A View From Tony
My friend Tony M often flickers genius in his conversations and writing. Much more in his conversations unpredictably. The weird and the outrageous always intrigues and Tony does not mind juggling them. We are co-members of a WhatsApp group called Gbogbo. I enjoy him much more in conversation than on Gbogbo. My access to Gbogbo is in limbo. Thus, I must wait till he sends me something till I know what he has posted on there.
Tony’s style is peculiar; brutal frankness, a confounding wit, and surprising information. It is as if he unintentionally becrapes the minds that listen to or read what he has to say with serrated cheek; that is his subtler side – it makes me laugh like something is very wrong with me. I am susceptible to dry wit, more so his dry wit.
Many will argue there is nothing unintentional about what he says. It’s a worthy argument. The people he addresses in his piece are real and I know them. I do not know how they would take it but I could not ignore it. How could I?
I now present what he wrote. It is a stranded piece of a larger conversation with others.
“All the Good Books admit that Life is a Race. In the Yoruba culture, we also acknowledged that axiom.
If life is a race, then everyone was given a Lane to run his/her own. Arnold, for instance, might have been given Lane Five while Vick got Lane Six (probably why he was born in Lagos Maternity, unfortunately, instead of Island Maternity like some lucky people 🙂). If any of you were ever involved in tracks, you realize that we all pick our own sticks that assign our own tracks. The Yoruba called these sticks Ori, your Ori determines if your lane is inner lane or outer lane or in the middle where some knuckle heads like Otunba would be constantly crossing your lane. But such is life.
But what type of race is life, and why does it seem much easier only for a few and much harder for others? I think life is more like a decathlon. You run sprints, swim, jump, climb, ride bikes, wrestle lions, and so on. And yet, we are asked to procreate some future athletes. How one sometimes gets Johnny to jump after a 16-hour hurdle is a testament to man’s determination to get a piece. But then the women have to run for 9 months bloated with the result of playing doctors with Johnny.
The condition of the tracks and geography of one’s tracks also assigns the race difficulty levels. A child starting a race in Africa probably has a one-thousand-degree level of difficulty more than the ones starting in the US. The reason some Africans like Dotun jumped tracks from Oyo to Florida to make the race easier for themselves. And, some of course, to reduce the stress of getting Johnny to jump when needed. So, was it part of the race that some people like Dotun and Madam Kike could change Stadiums to where the tracks are better while some became feed for the Mediterranean fishes and Mami-waters?
And what about some people like cousin Syl who seem to only broadcast the ongoing race? Is broadcasting also part of the human race?
Were the Fulanis and the Igbos created to be like the Obstacles in the race, something that other people must jump over to get to their finishing lines?
What of if your arena is in India and you assumed that the only Obstacles you have are the cobras, then a Fulani boy japa to your lane and break bottles on your head, thereby bringing your race to an abrupt end? Is that also part of the race?
This race thing and how to change lanes and avoid all the obstacles and potholes on the road, and not swim the ocean in a tempest are the things that I am hoping to find the answers to this weekend. I am trying to incorporate my church next week. And I am trying to give people value for their money somehow. So, I need help from you all at Gbogbo to help me understand this race.” – Tony M.
What do you make of it? It would help if someone starts from the premise, he is not eccentric but creative. After all, he is a creator or co-creator of the architecture that has made your reading of this piece possible. On whatever device you are using.
Guynes!
Grimot Nane