When a Facebook user – Ubasinachi Ogidi recently solicited responses on the Facebook group page called Rant HQ with the comment below: “Things girls like in guys apart from money…” I was very interested in reading the responses. Understandably, the post was flooded with about 2000 responses within 4 hours. There were varieties of opinions. But the predominant comments were money and more money. The comment that got me thinking, writing, and worried is: “Just have money, women no get spec again…” The more I thought about these comments, the more I saw reasons why we must be worried about Nigeria. Nigeria is already at a tipping point with regards to insecurity, corruption, and the want for basic infrastructure. Nevertheless, the most important division of any nation or community is the family. Due to the size of our present predicaments, little or no attention is given to the state of health of the average family.
It is with this in mind that I often read with trepidation the divorce stories that flood the news weekly. From the 66-year-old former richest man in the world – Bill Gates to your friend who recently divorced, divorce is now more common than a mosquito bite in many cities. The story that has caught and held my attention for quite some time now is the divorce story of the dancer Korra Obidi and her husband Justin Dean. Recently she posted a post where she used a phrase that is fast gaining notoriety on the internet – Small girl big God. To many, this comment denotes a thanksgiving to God for a financial breakthrough. To those in the know, this statement is increasingly becoming a mantra for celebrities like Tonto Dikeh, Bobrisky, and Blessing Okoro who have no known source of income but flaunt cars and houses that were bought with their own money. Many in the entertainment industry are familiar with this phenomenon that is now termed corporate runs or celebrity prostitution.
Thought it will be unfair to group Korra Obidi among this group because, unlike these celebrities, she has legitimate sources of income because of the deployment of her talent as a dancer. It was also because of the deployment of her talent that she met her husband who now wants a divorce. Developing and deploying our talents opens many doors. Returning to the opening theme of this write-up, you would see that poverty is perverting Nigeria and Nigerians. From the cash for votes by party delegates to the level of corporate prostitution among celebrities that is now approaching a pandemic level, we must do all to keep the family safe and sane. Without a safe and sane family institution, no nation can experience peace, prosperity, and progress. Parents must wake up to the responsibility of building the nation one child and family at a time. Girls and boys must know that the outcome of a nation is dependent on the man or woman they choose for a spouse. We must never get to a point where money is the ultimate variable, we use in determining who we want to spend the rest of our lives with. The state of our nation, our happiness, and the character of our children are dependent on the quality of the personality we say yes, I do to.
Ata Ukuta, Editor – Towncryyers