BOB MARLEY'S LETTER FROM THE GRAVE

ROBERT NESTA MARLEY. Well, you all know about the guy, when he was born, and that entire beautiful story round and about Nesta. So I will not bore you will such long talks so I don’t end up telling you what you already know and get on your nerves. So, the story here will be all about “why I love Bob Marley”. Okay fine, I will tell you when he was born…No vex! No be only you go read am. Some deh sef weh no no the story about the man sha.

Robert Nesta Marley was born on the 6th of February 1945 in the Saint Ann Parish of Jamaica...
His father Norval Sinclair Marley was a white man in his 50s and his mother Cedella Booker was a black woman who was 18 years old. Due to this, he suffered a lot of racial prejudice in his childhood. Although his father provided the family with financial support, he was away most of the time on his work related trips. Bob Marley was ten years old when his father died.

His family moved to the Trenchtown slum in Kingston after his father died. Since he was of a short stature and due to his mixed origins, Bob Marley had to endure a lot of bullying. So he learned self-defence and eventually gained a lot of physical strength. This earned him the nickname… 'Tuff Gong'.

This is also the time he met Neville Livingston (later known as Bunny Wailer) and they began playing music together. At 14 he apprenticed at a local welder's shop and began to make music in his free time with Livingston and Joe Higgs, who was a local musician and a devout Rastafarian. It was at one such jam session, that Bob Marley also met Peter McIntosh (later known as Peter Tosh). End of story! I will go no further than this… You already know the story and you know the rest.

But it is still about why I love Bob Marley. I love Robert Nesta Marley for his simplest way of life. Bob Marley's car most of the time is a Volkswagen bus. That is what we call "danfo" here in Lagos. Yet this man had Millions, not just in Jamaican currency, but in dollars.

For his simple life and nature, he nearly got killed many times. So bodyguards were suggested for him, yet he seldom uses bodyguards apart from when he goes to concerts and you know, you have to put the crowed in order. After the concert when he gets back home, he was still the little “tuff gong” the community grew up with and knew. He has not changed. He never changed. He was still the Bob on the street and when it is time for football and he was free, Bob will come out and play with his mates or whoever was available at the field of play. I am talking about a "WORLD CLASS SUPERSTAR" here. Can our superstars do that? E go hard o.

While many were calling him local and directionless, Bob was gathering his millions in banks for his children’s future and the future of his coming generation that will come. He was not flamboyant even with his big money from music. So it hurts too much when Nigeria politicians will steal government money and pile it for their children. Stolen money? They will end up using it to snuff cocaine when you are gone.

Let me tell you something about children. No matter how bad a child is, every child knows a good man, a loving man and a man that leads by example. Bob Marley’s children were watching him and learning from him and luckily for Bob, he had a very intelligent first son Ziggy who took his path in family unity and leadership. So, why are you killing yourself in the name of stealing government money so you can pile it up for the future of your children when your children know it is stolen money? IT IS WASTE! You can read about Ziggy Marley’s interview on this blog, if you follow this link. http://10knews.blogspot.com/2012/12/interview-with-ziggy-marleyfather-legacy.html

Your children knew it was stolen money and it will be used without respect, because it is stolen money…cocaine, heroin, gay and lesbian practice and all manner of cultures that are alien to us. Lead your children by positive example. Give them the chance to find the need to get to know they have creativity in them. It is not about your flamboyancy and expensive schools you send them to. Let them know there is something called choice and honest leadership. Let them learn positively from you and that they can chose to make success all glorified and leave the same legacy for their own children. In this way, Nigeria will not be going backwards as she is going now.

I would have mentioned Fashola, but since he started to have fracas with the Okada guys, his ranking has dropped with the people. All the same, he has a concept which most governors in Nigeria tried to copy initially. But when they found out that it was not giving them enough chance to loot their states treasuries, they all dropped the Fashola idea for him and when back to looting. I heard some of them bought private jets from the loots. I am not a Fashola disciple…NO! I am just a lover of positive idea for my country, my people. I have no other place I can call my own apart from this country. Many of his opponents have said he would have done better if not for Tinubu’s strong grip on him and on the purse of Lagos state, but that is not the reason for this narrative.

The reason for this narrative is totally also not about Bob Marley, but about us...The Nigeria Children. Nigeria is our mother and father. So this is about WHY NIGERIA CHILDREN ARE RUNNING AWAY FROM NIGERIA. What are our fathers doing that are not going down well with us her children? If you are a leader and the government purse is in your hands, what are you doing with it? Pushing the whole billions to your purse and that of your close friends, what about us? As Wande Cool will say…”Na so we go deh deh!”

The late next vise president who served next to General IBB, I will not mention a name, you know him, could not give his people electricity while he was in power and when he retired from the military and went home, he wanted to install a big generator in his compound for his personal use. The community refused and rioted against it. If not for soldiers’ interventions and the elders who talked to the youths, innocent blood would have been shed there for nothing. Eight years in power and you could not beg IBB whom you are his next hand in power, to give your people electricity? Yet millions were passing into your personal account? Abeg!!! What about us?

What about us? What about us Nigerians? Why has Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (in twitter the hastag is GEJFailed), who went to school with “no shoes” suddenly began to hate the presence of the poor and just be giving them empty promises? “We are on top of the situation. We have formed a committee to look into it”. What is that about the poor that smells too badly that the rich find too pungent that they don’t want to help them, but to trample upon them. Yet in times of elections, you want to bribe the poor with a bag of rice? Well, you have just spoken out your disgust out and the wise ones have heard. You have just told them, they are hungry and they should eat rice and come and vote for you. I thank God for the wiser ones like I said. They will take your rice, eat it and still not vote for you. Some don’t even want to vote anyway. (But that is not a good idea. Make sure you vote for when you don’t vote, the evil men will continue to stay in power)

Now back to why I love Bob Marley. Why was Bob Marley concerned about the poor and making sure he never lost touch with them? Why was he dinning with them? Why was he playing with them? Why was he always with them? The answer is this and very simple. Your best strength as a person is when you are surrounded by and with people in a place where money does not matter, but love and friendship. Where people can talk to you freely and you can talk back to them same way too. Where they were not afraid to tell you the truth to your face and not fearing that you will use your money to intimidate them. He knew it and he used it. And they loved him for it…let me say that this love for Bob Marley will last for lots of years to come.

So, back to us. You are a rich Christian? You have failed Christ. Christ was always feeding and healing the poor. He was always with them. He loved them, HE helped them. If HE wanted to be in the parliament and turn himself to the Christ of the rich, HE can and could have done it most easily. Why not? The rich always try to entice HIM with their wealth. Well, that’s not bad. It’s okay to have wealthy friends. But HE dines with them and goes home to sleep under the same roof with Paul and Peter and the other apostles. You have failed the Christ if you are a rich Nigeria and your people can’t feed. They only benefit from you in times of campaign. You have failed The Christ.

You are a rich Muslim? You have failed the mission of the Prophet. The Holy Quran told us that the prophet gave strong warning never for you to despise the poor or the beggars, but to see to it that you help them. Never send a beggar away. Never turn your back on your brother. We know these things and you know it too. We have read these things and you have read it too. So what about us? What are you doing to us? We are the people the Prophet Mohammed told you to help. He said for you to be our voice with the position you are holding in Government now. Not for you to turn around and use us to create religious violence and turn twist the Holy book to favour you because you have money. You failed the mission of the Prophet and the promises of the kingdom will pass you by. After all, you have had your earthly fill.

What about us? We are the people Jesus Christ was telling you about to use your wealth to help us. That Government money you stole and put in your account which is our collective money anyway. Christ gave you the instructions to feed the five thousand. It is not until I am from your mother's womb that I can be regarded as your brother. NO! Once we are under one roof called "earth", then you and I are one family. The Whiteman left Europe, and the Far East to bring us education…Yes they also benefited from it, but you are I are better off with it, and we owe them a thank you. If not for them, the twins will still be used for sacrifices and there will be no “P-Square” or “Aneke” girls. If not for them, you will not be flying that private jet, for you will be one village warrior some where waiting for the next village war to happen so you can tie leaves on your waste and go fight with woods and sharp stones. We know this and you know this… so what about us?

Nigerians who cannot do armed robbery and kidnapping are running away from the country to other lands where they can at least find a little peace, electricity, food and work. And if that does not bother you as a leader, then your name na sorry. And if that bothers you as a leader, what are you doing about it? Education used to be very beautiful and we found love going to school when Awolowo gave us free education. That time, if you pass WEAC, nobody looked at you suspiciously thinking you have bribed your way through or slept with some invigilators. But now you build schools with church money and only the rich can afford it. What about us?

Nigeria sports are dead; all thanks to weak Government policies and embezzlement of sports funds. What are you doing about it? The EKO12 has just ended. People no care. Dem no send. Dem no gree come...why? Where has the love for sports gone to? They have no love left because they were busy looking for what to eat. Who no chop deh go watch sports for stadium? Haba! Your government policies have killed our sports. So now, do you know how many billions of Naira they make from these sports viewing centres? Ask multi-Choice and you will be shocked. Our money is transferred abroad to the Whiteman because the only club we know about now is Chelsea and Barca. And as stupid as that might sound, Nigeria is the place they have their biggest fans, that you can hear a full grown Nigeria man living in Nigeria saying “my club has won today and I am so happy”. What is his club? Manchester united. If you call “Eyimba of Aba”...he will tell you “shut up! Eyi wetin, eyi nonsense” Or you say 3SC. He tells you again to shut up! What is 3SC? Is that a formula for mathematics? Do you blame him? Ha has no local sport he can call his own. So my Government, what about us?

You blame our girls for the high level of infidelity, prostitution and being too loose. Haba! See you! Dem no go chop? na only you sabi use blackberry and drive better car...If the level of play have been fair and conducive, most of the girls doing “Ashawo” and “Aristo” would have been super stars, somehow, somehow in sports or in education or in show business, but the level of play here is not fair....my heart bleeds but what can I tell you now that you will hear? What did Bob Marley tell his children that made them to be responsible? What did Fela tell Femi and Seun, which made them responsible men in our society? What are you telling your own children that make them want to loot Nigeria treasury? What about us? What about us? What about us? Abacha pikin nearly killed Diya for Prison! But I am not going to talk about that, for all things that bite in the night are mosquitoes and Diya is one of them.

If Larmode, EFCC chairman should open his mouth and tell you how much is leaving this country, in the name of treasury loot, you will not wait for him to finish and you will either kill someone or kill yourself. What about us.

So, that my dear readers of this piece, this is why I loved Bob Marley. He did not only leave behind $24million dollars in 1981 (forgive me if I am not correct with the exact figure) when he died, but he left a foot step for them to follow and they learned to live the same kind of life he lived. He was not a miser and neither are the children misers, don’t get me wrong. Since 1981, how many Bob Marley’s children have you heard is messing up in their society? They are all rich and they are all doing well in their own respective fields. Even when they can live very well on the wealth their father left behind, but they chose to follow their respective paths and do well because he taught them how to. He taught his first son the last lesson on his sick bed before he died. He said to him “SON, MONEY CAN’T BUY LIFE” and he died.

Our fathers, please I am begging and asking you, what about us? What are you teaching us.

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Before your leave here, please enjoy this song from BOB MARLEY