As a self-acclaimed social critic, I have had cause in the past to disagree with certain actions of President Goodluck Jonathan; I still don’t think he is well suited to be the leader of Nigeria. The man might be a good human being but it is apparent he is meekly grappling with the rigours and challenges of ruling Nigeria-he has thus exposed himself to many ridicules and yabis from different quarters. I am guilty of being a member of the yabis group.
As a self-acclaimed social critic, I have had cause in the past to disagree with certain actions of President Goodluck Jonathan; I still don’t think he is well suited to be the leader of Nigeria. The man might be a good human being but it is apparent he is meekly grappling with the rigours and challenges of ruling Nigeria-he has thus exposed himself to many ridicules and yabis from different quarters. I am guilty of being a member of the yabis group.
However, my recent discussion with a very special friend and mentor a few days ago brought me to a sudden realization that perhaps, we may have been mobilising against the wrong individual. According to this friend, for this extensively misruled country to have a semblance of sanity and accountability, we should invest more energy in monitoring the activities of our Local Council Chairmen and State Governors. These men and women are the ones closer to us and from experience, are the ones conspiring and acting out the scripts ruining our nation. I will explain with examples.
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President Jonathan might be guilty of all the ridicules directed at him; he is clueless, his government is corrupt, his missus might be having issues with communicating effectively in English, his media aides are fast losing touch with reality, PHCN under him is still celebrating darkness instead of regular power supply after billions of US dollars have been injected into its operations, he is consorting dangerously with known fraudsters, fuel-subsidy thieves and convicted felons, etc. well, we have been focusing more on the Centre rather than in our various States and Local Councils…the real place where the scam is fertilised!
I will start my exposure from Anambra, my home State-a State richly endowed but shockingly mismanaged and misrepresented. Under the captainship of Mr Peter Obi, my home State continues to be afflicted by bouts of misery, misfortune and strife. Is President Jonathan responsible for the dare-devil machinations of armed robbers and evil kidnappers that continue to terrorise the good people of Anambra State? Did President Jonathan direct the Anambra State Police Commissioner to permanently block a public road in Amawbia for his own weird “security” amusement? Mr Peter Obi has been Governor of the State for about seven years now and it may well be said that his State remains the only one that does not have a functional pipe-borne water supply. How do we smuggle the President into this glaring misrule/injustice?
What about contracts inflation and use of dodgy contractors to carry out jobs that ought to benefit the masses? Well, just like in most States of Nigeria, Anambra State government continue to use rubbish contractors who partner with dodgy government officials to over-invoice jobs and collect billions in payment for work not done. The government of Anambra paid billions to a contractor for Ugwu-Tank/Nise road in Amawbia even though the contractor never mobilised to site. What has this got to do with President Jonathan?
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Welcome to Lagos State-Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola calls the shots in this highly cosmopolitan State. Let it be on record that Lagos under this gentleman Governor is a monumental embodiment of media hype and a great work of spin by paid publicists. Well, in his first four years in office, Mr Fashola attempted to transform Lagos into a sane city, but swiftly went into “sleep mode” in his second term. Lagos remains one vast, stinking, rats-infested, lawless, disease-filled, polluted and frustrating city.
Truth be told, Mr Fashola should be ashamed of his public transport; his BRT and LAGBUS, the two faces of his public transport scheme is a collection of rickety, smoky, dirty buses that are not fit to convey goats to the market! Meanwhile, Lagos government officials cruise around in air-conditioned sleek cars. The BRT and LAGBUS coaches are horrible and make the outlawed Molues look like London coaches! Because Lagosians have been traumatised into submission, nobody sees the insults being heaped on them by the government anymore.
Lagos streets and neighbourhoods will horrify any sane human being-a collection of sprawling jungles, shanties, smelly gutters and totally washed out roads. I see it as one big scam-planting beautiful flower on the highways to entice and deceive visitors to the State, meanwhile, the shock and anguish lies in wait if you dare move into the streets. Is it the fault of President Jonathan that Local Government Councils in Lagos do nothing other than pay salaries and do God-knows-what with the rest of their huge monthly allocation?
We really need to focus more on the activities of our State Governors and Local Council leaders-this is where the big fraud is incubated and nurtured to fruition. Since the advent of this democracy with a voracious financial appetite, past governors have been accused of stealing so much money from their various States and virtually all of them continue to spring forth silly reasons to avoid standing before a Judge to give accounts of their stewardship. These thieving Governors plundered the resources of their States while we, the malnourished and docile lot continue to slumber and point accusing fingers at imaginary enemies and evil spirits as being responsible for our plight.
Imagine what difference it would have made if we had been vigilant during the inglorious reigns of Orji Uzor Kalu, Sani Yerima Ahmed, Saminu Turaki, Joseph Dariye, Bola Tinubu, DSP Alamieyeseigha (the Governor-General of Ijaw Land and President Jonathan’s acclaimed benefactor), Peter Odili (this man got a perpetual injuction restraining any court/police from asking him questions), Chimaroke Nnamani, the legendary James Ibori (bless the Brits for helping out), Lucky Igbenidion, Ayo Fayose, Rev. Jolly Nyame, Gbenga Daniels, Chinwoke Mbadinuju, Rashidi Ladoja, Gbenga Daniels, Timipre Silva, Ikedi Ohakim, etc. these men have one thing in common-they are accused of stealing BILLIONS of Naira from State coffers.
These former Governors stole what belonged to the long-suffering people of their States-today, most of them are Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we continue to offer prayers for their protections since “the Bible enjoins us to pray for our leaders”. What rubbish? This is the height of absurdity, the most dramatic case of paupers celebrating those that induced their hunger. The same people that stole our future are now in Abuja as our law-makers-churning our ludicrous laws that will continue to promote their stinking welfare while securing their loots.
We really need to take this criticism, social media fight against corruption, “occupy Nigeria” mantra, “PDP must go”, and all other lawful fight against oppression down to our various States and Local Councils. We cannot change Nigeria from Abuja; real development must start from our immediate environment-in this instance, States and Local Council. Have you not wondered shockingly why all our Governors and their cronies embark on medical tourism (now that’s a new one) to foreign countries with their sacks loaded with our money? Same rubbish Governors that have a “Ministry of Health” and claim to spend billions annually on hospitals and all that jazz. Sullivan Chime just returned from London-I wonder what happened to all the hospitals in Enugu.
The sooner we realize that our enemies are our Governors and Local Council administrators, the better for all of us. Though the centre holds so much power enormous resources, the decay, the rot, the scam, the sham government, the shoddy leadership, the mess finds its resting place at the hearts of our various States. All our Governors and LG Administrators spuriously dole billions of Naira to themselves annually and sinfully tag is as “security votes”. In all, this money is simply another channel through which our funds develop wings and fly into their foreign bank accounts and those of their mistresses/accomplice. The highest scandal associated with this evil “security votes” is that the Governors and LG chaps are not required to give an account of how the money is spent to anybody.
Why are we not asking our various Governors why they have refused to conduct Local Council elections? Under Peter Obi of Anambra State, there has been no such election for about seven years now. The Governors benefit immensely from this arrangement by quietly appointing mostly charlatans and stooges as “Caretaker Committee” Chairmen who aid them siphon funds, call them “visionary Governors”, and similar esoteric titles. And we the mugus continue to celebrate them and pray against witches and wizards “delaying our destiny” and ask God to burn them!
Insulting and making President Jonathan the object of caricature will not change the status-quo; as long as we remain aloof to the madness, ineptitude and bizarre treasury-looting by our Governors and Council Administrators, Nigeria will remain one huge joke. If we had been vigilant in the first instance, maybe President Jonathan would have ended his political adventure in Bayelsa State as a lacklustre Governor, maybe his acclaimed luck would have seen him in jail as a guest of Nuhu Ribadu’s EFCC (never mind that Ribadu shamelessly denied he investigated and found Jonathan corrupt when offered that juicy carrot).
2015 is fast catching up on us, let us make haste and redefine the basis of our criticism, let us clearly define our targets, let us do away with the concept of impotently attacking imaginary enemies while the real ones are our various Governors and LG Administrators. The organised civil society groups, the NLC/TUC, and sundry lovers of this country must help in stopping the antics of these thieving chaps-we must change that mind-frame that being a Governor gives you the right to loot your State silly, and use same loot to avoid jail. The time to start chasing out these goons and robbers from our midst is now-before they metamorphose and end up in Abuja as law-makers, Vice President or even President-“God forbid!”
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