In Search of Nigerian Heroes Part ONE
At the end? Everyone loves a hero in the final movie scene. The point when good triumphs evil, success triumphs stress and victory conquers defeat. This may be because we all believe in happy endings or perhaps we just need an escape from the harsh realities of life. But is it true that heroes only exist in movies and giant cinema screens? The first season of the hit US Series by the same name "Heroes" had everyone at the edge of their seat with the calm refrain, "save the cheerleader, save the world" and in a remarkable twist that only Hollywood could produce, the cheerleader was indeed saved but was the world? "Well it did provide a thrilling climax though" says the Nigerian rapper and producer, Dr L.A.C.E dryly. We will come to him after our first few winners when i will discuss a few of my own "silent" heroes. Oops let me not get ahead of myself. It is not from my mouth that you will hear that there is money to be made on the internet but first a detour....
On the 1st of October, Nigeria, just turned a new year in a new decade. The public holiday is over and we are all back to our daily grind. Yet the majority report is grossly disappointing for any better word. There are all sorts of crisis bedevilling the young nation. The once exemplary city of Jos is back to the middle ages with brothers killing brothers, a new terrorist group called Boko Haram has the rest of the country in terror grips and the center cannot hold to quote Chinua Achebe. Pensioners are not paid, young girls are raped at impunity (heard of the Abia 5?), the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) is on strike so even the youth are losing out in the education race. Those fortunate enough to have finished university do not have any jobs and the tales of woe go on and on and on! These and other evils besetting the country must be addressed and addressed quickly as the very famous warrior-Jihadist Usman Dan Fodio once said, "A society may survive unbelief but it will never survive injustice".
Yet in this cloud of darkness and tempest there are silver linings. My sponsor thinks so and so do I. The examiner who sticks by the rules and only rewards merit. The civil servant who comes to work on time and does not shirk his responsibility. The man/woman who gives a lift to a stranger in the pouring rain. The elder brother who drops out of school so his younger ones can have a shot of life. The young girl that gives up her seat on a BRT bus so an old man can sit down. The head of the scholarship board who resists any pressure to tinker with the results. These people are HEROES and HEROINES. They are never celebrated but they quietly go about their business and daily activities holding themselves to higher standards. The truth is that there are good as well as bad people, there are honest as well as dishonest people. There are people who work smart and work hard while the rest of us sleep. And over the next three months (till December 2011) I invite all the Nigerians who know any hero they have come across in their daily "hustle" to drop a comment stating what the hero or heroine did and why they should be considered for the weekly prize of a recharge card.
Starting from Friday 14 October a winner will be announced and he/she will receive EITHER an MTN 1500, Glo 1000, Airtel 1000 or Etisalat 1000 naira recharge card. We are working on getting more sponsors so that the prizes can be more befitting. So watch this space:
Rules Again:
1. Drop a comment saying what your hero/heroine did.
2. Share/broadcast this challenge on facebook, twitter, 2go, myspace, hi5 or where ever you are (there will soon be a reward for invitations as soon as the web page designer knows how to verify this)
3. Subscribe to this blog.
Remember every FRIDAY a winner will be announced.
On the 1st of October, Nigeria, just turned a new year in a new decade. The public holiday is over and we are all back to our daily grind. Yet the majority report is grossly disappointing for any better word. There are all sorts of crisis bedevilling the young nation. The once exemplary city of Jos is back to the middle ages with brothers killing brothers, a new terrorist group called Boko Haram has the rest of the country in terror grips and the center cannot hold to quote Chinua Achebe. Pensioners are not paid, young girls are raped at impunity (heard of the Abia 5?), the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) is on strike so even the youth are losing out in the education race. Those fortunate enough to have finished university do not have any jobs and the tales of woe go on and on and on! These and other evils besetting the country must be addressed and addressed quickly as the very famous warrior-Jihadist Usman Dan Fodio once said, "A society may survive unbelief but it will never survive injustice".
Yet in this cloud of darkness and tempest there are silver linings. My sponsor thinks so and so do I. The examiner who sticks by the rules and only rewards merit. The civil servant who comes to work on time and does not shirk his responsibility. The man/woman who gives a lift to a stranger in the pouring rain. The elder brother who drops out of school so his younger ones can have a shot of life. The young girl that gives up her seat on a BRT bus so an old man can sit down. The head of the scholarship board who resists any pressure to tinker with the results. These people are HEROES and HEROINES. They are never celebrated but they quietly go about their business and daily activities holding themselves to higher standards. The truth is that there are good as well as bad people, there are honest as well as dishonest people. There are people who work smart and work hard while the rest of us sleep. And over the next three months (till December 2011) I invite all the Nigerians who know any hero they have come across in their daily "hustle" to drop a comment stating what the hero or heroine did and why they should be considered for the weekly prize of a recharge card.
Starting from Friday 14 October a winner will be announced and he/she will receive EITHER an MTN 1500, Glo 1000, Airtel 1000 or Etisalat 1000 naira recharge card. We are working on getting more sponsors so that the prizes can be more befitting. So watch this space:
Rules Again:
1. Drop a comment saying what your hero/heroine did.
2. Share/broadcast this challenge on facebook, twitter, 2go, myspace, hi5 or where ever you are (there will soon be a reward for invitations as soon as the web page designer knows how to verify this)
3. Subscribe to this blog.
Remember every FRIDAY a winner will be announced.
there was no contestant and therefore no winner for Friday 7 October.
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