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The Other Side of a Critic

By Hakeem Babalola

Uche Nworah started as a young man who detests the inefficient manner in which his country's policy makers handle the people's affairs. He was sad and he expressed sorrow. Like his contemporaries, he almost gave up on his country. He checked out of the country to an unknown destination. He probably passed through the desert before he finally found himself in Germany, where as was the fashion then, he sought for asylum. He may as well be among those that the dreaded Sani Abacha was tormenting in those dark days.

This young man eventually found himself in the United Kingdom where he established himself as a social critic, especially on the Internet. Uche Nworah was easy to notice. Apart from wearing a purple shirt, he knew what the readers were yearning for and he dished it with a touch of passion. He was everywhere and he carried them along. They loved him as much as they enjoyed him - at least on the NigeriaVillageSquare website where comments are allowed.

Like a genuine social critic, Nworah meant business. He wanted to write and he was writing, even reporting. In the process he won the Chicken bones journalist of the year award. This title accelerated his recognition as a force to be reckoned with in the field of citizen journalism. He spared no one - politicians and writers alike. For example, he took on Reuben Abati in a rejoinder to the latter's take on teachers. Nworah later found his way to become the Guardian editorial chairman's padi padi as Abati was the presenter and reviewer of Uche's The Long Harmattan Season. Nworah now appears occasionally on the editorial page of the Guardian. This might explain why he has changed his position from being a ferocious critic of bad governance to a cautious critic of bad governance.

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Nworah's followers may have to understand him. Writers have two significant stages in life: the time of struggling to be known and the time after being famous. How writers tackle the stages reveals their personality. Only a few writers can actually handle both stages well. Writers themselves may not know this fact until after undergoing both stages. Besides, writing from abroad through the Internet medium is quite different from when your writings start appearing in Nigerian dailies. The Internet medium provides almost absolute freedom of expression while your piece in the orthodox medium undergoes scrutiny. Moreover, every medium in Nigeria has its own prejudices.

When you write from the comfort of your home abroad, you write with all the fire in you without minding if you insult Yar'adua or Obasanjo. You just write as the Muse directs you. But when you start writing within, you ring your bell slowly as you're bound to see things in different ways. Or you may have tough time keeping your perspective. You have already achieved your life ambition of writing for an influential news medium. You have crossed the first hurdle and time to climb another ladder; to move on to the next level. You see the present situation as a dream come true. It is an opportunity you have been waiting for. You may have determined to withstand the force of corruption but what happens when depravity refused to let you go?

It now dawns on you how dumb you have been. You begin to think that the real enemy is the critics and not the beautiful ones running your country's affairs. You begin to notice that the policy makers are men and women of moral soundness whose great idea to develop your country is being killed day by day by the lousy and unproductive critics. You chuckle, "How idiotic and ignorant are the critics of Nigerian leaders". You bend down to see Aba or Abuja and pray, "Lord, forgive me for I've committed a great sin against your anointed leaders of Nigeria by judging them in the past. Now I can see where I went wrong. Father, I have changed my mind for I have seen the glorious light of power. It is sweet and smooth..."

With Ghana must go flowing or flying around you, you start causing yourself for not seeing the brightness earlier, but you thank God from delivering you from foolishness. Sycophancy is neither a disease nor sin. Hypocrisy is also not. They are a way of life. And every human being - especially writers - is guilty. You must console yourself after all, life is short. Unable to overcome your guilt, you begin to assure yourself by comparing your situation with great men. "Didn't Kongi also romance those he had lampooned? What of Tai Solarin and even the Ikemba, whose recent passion for Nigeria was widely reported, even though he had attempted to secede from the same Nigeria. "I am on the right path," you laugh quietly.

You have reached a point where you don't care about the views of those addicted commentators of your articles. What do they know? They are bunch of lazy and ignorant Nigerians who are not as smart as you. Their frustration has blinded them and so it's difficult for them to see the reality - of life and death. You are tempted to advice them to see Nigeria and its leaders in beauty form. But then you groan, saying they are inconsequential. It's a free world, so let them continue to play the fool. It doesn't matter as long as you know where you're going. Do they think it is a piece of isiewu for one to climb the Nigeria's ladder to the top? From fleeing Nigeria to illegal immigrant to legal immigrant to PHD in Rebranding to mingling with the Ibrus to reverse immigrant to company executive - in a period of ten years or less! This is a feat.

And so you start to believe you're a patriot unlike yesterday when you were unpatriotic by criticizing the good people in power. You need to redeem yourself by supporting the Rebrand Nigeria Project even tough your position on it had been established since The Nigeria Image Project in 2004. You also need to put the blame on why Nigeria is not progressing on CNN and BCC, the two cable networks that had contributed to your fame. You have forgotten what you said then. Something like Jeff Koinage...I am on your side...Jeff, I am with you...Jeff, I am a journalist like you...Jeff, I feel your position...

But since your perspective of many things have changed, you must now write this: "Recall the Jeff Koinage incident sometime in 2007 when he paid his way through the Niger Delta for his infamous scoop, this was at a time that Nigeria was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising the Nigerian brand on CNN. Jeff, a Kenyan had obviously fallen under the spell of the mighty American dollar and chose to betray his African brothers riding on the ‘bad news sells’ philosophy."

And why didn't you tell Jeff the above when CNN gave you the opportunity to confront him in 2007? Uche Nworah, it doesn't matter. Life is like that. You use whatever you have to get whatever you want. Everyone does it. But there is hope as long as we have not lost Adeola Aderounmu, Akintokunbo Adejumo, Okey Ndibe, Sabella Abbide, Pius Adesanmi, Sonala Olumhense, Omoyele Sowore, Kennedy Emetulu, Levi Obijiofor and others in the Diaspora who are still "unpatriotic" by fighting or writing against wrong doings being perpetrated by these yeye Nigerian rulers.