The Energy within

To a layman Our first breath after birth would mean the beginning of life. Where actually, life began the moment the sperm and eggs fused into one, creating a zygote, what would grow into a foetus and become that baby everybody understands as the symbol of the beginning of life.

Science has taught us that perception is probably an illusion, until an empirical revelation provides evidence of the perception. On the other hand, feelings, a form of perception, although subjective to psychological states of the perceiver has been neglected, as such leaving some untapped information that exist within our cosmos. Because it is beyond our frequency of perception or un-unique to us doesn’t mean it is non-existent.

Because science cannot explain it then it is not real, has been the significance of our reality. This is perhaps the reason why most people who claim to have seen, heard, felt, dreamt some inexplicable, unfathomable elements, have been locked away behind bars forced to undergo repressive therapies to realign them with the reality formed by science.

Although this argument seems to have no bearing to my subject matter, it is however important to address how the real and the seemingly unreal world interact on the surface. It is a nuisance to note that Governments all over the world would do all in their power to repress or refute any upbringing that might upset the psychological order such as the bearing of ghosts, apparitions, fathoms, enigmatic substantive dreams with physical evidences. I myself have seen quite a few unsettling things in my life, although not for the lack of pursuing the supernatural. My encounters and revelations are accounted in another essay.

The energy in us, what some call the spirit, the ghost, and within some primitive demography described as luckless phantoms is the mainstay of our existence. That material being that you can touch, the face that smiles at you and body that ails and heals is just the element that manifests the existence of the energy in us. The lack of this energy is the death of the material being.

I have had quite a few experience to substantiate this metaphysical aspect of life. I will take my account from the most recent. Some of them perhaps might elicit in my audience, my ability of clairvoyance or premeditated séance, one of absolute configuration within their perspective could be described the prospect of achieving vain reality.

On the 28^th June 2007, I witnessed an event that would perhaps strengthen my belief of re-incarnation. A man (Solomon Iviwehe) who lived in Makurdi, had an accident, died and was buried by his family in 1996. His wife (Sara) after the burial relocated to her parent’s house in another part of Makurdi with the children. 

10 years later, Sara kept getting report from a woman from the same town in Makurdi, where she and Solomon used to live. The woman trader who buys things from Benue and sells in Lagos claimed that she had sighted a man who looked like Solomon in Lagos. Sara didn’t believe her. It was possible the man only resembled Solomon. She thought. She never believed the man in topic could be her deceased husband. A year later, in 2007, the trader woman, who was deeply convinced that the man must be Solomon, took a picture of him and showed it to the brother of Solomon in Makurdi. The brother knew immediately this was the picture of his deceased brother and thought the woman was playing a sad practical joke. He collected the photograph from her anyway and showed it to his mother. Mothers know their Children. His mother asked him to contact the trader woman and they arranged to pay Lagos a visit.

The mother with two of his sons (Solomon’s siblings) planned the trip and decided not to inform Sara as they do not want to stir bad memories. They needed to see for themselves before alerting her or taking actions.

On the 27^th June 2007, they were preparing to leave for the motor park as early as 5am, when they heard a rattling knock on their door. It was Sara. She had heard the story. Although with doubts, she decided to brave the journey and see what lies beneath the base of the black pot.

The company of four set out on the journey, amidst plea to Sara to stand back. She remained adamant and continued with them to Lagos. They arrived Lagos much later in the night than they expected. No thanks to the unbecoming traffic and extremely bad Nigerian roads.

They looked for cheap hotel in the heart of Ebute metta and all four squeezed into a room for the night. At the early of hours of the next day. They took their bath and called the trader woman who came over to the hotel and helped them through the hectic commuting from Ebute metta to Jibowu.

This was the 28^th June. They approached the house where the trader woman claimed the supposed reincarnated Solomon lived. They demanded to see Solomon. The mea-guard (An Hausa man, named Baba) who also owns a small shop located precariously between the setback and the gutter, was wearing a dirty white colored toga, which apparently hadn’t been cleaned for a while, as it oozes of pungency in spite of the perfume, told them that there is no one by the name Solomon and asked them to check the next house as there is a possibility they have missed their destination. The mother brought out the photograph and showed it to Baba. Baba took the picture and told them that he knows the man in the picture and that he is actually one of the tenants inhabiting the house but they must state their mission with him. Just as the mother was about to respond, the brothers were actually calm and their faces blunt with suspense, Sara snatched the photograph from Baba and scanned through it. Her face lit up. A mixture of fear, surprise and horror beamed her face into confusing frown. She yelled in monologue an incoherent syllable and some words in her local dialect. As she raised her head from the photograph, she looked longingly at the house as if a long lost memory was beginning to form a union between her, the house and her deceased husband. One of Solomon’s brother (Not sure what his name was) perhaps knew Sara was about bursting into uncontrollable feat, hastened at her and held her tight before she could.

While the commotion was going on outside the house, one of the inhabitants came out to find out what was going on. He was shown the photograph. He nodded and immediately said his name is Mr. King and promised to help them call him. He began walking back into the compound, oblivious of these people’s mission. He hadn’t walked far when he stopped, turned and ask Baba if Mr. King was home and Baba said he is home and pointed to his car. He added that he saw him and his wife earlier when they were trying to start the electric generator.

He disappeared at the back of the house, and after a while came out with the wife (Anu). They showed the picture to Anu and her nod was enough to affirm she knew him. She confirmed he was his husband but wanted to know who they were. One of the brothers told her her husband is their brother and needed to see him and Anu told them she has only met her husband’s father and no other relative. She asked the brother if they were coming from Sierra Leone (Apparently Mr. King had told his new wife, he is from Sierra Leone). The brother immediately answered Yes. The wife looked at them suspiciously for a while, then she told him he believes him, pointing at him, because he looked like Lawrence (Apparently Mr. Kings first name is Lawrence). The plot thickens. Anu went into the house and came back looking frantic, carrying some clothes in her hands, and shouting her husband’s name. She moved from flat to flat asking from every neighbor and none of them could help with his whereabouts. Anu paced towards Baba, who had moved into the compound to help search for Lawrence.  She wanted to know if Lawrence had gone out and Baba said he never stepped out of the gate and he must be in the compound. The cloth she was carrying was the one Lawrence was wearing that morning. She found the singlet and cut-out jean-shorts on the floor, at the door post between the living room and the adjoining passage, leading to  the two rooms in the apartment. The singlet and shorts were laid out on the floor in a manner that would suggest that he disappeared while wearing them, as they were laid out in torso-and-limb format on the floor.

The search continued for another thirty minutes, with every inhabitant joining in the search party. While the search went on, Sara was crying profusely. It would appear Lawrence (Mr. King) had disappeared. Anu and three other neighbours came towards the party at the gate and invited them into the compound. In less than thirty minutes after been ushered into the compound, three armed policemen entered (Apparently one of the neighbours had alerted the police that something strange was going on in their compound and their presence was needed). The police demanded from Sara and the brothers to state their mission in the house. Sara jumped forward and told the police how her husband (Now Lawrence) had died in an accident and was buried more than ten years ago, only to resurface, married to another woman and alive. The police couldn’t believe her and asked her to prove it. She produced Marriage pictures showing her and Solomon (Now Lawrence). He showed them pictures of her, Solomon and their three girls. In addition, she showed them pictures of his funeral; the lie-in-state and obituary. The brothers and the mother attested to all this. The trader woman told her side of the story. How she had noticed the semblance and decided to tell her former family about it. The Police took everyone to the station to avoid possible attack on Sara and her accomplice, as the matter was beginning to attract some street miscreants. Everyone wrote a report and described the events in vivid details. Will save you the details of how Lawrence had lied to her wife that his whole family had been wiped out during the Sierra Leone civil war except him and his father. He told of how he had been rescued by ECOMOG and found himself on asylum in Nigeria since 2001. He told her of how he worked as a tailor and was fortunate to have met a rich man who invested in him and bought a sewing machine for him and got him a shop. Anu in her report confessed that she had been married to Lawrence for more than 5 years. They had only one baby girl who died two months after birth due to congenial complications. He had no friend and was always in the house sewing clothes. She had never met any of his customers. She only delivers the finished clothing either early in the morning or late at night on his motorcycle. He claimed that these are the times that he could meet his customers at home as they all go to work in the morning and only return in the evening. He never attends parties or go anywhere unless it is very important. She said that her family never truly liked him. Her father thought he was abnormal. He shied away from interactions and most importantly avoided taking pictures.

Solomon or Lawrence never showed up again. I know this because I interviewed these people and spoke with the police afterwards and the case was still open last time I checked nine years ago. I had this report on file for more than three months awaiting publication. My supervising editor (Chux Ohai) wouldn’t publish it. According to him, it was lacking of assessable evidence and my eye witness account or the police’s wasn’t good enough. Perhaps, someday someone like the trader woman would see him again.

Sara and Anu were both married to the same man at different life times of the man. I learnt later that Anu had a girl child for him but the child died two months after birth as a result of congenial complications.

Lawrence or Solomon has gone somewhere else possibly to complete the remainder of his life before he passes on.

This Phenomenon is a common belief in Africa. When people die suddenly at an un-appointed time, such person often reincarnate to live the remainder of his or her life before he or she can pass on. I was never a believer of this phenomenon until this day. Some call it familiar spiritism, Others believe it is pure black magic, while some believe it is evidence of an evil spirit(s) transmogrification into a vessel. Whichever it is, this incident reflect the interactive dynamism between life and death.

Although in the eyes of a scientist, logic would portend that Solomon did not actually die but cleverly staged his own death to escape a life he probably hated. He, of course would change his identity (Lawrence) and location to minimize the possibility of unravelling his ploy. And when he was found out, disappeared again, although without much antic to support his recent disappearance. What science would have failed to notice is that, the former wife (Sara) identified the remains of Solomon after the fatal accident, and a number of family members and friends saw his face and could confirm he was dead. The circumstances surrounding his disappearance is evident to suggest a ghostly inclusion, however without solid and confirmed evidence, the loophole is gaping.

How does this story express evidence of the metaphysics? How does it shape the belief of life after death? How does it describe that our spirit is not only an amorphous matter in a liquid or gaseous form within us and would only seep or float away after the physical material dies, and subsequently congeals, emerging into a new living structure, similar to the old structure?

Stabilizing Corruption in Nigeria

If Nigeria is less corrupt than the vison of ending it, then we are in for a longer era of it. The ideology that corruption can be eradicated is only what it is and not a realistic tendency. Corruption can be stabilized and managed but that is what most Vanguards fighting corruption have failed to understand.

The world would not nod to a change that marks against our totem. Man is infinitely selfish and grown to maximize his own need for survival. Satre and Hobbs argument on the true state of man clearly shows that, if not for government and imposed rule of law, we would all be in the state of chaos. Civility is an agenda to repress man’s state of nature and bring out what is deemed the state of affair for the wellbeing for all in man.

Conflicts arise when the foreseen symptoms of characteristics seemed to eradicate or impede the perceived state of wellbeing of a society. Laws and justice consequently become the weapon to fight such characteristics. However, unfortunately these characteristics are all human. Such characteristics as murder, arson, rape, robbery, fraud, genocide, cronyism etc. are all innate but because of the need to maintain order and civility, we repress them. And not only because the law exist or because we want to abstain from those actions but mostly and primarily because we are aware of the consequences and cannot suffer the consequences.

Since consequences have become notorious among evil characteristics, the need to create a more effective, tougher consequence to maintain order in society has become imperative, such that most countries establish capital punishment for very grievous crimes. How every country defines or determines what is grievous is endemic of their sociocultural vices.

Nigeria for example must start considering corruption as one of its most grievous crimes and begin to instill tougher punishment against, especially cronyism and financial misappropriation. Any vanguard seeking to fight these two crimes must first change the laws of Nigeria by writing sensible judicial reforms, undressing government off both existent and imaginary immunities. Until these are done, the fight against corruption will only be a fairy tale

Of course, even after these laws are extant, executing these laws by the judiciary could be a problem. A wise man once said that Justice is in the interest of the most powerful. It is therefore a case of the egg and the chicken. Unless the vanguard is radical enough to get rid of the power bloc behind these crimes, the new laws will amount to nothing.