RECESSION DIARY 4

RECESSION DIARY 4
LESSON : SMILE
"Suffering and smiling 44 seated in a molue 99 standing na your curse be that."
One woke up early this morning ruminating over this iconic song of the legendary Afrobeat King Fela Anikulapo Kuti the Ebami-Eda.
Indeed it seems Nigeria has been cursed to be under a yoke of perpetual suffering and smiling for if after decades of rolling around in the muck of under development the narrative has not changed from the 70s when the musical message of the Afrobeat king was delivered.
Alas this time around the narrative appears even worse as the rate of suicides reaches an unprecedented level.
First a man hung himself in Akwa Ibom State after consuming the last supper which was actual the first morsel of food he had seen in days. Obviously he went out on a full stomach at least.
Another lept to his death from a sky scrapper in Lagos in his birthday suit. Another lept into a Lagoon but was rescued by passers-by amidst his cries that why should they rescue him that it is his life to lose not theirs.
Meanwhile my friend narrates a tale that the grim reaper is now a resident evil in Nigeria for his trip to make furniture for his use revealed that every carpenter is now a coffin maker as the nest of brand new coffins being churned out daily is a direct reflection of how poverty and disease is snuffing the life out of many Nigerians hence suicide is now seen as the Great Escape from the Almighty Recession by many.
This is further buttress by the latest UN report that 80 Million Nigerians live in extreme poverty. 62% of Nigerians are living from hand to mouth and now the recession has come one wonders if this figure is not going to rise.
When a bag of rice costs more than the minimum wage one wonders for how long this situation is going to last?
But lo the most important thing of all is to keep on smiling in the midst of the Recession.
Smiling suppresses depression and instills hope that tomorrow will be a better day. Smile at your partner. A good smile can make the burden of hunger pangs lighter and can quell even the most quarrelsome of days hence making surviving the recession less painful.
Smile at your boss for it is those that appear friendly to oga that are most unlikely to be sacked when the list of redundancies is drawn up. Smile at your neighbour. That smile may just uplift his spirits and brighten his day giving him some hope  as a bleak new day begins.
Nigerians are no more suffering and smiling for the latest Happiness Index conducted by the BBC shows Nigerians are no more the happiest people in the World as we were at the turn of the century. We are now 4th from the bottom of 180 countries surveyed.
Hence we are now suffering and frowning which is even worse.
We have indeed gone full circle as the mistakes of the past when leadership fails us, is still being repeated. As I scroll through my smartphone reading the headlines I wonder what really is there to smile about before I dish out advice like a know-it-all.
#BrringBackOurGirls campaigners being manhandled and disowned by another regime who prefers to hire sychopants and police to disrupt a peaceful march over answering the cries of parents wallowing in sorrow over their missing girls hence one is left wondering what really has changed?
Heavy rains wrecking havoc and killing a newly wed couple in a resultant mudslide even makes it seem as if the gods are angry with a nation which has been presented countless opportunies to turn the corner yet remains steadfast in it course towards mutual destruction.
But we must smile. Smile and thank God for the gift of life for even in the desert of suffering there must be an oasis of peace.
So I go out today with a smile on my face.
Lesson : Smile. Recession or no recession man pikin go survive.