Double (Trouble) Wahala
Wahala!! For whoever wants trouble, it is always available and in measure to what is needed. According to the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, wahala doesn't go around looking for people, the word is inanimate but people go to stir it up from sleep.
Generally speaking, the world from different angles always looks for how to get engaged. Some scientists when to look for Wahala in outer space, Neil Amstrong and his counterparts, it was suppose to be a search into an invention or advancement in science and technology but they came back with Apollo or Conjunctivitis. This is one way to explain the concept of wahala.
He went further to say:
Yanga dey sleep, trouble (wahala)go wake am.
Meaning that peace was having a nice time but wahala went to touch it. Just like in the popular cartoon series, Tom and Jerry.
The mouse is the first to always look for wahala. The cat is always on the pursuit because the rat will never allow it to rest.
W hy Wahala (Commotion) Everywhere?
Humans are known to be insatiable. We always want to be better or smarter than the other person. We do this by showing off our greedy nature.
Some years ago, a young man who wanted to pursue his dream in music, came all the way from Jos in the Plateau to Lagos.
Since it was his first time in the city, the bus conductor that he boarded was collecting fares from him at every bus stop. Unknown to him, the initial payment he made had been covered for him till he will alight in his destination.
When he finally reached his destination, he caught up with his pal and narrated how difficult life could be in the city, considering that he had to pay fares to the bus conductor at every bus stop. To his amazement, his friend told him that he had been cheated.
He felt bad.
That same evening, they went out to a pub and found the bus conductor there. He was having the fun of his life. Johnie just came to identify him and went to ask him of all the illegal charges he collected from him earlier in the day. Now, there is Wahala.
Nigerians Are Wahala
Don't be scared. The most friendly and accommodating people in the world are Nigerians. Things that could have resulted in chaos or violence, we would just laugh over them and move on. But we love wahala.
And when we desire to give you wahala, we will stop at nothing to dish out fully.
Recently, university lecturers went on strike over poor salaries and infrastructure. The National Association of Nigerian Students protested and blocked major roads in and out of major cities.
The minister for education was summoned to a press conference with the executive of the NANS. He walked out of the meeting and the students sang on top of their voices.
♪ Solidarity forever (3x)
We shall always fight for our rights.
Now wahala have started
The most recent wahala is that as an endowed nation, blessed with crude oil, we ought not to suffer scarcity of petroleum products. For about three weeks, we have not had adequate supply of fuel and to worsen the matter, electric supply is not frequent. That is wahala in embryo.
A litre of fuel now sells for almost a dollar. That's wahala for an oil producing nation.
We want a world where peace reigns. A place we all can call home. The brouhaha and wahala only worsen what we experience.
Let everyone learn to keep away from another's trouble. With this, wahala will be a thing of history in our domain, nation and the world at large.
Fela was actually right. Wahala no dey fight pesin trouble, e dey ihn own jejeje dey sleep, na people dey wake am up.