We have a dream

FUNKE ADETUTU

Some weeks ago, Ogho Okiti, the chairman of our editorial board here at BusinessDay accused me of making too many trips for which I never invited him. His comment was informed by a piece I did titled: The Telephone Conversation. I hope he won’t be crossed with me if he reads this and discovers that I made another trip to Ada in Osun State last weekend!
It wasn’t a self-sponsored or planned trip. It was one made possible by the Future Awards. Honestly, it was a fun-filled trip, one that made me feel good and rekindled hope that it was still possible for Nigeria to be back on the wheel of progress again. It was the meeting of brilliant young minds in the country and I was touched by the outpouring of ideas from everyone through the different arguments that marked our trips from one part of Osun State to another.
It was great hanging out with crazy but humorous characters like Lepacious Bose, Ego of Koko Below fame, Derenle and Kunle, Rooftop Mc. These were comic characters who never struggled with their inner selves to make us laugh. It was as if they were naturally born with jokes, so you can imagine what our moods were as the rib-cracking jokes effortlessly flowed from the inner recess of their beings. Lepacious Bose and Rooftop MC spontaneously joked about virtually everything, even the most serious subject.
Most of the subjects range from childhood, adulthood to other social issues. Quite instructive were the jokes on childhood which forced each and every one of us to think about the innocence characteristic of that period. It was a formative stage when many seeds were sown on the fertile mind of a child. And the argument was made possible by the fact that every one of us on that bus passed through that stage. Hence, when Etim Emmanuel who earned the title of ‘Mr. Advocate,’ as a winner in that category of the Future Awards observed that a child should have access to sex at a stage when he reaches orgasm, every one on the bus yelled a resounding “no.”
“As a young boy,” he recalled, “I asked my mother when did I have an erection? She was shocked to hear me ask such a question at such a tender age of 10. But she wouldn’t answer me because she felt it was not the right kind of question to ask.”
“Yes, I understand why your mother refused to answer. If I become a mother, I wouldn’t encourage my young girl to have sex at 12 or 13. It’s wrong,” Lala, an actress with Theatre@Terra, countered sharply.
The argument was long drawn and poor Mr. Advocate was on his own as almost everyone was against his position. No body saw the issue from his perspective. For me, it brought to bare the pretentious nature of our society which classified certain norms as good or bad. Ours is a society that considers sex education a taboo, hence, young boys and girls are made to learn this on their own. I’m very sure that most of us on that bus learnt what we know about sex either from friends, the programmes we watched on television, or the magazines and books we read.
The interesting thing about the whole argument was that it was at this age of innocence also that we all had dreams to become this or that in future. This seed, sown in our hearts has been realised by most of us while we still aspire to do better than what we are currently. Even as young adults, we have many dreams yet unrealised.
As we made our return journey to Lagos, we all exchanged contacts. While doing so, Bose of the Bank PHB Intern fame requested Mr. Advocate to add his telephone number to the contact list on her phone. Our dear Lepacious Bose would not let this pass her by.
“You didn’t ask for my e-mail address,” she queried, adding, “because I’m not Miss Advocate, abi?”
“I need it for my political career,” answered Bose.
“You want to be a political?” Joked Rooftop MC.
“Yes, I want to be the first female president,” replied Bose while giving Rooftop a serious ‘I can do it’ look.
“I want to be the husband of a president,” said AY with a toothy smile, as he raised his two hands to the air almost hitting the bus’ roof.
“You will be the first man, you mean?” Asked Rooftop Mc.
Hitherto, Bose and AY had been the two love birds in the group. They were always together, except when Bose was not at the breakfast table. Thus, it wasn’t a surprise when AY openly announced himself as the first man to be, a rare feat in a patriarchal society like ours, you’d agree. Well, I must say that this kind of thinking is only possible with this kind of young man, who, like everyone of us, is the voice of the future, the ideology which drives all of us, including the organisers of the award. It’s about young people with revolutionary minds who believe in the Obama slogan: “Yes, I can!”
It’s about men and women who believe in the power of their dreams. It’s instructive that all of us have dreams, projects we hope would materialise someday.
Meanwhile, let me hurriedly whisper this into your ears, Lepacious Bose is working towards staging a new kind of comedy show, Emilia Asim-Ita, marketing coordinator, Future Awards aspires to become a newscaster, Mr. Advocate is working towards Nigeria signing the African Youth Charter, like other African countries that have done so, Rachael Ogbu of NewsWatch magazine is planning to go for a higher degree abroad, the list is endless. It’s about engaging in positive activities that will bring changes to our fatherland.