TheCable

Last week Tuesday, March 8, was International Women’s Day, IWD. Around the world, governments, organisations, and individuals held various events to mark the day. Of course, the situation was a little different in Nigeria. Exactly a week to the International Women’s Day, the National Assembly, NASS, comprising the Senate and House of Representatives, decided to give Nigerian women a ‘gift’ in advance by rejecting five bills that were supposed to help women. The bills: Bills 35, 36, 37, 38 & 68; were seeking among other things to: “provide for a special seat for women in the National and State Assembly; “expand the scope of citizenship by registration; “provide for affirmative action for women in political party administration; “provide criteria for qualification to become an indigene of a state in Nigeria, and to “give women a quota in the federal and state executive councils or ministerial and commissionership seats.”

No one ever accused this 9^th National Assembly (9^th or 0^th doesn’t make much difference) of being on the side of the masses. They appear to have taken on their role as the derogatory Rubber Stamp Assembly rather seriously. Still, even by their own abysmal record, the NASS men outdid themselves when they rejected those 5 bills. That was five times Nigerian women were told off.

Just as we, by we I mean Nigerian women, were looking for ways to press on and ignore the noise, around March 10, reality TV star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian, whole promoting their family reality TV show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, thought it wise to give some free advice to women. Usually, I ignore the shenanigans from these people. So, essentially Kim was implying that those women who aren’t rich aren’t working hard enough when she said: “Get your f**king ass up and work…It seems like nobody wants to work these days. Have a good work environment where everyone loves what they do because you have one life. No toxic work environments.”

This is all shades of insensitive. Talk about living in a bubble. The former Mrs. West managed to forget that by having well-to-do parents, and by being born into wealth, she already had a head start in life. Many people called her out on social media, and rightly so.  The other thing that came out of this episode is that in spite of Kim’s campaign for a ‘good non-toxic work environment,’ the Kardashian-Jenners may not be practicing what Kim is preaching. Many ex-workers came out to complain about the toxic work environment they endured working for the Kardashians.

It’s difficult to believe that what Kim Kardashian said was not scripted. Or a part of some kind of plan. Anyhow, as far as the promotion for their show, this tactless statement from Kim is at least keeping their names on people’s lips. Hopefully, she learns the right lessons.

• Jeen-Yhus

Speaking of Kim Kardashian, Jeen-Yhus is the title of the documentary on Kanye West. Kanye and Kim were married and have 4 children. Jeen-Yhus was released on Netflix about two months ago. I’d resisted the urge to read about it or watch it. I was trying not to be too involved in all the Kanye-Kim drama. And between Kim and Kanye, there’s enough drama to go around. As I said earlier, there’s just too much drama.

However, I’m happy to announce that I’ve started watching Jeen-Yhus. ‘Jeen-Yhus is a great piece of work. It’s directed by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah. Jeen-Yhus tells the story of Kanye before he got his first recording contract with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. Coodie had taken time off from his work to follow Kanye around. Watching it, like many geniuses, Kanye was dogged. As a producer, he was working very hard but remained focused on becoming an artiste himself. It’s also clear how much of a stabilizing effect his mother Donda had on him. Above all, it’s nice to watch Kanye from way before…