Category: Editorial

Another Nigerian makes waves abroad

Naturally, John Boyega’s Nigerian parentage is a source of pride to his Nigerian compatriots. He is also British by reason of his birth in Peckham, London. But that does not erase his Nigerian roots. His celebrity is strikingly captured by a UK report: “his name and face and every utterance will shortly be ubiquitous.”

The 23-year-old London-based actor has been described as the “new hero of Star Wars”. His role in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is coming four years after his successful 2011 film debut  Attack the Block, and it has taken his cinematic career to the next level. The Force Awakens, scheduled for release on December 18, is the seventh film in the Star Wars space saga.

The first film in the American series about the adventures of various characters “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” was released in 1977, and the production has since become a “worldwide pop culture phenomenon”.

It is noteworthy that all six films before the latest one were commercial successes and were nominated for or won Academy Awards. A report said: “He didn’t tell his parents about the Star Wars auditions, despite a seven-month process, and says his dad was in the bathroom when he was told the big news, dressed only in vest and pyjama trousers. “And he said,” Boyega begins, putting on his dad’s heavy Nigerian accent, with some exaggerated finger-pointing, “‘I knew it! I knew it! Well done, well done, well done.’”

On the day he got the part, the director reportedly quizzed him about his family, and wanted “to know exactly what’s going to happen when this fame, or whatever, comes.” A role in a primary school play got him noticed early, and he was invited to join a theatre school for talented children. He benefited from a hardship fund. As a performing arts student at South Thames College in Wandsworth, he participated in theatre productions at the institution and played a lead role in Othello in 2010.

Listed among the “UK Stars of Tomorrow 2011”, Boyega in March 2012 featured in the film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun. In April 2014, he emerged as a lead character, Finn, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Boyega’s emergence on a bigger stage is a big booster for his career as well as his profile. By extension, his success is good PR for Nigeria because of his origins. It is always welcome when a development makes the country look better than international perception would suggest.

In the professional world, Boyega’s rise should inspire actors and actresses in Nigeria’s film industry, known as Nollywood; and encourage them to aspire to professional excellence worthy of international recognition.

Boyega’s stardom also makes a statement about how people can have their dreams come true in spite of difficult beginnings.  His journey to fame in Hollywood, the world’s leading film industry in America, is particularly remarkable because of his Peckham background.

Interestingly, Boyega made light of Peckham’s image as a tough place. He said in an interview: “It’s too complicated to get into the whole tough-estate thing…It’s just boring, but I’m not representing that, because it’s not my story. I went to the theatre growing up and to Westminster City for secondary school, and was commuting from Peckham. My estate wasn’t tough. To this day, it isn’t tough. We used to draw a square on the brick wall and play penalties. What makes me laugh is when people say, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s tough.’ What’s tough? I don’t know what was tough about it.”

Boyega is a symbol of possibilities. It is not enough for the country to identify with his achievement. It is more important for the country to work towards excellence.

• Nigeria must do more to protect its sporting and other heroes

A recent declaration by a powerlifting coach that he was desperately searching for a job because he did not wish to become a thief exposes the dilemma of a nation whose retired athletes rarely enjoy the post-career welfare taken for granted in other nations.

Sports professionals are particularly vulnerable to the dangers of indigence in old age. Although the financial rewards for sporting excellence are much better than they used to be, far too many athletes still do not pay enough attention to ensuring their financial well-being later in life. Nigeria’s stadiums and other sporting arenas are full of decrepit ex-athletes begging members of the public for money. The list of those who died in poverty despite their sporting prowess is a long one: Rashidi Yekini, Alloysius Atuegbu and Sam Ojebode are only some of the more prominent ones.

Many destitute former sports professionals often admit their own culpability in contributing to the situation in which they find themselves. They confess to extravagant lifestyles which they never thought would come to an end. They failed to prepare for life after sport by considering alternative careers from which to make a living. They assumed their popularity could always be turned into profit.

Such carelessness is worsened by the country’s own inability to care for its sporting heroes. Rewards promised to victorious athletes are sometimes not redeemed, as was the case with the Abuja homes promised to the victorious 1994 Super Eagles. Training grants meant to help prepare athletes for forthcoming competitions are not paid, delayed or not disbursed equitably. When athletes are injured, they are often left to their own devices.

When they retire, it becomes clear that they are entirely on their own. Athletes do not have government pension or healthcare plans. Those who wish to go into coaching usually finance their training themselves. Their accomplishments and fame, which could be useful in social mobilisation programmes, are almost never put to use. When they fall ill, their predicament is hardly publicised until they are virtually at death’s door, only for hypocritical praise to flow after they die.

The consequences of this lamentable situation are already becoming apparent. Many current athletes have developed a hard-headed attitude to national assignments, insisting on dollar payments for their participation, regardless of whether they win or lose. Their patriotic zeal on the field of play is often not as high as it should be. Those who are approached to fly the flags of other countries often accept such offers with alacrity.

Nigeria’s ex-athletes deserve better. They are the heroes of sporting narratives which have done more to bind the country together than any other aspect of national life. Their performances on the field of play are symbolic of the nation’s aspirations and sense of self; by extension, their suffering is similarly reflective of an uncaring country.

Pension schemes can be developed to cater specifically for athletes, enabling them to put away part of their earnings during their productive years so that they can be drawn upon when they are no longer active. Greater attention must be paid to training them for lives after sport, especially in the areas of coaching and physical education. All rewards promised to victorious athletes must be redeemed promptly.

Nigeria’s attitude to its ex-athletes is a reflection of its attitude to the citizenry. If it is to change for the better, it will have to reform its welfare system to ensure that it guarantees everyone a life of dignity long after their productive years have ended. In achieving this, the Federal Government should build upon the pioneering examples of states like Ekiti, and Lagos, where senior citizens are paid monthly stipends and offered free medical check-ups and treatment, respectively.

•If INEC cancels Southern Ijaw vote for violence, it must look at other areas where peace was compromised

It is odd, as now often happens in Nigerian politics, that the result of an election may not tell the story about the election except as farce. In the kogi State governorship, a sense of foreboding pervades the declaration of Yahaya Bello as governor-elect. It has now triggered ominous litigations.

Now, in Bayelsa State, another theatre is unfolding. The resident electoral commissioner (REC) cancelled the Southern Ijaw poll on the grounds of violence.

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timipre Sylva, protested the cancellation, citing double standards and partisanship on the part of the umpire.

Calling it a “rape on democracy,” Sylva said the REC cancelled the election because his party had won and overcome the lead of the rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP.

The election raised a number of questions. One, if it was widely reported that violence sullied the elections in other local government areas, why did the INEC pick out the Southern Ijaw vote for nullification? Violence also flared in Sagbama, Nembe and even the state capital, Yenagoa.

Ekeremor lighted up with unease when bands of hoodlums rammed into the residence of the minister of state for agriculture. Only a counterforce from the Joint Task Force quelled the onslaught. A protest from the APC representative was fobbed off by the INEC officer. Similar complaints attended other parts of the state. It is therefore curious that the same reason was cited in cancelling the Southern Ijaw vote.

The other issue concerned the inadequacy of the military. As violence ran rampant on Saturday December 5, the military seemed coy as the thugs tossed bombs and unleashed a variety of high-profile weapons. On Sunday, when only Southern Ijaw Local Government Area remained after cancellation, the army ought to have settled for the relatively smaller swath of territory. How was it that violence ignited in the area? Sylva said he had to call the security forces a number of times to tame the impunity of his rivals. It speaks of a failure of intelligence, vigilance and readiness.

The most egregious drama concerned the governor of Bayelsa State who was also the PDP candidate, Seriake Dickson. He had shown both on Saturday and Sunday that he did not want the election to hold in Southern Ijaw. He personally paid visits to INEC office against the law. More regrettably, he saw nothing wrong in his acts. After that, his subordinates also paid visits and curiously the INEC did not show any sense of remonstration with a player cohabiting with the umpire during a contest.

Later, on Sunday, he went on radio to incite the people of the state to protest the vote. He asked them to surge to the streets at 2pm, and tried to appeal to tribal sentiments against the Federal Government. What he did amounted to a breach of the peace. It is a treasonous irony that a man who was elected to keep the peace decided to flout it in pursuit of his personal interest.

Clearly, the INEC must steer clear of any impression that its officers in the field are pursuing a lopsided vision. It must work hard to ensure that the two elections conducted under the watch of the new helmsman are inconclusive because they are so, and not because of some subterranean designs.

If the Southern Ijaw elections must be cancelled because of violence, it must also consider places like Sagbama and Nembe where the APC protests, according to Sylva, “died like a candle in the wind.”  We cannot afford an INEC that officiates a one-sided game.