Must read: Stop the rubbish.

AFRICAN PERCEPTION OF IMMORTALISATION. 

Written by Daniel Aondoakaa

As an African to the core , you can be rest assured that I have a full grasp of the concept raised above. Read along as we dissect the wrongful perceptions of Immortalisation with special attention to Benue.


Immortalisation is a way of keeping memory of the dead. This can be achieved via raising statues of the late personality, naming important places and institutions after such an one who "deserves" to be remembered, national or international holidays in honour for the late, printing their images on currencies and so on. Head or tail, immortalising is a way of showing eternal gratitude to a dead person for their contribution to humanity while they lived.

My grandmother would tell me, let me enjoy you now, for when I'm dead, I would not feel anything. This message is relevant to every illogical thinking persons who thinks they should spend their monies and show what is called last respect for a dead when in reality, they have no respect for the dead while he lived.

Tor Tiv the 4th while he was yet alive, at the last decade of his life, I can't particularly point out to evidence of respect shown on his person by politicians and the rest of Tiv children. But I can point at several evidences of disrespect, disregard, discontent shot at him.

From hauling insults on him to hauling faeces  ( shit) into the royal palace and to singing mockery songs sponsored by politicians, one which I remember part of the lyrics thus; "... Tor u party la a buwe a nenge ikyewe na loo..." yet, at his passage, a renowned institution was named after him. "Alfred Akawe Torkula College of Advanced and Professional Studies, Makurdi". What height of hypocrisy!!

Whatever we copy from the western world , we do ours in Africa and particularly Nigeria in a wrong way. We copied democracy and ours is different, we copied true federalism but only federalism seem to appear in our copy. We copied true secularism but we have a fake, we learnt immortalising but ours is something else, yet, some persons are hoping to have an original copy of a copied "ranching ". He hehe!

Yesterday, the " Suswam thank you " inscription on an LGA primary school fence located at wurukum were pulled down on said orders from above. What is the motive?? Whatever the motive, we see it as a heightened show of distraction in the ruling party.

You could raise up better structures and we'll have no problem putting inscriptions of Ortom thank you. And if salaries are paid for five months at a time, I would make a tattoo with inscription of "Ortom thank you " on my forehead.

So, we can't say thank you to people who have done some good to humanity while they are alive? When do you think it's best to raise structures for remembrance of one's good, until they are dead?

Such is the wrong African perception of Immortalisation.