The Second-Hand Value

The sun was not as fierce as it would have been, considering that the sky has withheld its weeping for the past two days; probably, it was also observing the somber emotional feeling that has pervaded our nation and held us spellbound as a people.

I was sitting at the head of the jetty in our waterfront, watching the ebbing of the tide flowing down the river. In this solemn hour, even the water has lost it velocity and was just rolling downstream; a gigantic plasmatic body, bearing on its surface the debris of human waste.

In time past and at a time like this; a Saturday afternoon, the water-front and the jetty would have been filled up with travelers and boats. Both local and speedboat going to the major city, like Port Harcourt and other coastal communities; but time has changed.

The completion of a road from the hinterland to this coastal town has drastically reduced the use of water as means transportation. Though, that alone may not be responsible for this seemingly abandoned state of the waterside. The river has become a high-risk route for mariners and transporters, due to the activities of sea pirates.

It appears that the town has become a magnetic field of a sort that the inhabitants glue together to be safe from whatever may be lurking out there in creeks.

What a generational shift our nation and people have turned out to be; these are the waters that people have sailed in time past without fear of falling prey to the unknown.

I tried hard to suppress tears from rolling down my cheek as I reminisce on the state of our moral desolation over this short space of my own lifetime.

“Oh, there you are Tarilate. I have searched everywhere for you.” A voice behind sounded so cheerfully.

That voice broke through my daydreaming and brought me back to the presence. I turned around to see Orifielate sauntering towards me from the foot of the jetty.

“Ah, Oraifie, it’s you?” I asked by way of answer and looked across the river to the far bank where a speedboat has just turned the corner and was slowing down for the military checkpoint that is at that end.

“What are you doing here all by yourself when everyone is in the house talking about the burial meeting?” he asked, walking up to me and stretched out his hand to me.

“How did you know I’m in town, I have not been here for up to 2 hours?” I looked at him.

Oraifielate was my childhood friend when we were both students at NNGS. We have been able to keep in touch over the years.

“It’s nice to see you looking so good Oraifie. You do not allow the trend to weigh you down.”

“Weigh me down? Huh, I can’t allow myself to be weighed down by what we see. We have since learned the art of adjusting to our situation,” he said and flashed his infectious smile at me.

“Don’t mind me, my brother. Are we not all doing the same thing, learning to adapt? Though, I’m afraid we can’t say the same about our environment, “I said throwing my hand around the river and the jetty.” I’m just appalled at the level of decay and desolation I‘m feeling standing here and imagining what this place here would have been in our time.”

“Come on, Tari, Those were the days. Time has moved on, and things have changed.”

“Yea, I knew things have changed and time has moved on, but they would have moved on for the better with dazzling water-front and busy waterways with efficient commercial activities bustling between the coastal communities,” I said feeling bile wedging up in my bowel. It's about the culture of maintaining what we have for future use.”

“That’s talking about a major cultural shift, which to the best of my knowledge is a great deficiency in our clime. How often do you see people coming to our country to take us expatriates to work in their countries? Even those they called over to work in their country are those that might have had some kind of western orientation and training.”

“But there was a time when our Doctors were migrating to some Asian countries to practice their art.”

“That was still in our earlier generation. How many of those cultural and labor migrations are you seeing these days? Now you see our youths trekking across the desert and going away as stowaways in ships and airplanes just to get that breathe of freshness.” I turned to stare at him.

“You do have a point there. How many things can we use here and still work to be sent overseas for further use.”

“Oh, you mean like Tokumbo or Belgium cars and electronics?”

He nodded his head.

Whatever they use over there does have second-hand value; those they ship over here to us. How do you think we can ship back to them what was already a second hand when they were brought here?”

“Hmm, probably we could call them third-hand value,” he said laughing.

“Oraifie let me surprise you a little.”

“How do you mean?”

“Do you know that our people also do not have a second have value?”

“Come on, now you are been sarcastic. How could a human being have a second-hand value?”

“Okay, let me modify that phrase a little. I mean to say that our leaders also do not have a second-hand value.”

“Now, Tari, you’ve got my attention, can you break that down to my level so that I will follow you,” he said and glanced over his shoulder.

“Nations and their leaders are reckoned in the international cycle to be important and efficient. Such leaders are always called up to take international assignments either with the UNO, AU IMF etc.

“Our leaders are not called up to such important international assignments because they do not have a second-hand value. One reason for this is that most of our previous leaders became leaders through the barrel of the gun. They are therefore regarded as military dictators.

“The International community frowns at anyone that does not pass through a democratic process to becoming a leader. That thus disqualifies such leaders from becoming their emissary or ambassadors in the global theatre. We could recycle those leaders here because our nation is a country where everything goes.”

“But we have seen some of those past leaders given such international assignments. Were those not having second-hand value, as you termed them?”

“I know you were itching to ask that, and you did not allow me to finish my analysis. The ones you said were given international call were those that got recycled and came back as democratic presidents. They probably performed well to the reckoning of the global watchers, thus, they were given those assignments.

“The other one that has been getting a steady International call came in as a Democratic President, and also flaunted an appreciable degree of democratic norms to the marvel of the watchers. He also has a second-hand value,” I said and stared into his eyes.

“Continue, I’m enjoying your postulation.”

“The present leadership was also a recycled leader that has not portrayed; pry to his second coming as a democratically elected president, enough worth to be given a global job according to the reckoning of the watchers.

”However, having had a second chance to discard that military clout to be considered for the relevant international recognition to have a second-hand value; has constantly given a disdain to the norms and caprices of a democratic global player.

“I will not be surprised if he is not qualified to acquire the relevant second-hand value.”

“So Tari, in you reckoning what will it take anyone to acquire a second-hand value, especially a leader?”

“It is simple, just continue maintenance and overhauling themselves just like you do to your Tokumbo cars.”

I picked up a stone and threw it into the river and notice the ripples of water spread out into the distance. That is how we should be upgrading our knowledge and capacity to have a second-hand value; I thought to myself and stood up.

“Please, can we go to the house? I have one or two people to see before returning.”

“Okay, let’s go. I hope they have not exhausted the periwinkle soup before we get there.” He said laughing as he stood up and followed me down the jetty.