MENTAL SLAVERY: HOW TO GET TO THE LEVEL OF ‘FUCK YOU’ IN LIFE
Before
anything, I will like to appreciate my readers and fans across the globe for
your encouragement and support despite that I have just two articles out there
now. Thank you and God bless and remember to share your thoughts by writing
your comments after reading.
I don’t see myself as a writer, journalist or
a motivational speaker/writer, all these titles carry the burden of rules which
affect the purity and authenticity of what comes to my head when i write, I
love to write as it comes to me without having to change anything or be bound
by ‘normalcy’ which is an example of this topic, writing ‘fuck’ instead of
‘f*ck’. It is by societal ramifications wrong for me to write it that way but I
did, why?
It makes me happy and I feel my audience understands me better.
It makes me happy and I feel my audience understands me better.
I am not saying it’s cool to do anything wrong
as long as it makes you happy. No. All I’m saying is the society with all its
unwritten rules and about things that are socially acceptable keeps robbing
people over the centuries of the joy of fulfillment in their lives all because
there is a laid down rule/ way of doing things: you have to go to school to
make it, you have to have a religion before you can make heaven and you have to
respect the elders no matter what. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with
education, culture and religion but the way these are being put to play and how
it affects the progress of the people calls for check and the solid foundation
all these are built on is the mental slavery we all seem to suffer, especially
in Nigeria. I will be taking into consideration the Yoruba people:
RELIGION
I am a Christian
and my grandmother was a Muslim hence I have had close up relationships with
both forms of religion. Short story: I
was ‘forced’ by my mum last year to visit her pastor because I was about to
embark on a project and she felt I needed ‘divine favor’. I did visit the man
and we prayed and all that and he then told me for the prayer session to be
fully effective, I had to attend Sunday programs in his church and also attend
a powerful revival they were supposed to hold in his church the next week. Well
I never went back. I saw the man two weeks ago when he came visiting and he asked
why I never came back like he asked me to, I said ‘nothing’, then he said ‘you
are joking with your life!’ I was like ‘what?!’ Then looking at my mum who was
already looking at me knowing that statement would have annoyed me, I left
without saying a word. After the pastor
left, I told my mum nothing in this life could make me revisit the man. He did
not ask how the project went, all he was concerned about was the total absence
of followership I displayed by not returning to him.
And that is the hold or lordship religious leaders make people think they have over people’s lives. Presenting themselves as a proxy to God and so you must do as they say and worship them sheepishly with all you have if you want things to run smoothly in your life. Making you think success is supernatural and has almost nothing to do with your physical efforts and that your prayers are just not enough. People go about giving out ,in total, hard earned money, a family is supposed to live on or money needed for a young man to build his life on, to religious leaders all because we are mentally enslaved to what they have made us believe through religion whereas all holy books if properly read and understood make it very clear every living being has access to his God and you can hold a conversation with him and I have not come across any book which says without your pastor’s or sheikh’s blessings, you can’t move further.
Now if the rumor is true, why will a pastor make a declaration of opening the gates of hell on opposers of a political contestant he personally supports? The answer is simple, he knows he has blind followers who think he holds all powers land and sea and can unleash such punishment on anyone who opposes whatever or whoever he supports. And there was a case of a popular lagos pastor two years ago who was publicly accused by a lady of sexual advances or something and when the pastor was asked to clear his name and that of his church, he said ‘the lord told me not to talk about it’, and when the news got really viral, he said ‘the lord told me ‘I will make your name and this church famous but I won’t tell you how’. What the Fuck?! The bible itself said ‘reply a fool or else he will think he is wise’. And seeing the way a lot of people swallowed that eloquent piece of crap of an excuse shows the deep degradation of our mental awareness and the depth of mental slavery in Nigerians.
However the people who introduced us to these religions are not fanatics like us, why because we are naturally mentally enslaved to any form of superiority or complexity. I was walking home with a muslim friend one day and we met the ‘alfa’ of the mosque he attended on the way and the Alfa asked my friend if he had rented an office for his work like he said he would and my friend replied yes, and the next thing he said was that my friend should come back to see him so he could give him some ‘things’ to use so the office and work could thrive and he said he should bring ‘something’ when coming. He did not ask what work he was doing.
And that is the hold or lordship religious leaders make people think they have over people’s lives. Presenting themselves as a proxy to God and so you must do as they say and worship them sheepishly with all you have if you want things to run smoothly in your life. Making you think success is supernatural and has almost nothing to do with your physical efforts and that your prayers are just not enough. People go about giving out ,in total, hard earned money, a family is supposed to live on or money needed for a young man to build his life on, to religious leaders all because we are mentally enslaved to what they have made us believe through religion whereas all holy books if properly read and understood make it very clear every living being has access to his God and you can hold a conversation with him and I have not come across any book which says without your pastor’s or sheikh’s blessings, you can’t move further.
Now if the rumor is true, why will a pastor make a declaration of opening the gates of hell on opposers of a political contestant he personally supports? The answer is simple, he knows he has blind followers who think he holds all powers land and sea and can unleash such punishment on anyone who opposes whatever or whoever he supports. And there was a case of a popular lagos pastor two years ago who was publicly accused by a lady of sexual advances or something and when the pastor was asked to clear his name and that of his church, he said ‘the lord told me not to talk about it’, and when the news got really viral, he said ‘the lord told me ‘I will make your name and this church famous but I won’t tell you how’. What the Fuck?! The bible itself said ‘reply a fool or else he will think he is wise’. And seeing the way a lot of people swallowed that eloquent piece of crap of an excuse shows the deep degradation of our mental awareness and the depth of mental slavery in Nigerians.
However the people who introduced us to these religions are not fanatics like us, why because we are naturally mentally enslaved to any form of superiority or complexity. I was walking home with a muslim friend one day and we met the ‘alfa’ of the mosque he attended on the way and the Alfa asked my friend if he had rented an office for his work like he said he would and my friend replied yes, and the next thing he said was that my friend should come back to see him so he could give him some ‘things’ to use so the office and work could thrive and he said he should bring ‘something’ when coming. He did not ask what work he was doing.
Need I say
these people have taken advantage of our mental slavery and used it for
monetary purposes, self proclamation, fame and power?
EDUCATION
The African
mentality is to either be like others or do better than others. Either way, ‘others’
remains a constant point of reference in a typical African’s life. Years before
education and civilization, Farming or fishing was the standard or path way to
success and also a way of life. Children were being tagged ‘great’ according to
their farming or fishing skills and everyone wanted his or her children to be ‘great’.
Now it’s education. Everybody has to go to school. Now I am not saying
education is not compulsory. It is but up to what level? Bros, what remains in
your head after you have forgotten every damn thing you were taught in school
is called EDUCATION. If you remember
up to 25% of everything you were taught without having to consult a book, then
you are from Mars. however, we go to school to be able to fit in any field we find ourselves
in except for practicing courses which some people still do not practise after
leaving school.
Now look at this: A child born with farming skills but little academic ability during the time of farming is considered great since he can farm very well but if he was born during this period of education, a period of little or no attention to farming, he is considered a dull child in the society since he cannot compete academically with others. Now farming is just an example of natural skills possessed by individuals, we have others like singing, acting, dancing, technical and so many other skills. All these skills then and now are being wasted and buried by the trend of the day: then it was ‘grow up a little and start farming or fishing’, now it is ‘go to school as you grow up, when you’re done, find a yourself a job after studying things you will eventually forget, then work in a position that is totally irrelevant to what you studied in the university.
Consequently, this trend has made us in africa lose a lot of Bill Gates, Mark Zukerbergs, Justin Biebers, miley cyrus, Messis, and many other young individuals whose talents/skills was discovered, nurtured and trained at early ages. The same age a typical African child must face academics squarely and must do or think of nothing else. The more less priority and attention is given to his non-academically relevant skill/talent, the more dormant it gets and then it disappears over the years which is why we have many stagnant people among us because the society buried many people’s talent/skill years ago and so their true purpose have been buried and they roam the surface of the earth living in an empty shell trying to succeed or fulfill themselves while following another person’s path of life.
Now look at this: A child born with farming skills but little academic ability during the time of farming is considered great since he can farm very well but if he was born during this period of education, a period of little or no attention to farming, he is considered a dull child in the society since he cannot compete academically with others. Now farming is just an example of natural skills possessed by individuals, we have others like singing, acting, dancing, technical and so many other skills. All these skills then and now are being wasted and buried by the trend of the day: then it was ‘grow up a little and start farming or fishing’, now it is ‘go to school as you grow up, when you’re done, find a yourself a job after studying things you will eventually forget, then work in a position that is totally irrelevant to what you studied in the university.
Consequently, this trend has made us in africa lose a lot of Bill Gates, Mark Zukerbergs, Justin Biebers, miley cyrus, Messis, and many other young individuals whose talents/skills was discovered, nurtured and trained at early ages. The same age a typical African child must face academics squarely and must do or think of nothing else. The more less priority and attention is given to his non-academically relevant skill/talent, the more dormant it gets and then it disappears over the years which is why we have many stagnant people among us because the society buried many people’s talent/skill years ago and so their true purpose have been buried and they roam the surface of the earth living in an empty shell trying to succeed or fulfill themselves while following another person’s path of life.
CULTURE
Like I said,
I will be focusing more on the Yoruba culture since I grew up in it and fully
understand it. The Yoruba culture, from my point of view, encourages a lot of
limitations in people’s fulfillment in life. An elder is free to cheat, embarrass
or abuse a younger person and the younger one must not retaliate in any form. A
typical Yoruba man attaches to spirituality every single thing he cannot
explain. We easily attach things we can’t explain to ‘it’s the will of God’, ‘nature
must take its course’ or ‘that’s how it has been before you were born’. This of
course is why we don’t invent or discover things; sing ‘all we do is buy buy
buy no matter what’.
Many younger
or junior lecturers have been discouraged from researching or publicizing their
discovery because culturally an elder is supposed to be ahead at all times and
in all fields. A young person will most likely have difficulties when he has to
head people older than he is. A younger person is expected to keep quiet while
an elder takes advantage of you and if you are like me and do fight for your
right, just about everyone around you takes sides with the older individual and
label you untrained. A young person is not allowed to try to or surpass his
elders, he is not allowed to look for answers to questions whereas the
inquisitive mind discovers a lot, but not here, he is called ‘a small boy’ when
it comes to his rights and privileges but told ‘you are no longer a kid’ when
it comes to responsibilities or work.
With this
kind of way of living, a child finds it difficult and unnecessary to discover,
ask questions, strive, express his mind, build the society and become a better
person or why else would we have the same old people that have been in
Government since 1980s still contesting till now. Simple: Our elders (the very
old ones) are the leaders of yesterday, today and tomorrow while the youths are
the leaders of next tomorrow (which is not in sight).
SUCCESS
Yes, the viral
want of success. Even if it’s not present, at least the feigned appearance of
its presence. Everyone wants to be tagged successful. While this might have
been in the African blood since when God said let there be light, this view can
be changed. I am not saying we shouldn’t strive to be successful, I am only going
to talk of people who always want to appear successful and would go to any length
to look it:
Shout out to the boy who went clubbing on Friday and spent a lot on drinks and had nothing to eat the next day, Thou art a baller. Shout out to the ladies who sleep around just to buy/get things that are in vogue, my dear how much was blackberry bold 2 when it was in vogue and how much is it now? Shout out to the mother who encourages her daughter to do such, that thing does actually read entrances and exits; law of elasticity. (I know there’s a drug for it now, but is there a drug for your conscience and your history?) Shout out to everyone who sees investment and savings as over rated, next time you throw away things that you bought at an expensive rate, remember there’s someone somewhere whose parcel of land has ridiculously appreciated. The respect and reputation you want from people is an illusion which wears off in the face of reality, afterall early last year D’banj was rated the second richest artist in Nigeria by Forbes (a whole Forbes, odidi Forbes) before some people came around in November same year to claim he was owing the different individuals obscene amounts of money which was true and was a legal matter while he was about living a seemingly flamboyant life and making a lot of youths want to be like him and we realized he had not a single home to himself. Perishables, valuables and the so called reputation and respect people give you when you make them think you are rich only give temporary happiness, the real happiness comes from invaluable things.
Shout out to the boy who went clubbing on Friday and spent a lot on drinks and had nothing to eat the next day, Thou art a baller. Shout out to the ladies who sleep around just to buy/get things that are in vogue, my dear how much was blackberry bold 2 when it was in vogue and how much is it now? Shout out to the mother who encourages her daughter to do such, that thing does actually read entrances and exits; law of elasticity. (I know there’s a drug for it now, but is there a drug for your conscience and your history?) Shout out to everyone who sees investment and savings as over rated, next time you throw away things that you bought at an expensive rate, remember there’s someone somewhere whose parcel of land has ridiculously appreciated. The respect and reputation you want from people is an illusion which wears off in the face of reality, afterall early last year D’banj was rated the second richest artist in Nigeria by Forbes (a whole Forbes, odidi Forbes) before some people came around in November same year to claim he was owing the different individuals obscene amounts of money which was true and was a legal matter while he was about living a seemingly flamboyant life and making a lot of youths want to be like him and we realized he had not a single home to himself. Perishables, valuables and the so called reputation and respect people give you when you make them think you are rich only give temporary happiness, the real happiness comes from invaluable things.
CONCLUSION
How now do
you get to the level of ‘Fuck You’? Be true to yourself and your religion, if
you have one. God did not give the key to your happiness or success (or
hell fire lol) to any pastor, cleric or religious leader. Emancipate yourself
from mental slavery, you are not useless just because you are not relatively
brilliant, discover and understand yourself, you are the best in what you are
meant to be, don’t measure up your life using another person’s meter, use
yours, move around and get new ideas, get a reasonable education, to me every Nigerian
stops learning after secondary school, the rest is for you if it’s really your
way.
This is a country where a student pays over a million naira an academic year for four years to study business administration, yet employment is as scarce as intelligence in our present presidency. Do not be limited by your culture, stand on your feet and claim your rights because everyone is equal in law, invest in time and don’t live for others, live for yourself, don’t let anyone measure your success, do that yourself, dress well (yaba is always there for you). Do not make silly or unreasonable sacrifices for others, people are made to forget the ones who helped them and remember the ones who hurt them. Don’t lend out money you can’t give out, plan before money comes, always consider the future when you buy things, don’t let love ruin your plans in life, be mentally aware, nothing is written, everything is questionable, nothing is done.
This is a country where a student pays over a million naira an academic year for four years to study business administration, yet employment is as scarce as intelligence in our present presidency. Do not be limited by your culture, stand on your feet and claim your rights because everyone is equal in law, invest in time and don’t live for others, live for yourself, don’t let anyone measure your success, do that yourself, dress well (yaba is always there for you). Do not make silly or unreasonable sacrifices for others, people are made to forget the ones who helped them and remember the ones who hurt them. Don’t lend out money you can’t give out, plan before money comes, always consider the future when you buy things, don’t let love ruin your plans in life, be mentally aware, nothing is written, everything is questionable, nothing is done.
Understanding
these things and others, you can succeed, be truly happy and consequently you
can raise your two middle fingers in the air and say FUCK YOU to every mental slavery in life:
Your cleric
says you must be enslaved to him before you can make it; FUCK YOU
An elder
tries to cheat you; FUCK YOU
People
trying to force you into living against your happiness: FUCK YOU
You are not
made for academics but people say you must get a masters degree: FUCK YOU
The Police
trying to harass you when you are on your right: FUCK YOU
You are happy
and your future is secure and someone says you are not a ‘big man’: FUCK YOU
You are now
mentally aware and you realize someone who couldn’t stop boko haram in the 6 years
he has been leading postponed elections by six weeks because he claims he wants
to solve the insurgency before elections start: FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU
FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU.
‘A teacher
in my primary school asked me what I would like to be in the future, I told him
I wanted to be HAPPY, he said I didn’t understand the question, I said he didn’t
understand life’.
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