First Gentleman with Wilson Orhiunu
Email: babawill2000@gmail.com Twitter: @Babawilly
Idiopathic beauty blindness (IBB) is a disease, but unlike colour blindness (CB), it can be treated. IBB deals with losing the capacity to see anything good or beautiful in the environment. The treatment is straightforward; teach people how to see beauty in themselves, others and in nature.
In the face of multiple stories, the single story is dangerous (C. Adichie). Two stories are however not always better than one. I will explain. As a young lad of primary school age, my concept of beauty could fit perfectly into two pigeon holes; ‘Merci Oloye’ (Mercedes Benz) and beautiful women. Looking back, I do not ever recall thinking anything else was beautiful in Lagos. This very narrow state of affairs meant missing out on the numerous opportunities to appreciate beauty in my youth.
As kids, we stood by the road side waiting for ‘our car’. As soon as a Mercedes car drove past, we cheered and gave each other high fives like we had won the lottery. That was the car that made its occupants seems like royalty. The seeds of materialism were sown into our young hearts and we all dreamt of growing up to ride in that nice car. The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon was alive and well at the time so once we noticed or learnt something, we continued to notice it more.
We were blind to everything else. This is the frequency illusion that makes you see only what has been planted in your brain.
Lads always look at and talk about beautiful women. It was the standard topic. A woman was a human being and sometimes no different from a man in our minds. The girls did well in school and were admired for their intellect till they got beautiful beyond a certain point. That point of beauty is immeasurable as there are no validated scoring systems for beauty.
All I know is, as young lads, beauty beyond a point meant we were unable to accept the girl as anything else but beautiful. The sovereign beauty conferences by the lads were always convened to determine who the rightful boyfriend was.
Like the Berlin Conference of 1884, when the ‘senior lads’ of Europe sat down to divide up African countries amongst themselves, in primary school we sat down and divided the girls in class amongst the lads. True to the character of the ‘Scramble for Africa’, the opinions of the girls were not sought. However, once a lad said that a particular seven-year-old was his wife, it meant that anyone who claimed her must be ready for a fight after school. Girls were viewed as valuable resources to be controlled and exploited (we were all seven years old please!!).
Even in university, there was the ‘October Rush’ where the senior lads scrambled for the female ‘Jambites’ (the first year students).
Crude as this two-tracked mind-set might sound, there are grown men still operating on that level. They might have moved on from Benz to Range Rover Sports but the principle is still the same. Status car or trophy girl makes for a beautiful picture. Some are so obsessed with being seen in that new Benz that they move heaven and earth for the car which they acquire and drive around with pride.
Some men have underwear like golf courses (i.e. 13 holes, etc.). Such personal garments are not seen by the public so, who cares? Amazing socks that stink like hell, they were once white but now they are brown. Who cares? The ‘golf course’ socks are neatly tucked out of sight into a nice pair of shoes.
Acquiring status symbols for show on the streets without caring about quality of life has its problems. A fine clean car on the streets and a dirty bedroom is a sad combination. Nice leather seats in the Range but sleeping on bed sheets that are older than most primary school children is an absurdity. Especially when the said, ‘I once was white but now I’m brown’ bed sheet is decorated with the carcasses of mosquitoes that died with a belly full of blood.
Having romantic relationships with ladies who are trophies affects the dynamics of the love. What’s love got to do with it anyway? The girl demands money and the man demands services for fees paid. Many kid themselves that they are in a ‘relationship’ but they should ask themselves why they keep on raising invoices.
People who can’t appreciate beauty are plain dangerous. They seek to possess and conquer. That is all they know; Materialism. The concept of looking at things and systems that are beautiful and recreating them everywhere they go is foreign to their minds. When they possess and end up dissatisfied, they turn to drink and drugs.
Change
A reorientation is needed with regards to beauty. It is not just fine car, fine woman and fine bottle of wine to numb the pain (this article is for men. I don’t have a clue what woman think is beautiful).
Nature for one is beautiful. The sky, the oceans, the birds and rolling hills can inspire and elevate the soul. As a young lad, I don’t recall looking up too much, well, maybe when some birds flew overhead and some of us sang the ‘Leke-leke’ song while others speculated that witches were in flight.
A cohesive society where taps flow and toilets flush is beautiful. Constant electricity, meritocracy, internal security and a long life expectancy are all drop dead gorgeous things. All worth a lifetime of struggle to acquire and maintain. This kind of striving, when fully realised does not bring an emptiness needing to be numbed by booze and drugs.
Development of human potential is beautiful. The future generation needs education today. Beyond grabbing and getting the female members of society all pregnant by any means necessary, thought has to go into the medical care and education of the beautiful babies.
All men should develop that eye for beauty – an eye that enjoys what it sees, and longs to create more of that vision for others to see and enjoy. Lust wants to take everything home. Since good bridges and roads cannot be taken home, men strive to steal the money for the bridges and roads so that cash can be laid up for the feasting of the eyes. They forget that even though no one takes the bridges home, the bridges and roads take you home safely and on time
P.S: Peradventure you see me driving a Benz or married to a fine girl, don’t judge me.
