𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐀 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬…

𝐺𝑜𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑃𝑎𝑝𝑎’𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙.
𝐻𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑢𝑠 𝑢𝑝, 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙.

My viewpoint on all cut corner, get rich schemes and money-making ritual killings is a re-post from 2017.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐀 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬…𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞 𝐎𝐣𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝟎𝟕 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕.

God bless my Mama’s soul.
Growing up, my mum will question any new material she finds with or on you. Woe betide you if you are unable to explain, rationally, logically and truthfully how you came by the item.

I left home at the age of 23, and until I got married at the age of 36, any expense of mine (even on the family) that is not in line with my parent’s knowledge of my financial ability had to be thoroughly explained.
For instance, in 2004 when circumstances dictated that my brother and I replace the car my parents were using, I had to show both of them documentation of how we took a loan in the United Kingdom to cover the cost of purchasing, shipping and clearing the vehicle, as well as the laid out plan for repaying the loan.

March 2017, we had just completed the public presentation of my father’s autobiography. Guests were gone and it was very late. We were having a discussion when my dad changed the course and the following dialogue ensued:

𝑫𝒂𝒅:
𝘖𝘮𝘰 (𝘔𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥), 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 18 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧?
𝑴𝒆:
𝘋𝘢𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺. 𝘈𝘴 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘶𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺), 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰. 𝘐𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘚𝘦𝘺𝘪 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦. ‘𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘈’ 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦.

Those who know my parents very well will attest to the stuff they are made of when it comes to discipline. Their strong-handedness in bringing up their children and wards was complemented by that of many non-biological parents, uncles and aunts.
Until recently, there was no time I visit my father, retired Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin, that on my departure, he will not remind me ‘𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖 𝑜𝑚𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑖 𝑡𝑖 𝑖𝑤𝑜 𝑛𝑠𝑒. 𝑂𝑟𝑢𝑘𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑢 𝑤𝑢𝑟𝑎 𝑎𝑡𝑖 𝑓𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑘𝑎 𝑙𝑜”.

When a society loses its moral values, anarchy will set in and places of reverence will get desecrated.

Against the backdrop of the sad and tragic incident in Ozubulu where innocent people lost their lives because so called ‘men’ of God could not stand for the truth by rejecting gifts of questionable means, where did we lose it as a society?

What is our pathway back to the ethical and cultural fabrics that once held our humanity as Nigerians together?

When A Society Loses Its Values…

Facebook Post: 2022-02-03 T18:45:14