In Turkana

In Turkana

Saturday 8 September 2012

DOWNING THE TOOLS

From teachers, doctors, students to journalists

I remember like yesterday though it happened 11 years ago. While still proceeding with my elementary education at Dandora Primary school, in the heart of Nairobi’s Eastlands, or Eastlando if you may, noise just erupted from outside as classes went on. I was in class eagerly awaiting the lunch break to commence. Hungry and bored, it was around noon when all hell seemed to break loose. I’m not trying to be dramatic but you can imagine the horrifying feeling a 12 year gets on seeing the teachers and staff run around in confusion and the rooftop undergoing massive pelting from stones of all sizes.

MAYHEM! Destruction is normally a result
It was a fateful Monday that will forever remain etched in my mind. Events leading to the mini Armageddon were that a young pupil from James Gichuru Primary School, also in Dandora had passed away after being hit by a matatu (Public Service Vehicle) while crossing the road, just a few metres from the school. His fellow schoolmates in anger had burnt the vehicle down to a shell and resolved to get all pupils from the estate into protest against reckless driving. And boy did they succeed.

Money is almost always a matter of contention
This course of action bore fruit but at a cost. The simple chant of ‘No bumps, no school!’ not only resulted in the creation of road bumps along the estate’s roads, but it also taught me the power of action in numbers. Nevertheless, it was a day of unprecedented chaos with looting and confusion marring the image of Dandora. After really the melee had subsided, did I come to terms with what it really meant to participate in a strike.

All the Kenyan students want is to learn
For some strange reason, I tend to believe that the culture of taking industrial action by striking is deeply rooted in the Kenyan psyche and the aforementioned incident is just to show that it’s not only the doctors and as the current situation, teachers who duly opt to do so in order to be heard. We also have university students who amidst chants of ‘Comrade Power!’ make their voice heard and stomachs filled in such strikes. Woe unto you if you own a restaurant on their path. We even had their lecturers copy-pasting this style of airing their grievances sometime back and as I type are also starting on another strike. The Vice president then had to intervene when prison warders threatened to take the same course of action and that was not long before many innocent lives were lost due to doctors opting to use a strike to twist the government into hearing their pleas. As a matter of fact, it’s just a few days since Kenyatta National Hospital, the biggest hospital in this part of the world duly fired 400 intern doctors who had also borrowed a leaf from their seniors and downed their tools. And don’t get me started on the section of women who wanted to deny their men conjugal rights in protest…

Normally, a 'ring leader' will gather the masses
As a college student, I have at times felt that only a strike would make the administration of my institution come into terms with some of the student needs. Yet I know deep down that a better way exists. I think when the gap is too large or the concerns too grave, then two parties might find great loss once a strike is called. The Government promising 300% increase of salary, albeit 15 years ago to teachers has come to hunt it now. The issue must be addressed because time wasted can never be recovered. The ball is in the teacher’s union and state representatives to chart a way forward.

The First family; Probably the children are in the best private schools
 I do not support the teacher’s strike but maybe, just like that sunny day in Dandora, back in 2001, a lasting solution will be found. Till then, I remain, Njabia the 3rd.

Tuesday 4 September 2012

LOYALTY

Number 1 fan my foot

Robin van Persie. A lot has been said about him already but this was a man who made me believe so much…that the world still has some good people, who despite the riches and fame that come with being a modern top flight footballer in a major league, maintained humility. As an Arsenal fan, I went through the expected cycle after his departure to Manchester United. It began with sheer shock that gradually turned into anger, resentment and finally into acceptance that the inevitable had happened. Arsenal’s captain, talisman and best player had signed up for our most bitter rivals in the name of his own words; a ‘lack of ambition’.
Arsenal's 'captain curse'
Arsenal made you.

Robin had arrived in England in 2004 from his former club Feyenoord amidst allegations of being an egocentric 21 year old who was selfish in play and plain hard-headed. Even his school records support this as he was constantly on the wrong side of the rules. Disagreements with his manager made him get minimum time on the pitch and at the end of the season, had him placed in the market for 5 million Sterling pounds. Arsenal captured him for half the priceJ! Nevertheless, his time of arrival in the North London club coincided with an era of unprecedented success; the era of the 'Invincibles'. This confined him to the bench for long periods of time as the likes of Henry and Bergkamp ran the show.

Who needs Robin when we have Podolskiiiii?!
Even when he began playing on a regular basis, you could tell he was immensely gifted but would go on to suffer from various injuries season after season. This cycle repeated itself and only in the 2011-12 season did he have a solid and injury-free season under his belt. Not only was he suffering on the physical front but Arsenal stood by him when rape allegations were levelled towards him in June, 2005. I do not know whether he had cheated on his Moroccan wife, Bouchra though he apologized in public for indecent behaviour towards a former Miss Holand-Nigeria. The rest as they say is history. I admired this man but I know he is no saint having seen him lose his temper on the pitch times a plenty.

Maybe Arsenal felt too ol' school than ol' Traff?
Among my DVD collections, one I intend to throw away, ‘RvP’s 100 goals’, the man speaks so loyally of the club that made him a household name and a world-class striker. He recalls the goal against Manchester United when Arsenal won the F.A cup back in 2005 in glee. Then he goes ahead claiming a 'boy in his tummy' always shouted for Man-U upon signing a deal worth millions with them. Strange you have to agree. He knows pretty well than a mere fan like me that you do not join a most fierce rival unless you are plain greedy or dumb. Well, I believe he is smart and left for the riches because he knows, just like anyone who knows football well that had he stayed behind, Arsenal has a better squad than United.

Au Revoir!
Sometimes I think that as much as money is good and we all should have ambition, we should not get over ourselves and even hurt people due to what even the Bible calls selfish ambition (Philippians 2:3). I do not hate RvP, neither will I deny that he is immensely gifted and most importantly will I really be engrossed with him anymore. So, BYE!!! And I hope you continue smiling every time United fans hail you a legend after years of calling you ‘rapist’.

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