Social Media: A space for the crude and the refined personalities

Technology has created a platform for easy actualization of tasks over the years, and it has added value to mankind with its ability to work faster than human energy could actualize per time. It created an awareness of easy interactions amongst people which is clearly seen as the social media sphere.

As much as the public craves for technology usage,It has however exposed the status, believes,  culture, etiquette, mannerisms, appreciation of beauty, and the opposite of its possessors, social media platform as an example. When social media is said,  we refer to the twitter, Facebook, BBM, WhatsApp, Instagram, 2go, and other related to the stated. The idea of all these applications is to connect the world, and not just a sect which is seen in the public's sphere theory by Jurgen Herbamas of how some are seeing at the coffee shop to discuss public germane issues. Taking a step further,  it is clearly seen that social media has reflected the true worth of each personality that familiarize themselves with the new information, communication technology and their take on public issues.
On each piece written by a participant, people often ignore the piece and move further to 'like' the razzmatazz, paparazzi of photographs posted. The illumination is that,  people in most cases choose to appreciate the colourful life over the importance of a discourse posted on walls, and the spaces. This appreciation of photographs has in large measure contributed to competition amongst some participants on the social media platform. My case as an example; I posted a piece accompanied by a photograph on Facebook, surprisingly, I got more than 30 likes for the photograph, and less than 14 likes for the piece, simplifies that people are interested in my looks than what I have to offer.

There are two personality categories identified according to a research done. We have the crude and the refined on the platform, and these two  sets have succeeded in their own bit. The refined are the ones that see the space as expression of their true form, without no injection of ego, but some level of objectivity,  while some that are referred to be the crude  are the ones that hide their true colours under picture collage, and project what the public want to know and not what they should know. Hypocrisy has taken over the media,  and what evolves is a fake identity painted to be the true identity of such individuals.

Social media has created the connection,  it would be an act of ingratitude to say its advent has polluted the generation on earth, but it should be addressed that the inappropriate usage of social media by the public is the issue to be tackled. Social media has turned to a market place where we have things of different grades, levels, sizes, figures misrepresented to be human,while the true humans are of  no relevance.

I

SOME MILES AWAY FROM TREASURE

The more I walk in the desert,  the less I have fear for my existence. My land is dry,  no water, no food, people are far away, and my soul thirsts for break away from the earth.

This is a fictional story of the poor and the sick. The poor often think about how to survive, and make ends meet, the sick grieves about how to pass the hurdle of diseases and break the barricades of plague. Often times these two segmented categories are always the victims of death, apart from the cases of home, automobile, and air crash accidents.

The poor suffer for lack of money, food, shelter and all, while the sick feels the pain of illness. I see a young boy picking foods from the bin, chews it and swallows it, the next day he cries of stomach upset, his poor mother gives him herbs because she can't afford to pay the clinic bills. The boy passes through this travail for months, until one day when a neigbour comes to call his mother where she begs for money that her little boy is dead. Unfortunately,  the boy died of typhoid.

The sick is lying helplessly on the bed,  waiting for a doctor to perform the miracle so that his health will be restored. He thinks in his mind that his life is a gamble if the doctors do not exist. Hopefully he says, that if his health is restored, he would eat all the meals he missed while bed reading.

The poor people are less privileged, and both the poor and the rich are also less privileged if illness sets in. I have heard of the rich die of illnesses, and the poor too. Money cannot buy life, so also poverty can short live a life.

There are people that are miles away from treasure,  but the treasured in treasures should help to treasure the lives of the people that are less treasured. Sow seeds in the lives of the less privileged,  and the souls shall never forget your good deeds.

IS TUNDE KELANI ON THE STARDOM LIST?

A photography expert,  movie engineer who is vast in almost every area of the Nigerian movie industry, the legend behind some movie productions nicknamed T.K which describes his name, Tunde Kelani paid an August visit to the university of Lagos mass communication department. The icon stated categorically that consistency and passion have been his strength behind the success of all his input and output.  It was a lunch of words amongst the masters students, the lecturers in charge of the course that triggered the invitation and the master of movies as he enunciated that he travelled outside the country to a movie academy,  but his passion has been the drive that made him to a stardom level of  being a television icon.

 Tunde Kelani narrated his ordeals as not being friendly, from the days he had to trek from home to where he was an apprentice, and how he had sacrificed some financial gains for better picture and story line quality. He never hid the onions as he emphasized that good story line is the secret behind a good photography which illuminates that the good picture quality of a badly sketched story wouldn't make the audience appreciate a well filmed picture. According to him,  the whole production crew are tasked to put in their effort for a better outcome of every production,  stating that a director shouldn't shoulder the abusive words when the whole production doesn't suit the viewing of its audience.

 Some of the movies that are associated with TK's record are some indigenous films;  'Maami' a movie that featured Funke Akindele, Wole Ojo and a host of special appearances, Saworoide,  and Agogo Eewo which is the second leading part of saworoide movie,  and a host of other movies. And some of the movies engineered by him have been nominated for different awards by different academies.

 Tunde Kelani was welcomed in a honourable manner by the head of the department of mass communication,  Dr Abigail Ogwezzy , Professor Ralph Akinfeleye, Dr Ifeoma Amobi,  and Mr Husseini Shuaibu for the visit to enlighten the students that are interested in the movie industry practice.

WHEN BONAPARTE LOST...

It was a long time ago some say, but it's still so fresh in the mind of some as it was relayed as a story. A tip of the story of a great warrior, Napoleon Bonaparte who was a military general who became the first emperor of France. He fought for military expansion, won some battles and lost some.

Bonaparte who was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France, fought to a capacity of gaining international recognition, but when he was defeated at Waterloo Belgium on June 18, 1815 things were not the same for him. He relocated to the island of St.Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean where he died after brief illness. 

The military man wrote before his demise "I wish my ashes to rest on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of that french people which I have loved so much. I die before my time, killed by the English oligarchy and its hired assassins" This simply implies that no man can fight what will kill him. 

General Sani Abacha would have fought the lady that made him to meet his waterloo by rejecting those apples, and Dora Akunyili was so close to wellness source as a director of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC), she died of cancer which she could not fight with her wells of knowledge in the health sector. 

So many heroes have fallen, Femi Anikulapo fell, Obafemi Awolowo fell, Nelson Mandela fell, but they all died empty. The time must have been fast gone, but the legacies they left behind still live. 

The legacy of a tyrant lives, as well as a freedom fighter's. The legacy of a music legend lives, as well as that of a lover of the lowly. We can not fight death, but we can die empty and what we are giving to the world as legacy should speak better things than evil as the blood of Jesus speaks better things than the blood of Abel in the Holy Bible.

MORTAL SCANDAL

Martin Luther King Jr says he had a dream where his family will be judged by the content of their character and not the colour of their skin. He preached societal love, on the other hand, William Shakespeare in his words says;I always feel happy, you know why? Because I don't expect anything from anyone, Expectations always hurt. Life is short, so love your life, be happy and keep smiling. He preached self love. What is love literally? Love could be a strong affection for something or someone or to be strongly inclined towards something, an emphatic from of like. 

When I was growing, i grew up in love, felt some hatred out of my abode, shared love with some, hated some and indifferent about some. What is love I said to myself? Love is what you share with people that you love either they are good or bad, and not to the people that are not appealing to you. That was my initial definition of love, but as time fades off and the day tilts, and the growing speeds up, I started to get the true meaning of love. In recent times, I got to know that love is a natural gift that is sincere, pure, and embracing irrespective of the tribe, colour, age, class, religion, achievement, appealing or not, but as long as you are a living being, you deserve to be embraced. 

However, the act of loving is scarce in our society, but the word love is seemingly spoken often. Lovers say "I love you" even when they do not like at all, brethren in some gatherings hug and say they love one another even when one is envious of another for putting on dope outfit. Believers do what is not suitable in the presence of their God and post on their social media some graphics that carry how much love they have for their creator. Evil prevails, killings, kidnapping, greediness, and the likes and some say they love their country or religion. 

In the same vein, it is love we proclaim that we watch poverty go to an extreme, a state where some live in the slum, sleep under the bridge, feed from hand to mouth, beg and get crucified and dressed like mad people on the streets. 
This is a scandal against love, a knock on its head, I can see blood dripping on its face. 

How do we deal with the scandal that love is faced with, When will the reputation of love be restored and bear it's true cross? This is mortal and it must be erased, but only if we can embrace one another irrespective of our differences and scream out loud that the scandal against love is indeed mortal.

LIVE LIKE ALAMIEYESEIGHA

Once upon a time in the book of law, a farmer had enough foods, he stored many in the barns, he boasted of his increase,  saw no need to beg nor work for years. He was pleased within himself and wanted his heart to merry,  but his creator came and made him to know that he has no reason to live further because he will demand for his life before it's dawn. Some say a story for the gods,  but I say a story for the people that believe death doesn't exist.

A likened version of this is the history of Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, a one time governor of Bayelsa state in Nigeria. He was in wealth,  living in luxury,  enjoying the national cake until international was added and almost £1.8million was detected in his possession in the United Kingdom, and the saga that led to the charges heralded. It was never a soft feature,  it  was a hard news that got viral when the investigation started. Most Nigerians' hands were on deck to see how the whole drama would turn out to be, tragic comedy,  comedy,  or tragedy.

The smart man in his own way skipped bail in Britain on the charges and escaped from Europe. His disguise to achieve this escape left so many people surprised because it was a male transforming to a female.  A male with lipstick, woman's apparel, neck chain with his forged passport to make the drama line complete. All these were the things the late governor did to free up himself.

The man in his quest to forfeit a bail bond of £1.25m took a Euro star train from London to Paris and from there travelled to Douala a port city in Cameroon where he found his way to his home town. The Nigerian investigation body, The Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC) was bent on investigating the matter, but the then governor was immuned following the position he held.

In October 2015, the death of Alamieyeseigha was announced, he was said to have died of cardiac arrest. The late is tucked in a body bag,  either taken to the mortuary or buried,  he never took a penny with him.

The farmer in the book of law probably would have worked tirelessly for his increase,  but late Alamieyeseigha could have worked a bit, but must have added the benefits meant for his citizens thereby making it an ill gotten wealth. Lesson to be learnt; We should not believe in the wealth that we embrace,  but appreciate the giver of life that made us to exist. Lovers of wealth are often worshippers of wealth,  and when wealth takes the position of your creator,  then calamity sets in with time.

BOKO HARAM, A SECT TANGLED WITH CORRUPTION

And when the drum of freedom was beaten, the tail of the viper was stepped upon. It was a sound of joy on the first day of October as Nigerians remembered the day they bid their British colonial masters farewell. Billions was spent, merriment took over, the green and white colours were flying over, but the joy did not last as a dreaded sect put a pin in the eyeballs of some family members in Abuja, the federal capital territory of the country. Death toll and cries could not make the leaders of the country rest following the incident that touched so many kind hearts. The bombings and killing over the years have been the event that got so many writers on their desk with their pen and paper, and it has also awakened panic in the country, as it seems not to be a safe place to reside.
 
A new government emerged in 2015, it vowed to save the country from the doom, but has the change been felt? Does it mean that the administration is weak enough? Do we judge in earnest the lack of result on the fight to rupture the insurgency? These are questions Nigerians should ponder upon.

The displaced victims are in pain, the family members of the dead are in sorrow, the vulnerable are scared, even the men cannot claim that their confidence is in place. Jack says; why are Boko Haram Sect killing people? If I will answer, Boko Haram doesn't know what it's fighting for, because no one knows its yearnings. Wickedness I say it is called, when a missile is detonated to end a man's life, when innocent girls were kidnapped only to be found in a forest called Sambisa, when matchet are used in slaughtering human beings, when some group are victimizing the security put in place by the government, and when a sect makes its leaders seem powerless.

Boko Haram Sect, if you say to the world what you are fighting for, a better understanding will be given. Negotiating with terrorists is like bowing to the devil and bargaining wrongly, because the devil will never want the best option for man. This is not a fight for another day, but a fight for this day and a time to put ethnicity aside and stand as one to live life to the fullest. 

Boko Haram Sect must go down, and when it goes down, peace will reign, fresh breath will be taken, freedom will be well said to have gained, but until then, corruption will also go down because it is also a Boko Haram sect that is set to make the country lag behind in its quest.