My Little Adventure: On A Quest For Good Music (Humour)

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The Nigerian Government Has Taken Away From Travelers The Right To Enjoy Good Music and this was done because of the many security challenges Nigeria as a Country has been facing. But one cannot help but ask: what does music and security have to do with each other? Does a rapper with some big lips keep inciting Nigerian travelers to breach the security through his songs or what?

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Well, although most rappers are of the Black Race and therefore often possess big lips but thats not the reason.

I'll show you where music and security all tie up as we (pls) read on.

Now, the country Nigeria has been faced with some serious security challenges recently. In this 21st Century, Nigeria has faced its toughest security challenges yet.
Now I know I've been hitting the gym a lot in this 21st century (Cos, man, this is the century I reached teen age) and I've been developing a lot of physical threats on my arms and chest

But I'm not one of the security challenges that Nigeria (my Country) is facing (Although the Nigerian Government is supposed to pay more closer attention to me cos I can whoop a homeboy's ass in a minute!)

Alright, I'm not the threat the country has been facing in recent times, that done. The threat the Nigerian Government has been facing since the 21st century might not be the toughest it has faced as I said earlier, because there have been pogroms in 1966 and 1967, serious Political and ethnic crisis from 1963 - 1966, Coups upon conter-coups from 1966 - 1999, and etc. But the nature of the Security breaches it has faced in the 21st century is one that is usually viewed as a most sensitive one, it is TERRORISM.

In 2002 an Islamic group arose in Nigeria, they called themselves "Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-
Jihād"
(I hope you didnt try to pronounce that. It means: "Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and
Jihad"), they are more commonly known as Boko Haram. You may have heard of them. They've carried out a lot of terrorist attacks on the country and what they say the want is for the region of the country where they occupy to become an Islamic state, practising wholesomely Islamic laws without the slightest tinge of adulteration.

Goddamn, goddamn.

NB: Nigeria is a secular state

A second quasi-terrorist group that arose in this 21st century and has carried out terrorist attacks are The Niger Delta Millitants, they've been active since 2003 and what these ones are advocating for is that their region (the Niger Delta region) where Nigeria's oil is being gotten from be well developed since most of the country's revenue is coming from there.
A sect from this group in 2016 even styled themselves in the fashion of Marvel's super heros Blockbuster movie The Avengers.
This sect called themselves "The Niger Delta Avengers"

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Come on, they had to add "Niger Delta'' there so you dont confuse them right?

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Now, although it seems these ones have been watching too much Marvel series but what they're advocating for is tenable, really,

what these ones are advocating for is that their region (the Niger Delta region) where Nigeria's oil is being gotten from be well developed since most of the country's revenue is coming from there.

I dont have much quarel with what they're asking for personally.

Now, the operation of these groups (and many other security threats like armed robbery, etc which you can guess are existent in societies) all goes to show that Nigeria is facing serious security issues, and measures have to be put in place in order to combat them. One of such measures is stopping travelers from listening to good music during their journeys. Well, not just good music but any kind of music at all, but I keep saying "good music" because we've really got to pretend that those listening to "bad" music do not exist. Who on Earth would wanna be talking about people who listen to bad music on their Steemit post? Gross.

But the question again: what does music and security have to do with each other?
This question would be answered in the foregoing, as we (pls) read on.

Now, some weeks back I didnt even know the stand of the Nigerian government on this issue, and some weeks back I happened to be making a Journey from Calabar to Enugu. It is an approximately 6 hour journey by bus so when I got into the bus and didnt see anybody with their ear pieces I was shocked!

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Like how are these ones gonna survive a journey of 6 hours without listening to some kickass mp3 on the way? Wouldnt the boredom freeze them up?

Well, I took the front seat and got me going with some good jam, earphones plugged in. I thought to myself that maybe these people would all pull out their earpieces as time goes by, but folks, I checked in about 1 hour into the journey and everyone was still the way they had been! Earphoneless! Staring into the thin air as the journey went on! I gave up folks! I'm telling you. I quit. Some humans can be sadists.

On this same day, there happened to be a friend of mine who was in Enugu and trying to locate my house (as he's never been there before), so he called me up every now and again during my journey so I can give him directions. His calls were the only interruptions to my GOOD music.

I would realize slowly, how much the Nigerian government frowns at good music during a journey but how was that to be?

Soon our bus reached an Army checkpoint and it stopped for checking. The soldier on duty was middle-aged and a kind hearted good humoured man. It was against the rules to have earphones on like I did, (but I didnt know) but he did not punish me or scream or even tell me, he even made a joke. He smiled, looking at me, and told me
"Why are you spoiling your ears with earphones, can you make ears? Pull off the earphones."

I chuckled, because I appreciate good humour wherever I see it. I removed the earpieces, and as our bus started to move I got a call from that friend of mine. I picked it immediately and said
"Hello".
At that point, the driver and everyone in the bus started screaming at me to drop the call, that you dont take a call in a Millitary check point! Their seriousness made be believe it and I dropped the call immediately.
And from then everyone started talking. To me. Telling me how I was the luckiest person on the planet, how I should be grateful that soldier treated me kindly and how I would have been dinner sauce if they (the other soldiers) saw that I picked a call there. They started narrating scary stories of how soldiers tortured some of their fellow passengers in the past for picking a call in checkpoints.

It was for security reasons, they said. An accomplice can be giving a criminal information on the standings/man power of the check point if people are allowed to make calls anywhere around check points. I agreed and swore never to pick calls near a check point even if it was Beyonce calling.
That done, I put my earphones back on - good music blazing.

Then I got unlucky again, or can I say lucky?

We got to another checkpoint. Here a young rough looking soldier was on duty, he happened to know the driver. He and the driver talked a little and the checking was very little, then the soldier's eye caught mine, he wasnt civil at all! He asked me if I was stupid or mad or having a mixture of both. It was difficult to answer, but I put on my humblest look, he asked me why I wasnt answering, whether I was challenging him? I said
"no".
He now asked me if I'll like to be tortured.
"no".
I was scared, friends, because in my Country, when you fall into the hands of soldiers like this you dont come out white. Soldiers are kind of lawless, you can proceed against them in court though, but that is a different battle all together.

He now asked me if I didnt know putting on earphones here is wrong? Then asked me to take em off immediately. I took them off. And I happened to be putting on a nice fez cap too that looked somewhat like a camouflage.

He told me to pull it off, I did. He took it from me and flung it to the wind, right there before me! I was hurt. I mean, I loved that cap, look how nicely it suits me, folks:

The soldier now motioned our bus to move. Everyone in the bus came down on me again with their talks. That I must be the luckiest fellow to ever be created, that it must be because the soldier knows the driver, or else I would have been barbecue. And so on and so forth.
I now told them I thought it was only making calls near checkpoints that was wrong, that I didnt know putting on earphones was wrong too. They now told me it was wrong (what they should have done since!).

So I pulled of my earphones and started staring at the thin air like everyone else.
While I stared I thought about it all, so putting on earphones near a checkpoint is so wrong in this Country.
Making calls kinda explains itself but innocently putting on earphones? What could be so wrong about that? I tried to justify this rule and the reason behing the rule came out clear to me:

If making calls at checkpoints are bad because one could be communicating a criminal then it follows that using head phones at check points was bad too, because headphones can be used to make calls too, and it could be a call. An accomplice could even be communicating with a coded language that would sound like he is singing along.

Meanwhile you'll say that the government has only taken away travelers rights to listen to music near checkpoints but not throughout the journey, but I'll point out to you that Nigerian roads are riddled with check points. Every 30 or so minutes you'll
meet one. I tried putting on the earphones when not near a checkpoint and removing it when we got to one but that was too much work and too much interuption that I procastinate to still say I was listening to music in a good way - a threat to the phrase "good music". So I kept the earphones off for the whole journey.

So there you go: how The Nigerian Government Has Taken Away From Travelers The Right To Enjoy Good Music.

I've shown you all how music and security ties up now, right?

PS: Please, do not suggest that the bus drivers play music from the bus's Mp3 player, dont fall into that trap. One cannot trust a Nigerian bus driver with his music supply. Neither can you give em your music to play because they most probably would not like your songs. High chances! If they play them eventually, notwithstanding, some passengers may not like it and may complain. Not to talk of you not being able to chose songs every now and then because you're probably in the back seat or so, besides, this is work on its own.
Lastly, you cant be playing the songs without earphones where you're sitting because you'd surely be disturbing your neighbour.
As long as you cant use an ear piece and enjoy all the privacy and ease you cant be said to be listening to good music and thats just about that.

Thanks so so much for reading, you don't know how much that means to me!!

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