Nobel laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai

Death has robbed our country a woman who is worth the title a patriot. Nobel laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai is indeed peerless and everyone can feel the void she has left, except the politicians and the politics of the day.

In a country where hypocrisy and a blatant lack of openness thrive, Wangari tried and managed to not only live but also exercise a different kind of politics- a mature inclusive brand that focused on truth and ideology.

Even before we can take a sobering assessment of lessons that we need to draw from Wangari in her demise, it is common sense to note that her burial will be characterized by political innuendos with various factions trying to outdo each other-call it the battle for the central vote. It is a shame that what Wangari fought against will be used on her very own day of send off.

When Wangari deserved a ministerial portfolio, the government of the day, the same one which now wants a state burial for her and demands that flags be flown at half mast, could only squeeze her in government, on an assistant role. If we could not see sense in her coasting all that a minister derives, including riding in that flag adorned guzzler, what business do we have pretending that flags need to lower at half mast in her honor?

Prof. Wangari had everything every president of the world would look for in a minister for environment- the skills, the networks, the capacity, the strength of a woman-everything. But Kenya chose expediency over that entire rich resume. Our president chose to reward sycophants over the experience Wangari would have brought in government. Our president chose to play with the life of Kenyans by appointing someone, perhaps who does not know the importance of conserving the Mau.

In the heat of the Mau forest debate, Wangari was steadfast that those who are encroaching or had encroached on forest land needed to vacate. But politicians led by William Ruto, who now wants to be the president of Kenya, ignored her calls, choosing to play politics, Kenya style. And the rest of us followed in saying ‘but they have no other home they know of’. We now weep and show our sadness at the death of Wangari yet when she needed us most we just watched and perhaps laughed at her wondering what kind of a woman she thought she was. We continue watching as what Wangari stood for and for which she got a Nobel peace prize for continues to be defiled.

When Wangari tried to be the voice of reason after the 2005 referendum by taking a reconciliatory position, she was rewarded with what Kenya politics know best-being shunned. She was quietly disengaged from her ministerial role. She was no longer useful. She had become a pariah. How could she not back her appointing authority? How could she dare go counter ‘mundu wa nyumba’. How could she not wag her tail, we wondered. How could she not use her tongue to sing ‘ewe baba’ to the appointing authority? We stuck our finger nails on her and branded her betrayer. But now we want a state burial for her. We want flags to fly at half mast in her honour.

It is Ngugi wa Thiong’o in his book Barrel of a Pen who sums up the way Kenyans operate. He says we all have been weaned in the way of Moi and Moism where we are violent in our actions but reformist in attitude. This is our character now as we mourn Wangari. But if we were to be honest with our hearts, we would see that we do not even know why we mourn Wangari.

Do we mourn Wangari because of having been the first African woman to win the Nobel peace prize? I think so. I do not think we are all teary because she called on us to be the humming bird. If this is the case then we are all liars. If we are that humming bird, then we would stand on the right side of history and demand that all forest cover be conserved no matter what it takes. If we are that humming bird, then we have a duty of care to the future of this country b shunning divisive and evasive politics. But even this is a mirage.

It is how we conduct ourselves that make Africans a subject of ill motivated study by western philosophers because we never make sense at all through our actions. Perhaps the theory of pre-logism formulated by the likes of Henry Lewis Morgan, Levy Bruhl, Richard Spencer among others best define who we are. These philosophers conclude that for an African, “logic, rationality and development including culture and civilization are a function of time”. Yes, no wonder we are a developing nation, still running away from a state of backwardness and that is why we never really appreciated Wangari when she was alive. We use no logic. We have no sense of reason. We act out of a stupor and no logic at all.

I like Wangari with Galileo and us Kenyans to that church at Florence. You see dear friends, the Pope and the church all believed in the immutability of the universe. But Galileo had invented the telescope which proved that the earth does in fact go round the sun. He tried to demonstrate to the pope and the church and hoped that the evidence of their eyes would be enough. It is one of Galileo’s friends who pulled him aside and told him ‘my friend, you are treading on a unique path. It is always a night of disaster when a man discovers the truth and an hour of delusion when he has to believe in the common sense of many”.

Rest in peace Professor Wangari. Death is not a full stop but a comma that has punctuated your life to a more lofty significance. I know the angels are marveling at your accomplishments on earth, even if the earthly people never gave you the opportunity to serve.

LUPE FIASCO LYRICS "Words I Never Said" (feat. Skylar Grey)

[Skylar Grey]
It’s so loud Inside my head
With words that I should have said!
As I drown in my regrets
I can’t take back the words I never said
I can’t take back the words I never said

[Lupe Fiasco]
I really think the war on terror is a bunch of bullshit
Just a poor excuse for you to use up all your bullets
How much money does it take to really make a full clip
9/11 building 7 did they really pull it
Uhh, And a bunch of other cover ups
Your childs future was the first to go with budget cuts
If you think that hurts then, wait here comes the uppercut
The school was garbage in the first place, that's on the up and up
Keep you at the bottom but tease you with the uppercrust
You get it then they move it so you never keeping up enough
If you turn on TV all you see’s a bunch of “what the fucks”
Dude is dating so and so blabbering bout such and such
And that ain't Jersey Shore, homie that's the news
And these the same people that supposed to be telling us the truth
Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist
Gaza strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say shit
That's why I ain't vote for him, next one either
I’ma part of the problem, my problem is I’m peaceful
And I believe in the people.

[Skylar Grey]
It’s so loud inside my head
With words that I should have said!
As I drown in my regrets
I can’t take back the words I never said
I can’t take back the words I never said

[Lupe Fiasco - Verse 2]
Now you can say it ain't our fault if we never heard it
But if we know better than we probably deserve it
Jihad is not a holy war, wheres that in the worship?
Murdering is not Islam!
And you are not observant
And you are not a muslim
Israel don’t take my side cause look how far you’ve pushed them
Walk with me into the ghetto, this where all the Kush went
Complain about the liquor store but what you drinking liquor for?
Complain about the gloom but when’d you pick a broom up?
Just listening to Pac ain't gone make it stop
A rebel in your thoughts, ain't gon make it halt
If you don’t become an actor you’ll never be a factor
Pills with million side effects
Take em when the pains felt
Wash them down with Diet soda!
Killin off your brain cells
Crooked banks around the World
Would gladly give a loan today
So if you ever miss a payment
They can take your home away!

[Skylar Grey]
It’s so loud inside my head
With words that I should have said!
As I drown in my regrets
I can’t take back the words I never said, never said
I can’t take back the words I never said

[Lupe Fiasco - Verse 3]
I think that all the silence is worse than all the violence
Fear is such a weak emotion that's why I despise it
We scared of almost everything, afraid to even tell the truth
So scared of what you think of me, I’m scared of even telling you
Sometimes I’m like the only person I feel safe to tell it to
I’m locked inside a cell in me, I know that there’s a jail in you
Consider this your bailing out, so take a breath, inhale a few
My screams is finally getting free, my thoughts is finally yelling through

[Skylar Grey]
It’s so loud Inside my head
With words that I should have said!
As I drown in my regrets
I can’t take back the words I never said

First Time Parents

                               First Time Parents

Finally the day had come; it had been more than the normal nine months everyone expected a pregnancy to last ,thus our doctor decided to take the other route of induction. Things all of a sudden started happening so fast, being first time parents. Of course we were prepared and knew what to expect, but who can be prepared enough for such an occurrence.

 Luckily enough my wife and I had surveyed the hospital where our baby would come to life in. The drive wasn’t as long, but the wait from when we checked in till the arrival of the angel was a good fifty hours. The hospital staff was the best, as much as they made us feel at home the wait still lasted almost like eternity.

During our wait at the hospital, we experienced false signs on and off till we didn’t have even the anticipation anymore. Things happen when you less expect it, so they say. The moment of reckoning had come. We got escorted to the theatre; the decision had been made that a Caesarian section would be the only option. After counseling and giving out consent by signing on the “X” we got to the theatre.

The atmosphere in the theatre room was something else, “purified air” so I later learned. Everything lasted a mere five minutes, it was like a drive though. I did witness the miracle of seeing life come to earth. This experience gave me more appreciation to my parents and I really I got a reality check in life since I never really felt I let them know how I felt about them.  I felt soft and vulnerable for once in my adult life. Cutting the umbilical cord and holding the baby on arms made my knees feel. At least I never fainted. The experience was like the MasterCard “ Priceless” and no  words can put it into writing what  we experienced the first fifty hours we were in the hospital. I wish I had started blogging immediately. I would have had some record of every small and minute detail; still not too late

 Looking back almost a year down the lane that was the moment I got broken. Once I held her in my arms, I felt like it was the beginning of my life. It felt like now I had purpose for living. Wondered where this feeling had been all my twenty nine years I had been on mother earth.

“ The work is just but the beginning”, those were the words from Doctor Johnson  . Taking the baby home from the hospital wasn’t as bad since we had a support system from our family members and friends, the next one week was interesting  because we were up almost all the time trying to figure out why she was crying.

I definitely wouldn’t change how the last one year has transpired in my life, though a challenge it is really interesting seeing the baby grow and change everyday.