For My Generation, to Work Hard is to Suffer
By Emma Anyagwa/Lagos
Scene 1
Uncle Ukeje may be referred to as a very successful Lawyer in the modern sense, politician of great repute and also a successful family head. He strongly believes that his success was built from his past knowledge, experience and determination. As a model, he recalled with nostalgia how they sat under the trees and were taught by teachers who were strict disciplinarians. According to him, for you to be in elementary one, your right hand must touch the left ear crossing over your head. This showed you were of school age.
Teacher, apart from teaching, were also models. They took their work as a vocation and were respected for it. They were disciplined and even parents could not equate their powers when it came to disciplinary training. At that period, parents reported recalcitrant children to teachers for disciplinary measures. At that period, flogging people for coming late to school, trekking to school, repeating a class when one failed, sending bigger boys to go and lift those who absent themselves from school from their parents’ homes and kneeling down facing the wall for offences were not seen as punishments but punitive measures necessary for child formation.
Uncle Ukeje said that they had different religious groups then. On Sundays, everybody was made to attend churches after which they would rest. Apart from the teachers, the catechists and Reverends were also disciplinarians and were respected. They would send back home from the church those that were not properly dressed but not before giving them some lashes. Late comers were asked to kneel outside the church for some time as a corrective measure. Whenever a child was being punished, parents would scold such a child and in some cases add their own punishment.
Children were sent to Sunday schools and religious societies where they were taught ethics, morals and social values. All religious groups despite their affiliations related at home and attended one another’s events in friendship and happiness. Since they believed in one God, the fear of this God was instilled in the people and influenced their lives positively.
Our Uncle remembers with nostalgia the male-female relationship which led to marriages. According to him, to be a virgin was a virtue and was held in high esteem. The opposite was looked at with disdain. Youth relationship was built on pure and natural love and grew till it ended in marriage. Sex before marriage was unheard of and divorce was quite rare and strange. Young men when they came of age used their initiatives to choose partners and when this happened, received blessings from the parents.
However, before the nuptial knot, investigations were conducted to ascertain the kind of family each of the partners came from. Young girls were nurtured and trained to manage prospective homes while young men learnt early enough how to love and take care of their family and meet his responsibilities. Usually at the age of eighteen, the boys had grown into manhood and may leave their parents’ homes to build theirs.
All the above process were never seen as punishment or suffering by both parents and children, according to my uncle, but as a solid foundation laid not only for a stronger family but also a stronger society. In the process of this growth into manhood, all pick their choice of career through the direction of the parents and teachers. Those who acquired trade skills and those who went to school to acquire western education harmonized their careers to build the society. Through competitive growth, parents prepared their children to outlive, succeed and be more prominent than they were. They left such responsibilities of training at a certain age when the children would take over and subsequently pass it onto the next generation. When this was done, they retire happily. This relaxation in retirement made them live longer and happier.
Uncle Ukeje reiterated that for the generation, wealth was good but was usually appreciated if it came from a genuine source. There were processes of acquiring wealth. In most cases, it was through hard work which usually took time. It was strange to see someone who was a pauper today become overwhelmingly rich without people raising eyebrows. To that generation, wealth was not luck neither was it picked from the trees. As a result of this, all wealthy men and women were models and symbols of hard work, dedication and honesty.
However, there were also criminals who through foul means acquired wealth. They were known and were usually identified in the society. They were not given responsible positions of authority. Sometimes they used their money to intimidate people and were feared but they were not respected. They did not enjoy cordial relationship with the people and were avoided by members of the society. Those who stole and were caught in the process were openly disgraced and in most cases excommunicated.
On the other hand, the poor had honour, the rich had prestige and honour and both had an instrument of monitoring and checking each other in the society. For one to be respected in the society therefore, one must fall into any of these categories. These were such vocations as Teachers, Doctors and the Clergy; the skilled labourers, honest wealthy men, educated men and women, traditional rulers, elders and men and women of honour and respect.
This generation was said to have collectively built the society they comfortably lived in. They were also very patriotic and this attracted strangers to their land instead of fleeing to strange land themselves. People of this generation did not take asylum outside the country. In fact, my uncle said that they preferred working in the country than outside it.
At any rate, this generation that had what looked like primitive education, underdeveloped environment, ancient and archaic laws and out-of-date societies produced all the fathers of this modern generation. They were conservative, economical, selfless and patriotic. All consumable products produced by them at that period were genuine and the roads built at the period sturdy. Their houses were old fashioned but strong. You can still identify them today among successful educationists and academics, clergies, professionals, politicians and statesmen and women.
Scene 2
Arthur Ken is of the modern generation and he narrates his story as follows. “I was born in the late eighties into what I refer to as a middle family. We lived in a house, though in an estate, in which I hardly interacted with other children. Even in school, we hardly played because we had no arena. At the age of six, I was already in primary 3 and my school was a distance away. My daddy’s driver dropped me and my siblings off at school every morning and picked us up in the evening. When we got home, the domestic servant employed by my parents would put on the generator for us to watch movies while we waited for dinner.”
“We communicated with our parents on phone. I hardly saw my parents as they left for work before I woke up and came back when I must have slept every weekday. I didn’t have to work or engage in any domestic affairs because our servants did everything: washing our clothes, bathing us, cooking for us and all other domestic duties.”
“On weekends, when we barely met our parents, they took us to exotic areas on sightseeing. During the holidays, we travelled abroad where we lived in comfort and pleasure. We were exposed to computer games, TV games and all forms of electronics. I remember the day we went late to school because we watched late night movies. The teacher was very angry because we told him that we came late as a result of watching movies till the early hours of the morning. He flogged us on our palms and we cried. I had not actually been flogged before. When I got home, I reported to my daddy. My daddy was very angry at the teacher’s action. The next day, quite unlike him, he did not go to work but took me personally to school to meet the teacher who had the effrontery to flog me.”
“On getting to school, he took me straight to the Proprietor’s office and soon the teacher was summoned to the man’s office. The teacher was questioned on why he had to flog me. He said it was a mark of indiscipline for me to watch late night movies and come late to school. He told the proprietor that the flogging was a corrective measure to teach me a lesson. The proprietor was not comfortable with the teacher’s explanation and sternly warned him never to flog any of the students as they were no animals. As a measure too, I was asked to flog the teacher on the buttocks which I did gleefully and was satisfied. I also saw satisfaction on the face of my dad and the proprietor. I grew six feet taller and walked proudly out of the office. I remember hearing my dad say, “I suffered to get where I am today and will not let my kids suffer anymore. They are to enjoy themselves.” To the Proprietor, he said, “If I get such a report again, I will withdraw my kids from your school and put them where they will be properly trained and taken care of.” The message was clear to the proprietor.”
“After the incident, I and several other kids were never flogged in school again. We were actually pampered. Most importantly, we never failed in tests and examinations. We were given excellent grades to the pleasure of our parents. In fact, most of us from such backgrounds did not sit for our School Certificates and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examinations. Special centres were arranged for us and people were hired by our parents to sit for the examinations for us. It was all that easy as we strolled into the best universities in the world. Our parents got choice courses for us too!
“As we graduated, most of us were awarded First Class and some Second Class Upper Division. It depended on how much you could pay anyway. Many other students hassled and suffered reading to pass their examinations. I had a car while even in secondary school. My daddy trekked to school in his days, but I drove to school. It was great fun.
“I did not search for any employment. As soon as I graduated, my dad employed me in his company. Most of us who come from this easy background socialize and network together. We also have a lot of friends who appreciate our lifestyle and desire to be like us. Since we were not given the opportunity to do any domestic work, academic work and employment, we needed to create a way of catching our fun. We formed gangs and cults. Our group was highly connected and we got whatever we needed without sweat and got away with any action no matter how serious. It was such an easy going life, no sweat, no hassles. That was how I was brought up.”
“Even in the office, daddy never gave me the opportunity to carry out any official assignment. I reported to work in the morning, chauffeur-driven, played around the office, signed some contract papers some of which I didn’t even understand and went home early to prepare for one form of party or another.”
“At this age, I had millions of naira paid into my account weekly. I changed different brands of cars without knowing the value. I didn’t even know what to spend the money on as I had everything I needed. I had people doing whatever I commanded because I had the money. So I used them for all sorts of things and in all sorts of ways.”
“On my 20th birthday, my daddy gave me a house and employed servants to take care of my needs. I also employed bodyguards to protect me wherever I went. I had it in mind that my dad suffered to get where he was so why do I need to suffer before I enjoy myself? The rigours of education is suffering, to work is to suffer, to receive punishment for wrong doing is to suffer. To wash clothes, sweep the house and all other domestic chores is to suffer. To trek to school or even enter public transport is to suffer. To sleep or use a car without air conditioner is to suffer. And dear God, I wasn’t cut out for all these. I must not do them at all.”
“My dad chose for me to study law, even though I wanted to study Journalism. He said Law is for the elite and is a noble profession. He told me journalism is for the poor and they are usually not well paid. He made me a Director in his company even when I suggested working in a multinational to get experience. He bought cars for me and built a modern house for me too. Now he picked a wife for me. He decided on the family my wife came from without consulting me. He said I could not afford to marry those gold-diggers who roam the streets without a good means of livelihood.
“On my wedding day, he invited his friends and associates. He decided the hall for the reception, the date and the church where we wedded. I didn’t have to bother as everything was done for me. I hardly knew my wife but did it really matter? Due to lack of experience, I consulted my dad on how I would take care of my family now that we are going to be on our own. He said, “As long as I live, I have acquired enough for you to live on. You do not need to work, so also your brothers and sisters. I have done the suffering for you.”
“As a lawyer, I delved into politics. My dad was impressed. He told me politics in Nigeria is for the elite. It is for those who have made it. He said politics will give me more power and connect me to the world. Being a politician himself, he said he would employ people to prepare me for any position I wished to vie for. But meanwhile, I cannot come in right away. When I asked why, he said, I needed to understudy him for some time so that when I take over, I won’t suffer what he suffered. He said political position is not for the youth as they lack ideas. I believed him as I knew I had never been allowed to generate my own ideas and initiatives since I was born. He had been in politics for over thirty years, held different positions and recycled himself. He promised to install me later in the years when he retires. And that time would come when I do not need to work. He gave me instances of his mates who were still there. He promised to cater for me and my family.”
“We are Christians and on Sundays sat in front pews reserved for us. The Pastor usually prayed for our success and assured us of God’s kingdom. According to him, the kingdom of God is for the rich. He said Christ suffered for man to inherit the kingdom. So we do not need to suffer again to be rich. My dad said so too. I believed them.”
“I was a model among my peers. They saw how I grew up effortlessly and how my parents ensured my siblings and I became millionaires without any effort of our own. They wanted to be like me. In fact, they prayed that every parent should be like mine. I mentioned to them how my parents did it for us. Those whose parents could do it went ahead and followed our path. Those whose parents could not make it devised a means of acquiring wealth, power and comfort by all means. Some went into fraud and robbery to achieve this goal. They developed quick ways of making money.”
“The civil servants among them learnt the art of inflating contracts. The manufacturers began to produce and import fake drugs to make quick money. The teachers collected money from students in order to pass them. Pastors among them became miracle workers who turned people to millionaires overnight without working for it. Journalists charged for stories they wrote and sometimes swapped stories for political appointments.”
“In the process, our generation now has the best exotic cars, builds expensive houses, wears expensive dresses and has big bank accounts. Our generation is not producing anything and has everything being produced in other countries for its usage. We also have more than enough money to acquire all the things produced by other people whose parents allowed to suffer by working. Let my colleagues in other countries suffer to go into inventions in the areas of automobile, energy, computer, research, medicine and science, while we wait to buy from them.”
“To cut my long story short, I waited for my father to outlive his generation and mine which he did, not quite a long time ago. His death opened my eyes to the truth of life. My dad inherited a rich culture, tradition and legacy and hoarded it from me. The legacy made him rich and famous. He worked hard to acquire such legacy which he referred to as suffering. Now he did not pass the culture that made him who he was to me. He rather left me empty with nothing to sustain me in my own generation neither do I have anything to pass on to the next generation. This is because mine is a wasted generation.”
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