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In A Lighter Mood: The Way We Seriously Feel About Our Leaders By Akintokunbo A Adejumo London, United Kingdom
"If
your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become
more, you are a leader."
The following is a joke that a friend, a patriotic Nigerian, sent to me recently:
“A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway.
Nothing is moving.
Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down
his window and asks, "What's going on?”
The man responded, “A litre of petrol and a box of matches."
This is a joke, but seriously, this about sums up the way most Nigerians feel about their leaders, past and present. I sure hope they are aware of this, because sooner or later, these feelings will come to be practicalised.
I have written in previous articles that I firmly believe that our leaders hate us, else for example, what reason would a single person decide to steal billions of Naira while neglecting the people he was meant to serve and protect? Now it is our turn to hate them. We have been very patient with them, we have pleaded with them, we have given them numerous chances to change their ways, we have prayed to them, we have worshiped them, we have served them, but all have fallen on deaf ears. They just will not listen. We have given them a long rope to hang themselves, through democratic means, and hang them we must.
If there is any doubt about their attitude to Nigerians, these must now have evaporated, even to the most die-hards of their apologists or other optimists. These people just aren’t listening. And now we now know, from the travails of our “Honourable” Speaker of the House, Mrs Patricia Olubunmi Etteh, that what a man can do, a woman can do much better. Nigerian corruption transcends gender, tribe and religion differences. Nobody is immune from it.
Following the problems that have been happening in Port Harcourt – and every Nigerian had better realise that Nigeria has been sitting on a keg of gunpowder all this while with the unaddressed problem of the Niger Delta – I was talking to a very good and respected friend of mine, who is an indigene of Rivers State. My friend echoed my thoughts when he said ex-Governor Peter Odili was the worst thing ever to hit Rivers State. The good people of Rivers State did not land Peter Odili, Peter Odili landed on them, paraphrasing Malcolm X, and very heavily too. The medical doctor turned billionaire politician is culpable for the problems in Port Harcourt now, don’t let us beat about the bush. He, in collaboration with Obasanjo, James Ibori, and, ah, our very own Houdini, “Marshall General” DSP (Deputy Superintendent of Police) Alamieyeseigha are culpable. Add to these guys, even our current Vice-President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan cannot absolve himself from this matter, (one thing for sure, the man is lucky, but is not spreading his luck to his people), and Lucky Boy Igbinedion, ex-Governor of Edo State. You see how “Luck” is flying around?
I asked my friend what he thinks the solution is to the problem. He laughed sadly and said there is no solution. The militants are fully entrenched. There is too much at stake, and nobody wants to lose out. All the politicians in Rivers State, from the Governor down to the Local Government Councillors are deeply involved, implicated and compromised, and have their hands full of blood. And, my brothers and sisters, it is all about Oil. Rather Oil Money, which is flowing around in a few hands in Rivers State and the rest of the Niger Delta. Why do I think the militants have now turned their hands into kidnapping children and mothers of politicians in Niger Delta? my friend asked. The politicians, once in power, then renege on their promises, agreements, etc to the militants, who now feel betrayed, and turn on them. So the chickens are coming home to roost.
Why, one militant leader recently appeared on TV and said they are expecting three million dollars worth of arms. Where is this money coming from, you might ask? If the militants can get three million dollars to purchase arms, why cant they use the same amount, wherever they get it from, to build hospitals, roads, supply drinking water, build schools and even houses for their long-suffering people? Boy, we are in deep trouble here. These people are even better armed than the Nigerian Army and the Police combined. And you tell me there is a solution to the problem? Not on your life.
Hear this: "What we have here is a war over who controls the various rackets that are going on in this city," Abel Wogu, a Port Harcourt resident and businessman said. "Every evening you have people representing the most powerful gang leaders going round the filling stations to collect payments," said Wogu, alleging that the owners of a large petrol station destroyed in August had either failed to pay one of the armed groups or had come under the control of a rival group.
“MEND ( Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) denied it was directly involved in the fighting and attributed the violence to rivalry between politicians who had funded different armed groups during Nigeria's general elections in April.
That view is supported by the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition, an association of civic groups. The militias were originally armed by politicians to help them win elections but have since turned their weapons to criminal activities, according to a statement on Sunday by the coalition chairman and human rights lawyer, Anyakwe Nsirimovu. "Wiping out Soboma George and his followers cannot return peace or normalcy in Rivers State," said the statement. "Dealing equally with the power holders who aid, abet, appease, motivate and - most of all - pay and benefit immensely from them, would"
Why can’t we call a spade a spade? We all know that some governors in the South- South region are deliberately promoting the Niger Delta crisis, including hostage takings, to enable them siphon state funds under the guise of security votes. We know that it was the governors and other politicians that benefit from hostage takings and other forms of violence in the region. “Anywhere there is hostage takings there will be a state of insecurity, and the security vote in the state is usually increased. So hostage taking is a source of revenue to most of the Niger Delta governors”, said an Ijaw leader recently. I really wish my name translates into Luck; I would have made better use of it. Anyway, here we have it. There is no doubt about it that these rogue politicians created a monster which they can no longer control. That monster is the Militants of the Niger Delta. As far back as 1999, these unscrupulous thieves-turned-VIPs have been making use of thugs calling themselves militants to not only get into power, but to also hold on to power. They used them to suppress opponents and rig elections. They used the militants to make money, actually to steal. They manipulated Obasanjo, the man who thinks he knows all. For instance, Ibori, who was actually one of the architects of the whole problem in Niger Delta, was usually involved in negotiating with militants who kidnap foreign oil workers. Of course, he was always successful in the negotiations, thereby ingratiating himself to Obasanjo, his party and his government, and making himself indispensable. But the real story is that Ibori knows who these people are, in fact he armed most of them, so he just calls them, gives them some money, while he pockets most of the ransom paid by the Oil companies, and gets the “militants” to “release” the hostages. He comes out of the whole thing as a hero and smelling like a rose. Very nice little racket. Can you count how many times this repeated itself during his eight-year tenure in office? I lost count when I reached 100. If he gets a billion everytime he “negotiates”, that’s a cool 100 billion Naira. I am already taking a course in Niger Delta Hostage Negotiation Skills, and I am sure Dr Iduaghan, the new Governor of Delta State, and incidentally, Ibori’s cousin, has already passed that course.
Here we go again from this report by PointBlankNews “Ibori’s name has consistently surfaced in several “shady purchases of government and private companies” lately. He was linked with the purchase of Willbross, a Tulsa Oklahoma based company for $155 Million in what has been described as a “mafia approach to doing business.” A cloud of suspicion hangs over him as he is accused of gun running, providing support for Niger-Delta insurgents. The Metropolitan Police are on his trail for money laundering activities. But Sources say that whatever the Metropolitan Police may find on him, may pale into insignificance compared with the possible indictment that could come when the EFCC concludes its investigation of Ibori”.
So Ibori is now even indispensable to Nigeria and the President, Yar’Adua. In fact he almost single-handedly bankrolled Yar’Adua’s election campaign. Now, despite all the revelations of high corruption perpetrated and perpetuated by Ibori, there is the man still strolling about in full regalia and haughtily in Abuja, while EFCC is arresting everybody else in sight. He might even get a top post either in the PDP or in Government. Yes, crime must really do pay for some people in Nigeria. By the way, you will not catch Peter Odili dead in Port Harcourt nowadays. He is living permanently in Abuja, and only sneaks into PH at night, if at all. I wonder how the man is able to spend all the money he stole from Rivers State.
Unless we are able to listen and accept the truth about ourselves, we are doomed as a people. Port Harcourt was once one of the most beautiful cities in Nigeria, in fact, the rest of Nigeria calls it Garden City, a peaceful, elegant, well-planned city that attracts all people from other parts of Nigeria and all over the world. Oil, and the greed for oil money, has been a curse to Nigeria, and nowhere is this more exemplified than in Port Harcourt. For eight years, the capital of Rivers State, in fact the Oil Capital of Nigeria was ruled by a corrupt, clueless, selfish and greedy moron, who diverted most of his State’s allocation into his own pocket, and as a result, has now destroyed not only PH, but the whole state. He even wanted to be President of Nigeria, and only God saved us from this catastrophe. But you see, some people will still defend him and be loyal to him, because they made fortunes via him.
Truth, they say, will set you free. And herein lies the problem with us. Our leaders will never tell you the truth simply because they are not truthful. Our educated people will ignore the truth, and instead, we submerge ourselves in lies told to us. It is not because the truth hurts; it is for the reason that they do not want the truth. They prefer to believe in lies and fabrications and all for selfish reasons. This is now catching up with us, as we are now seeing that we are going nowhere without the simplicity of truth. We are now seeing that the lack of simple honest truth is why Nigerian people are dying everyday, Nigerians are wallowing in poverty in the midst of plenty. As a man sow shall he reap. You can’t plant maize and hope to reap yams.
A little digression: An internet journal that used to publish my articles no longer does everytime I mention Peter Odili. That shows we all have our biases and vested interests, which we, as human beings are prone to anyway. But some of us will never refrain from telling the truth and not relent in our attacks on those who are ruining Nigeria and making life un-liveable for the majority of Nigerians.
Often, when I write the truth about things happening to Nigerians and Nigeria and try to analyse all these, a few readers label me as a tribal apologist for Obasanjo because Obasanjo is a Yorubaman. Such people fail to see the issues at stake here. Apart from the rampart corruption, another of our unfortunate bane in Nigeria is that of tribalism. Look at it this way: during Obasanjo’s eight years in power, the Northerners said they were marginalised (they have always had this strange and selfish notion that they are the rightful rulers of Nigeria); the Igbos said Obasanjo does not like them because he is a Yorubaman and because of the war, and thus has ignored them and they are still second class citizens of Nigeria (a siege mentality); and then the ever disunited and disgruntled Yorubas also disowned Obasanjo because they see his tenure as not being to their advantage (most of the attacks on Obasanjo came from his kinsmen, the Yorubas, and up till now, they have not forgiven him, and I don’t think they ever will). I don’t even know how the other so-called minor tribes felt, but one thing I know is that Obasanjo was regarded as an enemy of the Ijaws of Bayelsa State, not to talk of all the other tribes of the Niger Delta. The man must be the Devil incarnate. Everybody hates him.
I refer back to my last article “The Paradox of Corruption and Nigeria” in which I mentioned an American robber called Mr Willie Sutton. When he was asked why he robbed banks. He replied: “`Cos that’s where the money is”. It was an uncomplicated philosophy which served him well until he was caught and marched off to prison. We can apply this analogy to the Nigerian politician. Why are they in politics and want to be in government? Because Politics and Government are where the money is. This is where and how they can make fortunes with very little effort. The money is there to be taken, so where else to be than to pretend you want to serve Nigeria and its people, and you are suddenly in charge of, or have access to billions of Naira. So just “eat” on.
Government and Politics must be made very unattractive to Nigerians, as far as financial consideration is concerned. If government, including the executive and legislative arms, is made unattractive, what we will have is that only people, who are genuinely committed to serving the people and the country, will be found in government. Hence, corruption will abate. The thieves and the selfish, seeing no financial advantage in being in government, will stay away.
In the UK, local government councillors are not paid salaries. What remuneration they get for serving their constituents, are expenses for attending house sessions, maintaining their offices and their surgeries. Therefore, they are free to have their main job, but serving the people, or being in government or politics is not a lifetime career, unlike what obtains in Nigeria. Our Nigerian politicians think politics is a career, they think government is a career. Their main reason for being in government and politics is to enable them to steal the peoples’ money. And that is why they never want to quit politics for another career after they have served their terms, even when it is obvious that they have not offered much to the people who purportedly elected them in terms of service or bettering their lot, only enriching themselves.
Therefore, any new political reform should address this. Legislators must be paid expenses only for their service to the country. The current system is very profligate, expensive and attracts thieves and mediocres. Expenses must be for attendances, cost of keeping constituency offices open, and if they have to be give car, housing and transport allowances, these must be properly allocated, scrutinized, monitored and commensurate with the service provided by these people. Judging from recent revelations on the wastefulness and profligacy of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senators, etc, the cost of running Nigeria’s democracy is too high, and especially given our penchant for lack of accountability and corruption, this has to be brought under rigid and strict control. Our unscrupulous political class should be discouraged and deterred from going into government to make money. Hence make it unattractive to them.
Couple with this is the removal of the immunity conferred on public officials like the Governors and their deputies. This has always been an invitation or a licence to steal, and of course, we know they all took advantage of it. If you really want to serve the people, strip yourself of any immunity. If this is in place, the thieves will again stay away.
Bureaucracy breeds corruption. That has always been another problem with our governmental procedures. Everything is shrouded in secrecy and bureaucracy, hence officials hide behind this wall and allow them to siphon funds meant for the people away. Nothing is open to the people. Our officials give the impression of knowing it all, sitting behind desks in their little dark offices, while they are busy doing nothing for the people but for themselves; forging signatures and altering figures.
There is too much liquid cash circulating in the various governments. State Governors, normally, should not be able to spend a single kobo without approval from their States’ Houses of Assembly. But in Nigeria, most Governors have the state legislators, irrespective of political parties, in their pockets; hence they are in collusion with each other to steal money. You should see them sharing the loot, eyes bulging out with greed. It is not a pretty sight.
There is also a lot wrong with a system where the states nominate candidates for ministerial, ambassadorial and board positions to the President. One would have thought that a person who wants to run for the Presidency would have been well prepared beforehand and have his own idea of his team that he wants to govern with. This team would have been in place long before he actually assumes office. Same goes for the Governorship. But in Nigeria, this does not happen. The President’s or the Governor’s teams have to be chosen for them. They don’t even know these people, they don’t know their capabilities, abilities, etc. They have to dance to the tune of the party. It is no wonder therefore that we have square pegs in round holes, despite the ridiculous, ludicrous, meaningless and farcical screening exercises carried out by the Senate.
So dear citizens, we have a lot of work to do to salvage our country. And of course we are aware that it’s not going to be easy. But do it, we must.
God Bless and Guide Nigeria. God Bless and Guide Nigerians.
Akintokunbo Adejumo, a social and political commentator on Nigerian issues, lives and works in London, UK. He is a graduate of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1979) and University of Manitoba, Canada (1985). He also writes on topical issues for newspapers and internet media including Gamji.com,. |