Are we serious about our children’s future?

A certain socialite – a 35 years old lady named Linda Ikeji – had cause to announce to Nigerians that she recently purchased a house in Lagos, for ‘over N500million’. She used the opportunity to encourage women never to depend on men, because according to her “she had never slept with any man for money, and will never do”.  She also encouraged women to work hard and believe in God, narrating how she was penniless 5 years ago and how she worked and prayed her way to success. This lady is what they call a ‘Blogger’. Ordinarily, this should mean that someone comes up with original articles from time to time, and posts on their website.
But the business – in Nigeria – means that you set up a website and become a virtual newspaper house. By posting news on a daily basis – and some say by courting controversies – people visit your page and advertisers will come. Nigeria has such people aplenty these days. The average Nigerian youth doesn’t want to dirty their hands doing any exerting work and you can’t blame them. This lady’s blog focuses on gossips. And gossips sells, apparently.
As someone who spends considerable time on the internet, this news item from this lady kept popping up everywhere I turned. The pictures of the house – a three story duplex situated somewhere in Lagos’ Banana Island – was splashed everywhere. The lady showed her parents admiring the house and she also posed with the swimming pool, among other things. I am ordinarily wired to rejoice with people when they meet good fortune, but had cause to wonder whether she waited until she could come up with over N500 million before paying for the house. I marveled at how easy it was for someone to save up such an amount, and the sense behind causing such an outrage in this backwater country.  By announcing to the world that she had bought this house – and in the process putting men down as leeches who take advantage of women – Linda drew attention to herself and she is currently getting that attention. After all, people are meant to see such shocking news and THINK. So I started thinking.
I didn’t know I had stirred a hornet’s nest, as some of her ‘supporters’ came calling – virtually that is. A number of Nigerian ladies – all of them either living in, or trained abroad – were livid, concluding that I was envious of Linda’s good fortune.  Some used vile words, that were actually quite debasing of womanhood. A few of her male supporters did too.
The issues are that our youth spend more time on the internet, and the government – if it is serious – must be mindful of what they are exposed to. A country like Nigeria will climb out of its present state of ugliness, through hardwork, not only smart work. A nation where its citizens try to ‘outsmart’ each other by ‘effortlessly’ amassing loads of money, is a nation headed for a sure destruction.  Another issue is the resurgence of feminism among many ladies who their ‘rich’ parents have trained abroad – and the ones trained here but who have suddenly been bitten by the bug – who are at war with men and use every opportunity to exert some imaginary pound of flesh. A lot of these ladies now find it difficult, if not impossible, to get married or stay married, because they have allowed this newfound competition for wealth define their relationship with the opposite sex. Boys growing up these days are finding it impossible to cope, with women who argue every step of the way, and rub in their material success at every opportunity they get.
But perhaps the most important issue is that of accountability.  If someone announces that they purchased a house for ‘over half a billion Naira’, that is an invitation to the Federal and State Inland Revenue Service (F(S)IRS).  This government is direly looking for funding for its projects, and such a transaction should attract commensurate tax. Both the buyer, and the seller of the property have questions to answer. In the UK, the HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs), will net off at least N100 million from the seller of such a property, while the seller, should be able to show track record of their cash flow and prove that they have adhered to all tax laws till date.
In the USA, in the dark ages of the prohibition era, Al Capone was the Teflon Don, to whom nothing stuck. The FBI could not stick him with the many murders committed, or the racketeering or bootlegging of illegal alcohol (yes the USA was practicing Sharia then!). But they finally nailed Capone and cohorts, on tax evasion, because his accounts didn’t add up to the taxes he paid. We know that in Nigeria, it is said that people don’t pay taxes. But one way to start is to at least curb ostentation that cannot be backed by a strict adherence to taxability. Certainly if someone offers him or herself to scrutiny, then naturally, they should be scrutinized.
For me, my immediate thoughts were; are you kidding me? Did you pay cash or was it financed by a bank? Are you lying and just craving attention?  Why would anyone buy such an expensive house in this era where people are begging for their houses to be purchased? Is it another publicity stunt? You know, in these days where people stay glued to nonsensical programs like ‘Keeping up with the Kardashians’, which is based on ‘following’ a glamorized family whose patriarch recently converted from a man into a woman, in the hope of being like them, or Big Brother where people wake up early to watch naked ladies taking their shower, there is no limit to what we will not see.  This world is not for thinkers. It probably makes sense to greedy, heartless people who are just coldly coasting by and grabbing everything in the hope of finding happiness though acquisitions. But I ask; do we care about the kind of world we are bequeathing to our children?
Yes, people should be able to spend their money in any way they want. But for those who are lucky – or smart or strong – enough to make good, they owe the society something. Don’t tease and mock us who are ‘weak’ also.
Finally, almost every Nigerian agrees that we should be careful of people who go displaying their wealth and spending recklessly in their villages over Christmas. We said they shouldn’t be given awards and chieftaincies just because they bring money. We urge our elders to ask questions rather than tell their children ‘see Adamu’s big house/big car; what are you doing in Lagos/Abuja?’. So there is no difference here. We shouldn’t jump to conclusion that Linda didn’t pay her tax or that she did not get the money legally. But we also should not conclude that she did. We should inquire, and be cautious what we believe. And we should be mindful, of the kind of society we are creating.