If you have been on Twitter, BBM or Facebook or any other social media, you would have noticed that the last three days have been fascinating, hilarious, humorous and perhaps controversial. In a week people should have discussing about the indicting dress sense of some of our celebrities at the African magic viewer’s choice award (AMCVA), the shameful news of presidential pardon for some of our corrupt politicians, the continuous boko-haram menace or even the emergence of the new pope, it was Mr. Obafaiye Shem (a Lagos state commandant of the Nigerian security and civil defense corps.: NSCDC) who gave us something to cheer about and ponder on.
Like many Nigerians, I had missed the live interview and so was lost when I saw ‘#my oga at the top’ trending on twitter until my friend (Paul Marcus) sent me the shameless and embarrassing video of Mr. Obafaiye’s interview on channel’s breakfast television programme where he clearly displayed a rather shocking and worrisome knowledge of an organization he works for everyday. For who knows how long? To think he was invited as a representative of NSCDC to defend the allegations of job racketeering in the commission makes the matter more doleful. I hope you won’t ask me who smuggled him into NSCDC? Don’t worry, “his oga at the top” will answer that.
Clearly, the aftermath of that interview and social media take-over of the events that followed justified comments I made in my article (onyekaba-charles-happiness-is-truly-a-choice) last week on Nigerians as people who can easily make happiness from sad circumstances. As I write this, I have seen so many “my oga at the top” customized shirts, musical videos and audios, ‘photo-shoped’ images and many creative jokes that I am beginning to get worried that we might quickly forget the reality this shameful incident beams its searchlight on. Some of them are:
That most of our leaders are not just corrupt but incompetent and not even proficient enough to be where they. How else do you want to explain that a man provide basic information about where he works? That getting jobs in Nigeria are hardly on merit these days. Jobs are no longer gotten on a credible ‘CV’ but on a “who you know” basis. Ask NSCDC how they have been recruiting their staffs? Or haven’t you seen secretaries at big firms who can hardly spell their names? That internet is not free but knowledge is free. How do we explain that in an era referred as ‘the internet age’ our dear commandant can give a web address as: “ww.nscdc (*wink*) datsall?
Finally, while expressing my sympathy to Mr. Obafaiye for willingly presenting himself a “subject of ridicule, I will also use to medium to strongly advise him to look for his oga beside or behind him because the only “oga at the top” is God almighty whose grace we seek to make Nigeria a better place.
Charles N. Onyekaba is an Architect and an author. Contact him at onyekabaeme@yahoo.com or www.charleyrosu.wordpress.com
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