I would have walked taller than my five foot self in the city of London. I would have boasted to all my British friends that the entire story they hear about Nigerians being corrupt and crooks is never true. But that I believe is also my wishful thinking. I was wishfully thinking that the President of my country will attend the G-20 London summit of the most powerful and richest nation on earth. I wished my President will stand shoulder to shoulder with the youthful oratory President Barrack Obama of America. I wished he would meet world leaders like Gordon Brown of the UK. The new hawk on the block Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Of course Turai would have had the privilege of meeting the first lady of the world Michelle and the flamboyant Carla Bruni wife of Nicolas Sarkozy.
What I enjoyed about the G-20 summit was how the British media were falling over themselves to present Michelle Obama.
While Mr President please have my sympathy for being not invited to the G-20 summit in London. Yes Mr President we may have the population though disputed at least I read an article on gamji.com by one Iliya Yame Kwache disputing the population allocated to his village Michika in Adamawa state by Nigerian Population commission in the 2006 census. We may still have been lucky to be endowed with natural resources like petrol as you mentioned. Though I may not have known the criteria the organizers have used to invite nations to attend the G-20 summit here in London, but one thing I am sure about is that they never used the above criteria as a yardstick and not even quota system or federal character otherwise Nigerian President would surely have made the list.
Again I am not sure if they used the amount of money looted by government officials past and present from their countries and stashed abroad as criteria otherwise Nigeria would have been first on the list.
Again Mr President I am not sure if they used insecurity of lives and property in invited countries as a yardstick otherwise I guarantee Mr President, you would have been there as the Nigerian leader.
If conducting fraudulent elections or rigging elections as a do or die affair were criteria then definitely Nigeria would have made the A-list since they know Nigeria has the like of OBJ and Maurice Iwu.
I still doubted Mr President if they used inefficiency in Public service as a criteria otherwise prima facie Nigeria would have been there. Please forgive my Lawyer friends for borrowing your word.
Mr President sir, you will still agree with me that they never used pseudo-democracy as criteria to attend the G-20. Yes I agree that they invited King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia, but you see, I have never been to Saudi Arabia but my friends who have gone on pilgrimage from Nigeria have always confessed to that fact that they were unable to different day from night. They have still marveled at the fact that they have travelled on Saudi roads for onwards of eight to 10 hours without noticing a pothole. I guess that may be why they invited the Saudi Monarch anyway and more so they still need the Saudi petrol.
I decided to go through the above preamble at least to soften my President’s heart and let him take it lightly. There is always another chance Mr President if there is the will and especially when things are done rightly with good faith.
When I read in the papers how the President was lamenting how Nigeria was not invited to the G-20 meeting, I was surprised at his lamentation and I said to myself over what was my President lamenting?
But what would Mr President have contributed to the summit anyway? What came to my mind was the 1995 women conference in Beijing China. I remember reading vividly in the news then that the over 300 delegates in the entourage of Mrs Maryam Abacha from Nigeria that went for the conference never attended it for ones rather that was an opportunity for them to go for shopping!
Amongst those countries that were invited for the summit, all of them I mean all of them except Saudi Arabia have home based indigenous manufacturing companies and firms. Just like week, India rolled out the cheapest car on earth to its citizens costing about US $1,700 Dollars. South Africa has the best health care in the world now probably second to America. In fact British people go to South Africa or India now for mediocre. But Nigerians now go Egypt or Ghana. Those who have enough loot still go to South Africa anyway.
There is this Hausa adage that says, “En Kura yana magani zawo yayi wa kansa mana!” It literally means o yea physician heal yourself first! I guess that was the type of statement they were making to Nigeria. In the Budget report Mr President presented to the National Assembly everything revolved round the petrol-dollar. There too custom duties were increased on tooth-pick and sundry. The G-20 would have been asking what a country that cannot produce toothpick locally would be doing at a G-20 summit where trillions of US Dollars will be pledged. I guess they would have asked what a country like Nigeria would be doing in a G-20 summit of great and the most powerful nations on earth when over 50,000 of its best Doctors are in America. Where over 20,000 of its best Doctors are in the UK. Definitely they will have asked what a country like Nigeria would be doing at the G-20 summit when virtually 80% of citizens live below the poverty line.
I believe they concluded by saying let Nigeria heal it’s of corruption in high places first like the Halliburton scandal.
Let Nigeria have a semblance of Democracy akin to their Southern Africa neighbor, South Africa but surely not Zimbabwe.
I believe they still may have concluded let Nigeria heal it’s of insecurity to life and property of its citizens first. Probably they finally concluded that if Nigerian government cannot provide good health facilities, they cannot even provide basic electricity which is even taken for granted in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and now Ghana then forget it. Let them heal themselves first more so that they have the privilege of being AU and UN members.
The G-20 summit organizers may have concluded that they invite serious minded leaders of people who are able to use resources effectively and judiciously. Not a country where somersault in state policies is their stock in trade. Not a country where its leaders borrow from IMF or world bank on behalf of their country and yet keep in foreign account at the expense of its citizens.
If there is a G-77 meeting, then they may attend.
Therefore cry not President Yar’adua. Please do not lament Mr President. The AU meeting is around the corner or even the ECOWAS meeting. In the absence of the cat the mice will play.
In the AU meeting, if the lord emperor of Africa Lord Ghadafi or his junior brother Albashir of Sudan is not there then play the acting big man. Did I hear you mention South Africa? While if you wash your hands well you dine with the King isn’t it? South Africa is a big boy and he feasts with the Kings. The Obamas, the Browns, the Sarkozys, the Putins. Boy name them.
In the case of Libya, their case is even better at least the citizens have felt and still feeling the impact of the petrol dollars. Ditto Gabon, Angola Iran, Kuwait and of late Mauritania and Ghana. Nigeria nko? For where, that will be after vision 2020. Talking of vision reminded of Abacha’s 2010 vision, though it was hazy but at least he had the will and where there is the will, there is always a way, -BOB MARLEY. In the case of vision 2020 it seems there is a way but there are no persons with the will power.
Mr President please fix Nigeria if you can and have the will. Till then forget about G-20 for now. Bye G-20 Summit, welcome Nigeria to G-77.
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