by Cheta Nwanze

Like other people in the story, which by the way focuses mainly on the ground victims, Ogbonaya is one of the vulnerable in a society where might is right. Which really, is what Nigeria is.

On Sunday, June 3 2012, James Ogbonaya was settling down in his sitting room to watch the Nigeria-Namibia World Cup qualifying game. He had the generator turned on because, well, at that point, power had taken flight from his neighbourhood in Iju-Ishaga for a few weeks. The game was set to kick off at 4 p.m, and James, an avid football supporter, was looking forward to a good game. Then, a plane landed literally on his head, and took away his house, those of his neighbours, the lives of all 153 souls on board, and a yet to be truly determined number of people, on the ground. Speaking with a reporter from the Nigerian Telegraph, Ogbonaya said almost in tears, “Personally, I know how I suffered to get an accommodation (sic) compared to the amount Dana management gave us. At the initial stage, we didn’t want to collect the N200,000 they gave to us to get an accommodation, but for the views of so many people who advised us to collect it.”

Like other people in the story, which by the way focuses mainly on the ground victims, Ogbonaya is one of the vulnerable in a society where might is right. Which really, is what Nigeria is. A society that which accords respect based not on human dignity per se, but on how much money you have in your pocket. This is the reason why another vulnerable group, our children, are at risk from paedophilia. And no, I disagree with the writer here. Paedophilia is not a new thing in Nigeria, it is just getting easier to talk about it as cultural barriers break down.

P.S: Try this experiment, type the following search string in Google and tell me the first result you get. “Paedophilia in Nigeria”.

Quote of the Day

“Strange and bizarre objects such as several used and unused condoms we’re seen in insurgents camps.” A perplexed Chris Olukolade from the Defence Headquarters does not seem to understand, so let’s get it out there: the top three fundamental needs of man are in order, breathing, eating, then sex. #BokoHaram just proved that they are human after all.

Bits and bobs

We’ve not heard the last of the NGF brouhaha. Apparently, some governors are out to extract a pound of flesh from one of their own. Don’t draw blood please.

The Lagos PDP wants BRF done away with for tolling roads. I’m tempted to simply leave it at “good luck with that one”, but hey it bears a response. “Go and pay ya toll jo!”

In 2013, a new law in Akwa Ibom has freed widows from having to drink the water used in washing the corpses of their husbands.

Fidelis Tapgun was a very quiet governor. Such that it was easy for Vincent Bulus-Venman to assume his identity and make away with N5 millions belonging to Joshua Dariye. However, Bulus-Venman’s greed caught him when he came back for 2 more.

Finally, it has been confirmed. Papa Eagles will not train in Kenya ahead of Wednesday’s 1-1 draw. The reason for this, though unannounced, happens to lie in Oshodi. Big Boss is not amused.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.