NOTE: There will be foul language used in this post to drive home some points. Yes, it could have been written without the cuss words but then, it would defeat the purpose. If you’re fine with that, read on, otherwise, look forward to some nice, wholesome, likely irrelevant, definitely random, posts to follow soon. Oh, and this post is rather long, too and all over the place. Smile.
You know how we take things for granted just because they’re always there? Like a chair, for example. You just know it’s there and you park your butt in it, not giving a second thought to its existence; like how it got there. You know, was it once a tree that bore beautifully delicious fruit? Was it a cow mothering playful calves (no, not ‘yams’ as in calf muscles but baby cows, where one is a calf. Don’t get it twisted now. You probably took THAT for granted too! Digression in the first paragraph? *sigh*) before being reincarnated as a Lay-Z-Boy without prior consultation or negotiation? At this point, you’re probably thinking – why do I care or where is Johnny Random going with this? (Would you be surprised, one bit, if I said I didn’t know myself?)
Well, here’s where I’m going. Since the 1980s (80s baby, holla!), well, 1990s in Nigeria, cable television has become a fabric of basic human existence. You just had to have cable television, otherwise, what would you watch? VideoMart, VideoNet & Mega Movies (all video rental clubs, for the uninitiated) could not provide on-demand entertainment. So the rise of MFP, ABG and all other pretenders (be it transmitted via satellite dish or rooftop antenna) was imminent and welcome. However, as the years advanced, a powerhouse rose to monopolize the cable game – DStv, promising ‘so much more.’
Most subscribers incessantly curse DStv for offering limited channels, even though they offer over 250 (or is that 350?) but they go bonkers when the ‘limited’ service is unavailable. For a man of simple tastes and such easy virtue (read that statement however you like, heck, I don’t even know why I wrote it), as long as I can watch the NBA, Around the Horn, PTI and SportsCenter on ESPN and catch the Barclays Premier League on SuperSport, I’m good. Any channel that airs classic sitcoms and movies (okay, and corny T-movie classics like Mega PiranhaĀ get airtime too – T-movie: since movies are classified as A or B movies, these programs are too terrible to rank high on the movies’ alphabetical rate scale. And being terrifically terrible, trivial and thrilling, these tearjerkers [from laughing so hard at the unintentional comedy, not from the highly emotional nature of these moving pictures] totally take on a T rating) as well get a look in from me.
Anyway, this isn’t about what or why I watch, neither is it about people’s complaints on viewing limitations. However, if you live in Nigeria, in a major city, chances are you have DStv at home, work or your local beer parlor. The monopoly is real (hitv turned bye-tv real quick) and it is part of your life – DStv is just there!
So here’s what it is – for years, I never thought about what the D and S in DStv stood for. All I knew was that I had DStv and there it was. It was never a big deal because it had become part of life, something that was just there because it was meant to be:
“What’s that?”
“It’s DStv!”
“Oh, ok. Pass the salt, please.”
However, the random generators kicked in one day while watching an old movie, I forget which, and I realized that the D stood for DON’T and the S for SWEAR! DStv is DON’T SWEAR TV! Anybody know what I’m talking about? Well, whether you do or don’t, lemme get into it.
Watching a movie on DStv, do you realize that cuss words are muted? For example, let’s say an angry character goes off, what you’re likely to hear is, “What the ____ would you do if you were me?” or maybe, “Could you please stop?! I don’t need this ____ right now!”
You might sit there thinking, “So why exactly is he complaining; isn’t censorship a good thing? Kids might be watching!” Well, I have two major issues with it:
One. It disrupts the natural flow of the movie/story and just pisses me the hell off.
Two. What then, is the point of their parental guidance feature and the little animation in the top right corner that tells you the age rating of the program and whether it contains N(udity), V(iolence), S(ex) or L(anguage)?
Surely, if the L is highlighted, we know there’s going to be F bombs dropped in there. Yes, I know we cannot control what our children watch all the time but there’s also the parental control function, however, most won’t even bother learning how to activate it, it is, after all, ‘such a hassle.’
Anyway, my issue is not with subscribers but the service provider. You chose to air a movie you advertised to me, the viewer, and then show me an altered version of the movie. What’s that about?
One. Why show it at all, then?
Two. Why bother with Parental Guidance, then, if you’ve gone in to alter already?
It beats and bugs me for real.
However, beyond the colorful ‘fucks,’ ‘bitches’ and ‘shits’ that get no airplay on DStv, the words ___ and _____ are not allowed either for some reason. Why are you confused? Oh, you don’t know what words those are? Well, maybe I don’t either because DON’T SAY TV won’t let the words come out of the characters mouths!!!
Anyway, the words are God and Jesus. I haven’t realized nor paid enough attention to ascertain whether Allah, Buddha and other religious figures receive the same treatment. HomelandĀ is on DStv now, so I may try to catch an episode and keep watch. So, if a guy is trying to plead for his life onscreen, you’re likely to hear:
“Please, for the love of ___, don’t kill me!”
Or how about the startled young lady that didn’t notice her lover sneaking up behind her?
“Oh _____, you scared the ____ out of me!”
I would sure love to watch The Passion of the ChristĀ on DStv. Don’t know how I only just thought of this. However, it seems the censorship is limited to MNet Channels as TBN for example would be something to watch with a ban on ___ and _____, no? I mean, they’d have to blur the name on the screens as well, no? Like the works of the LORD (I believe you’re allowed to say LORD but I may be wrong, thinking someone meant to say ___ when they actually said LORD), the reasoning behind the censorship is a mystery.
So, thinking it was a choice between DON’T SWEAR and DON’T SAY, I learned there was yet another DS while watching Higher LearningĀ on DStv one day. (Oh wow, I just realized that my mind went to work while watching a movie about higher learning – what, you didn’t get that from the title? – so I’m not a total doofus :D) In case you’re unfamiliar with this John Singleton movie or just can’t remember, it focuses primarily on racial tension and self discovery as the transition is made from boys to men and girls to women.
(Possible SPOILER Alert but the movie is about 17 years old)
A pivotal scene in the movie depicts the rape (or attempted, depending on how you look at it) of a female student by a male student (while that might seem the obvious sequence, you’d be shocked), both white. The girl’s roommate is black and she is called a bitch (at least, I believe that’s what he called her, as DStv was sure to hit me with a _____) by the white guy when he calls the room to talk to his victim. You know the sistahs don’t play that, so she calls her black buddies and they are more than willing to mobilize and head over to the guy’s dorm, where an all-white party is in full swing and deliver a can of whupp ass!
Here’s the thing, the rape scene was filmed but it wasn’t anything disturbingly graphic like Monica Bellucci’s rape scene in the disturbing yet brilliant Irreversible. The couple, a bit tipsy, was actually getting along and fooling around. She was willing to have sex with him but her issue was his refusal to wear a condom. He kept going, convincing her it was ok and she started trying to fight him off but he was already inside her. The scene depicts her struggle, fear and anger as she tries to fight him off of her. It goes on for a while before she successfully shoves him away and frantically scrambles out of the room.
Why speak about this scene? Because on DStv, it quickly cuts from them on the bed, her saying no and then to her scrambling away and out. So, having never watched the film, you may think nothing happened because she was able to hustle away from the situation before it went far but he had actuallyĀ penetrated her and was havingĀ unprotectedĀ intercourse with her, much to her dismay.Ā I can understand that rape is a very sensitive and touchy subject and they felt some responsibility to downplay it but it is a part of the movie, a pivotal one at that, which you’ve decided to air and again, you have your Parental Guidance ratings in play. Also, the movie was airing after midnight.
So in essence, DStv is also DON’T SEX TV!
In the movieĀ Sex and the City 2, Charlotte has a well-endowed nanny that is averse to wearing bras. During a scene where she’s bathing one of the kids and has a vest on, the kid sprays her with the shower head and of course, it’s wet top city. DStv didn’t show the result of the spray. A Samantha sex scene is also omitted. It has SexĀ in the title but hey, what do I know?
The premise ofĀ Hall PassĀ has two wives giving their perverted husbands ‘hall passes’ which gives them a week off from marriage to do whatever they want to do. One wife gives her husband one but the other refuses to give her husband the ‘privilege.’ The scene features him going up the stairs behind his wife and when she says there will be no nookie for him that night, he says he forgot to take out the trash and the next scene has him being handed over to his wife by the police with nosy neighbors looking on but DStv would rather have one imagine why he got arrested. The reason is alluded to but can easily be missed. It turns out ‘taking out the trash’ turned into him masturbating in his car and being caught by the police. It was just his chest to head in the shot but his trembling arm and facial contortions pretty much gave it away but I guess DStv would rather have you guess why he got arrested.
Anyway, I have broken it down to DON’T SWEAR, DON’T SAY and DON’T SEX but DON’T SWEAR is the top contender and the reason I say this? I once watched The Original Kings of ComedyĀ on DStv…
Now pause for a minute and let that sink in… The… Original… Kings… of… Comedy…Ā on… DON’T… SWEAR… T… V! Yes.
In case you haven’t seen it or you don’t remember (I seriously doubt either applies to anyone reading this blog), the show closed with the late Bernie Mac breaking down the word, ‘motherfucker’ to the audience. He described it as a noun because “it describes a person, place or thing,” which is why black people use it so much.
Watch the video here and either refresh your memory or witness comic genius at its finest.
So, in closing (finally! yes, even I am tired), I have this to say:
Can someone tell _____________ DStv that they ain’t gotta censor every _____________ program they _____________ air because that _____________ ____ be pissing _____________ the ____ off. Trying to watch a _____________ classic ____________ of a movie and these _____________ here have to go edit out all the _____________ cuss words. What typa _____________ ____ is that? I mean, really, who _____________ does that? So, listen to me clearly you _____________ DStv operators. I pay my _____________ subscription every month, to watch some _____________ quality television and you _____________ keep _______ with the _____________ broadcast, pissing off a ____________! Just _____________ stop and show the _____________ movie the way it was meant to be _____________ shown and stop trying to be some _____________ holier than thou _____. If you keep pulling this _____________ ____, I swear to ___, one of these days, I’mma come on down to your _____________ office and whoop the ____ out of some _____________ ___, comprende?
And I’m out this ____________!
Yes, I really just made you read through 2000+ words of drivel.
I Am Random!
WHAT A TANGLED WEB(SITE) WE WEAVE…
Unless you have been sequestered in the mountains over the past two weeks, then you must have heard about ‘My Oga at the Top.’ You haven’t? Or you have but just don’t mind being reminded? Well, rather than ‘trying’ to explain this new phenomenon, you just have a look for yourself (again).
(Incase the video doesn’t show, try this link)
Yes. That is the video clip that over the past two weeks has sent social media engines into hyper-drive with several interpretations of the funny but sad – pathetic, even – exchange that went on in the video above. The major response to the video has been contagious laughter by the people and I, admittedly, at the very least, chuckle, with every new incarnation of this occurrence and will post some of the ones I’ve seen at the end of this entry.
However, as funny as this may appear, in all honesty, it is not a laughing matter. Yes, I’m still laughing but I think I should be crying right now, as should other Nigerians. The viral video further highlights our continued free fall as a nation. Devolution, if you will. If what occurred is put into proper perspective, we just watched the Lagos State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps fumble his way around – within, without, over, under, through, beside… – the answer to the most basic line of questioning: What is your website? In his defense (a very lame attempt, trust me but what am I without digression?), the pedant might say he was not entirely wrong as, perhaps, he really could not categorically give one then because he was not the one going to create it; ‘it’ being ‘his’ website, as a website ‘address’ would have been the proper question but like I said, that is the pedantic view. š
Anyway, as some of you may have just found out, the NSCDC stands for Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps. I didn’t know what it stood for before I watched this video and the friend that sent me the link, nor the others he shared it with, knew either. Or at least, no one offered a meaning. So shame on me and I guess any other Nigerian who didn’t know this. OR… is it a shame on the agency and the government (it’s always their fault, isn’t it? – that’s sarcasm, for the uninitiated) for not making themselves known? I mean, the interviewers did try to help us out by finding out the web address but we all saw how that worked out. So, I decided to find out the actual web address of the NSCDC (www.nscdc.gov.ng) and also what the outfit is about. Feel free to visit the website but here are some highlights:
The first item (at the time of posting) you see on the site, under LATEST NEWS is tagged: NSCDC DEPLOYES 5,000 PERSONNELS FOR FCT ELECTIONS
Now, I’m not sure if this is a pedantry issue as ‘speaking/writing good English’ isn’t necessarily a demand in service but it certainly helps. However, alarm bells cannot but go off in my head when I see ‘deployes’ and ‘personnels’ on the home page of a website, a national one at that. It is not very encouraging.
Anyway, moving further through the site, the first three paragraphs of the ABOUT section read thus:
“NSCDC is a para-military agency of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that is commissioned to provide measures against threat and any form of attack or disaster against the nation and its citizenry. The corps is statutorily empowered by lay Act No. 2 of 2003 and amended by Act 6 of 4th June 2007.
The Corps is empowered to institute legal proceedings by or in then and of the Attorney General of the Federation in accordance with the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria against any person or persons suspected to have committed an offence, maintain an armed squad in order to bear fire arms among others to strengthen the corps in the discharge of its statutory duties
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps was first introduced in May 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War within the then Federal Capital Territory of Lagos for the purpose of sensitization and protection of the civil populace. It was then known as Lagos Civil Defence Committee.”
Can we call Commandant Obafaiye Shem’s (yes, that’s his name) response (or lack, thereof) ‘a disaster against the nation and its citizenry?’ You decide. Moving on…
The MISSION & VISION page reads thus:
MISSION:
* Developing structures and training strategies that would contribute to the national security by using modern technology.
VISION:
* To put to work efficiency, humility and integrity in service delivery with a fresh zeal; bring credibility into concept of security.
FOCUS:
Our focus shall be in the area of broad based information networking monitoring of movement.
On the MISSION statement, modern technology like say… the internet?
On the VISION, with regards to it’s Channels Television representative’s performance: where was the efficiency, humility or integrity? There was certainly a zeal but fresh is one of the last words I’d attach to it. And let’s just steer clear of the credibility angle, shall we?
While an entire change of FOCUS is required after this interview, I guess focusing on ‘broad based information’ made little pockets of info like say… a website address, unimportant?
After surfing the NSCDC site, I decided to watch the full interview during which this gem was dropped to try and get an overall feel for what really went down. (Broken down into three parts, you can watch the interview via the channelsweb YouTube page). Commandant Shem (even his name, unfortunately for him, adds to the unintentional comedy) was in the studio to discuss the allegations of fraudulent recruitment activities existing within the NSCDC and 12 other government agencies. It starts with a report of a man (identity concealed) alleging that he was told N150,000 would secure him a job, with a N50,000 deposit and the N100,000 balance to be paid on employment. He has lost all contact with his ‘recruiter’ since the deposit was paid. To Commandant Shem’s credit, he did make, for me anyway, a valid point in this regard, asking how and why, a supposedly poor and unemployed Nigerian would find a way to raise that kind of money and give someone to get him a job. He put the figure at N400,000 – N500,000 though. So, seriously, if you can find a way to raise that much money and still hand it over for the promise of a job? I don’t know what else to say. Yes, I know times are hard and poverty is very real, causing people to act rather irrationally but… I don’t know… Moving on…
Commandant Shem, who took charge of the Lagos office three months ago after being redeployed from Katsina, was there to say that no form of employment scams existed within his agency. Watching him address questions, his internet hit makes perfect sense as it was in line with his performance up to that point and beyond. I hope you do find the timeĀ to watch this interview but below are some of the things that struck me while watching:
(Well… you took us inside and we’ve seen, and I doubt many of us shareĀ that confidence.)
(Oh, what a relief! The NSCDC is clean, so it’s totally fine that the website has been compromised and hundreds – maybe thousands – are being mislead. Great job!)Ā
(Hey, you’re just the Lagos boss and it’s only, what, the main commercial hub of the country? You’re right. You absolutely should be clueless on such matters because the D in NSCDC, Lagos, doesn’t stand for ‘defence’ like it does elsewhere? Roger that! Yes, I am intentionally ignoring the automatic comment. It might turn into a whole blog entry)
(I’ll leave you alone with this one…)
(…)
There’s a lot more where these came from but you have to see for yourself. This, for all intents and purposes, is an example of the leadership we have today. The sad part is, he might be very good at his job but just lacks the skills of self expression to effectively get his point across but watching the viral clip and the interview in itself, that position is very hard to defend. Where he could have simply said, “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure,” he opted instead to ramble on for a few seconds, forever cementing notoriety. His reassurance on the absence of scamming at the NSCDC is “confidence in its leadership.” That is what the hungry, duped, unemployed citizen you have sworn to defend is supposed to accept? That’s straight up cow’s boyfriend’s doodoo.
We’ve all laughed repeatedly at the video but what about the millions crying while the ‘fattest’ are getting fatter? Nigeria is like a 53 year old man that can’t tie his shoelaces, so he keeps tripping over himself. We are sabotaging ourselves! Where does it stop? What can we do? What do we do? Everything but give up hope but it gets harder every hour. Qualifications mean squat, it’s all about connections. ‘I don’t care about your character, I care about what you can charter and your idle chatter.’ It is a cesspool and we’re all seemingly willingly diving in; head first, ass outĀ for easy access to never ending screwery.Ā Yes, I can still make up words while I’m pissed.
I heard Commandant Shem has since been fired which is probably a rumor but who knows? In the military ranks, in these parts anyway, that often supposedly means redeployed to some outpost out of ‘harm’s way.’ If he’s really been fired, is he to blame, really or he’s just a product of his environment? A result of the system which chronically allows offices of import to be held by individuals who either don’t care, have no clue or both. I mean, the ‘oga pata pata at the top’ did go on CNN to say the citizenry is happy with the power situation… Which way is up?
It hurts just thinking about it, so I’m going to let go now and look for some ice cream to cool down my boiling noggin. So as promised, I will now refresh your memory with the numerous ‘social experiments’ birthed by this unfortunate incident or introduce you to them for the first time. In parting, I will say this… we need a resolution and we are the solution, we just need to find the right formula. Failure to do so, categorically speaking, would be a damn shem.
Top of the morning… or is it?
In the Hottest Seat
Incoming Call
Missed Calls (rumored to be made during the live broadcast)
High-Up Fashion
Romance
Wenger meets his match (and they didn’t qualify)
International News Interest (doctored tweet)
The Hollywood Version
And here he is, the mystery man that has been the flavor of the moment:
What do I have to do to become the oga at the top?
I Am Random!