Dear Editor,
There is a
recently released movie, a true story entitled, "Florence Foster
Jenkins". This film aptly describes
the state of leadership in our country today to a tee. Just like Aesop's fables, and many of the
fairy tales we grew up on, those tales seem to be manifesting right before our
eyes. From "The Boy Who Cried
Wolf", to "The Tortoise and the Hare", to "The Emperor's
New Clothes", all the way to "The Dog and His Bone".
With that
being said it all brings me to my main point, we seem to have a certain section
of the media that is simply regurgitating misinformation given by our elected
so-called leaders, especially when it comes to this Carnival debacle. They seem to not be digging deeper and asking
the relevant questions. Firstly, there
has never been a forensic report done for the first Junkanoo Carnival in
2015. To a lesser degree, not even a
breakdown in payments, where monies were disbursed, at least for us to know
what was spent, how it was spent, where it was spent. Carnival might be ambiguous, but what should
not be ambiguous is how the people's money is spent. That needs to be straightforward,
accountability of every nickel and dime of the people's money should be
shown. So how can we say we're moving
onto the second year financial report when we've not even completed the first.
The Bahamas
National Festival Commission, presented a book of colourful debauchery, nothing
to do with accounting or accountability.
Yet the media accepted this farce under the guise of a financial
report. If the members of the BNFC were
honest, they would let us see how much money went to the entertainers, let us
see how much money went into staging, let us see how much went and to which
radio stations, let us see how much went and to which newspaper outlets and on
and on. Let us see who all got paid to
make a failed Junkanoo Carnival event appear to have been successful. Who made the underpaid and undervalued
Bahamian artisans and musicians accept the pittance they were offered, while
the talentless and politically affiliated in our society got the majority of
the spoils. Yet we wonder why it failed?
It is a
disgrace. We have turned our nation into
a place of less transparency, less freedom, less information and more deflection
from the truth. Most of us know who does
what and where in this country. We
tolerate some of the most disgusting things and people and would rather stick
to the anti-moral and swear that the emperor has on clothes. There is a saying that goes, "If they
like you, they'll lie for you, but if they hate you, they'll lie on
you."
We will have
to wake up from our selfish mirages and face the facts sooner than later, or
find that our country has been turned over completely to foreigners, yes
foreigners. I can say that, this is my
country too. I would rather see a broke
Bahamas with Bahamian leadership that truly believes in uplifting its own, to
grow our nation from strength-to-strength into prosperity, than a prosperous,
quick fix Bahamas under the control of foreigners who only want to disregard
our people and rape our country of its natural resources.
I will never apologize for putting Bahamian culture first. Everything and everyone else, five steps
behind. Let's make that a law if we are
serious. Like the fable of the
"Wolf and His Shadow", never get so caught up in your fancies that
you forget your reality.
Kirkland “KB” Bodie
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her
private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of
TheBahamasWeekly.com
