“Mom, don’t mention Naira before you call my name” dollar
said in feigned anger.
“Shut up Dollar. Naira is your sister. How can you talk
about her that way? Have you forgotten when you both were so close in
value?” Their mother cautioned dollar.
“But what did she do with it? Mom, what did she do with it?
Mom, do you remember you assigned me to America and she to Nigeria? I hardly
see her in America but in Nigeria, her rich men prefer to use me. Sometimes,
some of her people that travel down from outside Africa spray me in their
ceremonies; how that vexes me.”
“What point are you making, young lady?” her Mom asked, all
the time Naira bent her head in shame
“That her people are trying to devalue me but they can’t. I
keep rising every day. Right now, one of me is equal to over three hundred of
her. See, they have completely made a mockery of her. They spray and trample on her
in their ceremonies. How disgusting! I can’t imagine America doing that to me.
Do you know they have one thousand of her in one single note? Looting made easy. Hahaha!”
“Naira, do you have anything to say?” Mom asked. Naira’s
head was still bent in shame. She tried to speak but her lips only quivered.
“Mom, do you know another annoying fact-she has the laziest
of leaders. Her leaders rather spend me in America and other non-African
countries than develop her place. Do you know how many of her women come to America just to put to
birth and have American citizenship? Who wants to have Nigerian citizenship? I
heard some time ago, one Governor had an accident; he was rushed to my place
for check up. Eh! So she doesn’t have any good hospital in her place? Headache,
they come to me” and she gave out a wicked laugh meanwhile Naira has turned
from red to purple.
Under her breath, Naira said “But my children will not learn
from me. They will not learn from the past. I have given virtually everything
from human resource to natural resource to land mass, yet they will not learn.”
“Learn from you? A bad mother? Have you taken your time to
teach her anything? Have you ever heard of the American dream? Oh yes, I taught
my children to dream of a better America, of a better life and to pursue it
with all their heart and might. You, what dream do your children have? Take their own share of the National cake.
All your structural adjustment and human empowerment programs are just avenues
to siphon money. Your leaders steal from you and take it to go develop other
countries. Shame on you Naira! Are you really my sister? Mom, do you know in
her place, energy is still poor, so manufacturing is very low. What do they do
with their abundant sunlight? Haven’t they heard of solar energy? They import
practically everything from toothpick to their refined crude and yet they have
very many unemployed graduates and young people. Mom, should go I on?”
“No, don’t. What is it going to be? The story of the dollar
and the dollar?”
“Yes mom. It will either be the story of the Naira and the
Naira or the story of the dollar and the dollar. I don’t even know who she is.
So, for now, it is the story of the dollar and the dollar. Period.”
Mother turned to Naira and said, “Naira it’s time to grow
up. You have been given everything. For Christ’s sake, grow up. What is that
name they call your children-Giant of Africa? Rise up and grow up because
surely, you can.”
“Yes ma” Naira replied.
“And you, dollar, no more gloating.”
“I wish I heard that Mom, but I didn’t. Goodnight.”
Twitter:@club7teen
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