Category Archives: Life

Reflect Nigeria – Sobering Contemplation

Alas, if the truth be acquitted unvarnished, incontrovertible evidence sadly illuminates the horrendous metamorphosis which has transformed, a horizon previously glistening in the iridescent glow of bountiful potentialities, to a darkened eclipse truly intransigently loathsome. The manacles of the woeful macabre have laid siege deep within the country’s essence and made abhorrent association with detestable orchestration rendering the national landscape a fragmented ruination of skeletal decay.

The “suffer suffer for world” that the iconic Fela sang about decades ago has too long taken permanent habitation in and afflicted the Nigerian existence. Compounding that, an additional tsunami of anguished disquietude has been foisted upon Nigerian people, the sovereign people. Now ensnarled, as if they are without viable antidote, in the improvidence of odious circumstance. Lament more, Nigeria.

The sense of security in the nation, long beguiled in the dissipated mirage of a fractured belief in platitudes and vacuous capabilities. The roads in certain areas incompatible with the present, atrociously impassable simulating footpaths in renditions of ancient folklore. The disequilibrium of the shredded financial milieu holding no promise for the economically battered, propelling scores who in alarming numbers continue to embark on the “Japa” voyage of the unending “Andrew” phenomenon. Hence eviscerating the country’s human capital and debilitating the family structure. The elderly now embracing forced solitude. Whilst their lineage steadily populate other jurisdictions, deterred from returning by the multiplicity of the detritus emanating from the vestiges of accountability, torridly puckered, and wantonly parading unbridled with putrid corruption, its abominable kin.

Households, where possible, assume the long-abdicated responsibilities of the government, generating electricity and drilling for or purchasing water to approximate the barest of normalcy. Some parents amid the realities of instability and concerns about the viability of educational standards spend fortunes abroad to bequeath their children sound education. Certain hospitals fail to dispense appropriate medical care maiming or killing patients with no apparent recourse. The judicial system, in part, has mortgaged its reputation in significant measure apparently sacrificing justice itself. The stupendous cost of living straddles as a fettered yoke across the neck of the homeland. Almost all cadre of workers in disillusionment embrace picket lines without appropriate relief. The rancid disintegration of the nation haplessly unfolds in continuous succession as time swiftly forges ahead rendering no aid to stagnant delinquency.

This calamitous heritage still appears not sufficiently perilous in dimension for the prostrated oppressed. For yet, cast as further inimical vice on the besieged people, are the dastardly queues appearing as ghoulish caricatures, to strangulate the already ill-fated and beleaguered. For upon their bitterly blighted countenance is thrust again, the convulsive quest for petrol, with the new ill-conceived appendage, the vanishing currency. Such seismic horror unleashed by the investiture of the asinine, miserably incapacitating the cumulatively assailed by virtue of their location on the globe. To the extent that tranquility, sustenance and various necessities elude expansive segments of the country in the abysmal spectrum of life.

And of such malevolent prejudice is the ruthless onslaught of the besiegement of the scarcity of cash, that Nigerians, languish in the elements, strip to their underwear or completely naked in banks in abject desperation attended by lamentation’s quest. Others in the company of mattresses embrace futile expeditions to the bank to await the illusory dispensation of cash. The convoluted distortion underscoring the trajectory of the misanthropic predicament has maliciously turned Nigerians into the classification of the ironic impoverished. Subjugated Nigerians impoverished, by the government mandated to assure their welfare, but now in the foreboding chapter of the chronicles of despair in the overwhelmingly fiendish scheme, are obligated to beg for their own money. A sardonic democracy!

In the peculiarity of the eccentricity residing within the geographic coordinates of the country, inflamed by the vacuum of the cash, incited Nigerians turn on fellow Nigerians, as cash starved citizens seek retribution against the instruments perceived as the purveyors of the recent dose of heightened oppression, the banks and their workers. Must employment lead to tactical maneuvering in great escapes to safety? What nature of perdition is this? The vagabond cash now exorbitantly traded in the market square as an essential commodity contravenes its own purpose. Catastrophe personified. Why? Where lie masked the perpetrators of these calamities? Who will compensate Nigerians for the ordeal of this perpetual hellish tribulation? Or does consensus abound that collective hides of Nigerians will withstand the ceaseless whipping of the gouged out and septic lacerations, drawing blood with each incisive blow. Even anguish itself, in amazement contemplates the longsuffering plight of Nigerians, transfixed.

How is this possible in a nation adorned with exceptional intellect and resources? What course of condemnation finds itself affixed to fabric of the nation cascading unrestricted and bereft of hope? Which accursed winds blow with such balefully tumultuous intentions across the land confiscating the future?

Nigeria, grid thy loins, as a great depression seemingly approaches. The failure of the state amid this precipitous decline, may elude rectification’s course, as the tide of recalcitrant destruction appears determined to reign embedded in the void of sustainable containment. 

For national survival, unadulterated stewardship, irreproachable accountability and unblemished transparency must ascend forth and prevail unshackled. Lest the apocalyptic inferno subsumes all, and mayhem cojoined with calamity embrace the pursuit of annihilation.

Ponder these…

Dr. Yemisi Solanke Koya, Esq.

Dated this 7th day of February 2023

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The Undeniable Impact of the Colour of Race

Handcuffed while black while waiting…

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/04/14/starbucks-apologizes-after-employee-calls-police-on-black-men-waiting-at-a-table/?utm_term=.e57ca13ea55a

As such, #BoycottStarbucks

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Reflect Nigeria No Rooms to Confine Us…

Heehee… I don’t know which party my wife belongs but eh… she belongs to

MY kitchen and MY living room and the OTHER room…

 

The gravity of unfortunate utterances, sometimes

Echoes the enormity of cataclysmic regression, tragically

Rippling beyond the demeaning configuration of syntax

And sadly reverberating in fervent crescendo through the

Globalization of dissemination of instantaneous news,

Inauspiciously portends the oblique reality of the unfulfilled

Odyssey towards full recognition of all human rights.

 

Thus, a president’s commentaries, otherwise considered as

Conveying the solemnity of the advancement in optimism

By allaying fears, and elevating aspirations of a disconsolate populace,

Rather, diminish a gender, by electing to emasculate any vacillating

Progress, declared in accord with sacrosanct inalienable rights,

Further fragmenting the essence of meager hope, lying prostrate

In the forlorn vestiges residing within certain aspects of a nation.

 

As such, the sardonic words of the Nigerian President…

Paradoxically spoken to his female counterpart, miserably

Communicated to his citizens and the world, no respect,

But censoriously categorized the nation’s First Lady, by description,

To the ignominious equivalency of a belonging, a mere chattel,

Devoid of independence and human dignity, assigned by others, for

Their use to rooms, in which she neither owns nor has any property value.

 

Alas, the bell for social justice loudly tolls; to engage in concerted effort

The quest for reclamation of any tangible progress previously gained, and to

Negate the irreverent milestone propagated by the untoward vituperation

Which in derisive posture, attempts to devalue the essence of humanity and

Self-determination, freely bestowed on all, but is injudiciously circumscribed

By reprehensible might and circumstance; lest the downward degradation

Resonate in permanent habitation to the lasting detriment of all humanity.

 

Dr. Yemisi Solanke Koya Esq., Golden Poet ©

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Hope’s Hope

Hold not to the regret of yesterday

Rather in steadfast measure,

Cling to the promise of tomorrow.

For what futility of purpose does it serve,

To descend immobile, into the abyss of remorse

Yearning for what was lost or has not been,

More despair, in the company of bleakness.

Shake off the miserable melancholy and reverse

That energy into earnest utility, and towards

The unbridled optimism within the sphere of hope.

 

Yemil Benjoy ©

 

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Reflect Nigeria – Demand For Service

While the very hapless existence of the populace is exacerbated, and

Continues to be enormously plagued by the consequences of inept

Governance, which the longsuffering citizens of an otherwise blessed country,

In this century confront and without remission endure, amid the overwrought plight

Of the absence of constant electricity and illusive dribble of portable water

Alongside with the demise of salaries for the long-forsaken government workers,

Necessities, most ordinary, for simple human existence within the shores of a “Giant”,

Compounded now, by the foreboding and alarming escalation of the cost of food

Resulting in the intensified pestilence of hunger insidiously ravaging the erstwhile

Promising fabric of a society, seemingly a distant memory, of a forgotten mirage.

 

And as the beleaguered hope of competent and available healthcare for all

Unfortunately eludes the weary grasp of most of the distressed citizenry…

Then in intemperate, ever conspicuous and excruciatingly painful irony

The chief executive of the nation, a public servant, sworn to serve, not only

Takes inopportune refuge from all that is ailing the country in a foreign land,

No less, than the former colonial power, from which the inalienable right for

Independent government was wrestled from decades ago, to seek treatment

For a simple malady, while his citizens are relegated to the gamble of imposed fate.

Thus, by the very blatant official acquiescence, it signifies in obvious measure his

Unreserved lack of confidence in the regime over which he presides, and confirms in

Tragic and regrettable dimension, the vacuous hope, residing within the bemoaned land.

 

Forsooth, which Nigerian citizen has the ability to deploy the national treasury,

The property of the people, for their personal use, to travel at full expense of the

Demoralized masses, in fleets of jets and with the ubiquitous “per-diem” entourage,

While the burdensome cloak of lamentation detrimentally covers his forlorn people,

Even to the point of an early shroud and untimely grave, due to the atrocious lack of

Access to life-saving and sadly often the most rudimentary of medical care. As the

People languish under the onerous and looming fear of such grievous impediment

And the laboured wails of the public crescendo in desperation, accountability in the utmost,

Is demanded from the highest office with a real commitment to stay within the land towards

Faithfully implementing the remedy for what assails the domain, as glaring example, for

Any that assumes office in the true service of the well-being of the Nigerian people.

 

 

By Dr. Yemisi Solanke Koya, Esq. ©

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Hello Life

So I sit and wonder why

Then I stand and contemplate how.

I take a walk, and consider what next

And, I wonder and wonder when

All things will align perfectly in my dream.

Yet, fail to take the steps forward to claim

That which is in the realm of all possibility…

Or even dare consider opportunities within the

Scope that appears daunting because of the unknown.

Then awakening becomes reality for alas  ’tis I, myself,

In earnest, that must welcome my life anew and with

Warm embrace not as an occasional guest, but

As the very essence of my existence, with unyielding

Determination, to explore and surge forward indeed,

And to labour in hope towards that ever present dream.

For it is but true, that I must cultivate me, wholeheartedly.

 

YemilBenjoy ©

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BenJoy’s Opinion – Biased Coverage of Gun Violence by NBC

Calling a spade a spade…

NBC did not respond to my e-mail and thus I share my opinion with you…

Dear NBC,

It was disheartening this morning while watching Meet the Press to see the distasteful and stereotypical approach regarding the portrayal of violence and use of firearms. NBC elected to broadcast the clip whether it was made on a staff person’s private time or not. Additionally, it was disturbing to watch the host try to explain without success, why the coverage about gun violence, his show aired, was totally biased. What does it have to do with whether he has never being pulled over in his car by the police.

Unfortunately, yet again, the coverage cast in a most prejudiced manner, showed only black men incarcerated speaking about their regrets concerning the use of guns during the commission of crimes. The most ironical aspect of the clip, is that it was aired in the wake of a white man killing nine black people.

Although at a societal level, it is laudable to cover the conversion of criminals, but the question that NBC must answer and communicate to its viewing public is whether that coverage was balanced or another occassion perpetuating the skewed societal view that only black men are violent, are in jail and use guns when that is an absolute departure from the truth. Are their other races other than blacks in jail, do other races use guns and do other races commit crimes. NBC, the incontrovertible answer is yes.

Why would NBC show that clip without making sure that it was balanced. NBC should evaluate the essence of its role in covering and broadcasting topical and all issues. What does the freedom of press allow the press on this specific and other matters, NBC. Is it the right to distort the news or to communicate the facts as they exist.

Furthermore, how does this type of disdainful coverage further the memory of Tim Russet. Would the unbalanced nature of the clip have evaded his scrutiny and when Eugene Robinson immediately brought it to his attention, would he in a nonchalant manner have dismissed the obvious without an unequivocal apology. The attempts of the current host afterwards during the show to handle the error were patronizing and failed abysmally.

An immediate apology from NBC is required, not in a week when the next episode of Meet The Press is broadcast. Also, NBC should evaluate its editorial  processes.

June 21, 2015

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Benjoy’s Corner X-10: Define You

If you are trying to shield yourself from what people

Will think or may say about your life’s journey…

Alas, it is nothing but an exercise in futility.

For we have no control over their actions or speech.

Rather expend that energy investing in you

And thrive and on the inherent possibilities.

YemilBenjoy ©

 

 

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Fear’s Intrusion (Part I)

Vicious is the apparatus of fear…

For it descends upon you with such awful might

Either in stealth manner or by insidious descent

Then in persistent measure seeks to erode, should one

Permit it to take permanent abode within one’s essence,

The body of hope that ought to propel each one

Into the absolute realm of possibility and beyond despair.

Reject the albatross!

YemilBenjoy ©

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Too Precious To Waste

The worth of one’s life is beyond the estimation of time

Live and embrace the full quantum of each moment.

YemilBenjoy ©

 

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