Obey-the-wind-TV
Those who grew up in
Lagos in the 50s and 60s should remember a type of inferior fabric for trousers
called “Obey the wind” or “ota Marina “
(i.e, not Marina Quayside friendly). As
a young man, if you wore trousers that were not made of quality fabric like
Terylene (Dacron) or pure 100% wool that could stand the test of time, you were
challenged by your mates to show up in them in Marina Quayside “catwalk “. If
your trousers billowed and fluttered excessively in the Marina breeze, then they
were declared inferior and you along with it.
In the same 50s and
60s, you could count on the fingers of one hand how many families owned TV
sets. In those days, the ceremony of sparking the TV to life every night is
akin to igniting the Olympic torch several months before the event and relaying
it over thousands of miles to hundreds of places around the world before ending
up on the day of the ceremony at the cauldron where the final bearer uses the
torch to start the flame in the arena. Yes, that was about how long you had to
wait for the TV to warm up. That was the best technology could offer then.
Nowadays, with advanced
technology, nobody has to go through that tortuous route to switch on the TV, …errr….except
in Nigeria! For instance, if you switch
on the DSTV, you can go and make a cup of tea and come back and still wait a
few minutes before the scanning comes to an end and you are allowed to watch TV.
And if it rains or it is windy, you can go and do something else because DSTV is
bound to hold services in abeyance until the rainstorm subsides. That’s what
you get with obsolete technology. That’s what we are getting now. You make
monthly payments for services that should be pay-as-you-go. Shame!
