WEN WOTA PAS GARI - 1

Our nation has been passing through numerous challenges. From insecurity to cases of flooding that surprisingly wiped out communities across our land. Within a short space of time, refugee camps have sprung up in worse hit areas and still counting. Lives and properties have been lost and farmlands turned into rivers of floods; a natural disaster whose coming was long foretold by our weather experts. Not used to weather forecasts, individuals, corporate organisations and governments in the respective affected states went to sleep. Why think outside the box when we are used to the deployment of face-saving efforts meant to sound a message that simply re-echo the obvious; government is doing something. Who cares for the fixing of a pot-hole on the highway without the record of a fatality? Our own Hurricanes or Sunamis are here to stay? These crazy words that hitherto sounded musical; making us to clap and dance gleefully; notin de hapun, notin de hapun in a land where milk and honey flows. No place for the Katrinas? Certainly there may be place for Adamu, Okoro, Dele etc. Despite the overwhelming challenges facing us as a people, we arent giving up. We are blessed with the YES WE CAN spirit even though popularised by the Americans. We stand by transformation and the right kind of change that will bring nothing but permanent succour to our people. We will continue to freshen up things for the overall good of the citizenry. If you say I am speaking like a politician, you are right because, I know how they rehash and bombard we the people with high sounding words that we commonly dub grama. Politics is not sidon-luk, it is planning ahead, talking and doing positive things for the people. This was why the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan recently embarked on a tour of areas affected by the floods all over the country. Like everyone, he was touched to his bone marrow by the pains of the ordinary citizens whose predicament was being worsened by floods. Dis no bi smol mata. Pipul don kpai. Animal do yamutu. Food don go op. Wetin poor man go chop? An laik dem yan mi, gari of N300 don enta N1, 300 fo plenti ples dem. Like any issue of national discuss, that of flooding has no doubt attracted the desired attention and comments from all shades of people lending their voices to the damages caused by the floods. Flooding is a peculiar ball game that requires peculiar solutions. In a time like this when our thoughts are flooded by issues relating to bombs and bombings, flooding may just be the cooling therapy we direly need to calm the nerves of our nation. How else would the Almighty God prove to be the Nigerian we all ascribe Him? Dont we commonly say that a shower of rains tantamount to blessing? Why speak against an overflow of blessings? The problem was that, arrangements were not made in advance for a store house of blessings. God ponish devul! The President is not one to shout the devil has done it again. He speedily set up a committee to work on this national calamity. As we approach the dry season, the rains will roll back for the committee of government on the flooding and others being put in place by individuals, NGOs, to have hard grounds to discuss the way forward in the management of floods in Nigeria. It is going to enjoy a multi-faceted and multi-industry approach. I

predicted on my Facebook page that after the floods, we shall experience a deluge of calls in the national assembly for a bill for the enactment of an Act for the creation of a Commission on Floods. This commission will be coming at the nick of time when government is considering merging or scrapping series of its Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies. I see someone already working at this. The situation on hand had aroused several exclamations of cries and support for government intervention to save lives in all flood affected areas. Such shouts or exclamations have been largely said in vernacular. And whenever issues are raised in vernacular, you need none to tell you that wota don pas gari. The President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan that I know has never deliberately given the impression that he is from a region where pidgin/Naija tek bele touch graund. He is ever cut out as one ready to champion the course of new-wave Nigerian Presidents that boasts of university degrees. Though one that promotes our culture via dressing, I have never known him as a president that will regards complimenting or enriching his address to the people by the use of Naija; Nigerias un-official lingua franca like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other politicians during and after electioneering campaigns. Bot wen wota pas gari, he spoke Naija langwej. The question making the round now is; so awa President sabi spik Naija?