The Standard of Influence

America is indeed a great country. They are the largest export of culture in the world via the media of movies, music and democracy. Even though their financial capability have whittled down considerably since the 2008 financial meltdown, they still remain a force to be reckoned with.

America's greatness lies in the image it has been able to successfully sell to the world. Its massive advertising prowess is evident in musical and movie preferences, fashion trends, exotic lifestyle, government systems, consumer models and the likes. Never underestimate phrases like 'The American Dream', 'the greatest nation on earth' etc, that make peoples of the world migrate in droves and aspire to be American.

While this ability is impeccable because they actually do have a system that works and are indeed a great nation, do we really have to kowtow to everything they do?

Every individual nation is unique in its own way. Take Nigeria, for instance. Nigeria is possibly the closest to American in the African continent because of its diversity but the incidents that gave birth to both countries are miles apart. While America is a creation of consensus, Nigeria is a creation of colonialism and is united by shared experiences. So what makes America the standard of influence?

Today, the world is inundated with images of what is right. The West has toppled nations that did not embrace democracy and every day, we are persuasively encouraged by the media on culture switch and sadly, most of us are victims, myself included.

The influence of Western pop culture is evident in everyday life world over through the medium of entertainment and rightly so as entertainment has taken the forefront in today's world. The irresistible glitz and glamour rightly coincides with the fact that the industry has become one of the highest industry earners in the world today.

Hollywood and TV contributes a whopping $175 billion annually to the US economy with over $15 billion going to taxes. This is more than the annual budget of most African countries! In Nigeria, the story is pretty much the same. Nollywood has become the third largest movie industry in the world, grossing about $286 million annually and the music industry in Nigeria is the largest in Africa.

While we applaud the successes of the industry, what are its implications in terms of subliminal messaging? In Nigeria, there is a gradual extinction of our indigenous cultures as our generation have become increasingly "westernized". Just like how our indigenous religion caved in to western superiority, the same is now the case with regard to our culture.

One cannot help but notice that West's moral bankruptcy is now the new gospel. In almost all aspects of our social life that has to do with the media, our subconcious is battered endlessly with fads that has gradually eroded our cultural identity.

Granted, the new way of life as advertised is quite attractive, some of it anyway but the danger it portends is not to be ignored. I was in a gathering of young people recently and could hardly believe the amount of hogwash I heard. Our young people are more fixated on morally bankrupt programs like Keeping Up With The Kardashians and the likes than understanding the history of Nigeria. I was mortified when one of these persons had not an inkling of what a parliamentary system of government was but she could tell me in detail of the Kardashians if I had asked.

Little wonder why some of these undergrads are unpeturbed about the current ASUU strike.

I fear for the new generation. With the prominence of Google which has made information easy to retrieve, I find it hard to understand why youths of today are not walking encyclopedias.

Inasmuch as we may choose to ignore it, we are gradually building an army of educated illiterates who know little or nothing about the world we live in. While a big chunk of blame would naturally go the high level of decay in the educational sector, the truth is that the thirst for knowledge has been relegated to the background for other valueless pursuits.

The world has become too fast-paced. Proper parenting is becoming a myth and this is probably the major blame-taker. Kids of today have become too worldly-wise because of improper supervision. The family is no longer the first agent of socialisation as unrestricted access to adult-stuff now lies at their finger tips and being impressionable creatures, you'd be surprised about how much they have learned; knowledge that they can't handle.

It is in this that opinions are formed and habits, learned. Without doubt, the perceived drudgery of reading a book is cast aside for the more promising excitement that the glimmer of entertainment has to offer.

It is important for today's parents to strive to instill a little analogue into this generation of digital kids. While I'm always impressed when I see kids that can operate iPads comfortably, how well can they read a book or write? What is their thought process like? Have they been configured to just be users and not makers?

The standard of influence has to change.

I am @saymalcolm on twitter.

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

THE HOPE THAT KILLS

Human beings have the amazing ability to adapt to what obtains in their environment. It is the reason we have survived on planet earth this long. It is the reason we have inhabited this earth for so long and have adapted even as the planet changed as a result of our activities.

Change is a never ending process. In life, there's no static. Its either progression or regression; movement is constant either in the positive or in the negative.

One of the major causes of discontent in world today is as a result of dissatisfaction with self; broken dreams and the eventual disillusionment. The onset of life is filled with hope and optimism for a brighter tomorrow. A man born is learns to believe that things will eventually get better. What happens when things don't get better?

It is amazing that in survey many years ago, Nigerians were regarded as the happiest people on earth. In a country were nothing really works, you start to wonder what the criteria was to label Nigerians happy. I prefer the more appropriate term "Hopeless hopefuls".

I have come to believe that the rare ability to numb ourselves to the harsh realities of today and live in an imaginary tomorrow with improved conditions is the reason we are what we are today. How does the average gateman who earns -N-20,000 monthly with a wife and four mouths to feed manage to break a smile? It is the belief that his situation can change in the blink of an eye.

This is one of the reason a revolution is near impossible in Nigeria. Everybody is content to live with the pitiable status quo and wait his turn even though it may never come. This mentality is killing us because we have become pushovers. We have no idea what a good economy looks like so we sit and wait or devise means to get a shot at the national cake.

This is not the way forward.

Take the ASUU strike for instance. The impasse between the Federal Government and the Union just clocked a hundred days and the curious thing is I don't see no protests. NANS is busy pretending to be the mouth-piece of the unfortunate students by lambasting the opposition party about how they are using the strike to score cheap political points.

Cheap, they say.

Isn't the job of the opposition to criticize? We may not like how they go about it but isn't that what they are supposed to do? Somehow, NANS has conveniently forgotten that the Federal Government has reneged on every deal it has signed with the Union. Why don't they condemn this shady attitude? Your guess is as good as mine.

How about the unfortunate plane crash that happened in Lagos sometime last week. Not to make light of the tragedy but "deadi bodi get e accident, yekpa!". Didn't Fela Anikulakpo-Kuti see this coming years ago?

The aircraft conveyed the remains of former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Agagu and, wait for it, former Minister of Aviation during the Obasanjo administration. It is mind-boggling that Nigeria has had not less than 18 incidents of air mishaps since 1999, with at least 3 happening in the last 2 years.

The real tragedy of the most recent tragedy was the statement credited to the current Aviation Minister, Stella Odua that air crashes are "an act of God". Any right thinking human cannot help but marvel at the obvious mental flaw in such line of reasoning. The only logical conclusion to be drawn is that something is horribly wrong with those who have run the aviation ministry since the inception of the 4th Republic.

As if the mediocrity espoused by the current Aviation Minister wasn't bad enough, another former Aviation Minister, Chief Fani Kayode sought to correct her by saying air mishaps were the hand work of the devil. In what could clearly be ascribed to incompetence, these Ministers decided to blame God and the devil.

Wonderful!

The NCAA responded by reactively suspending the licenses of Associated Airlines; and of course Dana Air which was responsible for the death of 163 persons in June last year. Only God knows why Dana was granted the license to ever fly again in Nigeria after such a tragedy of such humongous proportions.

We all are to blame for the continuous misfortunes that befall us as a nation. The Nigerian man does not think right; something is horribly wrong with his mind. It is the reason he accepts what he sees as his fate and continues to hope that some day, God will come down from heaven to change things for him. Why will God come down to change things for us when we believe that every evil that befall us is His will?

This hope for a better tomorrow has become a poison. A seed that has bred the spirit of indolence amongst us. Perhaps it is time to reduce the spectrum of that hope that binds us all in misery to realistic limits. We have been pushed to the wall but we use our backs to break the wall so that we can be pushed further. That is not the consciousness of a people that need change. Only fools continue to do the same thing in the same manner and expect a different result each time.

It is time to do things differently.

I am @saymalcolm on twitter.