THE CATFISH EFFECT

 

I was thinking this morning...... about fishy things. Yesterday 25th June was National Catfish Day. I thought of joining the celebrations with a bowl well-spiced catfish peppersoup, but as I pondered on the dish, my attention was drawn to an interesting fact that Catfish have over 100,000 taste buds. The taste buds are located all over their bodies to help them sense where food is. Because they swim in murky water, their sense of taste serves as tool to find food when they can’t see well.

Wow! As I pondered on this fact, Nigeria politicians and their tendency to jump from one party where there is no longer food to another where there is food, came to mind. They work for AGIP (Any Government In Power). Nigeria politicians are not ordinary politicians, they are 'Catfish Politicians.'

Some people refer to themselves as 'foodie.' They love good food and will not miss on any opportunity to relish an experience. That's okay. However, when you have a friend that shows up at your home only when food is ready, he or she is not just a friend but a 'Catfish friend.'

According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Nigeria is the world's largest producer of catfish with the catfish industry worth over N262 billion. As I reflected on our huge consumption of catfish, I began to worry that it may be causing a condition called 'Catfish Effect.' How else do you explain one man stealing over N80 billion of our commonwealth because he was the Accountant General if not because he has taste buds all over his body to smell money? Our politicians are showing the same tendency for legendary avarice.

2023 is an opportunity to deliver our nation from Catfish Politicians but what do we do with regards to the Catfish effect? Maybe we should switch from consumption of catfish to dogfish (a shark) to save ourselves from this disease. Otherwise, 1st Timothy 3:3 admonishes, 'Not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous.'

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey