It was an arduous task ploughing through the unending and at places questionable list of names selected for the national awards this year. Absent from this list was the name of the person who deserved this award the most – Espen Barth Eide, the Norwegian Foreign Minister. He taught us how to disembark from a commercial flight (and not a Gulfstream), walk down the passenger boarding bridge, carry our own luggage and not have an entourage of a dozen friends and family members. This event happened at about the same time when two government officials were being royally chauffeured in a four-horse-drawn buggy, escorted by seven minions – four mounted on horseback, two holding an umbrella and one serving as a hanger-on. Perhaps history will remember this as one of the most decadent and disgusting visuals of coloniality.

Whether it is a victory in war, a diplomatic triumph, a pact with another country, a national day or simply receiving a foreign dignitary, restraint quickly gives way to vicious extravagance,........

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