In defence of the house-help

I come from a very funny neighbourhood where house helping is very common. On a daily basis, the house-help is blamed for everything that happens in the home. When the children misbehave the house-help is held responsible for not correcting them – and when he/she corrects them, a reprimand follows; often with slaps and beating.

I remember once a case of a full-time housewife saying at a Parent Teachers Meeting (PTA) that her children often come late to school, because her house-help is so lazy and does not wake up on time to prepare the children for school (you can guess the comments and reactions that followed). This is the same house-help that wakes up first in the morning and sleeps last at night after the madam of the house finish watching Telemundo to early hours of every morning.

These kinds of women bring up indolent children without virtue; a situation in which they end up training the house-help to the detriment of their children.

In recent times in Nigeria, I have seen a dangerous new trend that does not befit adults who have any virtue he/she might want the children to imbibe. A situation you blame others for your laxity, action or inaction, is likened to the case Late Archbishop Benson Idahosa described by saying, “Anyone that refuses to take responsibly for his action becomes inconsequential.”
Let’s consider the following recent scenarios. On May 18, 2019, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State at the Executive Master of Business Administration class, University of Lagos with the 1998/2000 set, said, “The Apapa trailer issue; it’s a campaign issue; it’s very serious; I’m going to take it very seriously.

“I believe that it is something that we are going to solve in the first 60 days of our government. Whatever is going to be required of us, we will take them out.’’

“There is a lot of politics being played around there. But no, it cannot be the way we’ll continue to live. We cannot continue to give excuses.”
This stand drew a lot of applause from all stakeholders, believing hope was in sight for the Apapa neighbourhood.

But Nigerians, especially the Apapa stakeholders, were shocked to the marrow on June 18, 2019, Governor Sanwo-Olu said, “Interestingly, some media houses are already counting down to the day. They said that I mentioned during the campaign train that I was going to clear it (the gridlock) in 60 days.

“I have mentioned it before; what I said was that in 60 days, we would review what was done; but that does not take the fact that even if people give you datelines, it is because they want you to do well and they want you to be accountable for those datelines.”

The media was blame for the misconception, and nobody could stand for the media.
Same month, June 18, 2019, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, attributed some recent operational setbacks suffered by the Nigerian Army in recent times to insufficient willingness and lack of commitment by commanders to perform assigned tasks.

“It is unfortunate, but the truth is that almost every setback the Nigeria army has had in our operations in recent times can be traced to insufficient willingness to perform assigned tasks,” Buratai said at a military-organised event in Abuja.

The alleged laziness of soldiers could also be traced to “simply insufficient commitment to a common national/military course by those at the frontlines,” Buratai was quoted as saying by the Nigerian media.

Sadly, barely a week later, June 24, 2019, Buratai said, “Some journalists have even gone beyond that by saying that I said troops are cowards. This is far from the truth and it is unfortunate the way some journalists and newspaper houses will go to the extent of distorting fact,” describing the media publications as “mere propaganda.”

The Nigerian media was blamed here also with no one standing in defence of the media.
Read this also: “With respect to general kidnapping, which we have seen in parts of the country, again, this is not entirely new. In fact, some of the kidnapping stories you read or listen to are simply not true anywhere, some are fuelled by politics,” Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was reported as saying by the state-run News Agency of Nigeria.

On June 25, 2019, this followed: “Our attention has been drawn to misleading reports in a section of the media purportedly made by and attributed to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the security situation in Nigeria, in New York.

“For the purpose of clarity, and the records, it is pertinent to state that Osinbajo was entirely misquoted and his words taken out of context in the said media reports, especially those that quoted him as saying that kidnapping in Nigeria is exaggerated and not entirely new,” Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s spokesman, said on behalf of the Vice President.
Again and again here nobody stood in defence of the media, as the media keeps taking the blame for every after-thoughts of our senior citizens.

It has become a new slogan – I have been misquoted by the media. As media communicator, at every major event like the ones above there should be not less than 50 journalists. Can it always be the case that all will write same thing, same time and ageing with same statement?

Often also, these events are recorded – both audio and video – and no one is saying let’s replay these evidences. Why? Say what you have to say and later blame the media, as nobody is interested to know who is wrong or right.

When men become inconsequential and blaming it on the media is likened to the case of the defenceless house-help doing his/her best to salvage the ruins of a home without the occupants even recognising the sinking points.

 

OSA VICTOR OBAYAGBONA