By Paul Ukpabio
Public analyst and man of many part, Dr Reuben Abati is furious! Though his anger isn't physical, but his writing on the recent proliferation of Guinness World Record attempts by Nigerians in recent times exposes his anger.
Abati writes that the people who have paraded themselves publicly in attempt to copy Hilda Baci's feat at winning a record, are envious, jealous and desperate.
Reuben Abati in a recent opinion column titled: Nigeria and the Hilda Baci Syndrome, wrote lavishly to scold these opportunists and enumerates several parts of the attempts, that has turned out a malaise, a total sickness.
Quite a lengthy piece, we had to abridge Abati's words below:
"The people imitating Hilda Baci and seeking a Guinness World Record are not children. It appears they are envious people, lacking in originality who simply want to pull down Hilda Baci, and prove that they are better than her. Envy. Jealousy. Desperation.
"In a country where inflation is galloping, and more people are slipping into the poverty trap, salaries and pensions are not paid, it must not be too surprising that the young people have become so desperate they would imitate anything that can bring a little fame and opportunity. Hilda Baci cooks for hours, gets famous, everyone else rushes to the kitchen. It is an emergent trait in our land. People don’t think. They copy.
"If you set up a business, and you seem to be doing well, before you know it, everyone in the neighbourhood would set up a similar shop. And if they have their way, they will stop at nothing to pull you down, in typical crab-mentality fashion. It is a crime to succeed at anything in Nigeria. And it is in every facet of our lives: in politics, business, academia and even in personal relationships.
"When as a politician, you give people opportunities to also grow and rise, the next thing they would be gunning for is to dethrone and send you into retirement while they move past you. Many friends whose colleagues die, pretend to be helping the widow, but their main interest is to take over the wife whom they have always been eyeing by the way. This is the root of the psychosis.
"Worse still, this character flaw is often justified as did the kiss-a-thon Sugartee of Ekiti state. After the state government banned his proposed programme he later came forward to say that he actually did not want to organize any kissing marathon. He, being a musician, would ordinarily have proposed a singing marathon, but if he said he wanted to sing, nobody would have paid any attention. So, he had to announce a kissing marathon which got him the attention and influence that he needed. “People now know Sugartee,” he said. “In this country, you need something to get people to talk about you.” Sugartee also reported that he was invited to the Ekiti State Government House, and that he, the same man that the past administration in the state ignored, is now being invited by the new administration. And he has the effrontery to take the people for a ride and promote a scam?
"Sugartee and others like him who have turned the pursuit of a Guinness World Record into an opportunity for clout-chasing, misrepresentation and deception should be made to face the full wrath of the law. There are too many jobless people in this country, particularly among the younger generation who are willing and ready to turn everything into a joke. Can we all get serious for once please? Administrators of The Guinness World Record also have an obligation to review their procedures and introduce more stringent rules to protect public morality and humanistic values.
"Nigerian youths have a bigger obligation to dig deeper into our culture as Africans to evoke and embrace profound authenticity, innate resourcefulness and heritage that we have across board instead of competing viciously for Western style-records that come across as a validation of their own limitations rather than true strength.
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