At the mention of the name Dambazau, many Nigerians
will quickly recollect a man who turned a whole DSS
officer into a shoe shiner at a public gathering aired live
on TV. The video of the sad incident has since gone
viral, and trust Nigerians they bashed the minister of
interiors with harsh words.
Many pen warriors also voiced out their opinions about
the incident, and noteworthy and arguably the most
popular of those write-ups is the one written by Reuben
Abati the media aid to ex president Goodluck Jonathan.
In the article titled "INSIDE DAMBAZAU'S SHOE" Reuben
Abati surprisingly had no harsh word for the minister
who is a member of the party that dethroned his party in
the last General election(we all know the details), he
even told us the worth of Dambazau's shoe (2 thousand
pounds). Though personally I have some issues with
Reuben Abati picking up pen and writing as a public
commentator after he has wined and dined with the
affluence in the corridor of power,anyways that's a topic
for another day. Oga Reuben Abati made us realize that
the DSS officer in question is not alone in the lick- the-
boss-shoe and carry-madam-bag attitudes, he narrated
incidents of commissioners standing while the first lady
is sitting comfortably and when offered sits they decline
smiling sheepishly all in the name of satisfying the boss.
Had these afore-mentioned acts been real and genuine
one would have no problem with the "faithful and"
obedient servants but alas they are mere eyes service
one the many characteristics of "chop and clean mouth"
politicians.
But are our politicians the only ones guilty of this
"Dambazau's shoe crime"? Capital No, my recent
encounter with a rich or better still comfortable Nigerian
changed my Perspective...
So i found myself in Enugu state in one of my "Waka
Waka" adventures, there's this Car wash at the entrance
of a g.r.a that enjoys the patronage rich/comfortable
people, just this Sunday i was strolling along the car
wash and lo and behold there was a grown man probably
30+ cleaning bathroom slippers for a man around his
age. The Dambazau i'm talking about was sitting
comfortably in an highlander jeep with his legs sprouted
out for maximum cleaning. I was surprised and appalled
not just because of the poor mentality and inferiority
complex of our people but also because the shoe in
question is not a sleek sneakers or a-two-thousand-
pounds-shoe Dambazau was putting on in his own case,
a mere bathroom slippers that costs #120 or even #100
wholesales price, needless to say I was moved and
infuriated that I had to move closer to the scene. After
about 3-5minutes at the feet of his customer, the man
stood up, hung the red towel on his shoulder and said
"oga, is it Okay? Which the Dambazau's kinsman
customer nodded his reply.
I stood there transfixed until the customer drove off then
i engaged the man in a conversation, I said
"bros that thing wey you do no good ooo, did he pay
you for that one too?" the man who didn't see anything
bad in the dehumanizing act replied "Nna wetin i do you
nah?
I said "why you dey clean slippers for that man after you
don wash the car finish?" the patted me on the shoulder
and said "if I no clean the slippers, he no go pay" At that
point I decided to drop the issue, I just mumbled "na wa
ooo" and left him.
The above scenario is what obtains now in Nigeria of
today. I remember discussing the Dambazau's case with
a coursemate one idle afternoon, my naughty pal had a
funny Perspective of whole thing, he said "that DSS
officer must be an aboki, because abokis are natural
born shoe shiners" maybe or maybe not, but there was
an igbo man cleaning bathroom slippers Happily and I'm
very sure that somewhere in Nigeria a yoruba man/
woman is doing the same voluntary, disgusting and
dehumanizing work of unpaid shoe cleaning.
Here is my question are Nigerians natural born shoe
shiners?
