Saw this story in yesterday's Guardian. Kemi Adeyoola, was clearly intelligent, and privileged - so why she ended up commiting such a heinous crime, we'll never know. It raises the usual questions of whether people are born evil, or if it's their surroundings which matter more.
I question the father saying that she had been obsessed with money from an early age. He lost contact with her when she was 11, an age at which a father should still be able to instill discipline and values in a child. If she had any obsessions with mammon from before then, he would have had the responsiblity of curbing that desire. Alas, he wasn't there in her formative years, and now, without an ounce of guilt, he says the signs were always there.
The fact that he is a rich man, can't possibly help his argument. If anyone could tell her about love, money, roots, and evil, he would be that person. But once again, he wasn't there. Is he to blame for how she turned out? No. She's responsible for her own actions. Do his comments betray a certain culpability in the path that led to her actions. Perhaps.
In my youth I used to think all people were born good, and that society made them evil. But when I feel more cynical, I tend to think that all people are born evil, and goodness needs to beaten into them - the rod speaketh. Neither position is true, and the reality is probably somewhere in between. This case raises those questions. A close look at the case shows shows not an obsession with money, but a thirst for the acclaim which leads to getting money. A desire to be an author, being an escort with a friend shadowing her, James Bond-like, a plotted murder. All the actions of a thrill seeker. Like I always say, it's a thin line between insanity and genius.
8 comments:
Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Enough said.
common Nkem, you cant be born evil. i know it beggars belief how someone could commit such a heinous crime but there are a very wide variety of things that could have moulded her into the beast she is now.
she was clearly used to the goodlife and wanted to some sort of acknowledgement or social recognition - purely evil yes.
i cant even begin to t hink of what was going through her head. a full 18 page manual - meeeeennn
hmm. Maybe I'm missing something here, but if she was in a juvenile home and was raised by her grandparents and already had a record of being considered criminal and her own father saying she was materialistic at 11, she's not exactly someone who has had a very nice life. I think she's a product of her environment, but then I also think she may already have had a psychological problem.
I once read a book (by Alice Miller) in which she claims that someone who goes on to commit physical crimes such as murder, abuse, etc, always comes from a background where he/she was a victim of abuse. I don't know how true that is, but it makes me really wonder about the father. I mean, how can you tell me your 11 year old daughter is materialistic as if she came up with it all by herself. There's something very sinister about it all. Reminiscent of parents who tell their 9 year olds that they are filthy pigs. Then later when the boy or girl grows up and does wrong, it's "He was always a filthy pig anyway."
I mean, who was letting this young girl read crime and murder novels so early (cuz she obviously has been reading for a very long time), why did her father abandon her so early. I don't know. This is mind boggling, and incredibly upsetting. I'm not going say "I blame the parents," I just think they've had a part to play in creating a monster.
I wonder how a parent can use words like 'spoilt' and 'cunning'when talking about his own daughter without feeling any guilt. Why was she spoilt? Plus I'm yet to meet a trully cunning 11 yr old (mischevious maybe but not cunning!).
This story too me is just too weird. There are so many things about it that don't make sense. Why would anyone write a manual for murder and leave it behind in her prison cell. If you are smart enough to plan something meticulously, how DUMB can you get to leave the plan behind. Then the manual had some really childish and childlike things in it. The most compelling bit of evidence to me was the dna evidence on her hand, but this manual thing doesn't fly. The babe said she was writing a book, too me that makes more sense than her planning a manual for murder. A lot of those crime fiction books (which was why I stopped reading them) sound exactly like what she wrote, cold and gruesome. I just don't buy it. It's a long way from petty theft to out right cold blooded murder of a woman that wasn't even rich or that didn't even meet her specifications, apparently it was a trial run.... Like I said it sounds weird to me
As for her father.
He sounds like he never cared for her, and is just trying to protect his name. Seems like he's been doing that since she was born. Haven't you guys watched my super sweet 16 or Fabolous life...people who's fathers are worth 10 mill pound sterling, don't have to steal!!!
I've also wondered if ppl are born evil. Something that made me think that was my little cousin. She's not evil...far from it. She's the cutest thing on earth but she's very cunny...very temperamental...the thing is NO ONE around her is that way. Her mom and brother are quiet. I've known her since she was born and I see these little traits in her and I wonder where she got them from...makes me wonder...ppl may just be born bad...i dont really know...
This is sad. the girl just probably needed someone to care enough for her to pay attention. Perhaps she needed psychological help...
I think alot of times we underestimate "children"...they seem now to be more advanced than we were growing up...we just need to start paying closer attention
I'm not the least bit surprised by the father.
She obviously wasn;t living with him, I'd bet my bottom dollar, that he wasn't giving her money or she would have to beg for it.
This was not a man who was involved in her life in any positive way.
I'm not saying this is just a naija problem, but for a minute lets just examine our own people in this country..
Our parents generation were horrible at this, the m,en would sleep around and bugger off, having nothing to do with the children, the only time you would hear from them is when the kids are grown up and have a lil something, then they come along cap in hand begging for crumbs. or the child gets old enough and goes searching for the father and then realises what a jerk he is.
Our parents left many children in foster homes, or in social care for far too long and far too often, so that they could go to school and still have a social life.
Whwere is the girls mother?, only God knows, maybe she doesn't have one, maybe she is in Naija and the child was taken from her by her rich husband to be raised here and then primarily dumped int he hands of the care service, when running his business or having his second family became more of a priority.
I don't really know, what I do know is that saying that this man reeks of irresponsibility and there are too many out there like him.
Afterall, isn't there a popular saying in Naija, that a good child is the father's child and a bad child belongs to the mother?.
This case just highlights that no matter what we have, we probably need to spend a little bit more qualioty time with our children, and if we recognise that something is wrong with them, then we need to address it, and address our own problems as well.
Having chidren should not be seen as our duty to leave our DNA behind, but as a selfless act.
Whatever way you look at it, this case is just sad.
I worked with Kemi when she was in a secure training centre at the age of 15, she was a very volatile teenager and did not have much contact with her mum. Infact I remember on her 16th birthday her crying her eyes out when her mother did not even call her to wish her happy birthday. She felt very trapped and hated going into her cell where they where locked in. Kemi was a very angry young lady however I saw a young person crying out for love. Even at the age of 15 Kemi had told me she wanted to write a book and may have even started it then. I was filled with sadness when I heard what she had done and could not get my head around it. Kemi once told me that her mother thought more about God and how she would leave her and spend her time at the church. I can't say that was true but the sadness was there. I only ever saw a sad but underneith a very angry young lady, but I saw the other side as well.
Post a Comment