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I write with a very heavy heart today.
I have a theory that has been proven. 97 percent of Nigeria is made up of the masses and the 'elites' make up just 3 percent. Hear me out. If you are reading this or have access to the internet, you are in the three per cent. I have been very generous with defining who falls into the 'elite' category. Please locate yourself in the next two paragraphs.
If you can read and write very well, you are in the three per cent. If you went to school and finished your education, you are in the three per cent. If you went to university in England or anywhere else outside Nigeria, you are in the three percent. If you have lived in any developed country for more than three months, you are in the three per cent. I don't care if you lived in a ghetto in that country, you were exposed to how a normal country runs so you are in the three percent. If you are in the lower-middle class, middle-middle class or upper-middle class, congrats, you are in the three percent. If you found yourself in this paragraph, congratulations. You are in the 2.7percent of the three percent and I weep for you.
Now, the 0.3 percent of the three per cent. If your parents went to school in England or America or Switzerland, you are in the 0.3 per cent. If you went to boarding school in England, you are in the 0.3 per cent. If your grandparents were highly educated and/or professionals, you are in the 0.3 xper cent. That's all. If you found yourself in this paragraph, congrats. I weep for you especially.
The 97 percent did not go to school or were forced to dropped out at some point. The 97 percent are unemployed, young and angry. The 97 percent can't/won't see this on the internet. The 97 percent don't eat three square meals a day. The 97 percent are grassroot politicians. The 97 per cent are Boko Haram recruitable.
Now, here's why I weep for the three percent. The Nigerian elite. You think all is well. I'm saying 'you' because if you are reading this, you are in the three percent. You wake up in the morning, dress up and drive to work. Your children go to school right? Or, you get on the flight back to school in England after every holiday in Lagos, right? As long as you are moving forward, all is well right? Wrong.
In England, their boarding schools are full of two major nationalities. Chinese and Nigerians. I went to a girls boarding school in England at the tender age of 12 and my boarding house was full of Chinese girls. My younger sisters and I were the youngest of all the Nigerian boarders. There was only one British girl in the boarding house. Forgive me for what I want to say now but the Nigerian elite are foolish. To them, the education and exposure is about showing off. The Chinese elite are wise. To them, it's about building China. The Chinese elite parents make sure their children get the British education and then throw them into the Chinese political system. There, they use the exposure they got to further whatever agendas they want. Those children go and add value to China.
In my own beloved country, those children return and behave like they never left. They return and look down on the political system. They insult it and develop the 'as long as my family and I are okay, all is well' mentality. They return and do not add value to Nigeria.
Here's why I weep for all of us. A Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos state is made up of 10 to 12 wards. One ward in Animosho ( an LGA looked down upon in Lagos) has 182 polling booths. The same amount of polling booths as the entire Eti-Osa LGA ( A high brow area) The 97 per cent are actively more involved in the politics of our country than all of us 'elite'
Here's the saddest part, GRA, Ikeja, Vi and Ikoyi (some highbrow areas) are surrounded by ghettos. If the 97 percent were to revolt, all they have to do is cross over. They are a lot more than us in their numbers that all our security men can't stop them. In America, England and all the other developed countries, the elite are in power. In my wonderful country, you get into power and then become 'elite'. Since the real elites with the best education and exposure look down on them and are too cool for politics, the people in power do as they wish. I weep oh. I weep for us. We are literally sitting and waiting for the 97 per cent to get angrier.
Here's a story for you. A white taxi driver in London once told my friend's father that he has been driving Nigerian children to school from the airport and back for thirty years. He said that one of the children he used to drive invited him to Lagos and he nearly collapsed at what he saw. Where were all the children that he drove to all those schools from the airport and back? He thought. What did they do with the expensive education they got from England? He told my friend's father that he was so disappointed with what he saw in Lagos and Nigeria. When my friend's dad reached his destination, he gave the taxi driver a tip but the man returned it and said, please use that money to transform your country.
I weep for us because we really don't understand how critical Nigeria's situation is. I weep for the Nigerian 'elite' because they are meant to be the bright ones but they are so stupid.
With all my love,
Dara Rhodes
