traffic Duties and to bringback proceeds handsomely, to the tune of £50 to £100 a month. And so the trouble continues and bribery and corruption become a way of life. The Water Police are charged with the responsibility to look after goods in ships. Part' of their qualification is that "you must be a swimmer." But not all of them are swimmers. Anybody from the Ship is to be questioned by the Water Police. Oftentimes this questioning takes the shape of a fiftylfifty business or failing which an arrest is ostensibly made. Anybody who is familiar with the activities of some members of the 'Waterguard' and 'smugglers' know what I am talking about. Supposing a person from a ship has 40 costly watches. An understanding can be reached where the Police on duty has 20 and the person 20. This is why Water Police men wear very costly watches, some costing as high as £50. There are also gold, diamond, jewelries etc. These are contraband goods which nevertheless find their ways, in good quantities, into our society. How did they manage? And there is the strong drink (brandy, whisky, etc) palaver. These can be found in many homes. How did they manage to reach so many homes in such quantities? Simply this: Some members of the Water Police are very corrupt. Nothing more. An Immigration Officer is expected to check credentials, whether they are genuine or not. If genuine, few pounds are added to the passport forms to speed up action. If ungenuine, many more pounds are added and of course, you obtain your passport or visa all the same. So many custom officers are like these and there is always an understanding with policemen on duty. �38 CORRUPTION IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT Some constables are eternally posted to wayside stations or rural sub-stations. They are never posted to the township stations. Not that it is difficult to transfer them to the big stations in the towns but because they generally pay, like Traffic policemen, handsomely to remain in their lucrative stations. In this way bribery and corruption are perpetuarted. Bribery is a two edge-sword, for it harms some people and elevates others. For instance, if two people go in for an interview and it happens that one is more qualified than the other, and if the less qualified candidate bribes the officer conducting the interview, he is likely to get the post. Here, bribery does good to mediocres to the deriment of qualifid candidates. Many people have through bribery risen to positions of trust, positions they would not have reached were it not for bribery. Some people have escaped dangers through bribery and thereby live longer than they should. Bribery had saved many people innumerable inconveniences. But though bribery has some merits, shall we because many people have survived through it encourage this social menace? As an elevator, it is also a deterrant to social justice and equity and therefore impedes progress. From time immemorial bribery has caused the downfall of many nations. For instance, if a citizen is bribed to reveal the secrets of his country, the entire nation will be doomed as a result of the bribe which is taken by one of its citizens to achieve his diabolical ends. From this also will result a national disgrace and an ultimate downfall of the country concerned. This is why I think that Policemen, on whom much hope and faith is built, should not disappoint their fellow citizens' expectations. �BRIBBRY AND COBRWnON 39 Theirs is the charge to see that law and order are maintained. Their duty is to protect life and property. They are to see that justice is done. How can they do this if some of their members are so corrupt? Nothing is free in the Police, I am told. To be promoted you have to bribe. To be lucratively posted, you have'to bribe. To be rccruited at all into the Force, you have to bribe. To avoid constant 'Orderly Room,' (the normal Civil Sentice query) you have to bribe and always be a favourite of senior officers. There is 'eyeservice,' 'condo' and allied ways of seeking favour from people on top. There is the 'oga sent me' falsehood to receive money. There is 'your file case is receiving attention' until doomsday. There is 'come to the Charge Office.' There is change of vital statements and clever loss of vital exhibits in a serious case. There is everything that militates against fair play when corrupt policemen want bribe and it is not given. And they make things l difficult. In a l that is good, we implore these officers to help our society by resisting the temptations to ask and receive bribes. �CHAPTER TWO C O R R U P T I O N I N T H E RAILWAYS "Any Person Who:- being an agent corruptly accepts or obtains or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain, from person, any gifts or consideration as an any person, for himself or for any other inducement or reward for doing or for forebearing to do or to be done or forborne to do, any act in relation to his principal's affairs or business, or for showing or forbearing to show favours or favour to any person in relation to his principal's affair or business; or corruptly gives or agrees to give or offers any gift or consideration to any agent as an inducement or reward for doing or forbearing to do any act in relation to his principal's affairs or business, or for showing or forbearing to show favour or difavour to any person in relation to his principal,'~ affairs or business; or knowingly gives to any agent, or being agent knowingly uses with intent to give his principal any recipt, account or other document in act of which the principal is interested and which contains any statement which is false or erroneous or defective in any material particular, and which, to his knowledge, is intended to mislead his principal; is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for two years or to a fine of five hundred pounds. . ." �(For the purpose of this section the expression "consideration" includes valuable consideration of any kind; the expression "agent" includes any person employed by or acting for another; and the expression "principal" includes any employer). Bribery cuts across our social, economic, political, educational, religious and culturd life. There are many causes of bribery when it is critically surveyed. One of these is sheer poverty. When an officer on a salary of £30 a month spends nearly all or more than his salary, the alternative of course is to find means of getting extra money to balance his budget. This is why some Railway Officers take bribe from traders to load or offload their goods into or from Railway wagons. But besides poverty, another possible cause of bribery among some Railway staff is grediness or an attempt to get rich quick. So many of them are jealous of each other simply because some of them have no buildings, lorries, costly clothes, plots of land, stores or plenty of money which is used to train children in the Colleges or Universities. Because of this, a young man who has just come out from School is employed as Station Staff wants to be a millionere over night. How does he do it? I will tell you. At the "Goodshed," collected money is shared every week-end. The Stationmaster always receives his share even though he does not know how the money is got. His weekly share is sometimes between £30 and £40, depending on how heavy or otherwise the proceeds are. The process is like this. There is what is called "sealing of wagons' for which 2/- is collected from traders for every wagons sealed. The same 2/- is collected for the opening of wagons before goods are offloaded. Even money is paid for the offloading trouble. . �42 CORRUP~ON IN TR& RAILWAYS In the "Booking Office," a passenger's load may weigh about 2 cwts, but the Booking Clerk makes it less, say 2 qrts. The cost of the less weight o course goes to f the Booking Clerk. And then there are train porters to convey goods to the wagons. They are employed by the Railways to carry goods for those passengers entraining. But except you tip them, they may ,well leave your loads behind. The result of course is -that many passengers have travelled without their loads in the train. What happens to these loads left behind is anybody's guess. Loading Clerks at the Goodshed may refuse to load customers' goods, bcause their palms have not been properly greased. 'No room in the wagons' is the usual reply. At the 'Delievery Section,' if customers fail to claim their goods in time, 'storage charged are often collected for the Railways. But if affected persons sufficiently tip the Deliery Clerk, the Railways may get none of these charges again. The same thing happens at the 'Luggage and Parcels Office.' Failure to claim your goods in time means incurring "cloak room charges." But the process is the same and you will not pay the charge if you properly grease the palms of the clerk on duty. The attachment of loaded wagons also requires bribe. Sometimes a customer is lucky to have his wagon loaded. He has paid the correct charge to the Railways; yet unless he tips the shunter, his wagon will be delayed and of course his goods will perish. The same thing happens with Cattle wagons. Shunting of these to the Cattle Shed requires bribe. Hausa people (cattle dealers) are generous and so play well their cards, but failure to do this exposes the animals to starvation and of course to consequent deaths. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTlON There is intriguing red-tape in the Railways. So many officers do the same job. The difference is only in name. When a trader in Northern Nigeria once loaded his wagon with yams and consigned same to his counterpart in Eastern Nigeria, it was noticed that the wagon arrived Enugu and stayed there for three weeks. The owner came down to Enugu to inquire about the cause of the delay. He met the D.S. (District Superintendent) who referred him to the S.T.C.O. (Senior Traffic Commercial Officer). This officer referred the trader to the T. 0. (Y). (Traffic Officer, Yard) from where he was referred again to the Y. M. (Yard Master). The last mentioned officer referred the trader to the Shunter who nonchalantly explained the 'delay was due to much work.' He however assured the trader that his wagon would be despatched to its destination without further delay. This angry man departed to his destination and hoped his wagon would reach there before him. But how could it? He had come to Enugu to inquire about the delay officially, through the biggest boss to the smallest Shunter, his humble self. He should have known better and done the only thing expected of him. A week had passed after the inquiry. Two weeks also passed. There was still no sight of the wagon at its destination. The trader was still waiting. But he decided to make another trip to Enugu. This time he was properly advised and having done the expected thing, he went away. Two days after, his wagon load of yams arrived. I t was unloaded and to his greatest sorrow, more than four hundred y a m had got rotten. This was the penalty for his honesty. I a trader fails to bribe, his punishment is this type f of experience. His goods would perish and he would lose so many hundreds of pounds. His life may be ruined �44 CORRUPTION IN THE RAILWAYS as a result. The fun of this experience is that sometimes f mere official referring o customers to other officers suggests that the customer should play his card. This is so because both big and small in the Railways know of the existence of these corrupt practices. And none of them cares to eradicate them. May be they are beginning now. Nowadays, traders have formed a union. This trade union functions in this way. Membership enrolment is anything from £20 to £50. Any loading which does not pass through this union means trouble for the Chief Booking Clerk. It is these traders who say whose gmds will be loaded or not. And by this method they control the C.B.C. (Chief Booking Clerk) who sometimes works for the Union (mark you for the Union and not the Railways) even on public holidays. Bribery and corruption are safely entrenched in many Departments or sections of the Railways. Take the Staff section (Establishment) for instance. This section employs clerks or station staff. They are charged with the responsibility to promote staff. They handle leave matters and transfers. Relief Clerks often tip some members of this Section to get transferred to some money-making stations for relief duties. 'Sleeping and relief allowances' are often collected when staff stay long on relief duty. Because of this, station st& elect often to be transferred to good stations where they can make quick money. And much money is paid for these arrangements. In the past, money was taken from applicants who wanted to go to the Railway Training School at Yaba, Lagos. After training and posting many Station Staff become rich people with a lot of landed property, so many lorries and buildings. So many of them go Overseas �BRIBERY AWI) CORRUPTlON 46 for further studies especially in law. What is to be done? Bribery and corruption have got tap roots in the Railways as well as in other Departments. No one section is free. The Accounts Section is even involved when some of its members go on line to pay wayside staff their salaries. Much cheating and stealing is done. Even Clerks are not so keen on preparing the usual mileage 'voucher' except the drivers and guards tip them. At every comer you meet with a demand for bribe or your case will not be treated timely. Have we forgotten the Stores Clerks? Some of them are wonderful people. Much of the Stationery is sold. Have we forgotten the Train Guards? They are wonderful people too. Some of them bargain and convert Railways money (ticket collections) into their personal accounts. Have we forgotten T. T. Cs? They are like the Guards. Their van is used for purposes otherwise intended by the Railway Authorities. Sometimes female passengers, who are travelling free of charge, hibernate there. Have we forgotten the Enginerring section? Their activities with Contractors are well known. Sometimes it takes fortune to register as a contractor, to award him a contract and to pay him the necessary fees. It can therefore be seen that bribery and corruption are serious social evils. They threaten all senses of justice and fair play. It mortgages people's conscience. Where it exists, people find it hard to speak the truth. Justice is not allowed to take its cause and people are usually found in the wrongplaces. Things do not take their normal shapes in the society. The painful result is that where bribery is the order of the day, people do not find it interesting to make honest effort to improve their ends. Instead they depend on bribery and corruption to achieve their ends. �46 CORRUPTION IN TRB RAILWAYS If bribery does not exist, people will be interested to work hard and struggle honestly for something. They will be proud of such struggles. Economically, bribery kills the incentive to work, reducing productivity and lowering both individual and national incomes. To free the society from the evils of bribery, something must be done. Employers of labour should devise a means whereby candidates should compete for ' vacancies in open examinations and the markers should be men of high integrity. To check bribery, everybody in the State should declare his property. When this is done, there should then be a general evaluation of people's property and their yearly income. This will actually reveal that some people have defrauded others in order to build for themselves financial empires. People should be promoted on the basis of their skill, productivity and educational qualification. I t is bribery that has given rise to promoting unqualified people to various posts thereby creating difficulties in the way of honest labour. In certain sections of the Railways, promotion is are not encouraged. SF 94 (query) is sometimes issued to people with malice to deter their progress. Secret visits are made by some sectional heads to the 'Officer' or 'Boss' to paint the names of certain junior staff in sombre colours. The intention is always definite. Until such junior staff bribe some of their immediate sectional heads, there is no recommendation for them and consequently no promotion. This is why you can see in the Railways today so many people on First Class or Assistant Chief Clerk maximum. So many Clerks are Clerk Grade I1 while few lucky ones are Clerk Grade I where they mark �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 47 time till God knows how long. The situation gives the impression that the Railways is sick. What is the cause of this sickness? Part of it comes from a deep rooted corruption in the Corporation. Another cause comes from the general indifference of certain Officers to the affairs of their Junior Staff. The result sometimes is hatred, malice and all manner of injustices. This is why some of the Junior Staff are This is a typical Court Official in the Registry's Office. He is e very busy man; receiving telephone calls and writing at .the same time. He has no time evn to know that a person standing by his side is dropping down an "envelope". �48 CORRUPTION IN THE RAILWAYS corrupt. They do not do their work properly. They believe they have no future in the Railways and because of this they grab money from whichever person that offers same. Their logic is always the same - 'make hay while the sun shines' or 'prepare always for a rainy day.' Some of the younger clerks spend their office time more on their tuition lessons than on Railways duties. They pass their G.C.E. (Advanced Level) and enter the Universities, leaving the Railways to carry along with its policy of no promotions to the Junior Staff. What is necessary in the Railways today is a change of heart as well as that of policy. The junior staff must be encouraged so that they can take more interest in their work. There should be a prospect for which they work. New extensions can be provided to retain old hands, even though they are now graduates. Real checks should be made to eradicate bribery and ,corruption among the rank and file. Anybody caught should be tried and imprisoned so as to set an example. But those caught should not bribe those who caught them and by so doing free themselves and thus perpetuate the practice the more,This will defeat all honest attempts to eradicate the disease. Everybody's care, indeed everyman's care, should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart. Next to this, he should try to escape the censures of the world and do those things which win the approbation and applause of the public. A man is more sure of his conduct when the verdict he passes upon his behaviour is confirmed by the opinion of all that know him. This is the time to examine our conscience and to give honest verdict of our lives. The Railways today harbours so many corrupt officers. Some of these officers are expatriates. Some of them are Nigerians. Some too are Junior Staff and some Senior. �BRtBERY AND CORRUPTION 49 A 'holier-than-thou' attitude will not do. Pointing accusing fingers form above to below or vice versa will not do. All that is required is an admittance of guilt and a resolution to live a better life in future. 'Man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong; which is but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday' (Alexander Pope). �CHAPTER THREE JUDICIAL CORRUPTION "Any Person who:(a) being a judicial officer, corruptly asks, receives or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything ommitted to be done, by him in his judicial capacity; or (b) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempts to procure, to, upon, or for any judicial officer, or to, upon, or for, any other person, any property, or benefit of any kind on account of any such act or omission on the part of such judicial officer; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years." (The term "judicial officer" in this section includes a member of Native Tribunal, an Arbitrator or umpire, and any person appointed to act as a Commissioner under the Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance, or before whom, under the provisions of any Ordinance, proceedings are held in which evidence may be taken on oath). "Any Person who:(a) gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempt to procure, any property or benefit of any kind to, upon, or for, any person, upon any agreement �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 51 or understanding that any person called or to be called as a witness in any judicial proceeding shall give false testimony or withhold true tcstimony; or (b) attempts by any other means to induce a person called or to be called as a witness in any judicial proceedings to give false testimony or to withhold true testimony; or (%) ,Any , (a) asks, receives or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person, upon any agreement or understanding that any person shall as a witness in any judicial proceeding give false testimony or withhold true testimony; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years." Person who:being.a peace officer not acting judicially, or being a perscn employed in the public service in any capacity not judicial for the prosecution or detection or punishment of offenders, corruptly asks, receives, or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or other person, on account of anything already done or ommitted to be done, or to be afterwards done or ommitted to be done, by him, with a view to corrupt or improper interference with the due administration of justice, or the procurement of facilitation of the commission of any offence, or the protection of any offender or intending offender from detection or punishment; or �52 JUDICIAL CORRUPTION ( b ) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure to attempt to procure, to, upon, or for, any such person, or to, upon, or for any other person, any property or benefit of any k i d on account of any such act or ommission on the part of the peace officer or other person so employed; is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years." William Hazilit in one of his essays - Advice to a School boy - said inter alia :- "Do not begin to quarrel with the world too soon, for bad as it may be, it is the best we have to live in. If railing would have made it better, it would have been reformed long ago. But as it is not to be hoped for the present, the best way is to slide through it as contentedly and inocently as we may. . . We may laugh or weep at the madness of mankind." Mr. Hazilit is entitled to his own opinion. For my own part, I like to "laugh or weep at mankind" and to think that the business of our life is indeed not to see what lies dimly at a distance of us, but to do what lies clearly at hand before us. Bribery and corruption, more than any present social evils, shake the foundations of our society. Mere lip service can't do. Mere condemnation won't help. Mere speaking and writing about them, will not do. What is necessary is an acceptance by all that bribery and corruption are now a national disgrace. And we fmd these evils in every walk of life. All is not well in certain arms of our Judicial Department. The irony of justice is that behind every High or Magistrate or Customary Court, there is the Registry's Office where bribery and corruption are practised ex- �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 53 tensively. Whenever a case is to be tried, certain preiiminaries are to be fulfilled. Every Plaintiff wants his case to be heard immediately and to achieve this, he "co-operates" with the Registry's Office. If it is "a claim of money against somebody," he meets the Registrar to decide the summons fee and other things relevant to the case. To fix the date of hearing to suit the Plaintiff, money is sometimes taken, to do this. But sometimes the Defendant comes too. He also wants the case to be deferred so as to enable him get money to pay the claims. To achieve this aim, he has to pay, but much higher than what the Plant8 paid. Already the case is the balance, tilting to the side of the highest bidder. The Judge or Magistrates is not yet aware that such a case has come to his Court. In the case of a writ of "fi-fa" (fieri facias) the Creditor normally wants everything to be fininshed immediately so that he can sell the property of his debtor to meet up the debts he owes him. The procedure is thus:After judpent, the debtor files "leave to pay." This may expire and the creditor bribes his way for a "fi-fa." If this is granted, the Bailii usually serves the debtor a "court order" to take inventory of his property on a stipulated date. During this period or in the process, the debtor can bribe him to exclude some of his valuable property which are usually taken away at night. Sometimes too the Bailiff bargains with the debtor to dudge receipt of summons. If this happens, he ostensibly returns to the Court to report "Debtor not in town." If however the Plaintiff gives him more money, the Bailii usually lies in wait at the door of the debtor long before 4 a.m. in the morning. Sometimes the debtor bargains with the Bailiff to have his things back through selling them at a very cheap �54 JUDICIAL CORRUPTION price. To achieve this end, certain people are called (bribed) to buy back his property at very cheap prices. But very often too, some members of the public or even some staff of the Court are interested in the sale. They can bargain with the Bailiff to "hammer down" whenever they prize valuable articles. It is therefore "going, going, going, gone!" for such people. On the other hand, the Creditor can see the Bail8 so as to ensure his debtor's things are sold at a very high price. This is to enable him recover his debts. But he has to pay the Bailiff dearly for this favour. And so when anybody prizes an article and it does not reach the amount the Creditor would like, the Bail8 often puts down such article and takes up another; saying that the "offer is too poor." Later on, he will take it up again and fresh offers will be made. These offers may be higher than the previous ones because much "behind the audience" canvassing has been made. Money works wonders and many money-lenders (they are the majority in this type of case) are adepts in the business of bribing their way through. Many money-lenders influence so many people, some Court Officials not excluded. They can, for instance, undertake to pay the Bailiff's transport to the Debtor's place so as to see that the "writ of fi-fa" is served on their Debtors. But the Government pays for the Bailiff's transport; yet this does not matter neither to the Bailiff nor to the Plaintiff (Creditor). The paying of his transport or the giving of drinks on the way are merely an inducement. And this is bribers' logic. Sometimes, some Court Registrars act as Deputy Sheriff. This officer, Chief Registrar by convention, advertises that a Debtor's property are sealed up. Money �BRIBERY AND CORRUPnON 55 lenders often meet him to do this for them. Sometimes the Government is acquiring land and dispossessed peopled are entitled to compensation. The Government often deposits this money with Courts to dispose of. In paying this amount to eligible claimants, some Registrars take their own share of "thanks for early payments" from the payees. Crown witnesses are entitled to some allowances. These claims are approved and paid by Registrars. To speed up matters when the reply of "no fund yet" is made, bribe is offered to some Registry's official and fund becomes available for immediate payment for the transport which was made through a round-about land or water route. Travel by land is always preferred for obvious reasons I t is easier to cheat that way because travel by rail or air is a fixed rate for which "warrant" will be issued. Corruption in the Judicial Departmeat spreads like the heads of a hydra. The Clerk of Court prepares bail bonds for Magistrates or Judges to sign. A Lawyex may plead for bail and the Magistrate or Judge agrees But the Magistrate or Judge will go after the closing of his Court. Unless the person granted bail sees to it that necessary documents are prepared and signed, he will sleep in the cell that night or be remanded in cumdy in the Prisons. In the case of appeals, the Magistrate or Judge reads his judgement and hands over to the Clerk for typing out for record purposes. In doing this, the Clerk types out more copies knowing that the affected people will meet him aftenvards for same. A person can of course get the copy of judgment from the Registrar, but as the Registrar is a Senior Civil Servant, it sometimes costs �56 JUDIOIAL CORRUPTION very much to meet some Registrtrs. Because the Clerk of Court is junior staff, it is cheaper to get (buy) copies from him. This copy helps the affected person to get necessary facts before the normal time allowed for his appeal to be made expires. A Clerk of Court in outside stations is a big man. He is virtually the Registrar too. He fixes cases and grants bail. For performing these functions, money is given to some Clerks of Court. The idea is to induce some of them to help even where can't be of any use. A Clerk of Court in outside stations works in co-operation with the f Magistrate and Police. But some Clerks o Court can hide vital "exhibits" which can decide technical cases. This fetches a huge money because exhibits decide a lot in difficult cases. Mistakes about them always favour the accused because there are some cases in which people have travelled a long distance to hear. This happens very often in out stations and such cases can't be adjourned because an exhibit is not evailable. Even some lawyers often induce some clerks of court to sell certain exhibits for destroyal. And we know that some lawyers are really mean. Such are the type that will stop at nothing to win their cases. The end is always the same. The pursuit of wealth leads many people (even professionals) to resort to mean tactics. There is another official who works directly under the Registrar. He is the "Process Clerk". He fixes cases, writes out summons and opens case files with their appropriate numbers. He also writes out 'fi-fa' notices, etc. He is indeed a very busy man. There is always congestion on his table and he takes this excuse to be corrupt. Some Process Clerks purposely leave most of their work on their tables under the plea of being very busy. Delay �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 57 often results and to speed up matters, people who have cases must see some of them and then there will be no more delays. Things will then move faster. As said above, the Process Clerk handles all documents e. g. affidates, 'fi-fa' writs, summons, etc. He opens the files and fixes dates for first hearings of cases. On these dates, fillings are made and it is the Piocess Clerk who will quicken or delay matters. This is why so many Process Clerks are well known by people who have business in Courts. They are lavishly entertained in Hotels. They are sufficiently tipped outside their Office hours. The reason is simple. They hold the balance of many cases in the court. They say which case should come up immediately or adjourned siie die in their section. There is another aspect of corruption in the Judicial Department. This happens in claiming 'claims.' A Lawyer, for instance, can bring his claims and the Registrar assesses this and passes on to the Cashier for attention. This amount may not be paid in time and it is up to the Claimants to 'co-operate' or leave it to receive attention till doomsday. Messengers in the Courts have wonderful influence just as Interpreters have. Before a Messenger brings a case file, you have to grease his palms, failing which your file can be missing suddenly among a heap of files in the rack. Litigants can only do the normal thing and their case files will be traced out immediately. Indeed, going to Court is such a waste of time and money ! Bribery and corruption also obtain in cases of appeals. You have to pay or your appeal will not be heard �even in a year. It is impossible to get copies of the proceedings of any case free of change. Once money is offered, the Clerks will sit up and even do overtime to type out the Court proceedings of the case at issue. They work to finish the work in time when the money has reached the hands of some Registrars. The language or sign is always understood and typists always work like mad to ensure they collect their own share of the booty. What can Magistrates or Judges do when some members of their Courts are so corrupt? Nothing, except that if the public brings up one of the corrupt ones before them and then we can see whether their punishment will not be a sufficient warning to other erring officials. A Magistrate or Judge cannot go to the Registry to list up cases or write bail bonds, etc. Somebody must do these duties. I t can be the Process Clerk or Clerk of Court or another person working in the Registry's Office. But these Court Officials must be honest as so many of them are today. It is believed that bribery and corruption are hard to eradicate. But I believe that if the society and all the arms of the Law help to clamp down this evil, that devastating engine of social degradation, all will be well in God's own time. Education too can help in reducing the spread of bribery and corruption. Our youths should be trained for the right jobs. Honest men should handle such delicate issues as are involved in the Registry's Office. People should be encouraged to live within their means by making them see the evil in living about their means. Certain Registrars and Court Clerks are wealthier than some Magistrates or Judges. How did they manage? When are we having a commission of inquiry to assess people's property and income in the light of the salaries �BRlBERY AND CORRUPTION 59 they have received? In some Customary Courts where, even if the case is in your favour, you are nevertless required to bring the agreed money, shows still the miscarriage of justice. And this can lead to "action being struck off" or divided judgement given. The idea is to beg an appeal. What is to be done? The Court Clerk might not have recorded all your question if he is already biased through bribery. What of the goats, welcome money, drinks in a lands case, which requires going to the site? The thing to be done is the advisability of having our Customary Laws coded for different prcrvinces which can be quoted. Lawyers should be encouraged to be Customary Court Presidents or Advisers or Judges. Alternatively some experienced retired police officials or other government retired senior officials should be encouraged to take appointments in the Customary Courts. We are not helping ourselves if we prostitute our justice. Look at even a Lawyer's Clerk! Some of them are so corrupt. They even collect bribes before ever admitting clients to be interviewed by their masters. They also take bribes before even taking down clients' statements. While it is the duty of the Chief Clerk of a Lawyer's Chambers to give clients professionals charges, he demands money to make the charges moderate. Failure to do this means making things difficult for the client. Where do we go from here? Let us make the fight against bribery and wrruption our idividual and collective responsibility. We owe this duty to ourselves. Tendencies towards bribery and corruption have always existed and probably will always. They are human weakness. But when the voice of conscience becomes weak or still, the way is left wide open for endless abuses of honesty. If we do not check bribery and corruption �M) JUDICIAL CORRUPTION now they may well check us in future. Let us appeal to all Court Officials, Messengers, Typists, File Clerks, Guards, Interpreters etc. to work for the best interests of everybody. There is a tendency on the part of most of us now to get rid of inefficient and corrupt people everywhere. But important as this may be, it is far from being enough. To win a game of any k i d , much more has to be done to throw out the poor players. It is of far more consequence to keep adding more good players to the team and putting heart into those who are already there. This is my message. But in considering the ever-present need for additional workers of ability and high purpose, it is most important not to overlook the fact that there are large numbers now in the judicial department as well as in other departments who are fulfilling their responsibility to the Nigerian public in an efficient and honest manner. If it were not for them, the situation would have been hopeless. Thy need our gratitude and constant help. I t is because of such people that our Judicial Department is today rated so high everywhere in the world. �CHAPTER FOUR OFFICIAL CORRUPTION "Any Person who:(a) being employed in the public service, and being charged with the performance of any duty by virtue of such employment, not being a duty touching the administration of justice, corruptly asks, receives, or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything already done or omitted to be done or to be afterwards done or omitted to be done, by him in the discharge of the duties of his office; or (b) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempt to procure, to, upon, or for, any person employed in the public service, or to, upon, or for, any other person, any property or benefit, of any kind on account of any such act or omission on the part of the person so employed.. ." or "Any Person who:being employed in the public service, takes, or accepts from any person, for the performance of his duty as such officer, any reward beyond his proper pay and employments, or any promise of such reward, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.. " or . �62 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION "Any Person who:being employed in the public service in such capacity as to require hi or to enable him to furnish returns or statements touching any sum payable or claimed to be payable to himself or to any other person, or touching any other matter required to be certified for the purpose of any payment of money or delivery of goods to be made to any person, makes a return or statement touching any such matter is, to his knowledge, false in any material particular, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three ..." "Any Person who:being employed in the public service, knowingly acquires or holds, directly or indirectly, otherwise than as a member of a registered joint stock company consisting of more than twenty persons, a private interest in any contract or agreement which is made on account of the public service with respect to any matter concerning the Department of service in which he is employed, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years, and to be fined at the discretion of the Court. . " . Ms writers are fascinated by the attempt to forecast ot something of the conditions of life and social activities as they will be in centuries ahead. For my own part, I am of the opinion that for a man to be greatly good, he must imagine intensely and comprehensively. He must place himself in the place of another and many others. Their pains and pleasures must become his own because �since people exist only in life, they must devote their time to being alive. Life is motion and motion is concerned with what makes man move, which is ambition, power, pleasure, wealth and health. But in pursuing these ends, man should not be corrupt. Bribery is one of these unjust ways of taking m w or money-equivalent from a man in ordei to do a duty or service which we should do without any remuneration from such individual. Some sections of our Ministry of Education suffer from the disease of bribery and corruption. In the Scholarship section, whether Provincial or Urban, it is alleged that @me candidates offer 50 per cent of the worth of these scholarships. Failing to do this means no scholarship for such candidates. The cleverness of the candidates in these regards in immaterial because they are not the only clever ones. Corrupt persons are not fools and so they know how to logic out their case. A Secondary School Scholarship may be £50 a year or £250 for five years. To win this, upwards of £100 may be offered to be shared by some Members of the Scholarship Board. Post Secondary Scholarship may be about £200 a year. But I am reliable informed that £150 if some candidates fail to grease the palms of some members of the Scholarship Board, they may never win the award. The contest for Scholarships is so, keen nowadays when one remembers these awards are made on Divisional and Provisional basis. But what of a Division which has five Scholarships alloted to it but which has up to a hundred applicants? And these people l are a l qualified ! - In Corporation or Depaments, Scholarships for Overseas training are won not always on merit. So many unqulified people are doing their technical training over- �62 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION seas today. Take a look at their qualifications. Some are big men's wives or girl-friends or relatives. And then there is recent fashion of foreign Scholarship award to I'. certain political V P s Who judges who are qualified for these awards? Your answer is as good or bad as mine. Admission to Secondary Schools is another instance where corruption rears up its ugly head. This starts with collecting pounds of money for Entrance Examinations that never took place. There is the 'late entry' concession. From the so many candidates that took a genuine Entrance Examination, of course only a few( (about 30 to 60) will be taken. But about 200 are called for interview and out of these the required number is taken; yet not all those who passed the Examination turn up for admission next January. Bigmen, VIP's and influenntial women have taken their sons and daughters to the Principal and persuade some of them to admit them, even without any Entrance Examination. And so many Principals grant this request! Are they hoest? These are the type of students who turn out to be the dunces of their classes. Admission into Primary Schools is even a problem nowadays especially when transfers have necessitated removing of one's children to another town. Until some Headmasters' palms are properly greased, such children may never get any admission for a year, even though they have their transfer certificates with the necessary report cards. Sometimes children who had been in a particular school are driven away because they have not paid the school fees in time. A day can be the only difference and yet tomorrow, a child with the school fees, finds a strange person occupying his seat in �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION \ 65 class. He is told "you have lost your position because you couldn't pay your fees in time". The fun of it is that the Headmaster knows the father too well but may h a w disagreed with him over a matter. The punishment of course is to sack his son or daughter and replaced hurl or her with another child. What a revenge1 Coming back to Entrance and ~ C . E Examinations. many things happen there. So many people pass thest: examinations without ever sitting for them. Other people are bought to do them on their behalf. There are even cases where men impersonate women (girls) and sit for their girl-friends. Some of them are usually caught. There is also the revealing of question papers to get money. There is the Students Advissory Board, wherc money is paid sometimes to speed up matters. Them. are many nasty things that are done in the name c a education. I n some sections of the Ministry of Works, all is not well there too. Contractors, whether big or petty, depend on Inspector of Works. Any award of contract is on percentage basis, 50150. 'Work order' is prepared for work not done. Registration of contractors even costs pounds of money. Girls are sometimes offered to those who will award these contracts. Sometimes men's wives are dragged into the bargain. Then there is the free-drink offer to the 'Boss.' Inspite of all these, collection of the money after the work is done is not easy. What? with so many 'come tomorrow, come tomorrow' until the contractor does the required thing. A controactor has to bribe to get his due. He bribes to claim the amount from the Sub-Treasury. He bribes to know when next there will be another opportunity. I think bribery is second nature of many contractors. So many of them �66 OFFICIAL. CORUUPTION do not believe any Clerk in the Office who is connected with their work can ever do that without their first bribing him. This money is always enveloped and dropped on the table of the clerk. Of course the clerk understands. He becomes active and alive to his job. Things move fast and all the relevant things are done and the contractor of course collects his money. Sometimes some of these contractors go to the houses of some of these clerks. There, a real bargaining can be made. The following day, some of these clerks still go to the Office with sanctionious faces. But that doesn't matter. This is in a Cocktail Party. An influential Contractor is throwing this Party for his friends, some of when are members of the Tenders Board. In major contracts, there is a real business. T o register as a major contractor is not sufficient. You have to be attached to some high government official or a politiciaq who will inflqence some people in the Tenders Board. Direct negotiation begins in which about 10 per cept �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 67 is conceded to the awarding party. In this case, there is no tender. Some Government Architects might have worked out the total cost, making sure that the surplus is there. The person helping the Contractor might take about 5 to 7+ per cent. Sometimes in Council's Tender Board, about 21- per £1 is paid to some members of the Tenders Board through their agents. This depends upon the correct amount required for the tender (which amount has been revealed to a Contractor). In the Foreign Contracting Firms, wonders happen there too. Some of their workers pay about £10 to £15 to the foreman before being employed. Here, some engineers and foremen are wonderful people indeed. Some of their employers work for about five months and then are sacked. After a month or so, some of these sacked employpees are notified that work is now available. This means coming back again and paying again for uncertain and insecure work. This is why foremen of some Foreign Contracting firms have such landed property,%xi cabs, lorries, etc. And their time-keppers are equally wonderful people. So many of them are really big men Why shouldn't they? They mark 'present' and 'absent' for all the employees. And so many people are marked 'present' when they were really 'absent' and vice-versa, To get on well in the Company means being in the good books of these time-keepers. Even the c a w to sack some employees can emanate from them. Contracting firms, some of them any how, erect mighty buildings for some VIP's or Politicians who helped them ta secure big contracts. If this were not w, how c w a Politician have so many storeyed buildings? Even �68 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION some Politicians are reported to have sky-scrappers nowadays. How did they manage? Which takes me to the harm some foreign firms are doing. These people are capitalists or sons capitalists. The only language they understand is money and always big money. They stop at nothing to win heavy contracts. They agree to any terms. And so what they lost with their right hands, they always recover with their left. They are wonderful people and so many of them still regard Africans as slaves or at least people money can always buy their conscience. They are corrupt and corrupt Africans with their big money. For how long should they be allowed to wield their money influence? The system of awarding contracts nowadays is still corrupt. But what is to be done? Is there any better method? The Tenders Board method would have been excellent but for the corruption therein. Why do some of its members reveal the required figures? Why do some VIP's and Politicians influence the award of contracts and collect thousands ~f pounds from the bargain? Why do fianace clerks require tips before preparing the 'voucher claims?' Why do contractors themselves cheat the nation by exaggerating the cost their finished work? Why is money taken at all to register the name of a man as a contractor? The Tak Assessment Section of the Internal Revenue is another source of headache to all. The job of this is to assess and collect taxes. The work is done like this: The Tax Assessment Clerk assesses farmers, traders, petty traders and small businessmen in rural areas. These are the people living in the areas alloted to them. They have, in these places, agents whose duty it is to give them the �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 69 names of new arrivals as well as old residents of the area. Old men's names are also given with a view to exempt them from paying taxes. The names of people who are old enough to pay tax are given. But before somebody is exempted, the concession must be an agreed bargaining. Sometimes there are School children who couldn't continue their studies because their parents are unable to pay their school fees again. These tax agents purposely include their names with a view to attract their parents visits. This visit to beg for the removal of their names from paying tax means paying money. Very often a youngman has just established an Industry. One of these Tax Agents will quickly send him a notice of the category he belongs e.g. the £2000 to £5000 category. The owner is naturally surprised. He hasn't even begun to operate. He has not even got a mite as a profit. And so, worried, he runs to the Agent to explain. But he explains with money and then the Agent takes him to the Tax Assessment Clerk who considers his case in the light of the money he receives from his Agent. There is usually a flat rate for taxable adults in every area. But there is also the Income Grade. To give the names of this grade is at the discretion of the Tax Agent. If therefore, a man who barely manages to live from the sweat of his brow is given an income assessment, he of course runs to the Tax Assessment Clerk to explain. An understanding will be reached and matters are corrected. Failure to do this means going to Court to explain why you failed to pay your tax. Tax Assessment Clerk, some of them at least are regarded as very rich people. To stop their corrupt life, they rotate duties. Some of them stay about two months �70 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION at a place and then are ransferred. But they always come with the fore-warning "make the much you can in so small a time and then get away." Some however render correct accounts and are allowed t c stay even up to a year or more at one place. These people may not be too honest but at least are comparatively speaking less corrupt. I am of the opinion that few tax assessment clerks or their agents are honest. They may be trickish in the game and so appear honest outwardly. These may be the older hands at the trade. There is the Urban Tax Assessment Board. Normally when notices are sent out to individuals to declare their income, many people declare falsely. The Board in turn assumes the responsibility and assesses everybody. Disagreement with their assessment entitles you to the Board. But failing to do this you must pay. No court can excuse you from paying your tax. What happens therefore is that the person over-assessed appeals. This means canvassing through members of the Board before the day the appeal will be heard comes round. And this canvassing takes the form of offering bribe. Sometimes the correct amount realized from the collection of taxes is not rendered and very often false tax receipts are issued out. The intention is always to defraud. What is to be done? Everybody must pay his tax, although nobody should be asked to pay more than he earns. Everybody must play his part in raising the standard of our living. For that reason, everybody must accept just taxation as a normal way of governments to raise money. Taxes go to pay for administration, for social services and for economic development. What a citizen pays returns to him in the form of real benefits. But those entrusted with the sacred duty to collect these taxes should not trade from it. This will'only be a negative step. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 71 We must adopt personal and social attitudes which are geared to change our society from impersonal service and lure of money. We are faced with twin evils of bribery and corruption. Unless we take strong measures and mobilise public opinion, we shall never stamp out these evils. We are faced nowadays with a widespread 'dash-bribe' system. Because of this, the pace of our administration and economy is impeded. We urge our govrnrnents to take decisive action on this grave issue. Those in official posts must remember that men who take bribe betray the trust of the nation. Bribery as a sin is a big injury to the poor. Think of a vacant post which exists in an office! Somebody pays to get it at the expense of a more qualified man. Or don't we see around us in the offices people who are worse than useless? They can't put up a simple letter (correspondence). They can't understand simple English. They are so ignorant of many things and so do things upside down. Some of them are typists who cannot type a simple draft. And if such typists are girls, well don't ask how they were employed. These are the people that shame our Civil Service. But for how long must we keep quiet over these issues? Things are degenerating. They are indeed going from bad to worse. All concerned, the State, employers and the employed, should combine to see that the obligations of social justice are fulfilled. As a minimum, employers must deal justly with their workers, both as regards wages and conditions of work. On the other hand, workers must deal fairly with their employers, and give honest return for just wages. Time for 'government or whiteman's work is past. We are now independent. �72 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION Employers should take a personal interest in their workers and sympathize with their difficulties - high cost of living, high rentage etc. The workers in turn should endeavour to understand the problems of their employers (indeed the Nation's). Both employers and workers should always keep in their mind their duty to promote, as far as possible, the good of their community. This is in a man's parlour. T h e young visitor is an applicant for a scholarship award. And "paper message." What can be those sheets of paper? Money? Social justice should permeate the institutions and the entire life of the people because it is of the very essence of social justice to demand from each individual �BRIBERY AND COREUPTION 73 all that is necessary for the common good. In this way, that is if everyone's heart is filled with the above considerations, bribery and corruption wiU be minimised. What is necessary now is for everybody to begin to think on the badness and injustice of these twin social evils. �CHAPTER FIVE OFFICIAL CORRUPTION (Contd.) "Any Person who:(a) corruptly asks, receives, or obtains, or agrees or attempts to receive or obtain, any property or benefit of any kind for himself or any other person on account of anything already done or omitted to be done, or to be afterwards done or omitted to be done, by him or any other person, with regard to the appointment or contemplated appointment of any person to any office or employment in the public service, or with regard to any application by any person for employment in the public service; or (b) corruptly gives, confers, or procures, or promises or offers to give or confer, or to procure or attempt to procure, to, upon, or for, any person any property or benefit of any kind or account of any such act or omission is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.. " or , . "Any Person who:being employed in the public service, does or directs to be done, in abuse of the authority of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of another is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for two years. If the act is done or directed to be done for purposes of gain he is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.. ." �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 75 I t is always the aim of the Christian Churches to so form men's characters that they will conform to the spirit of Christian teaching in their dealings with one another and not necessarily to seek always their own advantage but the common good. "Love thy neighbour as thyself" is a Christian maxim. This is why I am taking this medium to ask big and wealthy people to help build this Nation and eschew all such influences they weild which have helped to corrupt the society for so long now. While the right to one's property is unassailable, its use is circumscribed by the needs of social life. Owners must not merely consider their own advantage, but the good of the community. The rich should regard themselves as the stewards of their Earthly possessions, as God's dispensers and providers of this world's good which are to be used not merely to perfect their own nature, but for the benefit of others. They should employ their surplus wealth to help their needy brethren in a positive way and not necessarily corrupt them. All I am trying to say is that many rich people are very corrupt and carry this stigma to wherever they go. The Land Department is not very innocent of bribery and corruption. Most of the Lands Officials are corrupted by these rich men I have been talking about all this time. They carry their load of money about to get plots allocations and approvals of the different stages of their building plans. The whole thing works like this. An announcement is usually made in the Press about a new layout to be leased out. Applications are invited from interested members of the public. Definitely there will 'be a limited number of plots to be leased out. But a 'hush-hush' business is already set in motion. Fake application forms are circulated. People are deceived to buy these so as to get plots. And there is always a scramble �76 OPFICIAL CORRUPTION for thse because everybody wants to own a plot. Eventually applications are made, some with the geniune forms, some with the false. So many Land Officials work overtime, secretly during this period. But it is the Land Officer who will recommend applications to the Principal Land Officer for approval and allocation. Any failure to see some Land Officers this time means a reluctance on their part to recommend such applications. The fun of this gamble is that mere application to get land does not entitle one to get it. There are con&ions to fulfill; e.g. evidence of the means to develop the land when allocated. Granting many of the applicants satisfy these conditions and their applications are recommended for approval and allocation; yet they may not still get land. There is the possibility that the Principal Land Officer must .have been over-stepped by politicians or other Senior Government Officials. After all, so many people are interested in land allocation and some senior officials in the Administration may even take over the work, thereby leaving the Land Officer and his Principal mere figure heads. The reason for this take over is ostensibly to avoid bribery and corruption. But some senior officials in the Personnel Departments influence Land Officers because they will help to promote or employ their own people. This reduces the work of land allocation to merely "help me to help you." Talking about Land Officers, mention must be made about their Inspectors. These people, whether Council Building Inspectors or Government Land Inspectors are wonderful people. Some of them are so corrupt and operate like this. Their job is to inspect the site of building and approve or disapprove same from stage to stage. This is according to whether "they have been seen" properly or not. Land Inspectors (not Council) in- �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 77 spect the land (plot) to determine its suitability for allocation to people. But there are odd portions of land here and there on which people want to put up buildings. These are not among the regular layouts. To inspect these odd portions of land and recommend same for allocation to desiring applicants means money. And still after allocation, the Inspectors continue to inspect the site, whether building is in progress or not; whether building conforms with the building plan or not; whether after the two years covenant the place is not developed. Where there is a brench or failure to build within the time allocated, the nomal thing is for the Land Inspectors to inquire. The reason may be that the applicant or leasee is yet financially incapable to erect building on the plot or that he is not yet prepared to begin developing the plot because of other buildings he is putting up in every big township. In this case, 'penal rent' and 'extension' are given him. If after the third time he still fails to' build, the land will of course be taken back from him. In all these processes of concession, money is sometimes the sole determinant. There is the compensation side of Land's work. Very often the Government acquires land from natives for Crown use. Compensation is paid after the necessary legal and charting processes. Many lawyers feed fat this time on some ignorant natives. But it is still some Land Officers who have the final say in everything. They will say when compensation will be paid or not and to facilitate matters, an understanding is usually reached between some Land Officers and some lawyers. The poor prey is of course the ignorant natives whose money (compensation) is shared proportionally. �78 OFFICIAL COIlRUPnON Traders; Contractors and Big men corrupt some Land Officials. Some of these people don't believe anything can ever be done for them free of charge. They therefore carry around their load of gold, jingle it sufficiently loud to the hearing of some of these poor officials and consequently succeed in corrupting them. When some of these poor fellows have tasted these free gifts once, they begin to desire more and more of them. I t is only natural and soon the desire becomes a habit and a way of life. Consequently it is a condition that you must bribe before you get anything from the Land Office. This is why I started this Chapter by blaming the rich men who corrupt these officials. But mere sight of money or the free dash of it should not be an excuse for Land Officials to be corrupt. The Health Office is another place where bribery and corruption rears up its ugly head. There are officials of this office called "Public Health Inspectors' or what was formerly known as 'Sanitry Inspectors'. T o help my readesrs understand them properly, I will enumerate some of their duties and show why and how of these officers are corrupt. Public Health Inspectors carry out house to house inspection for the purpose of discovering nuisances and with a view to eradicating them. This is a holy assignment; but what are these nuisances? They are house-hold rubbish, filthy drains, stagnant drains, accumulation of refuge, unswept compounds, mosquito breeding receptacles, etc. In the performance of this duty therefore, some public health inspectors are overzealous and find trouble where there is none. The idea is to 'co-operate' or go to Court. As many do not like going to Court, they prefer to 'co-operate.' Public Health Inspectrs inspect food preparing establishments, eating houses, like the Hotels, meat (animal �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 79 killing) that is to be sold in the market, liquor licensed premises, etc. (The Police and the Health Office cooperate to grant these licences). Vaccination against small pox and the control of the spread of other infectious diseases are done by public Health Inspectors; although they do not yet restrict the movement of lepers all over the place. Which begs the question when is the Govemment going to pass a legislation to restrict the movement of lepers all over the place? Health Inspectors inspect open spaces, frains, small streams or pools, rivalets, etc. for the purpose of discovering if they contain mosquito larvae or certain bad worms. The idea ii always to find effective methods or eradicating them. The inspection of bildings which are in progress is also the work of Public Health Inspectors. They check the ,proposed building plans for approval and then watch the progress of the building under construction especially the "damp-proof course" side which must satisfy that there is no moisture rising from the ground around the foundation base. (Architects say that this moisture can cause the wreck of a building if not properly checked or provided for). Also the Inspectors look for ventilation, whether rooms are properly ventilated or not; whether the "free air-space" around the building is adequate or not. (There must be at least five feet space around the building and the area occupied by the building must not exceed the required percentage of 33i per cent or 50 per cent at most). In Ports areas, the public health inspectors help to control the spread of infectious-diseases. To achieve this, they examine all the Passengers coming in or going out of such Ports. We all know that ships are notorious for conveying infectious dieases. In the performance of these �80 OPFICIAL CORRUPTION duties however, some public health inspectors make much money. In the case of inspecting buildings, either the landlord 'co-operates' or faults will be found. These faults can deter the progress of his building and the approval may wait till doomsday if nothing tangible is offered. And so many landlords spend a sizeable income Here i the boy who uirited Mr. X in hir parlour. And he is now s in arr Interuiew Room. No doubt the applicant is answering quertions, quite confidently, althouph standing attention. some of these Inspectors. And it saves them much trouble. But is it good? Must Inspectors not tell the truth when and where there is truth? Why should landlords spend their money on bribe when they are 01 1 �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 81 complying with every inch o the proposed building f plan? Why should the Inspectors not agree or disagree, approve or disapprove, when there is a just cause for so doing? Some Personnel Departments of our Civil Service are sick. There is nepotism, favouritism, jobbery, bribery and corruption in these places in the employment and promotion of staff. The Corruptions are more guilty of these sins; which is not saying that personnel sections of the Ministries or Departments are less corrupt. All over the place we see so many incompetent hands at work! How did they manage? There are so many typists who can't type a simple draft. There are many Clerks who cannot put up a simple correspondence. There are many Managers who can't manage anything. There are many Directors who can't direct the simplest affairs. Some Secretaries of certain Corporations are somply figure heads. They are merely agents of "his master's voice". And yet all these people are experts or types of experts who give no expert service or advice. And these type of people can be found right now all over the place. What is nepotism? The Dictionary Defines it as an "undue favour from holder of patronage to relatives; the advantages or opportunities for advancement, pertaining to Pope's nephew; the practice on the part of the Popes or their ecclesiastics (and hnce other persons) of showing special favour to nephews or other relatives in conferring offices; unfair preferment of nephews or relatives to other qualified persons; fondness of one's nephew". The above is th dictionary definition of nepotism. May I add that nepotism is the required qualifiation of any applicant who has a tribal, political, Regional, religious, linguistic or geographical relationship with the �82 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION boss of any Corporation, Department or Ministry. Any other DaDer aualification is unnecessaw. Applicant must have &ke form of blood relationship o; ma;iiage connection with the 'Oga' of the Office. Alternatively, he may belong to the same secret society, tribal organisation or religious association with the 'bigman' of the office. This is nepotism. This is why many Offices are filled with people from the same area or people of the same dialect. And this is one of the worst facets of bribery and corruption. What is favouritism? The Dictionary again has it as the "manifestation of partiality to the interest of one person or family or one class of men, to the neglect of others". This is a twin brother (or sister if you choose) of nepotism. I t also emanates from bribery and conuption because when you have received some material benefit from somone, you are always inclined to favour him or her. Favouritism is "a disposition to show or the practice of showing favour or partiality to an individual or class, to the neglect of others having equal or superior claims". I t is always an undue preference and this is why we see in our country today, certain top posts being the monopoly of certain tribes. The Chairmen of most of the Corporations are from the same tribe. The General Managers of most of our young industries come from the same division. All the Messengers of certain Ministries or Departments speak the same dialect. And this we live all in the name of Natioin unity and development plans. What is jobbery? The Dictionary defines it again as "the practice of corruptly turning a public office, trust, etc. to private gain or advantage." I t is the pepetration of jobs. Certian Corruptions or Departments have been turned into some division's or tribe's vineyards, because �BRIBERY AND OORRUPTION 83 Abraham and Isaac are the God fathers there. Admission to these reserved vineyards is strickly limited. But if you are admitted, (having bribed your way through) your oath of office is "thou must not say what you see and know." And so in many walks of life today, bribery and corruption are the order of the day. In fact they are accepted as a way of life at various levels. Because some Personnel Departments are not 50 per cent honest, people bribe to be employed and when they are so employed, their service to the Nation becomes selfcentred. To get a job in many Departments nowadays is an ordeal. It is not what one is that matters or counts. I t is not one's fitness for the job either. The thing that counts is the weight of the purse (enveloped money) that is given. One can be anything, but he will get the job provided he knows the back-door. Those who can't pay get nothing or the worst that can be offered. Is it any wonder that when one does get a job, one is not interested in what one does, but in what one earns, by fair or foul means? And this is why the generality of the public meets with such inefficiency, incompetence and indifference in many offices and Departments run and maintained with public money. What is partiality? The Dictionary defines it thus:"unequal state of the judgment and favour of one above the other, without just reason; prejudical or undue favouring of one person or party, or one side of a question; prejudice, bias, unfairness. . ; excessive or especial preference for a prepossession in favour of a particular person or thing; hence favourable disposition, prediiection, fondness, or affection, for someone or something; party spirit, rivalry, factiousness; one-sided, relation to . �84 OFFICIAL CORRUPTION a section as opposed to univeral . . . " Why is it that some people are continually recommended for promotions in certian offices inspite of their general incomeptence? Why is it that girls or women have edge over their men counterparts in some considerations in certain Ministries or Departments? Is is because of their proved ability or integrity in matters of office work? Why are some efficient clerks so hated and are never recommended by those above them? In fact why do the good suffer and the bad apparently prosper? These are the questions 'partiality' or apostles of it must answer. Social justice should permeate all our institutions and the entire life of the people. Its efficacy should be equally manifest in the creation of juridical and social order which informs the whole economic life. But justice is far from exhausting the whole of one's duty towards others. Over and above its requirements, there is a limitless field for that brotherly love which men owe to each other as sons of the same Heavenly Father and descendants of the same first parents. The Personnel sections of our Ministries or Departmens should be fields of initiative, service and personal sacrifice for the common good. Charity thus finds a most important part to play in our economic life. It is this brotherly love that I recommend to some of the officials in the Personnel Departments whose duty it is to employ and promote people. The same I pray for some officials of Public Health Office and Lands Department. �CHAPTER SIX CORRUPT COUNCILS "Any Person who:accepts, or obtains, or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain, from any person for himself, or for any other person, any gratification or reward whatever, whether in money or in kind, for inducing by corrupt or illegal means, or by .personalinfluence, any Local Coucil or any member thereof, to do or forbear to do any act which such Local Council is authorized to do in the excerse of its jurisidiction or to show favour or disfavour to any person is guilty of a misdemeanour; and is liable to imprisonment for two years". (Local Council is author's insertion) or "Any Person who:being authorized or required by law to give any certificate touching any matter by virtue whereof the rights of any person may be prejudicially affected, gives a certificate which is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years". Wordly sucess, measured by the accumulation of money, is no doubt a dazzling thiig. Old men are naturally more or less the admires of wordly sucess; but though men of persevering, sharp dexterious, and unscrupulous habits, ever on the watch to push opportunities may and do "get on" in the warld, yet it is quite possible that may �86 CORRUPT COUNCIL not possess the slightest elevation of character nor a particle of real greatness. He who recognizes no higher logic than that of the shilling, may become a very rich l man, and yet remain a l while an exceedingly poor creature. Riches are no proof whatever of moral worth and their glitter often serves only to draw attention to the worthlessness of their possessor. All I want to say in this Chapter is that money is good but that there are things money can never buy for us. We may get plenty of money through bribery and corruption but the worth of such money may be cheap in the eyes of the public who understands we are not entitled to some of our achievements. This is why I want to treat in this Chapter corruption in our Local Councils. Let me begin by telling my readers something about the working of Local Government in our country, and I presume in other countries. Local Government is that arm of the Government of a nation or state which deals mainly with such matters as concern the inhabitants of a particular district or place. It also deals with those matters which the Parliament of the State has deemed desirable should be administered by Local Authorities. Local Government therefore has no powers except those defined by Parliament. This is why the powers of Local Authorities are, in general, limited to those conferred by Parliament. Because of this situation, some of the statutory powers are adoptive (by Local Authorities) and statutes themselves are often directory and not mandatory. In Nigeria, Local Government takes the forms of Municipal, Urban, County, District and Town Councils. Their functions are mainly to cleanse and collect refuse, �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 87 build bridges, plan houses,. give street lights, provide public transport (buses), gwe education and provide public parks. Besides, Councils protect people's life and property through the instrumentality of their Police. They also provide institutions for social betterment, (e.g. Hospitals, Health Centres, Schools, etc.) construction and hs maintenance of works of national benefit. It is in ti way that the work of Local Councils or Authorities is legislative, administrative, executive and financial. The legislative side is concerned with the making of byelaws, while the administrative is concerned with the maintenance of works of public convenience and utility within discretionary limits e.g. streets and bridges, lighting and cleansing, swers and sewage disposal, collection of household or trade refuse, etc. The executive side in charge of enforcing, through Council officials, the above measures. The public safety side is concerned with the provision of the Polic, Customary Courts, inspection of buildings, regulation of traffic and dangerous trades. The institutions of social betterment provide education, library, parks, gardens, museums, art galleries, etc. while the financial slde raises money through rates, licences, etc. The principal of Local Councils is mainly co-ordination with the Government, but up to certain limitations. This is why the work of Local Authorities is transacted principally by means of committees. Local Authorities have a general power to appoint committees and to determine the numbers and their terms of office. A member of Local Council is usually appointed to two committees m d he will find that these committees have sub-committees. This endless committees is of course to find jobs for every Councillor. �88 CORRUPT C O U N C ~ Having gone so far to explain the system and working of Local GovemmentJ proceed now to show how and why all is not well in the Councils. Many Councils are very corrupt. Some are consequently bankrupt and unable to discharge their sacred duties to their citizens. So many of them are so inefficient and badly administered with the result that Councillors go to Council Meetings to feather their nest instead of serving the citizens they are supposed to serve. Let's take a look at some of the Council's committees and their members. The Finance Committee approves all budgets for capital works of development e.g. postal agency, schools, water supply, health centre, bridges, etc. What normally happens is that the town which wants any of these developments first notifies the Council. The Council in turn assesses the cost of the project and informs the town. The cost is usually thousands of money and an agent of the Council will go out to meed representatives of that town and tell them how many other towns are in need of the same project. The people should bring some hundreds of pounds so as to put their project "first on the list." Bribe is then offered and received by the Council and work starts on the project with the required money already deposited with the Council before the bribe was ever asked. Work is soon completed and bribe is asked again for the "official opening." This is again given and the opening is made, sometimes by a Minister or his Parliamentary Secretary. The Government promises to contribute 50 per cent of the capital cost and this amount is remitted to the town through the Council. But the Council will not pass this amount to the town until the town agrees on a percentage sharing. This is done and �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 89 the town gets half of the amount, while Councilors divide the other half among themselves. This is a typical operation of some councils. It is bribe, bribe, bribe! It is money, money, money, all the time ! The Councillors are more concerned with this aspect of their work than any other. And then there are drinks and food offers, goats and sheep gifts. Many Councils are very corrupt and help no person except themselves. There is always "business" in Councils. Land is got for relatives, for Councilors themselvts or their associates. Opening of new markets, Industrial markets, parks, whether for motor or pleasure, means bribe and bribe before approval of the scheme. Building of Schools, Hospitals, Rural Halth Centres, Post Offices, Maternities, Postal Agencies, etc. requires bribe and bribe and bribe. The Welfare, Halth and Building Committe can quickly demolish buildings not built according to the so-called councils building bye-Laws except those affected bribe and bribe Councillors. Council Building Inspectors will not approve any stage of a building except their palms are properly greased. The result is that Landlords spend a lot of money on these people to approve their buildings, sometimes not built according to plan. There is hardly anything you get from the Councils without first of all bribing. Will you get their Scholarship without bribing? Will you be employed as their teacher without bribin Will you be the Council's Treasurer, Secretary or C airman without bribing? Will you be a Councilor at all without bribing? There is hardly anything you get from the Councils that is free of charge. If it is water, you have to pay. If it is postal agency, you still have to pay. Rural Health Centre, Hospitals, Schools, Maternities, etc. are never approved for the asking even %' �90 CORRUPT OOUNCIL though your town has contributed all the money in the world towards the project. A typical Prison House. Notice the warder and the Prisoners. This 1 a place for all corrupt people as well as criminals. Do s you want to be there ? If not, why not stop bribery and corruption ? May we look at the Councils Customary Courts? These �BRIBERY ANI) CORRUPTION 91 ate not clean either. Sometimes justice is not done or appear to be done in the majority or cases before them. Winning of cases depends on how much people have seen some members of th Customary Courts. Losing of cases depends on how much people have failed to see members of the Customary Courts. And in this way, th business of justice is carried out. Money is such a determinant of where the swing of justice will move. But should this be so? Law is of its very essende a mandate of right reason, proclaimed by a properly constituted authority, for the common good. It is therefore of the very essence of social justice to demand from each individual all that is necessary for the common good. But just as in the living organism it is impossible to provide for the good of the whole unless each single part and each individual member is given what it needs for the exercise of its proper functions, so it is impossible to care for the social organism and the good of the society as a whle unless each single part and each individual member that is each individual man in the dignity of his human personality-is supplied with all that is necessary for the excercise of his social functions. How can a man run to the Customary Courts to seek redress and justice and return with revenge and injustice because he has not been able to bribe for a just judgment? Where then lies the salvation of the common man, the poor farmer, the small trader? Local Co(,ncils and their Customary Courts should help us. Some of their actions cry to Heaven for reveance. Their inffuence and power are not only notoriously great but also dangerous. This we can see from the officials who work for them. �From the point of view of administration, the influence of the Permanent Officials in Local Councils is important. The Local Government service is generally speaking, efficiently and adequately staffed. Many of the officials are persons who by experience and training, are capable f of exercising great assistance in the formation o the policies of the Local Authorities, with which they are connected. This has been shown in areas where the Local Councils, under wise and public-spirited leadership, have been able to secure the services of officials of high attainment who have been the means of infusiig a more progressive spirit in the local administration. The professional servant gives the Councillors expert advice, giving advice on matters as they arise; controlling the routine work, suggesting the inauguration of experimental schemes and performing other duties. But some of these officials and professionals, before long, are corrupted and consequently fail to give the much desired expert advice they are supposed to give. Sometimes, some of these officials and professionals are so bought over by the Councils that they are made to do the work as the Council direct - and want. Failure to do means plenty of trouble for such officials. False reports can be made against them. Vote of no-confidence can be passed on them. Everything calculated to injure one's character is done simply to cow such officials down. Eventually most of these officials give in and dance to the tune of the Councillors. They have no alternative. But the fun of it is that having known the game, some of these officials are worse than some Councillors in askiig and receiving bribes. And they take these bribes in a grand and big way! Local Authorities cherish their right to appoint their own staff. Why not? There is busiiess in it. Although \ �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 93 subject to general requirements, academic standards, experience and character, they are n e v e r t h e 1e s s given considerable latitude in this connection. But there is no set procedure for the making of appointments by Councils. Although vacancies are advertised, it is usually known that some people have been ear-marked long before the interview and appointment. The Council's Secretaries, Treasurers, Medical Officers of Health, Engineer, Town Clerk, etc. have always passed through this process. Failure to play up one's card before the interview means non-acceptance by the Councils concerned. What is to be done? In everything you want to do with the Councils, it is money, money, money. The world may be going to blazes, the Councillors cbuldn't careless. All they want is money and this they get through many ways - from settling land disputes, civil cases, providing amenities, employment and so forth. Their Police also help to bring in booty and anybody who does not co-operate with them is victimized, persecuted and prosecuted. The rates the Councils raise are not always used for the best ends. Licences are collected from anything and the money goes down the pockets of some Councillors. Many a time, a particular area does not see any visible signs of their rates. They complain, but the Councillors couldn't care less. They are Councillors for a term of office and must make big money before their time expires. This is the aim of all Councillors and yet no system of Local Government can be complete which does not secure the whole-hearted support of each individual citizen. What is to be done? In everything you want to do with the Councils, it is money, money, money. The world �94 COPRUPT COUNCIL may be going to blazes, the Councillors couldn't care less. All they want is money and this they get through many ways - from settling land disputes, civil cases, providing amenities, employment and so forth. Their Police also help to bring in booty and anybody who does not co-operate with them is victimized, persecuted and prosecuted. The rates the Councils raise are not always used for the best ends. Licences are collected from anything and the money goes down the pockets of some Councillors. Many a time, a particular area does not see any visible signs of their rates. They complain, but the CCouncillors couldn't care less. They are Councillors for a term of office and must make big money before their titheir expires. This is the aim of all Councillors and yet no system of Local Governmnt can be complete which does not secure the whole-hearted support of each individual citizen. # What then is to be done to stop Councillors from being corrupt? Not much except appealing to individual sense of patriotism or taking corrupt ones to Court to set the example. Alternatively it might be necessary to educate some of these corrupt Councillors on the rudimentary facts about man and the society (which are their main 'obligations). Man's natural instinct moves him to live in civil socety because he cannot, if he lives apart, provide himself with the necessary requirements of life, nor procure the means of developing his mental and moral faculties. Hence it is divinely ordained he should lead his life - be it family, social or civil - with his fellow men, amongst whom alone his several wants can be adequately supplied. This is why we have Councils and Councillors. This is why we want them to help procure �BR18ERY AND CORRUPTION 95 those means of our development both for ourselves and the State. They are servants and not masters. They are few among many and should not ever dream to lord it over those who sent them to represent them. Theirs is the duty to serve not to be served. Society is for man and not man for society. In the same way, Councils are for man and not man for Councils. Every town can do without a Council if worse comes to worst. And Councillors should know this. Every Councillor who does not understand his mission in the Council is a fool and should be removed by the town that sent him there. Every Councillor who betrays his town by demanding and receiving bribes should be recalled immediately and substituted with another person Every Councillor or Chairman of a Council who thinks he is too big, can be told the plain truth by reducing and humbling him and finally showing him the exit from the Council's premises. A part can never be greater than the whole, although we are seeing all around us nowadays individual boasts that tend to justify this unnatural situation. A tree can never make a forest. Let all our Councillors undestand this once and for all and know that the original and essential purpose of social life is to preserve, develop and perfect human person, by facilating the due fufilment and realisation of the religious and cultural laws and values which the Creator has assigned to wry man and to the human race, both as a whole and in its natural groupings. Verbum sap. �CHAPTER SEVEN CORRUPTION IN POLITICS "Today the phrase "playing politics" has degenerated into such base usage as to stand for everything ignoble, everything dishonest and everything crooked. When a man tells deliberate lies now, people say he is playing politics. Pilfering, stealing, embezzlement, brazen, armed robbery all go in for playing politics. Chicanery, duplicity, libel, sedition, treason, castration of truth, deliberate strangulation of justice and fairplay are now baptised "playing politics." When one tribe dispossesses another tribe of their hard earned property, liberty, and rights; it is called playing politics. Even when men of "honour," men of "integrity" - Lawyers of renown, Doctors, Chiefs and leaders in their own right - meet together purposely to evolve very clever and subtle methods of mass dishonesty (have you ever heard of toe-print?) - all this is called playing politics. . Even clannishness is politics.. ."Thou should not be caught is the eleventh commandment (of politicians and criminals). Blessed is the man whose sins are covered; and so in this of pretences, the vilest criminal may have a f "stainless reputation" i he is clever enough not to be " found out (J.R. Nruachukwu, Assistant Editor, 'Nation Magazine'). - . . .. What does politics mean? Simply it means the science or art of government which engenders a condition of civil order, organized society or state. Throughout the world, politics has been described in diverse terms-ungentleman's game, dirty game, tough game, expensive game, and a l that. One thing however is evident - that l �BRIBERY AND CORRUFTION 97 politics is a game and a very paying one indeed. Let us see how politics is a game. We know that for a game to be good it must have universally accepted rules which govern the actions of the players. Can we say that there are any such universally accepted rules in politics? If we cannot, who tells me that politics is a game? The fun of politics is that the actors in the game are generally capable of appointing themselves umpires but incapable of delivering universally accepted verdict. Recall to mind the Profumo sex scandal, the countless N.C.N.C. crisis, the Action Group crisis that led to the declaration of Emergency and all that! I think that it is better to call politics "a gamble" or "game of chance" in which the players are in the main opportunists and careerists. Don't get me wrong. I t is only in this sense that we can say that politics is expensive, dirty, ungentlemanly, Machiavellian, lucrative and what else have you. Politics can't be anything else because the means by which we surrender our votes should have justified the ends for which they are handed out. But what have we? During election times our politicians promise us heaven and earth - better roads, good water supply (taps), electricity, post offices, colleges, hospitals, scholarships, employment, increased salaries, all forms of social amenities and life more abundant. After elections, what do we normally have? No sight again of those we voted to help u s Taxes are increased; custom duties are increased; austerity measures are introduced and provident fund is created for compulsory saving. The next we hear of our politicians is in the House where they amuse themselves in the business of Government. It is �98 CORRUPTION IN POLITICS "hear, hear" all around. We have new models of cars, flowing robes, photographs all over our dailies. Sometimes we hear that such and such Honourable has crossed carpet and joined this -or that party. And the pity of it all is that the Constituency is never consulted. The Politicians couldn't care less. There is no honesty in our politics, Perhaps you may think this is sweeping. There are thugs, persecution, victimization and unlawful prosecution as a means of achieving political ends. There is bribery and corruption. There is nepotism and jobbery. There is favouritism and partiality. There is regionalism and tribalism. And al these are means to achieve political eminence. l When we begin to give offices to people not on the basis of ability and make injustice the comer-stone of our public life, then, we can say that our politics is a gamble. As long as our present rulers, some of whom chance alone gave the opportunity of leadership, continue to think in terms of preserving little empires of their own, empires where thugs, loafers and all manner of crooks abound, so long will there be no hope that Nigeria can ever make any sustained contribution to her internal unity or the peace of Africa or that of the world. The cold war between the regions now is becoming apparent day by day inspite of the hypocritical addresses of our leaders. What do our Politicians promise during Republican life of this country? Our brand of politics is very corrupt. Much of this corruption in the political parties originates from the outside as well as from within. But one of the best ways to keep politics clean is not to seek privileges or favours from politicians. Those who are loudest in condemning �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 99 'dirty politics' are more to blame than a l others because l they seek special privileges. More often ndt it has been found that a corrupt worker in politics got that way because someone in politics corrupted him. To exert any force, political parties must have workers who will become politically active and strive in various legitimate ways for what they consider the best interests of all concerned. Voting is not enough. Party workers, while conforming as far as possible to the worthy objectives of the organisation, must be ever alert not to put party advantage above the best interests of the country or the locality. Moreover, for every person who takes up a career in politics there are five hundred who could assist on a part-time basis. How about you? One who engages in politics must be prepared to follow a positive approach and not be content to play a negative role on the side lines. Theodore Roosevelt gave a strong recommendation on this when he said: "The prime thing every man who takes an active interest in politics must remember is that he must act, and not merely criticize the actions of others. It is not the man who sits by his fireside reading his evening papers and saying how bad our politics and Politicians are who will ever do anything to save us; it is the men who goes out into the rough hurly-burly of the caucus, the primary, the political meeting, and there faces his fellows on equal terms. The real service is rendered not by the critic who stands aloof from the contest but by the man who enters it and bears his part as a man should." Our brand of politics is dirty and corrupt. Take a typical election for an instance. There is much intrigue, much double-dealing, much disloyalty. The root cause of all these is of course bribery. People's conscience are �bought to vote for people who are not their choice; People are bought to cross-carpet to swell majority to entitle a particular political party ro rule. Victimization is used against opposing candidates and their supporters. Acts of arson and hooliganism are committed against opponents and people are bribed to do all these. The electoral college system brought with it large scale bribery and corruption. All over the place now are money-mongers, the commercial Politicians who parade in gorgeous robes. Political posts and privileges have gone to the highest bidders.. Election nominations are as high as you can.pay. Voting is even corrupt. Large scale voting papers are somehow managed into a candidate's box to ensure his victory while acid is somehow managed into the voting boxes of opponents to bum up the whole lot. Good politics'has gone to the dogs.,The lust for office and the ambition to rule are now the dominant features of our brand.of politics. Many thousands of pounds are put into an election campaign and the position is such now that men and women, who by their very nature and u p bringing, were not suited for politics now parade the whole place as "honourables." And'this is why politics has become plain business of nothing else but hard cash. All "spirit of sincerity, conviction, loyalty, devotion and dedication has become supplanted by mercenary motives and the desire to amass wealth." And so, '.'today, if as a politician you do not build plots at. .you have not started. As a politician, if all your children are not trained Overseas, you do not know what you are doing. As a politician, if yo,u do not send your girlifriend Overseas, you have not made your mark. Your wife must be a Contractor and your brother must become . �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 101 the Chairman of a well-paying Board." (J. R. Nwachukwu on 'Our Kind of Politics'). Bribery and corruption have eaten deep into our body politics. To be nominated you have to bribe. To be promoted, you have to bribe. T o win contracts, you have to bribe. To be Chariman, Secretary, General Manager of Corporations, you have to bribe. To win amenities, for your Constituencies, you have to bribe. T o win Scholarships, you have to bribe. There is no end to bribery and corruption in our own brand of poltitics. Today Politicians have introduced thugs, what they call "political stalwarts." These people are paid to burn houses, break the wind screens of cars, beat up opponents and cause trouble during campaigns. They are thickly set, muscle men who live at political parties' secretariats. They are tough, healthy looking men, whose job is to protect Politicians when they are on tour or campaigning. And they are heavily paid to do this job--from lo/- to 1 a day, excluding incidental inducements and tips from the big Politicians. Their chief food is drink and cigarettes. This is a common feature of our own brand of politics. What are we to do? Our politics is becoming very dirty. I t is even becoming more corrupt. Merely complaining about "dirty politics" accomplishes little, if anything, except perhaps to allow it to become more "dirty." Those who could make it better are discouraged from having any part in it. But if the average good citizens refuses or otherwise fails to take an interest in politics, then there .are no two ways about it - things are bound to go from bad to worse. Those who criticize and do nothing are probably more responsible for any �resultant disaster than those who actually promote it. Politics will never be any better than the people in it. The only way to improve its quality is to encourage more persons with high ideals to take an active part in everything that comes under legitimate politics. The more willing people are to start at the bottom, to serve in the ranks and generally play an insignificant role, the more valuable they will be in the long run because of their experience and hard knocks. 3 y fulfilling an earnest desire to serve the public in getting the best type of voters to the polls, people may well prepare the way for a political career for themselves in which they can render even greater service to the public. T o stop bribery and corruption in politics, let all of us act in this way: - Try to think of yourself as a "commitee of one" encouraging more high-quality persons to take up purposeful careers i govemment. You can do it at n any place - in the home, in a letter, in a conversation, in a business conference, in a clagsroom, in a park, or on a street comer. Stimulate others to be one-man recruiters. You will find most people disposed toward such a positive approach. The man in the street, the woman in her home, the student looking forward to the future, are for the most part sincere and of good will. Whatever their lack of technical or political knowledge, they can usually improve themselves by study and training. As , someone put it, "If the majority of men were not upright seekers after the common good, no govemment, regardless of how powerful, could ever exist. The police force would have to outnumber the citizenry." Stress the necessity of getting as. many young people as possible to take up govemment work as a lifetime cereer with the sole objective of providing efficient, honest, �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 103 and economical government for the benefit of all: In times of emergency it is necssary to supplement a regular staff with specialists who can serve only on a short-time basis. But even special assistance like this depends on those who are dedicated to government on a continuing basis. A supply of new blood is constantly needed. Many of our Politicians have long outlined their usefulness. They should be,changed now. Encourage little government workers - Messengers, Typists, File Clerks, Guards, and similar public servants - to work for the best interest of everybody. Every one of them counts. In their hearts they want to do the right thing. Most of them now think nobody cares. Yet each one doing one good stroke, speaking one good word, can start a trend that may have mlghty effect. Politicians are not the only people who love our country. The more interest the majority of the citizens take in seeing to it that every branch of their government, from top to bottom, is staffed by the best available career workers, the better government is bound to be. The home, the Church and the School are in a unique position of advantage to foster such a trend. There will always be a tendency on the part of most of us to limit our interests to getting rid of inefficient or corrupt people in government. Important as this maybe it is far from enough. To win a game of any kind, much more has to be done than "throw out" the poor players. I t is of far more consequknce to keep adding more good players to the team and putting heart into those who are already there. This is what we need today in our own brand of politics. �104 CORRUPTION IN POLITICS In considering the ever-present need for additional workers of ability and high purpose, it is most important not to overlook the fact that there are large numbers now government who are fulfilling their responsibility to the Nigerian public in an honest and efficient manner. I it were not for them, the situation would be well-nigh f hopeless. They rate your gratitude and your constant help. The downfall of a country is usually attributed to circumstances that are well known to all. More often than not, however, the root of the trouble is to be found in countless little instances of negligence, carelessness, or oversight on the part of the average citizen in the performance of his duties. 'One of the best indications that the ordinary citizen is doing very little in an effective way to save his country is evident in his oft-repeated phrase: "What can I do?" First of all, it is an open confession that, while sharing in the fruits of democracy, he is failing to contribute to the preservation of the roots that make the fruit possible. "What can I do?" clearly reveals that one is doing very little. Those who are dedicated to a ciuse, whether good or bad, are fired with ideas that they individually can put into effect. One never hears a man devoted to destruction say, "What can I do?" He is already doing it! Finally we should not expect God to clean up our politics. Let u s encourage a more respectful attitude. As I said earlier the tendency to criticize government is growing even among those who are ordinarily very loyal. Consequantly there has developed among many a lack of sympathy - an aversion toward public service and anybody connected with it. A bad situation, therefore, has become steadily worse. A man with a weak heart is only hurting himself if he does no more than �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 105 make fun of the heart and neglects to protect it. If his heart stops, everything of course stops. Loyalty to government begins in the home. Children pick up most of their prejudices in the home. If an everincreasing number of young people show a reluctance to undertake a career in government, it may be due to the fact that they frequently hear derogatory remarks about all phases of government from the lips of their father or mother. If ever they should express a desire to devote themselves to a life of public service, their parents' reaction is frequently a chilly one. "Don't be foolish. Don't stick your neck out too much: You'll never get anywhere in politics. You'll only get hurt." Thus children are conditioned over a period of years to do nothing but take care of themselves. How long can we allow this situation to exist? Now is the time for corrections and change of heart as well as that of the head. Good citizens should make it a matter of conscience to be honest in their thoughts, words and actions in all that affects their private lives as well as State affairs. They can make contributions to the betterment of the government and help arrest the decays that sometimes eat its vitals. Even better, citizens should help restore that condition of elementary justice which is absolutely essential if we are to survive as a free nation. We should be grateful to God that many in government service are faithful public servants, giving their best for the common good or we would have been wrecked by now. They labour hard and conscientiously at their tasks because they are people of high purpose. Their sense of duty and dication to the role that involves the destiny of everybody removes a note of drudgery �106 CORRVPTION IN POLITICS from the hardest tasks and makes each one instead a labour of love. Those who believe that honesty and integrity are indispensable factors in Nigerian Government must follow the example of these devoted public servants. They must do more than bemoan the shocking disregard for truth and justice that they observe so often. If their love for God and country is deep and genuine enough, they will take action. They will engage as best they can in local, state and national affairs. If we are to bequeath to future generations of Nigerians the precious advantage of God-given liberty that it is our privilege to possess, more of us will have to roll up our sleeves and put in the hard work that will guarantee continuance of that freedom for ourselves and for those who look to us to protect it for them. Pray for someone in government. Pray that more persons nf character and competence take up careers in govem- ment. The possibilities for good are enormous in this sphere. In one sense one can be a real apostolate. "The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send labourers into his harvest". (Luke 10:2) You can also accomplish much by praying for someone already in government service, praying that he will live up to the high responsibility of his office. This type of assistance is appreciated more than you realize. Anyone in a position of authority, as well-intentioned and as wellequiped as he maybe, feels his inadequacy a t times and looks for more than human guidance and support. Make your voice heard throngh letters. A means at the disposal of all, and one overlooked by most, is the influence for good that can be achieved at the cost ofa little time and a three-pence stamp. A simple, spontaneous, constructive �BPIBEPY AND CORRUPTION 107 letter, whether it is sent to the local concilman or to your representative in Parliament or to your Premier or his Ministies, makes much more of an impression than you think. Interest yourselves in our newspapers. Messages to the public opinion in our newspapers should not be overlooked. They are another means of stirring up interest in good government. If your local newspapers do not already include it, you may see fit to request that they adopt the custom of carrying a daily column showing how legislators, in both Regional and Federal Governments behaved, voted and carried out their functions. At election time, encouraging the newspapers to present information that will familiarize voters the background and principles of those who are running for office. -Every means, private and public, used to develop intelligent public opinion gives much-needed support in securing the type of government that the great majority of our people desire. You, whoever you may be, can render some service in this way. Yes, everybody can do something. If we do our best and not necessarily magnify trifling troubles; if we look resolutely at things as they are; if we avail ourselves of the manifold blessing which surround us; we cannot but feel that life is indeed a glorious inheritance and that government of the people for the people and,by the people is yet the best experiment in man's attempt to rule himself. The more you delve into and discover the true meaning, the true significance of politics, the better citizen you are likely to be and be, by the same token, the better politics will be. While you will not be blind to the influences that are ever at work trying to corrupt the �political system, yet you will not exaggerate them either. You will not shun politics and over emphasize the failures of those who participate ia it. You will regard this as a sickness to be cured rather than avoided. The very detecting of any ilness in the body politics will spur you to look for a remedy rather than to take a furtile attitude and abandon all hope. The price of playing a part in politics, if it is done well, not be a small one. There are bound to be heartaches and heartbreaks But in the midst of it all there will be that deep sense of satisfaction in knowing that you have served the high cause of God and country. And your reward will be eternal. �CHAPTER EIGHT MISCELLANEOUS CASES OF CORRUPTION "The peace of mind and the inner satk,faction that is felt by those who known that they always do whatever they can, either to know what is good or to ucquire what is good, is a plemre without comparison sweeter, more lasting, and more substantial than any derived from other sources"; and "To the question, What is the true object of human life, whether looked at collectively or individual? the simplest and most precise answer would be: The perfection of our own moral nature, since it has a more immediate and certain influence on our well-being than perfection of any other kind"; so that "In truth, the men who have done most for the world have taken very little heed of influence. They have sought light, and left their influence, to fare as it might list. Can we not imagine the mingled mystification and disdain with which a Spinoza or a Descrates, a Luther or a Pascal would have listened to an exhortain in our persuasive modern manner on the niceties of the politic and the social obligation of pious fraud? It is not given to many to perform the achievements of such giants as these, but every one may help to keep the standard of intellectual honesty at a lofty pitch, and what better service can a man do than to furnish the world with an example of faithful dealing with his own conscience and with his fellows? This at least is the one talent that is placed in the hands of the obscurest of us all." �110. MISCELXANEOUS CASES O F CORRUPTION There is a growing clan of people in Nigeria today wh~sk: suivival;.depends largely an their. "coxinections" and "contacts" and very little on their personal merits. They :got :or..:hope :to get their.'posts. and. pernotions not. .by .their merit but as a . result of. their birth or their ability to intrigue;back-bite; blackmail, book-lick, flatter: or. play. contact-man for bribes a n d girl-friend hunting. Alternatively they can mortage, theif.conscience, assasinate characters, carry smear ~ampai~gns .against certain individuals or cross carpets for mere political lucre. &cause of :this situation, .you.find the idlers, the never'd&wells,.the nicompwps, the unqualified and the misfits th,ese .days getting on better .in .life, than their .hardworking colleagues. And,this is..only because they have Abraham and Isaac as their .fathers. They .are god-sons or god-daughters ,of .god:fathers. on the.,throne. today. But one puestion these god-sons and god-daughters never ask.is "what happens to us when.our god-father is topped out of hi$ throne?'.And this poss.ibility . i s natural i n t h e life of min. The apwer 'would frighten. them, no doubt, but yetthe truth must be'faccd. If th.eir god-fathers are tojjpled:out 'of their throne of nepotic' Supremacy,, dowri surely will go:all,the god-sons and god-datigliters also, And a';new' set of god-fathers, .god-vn? .and . god-daugthers would fake their places and like dogs have their o w days. Which: is still the .wax of the corrupt world; This is the ineviiabiliti; which always attends ,all societies. whose siifvival .depends 'inore on filthjr'.'lconiacts" and'".tonnectio.ns'I than'on indivi'dual.merit.'.Now,.iS time for. all . . . the of us to think. Some big men do not like to go to.Prison although they like to do those things which often send men to Prison. They get small men, some jobless or poor folk, to serve their sentences. All they.have to do is simply pay such �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 111 folk a handsome money; say some £100 to £500. Some Prison officials give preferential treatment to a type of prisoners, although they know a prisoner is a prisoner for all that. There is no superiority or minority, seniority or juniority at the White College. It is equality for all or the contrary smacks of injustice. Howbeit, some Prison officials receive money to give some prisoners better treatment, better feeding, liberty, chance of meeting relatives, wives or concubines or girl-friends or permission to leave the Prison House at night to pass same in the Prisoner's house. Some Prisoners do not serve the "with hard labour sentence" because some Prison Officials have been properly tipped. More and more people are becoming more qnd more frustrated with bribery and corruption in our society. What really is wrong? Everybody, including workers, businessmen, traders (big and petty), students (High School or University), market women and even politicians are grumbling that events, trends and tendencies in our politics, trade and general life, are frustrating them all. There is a wholesale acquisition and accumulation of wealth by certain members of our society. The result is that the poor are still writhing in their abject poverty and the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening further every day. Unemployment gathers nomentum and yet there is no realistic solution advanced to stay the inroads of this hydra-hqaded monster. Many students have, out of penury, been disilluioned and stranded. Some of them might not have adopted the correct approach to win scholarships which are but niggardly doles. Our labour force has even fallen apart because some workers and their leaders have sacrificed their rightful reward and meat. There is still corruption, inspite of the X-Squad, if this has not been bribed out. �112 MISCELLANEOUS CASES O F CORRUPTION There is nepotism in high quarters. Tribalism still l k m s larger than before. And we don't seem to be worried about these things! We have found it difficult to change our hearts. Our leaders have the record of being the most widely travelled globe-trotters in the world. And also into the bargain are some of our leaders who are the greatest beggars of foreign aid! But now is the time to put it to the present generation of our leaders that anyone who is interested in leading Nigeria must make more sacrifices for the country. It does not require an opinion poll to show that many people are not impressed by the sacrifices some of our leaders may claim they have made. What? with some many luxurious cars, free quarters, free light, free water, free labour, fantastic salaries and allowances all into the bargain! The whole thing is frustrating. How long shall we continue to deceive ourselves? How long must we continue to shout austerity when those who should go austere never budgc an inch? Some doctors still receive bribes to conduct: medical examinations for Overseas trip and employment. Some of them still receive bribes to perform operations or treatment, even during government time and within government premises. Ring a doctor and a nurse or ward servant answers. The reply is "the doctor is not in" even though the good old medical officer is just there busy with patients or arranging for private consultations afterwards. Even some nurses attached to some Doctors receive tips to allow patients to go and see the Doctor for the diagnosis of their diseases. Sometimes a in" even though the good old medical officer is just person who undergoes a major operation should tip some Nurses or his wound will develop pus. That's why �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 113 Mission Hospitals are still more popular today because this practice is hardly prepetuated there. The fun of the corruption in Hospitals is that even bribe is paid before sometimes you remove a corpse from the Public Mortuary. The thing always starts like this: the person who has the key will be suddenly missing and attempts are generally made to find him to come and open the Mortuary. But he is paid for the trouble all the same. There is what is called 10 per cent deal for the party. But this is also seen in a different light. Often you hear well founded rumours that certain contracts have been awarded for the highest tenders. Sometimes also you hear gossips that some well-known building contractors and contracting firms are agents of political parties. And this is how public funds are diverted to the benefit of certain political parties. Very often you hear the names of some well known continental firms mentioned in connection with some scandalous deals. Who has not heard of these before? But who haq been able to say them? Are all of us cowards? We are still hearing them and we do nothing. Except we get down to the very heart of political corruption in our country today, we may one day wake up to notice that a traitor has sold all of us the mere love of lucre. I t is a publicly known secret today that in this country there are some political organizations use their positions to help their party finances and in many cases quite unscrupulously. Some political parties do this covertly and turn to condemn it openly. A Politician who has the power to approve or disapprove some million pounds of a deal, say £2,000,000 may find after a part's secret meeting that he has a duty to donate some £2,000 to his party. How can he do it? Of course he has to act �114 MISCELLANEOUS CASES OF CORRUPTION corruptly. Oftentimes, this big deal is organised fraud, sponsored and directed from party headquarters. In this way political corruption continues. Have you ever asked where the thousands of pounds are got to finance gigatic election operations and campaigns? To stop political corruption we must be able to trace its cause from its offshort to its taproot and then pull it out , from there. Almost every Ferry has the normal passage where the machine counts passengers that have passed through the gate. But there is another .gate through which lorries or gwds pass. People who pass through this gate pay their normal fare. But where does this go? To the Ferry's account or to some individual's pockets? Charges of vehicles in every Ferry is according to their capacities. But the weighing man determines the weight of these vehicles and issues receipts. I t has been known however that some of these official receipts are stolen from the safe and the money realized from them converted into personal ends. Corruption is rife in this country. We have been condemning it. But who will bell the cat? An M.P. quite recently made serious allegations concerning corruption at high quarters. What happened? Nothing. There was not even as a public inquiry. Produce Inspectors grade produce but on many occasions ungraded ones pass as graded because money has been offered to some Produce Officials. They can degrade your produce if you do not grease their palms. Sometimes a trader calls them to come and grade his produce and they seem not to hear. They are "very busy" but the secret is that the more they delay produce buyers or sellers, the more they suffer and their produce also. �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 115 In some mining industries, the tally system is used. Tally numbers are used to determine the number of miners who are actually working. But absent miners give their friends their tally numbers to present at the office so that they can be marked present when they are not. Even this is not the only evil practice. There is the bribe of some £15 to £20 before some miners are employed at all. And there are regular offers of drinks (strong) to the 'oga' of the office to advertise that some miners are "good boys". The thing works like this: The hewers put their numbers on the tubes while the tubmen put theirs too and push along t~ check points. But some miners' numbers have been known to have missed at this point because they are not in the good books of the clerks at the entrance to the Mines. Adulteration of goods is rife in our markets today. Cheating is the order of the day. Half measures are sold for whole. Getting of markets stalls is still a game of "lucky dip". Some many people have so many stalls which they sublet to others who could have got the stalls were it not for the blocking of the way by bribers. And this is bad enough. At the Motor Park the people who collect money from vehicles that enter and leave the park may not have rendererd honest and correct accounts of these. There should be locked up machine so that if you drop a shilling or six-pence, for instance, the receipt for that will be brought out by the machine. The previous system of hand-giving out receipts led to corruption of reprinting these receipts and using them over and over again. We are not safe. Bribery and corruption are the twin dangers of our age. Let's all unite and fight this common . �116 MISCELLANEOUS CASES OF CORRUPTION danger. Politicians make sure that some vacancies are filled by their supporters and they call this 'reward for political patronage'. But this should stop. Members of Boards receive no less than £50 a month, merely for attending meetings perhaps once in three months. This is revolting; but does it worry the people concerned? And they are some Corporation Chairmen who are employed on part-time basis. They receive some £3,000 a year for this inconvenience and add to the gain free quarters free transport and free drinks (or do you call it entertainment allowance?) Not satisfied, they present a host of their relations and friends for employment. Can this continue? Should anybody who has no bigman "brother" then suffer indefinitely? Appointment to Boards or Corporation should not be made on political basis or at least as a form of political compensation. Rather it should be done or pure merit, bearing in mind the quali-fication and experience of individuals concerned. - T o be honest; to be Our resolution must be this: kind; to earn a little, and to spend a little less; to make upon the whole a family happier for his presence; to renounce when that shall be necessary, and not to be embittered; to keep a few friends, but these without capitulation. Above all, on the same grim condition, to keep friends with himself: here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy. With this resolution, let your life be as happy sunshine as you can make it. Have the good sense to find a joy in as well as in play. Hurt no man - especially no girl or child. Be sober. Do not invite headaches on the morrow. Resent injustice and lying for the good of all. Smite humbugs and sordid and sefish people joyfully, until the brood is extinct. Be honourable, truthful, and kind; for honour, truth, and kindness are basic conditions of a healthy and happy �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 117 time for the human family. Cultivate refinement, for it doubles one's capacity for happiness. Cherish wisdom and dread illusion, for the paths of life are slippery with the blood and tears of the unwise. Beware of verbiage. Keep a strong and self-conscious personality, for there are too many people ready to exploit it. Fear neither God nor devil nor priest, but help to make youk fellows such that you can walk cheerfully and helpfully with them to the end of the road. Do unto others as you would that they would do unto you. �CHAPTER NINE CONCLUSION "Man cuts himself off from God by irreligion; from his brethren by indifference, hatred and war; from. his soul by pursuing fugitive and unreal goods. Having separated himself from all else, he reflects his inner discord upon the universe at large; he separates everything about him, lays sacrilegious hands on the humblest tracts of divine unity; crumbles up the entrails and matter ; itself . . . " and "Our life on earth is a constant warfare; a warfare, not against creatures of flesh and blood, but against spiritual principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places . . ."; so that " A spirit of pride and rebellion embitters individuals and stirs up the masses. Urged on by the powers of hell, men strive to enjoy pleasure in all its forms; they seek to please their bodies, hearts and minds. T h e y wish to enjoy life, and beyond this they have no further aim, but for the sake of enjoyment they are breaking down the old barriers of respect for authority, of self-control and dignity, of uprightness and honesty, of faith and loyalty. All the old beliefs and customs, traditions and habits, even family and social life, are in danger of being swallowed up in a great cataclysm of foulness, bloodshed and sin." I am rounding up my discussion so far on bribery and corruption and their allied evils. I have not, in my dis- �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 119 cussion so far, posed as the Saint of our society. All I have done is to point the most serious evils of our present age and tried to give suggestions for their eradication. You may have had the same feeling with me, but why not let us pull together and eradicate these social evils? You will agree with me that these evils have not helped us at all. Rather, they have brought other evils like injustice, victimization, fraud and dishonesty. But must we allow this situation to linger further? Things now are assuming unproportional dimensions and the situation already is becoming alarming. What really is the matter with all of us? It looks as if everything is at a standstill. Take, for instance, the much talked about six-year development plan. It seems to me that a great many of us simply pay lip service to this vital programme. One should have thought that this is the time to really go austere. But what do we find? Waste, unnecessary waste, mostly in high places, bribery and conuption, nepotism and favouritism, fraud and dishonesty, injustice and jobbery. Honestly, I think the time has now come to curb, rather drastically, some overseas tours by our public men, some corrupt practices in high and low places, some contract deals of this country which based on "help me to help you" or on a percentage basis. For instance, it is publicly known nowadays that some political organizations in this country use their positions to help their party finances. Most political parties do this corvertly although they condemn it publicly. It always happens like this. A political party is accused and its members merely shrug their shoulders and say "it is politics and every party is doing it". If another party is guilty, some politicians try to cry down the heavens and urge for the �crucifixion of the offenders. They would want the Press to overstep its bounds by showing up such offenders for public contempt and ridicule. But whether this or hs that political party is guilty, the fact remains that t i practice drains our meagre resources and such should be stopped immediately. Our public men are fabulously paid: Who does not h o w this? But who speaks out? Parliamentariam on an emolument of £1,500 excluding transport expenses, attend meetings for a period of about three months in a year! If our British overlords had ruled this country in that manner, by now our Treasury would have been empty. But now we are doing things ourselves. Whom do we blame? Our brand of politics is very corrupt. It is political jobbery all the way. Politicians make sure that vacancies are filled by their supporters, and this they call "reward for party patronage". This is sweet nonsense.. And then there is another class of privileged Nigerians known as Chairmen of Boards and Corporations. Their assignments are supposed to be part-time although the remunerations attached to such posts range from £1,500 to £3,000 a year, with expensively furnished quarters free of rents and free transport also pushed into the bargain. But some of these Corporations don't meet for more than 12 times in a year and yet the fantastic salaries to their Secretaries, Directors, General Managers and Chairmen. You also know of their landed property, buildings, fleet of lorries, stores, etc. etc. etc. etc. Members of Boards receive no less than £50 a month merely for attending meetings perhaps once in 3 months. This is revolting. Has the time not really come for our leaders to reconsider these things? We are begging �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 121 about so that a few can enjoy life abundantly. Think of the many glob-trotters we have sent all over the world to seek foreign aids! Surely if the thousands of pounds paid out monthly to the HAVES of our society are invested in some type of industries, the country will have undoubtedly been the better for it. Corruption exists too much in our country today. We have been condemning it. All of us have; but the question is: "who will bell the cat?" Only recently an MP made a very serious allegation concerning the corrupt practices of some high officials and politicians. What has been done about this? Nothing, except that the MP later turned to amend the allegaion. One would have excepted an immediate invstigation. But this wasn't done. When do we hope to eradicate this evil? Let's start now. An attempt at eradication is the only important thing now. First of all appointments to Boards or Corporations should not be made as political compensation. Rather it should be done on pure merit, that is, qualification and experience of the individuals concerned. Let us also reduce the fees or remunerations of all Board, Corporation and Parliament Members to maximum of £50 per month. This exclude transport of members coming from for off places. Members should also be compelled to make use of either the Railway or the Airways; in which case, government warrants should be used. All Board and Corporation Chairmen, occupying free quarters and using free transport, should be ejected from such quarters and stopped from using free transport. We have to step into these problems now. Presently, "the reactions of the populace to the current wave of political corruption vary with the mentality of the individual. There are many among us who resignedly �122 CONCLUSION believe that politicking and plundering are synonymous; that a man, when he assumes the office of a politician, automatically assumes the role of a night-marauder, having for his daily thoughts no other motive than to rob the public treasury. "Don't mind even the critics. If you put them in power tomorrow, they would do worse", a friend once summed up a heated argument on the subject of corruption. And this friend typefies the many who today have lost faith and confidence in the fellow man inside and outside politics. They can no more trust, even their own self, with the task of mnning this country honestly. "There is the other group of critics. In this are people who religiously believe that our problem is in the hands of characters and personalities of the people in politics today. Many in this group believe that a change of faces and minds could change the trend. There is yet another. Members of this group are by their developed intellect not prone to hero-worship. They see things in terms of factors, and systems. Form this school come suggestions that a change of the political and economic system and setting alone can alter the present situation. "To my mind, the third group expresses what is nearest to the solution of political corruption. Close your eyes to the faces of the characters and personalities. Think more deeply of the factors, principles and policies and you would be coming on fine to the goal. The questions we must ask ourselves and answer are q a n y and multiform. What makes a politician use his poiition to cross the carpet for money? What motivating impulses drive a politician to give contracts to firms for money? Is it that his salary is not enough? O r that his sinecure post whets his appetite for more and more wealth? Or are the people so daft �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 123 and passive in their attitude to corruption that the polotician feels safe and secure and so goes on plundering regardless of the temptation among fereigners in our midst to lay the blame of corruption on the political unconsciousness of the people and the poverty of the politicians generally? I would also lay some of the blame on the extended family demands of our soceity on the man at the top. Full employment for all, a Welfare state for the aged and for students, may be one solution. "The battle against corrupt practices in politics must be waged vigorously along several fronts. First, the people must be less passive and more vocal in their condemnation of the evil. Second, a systematic diminution of the,politiciansl income must be pursued in practice. The aim is to make politics attractive only to those with devotion and to obviate that motivating impulse of profit - seeking. Third is to evolve a system by which correction, whether at local, regional or federal govemment level can be detected, and when detected, can be brought before the court. I am informed by my lawyer friends that a private citizen, armed with his tax-receipt, has the right to sue a politician - be he a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary for misappropriating his tax, if he can prove that to the court. "Last time, I suggested ruthless cuts in salaries, transport amenities, and I may here add, rents and even business rights. Should the people condone the practice by some politicians borrowing money (loans) from Government agencies for private businesses? I now begin to think that it is immoral. The loan-relationship between Governments and Government financial agencies on one hand and constituency representatives on the other has been largely responsible for the wanton movements of party loyalties across the carpet. �124 CONCLUSION "Carpet-crossing and loan-guided consciences are two related evils. The fellow who owes the Finance Corporation or Government-sponsored bank ceases to be a straight thinker the moment he gets himself into the obligatory position of pandering to the political dictates of the man who holds the purse string. That fellow has toppled governments without a coup. He has cheated the voters and sold the electorate to political slavery. The scene at present looks to me like a babel of money-grabbers, hurrying to make a life-long keep within the span of five years. And the scramble is too obvious an eyesore. "What then would I suggest as the best line of action for the people as a whole? First, the people should re-assure themselves that they are masters and not servants of politicians. There is so much fear of and respect for politicians in this country'that the people have almost come to accept the inferior but mistaken status of worshippers. This explains why some politicians can afford to defy the wishes and will of the people to the extent of audaciously breaking their standing contract with their electorate. They can across the carpet as many times as they are bribe-guided, leaving their crosses and their obligations to the voters behind. The people must square up to their servants - the politicians - and make enough effort to control their political behavious. There are many ways of doing this. One, and this is the time to plan for it, is to get every politician who wants to be nominated for the next elections to si*gn a contract or an agreement with the people of his constituency. The agreement should contain commitals to this effect :(a) That the candidate shall declare the state of his (and his wife's and children's) wealth on �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 125 winning the election, and shall declare this annually while he is in office as member of the House; (b) That the candidate, after winning an election on one party platform, shall not change to another political party without causing a plebisi cite to be held in hs constituency; Postscript: Some people have suggested bye-elections, I don't accept this because it would tax the purse of the government concerned. The plebiscite should place the financial liability on the party that woos a member. If a man fancies a woman, he has to pay the wooing and wedding expenses. The same argument should hold for wooing and wedding in politics. I hear that a party has in the past spent as much as £15,000 in the dark of night to buy members from across the carpet. My suggestion is that this money should be spent on the open business of consultation with the electorate concerned and with an individual member in the dark of night. This particular clave in the contract should commit the candidate or member to an agreement that he, autoi s matically renders h seat vacant by any single act of crossing the carpet without the consent of the people, via plebiscite. (c) That the candidate shall conduct his election , campaigns without the use of bribes. The people must resist all atempts by politicians to buy votes. It's often the very begging of political coruption. A politician who borrows, say three thousand pounds for the purpose of buying votes, goes into Parliament, a heavy debtor. If he is a debtor, what hope is there for you and �CONCLUSION me to stop him fom recovering that money by hook or crok? He must pay back what he borrowed, mustn't he? And from there starts the whole tale. From bribery for debt-paying to bribery for consolidating my constituency for the next election" and for re-imbursing party purse. So, we must be honest with ourselves by sending only solvent people to represent us 1n Parliament or Houses. (d) That a candidate when elected shall never involve himself in any loans transactions with the government or government finance agencies or party-influenced banks. Any politician who breaches this clause should regard his tenure of office as automatically breached. These are only a few clauses for the suggested contract. All candidates, no matter of which political persuasion, must be ~rwailed uuon to sien the contract if thev must get the ieople's voies. If th& refuse to sign it, VOTE THEM OUT, they are thieves. The situation in this country has gone so bad that the people must come together to combat corruption. I would be the first citizen to applaud anyone outside politics to form a movement dedicated to the massive task of putting politicians in their moral place. Statesmen, Churchmen, Students Unions, Market women, Trade unions, etc. cap form a common anti-corruption front. And if they can enlist the patronage of cleanminded and respectable leaders in other walks of life, they would beamassing up the greatest anti-corruption force on the land. People have made effects in the past to form anti-corruption leagues, e.g. "The League of �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 127 Bribe Scorners." The leagues are doing wonderful work in their own ways. But to my mind, the task ahead is greater than the support they now receive. Besides, they don't seem able to reach the high places where political corruption is now the vogue. "The battle against top-floor cormption demands the use of life, a social lift. As I see it, the League of Bribe Scorners operates mainly among the ground-floor residents as the Police X-Squad -operating mainly among two bob a go the underpaid junior policemen collecti~g from lorry drivers2 My respect for the X-Squad will triple the day they grab a senior Police Officer for collecting £50 to £100 bribe to promote a lance corporal. The movement of my imagination should be a socially powerful one. Such a movement, if powerful enough, can move the government to take steps that they are now afraid to take. The movement can set up its own CID (Corruption Investigation Department) and pursue specific rumours and allegations secretly with vigour and nationalist verve. It should grow large enough to encourage a Prime Minister or Premier to sack a Minister or discipline a guilty politician." (Don Nugotaf, Sunday Express April 26, 1964, Page Seven). Recently one of our newspapers carried the reports of various acts of stealing which involved the very citizens of this Republic whose duty, among others, is to check stealing. I mean our peace keepers - the Police. This is very disappointing and disgraceful. and shows a gross betrayal of trust on the part of the 'policemen involved. I am not convinced that the good old sayingUexamples are better than precepts" has lost its value. Almost every �128 CONCLUSION day the police issue out appeals to the members of the public to help them in reducing to the lowekt degree possible the rate of staling, bribery, corruption, nepotism and allied social evils in the country. And I think members of the public are co-operating wonderfully in this respec%. When the dreadful sin of 'theft' is committed in a place, the police are called upon to dig out the offenders. Now that some of shameless and malcontented members of the Force are themselves thieves, I wonder to whom the ordinary citizen should shout for help when he is at the mercy of a 'thief-man' since nothing could be more foolish than setting a thief to catch a thief. This is not all. Bribery and corruption are rife in the rank and file of the Force. Is it true that in the Police Force today some juniors are sometimes asked by some senior officers to pay bribes of between fifty and hundred pounds before getting good recommendations for promotion? Is it true that some of the juniors in so-called "lucrative" units (Motor Traffic, for instance) collect bribes which are not for themselves alone but also for some higher bosses who threaten them with disfavour if they don't "report" with part of their "takings" each day? If these allegations are true, what do we do to eradicate bribery and corruption in the Force? Presently the Inspector General of Police has taken up the matter in hand. We wish him a speedy success, but abolition of Traffic Police in the Rural Areas still will not stop bribery and corruption. What I will suggest is allowing some C.I.D. or X-Squad men to rover around such areas where the Traffic Men stop transport vehicles. T o avoid bribery and corruption in Land Department, there should be a prepared layout and development for �BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION 129 an area which is intended to be leased to the public. And due information should always be given to the public concerning all the requirements for application. This will obviate unnecessary trafficking in "stereotypted forms of application for land." This is an Honourable Memeber. He promises to get job for the daughter of his Jriend or type of friend. And she is not looking badly at all ! But the boys appear suspicious. About contracts, detailed check by an Examiner of Accounts should always be made of all payments, especially those alleged extra work on contracts, and surcharge those responsible for such payments. This will help eradicate the habit of "helping contractors to help some officials." T o a v i d bribery and corruption in employment and the consequent deliberate defiance of all Regulations, Rules, Instructions and Advice in the belief that 'fait accompli" will be accepted, stricter discipline should �130 CONCLUSION be taken against offenders, especially in the cases of retrospective approvals for appointments, whether of teachers in Council Schools or officials in Corporations or other Departments. In Councils, there should be a complete review of the allocation of functions of Committees with a clear-cut division. The members of some important Committees should be men of high integrity, men whose actions should be above suspicion. The present set up is not a good one. Most of them are presently very poor and this proverty adds to their being corrupt. There should be no dual responsibility for the staff and each committee should be responsible for its own staff, subject to overall control of establishments and general conditions of service by the Finance Committee. Finally, in the words of Sir Francis Iibiam, Governor of Eastern Nigeria "Nigeria needs leaders who will rise above corruption, avarice, nepotism and envy in our body politic. Indeed, Nigeria requires men and women whom the lust of office will not seduce to betray the confidence reposed on them. Let us take inspiration from our past achievements and learn thereby to appreciate that no sacrifice is too great for the unity of our people and for the unliftment of our great country. The cause of unity must not only be paramount in our minds, but we must be prepared to make the sacrifice needed to sustain it, and all our people must make that sacrifice not in pretentious protestations of affection, but in the deep knowledge that without it our nation cannot become truly great nor our people know true happiness. The adege, "Do unto us as you would have them do to you," is a saying we must assiduously learn to practise. Our Republican status is for the benefit of all its citizens. �131 BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION If you are in a place of authority, I implore you to use your authority and power wisely and impartially. The authority was.not given to you for your personal advantage and aggrandizement. It is the undisputed right of any citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to get to the highest goal of achievement of which he or she is capable. No one, therefore, because he or she is on top has any right to put any kind of illegitimate stumbling-block in the way of another. Let us ever remember that "what is sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose." ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am grateful to the following:- Mr. C. Osi-Iweh, Department of Geology, University of Nigeria, who typed the manuscript; F. 0.Ihenacho, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Eastern Nigeria, for a copy of his excellent lecture on Bribery and Corruption; many friends who gave me useful information, especially in the Police Force, Railways, Judicial Department, etc.; my legal adviser, . . who read the script fromlegal point of view. . �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bribery and corruption : bane of our society Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nkwoh, Marius Type The nature or genre of the resource Onitsha market literature Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Aba : International Press Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Nigerian literature (English) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl.c3555 Description An account of the resource This serious political tract catalogues and analyzes many types of bribery and corruption. The author states that he has compiled a "compendious and imaginative headline under which he puts down his impressions and experiences gathered during a long period of research into the question of bribery and corruption, how they arose and how far they have putrefied our social system," (pg.v).&nbsp; The introductory chapter surveys what others have written about bribery and corruption, and the remaining chapters discuss the types of bribery and corruption that exist in different sectors of Nigerian society. Areas covered include: police and traffic, railroad and shipping, civil and criminal courts, and public officials. <br /><br />Each chapter develops Nkwoh's ideas about how greed and poverty serve as the two root causes of bribery and corruption. The author also argues that even though all would condemn bribery, few actually oppose it. He asks,<em>. . . but does experience not show us that all these public denunciations effect little, if anything at all? How can we condemn these evils in the daylight when so many of us are arch-givers or receivers of bribes in the secret of darkness?</em> (pg.vii).&nbsp;<br /><br />Nkwoh also deals with the possible consequences: the rich succeed, while poor do not; the incompetence of public officials; the loss of constituents' trust and the loss of self worth; smuggling; and the breakdown of the court system, the rule of law and the social contract.<br /><br />The author fears that a neocolonial state is the logical end to a political system that relies on bribery, nepotism and corruption. He cautions that corrupt officials "generally seek aid from their foreign paymasters, but the story of their end is invariably the same. If they succeed it is usually as captive to their foreign protectors and often at the price of their country's independence," (pg.24-25). Nkwoh believes that the current political system, c.1965, breeds corruption through its electoral practices. He asks, <em>"Imagine a candidate spending &pound;3000 for an election! He must recoup himself of his losses as soon as he succeeds. I wonder if Parliament is the way to make money anyhow," (pg.16).</em> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/756d3f5edf753f9c52c10211ca5b1997.pdf 22c81165f8bab95b6e691268454ec6c4 PDF Text Text ��ACKNOWLEDGEMETS: I am gratefully in-debted t ~ : Messrs James A. Arimah, Producer of ''Community Social Register", N. E. Nkanu, a Typist, and Simeon 0. Beckley, (RecordingEngineer) all in the E.N.B.C. Enugu. Also my acknowledgements go to all my inforinants. �ALL INQUIRIES ARE TO BE DIRECTED TO:I. Mr. M. U. E. Nkwoh, University of Nigeria, NSUKKA. EASTERN NIGERIA. . 3 Mr. V. C. J. Mbah, National Achieves, ENUGU. 3. G. A. IBE District Supri~endent'sOffice, Nigeria Railway Corporation. ENUGU. 4. Mr. Luke C. Metu, No. 13 lbadan Strcer. Fegge-Layout, ONITSHA. ALL HIGM7S RESERVEI) Price:= Twc) Shillings. ( 2/6d BY POST �"Cocktail Ladies" is a compedium of onc in the many series of-broaCcasts made by Mr. M. U. E. Nkwoh over the Eastern Nigcria Broadcasting Corporation network in t h c pragramme "Community Social Kcgister". The progcunme became so captivating, the ideas expressed so controversial and the author's rendering of them so academic and scholarly that there hss been a nwcr ending stream or%quests for the repeti1i.n of these talks. To satisfy the onc and the many, the author considers a booklet form of these. talks desirable - hence this booklet. Mr. ~ a r i u sU. E. Eu'kwoh is an undergraduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where t o t a s teen registered fcr a Degree Course leading to Honours English. This is the crowning mark of his brilliant a c a d e m i c career. He did his Ekmentary School Studies at St. Matthew's R.C.M. Umuchu and St. Charles' R.C.M. Achina. From there hc proceeded to St. Patrick's College, Calabar for his Secondary School Education. There he passed out with an encouraging class and started to do private studies for more. advanced courses. He passcd his G.C.E. Advanccd Level Pa ers with all the nwks and all the characteristics o fJ' a scholar. One thing that has been very characteristic of him throughout his academic history is his wonderful f 1 a i r for languages. To this can be added his eternal propensity 10 write and to publish. Ever before he wcnt into the University of Nigeria, he had written much about much, and those who had the rare opporlunity to read those scripts could not but see the mark of genius on every page of those writings. �But some of them "were 'born to blush unseen' and did "waste their sweetness on the desert air", remaining unpublished till today. Here I have in mind his poems. Mr. M. U. E. Nkwoh is also noted for his rather philosophical analysis and interpretation 'of things of life. He is always interested in writing on contemporary topics, sometimes too domestic, and sometimes too common to merit the attention of any but the philosopher or the academician. These common topics are often-times very old to us but very new to him, very common to us but very strange to him; and finally on the pages of his writings, these common experiences become exciting. and captivating. You simply can't help, but admire genius. These qualities of his writings can be well seen in the present volume. As the sub titles show, the booklet deals.with things around us. After reading it, one cannot help but sit up and imagine what society is, as it is now, and what it should have been in a contemporary Utopia. But w h e r e lies the difference between what is and what should have been? It lies in these social cancers which gnaw decp into the very entrails of society. It is these cancers that the author wants to bring to the lime light. His success or failure should be judged from the abovementioned angle. . Many of the talks rnay cause a high voltage of concern and may be disapprobation to many. Man) will sit complacently on their chairs raining anathema on the author of "all these evils". But the paradox of it all is that the popularity of the author lics rooted in the disapprobation of the FEW that fcel insulted or slighted. His honour, as it were, srands rootcd in thcir dishonour. �INTRODUCTION Mr. M.U.E.Nkwoh was an Associate Editor of the I 'niversity . Magazine (The Pioneer) and Internal n Bulletin (The Arrow). He is a r e m b e r of the Creative Writing Club of the University of Nig-ria. H e was the Publicity. Secretary of the Pax Romana, U.NX Branch, and the Publicity Secretary cf the N.C.N.C. Youth Vanguard University Branch. On lastvacation hewas Assisting t t c E.N.B.S. Ncws Editcr Beforeentering the University he was popularly known as a free lar.ce journalist. Many of his articles had been published in the National and Local Press. I now rccornmend his "Cocktail Ladies" to all readers. V. C J. MBAH B. A. Horis. (Londo~t) National Archives. Enugu. �EXTRACTS OF LEmERS OF REQUEST FOR THE Series OF TALKS (FACING THE FACTS AROUND US) TO BE REPEATED C. S. NWOSU. Principal Accountants Ol%ce, Nigeria Railway Corporation. ZARIA 13th September 1961 The General Manager, Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Service, P. 0.BOX 350, Enugu. Dear Sir, COMMUNITY SOCIAL REGISTER BY MR. NKWOH OF UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA. I have listened with great interest and rofound admiration the radio broadcast of Mr. N woh of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, on the above subject, and request you to send me copies of the series of his commentary on the social life of our men and women. 2. It is the desire of all those who are in the same school of thought with me to possess copies of this master piece which covers all the day-to-day activities of our youths. It is indescribable to explain how the youths in this part of the federation welcome Mr. Nkwoh's observations and thought provoking facts. 3. Should this not be available with you, may I request you to direct my request to Mr. Nkwoh and urge him to meet my humble request which will help to educate most of the uniformed scattered here and there. I enclose herewith self addressed stamped envelope for your early reply. Y u s faithfully, or (Sgd.) C.S. NWOSU R �h u m : Mr. E. A. Morka, Vivian, Younger & Bond Ltd., Ringim Station. The Manager, E. N. B. S.. Enugu. Dear Sir, Your programme of 9:30-9:45 p.m on Sunday the 20th has inspired me so highly, that I am moved to writing and requesting you mainly on two points:1. That those who heard the programme will surely be interested if you help your listeners to get it in book or pamphlet for exactly as it was read that day. Then the rush of the sale will prove to you and the composer how valued it is. 2. That 1 personally request you to repeat the programme twice more at least before letting it off. If you kindly accept my request of later, I prefer it on Saturday the 26th and Monday the 28th August, 1961., at the hours of 7:15-8:00 p.m. each of the days. My aim is mostly on its being published in any form for sale, and I trust whatever amount you or the "author" may fix for its sale, may not d e b a r its urgent clearance. For your prompt response to this, 1 herein enclose a three pence stamp. I very much regret of not quoting the tittle or heading of the programme owing to meeting it midway. Yet, the subject dealt with the "CARE-FREE" lives which our girls are indulging, and the real effect of it at last. Thanking you immensely for the careful arrangements to introduce such a touching programme. Sincerely yours, (Sgd.) E. A. Morka. �St. Matthias' NDD. Mba., c/o OW/NTA P.A., Via ~ b a . 26th August 1961. The Gen. Manager, E.N.B.S., ENUGU. I humbly ask that a copy of the last night's speech, entitled- "THE COCK-TAIL LADIES9'.may be sent to me at any cost. I am very sorry that I could not get the name and theaddressof the person who presented the programme. I think I heard something about the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Please, if you cannot give the copy to me, you c n a let me know more of the producer of the programme so that I may not fail to have a .copy of the speech. Your help and your advice are needed. Yours faithfully, (Sgd.)' Sidney E. Amanze. �FACING THE FACTS AROUND US (SERIAL TALKS) Chapter One NIGHT MARAUDERS: THEY CONSTITUTE A DANGER IN OUR MIDST so insecure; What is left to aallman when his life isfundamental his property removed and his right to live his own life, possess his own property, is so badly threatened? The sacred duty of any government and in fact any society for that matter is to ensure this fundamental protection of human life and property. Life is not to live merely but to live well, happily and peacefully; yet there are some among us who live without any designs at all or witbout any visible means of livelihood, and still live the most luxurious lives in our best hotels or our most popular pubs. How do they manage? For some years now, Nigeria has been under the influence of night marauders. The P r e s s had reported of their depredations; the radio had punctuated their atrocities. It remains now for the television to dramatise their heart-breaking activities. Every day, we hear the news of these infernal people. Cars are stopped and the drivers brought out and beaten almost to death; while the keys of their cars are removed and the cars driven away. Many have surrendered all their bodily belongings at gun-points and half-deadly, half-nakedlystagger away in pants. Mouths have been forced to close, hands tied with ropes, while pockets are carefully searched tor gold, Faces have been slapped red when nothing or an insufficient amount is got. Some have been castigated and go away with swollen kuttocks. One becomes so unfortunate to encounter these heartless souls! pray, become not a victim. �12 COCKTAIL LADIES Nowadays, strange letters are written by anonymous people commanding a surrender of itemised property or articles on appointed days, at an appointed place and at a stipulated time. Failure t o comply with such unjust instructions disposes the affected to serious consequences. And the consequences, what are they? Your house or store can be broken into by force and the occupants forced out to make room for a thorough clean up of removal of all your valuable property. Motor tyres can be removed from parked cars in the garage; valuable furrriture; clothings and what not, are duly packed away. Treasuries had been broken into, lorries stopped on tb.e way and the passengers searched at gun-points. Many a time it is reported that thousands of pounds were removed from this or that treasury or that merchant's firm. Everybody hears of these havocs everyday. What is to be done? Where d o we go from here? We a.re living in a state of fear and our life and property are so unsafe. May God save us from the hands of these wicked people. Recently an English lady (I think a Mrs. Urogbo at Surulere, Lagos) wrote a very pathetic letter, through the Editor of the 'Sunday Times', to these night (and nowadays day) marauders. In that letter she rcq~~estea thieves to return her only belongings the which they had so unkindly removed The worst aspect of the story was that after despatching t h e letter, the thieves visited her house again for a final shake up. Poor lady! She went back to England a s :I result. Many Nigerians felt insulted by her letter since it was published. They might be right and they might be wrong. One thing we must not forget is what was her mind's disposition at the material time of writing. Nothing was left for her from all her cherished property. What would you have done in a similar situation? I agree that banditry is not pecu1i:ir to Nigeria and highway men orerate in England too, RLII i s t h a t a sulkient o r y u IT) e 11 t to �THE NIGHT MARAUDERS. 13 condone evil? Nigeria can't afford the expensive joke of marauders' atrocities s i m p l y because high-way robbery is a world-wide cancer. Why must we Imitate a bad thing because it is done everywhere? How then do we make our unique mark as a new force in the world? We must face facts and view things objectively and realistically, from the background of contemporary events. We must resist, immediately, this newest threat to human life and property with all forces a t our command. In Eastern Nigeria today, people are alert all night. It is life or death. "Traders and Tenants Associations" arc formed to drive out all thieves from all the big towns in the Region. The Police Authorities are well informed of these associations. They even attend some of their meetings. Acccrding to these associations, anybody found comporting himself in a manner likely to arouse suspicion, either at odd places or times, are arrested by the people. Sometimes, the suspects are handed over to the police and sometimes the law of the jungle is applied. In Onitsha, Aba and Enugu night vigils are kept. Other towns do the same because this wave of terrorism is passing on from town to town. It is just like the trade winds and could blow to another town tomorrow. This is a serious matter and the position requires an immediate handling by our governments, by the police and by the people themselves. It is not a matter to play politics with; nor one to make headlines in our newspapers. Anybody that pretends that this or that Region of Nigeria is holier and freer from the havocs of these night marauders then the other one is dishonest and a cheat. He is a brazen hyprocrite. This position has become deplorable and like a canker worm is fastly eating the body fabric of our society What is to be done? Who are the night marauders? How do they operate? What implements do they use? What time of t h e night do they operate most? Who can tell us? �To say exactly who are these night marauders is to tread on a dangerous ground. It is to go to that place where angels avoid. It is to challenge the devil and in fact to invite trouble. However, my guess in this talk will be as good as yours. "Nobody i; more like an honest man than a thief". During the day, all that suit up are not gentlemen. Their politeness, good grammar, excellent poise (personality), superb gait, fashion of dress and cheerfulness, are but dressed falsehoods. They are all hollow and are just whited sepulchre. When you are iii the pubs, those very liberal offers of drinks with "get him four to six bottles" are to be looked at twice. Mind those latest fashion of hair-shave, short shorts, tough knots of tie, chimney smoke of cigarette, especially the "taxi high society" or those long pipes. And look out for those loudest speakers, braggarts, classical dancers of "cha-cha" and sometimes "ro-po-pow, or the latest heat of a "high life" music. Then don't over-look those that bring out their walletswhich are full of "red notes" (pound notes) and just carelessly single out one to order a roast chicken and bottles of beer. This, they often do to impress the bar-maids around! You see, I am only trying to suggest that thieves are the people you can't suspect as being anything but honourable gentlemen. Have you ever been told by an apparent well dressed youngman to "excuse me", and then to give him just five shillings to complete his money to collect an article just around the corner? well, try Lagos or Aba. It is the fashion now for some thorough-bred loafers to stop gentlemen at Aba and ask for some money. "for God's sake", just to go and eat. And these people are so hale and sound! My God! What is wrong nowadays? Who are the night marauders? Some people often suspect some taxi-drivers as being thieves because msny a time their cars are used by these marauders. �rn~ NIOBT MARAUDERS 15 The argument is that if they are not, then they are accomplices. Well! I don't share this opinion as I know many honest taxi drivers. Nevertheless, there could be a Judas in every group of twelve. Some people say that "Passenger Collectors" ('ocho passenger') are the real thieves. How can they, when so many of them are responsible men with big families and have children in colleges and even nowadays, in Universities? But there could be Judases in their fold all the same. There is the assertion that the night marauders are jobless men among us. This suspicion appears teneable in the light of bitter facts of reality. Yet, if they are, from where do they get the dynamite with which to explode treasury safes? Who buys guns for them or the cars with which thefts ace committed? Who teaches them how to remove plate numbers or tyres of motor cars? Who provides the money for all the necessary equipment for their thieving adventures? Some people suspect some lorry owners and mechanics are thieves. I think these people are too big to be thieves. This accusation would be an insult to their class, seeing that they have enough money and to spare. Who are then the night marauders? Once more, your guess is as good as mine. Personally, I think they are a combination. They can be drawn from taxi drivers, passenger collectors, apprentice mechanics, jobless folk and from big men in offices or even at home. Some big men employ these thugs to loot and bring back booty. These are the people who provide the night marauders witha leadershipand all that they would need. Already they have got the money, but yet want more and more money. Humad greed! It can know no end. What is to be done? And by the way, have you ever had the misfortune t o see a night marauder? If you have not, then have an idea. My informant told me that the real experts dress in black all over, imitating the "mark of Zoro". Those that do not dress in this full regalia, cover their eyes with a handkerchief which eyes, and paint their faces dark, �bear holes for the possibl with charcoal. They carry about jack-knives, torch ight, a short-gun and at times a matchet or a club for dealing heavy blows to resistant objects like windows or doors. They have also some carpenter's tools to lift stores, remove hinges of doors or draw out nails. Some of them carry dynamite to explode safes of treasuries or firms or offices while others carry about with them some quantity of chloroform with which to keep occupants of a visited house sleepy. Some carry long and hooked sticks to remove clothes hung inside from the .windows. Before these tough boys set out for their 'depredations, they often smoke the Indian hemp (from where they get it, I don't know) or drink to a point of intoxication. !' Where do, t h e y live? Who are their friends? Generally it is believed their friends are hotel girls. Their home is ever here and nowhere. But my information was got rom one of them who was caring for himself in a pub. The pub is definitely the place to look for news. Down at one corner, all alone, was a fine and well d r e s s e d gentleman. He was carving for himself a chicken, wlth four bottles of beer standing on his table. Two had been drained by him while two remained undrained. I dec7ed to keep him c o m p a n y with my friend. He was all welcoming. More beer was ordered for my friend and I. Four bottles. It appeared my informant goes by four. The drink continued and discussions progressed too. A time came when he had to boast of his various activities and this time often comes with people who drink without control. At such a time, the most humble can reveal the w h o 1e of his life. What more for a die-hard rogue? -This was how I got all my information. Don't ask for more, please. Something must be done about these night marauders. Can house to house campaign do to comb them out? This is already being pract~sedin Onitsha and Aba. Can the Police (and they are over-worked, being so few now, with hundreds of them in the Congo) do? fY" �NIGHT MARAUDERS: 17 They can, especialy by patrolling along the street as they used to do. 1 wonder why nowadays they have ceased. You cannot see a single Policeman on duty along our streets nowadays. When there is any shout of "thieves, thieves, thieves" nobody comes to your rescuse. No whistles are blown by the Police. The chese is your. own risk. Sometimes, in the chase, m'any have lost parts of their bodies or become killed even. Let the Police Authorities revert to the old good practice of stationing Policemen on beat along our streets. The Reservation Area (if any such area still exist in these independence days) are not the only places that inhabit honest c i t i z e n s who pay their taxes regularly to enjoy the security of life and of their property. The Magistrates can be.empowered to give thieves life imprisonment. Parliaments can empower them with neccessary weapons of the law. We can not continue to live our lives at the pleasure of thieves who sleep during the day and convert the night to their own days. Alternatively, the people can choose to employ the law of the jungle. The practice now at Aba is to search every-house for suspects and comb them out. As a matter of fact, every street in every township knows its own loafers. Thcse people should be made to realise that their power is not invincible. Some public denunciation of these powers of darkness is necessary. When a thief is caught, he can be brought out to be tried and then punished in public before he is imprisoned. He can be spat upon: his face can be slapped and anything that will disgrace should not be spared. This will be a lcsson to those not discovered yet. �Chapter Two COCKTAIL LADIES n my first talk in this series, I spoke to you about I t h e dangcrsof night marauders in our midst. ~ o d a ~ , I want to direct your attcntion to ailother group in our society whose existence is becoming disgraceful. I have chosen to call them "cocktail" ladies. Let us therefore considcr them tonight. The mistake of fcminisni nowadays is that women want to do cvery thing that men do. Womcn want to go to the moon or to sound the deepest oceans. They want to out-smoke and out-drink men. They think t h e y can easily be soldiers, pilots, enginedrivers and other odd jobs that men do. Why do they think and want these things? Well, just to rival mcn and to be cqual with them. Already they are succccding and will soon morc than succccd. Today you see women in almost every fcild of life, in thc Policc Force, in Civil Service Ofices, in Parliamcnts, in Hospitals, driving about their own cars, hcing rcputable contractors or wealthy traders, broadcasters, tax-collectors and tar-payees too. Soon we shall liavc women taxi-drivers. But the fun is that womcn forget thatbeing different bcings, they have nlmlutcly special and difkrcnt characteristics. Thcy forget that the hocd docs not make the monk. It is therefore not i n wcnring "tough pants and shorts" which men wear that thcp b e c o m c automatically men or men-like. �19 COCKTAIL LADIES Take a look at our society ladies! Their motto is "let your life be as happy and sunshiny as you can make it. the men are always around to foot the bill". With this motto, these cocktail ladies, these human parasites, these lazy .drones and good-fornothings, go about living in a manner not altogether respectable or desirable. They know all the "big guns" in town. They have been to all parties held at the Governor's or Premier's lodge. They have been driven a b o u t. by big men in their big and long American cars. They are sure to be at the next Minister's Cocktail party or at the marriage of a big personality in town. They will be at all places at all .times. How d o these self-elected society elitie come about? What are their qualifications? Have youever thought of their undersirable existence or have you never felt :their presence?. Take a look around you. Visit some big men; attend some parties: -watch your television sets (if you are lucky to have any). These ladies exist in every big township and know all the big men of the town. They can be working-class or nurses or Women Police or bank clercks or typists or sales-clercks of firms or telephone operators They can also be school teachers or some clever housewives, disgusted with their husbands or those glamorous seekers of ostentatious jobs. You can always know these people hy their ways. If they had been "Miss Any Townships" or mere " r u n n e r u p s" or even "attempteds". then they m u s t let all the world know this by how they dress and talk with a borrowed accent (even though they did not pass .the standard six nor ever crossed the River Niger). They paint their lips, finger and toe-nails and retouch their eye brows with a blue pencil. - �20 COCKTAIL LADIES They use scent, different ohtments and assorted cosmetics and these, only to advertise their painted beauty. To augment, they sew dresses that are kneetight ("cross no gutter" I think they call it) and mount on shoes that are a foot high. On those "knockabouts" they skate around, false living and false feeling. This is the time when they attract attention and consequently win introductions. In' the offices, t e l e p h o n e attendants (or do you call them telephone receptionists or "operators?) are wonderful people. They t e 1e p h o n e anybody that matters Sometimes they apologise and say that they thought it was "so-so and so" they met at a party held last night at Mr. X's residence. But the fun of .it all is that the person telephoning simply wants to be there. "Don't mention" is often the reply and "you are cordially invited, if you please". With this weapon of a previous telephone introduction, everything else is smooth sailing. The day b e c o m e s crowded moments- for the turkey-cock. Her work is no more properly done. The party becomes the talk of the day. She telephones o t h e r cocktail ladies, asking whether they will be attending. If they would, the dresses to be vorn are discussed; the make-up to be pasted on the face not left out ofcourse. Suitable men to match are intimated to foot the bill of transport and other incidentals of the occasion. This does not provide any difficulty because these cock-tail girls have a thousand odd and different boyfriends. The only qualification of those boy-friends of course is the possession of a car and a disposition to spend freely. The boys must belive in buying roast chickens, sausage rolls, drinks (shorts of ginger or brandy) and must take them out regularly to the films. What these girls want is a busy life of vanity. Nothing more, nothing less. �COCKTAIL LADIES 21 There is another group of cocktail ladies. These are "carnival boats". (By the way, have you ever .attended' the "Alpha Carnival" show?). Their skates a r e very s h o r t and wide,. infact rather too wide in .circumference, (umbrella skates.) Around the waists of the wearers appear to contain some soft materials,. perhaps p a d s of a type. These materials raise the ladies' buttocks to fit with the umbrella skates which will swing low, high and a r o u n d , at the slightest movement. The hair-do is any thing of your guess, provided you guess the unusual. Some of them $0 about with such shampoo'd, plaited or stretched ham It is a good curiosity to watch the novelties of our women's latest. hair-do. From styles they call "rats and rabbits,' "hill-top", "samba", ayakata", ajakaaja", .to plateau", "basket" "double weave" and "society emblems". With these they are simply on ,top of the world. Nobody is regarded again except one who can 'richly pay to help them live luxyriously and smartly. When fully dressed, how these ladies -carry about themselves! The neck is kept stiff and &rect; eyes are down cast or at times half-closed and -the p a i n t.e d lips kept tight and ready for the slightest necessity to advertise the teeth. The hoppinggiat is carefully p r a c t i s e d and some smarting ways of speaking the English language is memorised. Everything is simply put into the show. The fun of these cocktail ladies is that because .they are "birds of passage or changelings to every big man*', they go about swell-headed. In officesan ordinary typist or telephone operator who is friendly .with the boss does not regard anybody again. What can you do? Can you give her a query? Will you report her? To whom, to the boss? Whichever you do, you can be surc to enter into trouble with.the big man, and that if you are not careful. If you give her a query, �22 COCKTAIL LADIES she wilt tear it to pie&, even to your face, and curse: you with such abusive language. What can you do? You are rendered powerless because she is a cocktaitj lady, and besides, a friend of the big man in chargelor , your office. Take a look at a young Police woman who:is in the: good books of the A.S.P.! Every constable, even an Inspector, is cheap to her. She will novtake instructions. from any except from the A.S.P. But she forgets she is in the Force. This situation is the same in all walks of life where women infest. But who is a woman? A certain English poet defines a woman thus:Woman, doubtful theme, I sing; Dear, delightful, dangeraus thing! Magic source of all our joy, Tempting, trifling, tinselled toy. Every faculty possessing: That constitutes a curse or a blessing: witty, empty, fond, capricious. Pious sometimes, often, vicious, As Angels handsome, devils proud; Modest, pert, submissive, loud; T a cheer 'and to torment us, given. Without them, what, ye gods, is life? And with them, what but care' and strife? According to a certain woman writer, Marie Coreli: "a \\;oman considered in the rough abstract, is only the pack-mule of man; his goods, his chattles, created specially to be the vessel of his passion and humour. Without his favour and support, she is by a universal consent, set down as a lonely and wandering mistake". �COCKTAIL LADIES 23 A woman, despite her false airs, still says to a man: '1 want m o n e y, buy me a . bangle-watch, a .fancy bag, a pair of shoes, dresses, a fancy hat, eggs, fish, pork meat, beverages and what not she may desire. A woman does not know it is hard to get money or . if she knows, she pretends not to bother. Our women, including the society ladiesandgirls, are too money-indeed. House-wives find clever reasons to 'leave their husbands simply to live. smart lives, to be driven about in cars and to attend big parties. Young girls take to. the streets merely to be glamorous society ladies. Marriage and child-bearing are yet things absent from their vocabulary of thought. They want to be on the move with the society elite all the time. The greatest surprise is that they have what they call cogent reasons .for all their way-ward behaviours. . I recently encountered one cocktail lady and simply pitied h-r plight. She.had upsuccessful1y;contested the "Miss Nigeria" competition on provincial basis for three years ,now running. She can't now. walk a yard because slie has been used to be driven about by big men. Her cslours are fastly fading away, indeed they hnv: faded out. She is now a "wash out"- aild yct does not. know. She will'be dying and yet' wili: not believe she is so doing. She ktill goes abo,ut'looking for jobs from one office to. another. Whcrevei s ! ~ goes, people fight to have a glance, a talk, a touch (starting with a haiid shake..first of ,all) an'd finally a "can I drive.you'home"' courtesy? And yet this lady is so stupid. She cannot .add up.ten blus.ten. She can't read correctly' nor understand .'simple English. . Beauty is her .only qulification. Today women hat2 .wonlen's duties. They hate to manage the homes, cook meals and rear up children. Sometimes the men ofthe house go hungry because the wives are 'on s t r i k e . :Some of them are women and some "Mi s s N i g e r i a..' maniacs �24 COCKTAIL LADIES As a matter of fact, the introducticn ofbeauty competition into this country has turned so many girls' h e a d s to directions not altogether praise-worthy. Women are made to help and not to nag, s a p or impoverish men. They should not be a burden, nor parasites, nor nuisance, nor articles of commerce. There is still plenty of time for our women to think twice. Mad rush for gold and fast living all the time will definitely not do. "Gold, gold, for ever! What will it not do? It will bring the proud, to their knees; it will force the obstinate to servile compliance, it will conquer aversion and prejudice. The world is a slave to its yellow glitter and the l o v e of women, that perishable article of commerce, is for ever at its command." I often think of what is to be the fate of some of our cocktail ladies in years ahead. Most of them are definitely deceiving themselves now. Do they ever remember that the greatest beauties h a v e withered and died? Rose flowers bloom only once and then fade away. The morning is surely to give way to the afternoon, and the noon to the evening. Health has no duplicate nor an alternative. How many society ladies have ended i n ignominous deaths, sickness, leprosy, epilepsy, tuberclosis or veneral diseases? Here is a story of a girl who got a sack from her job. Lucy is a cocktail lady, smashing and glamorous. In comportment, she is elegant and in feeling, very soft and delicate. She is a typical woman or what a woman should be. She knows all the 'rules of high society behaviours. Her boy-friend is a young man with a *great f u t u r e ahead. His post is even now enviable. He simply makes Lucy crazy because he keeps a date with her every day. Life therefore has no worries for Lucy. What does she need? The boy friend provides her with enough. Is it dresses? Even �COCKTAIL LADIS 25 those are abundant. Is it a fine car? Ope1 Capitan is just sufficient for two people who have determined to make life run smooth but very fast. Lucy's boy-friend has a wife who has for him three fine children, two boys and one girl. The wife is even now expecting a child, may be a female, to balance. the equation'of creation. Lucy knows of this, but is determined to get the "awufu money" or do you call it "chawuta"? Recently Lucy's services 'in her department were terminated. Every big man came to sympathise with her, except the boy friend. The reason is obvious. Lucy had been an expensive girl to maintain. He therefore feels relieved now. Previously, Lucy had been sacked from different posts she had held. The reason had always been the same. She is not serious in her job. She is always absent. She is always abusive and insulting when ever she is corrected. Now Lucy is terminated and she has. fallen sick. The nature of her sickness is dubious and' serious. I know that people are not allowed to go to see her. When ! interviewed her Doctor, I was told in confidence thaf: her trouble was a terrible misuse of her life. I wish her a speedy recovery, if she is lucky to recover. Our cocktail ladies are not sufficiently facing the true facts of their lives. Youth and beauty are not to last for ever. Make-ups will never be adequate substitues for the prime of life. Cars will not be always around to collect them. Old age will surely creep in and the realities of life will stand stark-naked before them. It will be too late to learn how to use the.lefi hand when the right hand had long been in use al: their lives. Servants may not be around to minister unto them. The free-money-allowance will cease one day. The worst will be that some day they will not even be welcomed to those parties that had spoilt their heacs �26 COCKTAIL LADIES in ,youfh. Now is the time for a second thqught and this.,is:their only time. Continued .false living is d8n gerous and has its own serious ~epeycussions.Nobody .can ever cheat nature, but i'f the cocktail ladies think that tlj.ey can, well, let them do. They should .boyever remember' that their betters, had, trieB ,and failed. . A word is now enough for the. w ~ i e . a 05 Finally 1 .am a d v i s i rig' those them that are youthful enough and still marriageabki:to go now and marry. They should now. in the words of a poet:: Gather ye rose-buds wfiile ye may Old time is still a-flying And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of Heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting: The sooner will his race be run And nearer he's to setting That age is best, which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then b e not coy, but use your ti&; And while you may. go marry; For having lost but once your prime You may for ever tarry. I can add nothing to thc above quotntion. It on!y remains for the cocktail ladies around us to re-esamine their lives. They should now face the facts around them and consider their life past, now and to come. May God give them the understanding and the grace t o change their vain ways. �Chapter Three L a s t week, I spoke to you about c&tqil ,ladies; tfiose wc$ii:en who have betbnie so s o p h i s t ic a t e d .with v c i t y that their presence is becomiirg,disgraceful to all of us. Today 1 am directing, your attention ,t6-'another group, ''those hypocrites arounij .us." 'live. in a world of realities .and unrealities. This life, which is a very g r e a t gift from God, is such ti curious business. N o doubt, many of us walk through it like ghosts as if we were in it .but not of it. We. look but d o not see: listen but do not hear, start but do not feel. Indeed "all the world's a stage and all men and women merely players". Have you -ever watched, from a vantage ground, the .hypocrisy of men, the vanity of women, the boundless ambition of youths o r the presunipt~o:lor claim to wisdom of the aged'? As we reach years of discretion, we naturally ask ourselves what should be the m a i n object of our existence. Some of us are therefore fascinated by an attempt to forcast something of the conditions of lifc a s they will be in centuries ahead. Some indulge in s p e c u 1 a t i o n and some in dreaming: For this reason. life has for us many troubles wh~ch are o!' many kinds. Our own problenx therefore are just like these troubles of life. Take a look at the faces thet kave a church on a Suliday, those that comc? out from a big rally or a foot-+all match held at z certain stadium o r the sayings or happenings of this world! How v a r i o u s the faces and how vario~z indeed the i n t e n t i o n s and natures they purport! �28 COCKTAIL LADIES To some extent, there is no honesty or reason for some of the things we do. Many of us say many things in this life that we never meant or believed t o be true. We act, speak, walk and behave at timos because it is the fashiori.of some peopre to-do so. Let us begin with our modern ladies. Some of them have become more sophisticated than those they imitate. They now Paint red their lips, finger and toe nails and retouch theii eye brows blue. In time, they will begin to paint their ears and all other parts of their body. Already the face has got its own layers of make-up. Why do they do these things? A red paint on a black lip! Your guess is as good as mine. But I think they want to be smart, elegant and charming: otherwise they want to impress all beholders. A woman is-a.vcty':good example of a human masquerade. Say what you may, I am of that o p i n io n. Tell her she is the most beautiful lady in town; then watch the turkey cock as she be&s to swell! She smiles d e e p l y and loses her head. Inform her "you are my love" and watch the airs. graces, elegance and satisfaction with which she reacts. But let her. turn the next corner .and meet another man (more "braining and eloquent") who can call her "h o n e y", "sweety" and what not romantic terms. She soon forgets the first man, with all the joys she ever had with him. Why do women do this? The truth is that women are by nature very cunning and full of falsehoods and pretences. They cherish flattery and appear to live well with it. The question is: can they live without equivocations? When a woman says she hates you, then know that she secretly admires you. When' she is stern in looks, of course she is s e c r e t l y darting amorous glences. Her q u a r r el is just the begining of her agreement and love. �THOSE HYPOCRITES IN OUR MIDST 29 If she scolds you, then know that she loves you. But if she says that she loves you, you can be sure she does not but is only interested in the things that she can get out of you. The trouble with our modem women is that they can never say what they mean and mean what they say. Love to them is a m a g i c word with which to trade. No wonder some of them have now become articles of commerce! Marriage is no more contracted because of real love but because of security and position. A man's person does not matter any more in love affairs except his prospect, his car, his building (if any) or his social standing. Is he a lawyer, a doctor, a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary? Is he "senior service," or a g r a d u a t e ? Why do they do these things? Why all these masquerading and counter-feiting of life? This stitution has led so many men to resort to a deceitful living. How many men have hired a taxi cab for a day (with the word taxi wiped off) just to pose that they are car owners before certain "tough ladies"? How many have feigned to be lawyers, doctors degree holders or "senior service", simply to impress? How many men have suddenly changed their manner of speaking simply to appear "I have been to" or walk with what gait the "been tosWcali "Univerthe sity Hunchback"? How many men haveindeed shed tears at the feet of the girls they want to convice they love and would die for? We've got to be honest with ourselves and face the facts around us. Why should we live false lives? Watch some of our ladies nowadays when the appear in some television programmes. They simply out-do their parts and b e c o m e such strangers to their true selves. Equivelent to these "show girls" are some "tough boys" who go by b o g u s names and under false �30 COCKTAIL LADIES pretences. These boys make it a fashion to telephone every lady telephone-operator on duty in o r d e.r t o conduct a telephone c o u r t s h i p They start .with introducing t h e m s e 1 v e s as a "sci-so and so" Honourable Member from Lagos o r a Barrister just a r r i v'e d from the United Kingdom. They disclose there names as one Mr. Obl~k, Gaby o r Mike. They are l o o k i n g for l o d g i n g and they are inquiring if the lady te1ephone;operatqr-. can help. "H-m-m, can I come to drive you-out td' the Catering Rest House for the evening?' they oftemask politely. If he lady i s cheap, of course the outing takes place and the rest can besettled then. If the lady. refuses, to be dc ceived, these tough boys threaten to report then1 to their managers o r who-ever ishcharge or at the highest post in the department. Of course they don't d o this. They. only want to intimidate the ladies. Sometimes these "tough guys" .demand the names of the ladie's they. are speaking lo. This t h'ey.: do with such assuining Su'peyi~rity air$.of.importance. and ' And. these, useless .talks g o on for t e n s ~ f ininutes,. a t times up to an'.hour: (For full confii'gation..of t h b information, intewiew any respxtable 1ad.y'telephorie. operator.) Sometimes. you can. take' up youChand'Lt,. .and unfoituli~tdy hear these uselkb talks going ~ri;''.~f you interfere ,to' a&' i h e young 'man t o alloy th'e lady' d o her job. h~ insults'you; Th? sGrprise is t h a t sonie qs'. mes i ~ c ~ ~ dha~vsno-shame at' all. Leaving men and womeo a 1o n e ,. let, mz delve. further into the hypocrisies of liiost of us. H&ve,you ever noticed how some people feign'to be..consta~le~ or messengers from some magistrates? The aim, is always to win money through false pretences. How 'many quack-doctors have we, around?. These .are. responsible for so many u n t i m e 1 y deaths. . Those ' �THOSE HYPOCRITES IN OUR MIDST 31 seeming friends around us, who are they? Ninetynine pertent of them are worse than distant enemies. According to the way of this world: they are summer friends who often come with the season of prosperity and depart with the anti-trade winds of adversity. Many are they that laugh with us today and at our littlest turn of our backs tomorrcw, scorn and mock, back-bite and slander us. What is then the need for friends? A cheerful friend should have been a sunny day that sheds brightness on all around: a beautiful flower of nature that should expand and make its colours grow more brighter by the warmth of the sunshine that stimulates it. Happiness indeed depends much more on what is within rather lhan what is with-out There is no need for our counterfeiting and God's Earth is wide enough for a forthright and honest living. This world is moved by the I o w e s t and pettiest motives. It works for the most trivial, ridiculous and perishable aims. Hollow things often appeal to our sentiments. The wicked appear to succeed more in life and their success and masked kindness make us forget awhile their wicked nature. We tolerate and even praise or be-friend them because we arc in need of their assistance. A recalcitrant criminal that can argue well his case in court, baptising his defence with lies that are seeming truths, often wins the day whilc the innocent suffer and often-times are imprisoned. The gloom within often reflects in the shadows without and the face becomes the index of the soul; yet human beings are so clever that they can counterfeir conscience and feign brightest when they are indeed darkest within. "No harm" or "don't menlion" they readilly ejaculate where there is every harm and a need to mention it. �32 COCKTAIL LADIES Do you know that people buy certificates nowadays? It could be the G. C. E. or the Cambridge. Do you know that people of about forty years of age now declare before Magistrates that they are only twenty, just half their true age? This they do to win an end; it could be a post or a scholarship. Do you know that every lady that competes for "Miss Nigeria" (no Mr. Nigeria yet) must be nineteen. Even my mother (and she is at least sixty now) can qualify for this competition if only she declares eighteen. You see, we are succeeding with our hypocrisies, but for how long can this counterfeit of life do? The Government of Eastern Nigeria passed a law that fixed bride price at £35; but how many parents today obey this law? Daughters are still sold away for upwards of £200 to £250, and a receipt of £35 officially and ostentatiously given in .manycases? Where do we go from here? In big offices, do you know that nobody should demand or receive bribery? Perhaps you do not know of the boss's satellites. These people do the yeoman's job and yet those big men in those big seats in the offices pretend they are incorruptible. Promotions are still with-held until palms are duly greased, sometimes strong drinks, a turkey or a sheep are offered through agents to appease the angry, and very often, a hungry boss. "Eye service" is the first lesson of any "Police R e c r u i t". " Condo" is a word every police man knows. There is an ulterior motive for most of the things we do. Students befriend their teachers and lap about their feet with a hope to pass their exaninations with distinctions, whether they study diligently or not. The things you buy in the market nowadays are somctimcs adultrated. Europeans are charged more thm thc usuel ccst of the articles in our markels or in trsi Pares. In the Ci~urchc;. thc �THOSE HYPOCRlTES I OUR MIDST N 33 best places are still reserved for those with costly clothes and commanding personality. Foundation members of many of our big Churches are still those who have.big money and not necessarily holy life which is expected by some Churches' Commandments and Laws. Let us look at the things around us very critically. Take the case of a man on a salary of E300 p.a. who has so many storey-buildin s in town. Did he win any football pools? If so; ow much? If he did not, where did he get the thousands of money to erect suchmagnificientbuildings? Some Civil Servants, politicians and parliamentarians are living beyond their income. They do things that are not commensurate with their salaries..Some. parliamentarians spend more - time in erecting buildings than in facing the duty of the state. And yet theseaare the people who, speak loudest about honesty in public life! What is more, they speak of economy measures which will cancel car advances and basic allowances. They talk of cutting down the salaries of some. people and support every measurc that will tighten up the benefits that can go to some workers. Are these people honest? 1 have my doubts.. You see, I am speaking about haman masquerade. Human hypocrisy is a world-wide cancer. Take a look around you nowadays. Human strivings and uprisings which bring about the crises of human history are nothing but the echoes of personalities who seek more and more freedom to express their innate longings. Just look at what is going on in Kuwait, Algeria, Tunisia, South Africa, Angola, Congo, Loas, Tibet. Germany, to count a few! Recall to mind some past p r o n o u n c e m e n t s of some world powers and then try to reconcile them with their a c t i o n s. f �34 COCKTAIL LADIPS Great Britain condemns South Africa's apartheid policy but always abstains from voting against it in n international conferences. Portugal's l a s s a c r e of Africans in Angola is equally condemned by Britain but yet the same Britain sold her air-crafts to Portugal and promised her more military equipments and training. In ihe meantime, she (Britain) is doing a yeoman's job in maintaining peace and order in Kuwait; The same Britain pleaded foi' the retention of South Africa in the Commonwealth when every Commonwealth c o u n t r y (except Australia) wanted South African to quit the Organisation. Look at the almighty Russia! Their scientific prowess and i n v e n t i o n s not withstanding,.they are a people with a double face. Their cry, as far as Africa is concerned, is against imperialism. At the last session of the United Nations Assembly, Russia moved for an end of colonialism in Africa and Asia. This was a laudable note struck by Nikita Kruschev as far as the Afro-Asian block was concerned. Nevertkeless, Russia should let her c h a r i t y begin at home by liberating her Communist colony of Eastern Europe. We still remember the incidents of Hungary. How do we then reconcile Europzan imperialism or American r x e prejudice or Russian ruthless and goodless dictatorship or French high- haudedness and brutality or Portugal's atrocities in Angola or South Africn's inhuman policy of apartheid with their leaders' mere pronouncements,and vociferous utterences of equalitj, liberty and the brotherhood of nations? Don't you see that it is all a sham? There is no sincerity and honesty in the things we do nowadays. We simply play to the gallery and become i n our particular ways mere Pharisees and S c r i b s Is there any wonder .;herefore the unrest that now blows across the world? ,The trouble in' the world t o d a y is double-faced dealings. The powtr blocks are the money magnets. �THOSE HYPOCRITIES IN OUR MIDST 35 Quite liberally, they deal out largess to the beggar countries in the hope of buying over their affiliation. To this end, they will go any lenght in assisting the gigantic projects of under-developed countries. We should not be imposed by appearances and mere utterances. We should always check our impulses and moderate our desires. Let us keep reason in her own power and be not satisfied with superficial view of things. We should penetrate into the matter, form and end of everything. A little analysis will always show us the true nature of things or the perosons we eacounter. In Nigeria today, the posts we hold should not make us feel that the world is in our hands. We should be honest with ourselves. False-living cannot help. �Chapter Four ACCIDENTS ON OUR ROADS. oday I a m all taxi lorry Tpedestrains. appealing ttoall these andboys,todrivers, car owners, truck pushers, cattle cyclists I wan people please and lend me their ears. Every day our hospitals are full of cases of serious accidents. In. many cases limbs are maimed, legs fractured, heads broken, faces defaced. Besides, many are the unidentified bodies that lie in our mortuaries. The frequency of untimely deaths on our roads today is alarming. Who are responsible? Negligent and reckless drivers, self-styled expert taxi-drivers and bogus death-proof lorry-drivers. What a blessing it is to travel! What joy to leave our little comers, our smiling fields and rich woods, our hills and mountains that abound with sweet valleys, rivers, lakes and the peace of such places, just for a change of sight! What a happiness to leave our islands. heaths, churches, cathedrals, work places, friends and many a spot that has become immortalised in the history of our country, just for 2 travel to other places like these! But yet. what an uncertain venture this can prove nowadays? Many indeed have left their houses so happily for a little travel but never returned. They were trapped by death on account of the so many accidents on our roads nowadays. Many a time, a whole family is affected. Sometimes, a school team becomes the victim. Death waits for us everywhere on our roads today. Our taxi and lorry drilers have no feeling for other users of thz road. They have no manners a n d obey no �ACCIDENTS ON OUR ROADS 37 . traffic and high-way codes. "I can drive myself and my wife can drive too" they shout wherever they see one driving one's own car. With this nonsensical e'aculation they make it impossible for the car owner* driver to use the road peacefully with them For this reason they occupy the centre of the road some of which are very narrow) and expect the "I can drive myself" to enter the bush simply to overtake them or to be overtaken. As the edges of our roads are in many cases rugged, death is just around tho corner. i Much has been written about a c e i d e n t s on Nigerian roads. Much too has been spoken, but the position is still the same. No amount of writing or speaking can do without a change of heart on the part of the taxi and lorry drivers. Nothing can be achieved without a fellow-feeling for other use= of the road like us and the passengers in those "Gwongworo Buses" or Ranch wagon taxi cabs. How can a driver of a mammy wagon or a 403 Peugeot taxi cab ( a ranch wagcln of a type ) with three quarters ( 2 ) of his body outside the window and at a speed of 60 to 70 m.p.h. c o n t r.o 1 his car when. another one is just around the corner? The speed of our drivers is terrible. What are they after? To get rich quick? I wonder, because sometimes more haste is less speed. Make a trip from Enugu to Onitsha or to Aba, or to Port-Harcourt or to Oron. Alternatively cross the River Niger to Asaba and embark for Lagos or travel from the ninth mile corner at Enu u to Jos. After that trip, if you are lucky to return, o m your own opinion. Imagine a driver of a five ton mammy wagon from Jos to Onitsha, sitting above the wheels, with the wagon's body some eight to ten feet high and open, racing like a sputnik: B �38 ACCIDENT ON OUR ROADS Under full load, the speed is anything between 60 and 70 m.p.h. and to show how hardy, tough and deathproof these drivers are, they control steering with one of their body to hand and remove three quarters the window. With this train load and tens of human beings perched on top of the loads, t h e s e drivers speed day and night.-under rain and sun. At night there is nothing like dimming of light nor a lessening of speed for any other approaching vehicles. And yet in the event of any accident some of these calous beings escape unhurt. Good God! (a) Recently a gentleman went home for the week-end in his own car. As he was returning to Enugu, ~ f t e r Udi, anddescendinga hill, he met his fate. An oncoming mammy wagon with its light- undimmed was coming with such a terrific speed. To avoid the danger, the gentleman tried to slow down and negotiate an overtaking by the side. Unfortunately there was a ditch near by. The light had dazzled his eyes. He therefore could not see a foot ahead and down he went in a crash. The gentleman is still in the hospital. The sorrowful aspect of it was that the driver of that nlammy wagon steamed past like a train engine. He did not stop. He did not even care to know if. the young man died or lived. It might be that he had insured his life from God and will not die again. Yet one day presents us with a book of all our records and we-must give account of our s t e w a r d ~ h i ~ here on earth. If you go to Lagos by road, it is a hair-raising adveature. Timber lorries are just the counter-parts of mammy wagons from Jos to Onitsha. Thcsc timber lorries carry such loads that w o u 1 d m$ke a good cargo for any ship. Yet with these loads, the drivers speed to pass any small cars. There is never a journey �from Lagos to Asaba or vice versa in which you can fail to see these monstrous human beings at their worst speed. If you escape them, then you are lucky, indeed very lucky. Every day on our roads there is such a fantastic watage of human lives. The amount of human blood that has been shed on the altar of Nizerian roads should have by now been sufficient to appease the god of calousness which our lorry and taxi drivers worship. What is to be done? My suggestions are as follows:The issuing of licences should now be reviewed. Driving tests should now be made very strict. Age (say between 22-30 years) should count very much, not declared age but real or apparent. The senses of the body should be all correct. A school of driving should be immediately established like many other trade schools. The basic qualification should be Standard Six pass, so that every driver should know how to read and write and also know the parts of the devil (the machine) which he is manipulating. The penalty for reckless driving should be severe. Licences can be withdrawn indefinitely. The police should be more on their alert in their sacred duties to check recalcitrant drivers and bring them to the warm embrace of the law. Their Accident Prevention Vans should be more. The taxi drivers that prove so rude and insolent could be taught good m a n n e r s and fellow-feeling in the "cell" for at least a day. It is no c r i me to have a car and to drive it by oneself. It is a point to be proud of and emulated so as to practise economy and humility. There used to be too much bigmanism in the past. We can't now afford the luxury of a class d i s t i n c t i o n by employing a dtiver, a .car washer, a mechanic, a car packer and what not: simply to maintain a car that will take us to our offices. From where will all that money �came to pay the legicn of servants or. do you call them employees? The time of senior eervice false living is far past. Let taxi and lorry drivers understand this once and for all and stop the nonsense of those cat-calls "I can drive myself and my. wife can drive too". Another cause of frequent accidents on our roads are truck pushers. "Ugbarugba"1 These people declare themselves outlaws and occupy the centre of road with all their ears deaf to car horns., T h e slightest admonition you give them. they leave their trucks for you, making sure that you must- have damaged your car on then). These people are so unfeeling and to some extent very stupid. They appear disgruntled with everybody and yet nobody forced them to that brand of occupation. For how long must our government tolerate this danger on our roads? Can't the police go out now and remove those saucy fellows that appear incapablq of any good reasoning.? The p e d e s t r i a n s ' path is too wide for their trltcks. The plea that they have licence, like anybody else, is sheer nonsense. Surely they have not licenses to threaten the lives of other users of the road. Will the police look into this menace and bundle all of them to the normal pit in their. charge office for questioning and prosecution? here is yet another group. There are cow boys. I don't. mean American Cow boys or t h o s e who imitate them here in Nigerie. I mean those Hausa boys or men who drive around Nama Cows. Many a time, traffic c o m e s to a standstill because the animals have secured the right of the way, and that, the whole road. What can you do? Can you fight the cows? Can you collide them with your car? If you try the collision you will for ever regret your folly and that may .be in another .world. Have you ever seen the sight where a Nama Cow capsizes a car? It is .in awful sight. Many a time the animal goes �ACCIDEXTS ON OUR ROADS 4 1 unhurt. The'mischief or damage which the horns of that devil can do is shocking. Something should be done about these careless and carefree Hausa chaps who tend these cows. By all means these cows should not share the same road with man. Many a tinle one runs away from the fold and constitutes a danger to lives, especially children. Many people have run against a vehicle in an attempt to run away from the animals. It is like flying from the frying pan into the fire. Sheep can be such a menace too. But been sheep they remain and act like sheep. People should keep their sheep at home. Recently I had the misfortune to to wrestle with one while I was riding. I had reached the ground before I realised what had happened. To continue with my suggestions to limit the number of accidents on our roads, I suggest that taxi and lorry drivers should no more be fined in courts for reckless driving but imprisoned at least for upwards of three months, and with hard labour. In addition their licences should be withdrawn. They might become sober thereafter. Strict measures should be taken by our governments to chcck this newest threat to human life in Nigeria today. The roads should be widened and tarred too. Control posts should be established at every fifteen miles distance. I mean leaving police men on duty at these posts to check the speed of the lorries that pass. We are to face facts if we are to exist as an independent people. Threats to human life and property cannot do. We must eschew such impression that our lives are so unsafe on our roads. 'There is also the menace of tipper lorries that b carry sand. To this group can : added those foolish people who carry planks or wood acrcss roads without l~okingboth ways. �42 COCKTAIL LAblES In the passing, let me call attention to another way of checking accidents. Mothers should take care of their children and warn them from playing, walking, singing and dancing on the roads. 'I'hz worst practice of these kids nowadays is to stand at the side of the roads and throw stones at passing cars. Sometimes they gibber and mimic thedrivers of passing cars. School teachers can help too. Pastors can even use the pulpit to sound notes of warning. We have to help ourselves. The police cannot do all things for us. All possible avenues should be' explored to lower the rate of mortality on our roads. As for old people who find the main roads the best place to discuss their personal problems, I have no sympathy. Personally, I should suggest a little lowering of speed by drivers and then a registering of sound strokes of the cane and then push along. Old pcople shoud know better. . It was one of such foolish men that cost the llfe of a .Nigerian Barrister at Ogbaku, in Owerri Division. Some people may frown at this suggestion but we can't continue to suffer because of stupid people who turn the main roads into picnic grounds. There are sitll other road users I want to address. They are the gentlemen cyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrians shoukd keep to their paths, look both ways before crossing roads whether in big towns or in rural areas. Cyclists should not claim to be out-laws because they have no cars. All of us can't ride cars no matter our individual ambitions. As for the "1 can drive myself", 1 suggest that they continue to show good examples. They s h o u 1d give lifts liberally but not with any ulterior i.lotives as is the case with most of them when they see ladies. As a matter or fact our private car owner-drivers appear to give more lifts to girls, ladies afid women t.han to their fellow men. �Funny enough, 1 have not seen an owner-driven car (a woman) give a lift to a man. Why? Finally, I believe that the best.. suggestion is to appeal to our sense o f fellow-feeling, .respect and love. Afterwards, all of us are capable of death. Let us therefore be honest, fellow-feeling and respectful to one another. O r independence can mean more u that way. �V E ARE VERY SUPERSTI'IIOUS V INthis series of talks, attempts have been made to spotlight existing shortcomings in our community. The target has not been any partict?ly individual nor a group or class of people, but the society in which we live. The series are given in good faith, in the spirit of "if the cap fits you, then wear it". I make this explanatory note because many of us listen but do not hear; read but do not uilderstand. Some of us talk of decency when we don't even understand the true connotation of that word. Many a time, many of us rush to destructive criticisms because our sex or relations are concerned. We therefore fail to consider the matter at issue with unbiased minds. In the end, we succeed to make big fools of ourselves because truth, no matter how many times frowned upon, will 'nevertheless remain truth. Why therefore complain? The facts around us must be faced no matter how bitter or disagreeable to some people. If we fail to face these facts, we shall be deceiving ourselves. But time for deceit is past. We are now faced with the responsibility of nation building. How can we do that in the spirit of hypocrisy? My series of talks are therefore out to cater for how best to correct and amend those bad ways of living of our society. Today I direct your attention to some superstitious practices in our lives. "Fear is the bogy of the African. Fear causes the African to become superstitious. Fear causes the African to believe in ghosts, in witches, in wizards, in fairies, in evil spirits!! As a �result we live in a state of fear. 'Ti~is, the author of "Renascent Africa" thought made the African petty and small minded. But that was his opinion ~n 1937 and backwards. Whether, t h i s is still his opinion today is another question. Nevertheless, look around you for your own opinion. Evidences still abound. - What is superstition? It is a godless religion or a very devout impiety. To understand what superstition clearly means, a close study of a superstitious person is necessary. The person is always fond of observation. He is very servile in fear, worships God as he likes, giving Him what He asks not, or at times, more than God ever commands. Such a person does not move an inch further in his journey whenever a stump strikes against his left toe. That is a bad omen! ~f he continues his journzy, he will meet with bad luck. And that "bad luck", what is it? Superstition of its own class, no doubt. If he sneezes, he crosses his breast with the sign of the Cross and thinks that some loved one or relation has just remembered him. Already his mind is clicking that way. He listens to all sorts of cries of birds and knows those that mean imminent dreadful events. If his eye-lids begin to shiver continously, then he thinks someone to dear to him will die. Every dream consequently has a significance and he has r e a d y interpretation for all of t h e m. In his own, he believes himself a Joseph of the Old Testament. His life is so ruled by phenomena. A Yogi such as he is, he lives in constant fear of the unknown. Superstition portrays a man i g n o r a n t, timid, gullible, prude and stupid. In Nigeria today, superstition has become in many parts, a canker-worm that is eating far deep into the f a b r i c s of our people's way of life and beliefs. A c e r t a i n bird, �46 COCKTAIL LADIES black throughout, ("fairy bird") that cries at midnight is throught to bc a witch. If a person is sick and an owl cries on top of his housc. then the sick man must die. A boil on the eye-lid is supposed to be a sign of mis~rliness on the part ~f th: suffcrcr. If y o u have a slip w h i l e eating. then y o u r ancestors have required that morscl focd that fe!l off. But we :zIl know "therc is many a siip betweerr the cup and the mouth." Why therefore must oar ancestors interfere? Can they t e so hungry, bcing incorporeal? Ignor.~ncc i:, ihe father of mischief for when people do not know. inischief makers find thenl easy prey. There arz instances of healing by magic. People prefer dark mixtures and incantations to hospital treatment. There are still cases of dctermining truth by drinking from "a certain bowl". Caszs of "juju mei!accP arc still frequent. Nowadays they even reai their ugly heads in courts of law and interfere in the administration of justice. Baren women travel long d i s t a n c c s to drink from "certain waters" in certain dark woods.. These dark waters are capable of giving them children. At least that is their hope. Where that fails, a zertain religion that operates at midnight causes the baren women to be locked up (possibly with certain men members of that religious body) and prayers said for lheir productivity. Even now, in every big township, this religious body operates. The fun is that many educated people are staunch members and they b:lieve they see visions and dream dreams. God help us. That is all wc can say when our. govern~nentshave not thought of the advisability of looking irlto how all these late-conier religious bodies operate. May be that is freedoll1 of worship! are warned In some partsof the lbo-land, not to v~!listlc 3t night. Why? For ofcvil spirits. 1.f rear �WE ARE VERY SUPERSTmOUS 47 Why? For the fear of evil spirits. A snake is never called by its name at night because it will hear. It is rather called a string. If you are bitten by a snake at night you dare not say a snake has bitten you; rather, a string has stung you. If you dare say a snake has bitten you, then you become so ill with the bite that you cannot move an inch before falling down, and perhaps dead. In either case, whether you fall down dead or alive or walk away with the pain of the snake bite, the snake is sure to follow you that night to whereever you go: even if you climb a house-top or fly to the sky if possible. Why does the snake track your trails and dog your heels? Is it a Nemesis? Well, t o get a hair from your head. If it fails to get this hair, it dies. And this is a belief. Believe it or not, it is still some people's ardent belief. If you have not heard of "Ogbanje" (re-incarnation) then know now that there are people who will argue with you throughout a day, convinced that there is "Ogbanje". But what is "Ogbanje"? It is a belief that some wicked children are born; they die and enter their mothers' wombs to be born again, and continue this ever-lasting circle of birth and death. Some believe ihat thunder can be sent from one place to another by human beings to 'commit havoc.. Even "rain-m. kers" are said to have thepower tomake lightningor thunder during the process of rain making. They have only to strike something (perhaps a banana stump) on the face of the "rain-stone ' and the devil goes up to the sky as"Amadiora"-the god of thunder-ready for any mission of mischief. The belief that people change to a leopard or any olhq animal for that niatter is not new. You have Only to deny this belief .n Ib~bio land of Eastern Nigeria and stand your ground, if you cdn? ' �48 COC~CTAIL LADIES' There was indeed a time when this belief CEkpe Awo' or 'Man Lcopard 'Society') was such a menace. Many lives wcrc lost through the. fear of this Society's atroc7ties. But thanks to the Government's timely i n t e r v e n t i o n into that Society's devilish machinations. Superstition includes exorcism, witch-craft; the power of ghosts, spirits and fairies. If a s o u 1 departed begin; to wander in the like~ess a man of or woman by night, tormenting people; then someone must go to his tomb and stop him from coming out again. Some people even go to the length of exhuming the body and burning it. This is to make sure it will not disturb again. 'Yet a spirit has no body nor substance! It can therefore not be burnt. I t is just like taking arms against a ravaging flood; shooting guns at it, nlatcheting it and as a last resort, slapping it with both hands. Of-course the flood flows on and. if care is not taken, it will do worse damage. "Juju doctors", magicians, charmers, exorcists etc. help to promote superstition in our midst. This position has made the ground very fertile for ''rnmeydoublers", "wonder-men", "sevcn-sevens", "once a year" etc. to carry around their wares of cheat and fraud. The trouble is that we are too gullible. How many civil servants today still be:ieve that promotions can't be got without charms? How many students today still believe that examinations can't be passed without charms? Did you not hear recently of a school b o y a t Onitsha whose head was set on fire by a magician. The poor boy simply wanted to pass his examination the easy way. How many christians today still bclicve in 660do" or 'Ogbanje" and gird the waists of their children with supposcd antidotes? You have only to examine so many children, . �What is that small parccLaround their waists, necks or arms? What are those marks on their boZys fcr? Pcrhaps tribal 1r.m ks! Civilization and educaticn 51-ould by now havc endcwcd us with the power to makc thc dark places of our minds bright. Why must we remain so gullible? Why must a certain dye ("Uri") be uscd round the ankles, knees, elbows, necks, etc. to curc us from the attack of measles when we can go to the hospital to be treated? Wc have to fight and wage a lifelong battle against thc hrces of darkness. Anything that turns thc edge of our reason blunts thc surest and most pot:nt of our weapons. Simple psy&ology t( 1 s us 1I1;1.1 most of our stlpers1 tition is a direct resultof our fears. There are many certain events in life which must come to pass. Thes.: changes and events are ice~litoble. It is hopeless to fight against thtm or try lo avert them. Why must libatiiolls be liovrcd, drums tcaten and dances staged only to win a Coo:-ball ' match? Why must certain foot-ball playcrs eliter a stadiun~ with their backs or climb in over thc stadium walls? Why must innocent spectators be searched because they were suspectcri to be "charm-men"? Why nlust a case in court be adjourned bewusc of "'juju's" interference? Why must readers first look up what the stars say i n llic Newsplper? Why ~ u s t cvery death bc ascribcd to witch-cral't, poison or "Ogbanje"? Why do pcoplc still go lo -'juju dortors" for their future determination? Why must effciency not deteiminc pron:otions rather than charms? Why must 'girls nct love boys without the intervention of "pins of love" or low pnwders and mirrors'? Let us think on these things and slop fooling ourselves. Superstition is the biggest weakness of any man. It makes. us look so little, pdty, suspicious and fearful. �50 COCKTAIL LADIES Recently I had an argument with a certain "power." He claimed to know everything. I asked him toconsult his "powers" so that I would win £75,000 in the football pools. He did and said that his "power" showed him all the teams that would play "draw" but forbade him.from using them because they would be discovered in England when his coupon reached there. Poor ignorant man! He has not realised his folly yet. He still believes in his powers..It always needs knowledge and courege when you are faced with some of these obnoxious superstitions. Remember always that superstition, like lawyers' houses, is built on f m l s heads. Are you superstitious? Well, look around yourscll' in self examination. We all or nearly of us all :;\kt fair number of chances in life. Often we,do not know enough to be able to take them. We even some times pass them by, unconscious that they exist at all. But '"opportunity comes only once. If it is not utilised, no amount of superstitions will bring it back. 'Trying to bring back passed chances is like taking arms against the sea and trying to stop it from flowing. But the hand of time writers and passes on. In conclusion, let me draw your attention to possible things that often exaggerate the possibility of truth in superstition. Many people, through melancholy. imagine that they see visions, spirits, ghosts or hear strznge voices. Why mtist a widow not imagine that sl-c saw her beloved husband when she is left all alone in this world of woe and tears? After-words her minds is all wrapped in and consumed with thoughts of the drpnrted loved one. But then can her imagination be i reality? "Between the ideal and the reality lies i t.42 shadow." It is all a shadow and never once a stibstilnce of her loved husband. Some people too. �through some imperfection of sight, see doubles in everything. They are even afraid of their own shadows, Some people, again, through the weakness of their bodys have such imperfect imaginations. Take the case of a drunken man. He sees trees moving and men walking upside down. The world is a merry-goround in his brain. His images are circles for ever going round and round. How can such a man not see devils and swear that they were a legion? Once again, it is his imagination under that unkind treatment of Mr. "Bachus." Superstition however is not peculiar to Africa. It is a world wide malady. It dominated England of Shakespeare's time. This can be seen in some of that immortal's works like the witches in "Macbeth' ghosts in "Hamlet" and "Julius Caeser" and fairies in Mid summer Night's Dream. The Indians are heavily addicted too. They have charms and rings for every thing. Every irregular movement of the elements has a meaning. All phenomena have meanings. America is not even free "D Lawrence" affair and other Red Indians' wrong beliefs are still existing. The Irish had their "leprechons" (fairies). France, Spain, Portugal and Russia are not free. Superstition is inherent in mankind but appears more pronounced in Afrcia. This should not be. The African should not be petty and small minded because of his fear and gullibility. This is 20th Century; an age of science and outer space explorations. This is an age that cuts across aU barriers of superstition. �� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Cocktail ladies Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nkwoh, Marius Type The nature or genre of the resource Onitsha market literature Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Nsukka, Nigeria ; Enugu ; Onitsha : M.U.E. Nkwoh Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Nigerian literature (English) Women Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl.c3299 Description An account of the resource This pamphlet is compiled from broadcasts made by Nkwoh over the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation network. According to the introduction written by V. C. J. Mbah, these broadcasts, a combination of an editorial and a talk show, were deemed fairly controversial. Nkwoh's positions on these issues, however, were considered to be well informed. <br /><br />Each chapter is a separate broadcast and the pamphlet's title comes from the second chapter about "<em>cocktail ladies</em>." This broadcast discusses a group of women known as cocktail ladies, a class that Nkwoh purports to be career women who have abandoned the idea of marriage and live off of sugar daddies and big men. Nkwoh describes them as " human parasites, lazy drones, and good for nothings," (pg.19). Deceived by feminism and the promises of a fleeting beauty,these women "infest" every walk of life they now occupy, (pg.22). Nkwoh points to feminism as the main culprit, for it misleads "cocktail ladies" into thinking that women can and want to do everything that men do, (pg.18). As a result, these women have become "birds of passage or changelings to every big man,"according to the author, (pg.21).&nbsp;<br /><br />In pursuing their "radical" lifestyle, cocktail ladies contract diseases, lose husbands, serious boyfriends and jobs, and fail to play their true and proper role in society as dutiful assistants. Nkwoh explains, "Women are made to help and not to nag, sap or impoverish men. They should not be a burden, nor nuisance, nor articles of commerce. There is still plenty of time for our women to think twice," (pg.24). However, he continues "<em>they should now face the facts around them and consider their life past, now and to come [...] Nobody can ever cheat nature . . . I am advising those of them that are youthful enough and still marriageable to go now and marry,</em>" (pg.26). Other chapters include broadcasts about night marauders, hypocrites "in our midst," road accidents and superstitions. Originally presented in a series of talks called "Facing the facts around us" that were broadcast over the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource [1961] Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/22980bae3ff144f7237e6a7ad893b8f5.gif e323648181b6d6918f3e826aee42cf61 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Couple Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Onitsha collection Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a> Description An account of the resource This illustration of a couple is taken from <a href="http://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/show/onitsha/item/6868">The Way to Make Friends with Girls</a>, (pg. 5). https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/fb3562f7a7c1381e8ddb38e1aaeb5522.gif 6336264a611bc40e29d5931e32f84dbe Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dancing couple https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/2589ead216425979dad0c44b9b2bb7b7.gif 1470345e4cd31308e14b4ec2f68e87f9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dining couple https://exhibits.lib.ku.edu/files/original/7b79e37048d3ce616e0099611ae98e18.pdf daf2fb980400b66b672ead521dc041bd PDF Text Text ELEKERE AGWO. md lv E NJS. Reu, Enugu. t e P l k 3s . ��PRINTED BY O M A PRESS & BOOKSHOP OWERRI/ONITHSA ROAD, AWO-OMAMMA-ORLU, First Edition, July, 1964. All Right Reserved. ��ELEKERE AGWO: THE ,QUACK DOCTOR Bad manners and other incorrigible incivility shown to some patients by some doctors' assistants &iid some hospital staff ; the long waiting before a atient could see a doctor, the grossly inadequate medical acilities in some hospitals, all these, and more, conspired to push an honest but otherwise busy-bee Okondu into the hands of mercenary q u a c k s typified by Sunday, and into honorary ignorant quackery. P Okondu's oonfrontation with Dr. Jika's wife at the doctor's d o o r almost made the elstwhile law-abi3ing Okondu literally run amuck with injection-syringe and hypodern~ic needless, indiscretely administering cheap but highly poisonous arsenic-containing Acetylarsan injections lo his first wife and his only son, Bomboy. Okondu learnt the lesson of the disastrous consequences of illegal injection so well by heart that his first wife, the never very over-friendly Ola, who actually pushed Okondu into meddling with illicit drug deals, was so hard-hit by the poisoning effects of the injection on herself and her boy, that, despite her inveterate d i s 1 i k e of orthodox medicine and all it stands for, she was forced, by circumstances beyond her control, to add a belief in the doctors as one of her litany of other credoea. - - - �ELEICEKE .: ACWO: THE QUACK DOCTOR. ' . . Phaim), . D. NKEM AKUNEME, BSc. (B. Ph.c,, M. P. S., M. R. S . H. . etc. . .. , . ? - To Elizar, my ever dutiful and loving wife. COPYRIGHT. 1964. BY D. NKEM AKUNEME. .. FIRST; PUBLISHED . . D. IN EASTERN NIGERIA .. IN . . :. 1961 N. AKUNEMC AWO-OMAMMA. Printed in Nigeria by OMA PRINTING PRESS, AWO-OMAMMA MSTERN NIGERIA. �.. . ELEKERE -AGWO: THE . . ... . . -- QUACK DOCTOR. Kpoi ! kpoi ! kpoi ! tapped 0kondu at Dr. Jika's closed door with the bent end of his walking stick. "Who is that?" asked Mma, the doctor's wife from within; Kpoi l Kpoi ! Kpoi l , continued Okondu, paying little or no heed to the !who is that' posed Rom .within by the Dr's wife. 'Who is that, I say 7' repeated Mma from within, a bit angrily as she heaved herself up from the sofa, her big beefy, bullying body swaying lazily obliquely as .she got up making for the door. 'Who is that knocking at my door?' Okondu . continued with his kpoi, kpoi. kpoi. without uttering as much as a word in reply. The do& opended wide quite abruptly. hlma had expected to see a familiar figure who wanted to tease her deliberately by such irritating knocks at.hcr door; she had, at the very least, expected to see a country squire, the type whore regular but resourceful visits help to keep private medical practitioners going financially; she had hoped to confront a respectable but apparently prosporous lawyer in an evening suit with a top hat on his head and a brief-ease in the lift hand and an umbrella or a walking stick in the right hand. The human animal she saw at her door irritated her all the more because he put on a kharki knicker and a kharki shirt, with nothing on the head and feet. 'Did you hear me ask 'who is that' from wtthin' demanded Mma. Yes. I heard you fine, fine', replied Okondu. 'And why didn't you say a word ? 'If I told you who I war, which was what you asked for, you would not know. as I have neither been here before nor have we met anywhere. Moreover, unles you are one of those who are g n I tuitously afraid of their own shadows in broad day-l~ghf, do not see any reason why you should not have opened the door s~lently to find for yourself who it was that was knocking at the door. 'Don't talk to the doctor's wife like that, or else I turn . you out of this here place' soaped the doctor's wife. . . 5 �'Look here, 'Mrs doctor's wife' I haven't 'come here to be If you don't behave, i. 'il he p~infully ist&GiiX k fell rdii ttiii '& i I have two women in my house who can be said to be your betters in some way. If I set them after you, you will be forced to learn the one lesson you now seem to forget, namely, tbat the fact that you are a doctor's wife will not help you when it comes to a trial of streneth-between a man and a woman or between a w o m a n and two women. - Dr Njika'r beefy wlfe up-braldlng Mazl Okondu for hlr irrltatlng knocks at the Dr's door. 6 �Mma was so stung by the impudence and brazen audacious outspokenness of this 'all Kharki intruder' that she slammed the door against Okondu without. any t y p e of feelingness as. to what might.become of Okondu's indisposition which brought him to the doctor's house. .. .. Seeing he had been locked-out by a mare woman, a woman who called herself a medical OWcer's wife, a fat lump of thoughtless edible meat, Okondu went straight home; his serious toothache which brought him to the doctor seemed to have been effectively, if temporarily, drowned under the mental agony that now teok absolute posscssionof him; His appearance so altered with what he called "a disappointing sub-human deal' that his acquaintances would h a v e taken him for his fwenty years older double self. Okondu went directly intq his room. He banged the door behind him.. I t s terrific impact brought Ekcmma, the second wife, post-haste onto the 'spot., 'Ohu' sighed Eke. 'I thought the walls had fallen in. .I..don9t lmow you are in, dim (my hubby) ;What are you, doing in-doors at .. , this busy hour of the day ?' 'Leave me alone. leave h e alone, Ekes, said Okondu rather harshily. I don't want to see any one now; leave me alune, leave me alone'. For a time, Eke was a bit confused. She could not instantly account for this unusually abropt manner of her normally gentlc-behavcd husband. Ekemma knew that her husband was almost always in good company with wine and spirits as long as the wind-pipe is quite capable of draining them down. So, she hurried into the cellar. filled a wine glass with 'Our -Homo Made -stuff (illicit gin), OHMS, Akweteshi and as quickly hurried back to Okondu's room. - - 'Here' that's a drink for you' dim.' '. 'What drink is that? Whose is it? Where did you get i' t ? Okonju in the . most unco-operative undertpne. 'It, is the usual stuff; it is for you; I got it expla'ned Eke most affectionately. querried f f.o m the cellar' . �You womm" I am spitefully disgusted with your generation. M~ke sure you haven't finished the wine in the cellar under the pretext of doing me some kind service. You clever dangerously kind women. N o man ever knows where he exactly is with you I I don't want any drink from you, and make sure that tho bottles in the cellar were as full when I left them as they were after your unauthorised visit. Otherwise, you will tell me whether Iam marrylng you o r you are marrying me". Eke returned the wine from the g1as.s into the bottle. clrefully pouring i t in so as not t o drop any; in a way, thankful t o the urgency of the situation which made her fill the glass in the f i ~ instant without t tasting the contents. On the other hand, this painful experience provoked a series of conflicting reactions in her mind. Eke felt hurt by this shabby treatment from her husband who had grossly misunderstood her honest intention. A t the same time she 1neffe:tlvely tried t o blame herself for not finding out, first, what was actually wrong with her hubby before trying her hand at the unrealistic experimant of drowning one's sorrows in a pool o f alcohdic drink rather than l>>k t h e difficult situation squarely i n the face. Ultimately. the insecure and over-conscious Ekebeing ohly a second wife and childless sank into sad moodiness which always immediately follows painful expzriences of this kind in excitable permonalititles of Ekemma's type. Ola, the head-wife came In frsm the local market. A the bass of s Okondu's mannor, she Is also the s>le braln behind her hxband's successful trading. "Where is di-anyi (our husband) ? "asked Ola. *' He is in his room' replied Eke, the junior wife. "What is he doing there at this time of the eveninx?. -You go and find the answar your self'', snapped Eke. Ekemma's curt reply sent Ola hartenlng t o Okondu's room. The full six-foot of his slim figure was badly arrangzd on the bed. H e dldn't care, two- ence, how wide apart the legs were thrown, almost touching the dusty loor; the hands werespread side-ways. Okondu lay flat on his back with the limbs flung any-how side-ways as i f he were begging t o be nailed t o the cross. f �'.What Is the matter, what is the matter, dim'?" requested Ola. Okondu opened his eyes, closed his open mouth. and collected his legs and looked Ola straight in her colourless crystal clear irresistible eyes, stretching his arms like a child welcoming its mother home after a day's absence from the home. Ola slumped into his empty hairy breast, threw her arms around Okondu's neck and waist and lift ed him up, up, into her laps. "What is wrong with you ? Have you lost any thing ? Have you been fighting with any body? Tell me' Tell me* Has Eke given you a wee bit of her venomous tongue?askedOla without waiting for an answer. Okondu opened h i s mouth but could not speak for w a n t of words. His wits seemed t o have deserted him. "S~cakt o me darling. As your first wife. I have a right t o share o in your distress. I am bound more as a duty than as a help t do my best for you at ail times. Come on, dim, speak t o me" A t last. Okondu overcame the bz-witching mental distress and spoke: "Nwunyem. (my wife), I have seen my ears for the first time in my life without the aid of a mirror: that compact mass who calls herself Dr Jika's wife, had not only prevented me from seeing the doctor but had gone t o the unbearable extent o slamming their door f against my face, all because 1 refused t o say a word when she dewas knocking at manded from behind a clwed door t o know w h ~ her door." "is that all" asked Oia most serenely. "Leave it t o me to deal with the doctor's wife. But, don't you think that it is irreverent t o talk of a doctor's wife as a 'compact mass? What you males contemptuously refer t o as compact mass, is t o us, ladies, an evidence of good living, some thing t o be proud of. �By the way, have J not told youdozens of times befors, not to rush t~ tho doctors with the minutest physical - . discomf tux? Mrs. O k n d u N o l slumped herself helplessly Into husband's hairy breast and tried to lift him up from bed. her �. :.You waste.your. time; you exhaust ~o~r.patiende'b~.&:long.wait~ ing and .at- times end.up <withgetting noth~ngfor yoiu.piks:except i . . a heart ache and a. heavy bill. No trader. likes .burning hm. candle . . . from:both extremities.' . . . . .. .. ,;;,. . , . . . . . . ., 'Biit tha?i:'dbctors' .job: they make a living b y treating"pa3s and diseases' reported .Okondu. :'.,'..ST,.. . .: . '; . . "Yes, but tKey a & not, thd odj.:ones that do. this.' Do you remember that:time . .you injured :your.. leg:,by"b.icyclc accident? . . . . . . . . . . . ....... *Yes, quite .vividly" .. . . . 'What did 'you db;' . . . . .And 'so, what1 -. 'What did you, do, I asked? shouted Ola. .. . . . .. .. .. . .Oh yes, Ola, I weit to ~ro:~unda~;.who dress2 the wdutld and tendec! it until it .healed'. repl.ied <Okondu. . . . . . . - ~ , ' ' , 'Why. then, .didn't you gd.to.'Sunday with your. toothache? Don't you know that every hospital staff takes special delight at doctoring patients privately .for . small.cbarge and quicker:attention?' a .. .... .. . ... .... . . .. . . 'I' don'tiknow about that. Wise ,people do not use the same instrument for:the eye 'as they use f o r t h e ear:.physical.injury isnot the same thing as toothache. .Moreover, the hospital belongs to the . . . doctors, a n d I don't see how I can be bhmed for-gohg 'to-thedoctor .. , :;. .. . . . . . with my toothacW- .- .-'. . , . . .a *Yes. you .are wise;. you always :l$~ow. what.toG when you say find yourself in.a right corner. Yo,= ca.n go h a ~ k .to..Dr. 4ka's b o y s if.you likc, you'might 'come bact this time wtth a'pocker in your head. and make sure you:don't.wmplain aloud.pr .flop into your bed. like .and .an .empty.. bag' . admonished Ola, iron~cally, .. . . ... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i . -. . ,,'Okay 1. Okay !:You, win 1. I.shall. go to;~.Sunday.after.. dinner. .' . Since Ok&du0s 'bic$Ae wo&d'lie&d"hi had hot i ~ & h t 'it fit to.see Sunday .to expresshis thanks, . I t wasatheshame .of.this typical ..... ...... ingratitude of many a Nigerian former pat!ent that actually drqve . . ............. him to the doctor's house. �A trader of Okondu's calibre. who needs every minute of his tlme. knows exactly what .waste of time it was t o attend t o hospital o r tti .doctor's private .surgery; Okondu knew this very well before he opted t o go to D r Jlka. He had now learned his lessons too well by heart. This time he was determined t o patch things up with Sunday. So, h e collected t w o fat. yams, one big Rode-Island .cock, a calabash 'of 'upper wine' and two bottles of Beck:$ Beer. and made basketful wit', the bally-lot which he tied securely with bambo-rope onto the back ,carriage of his ever-green Raleidh bicycle. H e , ran a shorr distance with. the bike still by his side; then, with the left foot on. the' pedal. he deftly took the right-leg over the basket, falling. bang on t o th:! ricketty seat of his ageing ever-green Ralelgh. Off he went t o Sunday's. .cycling through badly-kept r o a d r, with b u m p s a n d pot-ho!es here and there, now dodging loosr, unfettered goats, now dodging fowls, and then, confronting obstinate ducks and ducklings which refused t o give way, inspite of Okondu's frenzied bell ringing. .: .. A t the enteranci t o Bro-Sunday's houri. 'Oko"du rang' his cycle .:bell .rathe? more enthtisiastically.. . 'Hello stranger' sh&ted sunday, peeping out of his narrow un.dressed.window. *You are doubly welcome; come rlght in' .. , . . Sunday..who had seen the basketful of provisions on the bike, rushtd out t o help his guest lean the bike on the rough mud-wall of his weather.beaten,. grass-thatched..:shsnty which passed for a,dwelling house, almost crumbllng under.the heavy. regular, torrential rains. 'Sit. down.strang&, . said .Sunday, showing Okondu to an easychair without a cushion in it. 'Make yourself comfy'. .'The furniture in the bed-sitting room was rather minimal: a bambdb bed with very dirty aimy-mosquito net pitched on the bdmbob . . pillars; a dirty .Oclianla, the'niade-at-Onlbha type o f bush' lamp. rest. . . . .. , Ing on an equally dusiy wooden table; cushionless settee, an easy-chair, two'flre-sue chairs made:bf cheaieit:wood. There was evidence o f pennilessness and want littered all .over thedusty room. Yet, Sunday, . . an ebull1entSunda)5: Smarty 'Sunny- Boy, would not, for ali the world. . . ... . . .. admit chit gianbi& hdd 'pasied 'him by. �- His green Raleigh, his black su2, his sharppointed suede shoes and his setee, are symbols of up to date living which made Sunday feel and talk big in s o c i a 1 circles. As a stunch believar in out ward appearances, Sunday placed greatest premium in the stuff on him arguing within himself, that only very few ofthose society figures with whom he hob-nobbed, would ever care to come to his house. .To those who mct him. out doors, Sunday is the man, the perfectly dressed man, the typical modern man. But to those who knew him up to his shanty. Sunday was rock-bottom in the scale of pre-eminence, outward appearances notwithstanding. - - - 'Now, then, Mazi Okondu, what can I do for you?' said Sunday, patting his guest sharply on the back. 'I h o p you haven't come to ask me to escort you to a third father in-law? You men in the money are making women scarce. and brides priec prohibitive, for poor us, by amassing as mmy women as you can pay for' - - '*You have seen me for a very long distance, Sunny Boy; I already have a wife too many. You can have Ekemmb for the asking", replied Okondu. 'My purpose of coming to you is three-fold. dear Sunday. A lame dog hardly fwgets those who helped tt over the tiles. In the first place. I want to thank you, pract~cally, with this basket ful ef provisions lor the medicdl aids you have hitherto rendered to me and my family. Secondly may I thank you in advance for the services you may render. to us in future. And lastly, I have brought same complaints wh~chI hope you will be able to look into with your proverbial kind resourcefulness". - 'No mention' h1az.i Okondu. I am always at your service' replied Sunday, smilingly. Okondu presented the b a 5 k.e t of gifts. Sunday accepted them with utmost pleasure. It was nearing the end of the month when Civil servants of Sunday's grade find it extremely difficult to make both ends meet.. To Sunday, the unexpected present was a wondaful lift over the domestic hurdles. �*'I .have a.nasty nagging tooth-ache which seems to have cut deep into the nerve-root of my very existence The quickest relief is what I want; I don't mind the cost" said Okondu. 'Just a minute' replied SunnyBoy Sunday went out of the room into the compound; looked, carsfuly round, to make sure that no b?dy wzs whtching him; then hz dug out from the bosom of t h e.aa;th a rusty c i g 3 r e t t e cup Sunday, the Ward-Servant 'doctor' digging ont his injection-giving parapheruilia from the earth in the field neer his house. 14 �containing an all-glass injection syringe with a central nozzle, two hig5ly-tarnished hypodermic needles ,with blunt :tips, a bottle of 0.3 mega units of procaine penicillin and some water for injection. It was necessary t a hide these things somewhere outside Sunday's room. In the Hospital where Sunday was working as a ward-servant, drug pilfering was a popular pastime and houses of hospital workers were regularly searched by the police. To find such injection materials i n Sunday's flat could land him Into jail, or into considerable fine which he could not afford. Sunday shook off the dust from the cigarette tin and carried it hurriedly across the field into his room where Okondu was waiting anxiously to know what Sunny-Boy was up to over the field, for. Okondu observed Sunday, through the window, digging in the field like the nativc-doctor looking for the burial place of harmful jujuchlrms. or for drug roots for a decoction therapy. "Here, I will give you what we hossital men call 'short-gun' injxtion. It is the best in the market. Doctors will charge yo= a life's saving to prescribe it for you. Pharmacists will charge even for the container which you are sure to throw away after use. Yet yon will get it from nre for a mere 15 shillings: but because of the gifts yon brought me I can accept St-. "Never mind, Sunday. I will pay your bill in full; "health fistn Okondu put his hand into the inner breast-pocket of his kharki shirt and brought out a rumpled leather purse containing a bundle of miscellanious currency notes. He turned through tho notes, drawing out a ten-shilling one. , " Here, Sunday, I will give you the remaining 51- in a minute". Disging his fingers into the front pocket of his kharki knicker. he brought a handful of loose coins. of varied denominations, and placed them into his palm. selecting enough of the combination to make up 51- which he handed to Sunday. Sunday watched the cerernbny quite interestedly, wishing he had asked for more. �Okondu got a dab of clove oil on the aching tooth togcthsr with. nins packets of A. P. C. ons of w'Jich he was instructed to take thrice! daily. The toothache disappeared with quickness with which hung* vanishes after a good feed. F. "Tell me Sunny-by, where, how, and from whom you learned the art of injection-giving. I am very mxch interested. If I know how fp give injections, then I would not 10s: my appetite if the bally-lot qf: . . doctors and their money-thirsty aides went to blazes en-masse". 4. il "What you want to know, Mazi Okondu, is an easy mattar but a long story. Nothin2 is hidden under the sun to those who could use their e y s and brains properly. I learntd the art of healing b8 watching doctors and nurses in the wards through spending a great& plrt of my warking tims with the patisnts discussing their diseases and their treatment; part of my time is spent in the dispensary observing every move of the dispensary staff under tho pretexl of waiting to collect drugs for my ward. If you are serious a b m t becoming 'doctor' by being able t o give injections, Mazi Okondu, you m u s-t h w e to undergo a course of apprenticeship with me, after payins a l ! or part of a prescribed tuition fee, added Sunday. "Just t-ll m what your charge is, and leave the rest to me " : said Okondu. .. "My charge is fair and whst you can readily pay. I will take a m x e £15. I hope that isn't much ! The charge includes the cost of teaching you to be a 'doctor'; you will pet a syringe and two hgponeedles as part of bargain at the end of your pupilage. 'What is hypo-ncedle ?' asked Okondu. .. 'You wait and see: wz haven't started the course yet', advised Sunday. 'Here is £5. Sunday; when do we start' 'Well, well, Maai Okondu, I could see you mean b u s i n e s s �Do you know what? I have 'got a good number of patients in a bush village, eight miles from this town. In that village I a m known as 'the doctor'; in fact, the only doctor they know for miles around. I visit the patients every Saturday evening. It is a good 30 minutes leisurely cycling from here. You know. Mazi Okondu, those of us who assume the role of doctors must pretend to behave like doctors. We cannot rush our heads off cycling furiously to the village. We have to take it easy like gentlemen doctors. You want to conle with me this Saturday ?' - 'With all pleasure' replied Okondu. ' See you Saturday at 3 p.m. * 'Chcrio. Sunny-boy; see you Saturday, 3 o'clock'. Okondu rang his cycl? b-ll rather exuberantly as he approached his house. The house-hold rushed forth to welcome him. Also waiting for his arrival was Oka. his trading mate. ' You look quite transformed ', commented Ola, the first wife. 'Tell us all about it. Has Sunday pulled the magic Cord ? Come on dianyi, speak out '. ' You could have met mc half the way to Sunday's if you were all that anxious to know what happcned beforz ever you say welcome to your husband,' remonstrated Okondu. ' Oku! I am just interested in knowiog how you feel after seeing Sunday. At least 1 have a right to know, being solely instrumental to your going to Sunday.' ' Okay. I shall tell you all about it in a 'minute. Meanwhile. I shall better ses Mazi Oka; thereafter, the story of my eventful deals with Sunny-Boy shall be the fruit of our evening meal.' ' Hello Oka 1 what is the news? Come along to my sitting room How was today's marketing '. 'Oh, not so bad, Mazi Okondu ' replied Oka. ' I b to find out why you were not at the market this morn(. hear from your wives about your indisposition. �As:,, for the. market.news, soonest ,:after displaying. o u.r., wares, a bird whispered to me that the rice of Bicycle cigarettes had go* .up by half penny per packet o 20 at Oron 25 miles away. I acte@ quickly and made for Oron by lorry with 60 cartons of 144 .pack?qs which I disposed of within minutes of my arrival. The trip was repeated with tripple theabove quantity. I must admit, Mazi Okondu, that if we have another 'to-day' during the week. w shall not : .have much to eomplain about." f' - The fact of the case was that the cigarette price went up by a penny per packet, not half a penriy as Oks gave Okondu to understand, and that Oka went to Oror. v:th greater quantities of cigarette on each of the two trips. H+ .yas, one of tha many such servants who put up a bungabw of !heir own after serving you for less than two yearn because more i!i.!n half of the profits they make for you went into theid private pockets, in addition to the normal salaries and profit share bonus. - > '\li,Il d&e 'Oka''" remarkid 'Ok'hdi. half we celebrate the day's good takings ? " Okondu filleJ his glass with ' OHMS and another glass for Oka. ' ~ o o d.luck, comrade, 'said 0k;ndu. 'I wish you have said, 'good open' ; no sensible chap would wish his g o d , to 'lock' 'replied Oka in jpcular mood. -1: 'Oh; well. 'good open. Mazi Oka'.. 'Our customers, ''our customers' The two glasses knuokled .with crackling sound. W wish our customers property. long life and. increased needs ; for our services, don't we. Mazi Oka. May their hmds fill with ggld so, that the overflow may be ours to grasp for aye and a day. men'. Amen: - . The ~ibatidnwas poured by the arch-priest of the brief ceiemony Mazi Okondu. 6 1 Oka handed Okcndu the dry's takings nccordhg to his 0 1 account. He left without further ceremonies to conlinue the cerebration;'sdlo, at tlio'Blue Moon Bar from his lion share of the day's d, boon: N * .thaC'Oka had left, Okondu is free to' r:la:e his den13 with Sunday to his wives. �/ . .' . ' "Now, then. Ola. Sunday is the dootor that can treat both blind.ness and lameness. My toothache is now a question of 'was'. It had been charmed away by Sunday's short-gun injection and a dab o f yellowish brown highly centcd stuff. D3 you know, what? continued Okondu. '1 don't know 'what' replied Ola in a more receptive mood. 'I will tell you: I am going to learn to be a 'doctor'. I have fixed every thing with Sunday this coming Saturday. If I can give injections, no member of my family will have any needs to go the doctor' 'Unless hc or she is carried to the doctor uaconscious, you should have added' interrupted Eke, the second wife. 'Elekere Agwo aburo dibia. I will never. be your patient' What Eke was trying to say, in Ibo language, was that he who becomes a doctor by merely spying or understudying a quack doctor can never make a good doctor and that she could not care less abeut being treated by such an unhallowed quack like her husband is qualifying for. To Okondu. Saturday came rather draggingly as if tied, on the back of a mail. Okondu doned his kharki dress promptly at 2.45 p.m. and made away to Sunday's on his green Raleigh being propelled more by th extreme desire to learn lo give injections than by the smooth sail of his trust worthy machine. 'Hello sunday,' ejaculated bkondu as he jumped down his bike in front of Sunday's house. 'Hello Okondu,' riplied Sunday from within. 'You have arrived dead on time. Come right in. l will be ready in a jiffy'. . A s Okondu: .came in, Sunday observed something wrong with .. . ~kondu'sattire. �" I am sorry, Mxi O'mnJu, but you cma3t ,to w!ih me cn my medial :rip In t h u attire. Those o f us who prase hkc dcctcrs must try to Crtss and prttend t.a behave like them, You aLst have t o n puc on your 5 u n d a y &st if you wish t o accompany r c A~othcr reason far Crmsinp pwprriy is that vr?!l-dress=d men arc hardly har: rassed bf i h t *cx:!ipe~ni:.;' po1i:e a rhc conirol-porci. Well.drescd quack @'doct~rs" hard!y harrasrd by '*ca::h-permare ler '' t r a n t p&ce at control pests. - 20 �These police, you know, are yet t o be told that our present day soclety Is dotted here and ;here, robbers in evening suits. with trousered-swindlers and day-light It takes all sorts of people t o make thls world of curs" " I can see what you mean, Sunny-boy" - In next r o no t h e , Okondu was back, finely turned out In hiss - - black and beack with black suede and black felt h a t t o match "that Is It! you are now ready for the Journey." Their first succcrs(ul skip over the hlgh-way hurdle was an easy paraage over the p o k e control post. They were' passed wlth smart salute, so t o say. In fact those of us who suit-up t o the neck. European fashion, or put on the jaunty airs of an arronpmt M. P o r a . ministar in a n ovcr sized agbada, hardly experience t h e frequent discourtesies one comes in ever.lncreauing cmtact within Nlgerla today. When Sunday and Okondu were near half a mile from the vlHage, thsy were met by Jacob. Sundays l o d agent who-collects customer patients f m Sunday for a penny commission for every 21- lnJec:lon-patient he brought t o Sunday. "Duckie Sunday' I wan make I tell you some tln which don p s s from worse to bad' requosterr Jocob, hls deecicated h a n d s trembling: his ccco nut-like h e a d turned down t o disguisa the anxlety In hls fibrous oedrmatous eye-brows lndicatlng probable starvation anaemia. 'Promise, duckle Sunday, you no go let the news wch I wan tell you make you vex' entreated Jacob. 'Go on. J, k. and plpe-up; replled Sunday. 'I am 11 ears'. 1 ''Dan l a s t man wch you glvam Jaklshlon last Soklday. 1' don die." �"Good Lsrd ! y3u Soa'c rnean t o sny tha: J n ; h is d d ; " cx- c l a i n ~ d Sunday. " Yes,'john you see. don die p i o - pro: i f you se& now nihim spirit Every body for rawoon rink say rta de jaLis'.!on killam as nothin de doam before before. 71:e big boys for taweon wan go for repcrt for pclicc. Sunday's so-called ' Short-gun ' illegal injections have sent m n y poor and illiteral: rnortals.to earlier gnvy as exemplified by sorrowful .. sudden death of llvely John after quack injection. 22 �John him brodars want nothin but your head so that they no go renrember their dead brodar whenever de don see you alive with their eyes. N de old people for tawoon na de don save you finish. a Nothin go happen you now" explained Jacob without emotion. The fact of the matter was that after post-mortem deliberations lasting four hours. the villftge elders convinced the youths that it wss futile and a show of ignorance of natural laws, to presecute or prosecute a doctor for the death of any of his patients. The 'grey hairs* araued that mazy ~ a t i t n t cdie ever3 day al! over the world, civilised or not, inspitc of doctors' treatmcntr; many more recover without any treatments. Cousequently. thc dtath or recovery of any patient i s partly an act of the gods and not exclusively the responsibility of the doctors. The elders went so tar in their determination to save Sunday's head thereby preserving the age-long custom of the san-tity of the doctor's position in a society, that they ( theelders ) went to the painful extent o f catalouguing before the youths t h e numter of patients whe h a d b e e n saved by Sunday's short-gun injection. A big welcome awaited Sunday. The mere fact that he ever carre bark t o the village was enough t o convince t h e remaining doubtinpthomases that he meant well. since the wicked have known to :tart to run when no one was pursuing then. The tragic truth about John's sudden death was that John should not have been dead. were it not for the injection Sunday gave him. John, lively ebullient John, did not, in actual fact need any injection as he had, for years not shown any sign of illness. People even thought that John was so vivaciously mobile thet death would have a task over- taking him. �The injection was cheap at 21-. Sunday had promised that it could hake some one work physically hard f o r hours on end, prospects Which late John found irresistible indeed. The injection Sunday gave was a 3 gramme ampoule of multidose N.A.B. dissolved in heavily contaminated w a t e r containi ig debris, motile organisms, and abundant visible evidence of its unsui'tability as injection s o l u t i o n. The multi-dose ampoule Ha; meant for five to ten pa!ients. Yet Sunday gave it all to John out of sheer ignorance of right dossages of drugs. The water "red by Sunday in dissolving the N.A.B. could, in iiself, initiate local abscess'es, erysepelps, embdlism and even, as in this case, death. Added to t h above horrifying dangers, the NAB. was administered ignoran:ly into the muscle instead of through the usual intravenous route. Such a costly meddling i n t o what o n e hardly undektood h a d ,caus:d John his life. 'The pity of it. all -was that '.Sunday' lcarned nothing from his nmernary life destroying quackery; but resobed to cootinue giving injections a b long a s there are' some ignorant folks wound, willing to show the right upper 'quadrant of tteir dirty buttocks-for cheap 21- injections. . - . Had Sunday witnessed the beginnings o'i: his psticnt's post4njection agony. all Sunday could have done was to suggest that the injection was doing ils work ;The primitive folks were sure to ccmcur. With them no injzction was worth anything ilnlcss it gave some pains or any other side eKects which uould be interpreted as signs of good fight by the injection against intramuscular or intrasystemic disease. , . . , Had Sunday watched his patient's last moments, there was very little he couid do as he knew practically nothing about the appropriate anti-dotes to arsenic poisoning. �All ihe sick in the village turned out i n full force t o receive their 21- per Injection treatment. To every John dead, there were probably a thousand Jones and many more Margarettes willing t o testify t o the efficacy of Sunday's cheap injection. Some women reminded themsrlves and others that since one fatal motor accident never prevented traders from travelling, nor yet were women ever daunted in their hunt for children of their own by a fatal case of child ,delivery, so need none be deterred :from accepting injections from Sunday as a result of this single tragic injection episode. Three weekly rounds of such medical trips were all that Okondu needed t o qualify him t o be able t o give injections. The end of his apprenticeship w2s marked with his payment of the balance of Dokie Sunday's charge; the giving of an Everette ail-glass syringe, t w o hypo-needles; 4 ampoules c f 3cc Acetylarnn. 4 of penicillin powder by Sunday. (Okon d ~ ' smedical menrorj as the only authority needed as a signal for the student t o enter the drug-market as an injrction glver. N o lessons were given t o Okondu on the vital importance of the sterility o f the injectab!e material and injecting equipments. N o lessons on the signs and symptoms,of diseases. N o one mentioned the toxi- city o f drugs. In .three weeks what doctors Okondu had 'mastered' take the best part c f six years t o begin t o understand. T o Okondu it was hit-or-miss therapy; ace:yhrsan, and he had only been taught of penicillin, and streptomycin as if these were the only drugs in ex:stence. '' Dim ( my husband) I am going t o be your first patient" marked'ola, the'first wife. re- " W e can now have ar many injections ar we wish at little cost rather than fall a victim t o the mercenary instincts o f some orthodox Nigerian medical man. The wide - spread connercialisation of Nigerian medical practice hls taken out of it any vestige of kindness and syrrpatl~y. I haven'c .great deal of respect for any technically first-class doctor who lacks other qualitits of sympathy considera!ion for others, justice and moral rectitude. �"My hopeless headache and that- perennial'waist'pain would'certainly divappear after I shall have taken several dozens of injections .. on tho head and a t the back-side " , . '' Why in the head ? ", interrupted Okondu. '' Must the injcc, lion be given on the very site of the pains ? "'That :is the idea. " replied Ola. " The injection does better, perhaps, when given a chance.to 6ght the pains at close quarters". " What, if you have the pains in 'your eyes? Would 'you thin .requ:rt for the needle into your eye-ball?". . , ".. Life-deslroyina qua.k wife after two at work! Trad:r Okon?ugiving inbtion .to hh first w e c b pupdage undcl quackdunday. . .. 26 , �! No!, dim, rensible human beings don't allow sharp instru.. ments into their eyes . . . Okondu started his 'medical practice' on t w o members of his .. I'Oh . ". family: Ola :received 3cc of acetylarsan-penicillin injections daily for thirty injections. Bom-boy, Okondu's only son, got half as many. A t the end of the .course * Ola's sight ... . .- . .. .... started. t o fade. . . Okondu held that . th? la;tinjections were merely doing over-time and that blaineeded two 0r.a few'more injections t o get the effects home t o the bodya One ad4itional injection made Ola lose her sight 'almost- cotipletely. . . dzv:!oped .. Born b ; o rashes resembling skin leprosy. Okondu; who had hitherto lived long anong dinppdntments and hardships felt ths &cnt turn of evens wT.:more than he had act- ua!ly bargained .for. .. . . . Ola has t o be taken literally by hand t o Kano.for eye treatment. .> Bam-bby mustbe sent.to,the leper co!ony. The two cases needed equal . . w g w t act-nti-n. cure. hydciay only one Okondu. Tha ea-!ier :he trlatrnent i f lepr~sy.the quicker the pr&on& c h e durati0.n of trearment. . But. therc is He cduld not share himself into two t o cope with . the twti;qu~lly urgtnr !it"atlons. . A deciridn must be m d. a; are rather m w e preriousjandneedzd priority attention. Eyes Lepr~syhas an^ not beenll&own t o be a disease in a hurry. of i t s victims h a d : ,. lingerCdf& years kitho"t fatal consequincesi Eyes, on the o t h i r hand, . . ore not so!d : .: in the.shopr and shciutif . . .. be atten.dedto. .sodnest. . . .. ..'. .Eke was beqged t o take Bom-boy t o the lepw -colopy.but, she rep i n e d w m o v e d . .The pr.esent trouble was entirely of Okondu's,making. aided and abated. by Ola,, his first wife.. Bom-boy was .the. only irmocent victim. Okondu did not know. that by regularly civing acetyIm:n t o his wife 2nd son he was surely but slowly poisoniFg their systems. �Acetylarsan is a pentavalent organic asenical compound, cummulative in action, with symptoms of poisoning insidu~ousin onset, starting with weakness, loss of appetite, constipation, then, conjuntival congestion which may lead to the fading of vision and eventually to ultimate blindness if untreated. Arsenic dermatitis may takc different forms, viz-increased pigmentation, melanosis, may be obsewed especially on the neck, eye-lids, and nipples which may ba mistaken for a serious skin disease such as leprosy. OIa is being taken literally by hand to kano by her husband for eye treament after she had none blmd ar a r e d : of arsenic containing injections giving her by h:r quack doctor husband. - �Acetylarsan is normally prescribed to patients once or twice weekly for four to seven injections as a treatment regimen, depending on the nature and severity of the disease. May God forgive Okondu and his ilk for they know not what they are doing. Had Okondu known the poisonous nature of the injections, he wouldhave been the, last thi.~gon two legs to poison his loving Ola and his only male child. Assuming that Okondu and his ilk succeeded in getting the forgi~enessof the Almighty and that of knowledgeable victims, like Ola, could they ever hope to be forgiven by innocent Bom-boy and other unsuspecting but ignorant members of the public who fell ready victim to the dangerously dead-laden injection by unqualified mercenary quacks ? That is the question. T I I first lap of the journey to Kano was undertaken on an Eke~ Day, a rest day when relatives and well-wishers of 0kondu's family could conveniently take leave from their hand-to-mouth perennial farming to wave and wish the sojourners safe journey. The Gwomgworo (converted lorry-bus) sereetched to a noisy stop. Okondu and wife got in and off to a good start on their way' to Kano. The bus ran steadily on, as long as it alone o@ied the single-line tarred Owerri-Onitsha road; but soon as it ran off the tarred surface to make way for traffic from the opposite direction or to o v e t d e a slower moving vehicle in the same direction, the uneven road-side m ~ d e 'bus' jolt with horrible row of a noise as the made even short passengers lind themselves jamming their heads on the roof of the bu3. At Onitsha, the couple joined the Onitsha-Enugu bus, "Dim", called out Ola in an audible whisper. "What ?", asked Okondu in a way of an answer. "Do you think I shall ever see clearly again in life T ' �"Even if you don't, a visit to Kano will certainly prove helpful. m e streets of Kano are littered with blind and near-blind beggars on the street corners; destitutes, who have for decades remained unplaitiffly grateful to Allah for little mercies such as being alite and able to beg-which reminds one of the Hausa idiom which says that oneeyed man becomes grateful to God only when he comes across a totally blind man. However, if Kano fails us, my Ola, you will have none to blame but your religiouo distmst of doctors as a body of professioners". The easy journey on .the broad, well-surfaced Onitsha-Enugu road made the couple feel quite relaxed. They talked freely unrestrainedly. Every passenger on the bus seemed to betalking simultaneously in a typical viciferous Nigerian fashion which hardly make ahy distinction between conversation and shouting. The noisy situation suited the couple fine. They discussed their private affairs without the slightest fear of cvesdroppers. The rowdy chattering came to an abmpt end as if lightening flash has stmck every one dumb. Every passenger sat stiff on the seats. The Catholic amongst them made spontaneous signs of the Cross indicating a prayerful attitude at the imminence of unexpected danger. "We are now on the Eva Valley" whispered one passenger. "No, you are wrong, we are on the Millikin Hill", rejoined ' another promptly. "You cannot be on the valley, but in it." . �The driver was seriously and asiduously negotiating the sharp bends which snaked and snaked round and round until one felt like being spilled over into the deep ravine on the left. The raised trap gy rocky natural continuous kerb on the right made the deal look like driving betw:en the devil and the deep sea. The slightest swerve to left or right would definitely end disastrously. Fatal accidents had occurred 'on the Millikin Hill in the past. To prevent such accidents, drivers were given timely warnings in every conceivable phraseology, calculated to infuse a sense of greater care on the drivers. "Drive slowly". "change to low gear", "sharp bends, strictly no over-taking", "'better be late than the late", ."beware of land-slides' and such like warning sign-posts were posted at regular distance along the rdute as a guide to literate drivers who care to look-out. The appearance of "Enugu welcomes c3rzful drivers" sign board showed that the worst was over. Every passenger spat on theirchests as a sure physiological proof of total recovery from the fearful experience they had just passed through. "Dim! why don't they make the road straighter?" "Who are the they ?" replied Okondu. "Well, I mean those who built the road in the first instance" "A bridge over the valley will cost the whole annual revenue of a Nigerian Region. To lavel-down the hill will take some doing and may have to wait for the age of nuclear-atomic bull-dozers' replied Okondu. "Oh!, are we saving money or lives" . "Ojugo!, you are asking me!" �The PH-Kano train was late as usual. You never knew where you were with most Nigerian trains. No one, not even those officials paid to give correct infonnation about train movements could conscientiously swear to the accuracy of their infonnation. Some of them don't bother to find out. , 8. The train pulled up three hours behind schedule. The compartments were full up to the roof. It was a tug-0'-war. getting on to the train. Okondu jumped in and clambered hurriedly over badly packed luggages littered all over the place taking up every available space-gang -way, toilets and all. It was a toad-leap all the way. Okondu went into .the first, secobd, and third compartments without finding anything like a standing space. He became concerned about the wife still on the platform, thinking that the train might move off any minute withoutamoment's warning. He therefore, rushed to the nearest window in the 4th compartment, forced it open, peeped out and shouted' out to his wife and the. carriers to come along with the luggages. He put the first'luggage reached him on the pile lent by those already comfortably settled. As he l~urried to receive more of the luggages from thecarriers he first slipped from the pile and fell flat onto the face of a sleeping Hausa man fully stretched-out in a long seat. Audu got up, black with furry, and 'swore out: "You black infidel! You blind beggar1 Can't you distinguish a packing bench from a human body ?" "Have this-+ dirty s l a p f o r reminding me of blindness and all that? A very brief fight ensued. Some passengers around rushed forth and parted them. A bowling of 'Yi hankuri, mallam' (hold your peace mallam) pacified Audu very readily. . Peace was suddenly restored. This looked like the briefest fight in history; Okondu collected the rest of the luggages. The wife was pulled in through the window. �The carriers were paid off. It would seem as if the surest way to create spaces on a packed train would be by creating a scene. The diffident travellers learn thereby tocollect their stretched legs so as to allow the late-comas a sitting space. .. ~. u d " . shared his seat with the Okondu's. . . ."~amuri (Iboman) nguh (have) kola huts. 'Audu gave kola to Okondu. . . . 'Th&ks, .:we Ibos hardl9;'iefuse'. a kift &kbia .nuts even when . . . . ., . . . given by a confinned enem);. I'don't ' h o w you have aU, that amount of the '&lk of human kindness id your flat scrawny, unwashed chest." ''Ytj, you would have asked me to make 'charge' (metning 7.. . . chancej'fo; . you r&r than d;op your & & g e o n my head. . f t takes ,.. .. . L . . .:. a despkably d~s~erate'ibomait d o like you did" spoke ~ u d u ' i clas . t o. . . n sical ' ~ % ~ ~ a n o ' ; 8 " , I "Yes, i€, bkes'a watery.braid lfke not io real&, that theSe long . . seats aii meant tb. accommodate three -pi&6ngeri;. You can't simply . . foot frame. '&I t h e blnch ',when stretch ;tbe full~~~six, of your la* . . .. . . _ -. some other paying passkngen.: r e standing"" replied Okondu rather a . . ...,. .. .: ;.. . causti~lly;stillholding'ihe kola in his hand. . _ I . "Chikina (let us. make peace); gidi-gidi ba chau (fighting is no . . good), pleaded Audu. �okondu exchanging blows with an Hausa fellow-passenger in the over-crowded PH-Kano Limited Passenger train. Peace was made soon after over Kola nuts. 34 �Peace was made with breaking of t h e kola. "Dim", whispered Ola, "did we remember to send a telegram " to Ndah to await our arrival a t Kano 1 "Oh, yes, I gave 31- to Jona to do that; I didn't want us to be the 'unguided strangers who have eyes but could'nt see the town," replied Okondu. The train journey to Kanu was a mixed bag. The wobbling movement of the train pleased Okondu, though it made Ola dizzy and violently sick. The train,at topspeed, touched sixty miles per hour. The very frequent stops at the stations were a pain in the necks of those passengers who would like to get to the end of the journey with minimal delay. The single-track rail system made the journey by train tiresomely tedious as the so-called ExpreseTrain had had to stop, willy-nilly, at practically every station either to side track the on-coming train or to on-load and off-load. It took good two nights and days to wver the 589 miles journey. , Okondu and Ola arrived at Kano dog-tired. Their feet were slightly swollen with the long sedentary journey. Kano weather was dreadfully different and a bit too slow to make friends. The harmattan was in full swing. Okondu and wife got up in their first morning at Kano with hoarse voice and some feelings of a smoker's throat. Their lips were sore with the drought; OIa particularly, found it difficult to smile without first of all running the moist tongue over the lips. Laughing was completely led out as this was swe to be fellowed by serious bleeding from the cracked harmattandried lips. "Welcome to Sabon Gari Kano", said Ndah. "The Ibos here feel more at home than they do in their own hom+towns". "Don't say such a thing to any body's hearing", remonstrated Okondu. "No sane man ever admits in public that his father's trousers are torn at the Suttock regions. Moreover. 'East and West, home is the best' no matter however dirty the children make it". �. "AUow me to expla'in' myklf, Mazi Okondu" replied Ndall. "Cost of living is dog -cheap here in Kano. With a half penny piece you can fill your pockets with jada and rogo (pea-nuts and cassava), fura da nono (corrflour and sour milk). We get much more garri a t Kano than you could get in Aba market, from where much of the gami is imported. What i,s more you are so removed from innumerable cords of our traditional extedded family links that you begin to feel and think like the average Hausaman who cares very little about the typical,lboman's serious attachments to transient life and living, and-the frequent inconsiderate inconvenient demands for this or for that 'from relations, distant and near, from home and other places. I like Kano so much; you can be sure of a daily bread here w h e ther you are capable of workingor not as long as you are not asha'med to sit by the road ,side or tramp from house to house begging alms. Here is the only place in the whole of Nigeria where people consider it more blessed to give than to receive" "No wonder I ani not surprised ' Is, that the reason why you .@"e left home for more than ten years without bothering'to visit home or ask any question. about home 7 I am cock-sure you won't know the way to.your father's house if you travel home now un-accompanied." , ' "Tell me more about home" Mazi Okohdu. Don't misunderstand. me. I am faced with the same difficulties as .faced the l i r d which had 'a burning desire to squart but couldn't because, of obstrup tion caused b y its tail. In other words, if I have enough money today, infact, enough to pay my passage and buy presents for the string of r e lations, enough to start marrying with, the dogs shall bark me. welcome in the next moment in my father's house. Believe you me" .. . "I see!" mused Okondu. 'four home,has'cha$ed a lot over the ten years of your absence : The oldest women in the remotest part of the rural areas in .the villages wear shoes or water-proof sandals on the advice of health visitors who attribute rheumatic joint and other pains ,to walking bare-foot ,on swampy wet roads and pathways especially during the rainy seasons. My grannie cannot now make a complete lbo sentence without throwing in a word or two of English: Westernisation has actually come to town in the rural villages. The burning ambition of every home youth is to own a house solidly built with brick blocks and roofed with corrugated aluminium sheets. Such a house has its prestigegiving value as well as saving its owner the trouble of constantly changing the grasrthatch of native houses every rainy season. �No guest at home nowadays feels. well-treated unless you open several bottles of beer for him at a sitting, concluding the drinking treat with several shots of spirit such as whisky, brandy, schhap, or OHMS. These branded wines have driven our traditional palm wine into the corners. Only people in lower society ever talk of 'palm wine these.days," concluded Okondu. . . "Go on" Mazi ~ k o n d u ,"You have converted me; tell me more about home" said Ndah. will refuse to believe your eyes if you go home, I can assure you. Team-work and communal spirit are our greatest assets. The bad-men of the town and the."terrors of the nights" are now behind the bars .as a result of collective disciplinary efforts. People take night-watches in turn since the nearest police-post is twelve miles away. Stealing is practically extinct. Progress and prosperity have come to the town through her patdotic children, bhildren who make it a duty tovisit home at least on& in 24 months to see for themselves how their town compares with others in the neighbourhood". "YOU "You speak of the'town as if people in it do not have any cares in the world" replied Ndah. "Oh yes, Ndah, they do have their headaches and heartaches. Civilisation had not yet produced sufficient &re to the ever rocketting high brides price. Liligations are ever in the inc%se. So, Mazi Ndah, what the home people gain from the absence of thieves in the town they lose to litigations and high brides prices. We must hive to do something about these two giant drains on people's savings. Many otherwise sensible men had gone to bsd supperless to afford enough to pay for a wife or to see that the other man did notget the better lawyer in a land dispute. What do you think'we 'can do ' to let our home people curtail these two money-wasting traits T �"Let me see", replied Ndahmefully. "I have my own ideas on the problems of high brides price andlitigations. I am all in favour of high brides price. In a country like ours, where polygamy is not illegal, many thoughtless men (and there are many afloat these days) would be changing women as they changetheircoats if we remove the restraining influences of high brides price. Easy come, easy go what we get cheaply we throw away as we throw pebbles without much concerns. Surely, family life, the very cradle of society, would be jeopardised if children become involved in the last-in-first-out type of cheap marriages. But if we pay heavily for a wife, the odds are that before we save enough to think of getting another wife, the children of the first marriage shall have grown up enough to be as heavy a drain on our savings as marrying a second wife, thereby helping to keep the first marriage in tact. a good thing for society and family. Don't forget, Mazi Okondu, that the English man who pays nothing for a wife has a law against bigamy or poligamy. It takes him about £300 to initiate a divorce case or has got to wait for 3 years before he can proceed with a divorce case, paying alimony all along as he waits. As for litigations, why worry 7 when people spend all their big savings on litigations, those peace-loving ones with little savings shall supercede them. I consider it illogical and silly sense of economy to spend hundreds of borrowed pounds (sterling) in court for a piece of land costing less than £20. Any more home news 7" asked Ndah, brightening up with genuine interest. "I would like to change the topic, if you don't niind, Ndah" said Okondu. "First things first; my wife here with me had not been seeing very well since a fortnight ago. We have come to see what help we can get from Kano Eye Hospital which we have heard so much about. My wife and I hope you will make time tomorrow to see us to the Hospital". "I will gladly do that for you two:' replied Ndah. "The earlier we set off in the morning the better. The hospital adheres strictly to the policy of first-come-first-served irrespective of political preferences or social status. Patients are numbered as soon as they arrive at the hospital: The first in the queue becomes number one, the second, number two, and so on and that is the strict order by which the doctor is consulted. Jumping of the queue by those highly placed is completely out of the question." �The morning came rather earlier. thaq :mu@., 5 a.m. it was By bright day-light. The light.chiuy .harmattan windJhrew particles 'of dust indiscriminately in non-directive directions. . Okondu woke up . with the appetiteof a; cart-load df t h e w fruit-eating~fric~n monkeys. Xi. Ola, had no stomach for any . h & .She felt likeah el&enth hour student on an examinatioh moriiini; .Her bowels. were freer .than usualand sbe.visited the toilet as frequently as if she took a purand & . ga!i"e andldiuretic. Her wholt Gind was on her,cy-uble . . . . . questionabk .fate awaiting her .at the Clinic: ' ~ d a h . a 1.u p :befmc. w . . ad, of them. ~ h i.all',git'off . : earlier; .. .. y .. . . . ' 2, I '- , "Sabo Pasha?" (New patienti) asked Musa. Dogo, the sedous. looking, spot-faced, .blast-iuAce, A m a n . . Hi; .'&gii&-~&sa was quite intelligible to Ndah who replied promptly in the for . .. . . , all concerned. &ative "Bi hanu hago (go directly left-ward)" instructed Dogo in an unmistakable 'no-nonsense' attitude. The grey-ha'iied .nurse who was receiving the new pHtien& . seem to see clearly even through hk pait of 1 0 0 ~ ~ f i t t i n ~ . ' b i c ~ ~ & ~ ~ lenses. He dipped his pen, miles outside' .the ink-pot ,. a d &owed a habitual involuntary tendency of d j p t i n g his glasses &ch looked at any body pr a t any thing, such .as a e+rd., ?;he .ryes ' . drooped. promhently. The dimples around the eyesmade then, apcrr as if t k y had, been.shadding tears frequently, . . I :.. . .. , && ' ' . ~ " ' f ; ~ .oftOla wen a couple registering their small-boy who sUi & stained an eye injury while playing .on tfie fields with his play-maies.' . . . . i/ I "Mr., what is the name df your child .?'' asked the aged. .nuke, .. . . .. . , .. so slowly hesita'& as 'if he had .all .,.. time there is .to ask .that the ../ . . single question, adjusting his glasses. as he attempted to .. . . at the . couple through his shady .$asses. ,4 59 I . �"Leonard", replied the 'MI'. "Male or female" continued the nurse. "His name is Leonard, nurse" replied 'MI'. "Yes, I have heard that; now I want to know his sex" thundered the aged nurse a little angrily. "Be sensible, old man; Leonard has always been the name of a male human being" replied Mr. "Look here, Mr. it will pay you, whilst you are here, to answer all questions without much.argumentation. We don't, as a rule, entertain argument from patients. or their relations. This is a busy hospital. All we want is a stralght answer to a simple question, no more, no less and I suppose that the sex of your child is simple enough for your understanding" lectured the nurse. "Thank you boss", :mats', retorted 'Mr.' "Next patient", commanded the old nurse. " "Name 1 "Mrs Olamma Okondu" "Age" "Mother of four children," Sir. " "Sex 1 "Mrs, Sir" "Then, Mrs, take this card, go straight on to the waiting room and join others in the pre-cli'nical morning prayer. The Rev. Doctor will see you after prayers." The waiting-prayer room, air-conditioned and scrupulously clean seemed to be an appropriate introduction to the hospital, a different wodd to patients of Ola's ilk who came from the areas where cleanliness of the surroundings is no serious concern to the avenge housewife, whose endemic indifference to neighbourhood with cob-websdusty walls, scruffy ceilings, and dusty floors iscommon-knowledge. The walls were tastefully decorated with an artist's impressions of the Holy Trinity, the angels, and as many of the saints as the fertile imagination of the artist could accommodate. Ola felt like being spiritually up-lifted. A miracle seemed to be working already: She can, at least, see a host of ideas and winged thoughts in her mind's eyes. 40 �The weird wiry middle-aged European doctor breezed into his surgery in a jaunty mood characteristic of a hard honorary worker who isreaping very rich spiritual harvest of his.unstinted aon-mercenary industry, his billiard-ball-like bald. fore-head shining lustrously like the highly polished floors of aprivate ward ofa "European" hospital. "Let's have the first patient" scowled the doctor in heavy Yankee accent. "What is the matter with you, lady 7" asked +e doctor to Mrs. Okondu, looking down into his ponderous smoktng-pipc..which he lighted with more concentration tban he had concontration to spare to his new patient. "Docta, I am suffering from eye-sight", replied Mn Okondu, a trifle nervously. "If that is your only trouble, then, good madonna, you have no 'trouble at. all. It is a blessing for any one to 'suffer' from eye.sight" continued the doctor. "No docta, but I can hardly see with my eyes; it is. worse in thetwilight", protested Ola. "Right', let's hear all about it" "Docta, it just came without warning" "Were any of your parents blind? "No, docta" "Have you any blind person in your family ?" "None that I know of, docta" *'Have you been taking any thing lately+rugs, injection, native medicines, before your sight started to fail" ? > . "No docta" "Sure ?' "Y*, docta" "What caused it ? Do vou know ?" '"No docta" "Well! well! well!, go behind the screen, lie down on the bed, relax absolutely; I am going to give you a thorough examination. �Doctor's examination disclosed some eye inflammation much akin to effects of poisoning by arseninc. He could not be definite about this since the patient had told him that she had not been 'taking drugs of any kind lately. Not knowing what to d6, the doctor took a chance and prescribed penicillin injections, steptomycin eyedrops, and prayers for seven days as an in-patient on ward 2. One week's treatment yielded no ostensible results. The doctor was worried about this. The patient wasequally worried. She was gettingfed up with penicillin and prayer course of treatment which didn't seem to do her any obvious good. She thought of the children left at home, more especially, of Bom-Boy, whose skin condition and near-paralytic left arm constituted another source of great concern to her over-burdened mind, causing her insomnia, anorexia, (loss of appetite) and restlessness. Her conscience has started to sit her on thorns for not telling the doctor the truth about the real cause of her eye trouble which she knew very well. Ola knew as much as Okondu knew that the repeated penicillin-in-Acetylatsan given her, illegally, by her illiterate trader-husband originated her eyetrouble and Bom-Boy's arm and skin conditions. Ola hadn't the courage totell this to the doctor for fear of implicating her husband who was already kneedeep in hot trouble. Now, her conscience is giving her a timely prompting that it would be in her. best interest to tell the tmth. She would either tell the truth or remain in the hospital for an indefinite period of possibly, an unsuccessful course of treatment. An accurately diagnosed disease is far more easier to cure than pining hope on chance. A week. of tie-in-bed had already plunged, the otherwise loquacious Ola into a gloomy and demoralising idleness. Such kind of Hospital routine is rather alien to her very active nature. The unmitigated rudeness of some of the Nigerian trained nurses, joined forces with the prosaic atmosphereof the regemented hospital ward-life to have a nostalgic effect on her. ''It is now or never*' soliloquised Ola. "I must tell the docta the truth. The truth had often made many free." �With this tho.ight in her mind sh: fell asleep to dream of no.thing but her full:. rcstorzd sight, a matting Eom-Boy, an3 peaceful home. "How do yoc feel this morning, madam" inquired the doctc-r mrch more in a carcfree tone of fed-upness. "Not a) bid, docta" ?" "That's better, any c h a n ~ e "Yes d Jcta, more a change of heart than of my physical condi ion" "Good:.-goody, let's hcar about it" . The weird, uiry, j:unty, midde-acd European doctor, who has a habit of wearing is Stelhescope always and every where, is seen giving Ola a thorough medical examiuation. 43 �"Docta, the eye trouble started like this: My husband called on a certain dffitor on one occasion. For an.obvious elementary misunderstanding, the doctor's wife turned him out without second thoughts and thus prevented him from seeing the doctor when he badly needed urgent medical attention. My husband decided, in consequence, to learn to give injections. This took him three weeks at a cost of E15. In this part of the world, dacta, every intelligent human who can manipulate a syringe and needle assumes the title of a 'docta'. For miles around he would have no real doctor to compete with him. Personally,. surgical operations apart, any one can practise medicine after a few weeks' training. Doctoring is not a difficult thing: Some one tells you he h s pneumonia; you look up a text book of medicine and lind that penicillin is'good for pneumonia and prescribe it. Just that.--.-." "Stop I madam, you have wandered miles away from the topic. What has all that amusing nonsense got to do with your eyetrouble" interrupted the doctor. "Sorry docta; when my husband learned to give injection. I offered to be his first patient. I needed some course of injections to tide me over the rainy season which annually afnicts me with illness. My husband gave me penicillin dissolved in 3cc acetylarsan solution to pepup or activate the normally painless indolent procaine penicillin. People here don't, 'as a rule, appreciate any injections unless they felt some smarting pains or rigorous after-effects during or after its administration. Thus, acetylarsan solution in procaine penicillin, gingers things up like red pepper in a dull soup. As I was saying my husband gave me the above mentioned combination of injection daily for as long as I can remember. At one time, during the course of the injections, my sight started to fail me. I complained to my husband. He simply councelled that the injection was working according to plan and that all I needed was a few more injections to round things up. My sight rounded-up before I could complete the second round of injections. �"By Jove I i t sounds absolutely incredible, alround." "Believe it or not, docto'r, that is a .true story. It did happen. I am very sorry for not telling you this before now. Promise, docta. that you won't put me and my husband into any further trouble by this revelation. My husband and I had had more trouble already than we had bargained for." "Madam, in th8 states, a doctor is bound to treat all patient, who come to him or face court action for negligence. The doctor's wife ought to know this. Why then didn't you sue. the doctor and his wife in the courts ? You could havr b1gge3 thousands of dollars as court-awards." "No doctor,' we dare not; my husband and I are nonentities compared with the doctor.. With money and professional prestige you can get away with any thing-justice, injustice, anything, in this country" replied Ola quite confidently. "Again, madam, I must warn you sternly not to play with drugs as if they are harmless lolies. They are two-edged swords: They help doctors to save lives, I must admit, but the ways by which they do so are not always free from dangers, some of which may 'provc dissastrous in consequence. Don't use drugs unless prescirbed by doctors. If you are ever in doubts about the potential dangers of any drug consult your local Pharmacist. I think I know now what is wrong The eyeinflammation might have been caused by arsenic poisoning." .The doctor prescribed a course of anti-arsxic poison injections. The altered treatment worked exceedindy well. In less than a space of ten days her sight returnedsteadily. An Optician was brought in. He gave a five guineas pair of glasses to correct the slight irreparable defect already initiated by the arsenical d a m ~ g e the optic nerves to �By. this, time the,.doctor had devdoped some .: genuine interest in the patient. Ola, who was then relaxed and obviously delighted with k r , r e p n t improvements,, wppcrated fully -w i t.h the doctor. She had :.no,more; inhihitionscin aqswering or asking quesrions. .The doctor liked this sudden c h a a g e $hd.hardly missed the slightest oppr!unity to chat, with the extrovert a n d hard --hitling ,a n 6 pleasantly-rude OIa. . . . . . . . . . . -".Madam.?. asks the doctor in a low but reacsurinp.tone: " tell mt, why on earth you agreed co.accept .inj:ctions from your illi:erale trader-husbmd when s o u know that it takes the best part of 7 years to. pruduce a medicaid:&tor. and nearlv. as longto t&in a gradaatc pharmacist, the only two group of professionals w h n x e .authoristd to handle all groups of drugs and poisons exp-rtly? Do you think that .your husband's illitrate. brains wcre of .'s:.ch high:qualities that he~.could.masterin three wtrks ,whit took daxors nticiut six years of hard studies to- bigin to. grasp??. . . . . . . . '. "That's a very fine questidn dam. But do you w a n t me to . .. . reply yo* in 'full and with undiluted frqnkncss? " ". . ..... .. . . .... . . "'Yes: 'midam., Loti ari so &, as E .under lock'.6nd' key. ' b r f *hat.+ . excitingrcvclationi you .might care t o makc " . ,.. ..,,. .. . . . . .I . . . '.. . . . . . . . . . "~fi'. l l , dozta, l&t,mb.say' quite: f r a M 3,,.that. your. tidipit81 a i d w . . . ... . . . . . _',_ : , m a n y 6tkr:Mirsion -1ospitak . a n veritbble exczptions'.to. the fail.hospital serviccs 4.n this ing standards..i.n-~~o~~.~ourt:o3s.:honor~ry .. :~... ~. . l a i . . '~lii. . , c'oimtry. . .In . a h y:i' . ' ~.c n.e r.a~ o ~ ~ .i..t i tl takts . . patients' io.'&c. . . . . b u r s of waiting to see the doctor. and.exactly '.that-amount-6f. ...". . . . . . . . . . . . . tinie 'L.. i o bi'.told.by .'iomD cifvi~~irvaiti iioctor<fb cbme t6 see me privrte~ . .. ly in my hcuse if you want better treatment". When you opt to be treated privately. you arc sent back to the time.wasting dispensary queue with the private pr:scription for a course of. spy, three five shillings 'free' injxtions after' you shall have paid from three i o five guineas private consultation fees to the Civil Servant doctor who by thc'way, i s well paid by t h t gov:rnmcint for his services td patients. - �- "Getting the 'frel'pr&criptiorir dispeilid is another hard matter. :,-unlessyou..are the .hard boiled, type .who could jump- the queues ,without>mindingthe rudeshdrp. tongues and probably. stiff first cuffs.from those .-whose tights you have -.usurped. by queuejumping just :to be told that the drugs prescribed for you arc either out -of stock-ot not -:stocked at'all" .".. . .. , . . .:. * . "If the patient 'is so unlucky .to be~idmittedan in patient with, say, starvation anaemia caused by deficient home diet, the in-patient -is allowed to continue on the diet. brought from home at the same tim: as tho .drug.treatm:nt of the starvation.anamia proceeds. Tell .m:. docta. 'the s m e , economy, and the justice in paying heavily t o . g:t i fiv: shillings free injxtion prescribed for you when you can l get th3 s a m e inj:ctioa for less than five shillings elsewhere with minium waste of time ? " - -, - "Go on, madam, there is still .room in. my ears to hear mote of yam rev:lations" replied the doctor. . . "The way and mtnner you are.rccrivcd at t h e doctor's flat drpsnds entirely on th; typ: of atleadant the doctor has. a n d on tb: fl1::ulting 'wtathertock' m o o d of the doctor's mistress. At tim:s. you are treated very unkindly by the mistress as if you have c.irried a p h m o u s m:ss 'to the do:tor's house b y . your presence. So, docta, senzible patients prefer to get treated in the market placer. and at rh: ' l i d chemist shops rather than w a s t e one's precious, time and money by going to the hospital. I hate snobbishness i n . any shape or form, whctt.cr. it ccmes from. bas$& staff or from any one else" . . " By Sores you seem to have. m a d e a strong case for t h e profissitn to snsuer, if all you sald were correct'' " Ask ev:ry body you kcit, docta, if yoo doubt nie *' 47 �"No need, madam, I haven't got the lime to go a-Gallup-polling on the issue. I have more precious things to do. Suffice it to say that patients are seen on appointment in the States. They have to pay, sometimes heavily, either to the medical doctor in private practice or to the hospitals as the case may be. Whatever the case, patients are made to feel that they are getting quick and efficient services for their money. In the State, pali:nts have the last words nearly always on many issues unless professional principles are involved. But. tell me, madam, do you still wish to go back to the quacks just to save time and money when you have practically lost your eye-sight to the quacks? Don't you think that it is better to wait for your turn to get scientific professional treatment f r o m a qualified doctor, at all costs. rather than rush to the market and to the quacks for quicker, though unprofessionally unethical services with concomitrant dangers?" I can only die once, docta, so, why worry' I suppose that doctors are human beings as patients are follow human beings. I " don't see any fundsmentd ditTerence betwed t'hem. The docta merely has more genenlised knowledge in a vast field of study in l~hich the patient appears not to be so well versed: the patient pays the docta, directly or indirectly. for his services, as he would pay to any other class of workers who serves him." "Doctas will, definitely fast or take other odd jobs if patients were scarce or unwilling to pay. It, therefore, behoves sensible doctors to treat kindly any one from whom they get their means of livelihood." " Thank you, very little, for your irreverent slander on overworked Nigerian doctors. The trouble with many Nigerian patients is that most of them are potential neurotics, jumpy. impltient. inconsiderate, and unreasonably hasty." �They don't seem t o reslise char a doctor in Nigeria is assigned t o a larger proportion of patient3 ( one doctor t o about a hundred thousand prospective patients) than he could ever hope t o cope with, even if he allocated a fraction of a second t o each of his propective 100.000 patients. Surprising enough. each patient would like a doctor t o give the best part of halfan hour listening t o his unconnected. some times incomprehensible vague accounts of the symptoms of his illness, when, -at the same time. he shows unmistakable resentment and feels his time i s being wasted when the doctor gives half that amount of attention t o the patient next before him. Madam. the profession is intolerant o f competition with illiterate quacks in the market places. The profess~oncan accomrnedate Pharmacisrs in certain cases. especially in conof ditions of. acute ~hortaze medical doctors, but definitely we doctors have no intention of competing with traders. -teachers, ex-service men and other injection-giving wayfarers on two irgs". " " Doctor; I want t o tell',you wh3t you don't' know about this country. We. in this country, pet the best 'dxtoring' on the rad!o, I n the pages : of the dailies and through other advertising axencies. I there anything wrong in any intelligent literate individual. who, on seeing that some"nne has a boil. looks up the 'Family doctor' sees penicillin i s good for boil and. starts TO use it or p ~ r c r i b e sit t o some one. who has a boil? Aker all,' isn't it wSat maly doctors do? What can be better than A ~ p r o the tremnrnt of hedache and pains!" in . .. .No. no, no, madam there is more t o medical education and pract- .ice than the lsyma~can ever hope t o know. Oherwise it wouldn't I have been in t h e practice of medicine for tht bast part of my life. Yet I don't seem to take seven yearsto prcduce a medical doctor. find its studies and prazcice as easy ,as you have Just made it. W e .doctors are always up against rha dificulties of differential diagnosis:even your so-called headxhe i s r clmmon sign t o many maladies; we ..have got t o know through knowleJge of specific symptons of specific . diseases of which headache Is a common sign, the actual disease that ;gave rise t o the. headache. �I must admit, madam, that a doctor may, at time, give wrong diagnosis as a result of human factors, such as inadequate knowledge, personal upsets. dislike of patient, and others. When all is said and done, it will pay you to seek for an expert attention in all things, more so, in health matters" The doctor was prepared not to let his elcrquent p3tient have a the last word or have s ~ c h gloomy picture of the medical profession but bzfore he could finish the next sentence he was summoncd away hurriedly to attend to'an emergency case just rushed into the hospital. Shortly afterwards, th:re were yellings and cries of lementation all over the place. Ola was rather at a big loss to know what it was all about. She longed anxiously to get some one to let her into the know of the cause o f ths hustle a n d bustle. The noise and wailings grew a n d grew so much that Ola decided t o fine out for hcrself if t h e wholc hospital is in mutiny or what. She h a d barely gone half the way down the steps before she nc~icedthe doctor coming up in her direc:ion. wearing a n expression suggestive o f an Army General returning from a cease-fire truce-meeting following a mmth-old drawn-out decimating battle. "Madam. I have come back to finish up our conversation". 'Do you know why I was summoned out?', "No. docta. I am anxious to hear all abcut it" "I will tell you in 'a second. A yourg man nearly 21 years old, had a bottle-wound on the upper lid of the right eye whilst quarrelling. t h c prevous night. with an erratic night-club hostess o v e r settlement of old bills. At about nine. ante meridian. the following morning he was given an A.T.S. injection in the market place. I was told. Soon nfter the injcction, the man dropped, flop, almost dead. shouting that he could not see. hear or stand errect. His fellow traders gave him a bowl of milk followed with coco-nut water as a quasi-kind of native anti-dote. to n avail. They tried to force him : , t o swallow a battle-full o f cditrle p a l m oil. This didn't help. �They tanitd i while to sce 'if the toxic symptoms of the A.T.S. injection would be short-lived but the viclim sank lower and lower. He had to be rushed to my hospital as a last resort. I tried my best to rcvivc him but he had gone beyond redempticn. .Madam, It must have beea an extreme case of hypersensi~ivityto Anti-Tetanus Serum injection, one of the fala1 dangers confronting all those who accept injections from unqualified quacks and other injection pedlars of all sons". ' " You ..are telling. me, docta' w e are taking chances each time . < we accept dmgs from any~one;. . doctor. Pharmacist, o r ~ t h e so-called . il;aeran: quacks.. We taka charter also when we accept to'undergo a surgical operation; some patients for operation had even dropped stone,d:ad qt the first sniff of chloroform, anaesthetics war before the s & c o n bird .doned bis long gown. I.feel alrnost'cirkn docto; that the A.T.S. patient could have died all the same had he g i t the injection on the order ofthe hospital doctor. as it weuld have taken twice as much time to summon the Gmeral Hospital doctor to his bed-side a s i t had taken to rush : him.. to your hospital from . . the.ma~krt ~ i a c e. The general hospital iiuracsare powcrleif to 'do . any ;hiag . in such matters not even show obvious sympathy, until . . . ,. . the doctor had made his a-minute-too late arriGa1.' Half the ho& tal deaths shrll have beon alive to-day had the doctors and nurses shown half as much concern to -the living in-katient's a; they show . to those' between 1 i f e and. dea~h.. A; far as I am concerned; t h t .. .: general haspital beds shall nevcr'see my back unless, perhaps, as the very last resort. possibly. for a post-mortem, if some doctors care . . . . . . about. it." ' , .. '' Madam, you are agreeably very pungent to members of my profession and their worthy allies,. the nurses' I am' sure you are now well-enough to h e . such a convincing force. I shall send you home tomorrow if nothing dsamatic happens over the night. You deserve a satisfactory discharge." . �O h get up very early inspite, of a heavy sedation to make her sleep H t r frock of the palest green with precise pleats tlattcnd her figure so much chat the doetor had ,a job making her out at first sight. . . . " b hospiml uniform musi be doing untold 'injustice' to the Tc attractive figures of good-looking female patients'' commented t h e doctor most sincerely. "Madam, you oan regard yourself as a free woman: you are now free to g o home. I wish you good hcalth. good occasional luck ,at the pools, and enough ef dollars to boast your ego up. Wherever you go a d whatever you do. remember that your lost sight was restored o y o u by a qualified doctor. n o t by a quack." *'Thanks for nothing,docta; without my co-operatioti you couldn't do much for my eye trouble in the first week. I h a v e paid t h e . hospital bill and. truatmeot charges and I frcl like owing nothing to, any m e ; ... i . . ?.Bye -bye, my learned intractable patient " .. .. "&',.?'Bye, .my understanding. good-natured. end consrientious d o c k IF all doxors were like you and all hospitals were like yours' things wbpld wcar a diflerenc look for poor over-exploited patients. Pity, you:are just one out of to many. a tiny drop 'in the ocean of corrupt mercenary modicd practices, a grain in the desert sand-dunrs insignificant. incoosequential. and bnrecongnissble". - "I shall not oecd money to advertise you and your hcspital. Aa things stand. and until there i s , n drastic change in the ways hospital patient3 aro being treated in m a n y General hospitdls, majority of patients weuld continue to regard hospitals as place where go to die rather than .where they go to learn to live wcll. A the best. U my good docta ", ' Ola boarded the Kano- P. H. Limited Train at 12 noon. Ndah had already despatched a telegram to Okondu, intimating h i m l o "await wife arriving Aba Friday Noon train". Wednesday trains are not, as a rule, always as over-pocked a1 Monday and 'Friday trains. Ola had, in effect, three seater bench exclusively to hcrsolf throughomt the 48 hours 640 miles trains journey to Aba. . �The wobbling movement of the fast-moving limited train coupled with the apparmt !.satisfactory physical conditicn in which ,madam Okondu found herself. helpd to rock her quk)cly to sleep: She was just on the threshold of some pleasant dreams about. her Bomboy when a very sharp jadded noise made by a deliberate tang with a pair-of mechanical pmers-like .device got hcr'up on her legs. *.Tickets, all tiekets ready" shouted the scrawny 10okinqT.T.C (Train Ticket Collector) his 'lanky frame being shzken interm~ttently by paroxysms of tobacco c o u ~ h s betwten the tickets '; 'ill tickets ready0 skoutr. r Madam Okondu searched her breait. her hand-bag. her headgear. and her hold-all for the ticket. She remembered receiving the ticket from Ndah. She knew shetocksome areat care to preserve it: hutwhere she put it; she just coulln't recollect. Shi h'ud been S 0 over-carcful with the ticket that she herself could not fr.d where she . . kept it. 8 ' "If you can't find your ticket. woman, come with me; you must have to pay double the cost of a ticket or face court action for entering Her Majesty's Train without a ticket" threatened the T.'T. C. in all seriousness. It never occurred to the T.T. C. to ask for the passenger's weigh-bill wherein the number of the ticket was definitely entered. Mrs. Okondu, quite over-confident that she bcupht a ticket, feeling satisfied that it war tucked away some whcre on her person. was so busv searching for it to rake any notice of the threat? of 'double payment or court action' cmanatir.~ frern the 'dark devil' the embarrassing T. T . C. who planted himself imtr.ovably, starring at Ola like an imagecarved out of mzrble and stone. .. . "Give me time to find it" pleaded Old. '' 1.can.t waste the whole. time waiting for you to find your bloody ticket". swore the T.T.C. I have other 500 tkkcts t o see". ."Go .on, then, and see other tickets: I will'bring n~ine you to as soon as I find it. Alternately you can cbme back for it after y 0 u have seen other passengers' tickets", requested OIa. �. . . . ' am not moving an inch "ntil I have your ticket or have you' I 'You must have to carry !me on your dirty lousy .head, if you must go with me' lashed-out Ola: 'will you.stop.harrassing me?, , , .' . :.. The T.T.C. stood for a good khile: staring at Ola with' furrowed brows. Every one around anticipated a scene, but to their pleasant surprise, the T.T.C.. as if bitten suddenly by a bug of good judge. ment, moved unceremoniously 'away, shouting 't i c k t r , ~ , all ticrets ready' as he swayed left and nght. in a big wsy. insp:cting tick-ts .. and luggages on both sides of th2 co~upirtmcntpassage. , . ' ' . .The ticket rang a bell. in Ola's brain. She now remembered she tied 'it in the waixt-end of her wrap-round-the-waist skirt-like loin cloth. . 'H&O 'is -the ticket. Mr. T.T.C. ;I 'have fouhd it at last; I know 1 h3d it: If you thought I s!ole into your train, then. your .imagination had misfired' : T h.s T.T.C. . snatchedthe ticket from her, 10,oked at it closely > . for a time on one hide. then" turned ;he other side .and ihspected .this much more clorrly. ~ a turned the first kde and inspected it with ' as much scrutiny. He was in the process of turning to the second . . . side a second tim: when Ola 1ish:d out with ber neverfailing veno.... _ .mous tongue: . . . .. .. . . . 'Give in5 my ticket. you diity swine. You look at i( as if you are seeing a train ticket for the first time 'in life'. : .: ' yo-~rself how : 'Min'd ticket and putyou talk to me. t hIfeyou don? behave. I'shall . next station. without a seize your you down in ticket. then you should have to wait for 48 hours before' you ' c a n get anothx tram to board. assuming that you l?ave enough.money for . . . . . . a frcsh ticket. ". 'You no fit d u a d broke in Ola in 'broken ~irglis'b'; *try it and .see. what igo.happin to :bou.: you kharki trousered tyrant'. - !., . ..'The 'kvam;. 'levam' please from the nearby: passengtrs made .the .T.T.C give UD the imincnt show-down, whilst he, unresrrvedly . . . 'continued on his 'tickets.. all tichts' harange, .. , �. looked om o f . the. window tb . skk for herself those' scenes and landscapes she could not see on their jo& soro ney. to, $ado. . saq.muQ hut? $dad", ..,, ] like grp"ndiLpt . .. : pyramids scattered on both sides of the rail with littlest .efforts at orderliness.; she saw dirty looking children and equally badly dressed . I -adults. who fprmed a kind ,of infosmal .guard of hodour fqr the passinp. train, mnking sonorous jubilant hoi$es that defied ad9 i6. , . .. tell~gent !nterpretation ;. she'saw rock, hills with ;tony pcak;'and ruggqd sides that could give sanctuary to all sorts of innumerable .. ,)y,iJc livcs; bhc \liqu&sed iush corn field$..a ,rh$ exhila&ng site to .a, Farmer's ward 2 cattle, counttles hard of cattle, exceedingly big, with drbo'ping tummies and lcose flesh' vqry. fat metron who had lately lost half her wsigbt to slimming gills; Ola saw frail-look' ing ~ulmi"herdsmen, lookinithe wor!d in the face as if they have no ..... 'care: 'iiola'ted 'datino' trees towermi in the vcsta of giass or desert land, miled 'from any where. Ola' wondeied why ;ailire had made Nigeri&i $iysicnl f~aturesi o ;tttiactivc? She fht ' convinced that un- ' 'crowdes trdin jburney' frdm' gas; to. ~ort'h;kpecially if m a d e in . good he& kith eno@h' monei,' is thb' mdsi 'relixing and refreshing recreatioi any one cobld ho$ to hive any whbre.' t * i s 0larmlleoted~-herself.. 111 i I., : like's . I I .b ' .. . : , ., . ?#.. Ola arrived at her destination to find that no one was waiting for her,, except the blood sucker truck-pushers and the ra!lway port6rs who readily rchdek'd paid sthicis to any dfiaccompan~ed passengers who uskcd lor them. She :trekked to the motor -park. trailing far behitld her lugeages which the truck -pusher pushed on at a much faster phco than she could.cope with. .At long last, after a breath raking marathon to keep - u p with the truck -pusher, whose integrity, experience has taught her to doubt, Ola,got a t the. motor station,ybere, s11,e. hoard4 a [orry to her home. a good 45 miles drive at 66 M. P. H. from th- motor park. - - �Her feelings were mixed: T o her, it was painful that none waited ,far h:r at railway station despite the telegram sent from Kano 49 hours earlier; she was nonetheless happy to be going home to familiar surroundings where her words had alway8 been law; happy to be g h g horn:, in su:h a satisfying condition of restored sight. . Ola learnt, on arrival hm:, that h:r telegram had taken 53 hours to fail to arrive. With the P. & T. in matters of telegaph deliveries. it has always been quicker to send a horseman, or, if money is not your trouble, to publish yoar movemtnts in the dailies, rather than to send telegrams. In any case, had the telegram jrrived earlier, the odds were that no body would have come to meet her. since Okondu, her evx-loyal husblnd, h3d taken Born-Boy to the Lep:r Settl<ment a week ago, where he decided to stay with Bom-Boy until some willing, but God-sent soul would be forrhtoming, from ~ o d n c s s knows where. to take th2: twos with hi:n. O:m.~dln x r exp:c:ed thnt Ola would be wdl so soan. As fcr Ekemma, Okondu's second wife. it was all Okondu's and Ola's business. They both, according to her. saw trouble coming and cxtendcd b3th arms to en'xa:: it. They s h x ~ l d l v ~ h nons to blame but themselves. Eke would nor l s e her appctite on the so-. called misfortunes, knowing as she knew that those of them who . accepted traatmsnt from unqualified charlattans, eithcr be-suse of its cheapness, or b:cau>e of quicker s-rviocs, ought to bs prepared t o learn silently by heart. the lessons one often learns from cheap and easy acquisitions. As far as Ekemma is concerned, life is so precious .. . that. no secriEce, not even of time or money, cculd be considered too : great in order t a get tho hsalth back whm life is threatened through the warning notice which death often gives to mortals via illness. Ola received a heroiness welcome from every one at home in. cluding Eke. Okondu und om-BOY w x e more conspicuous by their absence. �. .':Where Jsmy Bom-Boy; wliere. i s Rilanyi[ q k e d .Ola with visibly palpitating heart beat. ,, . . . . "I can only tell you where Dl-anyi said he was going when h e left home a week ago" replied. Eke carefreeiy; 'He .sai& he was taking I C . Bom-Boy,ro the Bintu ~e&-~ettlemenr and we have not. heard of o r from him ever since". a , . .I# I . Ekcmma. who had no living .irsues hcrself- she Iost'two" 'm a I e chil6ren t o Indian Flu of 1958 -had little o r no soft feelings left f o r ,. .. , . , , . , ,. . , . . other woman's children. . The !nmates of !he Bintu Leper Settlement welcoming Born-Boy with express. pity and d~sl~gured hmbh faces and b p y gaits. ions of 57 �OIa knew and understood her attitude very well and mad: as much allowance as she could for il. OIa was resolute on seeing her Bom-Boy and her hubby Okondu without delay. The other children pleaded in vain for their mum to tarry awhile with them before setting off again if she must. She promised them bigger bundles of swezts and other 'market things' and, then, took-off directly for Bintu Lepx Settlement. She budgeted conservatively for a maximaurn of 3 hours' travelling to got t o Bintu, 60 miles a-ay. Much depends on how soon t t e passenger-trucks could get there. People who are used to road-travels by lorries hardly expect much fro= them as these passenger lorries are never compulsorilly serviced until they develop engine or t y n troubles. The practice in other countries of compulsory servicing for every 1033 miles covered has not yet arrived in Nigeria. Travellers must have to buy a lot of patience if they have none already, t o survive journeys by passenger-lorries. Every body on the lorry, care-freely. gets on every body else's nerves. You are not always sure of getting to your destination safely and on scheduled time. , OIa didn't seem to have reckoned with avoidable delays of the above mentioned type in her rough estimation of the duration of her journey to Bintu. At mile 35 on the Olaku-Eintu road, the passcnzer-lorry in which she was travelling. took a sharp right turn instead of keeping on a straight course. Every passenger wondered where, on earth, the ' m ~ d drivtr was heading to. Some pastengcrs ' protested in very unmistakable terms indicative of deep annoyance. The driver drove steadily on and on and on, off-course, and t h e n came to a d:ad stop in a living compound about 4 miles off-route. " ~ l lm3n, down" chmandod t h e driver, arching himself like a swanky peacock, as if to say that he drives the whole country, ministers and all as, and whcre he likes. - . A bamge .of abuses descended o n him from the irrate passengers who felt grossly offended by 'the time -wasting, and unbargained-for off-course journey. 58 I �'Fancy your brazen'lmpudence to: 'kike uizso'hi& . 'y ' . . .Worn . the main roadi swore one passenger. . .. 'You must be a mad doe t o do that' swore another. " .. . ' "" . . . _ :.,... -:. . >.,' 'You no go see bettar for your 'llfe-:-for taking.:us b+.rtkis far place' added the third. 'Every body, down' shouted the driver; 'the more..you sit-tight in my lorry, the mare you detain )ovrsalves. In your' own interests you better come down,so that I may unpack the plankson the floor . .. of the lorry'. pleaded the driver.' .' ri,.,.' ' ~ e ' a r e ldnger in i h u r r i ; lot none come down eammatd$ . ,. . had self-appointed.ihimscll the' leader . >.' , ,.' . . .. . b . r d one of the'passen.qers, who ' .. . of the bassengers. ' w e shali stay here until.the.d&er trkes uk back t o ,,.. .. the main road. We ainc going to allow him to, unpack his planks. ,. . .. ,. .. It I s high time the drlvars began t e riipect th6feIings ofnthr..people .. .< . , ., .! <:;:<;:; who p&ide the m w y by which their salarie; are paid. Wepassen- . gers, could afford t o be serious for once In our lives with these jmpru* dent, irreverent, l;reprehenrible, . . , . ..: . > ,..< imesponiible:drivers:. :Does i t m e a n i s ni0re.=&~cerii.,t6' td&'driv&s .@an . . that the delivery of the the safe and timely arrival o f their . t o theiri-respective journey's end?' , . *I .wonder' echoed o n e o f.. the. passengers: . . ... .*.' 1 . ' . ~ No passenKer' moved ss much as a - m u s t k P T h e-dilver- e v F t cd from comma'ndinz .them to.pleadlng for understanding;. ..kcwas too late. In the end hi? l u m ~ e d onto the wheel and'rcsumed-thejourney without deliverlnp th6 planks.. A t mile 40;'thd'ldriy broke+own; o r so the driver told every one. .'' Those paesagers In hurry d e c Id e d - t o .jotn anbthcr 1'0 r i y. 59 �The driver of the presumedly faulty lorry refused t o refund pan or all of the money already paid by Ola and the rest. Ola transferred t o another lorry. A t Mile 60 she came down. 'Where Is the m t o Blntu Leper Settlement' asked Ola t o a mlddle -aged lad w i t flabby llps lndicatlng that she had ' spent the best part o f her h e talking gllbly on many thlngs -the gossiping type who never stopped ulklng until they fell asleep at nights. i 'Are you golng to the Leper Settlement' querrled the woman. *Yes, but not as a patlent. I am merely a visitor' .:'You- must be a stranger ; you won't be allowed In at rhls tlme of theday u visitlng hour is from 2 p.m. t o 4 p.m. dally save Sunday-when you can stay .on until 6 p.m if you have the guts to stay that long among the lepers. If I were you. I would seek shelter for the nlght t o v l ~ l ty a l n t m o r r o w at the proper tlme'. ' ... Thank you for nothlng, &dam, you are givlng me'mare informations than I requested for. Perhaps people this way have tongues having no brakes.' All I asked for Is the road t o Blntu Settlement. N o more, no less.' ' 'Woman' is that another name for gratitude In your village? Sooner o r later you would come to reallse that my Informations are the best you can have under the circumstances. Good luck and may God grant you peace and patlence, the two quallties much needed t o get o n w d l with people.' Blntu Settlement, u the name suggested, Is a mln!ature village. The patients llve, one t o a room flat, o r t w o t o a room-and-parlour if a couple o r close rehtlons came as patlents together. Younger patlents who can't normally cater for themselves are adoxed by the older ones u wards. The flats are built around the clrcumfcrence of a. big circle. f The body o the clrcle is used as common ncreatlonal field for all the occu ants o f the same quarter. One advantage of such a pattern o f butt ing IS that one sandlng in front o f one f l a t can see other fellows golng In o r coming out from any other flat so that the movements of any of the inmates of one cubicle can be easlly watched by the 'rubber k n d who care to do so. 8 - �.... The psr&t:of aiver.y'young 'patknt ' i;ncouiagid i o stay .for. i some time until'the patierit getk used t o the older patient who would adopt. him. The big iron-entrance gate made the village look'like' a' private extensive home. A large bell hung at a conspicuious. place at. the gat6 so that any literate new-comer'co'uld easily .see the 'ring the bell for'attention' notice. The in-patients who. had 1ale:passes. out could also ring this bell'to.be4et in byGab, the "iron&eartcd' keeper of the iron-gate. Gab. the unsmiling gate-man was also a veteran of two wars and an en-patient of the rtttlerntnt. ' . : ' . . ........ . Ola rang the beil rathe; tAo &huriastically.' ~ h ; gateman Same. ...... .... bait-haste, thihkidg' the Director of the ~ettlknint was it'tik gate as . . . '..I no visitor was expected at'that t h e of ihe &iig. To cab' utter s disappointment, hesaw a not-too-bad l&king.'though equally unsmiling lady, fair-complexioned. and wrapped fashionably. capa-pk-. in Akwette cloths. , . . . . . . . ..,. . . * . .. , . ... "Na wstin' >o".want*' quenied Gab fither authoritatively: ' ... . "'I '$el. my sdyand my' mant admitted here a wcek ag6 .to .the .... . .. , . . . . . . . . . . .. . minute;....... . ._;. . . . "Big . . . . . . &b. no go save you natin" interrupt&d. ... ~ e f o r c could say. a word, ihe gate 'had closed with such ? she . %tic bang that .rould only indicate the. disgust the . . . gate-man fclt at . . . . ,. . 'visit& k h o chose to &it hours 'outo'ide the visiting ' b e . The ve. . . . one." teran . kdew nd. preferences;. not even effemiiate . . He'had never been ckivalrokin his life: To him the niatter is as closed GO^'; decision, against which there is .no appeal'. . ,. . . . .. . ,. . . Ola is apt the type to take 'No' for 8n answer. She rang the bell so e h t ~ c a l l ythat- somt inmates of the SsttlemenPwbb'tgmC near the gateat the h e ' took message t o 'Okondu of tho . 'nice-lookin? .lady at the gate for him':.' Okondu made for the gate.. 1: ': . . ' ,I.. 1 .+ .. : , ' �He was so pleased with the sight of his wife that he opened the gate without much 'thoughis as to.the. consequences: No patient or hisrelation is a I I o w e d to towh the gate. Only Gab. can do. it. Breach of regulations is often seriously frowned at by authorities. .It might lead Po an instant discharge of the culprit-patient without completing his treatment. Okondu swept Okhigh into his hosom,crying; "014 1 Ola'l.. wife; is .it. you that I am seeing or your double?'.' . , . . . . 'How ,are you. n w' o? 'I am absolutely alright, Dim,' replicd OIa. Thank goodness , .. ... f&jpartial'm'&ci:s. .Our joy shall know no i;ounds whcn our .Born. . _ . . : Boy is' co&pfetely recovered. How .is he.. . . . . . . . . . . . 'Shall .we oo.in? Our-5at is a good five minutes stroll:from.~tl?o ... gate. Our Boy. is fast asleep'. I As Okondu and wife tried to move in the direction of the vill. age, Gab. landed on the scene as i f from nowhere. .. :. , ...... . ,. 'Go hack, womsn. . .I. no .go let y0.u in ,even ityou be .the best. . . . .. . eat womm for dis warld; g3 back. I sly' commanded Gab. , Okondu and Ola pleaded and pleaded to no avail. It suddenly occured to Ola that where words of mouth fail to achieve expected . .- . . rcsulis. . . . . . o f some. kind . has . worked miracles. You don't :have * bribery . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . .. to go,,far in .. country. to meet .ungincipled indkdualb who .sell the . .. thFir con;cicacc for a few shillings. up backed up with empty prp. & s .that ace nevi? fulfilled :once .the. objective, is attained. . 'Here, h d p me spent"d&', . 0h 'gave Ggb' five 'shilling 'tip'. ............... g& odaoed;.''Gab: wa& O h with' a royal salute. His furrow<d,brows brightened. up as if an inward.gracc had coursed his Veirid. The golden, key<.hasopcqed the bolted gate, .as.B e saying.gocs. he: ia �"Na dem make the law, but na me de kipam. Ifi I no hopen 'the gate, no one go henter. Madam, make it stay so-tay iGya ; no body igo. make palaba ifi Ino. report you" . - Okondu-Bom Boy's 'mud hut with aluminiun sheet rwfing was, comparatively passable for human habitation. OIa entered the hut unceremoniously, picked-up Bom Boy and examined the body t o see if the skin patches had shown any signs of clearing. Her facial expression dropped suddenly as if stung by the usual unexpected rudeness from a junior Nigerian subordinate. The patches were s t i l l there i n extenio. "Tell me. Dim, what has been done to. it so far. Did you tell docta the whole truth about it?'' "How can I ? How can any onet The doctor could hand me over t o the police if I confessed to him that my illegal injections t o Bom-Boy caused the skin patches" replied Okondu rather nervously. **Well l am goi"g t o tell the Dr. how the patches came about first thing tomorrow morning". "You must be crazy t3 want t s implicate me. Ola. You can't; you mustn't; you dare n x do that, my Ola", pleaded Okondu, this time more firmly than he had ever been before. Leave it t o me Dim; you won't be t o any trouble. before, I might, as wtll, do it again this time. I can never put you into any harm deliberately' it I have done D m ' t worry. Dim. **Listen t o me Ola: Ihave let you have your way in almost all things hitherto. I have already had enough of my own share of the average difficulties of life. My cup is quite full with vinegar and gall. I don't want any more trouble. If you i n s i s t on telling the doctor the whole truth, then. I will be gone before you have the chance t o do it, and only goodness knows where I shall be gone to." �"Dim. be reasonable. We are here. miles from home. to see Bom-Boy well. There are no two ways about seeing him cured except by telling the doctor the root cause of the trouble. May I repeat, for the purpose of reassuring you, that you won't be implicated. The docta won't be told that you knew what happened. Otherwise, he would naturally querry why you didn't tell him from the start. There is no need to meet trouble half the way: wise men either eo all out for the trouble or wait till it comes. Bom-Boy must be cured. I can almost swear to it that you won't be implicated. Dim." With this assunnn the topic became as good as closed. The idea of a Leper Settlement is to make it approximate a real home as much as possible. The essence of a home is privacy. This is ensured by allocating a room-flat 10 a patient, or two room-flat to two related-patients Each patient owns his own toilet, a plot of land for cultivating food crops as well as cash crops. His old surroundings are transplanted as much as possible to his new situations.. Trade is taught in the settlement. Faid employments are given to the able patients such as road making, general labour, hospital work in patients' wards, and farming. Schools are organised for patients of school age. Adult education classes seemed popular. A rich woman patient had been known to be so thrilled with her ability to write her name through adult education classes that she orderzd for an eigth guineas Parker fountain pm. - Okondu had been spoken to previouslv by the doctor in-charge about school arrangements for Born-Boy. The doctor had undertsken to see the welfare Officer for it. The idea gave Okondu some anxious moments as he felt that the question of school arrangements should not have arisen at all if the doctor had not been certain that Bom-Boy's stay in the Settlement would be long. - �The doctor came 'to work earlier than usual. The two nursing sisters who normally accompany bim on the hut-rounds had not yet arrived. So, the doctor (aught it fit to pop in. informally, to see the little new patient about his rchoool arrangements before resuming the dry's work in.the usual 'Big Three' way. 'Can I come in. asked the doctor 8s he entered the tlat door obliquely to accommodate his hefty stumpish figure, with his loose fitting jaw-flesh almost tauching the colar-bone. 'Come in doctor. Meet my wife just arrived to see her son. We call her Ola' 'Children are almost always safer in the hands of their mothen and grannies; why hasn't she been here fro= tho start to look lnrr htr son?' asked the doctor with as much indifference as could carilly srrggcst that he didn't want an answer?. 'Oh, doctor. she hasn't bien well herself. She had just retuned from Kano w h e r e her eye-trouble had b e e n sucoerrfuUy trutcd. Eh.... m eh' ......, 'Stop. Dim. I can speak for myself. I haven't lost my tongue yet, yoti know' interrupted Ola ' 'Docta, I don't mind sta ing on to take care of my boy, if you don't mind provided I know ow long the teatment is likely to last. h "You don't have to stay mth the boy once a suitablo patient could be found to take care of him. As for tho duration of treament, I am arraid, it will take some good while to diagnose, with absolute certainty, the species of Bacillus Lcprae that caused the &inpatches. Our 6 n t smear test didn't reem to .sive any clue to the species of tho cauutive organism. f i e one week*$ pre-treatment diagnoses didnot kern to . have made any noticeable impression an the nasty patch. ' �Our smear tests are done fortnightly and .your boy must -have to wait till another week -end for another test.,I am afraid. By then. I hope we shall be able t o get to grips with the root cause of the trouble. It is most. likely that your boy had been infected with an unusual species of Bacillus Lepsae that .does not readily respoad to routin2 symptomatic tests. Any thing can happen these days. We are n e w surprise6 at new discoveries.' In the inte&ning period between now and the -hext siniar-te$t,we shall make bure t1:at your boy's body does not harbour any physiological defects. such as low haenloglobin count, . . . .. -. ... . . . . worms in the guts, liver troubles, ere. that nhy likely ,b& complication in the courss of the treatment.' ., ., . . -. . .., . . .. . . . 'Well, docta. I h a m , something very iniprotantly relcvsnl to tell you* said Ola in.-all:seriousness. ' . . .- ... ..,,!2 'Madam, you better hold on, s m not in yet for the formal rounds. I shall be back soon with the sisters. who; I hope, shall be very glad to shsre your informations with me, unless they are con. . fidential' i .. 4 The two sisters heights five and one quaker feet, symmetrical in dimensions, looked in appearances, as if they were blood relations to the hefly hI. 0.But for th:ir white uniforms. and smiling faces, one could easily. mistake them for moving bags of garri tied in the middle with white. ribbon bands. They were. hurrying to join the doctor i whom, they thought, ha3 gone i hut or two ahead of them ,on [he hut rounds. The two over weight Nursing sisters the nuisance-sister' ( as they are nicknamed by some of their, staff-nurses). moved so hsavily over the grass-field as if their lower extremities needed oiling. - 'NOW, .. - then, madam! what is it you want to tell or ark me. Be brief and to the pdint. . ~ l l ' o t h e r patients &e'kaiting' .. 'Doctor'. Bom-Boy's skin- patches started like thi$:- A m3n came along one day with some bottles of injectable materials which he claimed could make children grow fister and stronger.. Adult4 the drug-pedlar said; could hadrdly fall ill after taking such injections. �Bom-Boy had been too small and tooweak for his age. Such injeotions suited him quite handsomely. An injection that encourages rapid growth and promoter good health, should bc expected to cost guineas if given by the doctors. But the itinerant ex-service man 'doctor' charged me only three shillings, all told, for each injection. I paid six shillings for me and Bom-Boy each time he visited. At first, the injection seemed to be doing us a world of good. I started to feel my former self again. Bom-Boy became more agile and started t o eat well. The injection's apparent harmless efficacy coupled with its obvious cheapness made me ask for it for self and son each time the 'doctor' called. Our regular patronage made the 'doc's calls more frequent, some timescalling as many as thrice weekly. The after-effects of such injections were my recent loss of eye sight, and the present .. Bom-Boy's skin conditions, doctat - - - 'Do you know what the injection was called ? asked the doctor in a calculated professional self cont:ol.' 'What injection was it ?' 'Penicillinpowder, dissolved with 3cc acetylarsan injection solution' 'I see' did your husbind know about this? . Okoridu's hair and eye-brows stood on edge. He was almost prepared t o jump the window but for the prompt and timely reply from Ola: . . . 'No, docta' 'You said ,your eye trouble .got treated at Kano?' .. . 'Yes docta' 'Did you tell theKano doctor what happened before he started your eye treatment' 'No, docta, not until after a week's fruitle treatment' 'Why did you have to wait for a week before telling him?' 'Because. I went to Kano to b a t the fading eye-sight and not to treat its cause. I did'nt think such revelation rcvelant at fiat.' �'What did the Kano.doctor tell you when'he knew the cause of your eye trouble ?' 'e advised me very strongly against accepting medicines &om H tiny one other .than doctors or pharmacists' . . Are you, then, converted ? No, docta ? What ? "Decidedly, no, Docta" . . . . Why not ? Docta' if every patient went to the hospital or to doctors with their com?laints in a country like ours with so few doctors and much fewer pharmacists, a country where nearly every third.man is a pro:spective patient of one disease or the other malaria, jaundice colic and headiche we shall 'have inore deaths in the hospitals than we d o have at present; because .our ,hospitals shall be so over-crowded with patients that many of them shall have been-dead before ever theJ have an inch of a chance of seeing any doctor. But for the Chemists, the death rolls in our community would have been more alarmingly higher. As for those trader-drug pedlars and the like, docta, I think they do help'. - Will you stop the trash, lady. What do you know about drugs and their toxicity as to psntificate as to who should and who shouldn't handle them?. Once bitten, twice shy -but you don't seem to have learned anything from your part experiences in the hands of the quacks.' �'Okey, doaa. I shall be your slave, once - &om-Boy geu better through your treatments. .If that I s any help,, I want to say before you, doaa. that I believe i n three d's viz.: drugs, dollars. and doctors in that order Just as my husband and my husband's second wlfe do." Okondu, Ola, and Bom-Boy Wave hearty good Settlement Medical o r Area Superintendent. THE END. . bye t o the Leper �HEALTH FIRST BOOKS D NKEM AKUNEME . ELEKERE AGWO: T H E Q U A C K DOCTOR A NOVEL ON 'THE DANGERS OF ILLEGAL - INJECTIONS AND SELF-MEDICATIONS (2) Poisoas and Poisoning By t h e same author. Over 5,000: people die every year, of poisoning, over 20,000 people are treated annually of.poisoning symptoms, more than .half of these are innocent children. .,. ' To be on the safe side, Read "Poisons & Poisoning. Price only 2/- �P R O F I L E , Mr. Akuneme has spent 15 years of his student life as a scholarship student. In the secondary school, he was an Orlu N. A. scholar for 4 years from 1940 to 1943 He spent 4 years in the school of pharmacy Yaba as a Nigerian Government Scholarship Student from 1944 to 1948. As Eastern Nigeria Government Scholar, he spent 7 years in U. K. :-5 years in Leeds University, studying academic pharmacy and special studies pharmacology. and the rest in Leicester Colleze of Technology and Wakefield Clayton Haspital working and gaining invaluable experieoce. In U. K. Mr. Akwneme lectured widely to Rotary Clubs, Church organisations, Youth Clubs, University Union Societies, International Centres, and Pax Rornana World Congress, on such topics as Colour Prejudice, Nigzria, African Pharmacology, the place of women in African Society etc. His best known contributions while in U. K. were:- As presideat of Leeds Branch ot Nigeria Union, he organised a Landladies' Day Party (now an annual event). Where landladies and landlords. University Vice chancellors, HOS: pita1 matrons, College principals, and others who had shown obvious interests and kindness to Nige. rians in IJ. K. were treated gene- r rously, to Nigerian foods, c u h a l display, and Nigerian film shows, an event very widely publicised by D. N.Akunernz British and World Press . - . and British . information Service, as "the best practical demonstration of inter -- ratial harmony'' - - - ~ - �Akuneme played a leading part in founding the Leeds University Afro Asiaa society which provided needed forum for Afro-Asian students' meetings He has written numerous "Health First? series of articles on such topics as:"Occupations and their influence on the health of a nation". Mental ~ & l t h Nigerian U. K. students. of Psychology of studying. Poisons and poisoning. Pharmacy in a: new Nigeria. 'Face to face with Bribery and. Corruption etc. ,i H style..of writing hi3 been : acclaimed by leading British and. Nigerian journalists as "pleasantly informal", "irres.istibly interesting", and "doubtlessly educative". - . . M ~ k t i n e m ehas worked as ~ o i ~ i t a l ; . pharmacist in Lagos,.Bukuru, Barakin Ladi, Kaduna, Bernin Kebbi, Jos, Wakefield (England), Liverpool, Enugu, Onitsha and P.H.: He studied in Awo-Omamma (his home town), at Kano (in Northern Nigeria), and in Lagos - a true citizen of a .Federal Nigeria, ~ k u n e m e married to Elizabeth Njoku, a U. K. is trained Staff nurse of the Nightingale Calibre, and is a proud father of four lovable children Cynthia, Terrence, Ikwukaku Edmond, and Charles Ndubueze. - ��� Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Onitsha Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Elekere Agwo : the quack doctor Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Akuneme, D. Nkem. Type The nature or genre of the resource Onitsha market literature Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Awo-omamma, Eastern Nigeria : Oma Printing Press Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource c. 1964 Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Nigerian literature (English) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context ksrl.c3545 Description An account of the resource This long pamphlet is described as "<em>a novel on the dangers of illegal injections and self-medications,</em>" (pg.70). Neither an advice guide nor how-to pamphlet, this fictional account joins others by Akuneme that cover issues related to mental health, pharmacy and poisons as part of a series called "Health First". The story follows a "law-abiding" yet disgruntled trader named Okondu who joins up with a dubious character named Sunday to administer illegal injections for profit. Okondu's first wife, Ola, and son, Bom-Boy, receive poisonous injections containing arsenic from Okondu to "cure" their ailments. Rather than promoting growth, strength and healing, the injections bring disaster to Okondu's family.<br /><br />Characters in this tale learn lessons about their experiences "in the hands of quacks," (pg.68). One strong message within the story is that drugs "are two-edged swords," (pg.45). In the end, education conquers ignorance and Okondu is forgiven for his attempt to substitute three quick weeks of "quack" apprenticeship for six years of rigorous professional medical training. Akuneme writes, "May God Forgive Okondu and his ilk for they know not what they are doing," (pg.29). Some Of the challenges facing Nigeria's medical profession and its ailing citizens, as well as the country's transportation network, are revealed in this entertaining story. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. However, for this Item, either (a) no rights-holder(s) have been identified or (b) one or more rights-holder(s) have been identified but none have been located. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/</a>