If you live long enough, you will see many things you, hitherto, thought were impossible! In the constantly changing dynamics of the Nigerian political landscape, the incredulous and nonsensical, seems to be assuming the the status of normality!
Cybersphere has been been awash with the news that Reno Omokri, the fellow behind the pro-Jonathan group on Facebook, Build Nigeria, has been appointed a Special Assistant, or is it Adviser, to the president on New Media! This is another name for everything you read, or put out on the internet!
Many have hailed the appointment as one of a round peg, in a round hole! The hole part I totally agree with: it is a lot of money going down a deep egotistic hole!
Mr Omokri has been, before now, offering a robust defense of the president against the negative press he has been given by the likes of Mallam Nasir El Rufai!
This is Jonathan now acquiring his own internet czar! The prospect leaves me rubbing my hands in expectation! It means that the president would finally begin to "answer" all the queries directed at him online! For one who campaigned assiduously online during his bid for the presidency, he seems to have cooled off somewhat!
Reno was one of the architects of his effervescent internet presence during the run up to the elections! Many of us knew Jonathan was getting his message across, more than all the other contenders! We did not need to see any writing on the wall to know this!
But one wonders, if Mr Omokri is the Special Adviser on New Media, does that make Reuben Abati, the one for Old Media?
Or could it be, that because Mr Abati has not stamped his authority on the ebb, and flow, of the discourse online, a whizkid has been brought in to ensure that the jousting ends in Jonathan's favour!
This is what a consultant would normally do for a politician, but elevating the position to a cabinet level smacks of cronyism, insincerity, and profligacy!
When the country is labouring under a huge wage bill, and after a litany of complaints have been tabled on the over-bloated, and still ballooning, Jonathan cabinet, do we really need another Special Adviser?
Some would see it as oil money, free, and meant to be spent: I, sadly, must agree with them!Not because it is the correct thing to do, but because Nigerians deserve what they are getting right now!
We never bother to ask our politicians how, and why, they are spending our money: and they in turn, never bother to render account!
So it is a perfect marriage between a careless electorate, and a reckless leadership! Like Ola Rotimi would say, "of he goats, and coco yam!
We allow politicians to rack up all manner of frivolous expenses, and debts, and we even pray for them!
The president would be well advised to make more appointments soon: we would soon require a Special Adviser on Flooding in Lagos, one on Boko Haram Affairs, another for the mosquitoes that plague Aso Rock, and one to help his excellency flush his toilet properly!
As Mr Omokri proudly prowls the corridors of Aso Rock with his gold-plated Ipad in hand, let him remember, that in the real world, we are waiting for the jobs, roads, electricity, and security his new portfolio would generate for the ordinary suffering masses who are unfortunate to find themselves under such a leadership!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA, MY NIGERIA FOREVER!
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