Oga-Coro, humbled humanity and a changing paradigm…. New Englishes in Nigeria
A radio OAP (99.3FM) the other day advised that we should address CORO with some respect because it was (and is still) holding all of us by the juggler. In effect, CORO is the BOSS right now, deciding what we do, how we do it, where we can go and even where we cannot go and that is across the globe that is why I have addressed it as Oga-Coro.
Bob Marley is my most favourite musician of all times to the extent that I have a life-size portrait of him in my country home and another, smaller one at my office. I saw and still see him as a sane “madman” a hard-core philosopher and a prophet largely ignored by the people. I just remembered him as I was reminiscing about Coro and particularly, his song, Natural Mystic. Hear him “There’s a natural mystic blowing through the air… many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die… things are not the way they used to be… one and all got to face the reality…, can’t keep them ( natural mystic) down…don’t tell no lie!” What else was the prophet talking about in 1977 if not Coro? It is apparently natural, it is mysterious, it is blowing in the air, people are suffering and dying and still counting and we should not lie about it!
Everywhere is empty, including St Peters Square. Places we perceived as impenetrable have been infiltrated, including Buckingham Palace and Aso Rock. Even before declaring a formal lockdown, streets, event centres, business districts across the globe are empty. Italy is dealing with death on a wholesale bases and is about surrendering. Spain and France are in dire stress and the US is running out of options. Here in Nigeria, Aso-Rock (Executive), National Assembly (Legislature) and our courts (the judiciary) are all “working from home”; our imperial Governors have run for cover; they can no longer drive in their crazy convoys and no longer terrorise us with overzealous security operatives. Our arrogant Senators have gone underground and even Professors, our shining lights and purveyors of ideas and solutions, have been visited by merciless agent of death. Our egos have been punctured; our collective psyche is bruised and despair pervades the air.
The whole globe is engaged in this epic battle against an unknown and unseen enemy; patients are sprawling helplessly and hopelessly on the floors of Tier1 hospitals abroad; people who hitherto prided themselves about their human rights have all surrendered, as democratic governments issue and brutally enforce lockdowns, with Italy making it an offence to spread coro. Governments that were hitherto so sure of everything are now unsure of all things and do not know whether to order, advise or request people to stay at home and lawyers are talking about force majeure, frustration, incapacitation of parties and similar terms. Crimes, crises and evils have been globalised and “Prayer for Nigeria in distress, “prayer against coro” and “God of mercy and compassion” have become the favourites among Catholic faithful’s. Even leaders that were not so religious are calling on God and the global economy is staggering like a drunk sailor. On Sunday 29/3/20, my family attended Mass. We arranged chairs in the sitting room, faced the African Independent Television and followed in a mass streamed from Port Harcourt and attended by 4 priests, 3 mass servers and lectors and a 5-man choir. It was a virtual mass with spiritual communion. That is the reality we face today.
Within three months of this ravenous scourge across the globe and 6 weeks in Nigeria, a new paradigm is emerging. The whole humanity has been humbled. Our prideful, boastful and sure-footed tendencies have faded away. Whoever thought that US will be short of medical consumables or that Trump could ‘stammer’ in front of cameras or contradict himself? We now realise that all is vanity and that we are all the same, ordinary human beings and that our possessions, positions and connections CANNOT help us. Coro has “commonalised”, communalised and equalised us. As aptly captured in a recent viral message: “All of a sudden, wealth no longer counts; private jets are useless. We are confined to just 1 room in our mansions; the 20,000 capacity church auditoria are empty; there are no parties to attend and nowhere to lavish money. All of a sudden, the only thing that matters is just to breathe” and Coro-free status.
We have realised that we are in the same boat and that we either survive together or we perish together. As Pope Fancis declared in the Urbi ET Orbi ceremony of 27/3/20, “we are on the same boat, called to row together, each of us need comforting each other. We cannot go on thinking of ourselves; together we can live. The storm has exposed our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules: our projects, habits and priorities’ for us in Nigeria, we have been forced to the reality that home (our country and our families) is the best. Whoever knew that a time will come when our big men who have access to all the resources, private or public, genuine or tainted, will wish to go for check-up or undertake treatment abroad or birthday in Dubai and they CANNOT because they just CAN’T? We are all forced to stay in Nigeria and to stay with our families; even those who cannot stay in Nigeria for two weeks at a stretch and those who would rather stay at their “guest houses” than go home are now singing “home, sweet home”.
It is now clear to us that United we stand (even while maintaining physical distance. Some people are physically close but socially apart!). Without rejoicing at peoples misfortunes, we have also seen that some of the evils we do may well live with us. Those who failed build operational health management system, for which trillions have been budgeted over the years, have suddenly been forced to patronise these derelict health infrastructure. Check out the cartoon of a politician protesting as he was being wheeled into health centre, which is his ‘constituency project’ to his community. The fact that “an aid to the president” is being treated in Lagos, despite the sinful funding budgeted annually for Aso Rock Clinic says it all.
Within three months of this ravenous scourge across the globe and 6 weeks in Nigeria, a new paradigm is emerging. The whole humanity has been humbled. Our prideful, boastful and sure-footed tendencies have faded away
As the Private Sector Coalition against COVID19 said “the world is being dragged through a tunnel of despair, doom and uncertainty, with collective fear of the unknown putting civilisations and economies at risk…. It is time to take responsibility for one another and truly be our brothers/sisters keeper”. Sometimes ago, a group of US artistes declared that, “there comes a time, when the world must come together as one, there are people dying , and it’s time to lend a hand to life.. We’re all a part of God’s great big family”. This is the time, except that it is not just for Africa or Haiti. And just the other day, one funny character (@etetibass) who modified the song reminded us that we are a part of one huge quarantine but together we can survive. We have also been called by this unfortunate times to be creative and to exploit inherent opportunities because even during the Biafran War, people were making genuine money.
I wish to close with this statement attributed to Bill Gates that Coro has is “reminding us that we are all equal, regardless of our culture, religion, occupation, financial situation or how famous we are. It is reminding us that we are all connected and something that affects one person has an effect on another. It is reminding us that the false borders that we have put up have little value as this virus does not need a passport. It is reminding us, by oppressing us for a short time, of those in this world whose whole life is spent in oppression.”
This is the new paradigm; a paradigm for a new humbled humanity composed of common, ordinary people. I pray that we do not go back to our OLD WAYS as soon as Coro goes. Surely, it must go! Meanwhile, there is only one known sure-banker against this rampaging and rapacious monster and it is free: STAY @ HOME!!!
Other Matters: New Englishes in Nigeria
I wish to start with what our people say about the Whiteman’s language. The first one, used whenever somebody goofs in the language is that English language is a non-indigene (oyibo bialu abia); it is a visitor. The second is that it is easier to lie and deceive people with English language (asi n’aka mma n’oyibo), and this is whenever somebody obfuscates the truth with English. Both of them, especially, the second are VERY germane to this brief discourse. Sometimes ago, I saw my wife with a book on “New Englishes” and I was taken aback as to the correctness and meaning of the term. Being an “Englishist”, she assured that all was right with it and I left it at that. Some developments in the polity, involving the abuse, misuse reconstruction and deconstruction of the English Language reminded me of the term and when I checked, I learnt that New Englishes refer to “regional and national varieties of the English language used in places where it is not the mother tongue of the majority. The phrase is also known as new varieties of English, non-native varieties of English, and non-native institutionalised varieties of English (Richard Nordquist, 4/2/20; New Englishes: Adapting the Language to Meet New Needs. https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-new-englishes-1691343)
With the background to the studies taken care of, let’s get down to real business. Sometimes ago, our Chief of Army Staff General Buratai, took some time off the theory and practice of warfare, to lecture us on the difference between security and national defense, and between police and military responsibilities. In an interview with ThisDay, he declared that ‘You must be able to differentiate between security and national defence. In these two concepts, although interrelated, there are distinct roles that you have to identify. Security, which can be seen as the umbrella, has been defined by different sectors. The issue of national security is our main contention, and the question is, who is responsible for internal security? It is the civil police. It is not the army, navy or the air force. It is indeed the entirely the responsibility of the civil police, and the military comes in at a point where the civil police are overwhelmed, and this is what we have been doing. It is not our primary responsibility. So if you lump the security architecture to include defence sector, you are making a huge mistake’. BusinessDay was so disturbed by the futile effort to differentiate between insurgency and terrorism, and between national Defense and National Defense that it did an editorial on it titled Buratai’s Depressing Verses (20/2/2020). Well, this is “New Englishes”
Following the turbulent Sanusi years, Godwin Emefiele, took over as the Governor of Central Bank. When you recall the situation of things under his predecessor, you will agree with me that he has tried to live out his name, Emefiele, which literarily means, DO NOT OFFEND. On 13/3/20, when the wind started blowing our Naira, the CBN issued a strongly worded statement that “The size of Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves remains robust and comfortable… As such, The CBN is able and willing to meet all genuine forex demands for legitimate transactions… In the light of current circumstances & macroeconomic fundamentals the CBN has NOT devalued the Naira’. Few days later, the exchange rate officially shot up from N306 to N360 while BDCs were asked to sell at N380. I watched as he struggled and sweated to differentiate between currency adjustment and devaluation.
“CBN has a responsibility to see to the adjustment in the national currency. What you have seen is an adjustment in the country’s currency (and not devaluation)” New Englishes! You should decide whether the two men goofed or they were trying to obfuscate something but as far as I am concerned, these are just examples of New Englishes in Nigeria.