yeah
really
i was in the process
of
putting up a post
at
my instagram page
and
i had uploaded a photo
of you
i.e
Cherokee D Ass
a.k.a
Yohanna Renee Kerr
and
i was listening to the audio choices
of
Teddy Pendergrass
available
in order to
select one
for the post
and
trying to
make up my mind
whether to
go for
one of his more racy tunes
or
one of his ballads
or
for one of his grooves with much feeling in it
when it occurred to me
that
it is not only the world famous folks
like
Teddy Pendergrass
that have / had been involved in automobile accidents
while driving under the influence of alcohol
but in actual fact that
a number of folks here in Nigeria
.. and probably in other parts of the world as well ..
who were not household names worldwide
had also had similar negative unfortunate experience.
maybe, i should qualify i.e re-phrase that Teddy Pendergrass part a bit
so here’s the re-phrasing below :
Cherokee D Ass ormahleechar nm,
the rumour
here in Nigeria
is
that
some day
back in the day
Teddy Pendergrass was drunk
and
was driving while drunk
and
was driving at high speed while drunk
and
had gotten himself involved in an automobile accident
while driving under the influence of alcohol.
i guess that was the accident in which he lost the use of his legs.
i guess that was the accident as a result of which he became a cripple
i guess that was the accident in which he became crippled.
he survived the accident
and
he could still sing thereafter
( … refer for example to his magnificent duet with Whitney Houston )
but
it was never really quite the same again in
the minds of
many of his fans and followers worldwide
because
his surrounding aura as a crooner and vocalist
had templated to a great degree on
the visual impact
the visual image
of
Teddy Pendergrass
as a
tall
full height standing
handsome
he-man
and
that image somehow didn’t seem quite right on
a crippled gentleman
belting out
Love TKO and 50:50 Love.
in
Eeboe-Land, West Africa
Eegboe-Land, West Africa
there is a phrase people speak
with much sadness and much sober reflection
regarding accidents like that of Teddy Pendergrass
that goes something like this :
OHH JEE ARKAH-EAH WEH MEH OHNWAY-AE
( Our Own Eeboe/ Eegboe )
O JI AKIA WE ME ONWAE
which translates somewhat as
HE USED HIS HANDS TO DO HIMSELF
which in the English Grammar / the Queen’s English / International English
is probably most closely approximated by the expression
HE WAS THE ARCHITECT OF HIS OWN MISFORTUNE
Cherokee D Ass omalicha nm,
as i listened to the superb singing voice of Teddy Pendergrass
some memories from out of the blues
flashed through my mind …..
UNCLE JAMES
back in the day
in the 1970s
staying at the time with a family living at Oke-Ira Road
in
Railway Compound,
Ebute-Metta,
Lagos State,
Yorubaland,
Nigeria.
a great chap.
very supportive of the little kids around.
always had a kind word for the little kids .. of which i was one at the time.
always had good useful advice for the kids
and
when you asked him about something that had confused you,
he would explain it to you
in a way that you could understand.
sober chap
and then the news filtered around
soon after he had bought a car
( .. Cherokee D Ass ezigbo nm, by the way, that his buying a car then had been
quite to the inspiration of the little kids around .. )
that
he had been driving
and
fallen asleep?
and
had had an accident with the car.
i am not sure
if it is the fading of memory with the passing of time
or
if it is the loss of acuity of remembrance with the passage of time
but did he have 2? separate? different accidents while driving?
i remember wondering to myself then
why
he didn’t go and sleep if he was tired
and then
wake up later
refreshed and reinvigorated
and then
drive to wherever he wanted to go.
as i listened to the audio choices
of Teddy Pendergrass’s songs
the thought crossed my mind that
back in the day in the 1970s
UNCLE JAMES must have taken more beer or other alcohol
than was good enough for him.
quite a lucky fellow.
unlike Teddy Pendergrass
he had full use of all his limbs after those accidents.
EMEKA ( pronounced EH-MEH-KA )
back in the day in the latter half of the 1980s
.. maybe circa 1985 or 1986 or thereabouts.
a graduate of Civil Engineering
of
the University of Nigeria,
Nsukka,
Igbo-land,
Nigeria.
young chap.
21 years old then.
or thereabouts.
he had travelled
from Owerri, Imo State
to
Nsukka
( .. then in Anambra State but now in Enugu State .. )
in
a Volkswagen Beetle Car
belonging to one of his parents.
he had come for the Convocation Ceremony.
he died that night
driving back
to Owerri
from Nsukka.
there had been a parked trailer on the side of a road.
he had run into the trailer head on.
he died there.
the rumour circulated by folks
was that
he had been seen at a party that night
and that
he had been drunk at the party
and that
nobody knew when he got into the Volkswagen Beetle Car and drove off.
that guy had had everything going for him.
a brilliant mind.
strong academic cability.
youth.
a citizenship ( by factor of birth and also living there in early childhood ) of the United Kingdom.
a University Degree.
a University education.
a professional course of study Engineering Degree Qualification
( .. in Nigeria – – probably derivative of Nigeria’s historical linkage to Britain
some courses are regarded as Professional Courses
e.g
Law,
Medicine,
Engineering
and
are very highly rated )
not quite as lucky as
TEDDY PENDERGRASS
or
UNCLE JAMES
as
he died right there
nobody even knew he was involved in an accident
until
some folks travelling back the next day recognized the car
and
stopped by it
and
saw his dead body there.
over the years i have sometimes wondered
with regards to his decision to
drive late in the night while drunk
did any body force him to drive late at night ?
did any body insist he must continue drinking until he was drunk
and
thereafter then drive back from Nsukka to Owerri
late at night ?
taking a look
at
the instances
of
the automobile accidents
of
TEDDY PENDERGRASS
UNCLE JAMES
EMEKA
it strikes the mind that :
(1) THE FACTOR OF LUCK
is very important
concerning automobile accidents
and
some folks are lucky to come out of accidents without injury
while
others have some degree of injury
and while yet
some others die there at the scene of the accident
or
may be in hospital later
or
at home later
due to injuries sustained in the accident
(2) THE FACTOR OF
THE ABILITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO KNOW
WHEN
HE/SHE SHOULD STOP
CONSUMING MORE LIQUOR
SO AS NOT TO
GET DRUNK
AND
LOSE SELF CONTROL
IS VERY IMPORTANT
(3) THE FACTOR OF
THE ABILITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO ASSESS
HIS/HER OWN LEVEL OF FUNCTIONALITY
WHEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF
HIGH QUANTITIES OF ALCOHOL
IS VERY IMPORTANT
i guess with regards to
FACTOR 3
the great vocalist
TEDDY PENDERGRASS
clearly mis-rated himself
and
lived with the consequences of that mis-judgement
till his dying day.
UNCLE JAMES
the kindly fellow
clearly misjudged his own abilities
resulting in those 2? accidents
EMEKA
with all his academic intelligence
displayed great recklessness
and
extremely poor judgement
thus leading to
a horrible waste of a life with much potential in it
i guess the instances of these 3 folks
serves to
illustrate the essential inference,
namely,
Cherokee D Ass obim,
that
taking a pointer from
the seemingly high numbers of folks
across various generations
and
in different locations of the planet earth
who have
had serious automobile accidents while driving when drunk,
it would seem that
a high numbers of folks
do not really have a good assessment of
their capability to function efficiently while under the influence of alcohol
[ TO BE CONTINUED ]
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