There is no gainsaying that the present breed of Nigeria’s political leaders and quite a number of academic professionals careers civil servants, businessmen, technocrats etc. especially those hailing from the vast Northern hegemony can compromise their moral burden and obligation to do the dirty biddings of other people so long as the pay master offers sizeable amount for payment on the duly completion of his self – seeking services. To these unscrupulous groups of people, it is only personal enrichment, joy and promotion and NEVER integrity, repute or moral inalienability that matters and could thus, do sponsored biddings against the wish and aspiration, and even against the collective interest of their people, state –much to the aggregate detriment of their nation. Pity!
Against this background, we have such kind of unproductive ,anti-societal stuff among them Ojo Maduekwe and Greg Mbaduwe From the south East, Femi Fani- Kayode and his likes from the South –West ;.Lili Gabari ,Sule Lamido,Jerry Gana, Mantu ,Tafida,Bako Sarai, Omar Hambabgada,Abdullahi Adamu and many more charlies from the core North ever looking for the highest bidder, Who, at present, is none other than Obasanjo. Of Late, Shehu Shagari came to join the fray – but not for nothing, his Son, Mukhtari Shagari belongs to the Kitchen cabinet, for that he shouldn’t surprise you. Imagine as Nigerians first Civilian Head of State, Viewed ( Until his eventual slide to dine with the looting class ) by many as an elder Statesman Who Would act beyond the boundary of self- aggrandizement to defend Nigerian’s interest, Shagari cut the crap and forged what experts in political academy term ‘‘an unholy alliance” with the ruling people’s Democratic Party “PDP” and its devilish agents across the federation .In a recent interview with the BBC Hausa Service, he lied that there is no rampant poverty in the country and that public outcry is being exaggerated about the issue for you only see the grim realities when one compares Nigeria with other developed countries of the world…” and many more words to that effect. What a big shame! Most recently – and of course most unfortunately – the Head of the so –called National Economic Intelligence team (NEIC) through which president Obasanjo enslaves Nigerians with IMF Policies, Professor Ibrahim Ayagi , threw away his moral conscience and tore to pieces his renowned professional repute and integrity as he learnt to speak from the both sides of his mouth;. To lie to the nation over sundry issues of National importance particularly his field, the economy. Early this year ,Ayagi said in Sha gari style (Which I mentioned in brief earlier) that ‘ there is no object poverty in the land unless , in his words, one compares us (Nigeria) with the developed nations of the world in a BBC Hausa interview monitored in the Abuja. One wonders by which statistics did Ayagi arrive at such a bogus-- and indeed dangerous—conclusion. Even the 2004 report by the World Bank,Ayagii’s parent in reeling out voodoo economic policies to the underdeveloped countries with a devilish view to destroying their fragile economies put more than 80% of the Nigerian people as living below the average global poverty line of 1 US dollar a day. In that release, which I made available to my readers earlier this year, a Nigerian man remains the poorest here in Africa, the world poorest continent with the second largest population, as his income is far below the average African standard of about $676. To begin with,why did robbers have to attack his house some weeks ago if there is no poverty in the land? Who needs to be told that such crimes are often an outgrowth of poverty in this country? Indeed, Ayagi must be leading an obscurantism crusade for Obasanjo, his paymaster.
That was why I was not stunned, a week after his blatant lie to the nation, when the King Jester was conferred wit h a National Honor Award by the Federal Government of Nigeria as its token of appreciation for a job well done in the past and a motivation for more dedication in the future. Too bad.
With blockheads like this leading the so called Economic team of the
nation, no one needs to ask
The Prof’s latest blunder came on Wednesday 21st December 2005, when, in another BBC Hausa interview monitored in the Federal capital, he told the nation without any sense of morality, that Nigerian economy has recorded so many tremendous achievements and indeed monumental progress compared to what it was in 1999, when his boss General Aremu Obasanjo returned to power as an elected president of Nigeria. Though he was doing a paid job, to turn the white black and vice versa for material inducement, in which doing neither moral obligation nor professional etiquette is considered, Ayagi should talk that arrant lie to his impressionable grand children, who would believe him without the slightest sense of objection but, not Nigerian public who could see beyond their noses and were all witnesses to the colossal mess going on in Nigeria (in the guise of reforms) from may,1999 to date in which he is a stakeholder and a leading beneficiary. He can equally say that to the Ota farmers in Abeokuta with impunity!
Muhammad Bashir Usman writes from Tudun Wada Kaduna and can be reached at bashirsenior@yahoo.com
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