Sunday, July 27, 2014

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TONY RAPU

As your president come 2015, I am also interested in the home front. Recently I stumbled across a popular Lagos pastor tweeting advice to married women and men and have to share it with you. His tweets in quotes are taken directly from his Twitter handle @drtonyrapu. Forgive me if I do a little commentary. It is only because I care. 
“A husband’s greatest need in this world of marriage is to be respected by his wife. #MarriedWomen”
Now, while you carry that phallic mace of leadership as a husband, it is important that you get the respect you deserve. It is a need without which your male member will shrivel up and die. And we all know what happens when the Speaker of the House doesn’t have the mace anymore. It is like being impeached. God forbid that your mace shrivels up and dies.
“When you give to your husband without expectations, then God somehow begins to meet your expectations. #MarriedWomen”
Most important part of this awesome tweet: “without expectations”. A wife should not expect anything in return. Even though as stated above a man SHOULD expect things. Like respect. But only because he is a man. A married man. If you do this God will “somehow”, I don’t know how exactly, bless your marital hustle.
“Look in the mirror & learn to love what you see. A woman who loves her body takes care of it for her husband. Love your body. #MarriedWomen”
Like many things that a man owns, this includes his wife’s body. This is the most important reason why you should take care of your body – although it is your body, it really is for your husband. I suspect that is why in our country there is nothing like marital rape. The wife’s body belongs to the man.
“You have to make forgiveness a habit. In big things and in little things. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. #MarriedWomen”
Yes. How many times did he say forgive? Three times. Like when you find him masturbating to porn in the bathroom. Or when he cheats. Or when he cheats again. Three times.
“Men are not wired like women and your husband doesn’t even know he is being insensitive to your needs. Tell him nicely #MarriedWomen”
Have you ever tried to fix an adapter? There are three cables of different colours. The red, the black and the yellow and green one. Men are like the yellow and green one. Today one colour tomorrow another. So we are allowed to be insensitive. Because we are men. And because the one thing we like more than anything in the world is to be respected, you have to tell us nicely that we are being bad to you. Something about he who holds the mace, holds the power.
“Be very careful about reading romance novels. They give you a false illusion of life. #MarriedWomen”
You don’t want anything that can give you any excitement and distract you from your god-assigned role in life – making your husband happy while not seeking happiness yourself. Too much love in romance novels. Too much regard for women. Too many women who get sexual satisfaction. No one wants that.
“You may not understand why he loves to watch sports or violent movies. You don’t have to understand. Give him his space. #MarriedWomen”
Yes, especially the violent movies. Give him his space while he is learning all the skills required to give you a good beating. But while you do this, you are not allowed to read romance novels. Just make the bed, look for dirty surfaces to clean and cook another pot of soup.
“Make the bed. Thank you. #MarriedWomen”
No creases. No old sheets. No stains. Iron the sheets before you lay them because of insect larvae. Do it like your marriage depended on it. Because, Tony Rapu says it does.
“If you try to control, restrict or cage your husband it will take away that ‘thing’ that makes him a man. He’s a free spirit. #MarriedWomen”
Not sure I need to add much here. While you are bound to him, he is a free spirit. I wish we could have this in all local languages.
“Pet your husband. Massage his shoulders. Give him a manicure. #MarriedWomen”
We are like pets. We also have egos that need massaging. A good married woman knows that the one reason she was put on this earth is to attend to these needs.
“You have to love your husband even when he is unlovable. #MarriedWomen”
You have to. You just have to. The god of Tony Rapu demands it.
“Serve your husband even when it seems he doesn’t appreciate your service. #MarriedWomen”
It is like having a maid. Your maid may not always like cleaning your children’s poop, picking up after you, getting a criminal wage, dealing with your randy husband’s advances and your verbal abuse, but she has to do her job. It is a job she is paid to do, appreciation is not part of the work contract. So also marriage. A married woman serves. Appreciation is not part of the package.  
“Be sensitive to your husband’s physical needs even when you’re tired. You can do all things thro’ Christ who strengthens you. #MarriedWomen”
Your husband has no self-control and cannot exercise restraint. Besides, is this not what Jesus died for – to give you strength to perform whenever your randy husband wants you?
“Protect your husband. There are she-wolves out there. #MarriedWomen”
You have to realise something about men. They are like physically and mentally challenged people. Imagine a mentally challenged paraplegic. That is a summary of what men are. So your husband needs you to stop his male member from finding a she-wolf. He can’t say no or think for himself. It is just the way things are. You are like a soldier whose singular task is to protect a city from foreign invaders like your fellow females. If the invaders breach the city walls, you are to blame.  For those of you women who watch the TV series Game of Thrones, you are like the men of the night's watch who protect the wall and your fellow women are like white walkers and wildlings. Do not abandon your watch!
Here is some of what Tony Rapu had for men:
“Wash the dishes for your wife sometimes. #MarriedMen”
We all know that plates, I mean all plates, belong to the woman. It doesn’t matter if she works too. Clean plates, dirty plates are all hers. It is her job to keep them clean. If you wash the plates you use to eat as a man, it is like giving charity. You are helping her. And you shouldn’t do it too often. Just sometimes. And for this you should be praised. The god of Tony Rapu thinks so.
“Tell your wife “thank you” for all the cooking, washing, cleaning and even making the bed. #MarriedMen”
Awesome. Do you see the double message here? Tony Rapu is a genius. Yes, it means she should do “all the cooking, washing, cleaning and even making the bed.” How else can she expect a thank you if she hasn’t first done these wifely duties? I need to sit down and have a serious conversation with my lover. Because as it is I cook, wash, clean and make the bed. Or perhaps I am one of those mistakes of nature who was originally meant to be a wife? Anyway just do as I say not as I do.
“Your wife has the power to set the direction of your entire life. #MarriedMen”
You see, your wife has all this power. She has this big remote control that can make you do things. Just like Eve who put us all in the mess the world is in. Who knows what channel she will decide to watch? Sometimes, happiness means finding someone you can blame all your problems on.
“Be the man. The #MarriedMan”
I believe this is self-explanatory. Sometimes you are tempted to be the woman and do things like cook, make the bed, cry, clean, let her make some decisions… but don’t! That male member between your legs is not there for decoration. Think of it like the mace in a parliament. Unless the Speaker has the mace he cannot carry out his functions and assert his authority as leader of parliament. So also as long as you carry that phallic blessing between your legs, you are boss. God bless Tony Rapu.
Marriage is good abi?


Saturday, July 19, 2014

MALALA WILL KNOW


This is a good weekend for me. I am revelling in an aha moment. Sometimes all you need is not to force something to work your way, but to find out how best a thing works. I have discovered how best Jonathan works. I have wasted the past year trying to get Jonathan to respond to my WhatsApp messages. I even tried to get his BB pin, but he wouldn’t add me. And it’s not just me. Oby Ezekwesili has been screaming herself hoarse at the Unity Fountain trying to get his attention, which earned her the title “psychological terrorist”.
However, when 17 year old Malala got on a plane and came to Abuja, I heard he ironed his best overalls with spray starch, didn’t drink, wore his prescription glasses and got all his aides to work overtime. As soon as he set eyes on her, he started talking, telling her everything, the things she wanted to know and things she didn’t really care about. Like apologising for the creases on his overall and for wearing the same colours all the time. He swore, by all the gods in the Niger Delta, that she had no reason to get angry with him, because he was doing his very best.
I appreciate this, because as long as a confession is made, it does not matter who that confession is made to. All that remains is for Oby Ezekwesili and the rest of us noise makers to channel our grievances, protests, questions, hashtags and tweets to the right office – the Malala Trust. Henceforth I will advise that requests should be made directly to Malala and copied to Jonathan. Tweets seeking the President’s attention should end with the hashtag #MalalaWillKnow. I’m not sure that Malala will have time to handle all our requests immediately. But I know one thing, when she does get round to handling it, our president will take immediate action.
After writing so much to Ebele Jonathan, I’m afraid for my career. I like to believe that I’m a good student of history. Sanusi wrote to Jonathan, he lost his job. Nyako wrote to Jonathan, he lost his job. Obasanjo wrote to Jonathan, I am sure that if he had a job he would have lost it too. For the sake of my job, I just want to tell Jonathan what we used to sing during football matches as kids: ‘Ba fada ba ne. Wasa ne.’ Rough translation: ‘No be fight.’
Speaking of Nyako, I hear that the old soldier disappeared right after he was impeached for having a monopoly on corruption, together with his four wives and children. While I agree that deregulated corruption would have saved his job, I am more interested in Nyako for other reasons. First, I like mangoes and he owns the largest mango farm in the country. And next, he was somehow able to summarise his four wives into one office of the First Lady. In fact, it has been reported that in the appointment letter of the chief press secretary to the First Lady, signed by Mr John Manassah, the SSG, it was stated that he was appointed ‘as the chief press secretary to the wives of the governor’. And you know, I want to be like Nyako when I grow up: 71 years old and still able to perform conjugal duties with four women. I am certain that if his heart was able to withstand that quadruple level of activity, then we don’t need to worry about how he will take his impeachment. But as an aside, what happens when a man upon whom four women (not counting concubines) depend on for sex, suddenly disappears? Can Adamawa afford to have that many unsatisfied women? Is this what Jonathan wants? Really?
Rauf Aregbesola has been on the campaign trail, begging the people of Osun state not to vote in Senator Iyiola Omisore, who was once at the centre of allegations in the assassination of Chief Bola Ige. I know the incumbent governor has reason to take his campaign very seriously, especially after the recent loss of his brother-governor Kayode Fayemi. But Rauf has nothing to fear. Even without uttering a word, his face and beard are sufficient campaign promises. They tell a story. And while people may look at Omisore’s face and think ‘See this big man’, they will look at Rauf’s face and go ‘See what life has done to this man’.
Apparently, 67 live giant African snails were seized at the Los Angeles International Airport early this week. The snails, which were coming from Lagos, made US customs officials panic and say that it was ‘the first time this pest has been encountered in such quantity’. Instead of sending it back where it came from, they proceeded to burn the snails alive. I just want to say that I’m disappointed in Jonathan. Of all the bad things he did this week, known and unknown, I find it most unconscionable that he would stand by and watch a national delicacy being called a pest. Why do we have a president, if 67 giant African snails can be burned to death with not so much as a response from Africa’s most powerful leader? Where are the animal rights groups that held global protests against the Chinese Yulin dog meat festival, because dogs were being ‘cruelly bound, confined, and slaughtered’? Which is worse: the meaningless torture and killing of 67 giant African animals or Chinese guys who slaughter dogs for consumption? I will send a memo to Malala on this. I trust Jonathan will listen to her.

Ps. My heart goes out to all the women, and boys of Borno still held in captivity by Boko Haram. Especially the school girls of Chibok who have spent almost 100 days in captivity. I cannot begin to imagine the havoc each day spent in insurgent camps wreaks on their lives. My thoughts are also with the bombarded Palestinians who have endured decades of military occupation, land seizures, blockades and death from the apartheid Israeli government. More especially those in Gaza labouring under the less than competent leadership of Hamas who by their ineptitude play into the ready hands of Israel and put Palestinian civilians at risk. In war, except perhaps for people dealing in arms, there can be no winner.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

BURN AFTER READING

Reuben Abati, in his July 9 article in The Washington Times, justified his salary by attacking Karen Attiah’s satirical response to Jonathan’s The Washington Post article. I see that my political opponents are taking this writing business very serious. And so will I. 

Let me explain what The Washington Post did. Barely days after publishing Jonathan’s PR piece, they published Attiah’s satire, totally rubbishing his article. Now, there is no worse way of truncating a man’s international hustle than that kind of thing. So, here’s what Reuben Abati did. He found another paper with a similar name, called The Washington Times. Maybe he thought Nigerians would not know the difference between The Washington Post and The Washington Times. Or maybe he didn’t want another Karen Attiah satire pouring sand-sand in his garri. 

I just want to say that the Presidency chose the perfect city in America to do their PR. Because in Washington alone, apart from The Washington Post and The Washington Times, they have Washington Hispanic, Washington City Paper, Washington Blade, Washington Informer, Washington Business Journal, Washington Jewish Week, The Washington Diplomat, The Washington Sun, The Washington Afro American, and The Washington Examiner. They even have the Washingtonian Magazine. There is no way all these publications would have a Karen Attiah satirist waiting to puncture holes in their story.
So let us look at a few sentences from Abati’s article.
What is not fair, and which stands out in many of the criticisms directed at the Nigerian government, is the attempt to ignore the issues and argue that President Goodluck Jonathan is the problem. This attempt to turn the matter of the abducted girls into a referendum on the Jonathan administration has resulted in a complete misreading of the situation and much deliberate mischief fueled by ignorance and sponsored propaganda.
After reading especially the first few words, it is hard not to have the image of Abati in the middle of a school playground in shorts, stomping his feet and screaming ‘Eees nor fair!’ But then I think Reuben is right. It is not fair to blame a man who we voted in as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Head of the Nigerian Government for failing in his responsibility. It is not fair to demand answers from a man who occupies the highest office in the land and has access to all the nation’s resources. It is not fair to be upset when his army lies that they have rescued the abducted girls, when in fact they made no attempt to do so. It is not fair to be upset that no one gets punished when the government lies to us. Eees nor fair!
During the past four years, Mr. Jonathan has taken proactive steps to combat terrorism on our shores, including military, political and social actions.
Again, I agree with Mr. Abati. Let me take the liberty of listing a few proactive military, political and social actions that Jonathan has taken.
1) Military: claiming that they have rescued the girls when they had no idea where the girls were. Because even the Bible says ‘life and death are in the power of the tongue’. So claiming to have carried out an action is a natural, proactive first step in doing that action.
2) Political: claiming that the abduction was a hoax organised by the APC. Because one needs to be sure that one’s enemies are not involved before committing great military resources in a place as large as Sambisa Forest.
3) Social: enlisting the support of touts to attack Bring Back Our Girls campaigners. Because one needs to test the resolve of people claiming to fight for abducted girls. It’s a bit like a job interview. You can’t have people half-heartedly chanting ‘bring back our girls’.
Since 2011 … [t]hese efforts [by Nigerian security chiefs] yielded positive results, notably the decimation of the ranks of the Boko Haram and their restriction to the Sambisa Forest.
Indeed Boko Haram has been restricted only to the Sambisa Forest. Because the 12-hour long May 5 attack on Gamborou, administrative headquarters of Ngala Local Government in Borno State, leading to the death of 300 persons might just have been a figment of some nosy journalists’ imagination. I’m a journalist sometimes, I know my people. Even the frequent attacks on communities around Chibok and the bombing of a plaza in Abuja may be the work of a copycat. Boko Haram has been restricted to Sambisa Forest.
Boko Haram, the political opposition and a section of the local Nigerian media may have turned Jonathan-bashing into a tasteless and unpatriotic sport. It would be sad indeed if the international media were to allow itself to be led by the nose into that game.
This is such an important point to make. I wished I said it first. Jonathan-bashing must be done in good taste and cannot be turned into a sport. It must be done in the spirit of seriousness and patriotism. Anything short of this is tasteless and unpatriotic.

***
I must my congratulate my soon-to-be predecessor on his wonderful new catch. He was able to attract Malam Shekarau, former book-burning Governor of Kano State, to the education ministry. In 2007, I remember the zeal with which Shekarau and his government publicly burned Hausa romance novels and subjected Hausa authors to a heavy-handed censorship board. We hope that he brings this book-burning zeal of his to the ailing educational sector. Because nothing purifies as perfectly as fire. (Trivia: Shekarau sometimes wears white socks. Just putting it out there)

PS: Please do me a favour. Join me in celebrating Shekarau, our new education minister. Burn this after reading.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

OF SILENCE AND OTHER GREAT ANSWERS FOR FOOLS

If anything ever convinced me that Ebele Jonathan is afraid of my presidential candidacy it is the fact that he has suddenly decided to become a writer. He wrote in the Washington Post:
My silence as we work to accomplish the task at hand is being misused by partisan critics to suggest inaction or even weakness. My silence has been necessary to avoid compromising the details of our investigation.”
I don’t blame him. I blame people like Leonardo Da Vinci who said silly things like: Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” That is why my soon-to-be predecessor has refused to respond to any of my messages. In fact you recall, even when I went to the villa, he refused to come out of his room, sending the equally silent Namadi Sambo to represent him at the event.
All of this reminds me of an urban tale in Kogi politics, where during the 2003 election campaigns, to spite Ibrahim Idris, owner of Ibro Hotel, Prince Abubakar Audu who was seeking re-election said that those who know how to sell food should stick to selling food. My reaction to Jonathan will not be out of spite. But I will say that those who know how to be silent should continue to remain silent. Let those of us who are writers be writers. He should not drag it with me. It takes years to learn how to be a doctor or lawyer, but everyone thinks they can jump and become a writer. And perhaps I should just remind Jonathan that Yevgeny Yevtushenko said that when truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie.
The 2014 FIFA Men’s World Cup is the first time I have followed football closely. I have always found fanatical following of football both weird and energy consuming. However, the quality of the football and the drama have more than compensated for my time. Also, as president come 2015, I should start watching what most Nigerian men watch, if only to feel what they feel. I will resume my football atheism after the World Cup.
If I was president, I would have given the Nigerian Football Team an award in spite of their crashing out of the round of 16. Our team was undoubtedly the most contented loser in the round of 16. Whereas most losing teams broke down, holding their heads in pain or crying their eyes out, ours only stopped short of celebrating. Commendable. Joseph Yobo, the captain of the team, led by example in this regard. Even though he got on the score sheet as a French scorer, he was enthusiastically saying hello to other players right after the game, as if losing was the most normal thing in the world. God bless the Super Eagles.
When I heard that Dino Melaye had a new light-complexioned woman in his life after the old dark one left, I congratulated him for moving up in the world. As a lawyer I am trained not to draw conclusions after listening to one side of a story. So the fact that photos of his old wife after being allegedly battered by him are all over the internet didn’t deter me from wishing him well in his new upgraded hustle. I only warned that hitting the new light-skinned woman could produce disastrous evidence in a court of law. The previous dark woman claimed to have been hit with a wooden plank. She is quite dark in complexion and it was hard to tell by just looking that she was ‘planked’.
Sadly only six months after, news reaching my campaign office is that Alero, the light-skinned woman who is allegedly pregnant with Dino’s child, has moved out of the house after claims of beatings and false imprisonment. Life is cruel sha. Dino should travel home to Kogi and kneel down in the village square and beg his enemies to forgive him. This is surely home trouble. And I know that he hangs out with Jesus and all every Sunday on Twitter, but this matter is beyond that. Some spirits you have to confront yourself. I wish Dino all the best in this hustle. Perhaps I should just add that Dino has denied hitting Alero “or any other woman”.
Ps. After allegedly spending 470 million dollars on CCTV cameras in the FCT, the Nigerian government, following the most recent bombing in Abuja, advised residents to install CCTV cameras in their homes and business premises. That the Nigerian government has the effrontery to say this, without fear or shame, says something not about the government, but about us as Nigerians. Maybe we do not feel enough ownership of the money that comes from crude oil. Maybe if the money spent by government was taxpayer’s money in the real sense of the term, people might be more proactive in demanding accountability.


Ps. 2. This week in Lagos, the Nigerian army allowed its men sink to a new low. Like outlaws in an ungoverned countryside, the men and women who took oaths to protect Nigeria and Nigerians from internal and external aggressors, became arsonists and attackers in retaliation for an accident involving one of their own. It is too much to ask citizens already living in fear of insurgents under the worst of third world conditions to also live in fear of the people who should protect them. It is too damn much. 

Ps. 3. I just saw this tweeted by Pastor E. A Adeboye: "If the one blocking your marriage is an insider and they refuse to let you go, they'll be buried this year." In my mind, there is hardly any difference between this kind of violent, unkind, and not to add superstitious speech and the violence of those who kill in God's name.