|
She is blessed
with good looks and natural health. She is even skilful at being tactful and
saying and doing things that do not offend people. But her only deformity is
that her arm is longer than her thigh. She is a diplomat, an African diplomat
to the core. She is brilliant no doubt otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten to
the position to represent her country. Even if she had gotten there through
lobby or bottom power, she is still brainy. Such is the way I always like to
fantasise her.
Perhaps she could have directed her intelligence and
beauty to serving her country well if her country had helped her grow in that
direction. She rose to become a symbol of her baggage. When you see her, you do
not need to visit her country before judging rightly the state of things there.
But we shouldn’t cast aspersions on her, for it isn’t her fault. If the country
she represents lacks foresight, it’ll be unfair to expect her to have inner
perspective for the implementation of the very thing why she’s a diplomat.
We shouldn’t defend her hustle and bustle actions
either. This diplomat loves her family so much that she’d do everything within
her power to transport or siphon them abroad. In her view, it doesn’t matter
even if she has to send her relatives abroad as a check-in luggage. For her,
the end justifies the means. She’s fulfilled as long as her relatives benefit
from her position as a diplomat. Let them leave a country that exists without
or with very little hope. After all, we are in the era of neo-colonialism and
her Excellency does not want to fail in this regard.
But why is she always confused whenever she reaches
the host country? Is it culture shock? Is it inferiority complex? Is it
ineptitude? Why does she always keep quiet even when her compatriots are being
maltreated or killed? Does her silence in almost every issue an indication of
her deformity? Is she afraid of being mocked? Even if her arm is longer than
her thigh, she’s still beautiful; she’s still blessed with unconventional
beauty. Perhaps she needs constant complimentary remark to boost her
confidence.
How could we help her in this regard? We should always
remind her that white-water rafting is not for the timid. Let her know that her
compatriots expect a lot from her. Let her know that she could use her own
initiatives within the context of diplomacy. Let us remind her that she could
turn things around as someone with good looks and intelligence – her deformity
notwithstanding. But let us also tell her that we know she’s operating within a
rotten system that allows her to be rotten. We want to be fair to her.
There’s something she should know and I trust she’s
reading this message. Let us use this occasion to bring to her notice what her
people think of her. When you ask those in the Diaspora what they think of her
Excellency, the usual reply is this: “Ah, na madam you dey talk about?
Madam comes here to enrich her pocket abi na purse? I beg make una leave
Madam…Na her time o. Abi no be what all of dem dey do? Stealing and Smiling and
Styling”.
Is she desperate or frustrated? There are two
unconfirmed rumours. That at the time civil war broke out in her country and
she was undergoing some financial crisis, she willingly gave her diplomatic
passport to traffickers. Another one has it that a compatriot went to the
embassy to discuss possible business with her Excellency. The answer, according
to the rumour, shocked the young man who had hope that his expertise would
benefit his country. The Madam had quipped: “wetin go be my own share?”
She does not reach out to her people, even in this age
of global communication. She is lacking behind in providing useful information.
Perhaps she thinks everyone is a hustler. This is interesting because her
people also think she’s a hustler masquerading under diplomatic immunity. They
would joke that she’s like the African tourist who decides to live permanently
in Europe. Is that why she keeps silent on every issue affecting her
compatriots in the host country? Is that why her presence is like being absent?
Does she know what her job entail?
As a result of her strong silence, her hosts do not
trust her intentions thereby they often subject her to a thorough search
whenever she passes through their borders. They check her letters or packages
despite her diplomatic status, yet she maintains her silence. For her, a
diplomat – a real diplomat – shouldn’t say or do things that offend people. But
why is she behaving like mumu despite her intelligence? Does she
have skeleton under her skirt?
She
may even think thus: why should I protect a people whose own government does
not give a damn about their welfare or human rights. It actually doesn't matter
to her what the constitution specifically regulates as her duty. She might add:
if nothing works where they come from, why should anything be different at
their mission abroad. What a mind devoid of hypocrisy. How could we blame this
pretty woman for ineptitude or greed when those who sent her on a mission
abroad appear to be the master of corruption and racketeering!
Perhaps she really wants to serve but for the pressure
from relationships back home. As a diplomat, the expectation from her family
might be too strong than what she could resist. They want her to bring all the
cars and other materialistic things in her host country for their own
enjoyment. Since she wouldn’t want to disappoint them, she might be forced to
collude with her subordinate who understands her host country’s language to
manipulate receipts for a wasted or phoney trip. She might even naively
transact business with 419ers or con men. She loves the expression: wetin
go be my own share?
Copyright
2008 mysmallvoice@yahoo.com
|
Authors 
Posted by Robot| 25.06.2008 15:38