THE HONOR SYSTEM. Part 1

This was written after the rally at the CNN center, where decicated Ndi Anambra gathered to tell the world how the election winners in Nigeria, especially Anambra State were "elected".
That was plan A, which did not fan out very well, then ASA USA shifted to plan B and alerted the UN, EU, US congress and others who put Nigeria's feet over the fire, the rest is history.




Here in rural Central Florida there is a system that Farmers and Growers use to move their merchandise. They call it "The Honour system" To a new comer it usually is unbelievable until they see it working. There's another kind of honor system that Restaurant owners use which they call "All you can eat". This is the way the honour system works-- grove owners at harvest time set up roadside fruit stands most of the time Citrus, many varieties of it in large troughs which they refill daily with fresh fruit from their Citrus groves very closeby. Sometimes they have people manning them and then when they leave in the evening or on week ends, the honour system takes over. A large wooden box with a big padlock on and a long slot is set up in the middle of the fruit stand with a sign on " The honour System". Then they put out different sized bags, quarter bushel, half bushel, one bushel and a price list. Customers are supposed to help themselves and put their money in the slot. Every morning, grove workers retrieve money from the wooden box and refill the troughs with tractor loads of fresh fruit. The first time I saw that, it was hard for me to believe it was working. I once asked a grove owner why they still keep this practice in this day and age and his response was thought provoking." We try to keep them honest, he responded, adding that few people do walk off with fruit but not enough to be noticeable but the fact remains that many others respect and value their honour and do the right thing in exchange for fresh fruit straight from the tree. I could see the wisdom in it. To this day, the honour system is alive and well and I have never heard of any wooden boxes broken by thieves to retrieve money or troughs of Citrus worth hundreds of dollars depleted by thieves. The honour system practiced by Restaurants is a similar idea but works like this. They set up self- service food lines stocked with a wide variety of food and desserts and customers pay a flat fee and then eat until they are full, pass out or die. For a new comer to the idea, it sounds unbelievable until they actually get to work eating and quickly find out that a stomach can only hold so much food and drink. Some young people go and sit there eating, and eating some more and then get sick and find it all futile to binge because it is all you can eat. People take advantage of the positive part of it and get a wide variety of food, a little bit of everything for a fixed price. No food is to be removed from the premises so people satisfy their hunger and leave. Lesson learned, use or eat what you can, you can't take it with you. A fact of life. Yesterday as I drove back from Atlanta after the Free and Fair election rally, the thought of the honour system popped in my mind as I cruised down Interstate 75. I had my radio on a Macon, Georgia Country station. I go on long road trips a lot, not as much I did in the past but all the same I drive the highways a lot, within Florida, to North Carolina, Washington D.C, once to Dallas, many times to Boston, so driving to Atlanta is usually not considered a long or significant trip. While on road trips,which I prefer to do at night, staying awake becomes crucial and I found out that the country stations offered the best keep awake option. Finding a good country station in the Southeast is very easy and you pick and choose. Listening to them is like listening to " akuko iro" like we did in the good old days, it is one story after another. These songs tell stories that have you dying with laughter, shaking your head in agreement or just listening to someone's life story. Like the man who complains that life ain't fun since he quit drinking. After he went sober, his wife started asking him to do stuff- honey this, honey that, take out the trash, feed the dog--life ain't fun since I quit drinking " he laments,or the cowboy who asked to be propped up by the juke box if he died ( for one last party before he went to heaven), then the songs about the pick up trucks and cowboy boots and girls and love lost and love found. A man confessed he likes girls on the thrashy side. Whatever they sing about,It is usually expressions of human condition in the various aspects of it, some funny, some sad, some hilarious. Acquaintances find it totally unbelievable that I listen to Country music but I always point out that I listen to keep awake while driving. As funny and as sad as some of these lyrics sound, they tell of human condition and everyday struggles. Failures ranging from family break ups, alcoholism, illness and loss. I think it's Jimmy Buffet who put out the number pointing out that at any given moment, it's five o'clock somewhere (happy hour), so he could drink himself silly because even if it's not five o'clock where he was, it must be five o'clock somewhere, around the world, so bring it on, margarita after margarita, it's happy hour all the way. But where does it and when does it stop. Going back to the honour system as I thought about it, I realized that we have lost as Ndi Igbo,our sense of Honor. Honour has been reduced to nothing. One of the highest gifts a human being has, is a sense of honour on which human dignity hangs. I remember people singing with all conviction ---- "On my honour as an Easterner, on Aburi we stand" They stood on Aburi and their belief in honour gave them the courage to stand up against genocidal killers who were out to exterminate. They held the killers at bay with unbelievable sacrifice and secured Igbo survival. Today, it is up to us to uphold the Honour system, doing the right thing no matter what, for our survival as a people. I congratulate everybody who came out of their comfort zones to make their voices heard across the country condemning Election fraud, Corruption and 419 in Nigeria. People took notice and they appreciated the education on Nigeria. Even people who have heard of Andrew Young's Good Works didn't know of Good work's involvement in Nigeria. They asked questions. That's raising awareness right there. A big congratulations to the young Igbo Americans who came out in Atlanta, in Washington D.C and everywhere else. You are true heroes. Thanks for keeping the faith. It shall be well.