THE TRUE WORTH OF A MAN IS NOT IN WHAT HE TAKES

Anyone who has managed a band of a few musicians, will understand that bringing together thousands of creative people, managing their effervescent temperaments and molding them into a force for progress, as I have been made to do, over and over again, is not beans. My phone rings practically off the hook. I take as many calls as I can Any problem of each of the thousands of members of COSON is my problem. It is not by my power.

In the building of the copyright system in Nigeria, I have carried placards many times and led very risky demonstrations many-many times. I am seen in court almost every day. Indeed, I have been to court more times than many litigation lawyers and witnessed against top corporations, governments and individuals time and time again. I have gone many-many days without sleep, travelled lonely roads at dangerous hours, written opinion articles, delivered lectures, organized myriad conferences, seminars and workshops, all with a smile. It is not by my power.

I helped to construct PMAN and I have superintended over the building of an outstanding Nigerian institution called COSON which many said could never see the light of day. When the COSON House was commissioned nearly three years ago, a lot of people were surprised that there was not one Naira of government money in the magnificent building, no donor dollar from anywhere, no bank loan and no debt of any type. The building continues to stand tall and to sparkle. I tell you that it is not by my power.

For eight years, not one of the highly trained staff of COSON received his or her salary one day late. No COSON member entitled to royalties was ever denied money due to him. Not until recently, when some meddlesome interlopers went to court behind our backs in a typical example of the famous Nigerian 'bad belle', to shut down the bank accounts of COSON. It might surprise many to know that no COSON member has ever paid any registration fee, monthly dues or subscription of any type yet every COSON member is entitled to some income every year.  Believe me, that it is not by my power.

My dedication to the copyright cause has never been because of a title or because of personal wealth. My official car as Chairman of COSON is one 17 years old Honda Pilot which has been repaired and repaired, over and over again. I do not live in a house provided by COSON. Every member of staff of COSON goes to a hospital paid for by the organization. However, as Chairman, COSON does not even buy Panadol for me or for any member of my family. I do not go on a vacation on the bill of COSON. I have written in Saturday Breakfast several times that I verily believe that the true worth of a man is not in what he takes but in what he gives.

Over and over again, I have been counted out by men who have made money their god and who do not understand the concept of giving and of sacrifice. They have tried every which way to count me out. Each time they think they have finally succeeded, something new happens. They are confused and cannot understand why the good Lord has refused to count me out. I work for Him.

I have repeatedly emphasized that I drive on a full tank of faith. I serve a living God. The work I do is to the glory of the Almighty. The power I use is not mine but His.

This past December in New York city, I was engaged in the burial of my elder sister. As I went to school, I lived with her. She sowed the seeds of the values that drive me and the faith on which I stand. She gave completely of herself.

My sister had little money. If the truth be told, she had none. There was however nothing of importance that she wanted to do that she did not do.

At the funeral of Pauline Okoroji, people of all nations came. There was testimony after testimony after testimony as to how this lady with unshakable faith touched the lives of people of different tribes in countries across the world. I was proud. As her body was laid to rest, I noticed that nobody put one dollar, one euro, one pound, one yen or one naira in the casket. She left as she came.

My experience in December has sharpened my faith that you do not become great by what you take but by what you give. You might face trials upon trials but like Job, you will prevail.

Today, we begin February 2020. As we navigate February and the months after, I advise that you do not worship men or money. Worship the Almighty and take care of the needs of His children. Do not fret about how you will survive. You will.

Please do not take credit for that which the Almighty does through you. It is not by your power. All glory and honour belong to Him. Drive on a full tank of faith with your tires pumped with love and do not listen to anyone who tells you that your dreams are impossible. The word, impossible, belongs to the devil.

See you next week.

NIGERIAN POPULAR MUSIC AND THE RECORDING INDUSTRY THROUGH THE YEARS (3)

In the last three weeks, we have in Saturday Breakfast offered a series of servings in which the ingredients of the key history of Nigerian popular music and the recording industry over the years have been examined. In other words, we have looked at the influences from which the present Nigerian music buzz emerged. The reaction has been widespread. Some of the materials come from my book, Copyright & the New Millionaires. You are invited to read on.

As the 1970s matured, the 7-inch single began to give way to the LP. The old Grundig and Philips "record changers" from Europe were dumped and replaced by sleek Sony and JVC stereo equipment from Japan. This was about the same time that automobile brands like Toyota, Nisan, Mitsubishi, etc., all from Japan were becoming the preferred cars on the road. The cassette tape and the 8-track cartridge began to creep in as serious alternative carriers of music.

While this was taking place, the studios of Decca West Africa, at Abule Oja, Yaba, close to the University of Lagos main gate, was the place to be for any artiste with any serious intent of making it big in Juju music. At this time, the forerunners of the juju sound such as the great I.K. Dairo (MBE), Tunde Nightingale, Dele Ojo and Ojoge Daniel seemed to have reached their peak. The mild mannered but prodigiously talented Ebenezer Obey seized the opportunity with both hands. While he had done quite well with songs like "Olomi Gbo Temi" in the mid-sixties, his dominance of the juju music scene became quite profound after the war. His Miliki sound which had blared from loudspeakers in the Western part of Nigeria finally had a chance to spread round the country.

The major distributors of Decca such as Shanu Olu Trading Stores in Lagos, Right Time Stores in Onitsha and Anodisc in Aba would have sold more copies of Obey's massive hit, "Board Members" than any other record they had ever handled. The album which contained songs like "Edumare Soro Mi Da Ya", "Ajala-Alhaja", "Alhaji Babs Animashaun", "Laide Oropo", "Bode Oshinusi", etc., continues to be the favourite of many till today.  The only real challenge to Obey's dominance was the rapidly emerging 'master guitarist', Sunny Ade who was then recording for a private label, TYC-African Songs (Take Your Choice), owned by Chief Bolarinwa Abioro.

While Ebenezer Obey won great recognition as a stand-out composer and singer with many thought-provoking songs, Sunny Ade was the man who rocked the show! With massive hits like "Esubiri Ebo Mi" and "Syncro System", Sunny Ade became the chosen one of many juju fans who saw him as the unchallenged master of the stage. Obey used to perform sitting down but with his incomparable voice belched out hit song after hit song that moved his audience. On the other hand, Sunny Ade stood up, twisted his slim waist on stage and twanged his guitar and drove most Yoruba women crazy. Party after party, women danced to "Sunny" with sweet abandon, shook their bums and showed off their fancy lace attires with exciting 'gele' head gears.

Every weekend, Ebenezer Obey, the Miliki King with his Inter Reformers Band  and Sunny Ade, the master guitarist with his African Beats were 'sprayed' hundreds of thousands of Naira by excited fans, across Yorubaland, as they praised their fans with elaborate titles and fancy names and held them spellbound with the music fittingly called 'juju'.  

Decca also had a major hit in a mixed grill release by the Ghanaian group, "Ramblers Dance Band" led by singer and saxophonist, Jerry Hansen. "Ramblers" which was essentially a Highlife band had surprise success in a rehash of Eddie Floyd's song, "Knock on Wood".

However, the real surprise at Decca, was the monumental success of a group of five otherwise rudimentary young men from Mbaise in Imo State that played a very unpretentious brand of guitar driven Highlife. The acceptance of "Oriental Brothers International Guitar Band" led by Godwin Kabaka Opara, especially by the Igbos, was total. Their lead singer, Christogonus Ezebuiro Obinna, alias Dr. Sir Warrior, became a folk figure and all the lines sung by him in songs like 'Iheoma", "Anamelechi" Nwanne Awu Enyi" "Nakwa Echeki", "Ama Onye Wu Onye", etc., were analyzed and memorized and aped by people across Igboland and wherever Igbos are found. To put it mildly, Igbos were intoxicated with the music of Oriental Brothers. While Decca released quite a number of artistes on their 'Afrodisia' label, it was the young men from Mbaise that made 'Afrodisia' a household name.

Unfortunately, a few years after their breath-taking success, the group broke into three, each keeping the Oriental Brothers name. One of the groups was led by lead guitarist and band leader, Godwin Kabaka Opara. Another was led by second guitarist, Dan Satch Opara. The third group was led by lead singer, Dr. Sir Warrior Obinna. To their many fans, the situation was very confusing. Eventually, most of them stuck with the group led by Sir Warrior, if only to prove that while the guitar was important, it was the unique voice of Sir Warrior that determined the authentic "Oriental Brothers".

The Afrodisa Studios at Abule Oja also gained great reputation for great sound. Their engineers, Emma Akpabio, LAK Adeniran, John Malife and Martin Ikebuaku were busy all the year round not just with Decca artistes but with other artistes in search of Afrodisia's 'clean sound', originally driven by their 8 track 3M technology and later by 24-track equipment from Neve and Studder.

Several other artistes on labels developed by Nigerian entrepreneurs also achieved substantial success. At Olumo Records, artistes such as Dele Abiodun, Kollington Ayinla and Oliver De Coque who stormed the country with "People's Club" and later, "Identity" were in hot demand. While TYC -African Songs lost the now influential Sunny Ade, they gained Sikiru Ayinde Barrister who had turned what was essentially an Islamic religious music form to a mainstream popular music type called Fuji. Fuji music stormed the scene from the injection of heavy percussion into the Ajisari/Were music form, the music performed to wake Muslims before dawn during the Ramadan fasting season. Fuji has captured the imagination of a section of the Nigerian populace producing such stars as Kollington Ayinla, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, Pasuma Wonder, Abas Akande Obesere, Sule Alao Malaika, Saheed Osupa, etc.

When Sunny Ade broke away from TYC, his music began to be released on his own label and his records were distributed by Mutmokson Trading Company owned by Ola Kassim, who was also doing well with a gospel group, "Good Women's Choir" based in Ibadan. Mr. Kassim was responsible for launching the recording careers of two young juju musicians, Shina Peters and Segun Adewale together known as Sir Shina Adewale. The duo made some inroad into the Juju music terrain in the mid-seventies. This was before Sir Shina Peters took the nation by storm with his highly infectious Afro Juju that was released on Sony Music Nigeria. (To be continued)

See you next week.

NIGERIAN POPULAR MUSIC AND THE RECORDING INDUSTRY THROUGH THE YEARS (2)

Last week, I began a dedicated series of servings on Saturday Breakfast in which the ingredients of the key history of Nigerian popular music over the years are examined. We are also looking at the recording industry that thrived on and promoted the music and the influences from which the present Nigerian music buzz emerged. Some of the materials come from my book, Copyright & the New Millionaires. Please read on.    

Sonny Okosun, who had operated under the radar for a while in the showbiz circle, performing in Benin City for a while with Sir Victor Uwaifo and experimenting in Enugu with bands like "The Postmen" and "Paperback Limited", chose the period around 1971 to positively announce himself as a major act at EMI Nigeria. His song, "Help" which had another great song, "Don't Cry" as the flip side of the 7" single recorded at the EMI Wharf Road, Apapa Studios, was a major hit. Both songs had the immensely gifted singer, Perry Ernest Okocha on the vocals.

Not long after, Sonny Okosun decided to personally grab the mic and take over the lead singing from Perry Ernest. He added a big horn section to his band which section was led by trombonist, Fred Fisher and also added the locomotive drum sounds of Mosco Egbe, the keyboard wizardry of Jonny Wood Olimah , the guitar riffs of Spark Abiloye and his group, Ozzidi took off like a bomb. To top up the attraction, a sexy group of female back-up singers and dancers like Claudia Pepple, Floxxy B, Margaret Akpan and Julie King became part of the group and Ozzidi was hot!

With Ozzidi, Sonny Okosun became a big activist and major voice in the African liberation movement. On the wings of Ozzidi, Okosun toured the African continent several times and made such great recordings as Papa's Land, Fire in Soweto, Mother & Child, African Soldier, Which Way Nigeria?, etc. and became the greatest and longest hit maker at EMI Nigeria. What Sonny Okosun did was what had been expected of either Jonnie Haastrup, whose band "Monomono" had  a massive hit on EMI titled, "Give the Beggar a Chance" or Segun Bucknor, whose "Soul Assembly"  had experimented with some intriguing African rhythms in the evergreen song, "Poor Man no Get Brother''. There were indeed suggestions from some quarters that what became known as Afro Beat was created by Segun Bucknor but such suggestions disappeared because of Fela's towering personality and his undisputed dominance of the music genre.

At about the same period, three urbane looking young men in Lagos, Beckley Ike Jones, Laolu Akintobi and Mike Odumosu broke into the scene with a three-piece band called BLO which had an unbelievable sound as big as a huge orchestra. The name, BLO was coined from the first letters of the names of the guitarist, Beckley Ike Jones and the drummer, Laolu Akintobi and the first letter of the surname of the bass player, Mike Odumosu. From BLO's first album, CHAPTER ONE released by EMI, to PHASE II, STEP 3 and PHASE IV, all of which came out on Decca's Afrodisia label, BLO never quite achieved its potential in record sales but was red hot on stage and the girls went crazy whenever BLO came to town.

People thronged whatever venues BLO played, to listen to the guitar solos of Beckley Jones on his famous Fender Stratocaster guitar, the thumping bass of Mike Odumosu and the magical drum rolls of Laolu Akins and to see their flashy Orange loudspeakers and amplifiers provided by Decca. The fact that only three guys produced such great sound was part of the great legend of BLO. The group was also very professionally packaged by their manager and publicist, Tony Amadi, one of Nigeria's best Entertainment journalists of all times. There was no argument that BLO were the best instrumentalists around and almost every recording artiste craved for some bars of the BLO sound in their recordings. The guys naturally became the most expensive session musicians in Nigeria. When Mike Odumosu moved on to join the trans-national group, "Osibisa", Biddy Wright 'Oladele' took over as the 'O' in BLO. In later years, the 'O' in BLO was the incredibly talented keyboard player, Lemmy 'Otu' Jackson who also became one of Nigeria's most successful producers responsible for hit songs from the likes of Oby Onyioha, Christy Essien Igbokwe and Onyeka Onwenu.

If EMI was the Mecca of pop artistes in Nigeria, Odion Iruoje was the Chief Imam. The fast talking and brash Producer and Artiste & Repertoire Manager at EMI, who neither had any formal training or apprenticeship in music, became one of the most powerful people in the Nigerian music industry.  Iruoje had an uncanny talent for detecting a hit artiste before the artiste ever got recorded. He could also bring in new elements into an artiste's work to give it more commercial appeal. His rather stubborn self-assurance ensured that he was in complete control of the artistes, well known for their difficult- to- manage temperaments. Iruoje scored a major hit with the band, "Ofege" featuring high school students from St Gregory's College, Lagos. He simply gave fillip to the sweet schoolboy voice of lead singer, Melvin Ukachi by throwing in the famed guitars of Beckley Jones to accompany the recordings of Ofege and all the kids in the streets were singing, "Wizzy Ilabo" or "Ofege is our name!"

As the mid-seventies strolled by, with the Udoji awards in the pockets of the Nigerian consumer, EMI  was in business  with such hit songs as "Still Searching" by Bongos Ikwue and the Groovies, "Beautiful Woman" by "Cloud 7" led by singer, Cliff David, "She's My Choice" by "Sweet Breeze" fronted by Basil Akalonu, Jackie Moore, Dallas King Anyanwu, etc; "Slim Fit Maggi" by Semi Colon led by Lasbrey Ojukwu and a couple of mild hits from Warri based Tony Grey with his Ozzimba.

While EMI was not known for Highlife, it did extremely well with the music of Peacocks International Band of Owerri led by guitarist, Raphael Amarebem and singer, Dan Orji and sold hundreds of thousands of copies of the music of Apala legend, Ayinla Omowura. EMI was also selling a lot of reggae music by artistes like Jimmy Cliff, Jonny Nash, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, Eric Donaldson, etc and scored positively with The Guyanese singer and producer, Eddy Grant, who had established a special relationship with the company.

Next week, we will examine the Juju music explosion at Decca West Africa, the emergence of Fuji music as a serious popular music form, the arrival of the Highlife guitar bands led by Oriental Brothers and the Ikwokirikwo craze fired by Ikenga Super Stars of Africa. Stay tuned. It will be interesting.

See you next week.

NIGERIAN POPULAR MUSIC AND THE RECORDING INDUSTRY THROUGH THE YEARS

As we begin navigating the year 2020 and a new decade, my concern about our lack of interest in our history grows. Nigerian music is buzzing everywhere. There is no question about that but please ask any Nigerian of the Facebook generation how the music industry developed and watch him… He will probably tell you about 2 Face Idibia, P Square and Banky W. To let you know that he is deep and knowledgeable, he may mention with pride Kennis Music, Plantashun Bois, D Banj, Don Jazzy and Mo' Hits. To him, that is where the Nigerian music industry started.

 

The persons and outfits mentioned above ought to lay claim to having made significant contributions to the development of modern Nigerian popular music. With all due respect, I will however classify them in the 'current affairs section' of the Nigerian music industry and not in the 'history section' of our boundless trade.

 

I am concerned that as a people, we do not pay enough attention to history. The consequence is that we will not get the appropriate inspiration and therefore will make avoidable mistakes over and over again. I therefore wish to dedicate Saturday Breakfast in the coming weeks to look at the key history of Nigerian popular music over the years, the recording industry that thrived on and promoted the music and the influences from which the present buzz emerged. Some of the materials come from my book, Copyright & the New Millionaires. Please read on.     

 

The Nigerian recording industry which survived the civil war was dominated in the early seventies by three Lagos based multi-national recording companies, each of which carved out an area of influence for itself. These companies were Philips, which later became Phonogram and then Polygram and subsequently, Premier; EMI that later transformed itself to Ivory and DECCA, which eventually became Afrodisia. Before this, time, Onitsha, in the eastern part of the country, had the immutable Nigerphone.

 

In the early 1970s, Philips could be said to be the leader in Highlife music. The likes of Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Celestine Ukwu, Victor Olaiya, Stephen Osita Osadebe and Chris Ajilo had come out of the Nigerian civil war with their various interpretations of the Highlife sound in great demand. New names such as Paulson Kalu, Mike Ejiagha, the Eastern Minstrels, etc., also churned out great Highlife tunes from the Philips Ijora Causeway studios in Lagos. While Philips did not dabble much into the local recording of western styled pop music, it was very active in releasing in Nigeria, recordings of the new kings and queens of American Soul and Blues on its Polydor label.

 

The king of the kings was of course 'Papa' James Brown whose song, "Say it Loud, I'm Black and Proud!" was a call for commotion on the dance floor. The revolutionary Black consciousness appeal of "Black and Proud" hit a deep chord with a lot of young Nigerians and was reflected in the lingo and fashion of the time. "Guys" wore the Afro hair style, tight fitting shirts, bell-bottom trousers that swept the roads also called labu and platform shoes. "Chicks" were also caught in the Afro hairdo craze but did not use as much fabric in the making of their skirts as "guys" did with their trousers. The miniskirt was the rave and with about the fabric required for 3 handkerchiefs, your skirt was ready to go! Anyone who was not dressed as a "guy" or a "chick" was a "jew man"! This was the era of the 7" 45 rpm singles on black vinyl. The different singles of James Brown such as "Sex Machine", "Cold Sweat", "Superbad", "I feel Good", "Mashed Potato Popcorn", etc were all instant hits.

 

The EMI studio at Wharf Road in Apapa was the Mecca of the young Nigerian musician who had become influenced by the wave that Black music was making in America. Some of these musicians were products of the war time pop bands that had sprung up both in Biafra and the other parts of the country. The most popular of these bands perhaps was "The Hykkers". Another was "Marine Blossoms". Otis Redding's hit songs, Security and Direct Me had a major impact on the direction of these bands. So did the sounds coming out of Berry Gordy's Tamla Motown which then was probably the most important hit music factory in the world. Motown was then ruling the world with artistes like Jackson 5, Diana Ross & the Supremes, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Four Tops, Rare Earth, etc. 

 

The success of the single, "Love Rock" by "The Strangers" of Owerri led by Bob Miga (real name: Bob Agim) opened the gates of EMI studios to more pop bands4."The Wings" of Aba, inspired by their leader, Spud Nathans, also had a successful single with "Someone Else Will". Also from Aba, "The Funkees", a group with talents like Jake Sollo, Harry Mosco, Chyke Madu and Mohammed Ahidjo scored big with "Akula", a song with a strong African tinge.

 

The Strangers was to break up not long after their huge success. Many of their fans shifted their loyalty to one of the succeeding groups, "One World' fronted by lead singers Sam Mathews and Gab Zani. The environment in Aba also produced another significant group called "The Apostles" led by Walton Arungwa, about the same time that Soki Ohale was thrilling everyone with his song, "Highway Mini Girl".

If the development at EMI had appeared like it would not last, that was settled with the huge success of two successive singles by the group "Wrinkers Experience". The two singles, "Fuel for Love" and "Money to Burn", written by Dan Ian, were favourites of the young and old around the country for quite some time. "Wrinkers Experience" was a bit different from the other bands because it had some talented Cameroonians in its membership like the irrepressible guitarist, Ginger Forcher.

 

In Port Harcourt, the group, "Founders 15" featuring the likes of gentleman, Iyke Peters who today is a very strong Biafran political activist, had a successful single in "Be My Own".

 

While the Eastern pop groups were making their different hit songs, a new sound virtually exploded on the scene. Fela Ransome Kuti had finally hit it big with a new band, "The Africa 70s", a new sound, Afro Beat, a new song, "Chop and Quench" and a new venue, "the African Shrine". The previously unacclaimed "Highlife Jazz" artiste, Fela, whose band "Koola Lobitos" had struggled in Lagos in the shadows of the great show man, Geraldo Pino, had in every sense become born again. Geraldo Pino himself born of Sierra Leonean parents and largely influenced by the stagecraft of James Brown later moved to Port Harcourt and for a long while had residency at Crystal Park Hotel, Aba and Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt.

 

After a rather unsuccessful tour of America, Fela was a changed man. He gave up his trademark western suits for very tight fitting trousers; his mid-tempo Highlife Jazz for the raunchy and heavily percussive Afro Beat; his sweet trumpet for the very aggressive electronic keyboard and later, the saxophone; his 'You love me and I love you' songs for the audacious and politically controversial. Fela, who never touched cigarette, became a major convert to cannabis. Fela also gave up his middle-class family lifestyle for girls and girls and girls! While Fela had countless roforofo fights with the Nigeria Police, he made many hit songs for EMI such as Shakara, Lady, I no be Gentleman, Black Man's Cry, Open & Close, etc. and a critical moment in the evolution of Nigerian music was born. (To be continued)

 

See you next week.

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EVERYWHERE IN AMERICA

Things are bad in Nigeria; very-very bad. But let's face it: our problem with darkness did not start with the Buhari regime. For many years, we have shouted 'NEPA!' in celebration of the odd one hour of light after many hours of darkness. Corruption has been endemic in Nigeria for as long as I can remember. Without doubt, we have had too many incompetent people in too many positions in our country for too long. We even fought a fratricidal war which left thousands of our children with horrific kwashiorkor and hundreds of thousands of our brothers dead. We have had coups on top of coups and military rule of all colorations.

We invented 419 and have lived through it. Despite all of these, Nigerians always had a kind of swagger. We looked at anyone from anywhere boldly in the eyes and dared whoever that person is to take us on. If you pushed a Nigerian, he pushed you back. We had little doubt that we were a special breed made to face whatever challenges life threw at us.

Have you noticed that these days your folks in Europe and America know more about what is happening in your village than you in Lagos or Abuja? It is from Europe or America that you get the midnight phone call informing you that a certain old relation of yours in the village has gone to rest with his ancestors.  With the cell phone revolution and the almighty WhatsApp, it now appears a lot easier and cheaper for folks in my village to call London or New York than to call me in Lagos. If the truth must be told, there is another reason why it makes more sense to first call the people 'overseas'. That reason is spelt DOLLAR. Tell me, how many dollars or euros can you send home from Lagos? So, the calls go to where the money is.

Just watch those who come out of the bank after a WESTERN UNION transaction. They are usually taller than they were when they walked in. The American dollar is exhilarating. It intoxicates like a combination of whiskey, brandy, rum and ogogoro. With some of those crisp green notes in your back pocket, you can almost invite the devil to a fight.  Maybe that is why Americans are fighting 'devils' everywhere.

In the last two weeks I have visited several cities in the United States. Everywhere, I found entire Nigerian families – children, father, mother, uncle, auntie, grandfather and grandmother. They have all run away from Nigeria.  In some places, it looks like the whole clan has migrated and if they can get visas for their dogs and goats and cats, they would ship them out too.  

Almost every Nigerian I met has lost that Nigerian swagger. They don't talk with the usual Nigerian confidence anymore. They whisper. They are scared. Most of them left their villages in search of the golden fleece. Their intent was to go back home at the end of the day to where they are not mere statistics but proper citizens. Now, it is beginning to dawn on them that they are never going anywhere and may never be more than mere statistics for the rest of their lives.

Some of them from my part of the country who have built exquisite mansions at home have abandoned their mansions to cobwebs, rats, cockroaches and lizards. They know that some eagle-eyed kidnapper is permanently scanning their homes to see when the lights would be turned on. If for any reason they must return home, they must first make a sizeable budget for a small army of security men or keep several millions in a holding account for the day the kidnapper strikes. The greatest success of all used to be to go home to celebrate your success. Not anymore.

Those who used to stop over in Abuja have seen Boko Haram play games at the SSS installation in the city and devastate the Police Headquarters in their country. Tell me, if the Police Headquarters in your country is not safe, where then is safe?

In every city I travelled to in the US, almost every Nigerian I met wanted to talk to me. In fact, I was treated like someone from the war front. The words they used to describe Nigeria are shocking: 'nightmare', 'wasted', 'disgraceful', 'tragic', 'hopeless', etc. They seemed to be taken aback that I planned to go back to Nigeria after a few weeks. Truly, some looked at me as if I had signed a contract with suicide. The frightening thing is that most of my best friends of the 1980s and 1990s now live in America. Among them are some really brilliant folks that the Nigerian nation would need to remake itself. Unfortunately, nothing is happening at home that suggests to them that home wants them. So, who will rebuild Nigeria?

There was the period just before the 'Ghana must go' episode when our brothers from the Republic of Ghana used to walk with their heads bowed because their leaders had turned their great nation into a place where no decent person could have a decent life. Many of them ran to Nigeria to do menial jobs. To all intents and purposes, the average Ghanaian man lost his manhood. Ghana is back!

Nigerians are today walking around with their heads bowed. Our leaders have turned our great nation into a place without hope. What is this that is happening to the Giant of Africa and its people known for our hitherto unstoppable self-belief? I have always been a great believer in the destiny of our nation. I am however bewildered by what I see. Is Nigeria unscrambling or would we like Ghana bounce back?

See you next week!