Ponder my Thoughts
By Andrew Keili, Freetown, Sierra Leone
China Nicki breaks the elephant rope
An avid reader of this column recently entreated me to write about China Nicki, as the “China Nicki syndrome”- if you could call it that, is the most topical issue in Sierra Leone today.
“I know nothing about China Nicki and am not interested in reality shows”, I told him. It would seem however that it is impossible to run away from “China”, as she has come to be known. I got further convinced about the way “China” had got into the Sierra Leonean psyche when a newspaper buyer, who probably needs as much education as China Nicki complained about an innocuous article- “China annoyed with Trump”. “Watin do China Nicki ba? E nor go sidon saful, pass for vex pan people dem?”.
I was now convinced I should write about China. But there was only one snag-I knew nothing about China Nicki and am not a fan of reality TV shows. In fact, truth be told, I have a short attention span and am a “film idiot”. Yes, I find it difficult to follow complicated film plots, let alone long complicated reality shows-my wife gets tired of explaining film plots to me. This must be borne out of my young days in Bo when we would attend film shows at Odeon cinema. The plot would often be simple and you had a definite “badman” and “actor” and at the end you always knew the “actor” would beat the hell out of the “badman”. “Commentators” in the cinema hall, who had undoubtedly watched the film umpteen times would explain details of the plot audibly in advance of the events-“U day laf normo, den day cam kill you!”.
Anyway, back to China Nicki! It is difficult to understand how a young uneducated girl, who blurts out everything that comes to her mind has so captured the imagination of Sierra Leoneans. One even starts to wonder how she got into the show in the first place, considering that many people thought that in the unlikely case she won she would not be able to represent our country. I could bet my bottom dollar the organisers thought so too. I could only think about two film analogies in the attempt to redeem China-“The taming of the shrew” and an Indian favourite of mine from my Odeon cinema days-“Zimbo comes to town”-the latter, the story of polishing up a village woman, Zimbo who came to the city. Zimbo was as entertaining as China and left us in fits of laughter.
There are however several sides to China. I know Umaru Fofana would not mind me quoting from his recent interview with China Nicki.
“She came across as authentic. Very authentic! She’s very conscious of her limitations. Almost in tears she told me that she wanted to study, if not for anything, to be able to speak English. She said she was being mocked for her academic shortcomings which she said was not of her making. Her father died before she was born - and her mother would die a few years later leaving her with her uncle. Society let her down and she turned to what she had to turn to for life to go on. She never expected to win the show, she told me, and that she’d entered as a comedian hence behaved as such throughout the show.”
But how did a girl with so many limitations get to win this reality show? Some commentator shed some light on what to expect from reality shows when he wrote:
“In reality TV shows like Big Sister Salone, the programme documents unscripted real life situations and often features an otherwise unknown cast of individuals who are most times not professional actors. Many viewers would like to know how the girls were selected. Normally a diverse range of casts is chosen. This makes the show appealing to a wide demographic of viewers and makes for entertaining television. When cast members have drastically different points of view, education and family or ethnical backgrounds, fights, friendships and drama make for high ratings. For the most part being sociable, interesting, having strong points of view and being yourself are the best tools to get you selected for a reality television program?”
Someone else wrote- “Without "village idiots" realty TV will be boring”.
Yes, I start to get it- but most of the other girls were also sociable, interesting and had strong points of view and they all gossiped. “Village idiots” were not in short supply. But what set China apart?
One starts to get an inkling from some of the comments that have been made. One said-“China Nicki as she is fondly called is very humble and gives hope to thousands of people who thought they have lost everything in life. Her life represents a true heroine that has passed through the world’s challenges that people, especially women face and continue to face in Sierra Leone. A very resilient and humble person. “
I will attempt to mention a few attributes that China has, that probably set her apart from the others.
Attribute 1-Humility
I listened to her Radio Democracy interview with the radio doyen, Asma James who had openly supported the candidate that came second-Camarey. “Good morning China Nicki”, Asma said. “Good morning ma. How you sleep?”. Asma was taken aback and chuckled-and was totally disarmed after this. What could have probably been a hard interview was very soft and one could sense her empathy towards China. She is unashamed to tell people about her humble status in life and her lack of opportunities. A humble person has a sense of gratitude, recognizes the contribution of others and is always learning. All the stories about China and her utterances about the role played by others in her life indicate she has imbibed humility into her life.
Attribute 2-Confidence
Despite her lack of education and low social status, she seemed very confident in always expressing herself and would not allow herself to be intimidated. She appeared confident that she had something in her waiting to burst out, if only she could be given the opportunity. With her background as a comedian and low rated actress, she had been appearing before crowds confidently. She was also confident she had it in her to go a long way in the competition even if she did not win.
Attribute 3-A Dreamer’s attitude
It is said that Dreamers have curiosity, courage, confidence and constancy. China always asked questions even if the questions sounded embarrassing-“viction, me nor sabi da wan day o”. Her courage and constancy were evident right through her stay in the house and espoused in the events thereafter.
Attribute 4-Luck
It was Thomas Jefferson who said-” I am a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more of it I have”. What we call luck is often simply an offshoot of deliberate choices and actions. China made deliberate choices and actions and took her chances well. Anthony Robbin’s statement “The meeting of preparation and opportunity generates the offspring we call luck” is apt for China. We can all create our own luck like China by a) anticipation-pre-empting opportunities b) preparation -getting ready to take on the opportunities c) identification-identify when the moment finally arrives and d) acceleration -moving quickly to take the opportunity.
Attribute 4-Creating a brand
Let’s face it-China Nicki is a brand. Branding is the reason why half a liter of bottled water sells for five times the same quantity of sachet water. The way you talk, dress, carry yourself, respect for others etc.- that is your brand. Think about the various attributes China Nicki has espoused in her actions and statements and put together the entire package. China talks funny and her pronunciation is peculiar. She “assassinates” both the Krio and English language when she speaks. “Rashul” has been taken on board by her fans who have formed the “rashul gang”. Who else calls eviction “viction”? With China-what you see is what you get- no hypocrisy, no holding back her thoughts and funny. She is indeed “brand China”.
But it should not all be about China. Some people needed to give her a leg up. One keeps hearing from her about this her friend Ejatu who took her from “grass to grace”. Ejatu said she came to know China Nicki at Calaba Town when she launched the Sarah Cripple film about a year ago in which China Nicki featured. Ejatu recognized her talent and became her friend. She took her from the East end and helped her rent a house in the West end. She helped her enter the competition and paid her fees. Where did the belief in China come from? Perhaps China would not have made it without Ejatu.
And what about the role of Zainab Sheriff, the female impresario and Junior Navo of AYV. These are young people who are buckling the status quo and creating new opportunities for young people in Sierra Leone and also bringing entertainment to our homes. The amount of preparation and planning by both and the role played by AYV media empire were immense. What about Africell the main sponsor, always willing to go into uncharted territory with entertainment. Appointing China as an Ambassador and paying her significant fees will provide China the opportunity of pursuing her dreams. Kudos also to the Tourism Ministry and the Minister, Memunatu Pratt for making China Nicki the face of Sierra Leone during the World’s tourism conference in London. Undoubtedly in the hands of Africell’s Joe Abass Bangura, China has a motivator and advisor par excellence. She will be made to improve upon her education and perhaps nurture some life skills to prepare her for the future. She will be truly empowered.
But what is this about China breaking the elephant rope? I will tell you the story.
A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he spotted that the elephants weren’t being kept in cages or held by the use of chains. All that was holding them back from escaping the camp, was a small piece of rope tied to one of their legs. As the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely confused as to why the elephants didn’t just use their strength to break the rope and escape the camp. They could easily have done so, but instead, they didn’t try to at all. Curious and wanting to know the answer, he asked a trainer nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape. The trainer replied;
“When they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the belief that it just wasn’t possible.
Moral of the story: No matter how much the world tries to hold you back, always continue with the belief that what you want to achieve is possible. Believing you can become successful is the most important step in actually achieving it.
China, (You don’t need to answer “naa”), you have always believed in yourself and finally broken the elephant rope. You will no longer be called an “illiteracy”. And don’t ask me how I slept-I slept well and Mrs. slept well too.
Congratulations.
Comments