There is a small semi-autonomous city in Tanzania called Zanzibar! It is part of a group of islands, and used to be called the Spice Islands due to it's colonial past. It is this past, that Zanzibar now uses as a joker for drawing tourists!
The whole Island, is an archeological/architectural museum.Many of the buildings on the island, are many centuries old! But strangely enough, they are never renovated, but are the way they were more than two hundred years ago!
Due to the foresight of the leaders of Tanzania, a law was passed to make it illegal to alter,change, or remove any component of a building on the island! The effect of this, is that Zanzibar seems to be locked in a time bubble!
One would think the locals would complain, but the contrary is the reality on ground! They love it! Tourists flock to the island to stay in hotels that are four hundred years old, and eat in a restaurant that was once the villa of a notorious pirate!
That is Zanzibar, in a nutshell.
There is a quaint confluence town in Nigeria called Lokoja. Many do not know that Lokoja was the first administrative capital of Nigeria. Lord Lugard lived there, and the colonialists left a treasure trove of architectural masterpieces behind.
Today, Lokoja is the capital of Kogi state. It is less than three hundred kilometres from Abuja, the current capital.
About fifteen years ago, I went to Lokoja for the first time, to document some of the historical treasures there. That was the era of film, and negatives, and as I write, I must confess that the passage of time has degraded my work.
I am sure someone is wondering why I am not doing the same thing now! It is nearly impossible to do now! A succession of failed leadership at the federal, and state level, have conspired to wreck all the treasures left behind by the colonialists!
There were many beautiful buildings, including the ones that Lord Luggard, and Bishop Ajayi Crowther, the first Anglican Bishop in Africa resided in when they were alive. Most of them, sadly, are lost forever!
Also in Lokoja could be found the first primary school in Northern Nigeria, and the first prison in Nigeria, and a host of monuments. They have all been destroyed. In the case of the primary school, Bishop George Bako, in a rash of misinformed judgment pulled down one of the primary school buildings, because he was building a cathedral. In another instant, the official residence of the Kogi state Commissioner of police, a beautiful example of period colonial architecture was pulled down in hours, to make way for a "modern befitting edifice!
The pillaging of the architectural heritage of Lokoja, has reached a tipping point, and cannot be reversed. It is sad because, these buildings, and other monuments could have been the nucleus around which the tourism industry of Lokoja could have revolved!
The sad thing, is that the useless structures they are putting instead of these treasures, are architectural eyesores that would not even last fifty years!
If you think Kogi state is an exception, then you are mistaken. The same is happening all over Nigeria. We have blind, sleep-walking people dictating the affairs of state, and no one gives a hoot what happens to some old building somewhere! All they are concerned with, is the land upon which these structures stand, that is of more value to them.
In Lagos for example, the period architecture from the Brazilian era on the Islands, and other parts of the state, are all gone! They have all been replaced with sky scrappers, and other offensive structures!
I believe the reason why our governments do not care about tourism, is because tourist dollars do not all end in the national treasury, they actually end up in the pockets of the people, and that changes their lives!
Until governments show enough care for these treasures, we are in danger of loosing them, and also loosing a vital link to our past.
Many of these same leaders go to Europe to look at old cities,and stay in historical buildings. But it looks like they have told themselves, that we have nothing worth preserving! That, is truly tragic!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA, FOREVER!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Ayim Pius Ayim:How Long Can He Last?
He is a testament to the fact that in politics, a man cannot be discounted, until he is dead!
Some have castigated him for coming down from the exalted number three position he once occupied, to a "mere" Secretary to the Government! Talk about sour grapes!
The gentleman has one rare quality that would make him work well with Goodluck Jonathan, he is loyal! Some might even go as far as saying that, despite his humongous girt, he is just a cuddly, affable, lap-dog! One with an avuncular nature!
There was a joke I heard a while back, that encapsulates this. Someone was trying to contrast the late Chuba Okadigbo, and Ayim. The fellow said with Okadigbo, if you tell him to jump, he would ask you :Why? With Anyim, if you ask him to jump, he would ask you "How high!
Perhaps it is this desire to have someone who is fully loyal, and "pissing out", that has enamored him to President Jonathan!
But Anyim should not celebrate just yet! He is from an ethnic group, whose politicians do not subscribe to "brand loyalty"
I would not be shocked, if tomorrow, some scandal is generated to remove him.
All we need to do, is look at the history of Nigerian politics in the last twelve years!
When the Senate presidency was zoned to the South East, all manner of intrigues were deployed to remove whoever was there!
There was this belief, it seems, that removing the fellow would enhance the chances of other senators from the zone in becoming president of the senate.
Or how do we explain five senate presidents, in eight years!
If I were Anyim Pius Anyim, I would watch my back very well! There is a proverb in Igbo, that the Igbos do not have, or recognize, a king!
Right now, unless things change, Pius Anyim, is the highest ranking Igbo politician from the South East in government! A king!
I perceive the bulls eye on his back growing bigger, all in reflective neon paint!
That "common" position, is now in hot demand!
However, it would be nice, for a change, for the Igbos to prove me wrong!
GOD BLESS NIGERIA,MY NIGERIA,FOREVER!
Some have castigated him for coming down from the exalted number three position he once occupied, to a "mere" Secretary to the Government! Talk about sour grapes!
The gentleman has one rare quality that would make him work well with Goodluck Jonathan, he is loyal! Some might even go as far as saying that, despite his humongous girt, he is just a cuddly, affable, lap-dog! One with an avuncular nature!
There was a joke I heard a while back, that encapsulates this. Someone was trying to contrast the late Chuba Okadigbo, and Ayim. The fellow said with Okadigbo, if you tell him to jump, he would ask you :Why? With Anyim, if you ask him to jump, he would ask you "How high!
Perhaps it is this desire to have someone who is fully loyal, and "pissing out", that has enamored him to President Jonathan!
But Anyim should not celebrate just yet! He is from an ethnic group, whose politicians do not subscribe to "brand loyalty"
I would not be shocked, if tomorrow, some scandal is generated to remove him.
All we need to do, is look at the history of Nigerian politics in the last twelve years!
When the Senate presidency was zoned to the South East, all manner of intrigues were deployed to remove whoever was there!
There was this belief, it seems, that removing the fellow would enhance the chances of other senators from the zone in becoming president of the senate.
Or how do we explain five senate presidents, in eight years!
If I were Anyim Pius Anyim, I would watch my back very well! There is a proverb in Igbo, that the Igbos do not have, or recognize, a king!
Right now, unless things change, Pius Anyim, is the highest ranking Igbo politician from the South East in government! A king!
I perceive the bulls eye on his back growing bigger, all in reflective neon paint!
That "common" position, is now in hot demand!
However, it would be nice, for a change, for the Igbos to prove me wrong!
GOD BLESS NIGERIA,MY NIGERIA,FOREVER!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Civilization!
When we think about Civilization, the first thing that comes to our heads, are the mind-boggling marvels that science constantly astounds us with at a frenetic pace!
We would think of aeroplanes that fly at Mach II, telescopes that can see the universe one million years ago, nano technology, eradication of small pox, and whatever we deem to be a life-changing marvel!
All these, and more, are indicators of civilization. But as far as I am concerned, the single factor that points to Civilization in any society, is it's ability to manage, and resolve conflicts, in a non-destructive manner!
One instrument Civilized society use to achieve this, is the concept, or construct, of the rule of law!
This is the accepted understanding, that the law is supreme, and is capable of resolving all conflicts! It is also an acceptable notion in Civilized societies, that agents of the law, do not represent themselves, but are instruments of the society's collective will to be civilized.
That is why I am truly saddened by the atrocious events involving soldiers, and police personnel in Lagos.
In a reprehensible show of shame, soldiers killed police men, in a tit for tat retaliatory manner!
It is the clearest sign for all to see, that we actually have not descended from the trees yet, and still dwell in caves!
Forget the I-pad you are reading this article on, and the water bed you are luxuriating on, deep down, when you scratch an average Nigerian, you would find the most primeval of brutes, attired in the latest suit Savile Row can offer!
Need I talk about our well-known love for flouting simple traffic rules at the slightest indication that traffic is likely to be stalled.
We see "civilized" Nigerians, leaving the road in their expensive "civilized" cars, and taking to the side walk: they do, because it is there for the taking! Pedestrians who are currently using it safely, do not matter, and can be hounded off with disdain!
And you say we are civilized? We are not! We are just like the Giant Humboldt Current Red Squid, that loves to cannibalize it's mates!
What the soldiers did, is just a symptom of the systemic chaos that rules this nation from the very top!
We see it in reckless expenditure by government, unlawful, and uncivilized, actions that are guaranteed to end the political careers of people in civilized societies; to our leaders, are actually like the badges that boy scouts collect ! The more they have, the higher they are regarded!
People do things, terrible things, because they know they can get away with daylight murder! There is very little respect for the law, and police men too! One can argue that the police have lost the moral high ground they out to occupy through their malfeasance!
But that is not an excuse for one to kick the law, and by extension all of us, in the teeth!
We need to evolve a society where a private in the police force, would be sufficient to arrest a serving General in the Nigerian Army, when the General breaks any of our civil laws!
I can hear you laughing and saying it will never happen, but it ought to, for that is the hallmark of a Civilized society!
The fact that a person belongs to any of the military, or paramilitary, outfits, does not make such a person exempt from obeying the law, or above it! Rather, all uniformed personnel, are supposed to defend the law, to the extent of giving their lives for it!
It is when this becomes a reality in Nigeria, that we can truly say we are civilized!
Right now, we live in an infernal hell, governed by chaos!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA, OUR NIGERIA, FOREVER!
We would think of aeroplanes that fly at Mach II, telescopes that can see the universe one million years ago, nano technology, eradication of small pox, and whatever we deem to be a life-changing marvel!
All these, and more, are indicators of civilization. But as far as I am concerned, the single factor that points to Civilization in any society, is it's ability to manage, and resolve conflicts, in a non-destructive manner!
One instrument Civilized society use to achieve this, is the concept, or construct, of the rule of law!
This is the accepted understanding, that the law is supreme, and is capable of resolving all conflicts! It is also an acceptable notion in Civilized societies, that agents of the law, do not represent themselves, but are instruments of the society's collective will to be civilized.
That is why I am truly saddened by the atrocious events involving soldiers, and police personnel in Lagos.
In a reprehensible show of shame, soldiers killed police men, in a tit for tat retaliatory manner!
It is the clearest sign for all to see, that we actually have not descended from the trees yet, and still dwell in caves!
Forget the I-pad you are reading this article on, and the water bed you are luxuriating on, deep down, when you scratch an average Nigerian, you would find the most primeval of brutes, attired in the latest suit Savile Row can offer!
Need I talk about our well-known love for flouting simple traffic rules at the slightest indication that traffic is likely to be stalled.
We see "civilized" Nigerians, leaving the road in their expensive "civilized" cars, and taking to the side walk: they do, because it is there for the taking! Pedestrians who are currently using it safely, do not matter, and can be hounded off with disdain!
And you say we are civilized? We are not! We are just like the Giant Humboldt Current Red Squid, that loves to cannibalize it's mates!
What the soldiers did, is just a symptom of the systemic chaos that rules this nation from the very top!
We see it in reckless expenditure by government, unlawful, and uncivilized, actions that are guaranteed to end the political careers of people in civilized societies; to our leaders, are actually like the badges that boy scouts collect ! The more they have, the higher they are regarded!
People do things, terrible things, because they know they can get away with daylight murder! There is very little respect for the law, and police men too! One can argue that the police have lost the moral high ground they out to occupy through their malfeasance!
But that is not an excuse for one to kick the law, and by extension all of us, in the teeth!
We need to evolve a society where a private in the police force, would be sufficient to arrest a serving General in the Nigerian Army, when the General breaks any of our civil laws!
I can hear you laughing and saying it will never happen, but it ought to, for that is the hallmark of a Civilized society!
The fact that a person belongs to any of the military, or paramilitary, outfits, does not make such a person exempt from obeying the law, or above it! Rather, all uniformed personnel, are supposed to defend the law, to the extent of giving their lives for it!
It is when this becomes a reality in Nigeria, that we can truly say we are civilized!
Right now, we live in an infernal hell, governed by chaos!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA, OUR NIGERIA, FOREVER!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
What Future?
It is midnight, I am in Abuja, and it is raining!
I cannot sleep anymore!
The little lady asked for a midnight snack, and I promptly obliged her with the magical, ever faithful, tea and bread!
As I looked at my daughter, I started thinking about the kind of country I would be handing over to her!
My parents gave me a country that had potentials, but, as if to show that records are meant to be broken, we have succeeded in turning a winning position into one of desperation!
Two generations ago, in this same country, graduates were employed from our universities!
They were wooed with offers of car loans, and and other perks that make life sweet!
The next were not so lucky, they were the "strike" generation!
They were the ones who proved to the world that it was indeed possible to complete a four year degree course in eight, despite one not failing a single subject at all!
The, too numerous to mention, industrial actions by the academia, created an aberration; professional students!
These were people whose vocation seemed to be ever-going to school, albeit in fits and stops, while not graduating!
And today, the cycle of decay is complete!
We now have universities that are less than secondary schools in neighbouring West African countries!
Our secondary schools are worse than primary, and primary schools that just kill intellect!
We have managed to achieve this distasteful distinction while increasing our annual budgets in geometric progression!
Where a member of the house of representatives earns Fifteen million naira every month: and political office holders see the nation as a cash cow, we are surely in dire straits!
Our mantra seems to be "If it works elsewhere, not here!
So I am considering my five year old right now, and ruminating on the future she would traverse, in our refusing to be great nation!
We have pantomimed for fifty years, and pretended progress!
We drive cars we do not produce, wear shoes we do not cobble, and and even the crude oil we produce, we need outsiders to refine it for us to use!
If that is not failure, I wonder what is!
We have failed this nation! Yes we have!
Those who looted, and who those awaiting their turn because the opportunity currently eludes them:shame on you!
We too have failed by our conspiracy of silence!
I believe that Nigeria would fix herself, one way, or another!
One day, we would all wake up, and find that the last straw we thought was nothing, has finally broken her back!
Then, perhaps, like Esau in the Bible, we would contritely seek our inheritance, and find it comfortably pledged to another!
Its now One a.m!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA! OUR OWN DEAR NATIVE LAND, FOREVER!
I cannot sleep anymore!
The little lady asked for a midnight snack, and I promptly obliged her with the magical, ever faithful, tea and bread!
As I looked at my daughter, I started thinking about the kind of country I would be handing over to her!
My parents gave me a country that had potentials, but, as if to show that records are meant to be broken, we have succeeded in turning a winning position into one of desperation!
Two generations ago, in this same country, graduates were employed from our universities!
They were wooed with offers of car loans, and and other perks that make life sweet!
The next were not so lucky, they were the "strike" generation!
They were the ones who proved to the world that it was indeed possible to complete a four year degree course in eight, despite one not failing a single subject at all!
The, too numerous to mention, industrial actions by the academia, created an aberration; professional students!
These were people whose vocation seemed to be ever-going to school, albeit in fits and stops, while not graduating!
And today, the cycle of decay is complete!
We now have universities that are less than secondary schools in neighbouring West African countries!
Our secondary schools are worse than primary, and primary schools that just kill intellect!
We have managed to achieve this distasteful distinction while increasing our annual budgets in geometric progression!
Where a member of the house of representatives earns Fifteen million naira every month: and political office holders see the nation as a cash cow, we are surely in dire straits!
Our mantra seems to be "If it works elsewhere, not here!
So I am considering my five year old right now, and ruminating on the future she would traverse, in our refusing to be great nation!
We have pantomimed for fifty years, and pretended progress!
We drive cars we do not produce, wear shoes we do not cobble, and and even the crude oil we produce, we need outsiders to refine it for us to use!
If that is not failure, I wonder what is!
We have failed this nation! Yes we have!
Those who looted, and who those awaiting their turn because the opportunity currently eludes them:shame on you!
We too have failed by our conspiracy of silence!
I believe that Nigeria would fix herself, one way, or another!
One day, we would all wake up, and find that the last straw we thought was nothing, has finally broken her back!
Then, perhaps, like Esau in the Bible, we would contritely seek our inheritance, and find it comfortably pledged to another!
Its now One a.m!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA! OUR OWN DEAR NATIVE LAND, FOREVER!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
A Death Desired!
With gratitude to God, for a life not well spent, we are happy to announce the imminent death of the People's Democratic Party! Fondly called Peter De Pay, and People Destroying Party, this party presided over the worst twelve years of Nigeria's political history!
Born in the ashes of the immolation of military rule, this ogre has consumed all that is good about Nigeria! We are only left with memories of how things used to be good, the good old days!
It began it's life at Corruption Comprehensive Primary School, and went on to the Secondary School for Hired Killers! Not satisfied with this achievement, it proceeded to the University of Election Manipulation, and Kleptocracy!
As a result of it's perceived invincibility, the PDP promised to rule the helpless, hapless citizens of Nigeria for sixty years! It did this with the most heinous skulduggery, the manipulation of law enforcement agents, and the use of violence!
Her first born son, General Olusegun Obasanjo, was a master of do, or die politics! He rode rough shod over the opposition, and pursued others to submission through his selective use of anti corruption agencies! His reign promised so much, but delivered so little!
He was booed off the stage after his attempt at tenure elongation!
Umaru Musa Yar' Adua, was the second offspring of note, he preached the rule of law, and was a prisoner to the worst case of illegality at the highest level in Nigeria's history! His wife, and a few cronies, sought to undermine the constitution, buy ruling in his stead!
His case threatened the very foundations upon which this great nation was founded! Mercifully, he died, saving us from a fate better imagined, than experienced!
His death seemed to open a new era for Nigeria, but that was short-lived!
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Mainasara Jonathan etc etc etc a la the King and I, and the farcical inimitable, and impatient Dame Patient, have become the proverbial cloud in the dry season! We were promised freshness, but all we can feel, is dryness, and decay!
In one year, Jonathan has spent more money than any other president in the history of our great country! He has frittered away our foreign reserves, on spurious projects!
He has promised the rule of law, but promoted anarchy, and chaos, in Plateau, Gombe, and Borno states, by his prevarication in handling the crises in these states!
His fear of offending the powers that be in, has left Nigeria leaderless, rudderless, and helpless!
The PDP holds the distinction of being the only party in Nigeria that nominated a man in prison, Iyiola Omisore, as their candidate for the hallowed Senate of the federal republic of Nigeria!
As a mark of their disdain for Nigeria, the ensured he won the election, by rigging! Their love for the prison was taken to the absurd, when they celebrated their leader in the South West, Olabode George, a man jailed for two years for official corruption, like a king!
The show of shame was televised on national television for us to see!
As we go to the polls to cast our votes, let each vote be against the PDP! Let each vote mark the turning off of the life support system keeping it alive!
The PDP has promised to rule Nigeria for sixty years, with, or without our consent; let us show them, that we still have a say in the matter, vote out the PDP in every position!
Let us vote the only truly proven candidate without a baggage, a man without a history of compromising with corruption: an upright man!
Let us vote General Muhammadu Buhari for president!
He will truly ensure that the PDP does not resurrect again!
Stand Up Nigeria! It is your time!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER!
Born in the ashes of the immolation of military rule, this ogre has consumed all that is good about Nigeria! We are only left with memories of how things used to be good, the good old days!
It began it's life at Corruption Comprehensive Primary School, and went on to the Secondary School for Hired Killers! Not satisfied with this achievement, it proceeded to the University of Election Manipulation, and Kleptocracy!
As a result of it's perceived invincibility, the PDP promised to rule the helpless, hapless citizens of Nigeria for sixty years! It did this with the most heinous skulduggery, the manipulation of law enforcement agents, and the use of violence!
Her first born son, General Olusegun Obasanjo, was a master of do, or die politics! He rode rough shod over the opposition, and pursued others to submission through his selective use of anti corruption agencies! His reign promised so much, but delivered so little!
He was booed off the stage after his attempt at tenure elongation!
Umaru Musa Yar' Adua, was the second offspring of note, he preached the rule of law, and was a prisoner to the worst case of illegality at the highest level in Nigeria's history! His wife, and a few cronies, sought to undermine the constitution, buy ruling in his stead!
His case threatened the very foundations upon which this great nation was founded! Mercifully, he died, saving us from a fate better imagined, than experienced!
His death seemed to open a new era for Nigeria, but that was short-lived!
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Mainasara Jonathan etc etc etc a la the King and I, and the farcical inimitable, and impatient Dame Patient, have become the proverbial cloud in the dry season! We were promised freshness, but all we can feel, is dryness, and decay!
In one year, Jonathan has spent more money than any other president in the history of our great country! He has frittered away our foreign reserves, on spurious projects!
He has promised the rule of law, but promoted anarchy, and chaos, in Plateau, Gombe, and Borno states, by his prevarication in handling the crises in these states!
His fear of offending the powers that be in, has left Nigeria leaderless, rudderless, and helpless!
The PDP holds the distinction of being the only party in Nigeria that nominated a man in prison, Iyiola Omisore, as their candidate for the hallowed Senate of the federal republic of Nigeria!
As a mark of their disdain for Nigeria, the ensured he won the election, by rigging! Their love for the prison was taken to the absurd, when they celebrated their leader in the South West, Olabode George, a man jailed for two years for official corruption, like a king!
The show of shame was televised on national television for us to see!
As we go to the polls to cast our votes, let each vote be against the PDP! Let each vote mark the turning off of the life support system keeping it alive!
The PDP has promised to rule Nigeria for sixty years, with, or without our consent; let us show them, that we still have a say in the matter, vote out the PDP in every position!
Let us vote the only truly proven candidate without a baggage, a man without a history of compromising with corruption: an upright man!
Let us vote General Muhammadu Buhari for president!
He will truly ensure that the PDP does not resurrect again!
Stand Up Nigeria! It is your time!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
A Breath Of Fresh Air:Goodluck's Secret Message To You!
One of the consequences of the myriad of election disputes arising from the twelve years of the the People's Democratic Party,PDP, misrule, is that many of us have become more knowledgeable when it comes to the law!
One phrase that we found reoccuring in many disputes, is that a party to a case, cannot approbate, and reprobate at the same time!
It simply means that one cannot approve, and disapprove a matter in the same breath!
You cannot take two conflicting positions in a matter, simply because you feel it would enhance your chances of winning! A typical example of this at work, was when pettitioners prayed the court to declare that no election was held in a place, and to at the same time declare them winners! The courts were wise to ask,"Of what election? The one that did not hold?
It is therefore interesting to see what Goodluck Jonathan, our president by default, has hinged his campaign on: "a breath of fresh air"
One is curious to know, where is this breath of fresh air coming from? Is he saying that he is going to import Britons, and Americans, to run Nigeria? Or, could he have forgotten, even while he is still a beneficiary, that he has been a part of the PDP misrule that has "de-developpd" Nigeria?
Jonathan was the deputy governor in Bayelsa state from the beginning of this democratic dispensation! He then became the state governor when his boss was impeached for malfeasance!
Could Jonathan have forgotten so soon, that he was also the vice president under Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, and that he is still a beneficiary of that regime!
For Jonathan to attempt to distance himself from the old smelly, stinking,shameful corpse, that the PDP rule has become, is laughable, and very unimmaginative!
It is like a fish saying that it is not a part of the water that sustains it, or for a building to deny it's foundation! Jonathan is part of the architecture of failure, misrule, and mismanagement, the PDP has visited on Nigeria!
A vote for Jonathan, is a vote for four more years of business as usual! A vote for Jonathan, is a vote for four more years of his master Olusegun Obasanjo! A vote for Jonathan, would complete sixteen years of the sixty, the PDP has promised to misrule Nigeria for!
So, if you are wise, you will give Jonathan what he truly, deep down in his heart wants, a breath of fresh air for Nigeria! He knows his party has failed Nigeria, but as a loyal party man, he cannot come out to say it! That is why he has sent all of us a secret, coded message, that we should deliver Nigeria from the stench of the PDP, and give her a breath of fresh air!
A vote for the PDP, is a vote for unending power failure! A vote for the PDP, is a vote for fuel scarcity, and corruption! A vote for the PDP, is a vote for leaders who do not feel the pain of the people!
I went to the petrol station yesterday to buy fuel for my generator: I bought twenty nine liters for N2,200.00! At the end of the purchase, the attendant asked me to pay him an extra N200.00 because he had sold fuel into a jerry can for me! That is one of the bright and shinning ongoing legacies of the PDP! They punish us by not building power stations, and refineries, and we pay for their inefficiency!
Let us be wise, shun ethnic politics that lead to more slavery, vote for the real breath of fresh air in this election, General Muhammadu Buhari!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER!
One phrase that we found reoccuring in many disputes, is that a party to a case, cannot approbate, and reprobate at the same time!
It simply means that one cannot approve, and disapprove a matter in the same breath!
You cannot take two conflicting positions in a matter, simply because you feel it would enhance your chances of winning! A typical example of this at work, was when pettitioners prayed the court to declare that no election was held in a place, and to at the same time declare them winners! The courts were wise to ask,"Of what election? The one that did not hold?
It is therefore interesting to see what Goodluck Jonathan, our president by default, has hinged his campaign on: "a breath of fresh air"
One is curious to know, where is this breath of fresh air coming from? Is he saying that he is going to import Britons, and Americans, to run Nigeria? Or, could he have forgotten, even while he is still a beneficiary, that he has been a part of the PDP misrule that has "de-developpd" Nigeria?
Jonathan was the deputy governor in Bayelsa state from the beginning of this democratic dispensation! He then became the state governor when his boss was impeached for malfeasance!
Could Jonathan have forgotten so soon, that he was also the vice president under Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, and that he is still a beneficiary of that regime!
For Jonathan to attempt to distance himself from the old smelly, stinking,shameful corpse, that the PDP rule has become, is laughable, and very unimmaginative!
It is like a fish saying that it is not a part of the water that sustains it, or for a building to deny it's foundation! Jonathan is part of the architecture of failure, misrule, and mismanagement, the PDP has visited on Nigeria!
A vote for Jonathan, is a vote for four more years of business as usual! A vote for Jonathan, is a vote for four more years of his master Olusegun Obasanjo! A vote for Jonathan, would complete sixteen years of the sixty, the PDP has promised to misrule Nigeria for!
So, if you are wise, you will give Jonathan what he truly, deep down in his heart wants, a breath of fresh air for Nigeria! He knows his party has failed Nigeria, but as a loyal party man, he cannot come out to say it! That is why he has sent all of us a secret, coded message, that we should deliver Nigeria from the stench of the PDP, and give her a breath of fresh air!
A vote for the PDP, is a vote for unending power failure! A vote for the PDP, is a vote for fuel scarcity, and corruption! A vote for the PDP, is a vote for leaders who do not feel the pain of the people!
I went to the petrol station yesterday to buy fuel for my generator: I bought twenty nine liters for N2,200.00! At the end of the purchase, the attendant asked me to pay him an extra N200.00 because he had sold fuel into a jerry can for me! That is one of the bright and shinning ongoing legacies of the PDP! They punish us by not building power stations, and refineries, and we pay for their inefficiency!
Let us be wise, shun ethnic politics that lead to more slavery, vote for the real breath of fresh air in this election, General Muhammadu Buhari!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA,FOREVER!
Is There Hope For Nigeria?
I have been offline for more than a week now! I have been concerned with more serious matters in the world of brick, and stones! It has afforded me the opportunity of ruminating on the trajectory our great country Nigeria is on.
We have had continuous civil rule for about twelve years now, but the country seems to be worse than it was twelve years ago! If one were to measure progress on the basis of tangible things like access to cell phones, Ipads, and Iphones, et al, we have made tremendous progress!
If, however, we look at the state of our voiceless poor, we would see the clear indictment of twelve years of misrule by the People's Democratic Party, PDP! I know I love bashing them, but they are fair game, and every knock is justified!
In twelve years, more Nigerians have become poorer, while a very small number, is so rich now, that ever Forbes is beginning to notice them! I have no quarrel with rich men! I love wealth, and the good one can do with it! My grouse is that a system that is unfair, unjust, and uncaring, is surely ungodly!
Every leader from Obasanjo, has mouthed all the right phrases of poverty alleviation, but only succeeded in elevating poverty to a national vocation!
To our shame, we have not been able to build one small refinery! Yet we talk about progress! We spread poverty, and export jobs, each time we export crude oil, and import finished petroleum products!
I do not have any new argument to canvass on why we are poor, all the causes, remote, and immediate, as they love to say in the civil service, are all in the public domain!
It is quite simple really, governments, at all levels have failed! They have been failing for the past twelve years, and if allowed to continue, they will fail for another four!
When people argue that Nigeria is a failed State, those of us who are of the positive confession kind, fulminate, and robustly rebut the obvious, and glaring, fact!
If Nigeria were a marriage, it would have concluded divource proceeding years ago! If we were a business, we would have ceased to be trading a long time a go! If she were an athlete, she would have been banned for life, for cheating, and repeated drug use!
The word that comes to mind, when I consider Nigeria, is a Biblical word, REPROBATE! It means failing to pass a test which is common for others to pass!
We have hospitals that kill people, roads that destroy cars, and schools that breed ignoramuses! It is as if the more money we spend, the more difficult it is to get a positive result! what other countries do, without effort, we need to attempt a dozen times, before we succeed, partially!
We can fairly put our failure to achieve, at the feet of the PDP. but not all of it.
We have also been negligent as a people, we have kept quiet when we should have spoken, we folded our arms when we should have thrown stones, we suffered loss when we should have protested, and demanded prompt redress!
In many parts of the world, election to a political office, is it's own reward! The opportunity to influence policy, is seen as enough reward, so political office holders, serve their people! In our own case, when people run for office, they are actually applying for jobs! They see elections as being the same thing as getting a well-paying job! And sadly, that has been our lot.
We have had continuous civil rule for about twelve years now, but the country seems to be worse than it was twelve years ago! If one were to measure progress on the basis of tangible things like access to cell phones, Ipads, and Iphones, et al, we have made tremendous progress!
If, however, we look at the state of our voiceless poor, we would see the clear indictment of twelve years of misrule by the People's Democratic Party, PDP! I know I love bashing them, but they are fair game, and every knock is justified!
In twelve years, more Nigerians have become poorer, while a very small number, is so rich now, that ever Forbes is beginning to notice them! I have no quarrel with rich men! I love wealth, and the good one can do with it! My grouse is that a system that is unfair, unjust, and uncaring, is surely ungodly!
Every leader from Obasanjo, has mouthed all the right phrases of poverty alleviation, but only succeeded in elevating poverty to a national vocation!
To our shame, we have not been able to build one small refinery! Yet we talk about progress! We spread poverty, and export jobs, each time we export crude oil, and import finished petroleum products!
I do not have any new argument to canvass on why we are poor, all the causes, remote, and immediate, as they love to say in the civil service, are all in the public domain!
It is quite simple really, governments, at all levels have failed! They have been failing for the past twelve years, and if allowed to continue, they will fail for another four!
When people argue that Nigeria is a failed State, those of us who are of the positive confession kind, fulminate, and robustly rebut the obvious, and glaring, fact!
If Nigeria were a marriage, it would have concluded divource proceeding years ago! If we were a business, we would have ceased to be trading a long time a go! If she were an athlete, she would have been banned for life, for cheating, and repeated drug use!
The word that comes to mind, when I consider Nigeria, is a Biblical word, REPROBATE! It means failing to pass a test which is common for others to pass!
We have hospitals that kill people, roads that destroy cars, and schools that breed ignoramuses! It is as if the more money we spend, the more difficult it is to get a positive result! what other countries do, without effort, we need to attempt a dozen times, before we succeed, partially!
We can fairly put our failure to achieve, at the feet of the PDP. but not all of it.
We have also been negligent as a people, we have kept quiet when we should have spoken, we folded our arms when we should have thrown stones, we suffered loss when we should have protested, and demanded prompt redress!
In many parts of the world, election to a political office, is it's own reward! The opportunity to influence policy, is seen as enough reward, so political office holders, serve their people! In our own case, when people run for office, they are actually applying for jobs! They see elections as being the same thing as getting a well-paying job! And sadly, that has been our lot.
A passage in the Bible, from the book of Ecclesiastes's chapter 10, sums our situation succinctly,16.
Woe to thee O land,
when thy king is a child,
and thy princes eat in the morning.
17.Blessed art thou o land,
when thy king is the son of nobles,
and thy princes eat in due season,
for strength,
and not for drunkenness,
When leaders are not willing to sacrifice, the nation suffers! When people of no integrity are the ones foisted on us, instead of individuals who are noble, our country can only suffer!
We have another opportunity in a few days time to set our nation on the path of greatness, let us vote out the PDP!
AS WE DO, MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA, OUR NIGERIA FOREVER!
Friday, March 11, 2011
What Does The World See, When They Look At Nigeria?
I saw a cartoon on Facebook the other day. It was of two individuals, a man, and a woman, standing before two mirrors!
In the first strip, a fat, very portly, and porky woman considers her image in the mirror; what we can see of the woman, is that she is rotund, and out of shape:she has a loose flab of fatty flesh around her midriff like a spare tire!
The woman in her own eyes, sees her reflection as a sexy,shapely, slender, sleek, work of art!
The picture shows the man, a wreck of a human being flexing his atrophied muscles!
His shock absorbers, and bushings, are all shot! Nature, and father time, have not been kind to him! He looks like something a cat ate weeks ago, digested partially, and then regurgitated!
He is not good to look at, and I suspect he does not feel good too inside! In addition to this, he is balding!
His reflection however, is a lie! He sees himself with a full head of hair, he is all chiseled muscle, he is perfection personified!
His six pack, triceps, and biceps, are a wonder to behold!
He is Captain Atlas himself!
What these people chose to see, is a far cry from what is actually there!
What a person says about himself, is never truly objective! It is clouded by how that person wishes to be seen in the eyes of others!
And it is on this platform, that we cast off on our journey of self-appraisal!
Nigeria, in the seventies, and eighties, built her international reputation on the platform of fighting apartheid! We drank the analgesic for another man's pain, and the world applauded us!
While we were busy fixing other nations, our own was in disrepair! Our democratic institutions were incommunicado, by reason of a plethora of military interventions, and we borrowed profligately to pay for our "do gooder" image!
We saw ourselves then, as a bastion of freedom, a defender of democracy, an international peace keeper!
That was how we saw ourselves, but how were we in reality? We had suffered from a series of coups, failed economic policies. We had refused to build on the rich agricultural heritage our founding fathers left us, and we even had our own megalomaniacs in Generals Sani Abacha, and Ibrahim Babangida!The duo refused to install democratic governments, yet they exported democracy to other nations!
That shameful era in our history is now recent history, but the present reality is shameful, to say the least! We have conducted three manifestly, and fundamentally, flawed general elections!
We have had instances in which the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in delivering judgement on cases brought by politicians who felt robbed, agreed that the elections were flawed, but still allowed the ones who benefited from these flawed elections to go home with the spoils.They premised their illogical decisions on the fact that the flaws were not substantial enough, to warrant the cancellation of the elections!
In essence, the Justices were saying, a thief who stole only one million naira, out of an account that contained a billion naira, had not done substantial damage by his action.After all, he had not done enough to jeopardize the prosperity of the owner of the money!
It is only in Nigeria, I suspect, that an election would be in dispute, and one of the parties is allowed to claim the position in dispute, and thence use the resources of that office to fight his challenger in court!
We must seem like brainless people to the rest of the world!
Nigeria has managed to reinvent the wheel, and redefine democracy in her own image, and likeness!
We have worked assiduously to remain the laughingstock of all right-thinking, and well-meaning nations the world over!
Last year, the exalted office of our president, was further rubbished by the actions of a few individuals!
They decided to rule by proxy, without the consent of the comatose Umaru Musa Yar'Adua! They succeeded in doing this, because they knew that Nigerians were very tolerant people, that we loath lifting a finger to defend themselves when wronged!
We are yet to see the individuals who perpetrated this fraud prosecuted!
How do we think the world sees us? What do we think the world would say about us, if called to speak?
We have been getting a smidgen of their views from the leaked Wikileaks cables. The revelations about Nigeria, have been shocking, and shameful!
We have heard how Supreme Court Justices were bribed to decide an election against commonsense, and justice!
We have heard how the Secretary to the Government, Yayale Ahmed, claimed that Yar 'Adua, meant to hand over to him, by-passing the constituted order of succession!
And the most egregious of all our failings, must be the refusal to adopt the Justice Uwais Panel's report on electoral reforms in the country! Had they been adopted, we would have taken a giant leap, and joined the rest of the world, in becoming a civilized nation!
By refusing to adopt them, we have become like that couple, starring into a mirror, and living in self-delusion, which is the worst kind of hypocrisy!
The world has lost it's patience where we are concerned! They sense an unwillingness on our part to change: that is why they are looking elsewhere for alternatives!
We are still lucky we have crude oil, we would discover the direness of our situation, when the world has nothing to gain from us anymore!
Then, perhaps, their views would no longer be hushed whispers behind our backs, but a clarion call from the rooftops!
It is time we saw ourselves for what we are, an under performing, underemployed nation, living in in self-delusion!
STAND UP NIGERIA, YOU ARE MORE THAN WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA FOREVER!
In the first strip, a fat, very portly, and porky woman considers her image in the mirror; what we can see of the woman, is that she is rotund, and out of shape:she has a loose flab of fatty flesh around her midriff like a spare tire!
The woman in her own eyes, sees her reflection as a sexy,shapely, slender, sleek, work of art!
The picture shows the man, a wreck of a human being flexing his atrophied muscles!
His shock absorbers, and bushings, are all shot! Nature, and father time, have not been kind to him! He looks like something a cat ate weeks ago, digested partially, and then regurgitated!
He is not good to look at, and I suspect he does not feel good too inside! In addition to this, he is balding!
His reflection however, is a lie! He sees himself with a full head of hair, he is all chiseled muscle, he is perfection personified!
His six pack, triceps, and biceps, are a wonder to behold!
He is Captain Atlas himself!
What these people chose to see, is a far cry from what is actually there!
What a person says about himself, is never truly objective! It is clouded by how that person wishes to be seen in the eyes of others!
And it is on this platform, that we cast off on our journey of self-appraisal!
Nigeria, in the seventies, and eighties, built her international reputation on the platform of fighting apartheid! We drank the analgesic for another man's pain, and the world applauded us!
While we were busy fixing other nations, our own was in disrepair! Our democratic institutions were incommunicado, by reason of a plethora of military interventions, and we borrowed profligately to pay for our "do gooder" image!
We saw ourselves then, as a bastion of freedom, a defender of democracy, an international peace keeper!
That was how we saw ourselves, but how were we in reality? We had suffered from a series of coups, failed economic policies. We had refused to build on the rich agricultural heritage our founding fathers left us, and we even had our own megalomaniacs in Generals Sani Abacha, and Ibrahim Babangida!The duo refused to install democratic governments, yet they exported democracy to other nations!
That shameful era in our history is now recent history, but the present reality is shameful, to say the least! We have conducted three manifestly, and fundamentally, flawed general elections!
We have had instances in which the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in delivering judgement on cases brought by politicians who felt robbed, agreed that the elections were flawed, but still allowed the ones who benefited from these flawed elections to go home with the spoils.They premised their illogical decisions on the fact that the flaws were not substantial enough, to warrant the cancellation of the elections!
In essence, the Justices were saying, a thief who stole only one million naira, out of an account that contained a billion naira, had not done substantial damage by his action.After all, he had not done enough to jeopardize the prosperity of the owner of the money!
It is only in Nigeria, I suspect, that an election would be in dispute, and one of the parties is allowed to claim the position in dispute, and thence use the resources of that office to fight his challenger in court!
We must seem like brainless people to the rest of the world!
Nigeria has managed to reinvent the wheel, and redefine democracy in her own image, and likeness!
We have worked assiduously to remain the laughingstock of all right-thinking, and well-meaning nations the world over!
Last year, the exalted office of our president, was further rubbished by the actions of a few individuals!
They decided to rule by proxy, without the consent of the comatose Umaru Musa Yar'Adua! They succeeded in doing this, because they knew that Nigerians were very tolerant people, that we loath lifting a finger to defend themselves when wronged!
We are yet to see the individuals who perpetrated this fraud prosecuted!
How do we think the world sees us? What do we think the world would say about us, if called to speak?
We have been getting a smidgen of their views from the leaked Wikileaks cables. The revelations about Nigeria, have been shocking, and shameful!
We have heard how Supreme Court Justices were bribed to decide an election against commonsense, and justice!
We have heard how the Secretary to the Government, Yayale Ahmed, claimed that Yar 'Adua, meant to hand over to him, by-passing the constituted order of succession!
And the most egregious of all our failings, must be the refusal to adopt the Justice Uwais Panel's report on electoral reforms in the country! Had they been adopted, we would have taken a giant leap, and joined the rest of the world, in becoming a civilized nation!
By refusing to adopt them, we have become like that couple, starring into a mirror, and living in self-delusion, which is the worst kind of hypocrisy!
The world has lost it's patience where we are concerned! They sense an unwillingness on our part to change: that is why they are looking elsewhere for alternatives!
We are still lucky we have crude oil, we would discover the direness of our situation, when the world has nothing to gain from us anymore!
Then, perhaps, their views would no longer be hushed whispers behind our backs, but a clarion call from the rooftops!
It is time we saw ourselves for what we are, an under performing, underemployed nation, living in in self-delusion!
STAND UP NIGERIA, YOU ARE MORE THAN WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA FOREVER!
Monday, March 7, 2011
"My Fellow Widows?
I wrote, not too long ago, about our love for absurd titles: I could not have been prepared for the latest offering from a popular figure this week!
It turns out, that the wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan, (first lady is no official title), is a great lover of esoteric titles!
In that my article, I wrote about how a particular illiterate man, wanted a title that was not common. He had become tired of holding the same titles with commoners, and saw his redemption, when he saw a publication on Nigeria's founding fathers! Each one of them had one common prefix before their names:late!
In addition, the fellow also observed that it was not a common title! So he adopted it, and proceeded to introduce himself at a function the next day as "Late High, Chief Mazi Nathanael " I will leave the rest to your imagination!
Our great dame, has just added to her quintessential collection of linguistic zingers!
The latest installment, is more colourful than all the others in her repertoire! She referred to women at a public function, as her fellow widows!
Is that how much she hated them, or is it an indication of how much she loves herself?
They all could have been widows, but is she? That is what they call calling yourself what you are not!
I thought her husband was still very much alive, and with us? He is not Umaru Musa Yar'Adua! The title "widow" belongs firmly to Turai Yar'Adua!
No matter how much Goodluck believes in luck, he would not wish to have Umaru's luck, or follow in his footsteps right away!
I can attest to that! It seems his wife is not marching to the same song with him! If Turai can become a widow, the dame..... (God forbid bad thing, one could be arrested for even thinking, or imagining, bad things these days)
I once heard the dame, on television say to children " Children, read your book, because my husband, the president, read his book!
It seems the dame, who they say is a former teacher, has not been reading her book properly! She leaves so much to be desired!
People have been touting Jonathan's qualification for the presidency, and their support for it, on his possession of a doctorate degree!
It seems he has not helped his cause with his giving his wife public speaking assignments! They are all diminishing the intellectualness of the Jonathan's household, and bringing it to disrepute!
I fear for Nigeria! I have hypothesized what a speaking engagement involving the great dame, and Michelle Obama, would look like: beauty and the beast comes to mind!
There is no constitutional provision for an office of the first lady. All those who have claimed such an office, have been breaking the law! It seems it is now time for us to critically evaluate it! Maybe a candidate's fortune, should be tied to the performance of his/her spouse! After all, she is going to be representing us too, even if it is wily nilly!
A friend of mine wrote on his Facebook wall, that if he were Jonathan, he would lock up the dame, bury the key, and not allow her to come out till after the election! I agree with him!
Jonathan's campaign, seems to be stumbling with it's humongous foot in it's mouth, week in week out! Last week, it was Bode George, this week's offering, is Linguistics 101, with the great Dame, as the resource person!
MAY GOD BLESS, AND DELIVER NIGERIA,OUR BELOVED NIGERIA FOREVER!
It turns out, that the wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan, (first lady is no official title), is a great lover of esoteric titles!
In that my article, I wrote about how a particular illiterate man, wanted a title that was not common. He had become tired of holding the same titles with commoners, and saw his redemption, when he saw a publication on Nigeria's founding fathers! Each one of them had one common prefix before their names:late!
In addition, the fellow also observed that it was not a common title! So he adopted it, and proceeded to introduce himself at a function the next day as "Late High, Chief Mazi Nathanael " I will leave the rest to your imagination!
Our great dame, has just added to her quintessential collection of linguistic zingers!
The latest installment, is more colourful than all the others in her repertoire! She referred to women at a public function, as her fellow widows!
Is that how much she hated them, or is it an indication of how much she loves herself?
They all could have been widows, but is she? That is what they call calling yourself what you are not!
I thought her husband was still very much alive, and with us? He is not Umaru Musa Yar'Adua! The title "widow" belongs firmly to Turai Yar'Adua!
No matter how much Goodluck believes in luck, he would not wish to have Umaru's luck, or follow in his footsteps right away!
I can attest to that! It seems his wife is not marching to the same song with him! If Turai can become a widow, the dame..... (God forbid bad thing, one could be arrested for even thinking, or imagining, bad things these days)
I once heard the dame, on television say to children " Children, read your book, because my husband, the president, read his book!
It seems the dame, who they say is a former teacher, has not been reading her book properly! She leaves so much to be desired!
People have been touting Jonathan's qualification for the presidency, and their support for it, on his possession of a doctorate degree!
It seems he has not helped his cause with his giving his wife public speaking assignments! They are all diminishing the intellectualness of the Jonathan's household, and bringing it to disrepute!
I fear for Nigeria! I have hypothesized what a speaking engagement involving the great dame, and Michelle Obama, would look like: beauty and the beast comes to mind!
There is no constitutional provision for an office of the first lady. All those who have claimed such an office, have been breaking the law! It seems it is now time for us to critically evaluate it! Maybe a candidate's fortune, should be tied to the performance of his/her spouse! After all, she is going to be representing us too, even if it is wily nilly!
A friend of mine wrote on his Facebook wall, that if he were Jonathan, he would lock up the dame, bury the key, and not allow her to come out till after the election! I agree with him!
Jonathan's campaign, seems to be stumbling with it's humongous foot in it's mouth, week in week out! Last week, it was Bode George, this week's offering, is Linguistics 101, with the great Dame, as the resource person!
MAY GOD BLESS, AND DELIVER NIGERIA,OUR BELOVED NIGERIA FOREVER!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Olabode George:Convicted Criminal,Clown!
There is something about shame:it moderates our behaviour! In those days, when we still valued values as a society, shame was something we felt for behaving badly! That was a long time ago! A very long time ago!
Oladode George, a retired naval officer, a former military administrator, and a political bulwark of the ruling People's Democratic Party, the PDP, has become a beacon of shame! Our shame as a nation, and our shame in our ability not to feel any sense of shame!
Convicted validly, in a court of competent jurisdiction, jailed validly, in the most notorious of Nigeria's prisons, Kirikiri, a more circumspect individual, would have left the prison under the cover of darkness, in the wee hour of the morning!
Not so Bode George, he never does things by half! He, in the typical Owambe,(it is there to be flashed in your face!) the profligate pernicious, pompous and extravagantly loud culture, which people who have scant regard for what right thinking individuals think about them, decided to wait!
What was he waiting for? His coterie of praise singer, and hangers-on, people with no moral worth, and only useful for the massaging of another's ego!
And they did not disappoint him: they came in their aso ebi (uniformed traditional attire), and they sang praises, and danced, and celebrated the release of a criminal! He was not sent to prison for resisting the government while fighting oppression, he was sent to prison for betraying the trust of all of us in Nigeria, while holding public office!
The mockery of common sense, did not end there, they carried it to the house of God, and had a thanksgiving service! They thanked God! For what? I do not know! If it had been at some obscure, nondescript location, it would not have been so galling! They chose to push it in our faces, by broadcasting the travesty on an international network television station!
How brazen can one get! Was this the action of a man who was showing remorse? Was this the action of people who are intent on walking the path of uprightness? I very much would dispute that!
That was not the end of the matter, the event was a gathering of the creme de la creme of our society, the ruling PDP was well represented! This was their show! It was more like a political rally, a demonstration of strength!
And who, you may ask, could be bold enough to attend such an event? Well, the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who had appointed Bode George to the position that led to his travails, was there to lend his support! And, in the ultimate show of shame, the current president of Nigeria, the one who believes that all of life is guided by luck, also sent a goodwill message!
And what message were the participants at this infamy passing across? That they were above the law, and that they did not care what the law currently says about this man, that their opinion was superior to the constitution's!
They were also passing a message across to us, that our opinion counts for nothing! That we can go to hell, if we like! Bode George is their leader, and must be celebrated!
This affront must not be allowed to pass unanswered!
We must all, as one, give our own verdict! We too do not care a hoot, about the PDP! We will do this, by voting them out of office! From every Ward, and from every Local Government Area of Nigeria, we must give the PDP a red card, as it is done in football! From every state, and definitely at the center, we must reclaim our government from these celebrators of criminals!
We care about who we celebrate, we have a sense of shame, we care what people think about us!
I can tell you the next act, in this melodrama of shame!
The president would soon exercise his prerogative of mercy, by granting Bode George clemency, or pardon, or whatever they want to call it!
They will bleach his record, and expunge every record of the fact that he committed a crime!
That is the PDP way, but it is not our way!
Remember, these people have no shame!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA, FOREVER!
Oladode George, a retired naval officer, a former military administrator, and a political bulwark of the ruling People's Democratic Party, the PDP, has become a beacon of shame! Our shame as a nation, and our shame in our ability not to feel any sense of shame!
Convicted validly, in a court of competent jurisdiction, jailed validly, in the most notorious of Nigeria's prisons, Kirikiri, a more circumspect individual, would have left the prison under the cover of darkness, in the wee hour of the morning!
Not so Bode George, he never does things by half! He, in the typical Owambe,(it is there to be flashed in your face!) the profligate pernicious, pompous and extravagantly loud culture, which people who have scant regard for what right thinking individuals think about them, decided to wait!
What was he waiting for? His coterie of praise singer, and hangers-on, people with no moral worth, and only useful for the massaging of another's ego!
And they did not disappoint him: they came in their aso ebi (uniformed traditional attire), and they sang praises, and danced, and celebrated the release of a criminal! He was not sent to prison for resisting the government while fighting oppression, he was sent to prison for betraying the trust of all of us in Nigeria, while holding public office!
The mockery of common sense, did not end there, they carried it to the house of God, and had a thanksgiving service! They thanked God! For what? I do not know! If it had been at some obscure, nondescript location, it would not have been so galling! They chose to push it in our faces, by broadcasting the travesty on an international network television station!
How brazen can one get! Was this the action of a man who was showing remorse? Was this the action of people who are intent on walking the path of uprightness? I very much would dispute that!
That was not the end of the matter, the event was a gathering of the creme de la creme of our society, the ruling PDP was well represented! This was their show! It was more like a political rally, a demonstration of strength!
And who, you may ask, could be bold enough to attend such an event? Well, the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who had appointed Bode George to the position that led to his travails, was there to lend his support! And, in the ultimate show of shame, the current president of Nigeria, the one who believes that all of life is guided by luck, also sent a goodwill message!
And what message were the participants at this infamy passing across? That they were above the law, and that they did not care what the law currently says about this man, that their opinion was superior to the constitution's!
They were also passing a message across to us, that our opinion counts for nothing! That we can go to hell, if we like! Bode George is their leader, and must be celebrated!
This affront must not be allowed to pass unanswered!
We must all, as one, give our own verdict! We too do not care a hoot, about the PDP! We will do this, by voting them out of office! From every Ward, and from every Local Government Area of Nigeria, we must give the PDP a red card, as it is done in football! From every state, and definitely at the center, we must reclaim our government from these celebrators of criminals!
We care about who we celebrate, we have a sense of shame, we care what people think about us!
I can tell you the next act, in this melodrama of shame!
The president would soon exercise his prerogative of mercy, by granting Bode George clemency, or pardon, or whatever they want to call it!
They will bleach his record, and expunge every record of the fact that he committed a crime!
That is the PDP way, but it is not our way!
Remember, these people have no shame!
MAY GOD BLESS NIGERIA,OUR NIGERIA, FOREVER!
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