‘Prominent Nigerians’ On My MindBy Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
I have a friend who lives in Europe with his family. Sometimes, I think we should be grateful that he does not live in Nigeria, because one day, he might do something some people would consider foolish and land himself behind cruel bars for assaulting a distinguished, “prominent Nigerian” at some public place.
The other day, we were at the Lagos airport to board a flight, (himself, his wife, my wife, our son and I), and as these “prominent Nigerians” strutted leisurely past him in all their real and affected softness, grace, elegance and refinement, my friend began to mutter under his breath, but loud enough for the “prominent Nigerians” to hear him: “Thieves! Thieves!! Thieves!!!” As he spoke, he made sure his eyes, blazing with rage and resentment, met their eyes, and that they were not in any doubt that they were the very people he was referring to. And from the way he was fuming, I had this fear that if any of them had dared to confront him, he would not have wasted time in rewarding such a one with a “distinguished” bloodied nose befitting his status as a “prominent Nigerian.” That’s just the truth!
One of the things my friend hates so much is to hear or observe anyone around him talk or behave in such a way as to suggest that he or she has even the tiniest bit of respect for any of those persons the media usually refer to in glowing terms as “prominent Nigerians”, whose prominence and unexplained wealth are in any way linked to their stint in government or closeness to the corridors power.
His thinking is that all those men and women who have looted the country pale and turned majority of Nigerians into beggars and crumbs eaters in their own country or exiles in strange countries where they are treated daily with utmost humiliation and unspeakable indignity deserve nothing but the worst public ridicule, isolation or even hostility, until a transparent government with the requisite political will to try and jail them is installed in Nigeria.
I can understand the depth of my friend’s frustration and anger, but I sincerely hope that he would not one day let his rage get the better of him, and give the same “prominent Nigerians” he detests with every fibre of his being the vulgar pleasure of successfully compounding his trauma and pain, by putting him away behind cruel bars, and using him as a convenient specimen to pontificate about the high rate of incivility and lawlessness among Nigerian masses. They might even describe his action as “corruption,” which the present Administration was “determined to stamp out”! You never can tell.
I sympathize with my friend. The end to his rage and pain is not anywhere in sight. I have taken time to think deeply about Nigeria, and I must confess that I am yet to see how this nation can be rescued from the successive army of unrelenting leeches and parasites that are determined to suck out its very life, and have it all for themselves and their cronies, leaving the rest of the citizenry to either wither away and die or just manage to exist with just any crumbs they are able to find anywhere and anyhow. Maybe, the matter might become clearer if we take a closer look at the species of elite this nation has been blessed with, how they evolve, and how it would be almost impossible to halt their determination to remain the perpetual obstacle to this nation’s recovery.
First, let’s look at former public officers (military and civilian), whose unwholesome example the current rulers must follow, no matter what they tell us. These former rulers had “served” the nation at some points in our history, whether at the Local Government, State or Federal level. Majority of them, while in office, did everything possible, foul and/or hideous, to ensure that they criminally accumulated so much money that even their great grandchildren would never lack anything again, even if they never worked.
And having empowered themselves with the vast resources at their disposal, they have become godfathers, installing and removing governments at will. Many of them can single-handed found and fund a political party without the slightest impact on their bottomless pockets. They also have all it takes to frustrate any attempt to pry into their slimy and hideous pasts. The very negligible few among them who manage to get “messed-up” in the “anti-corruption war” are those who are foolish enough to find the trouble of those more powerful than they are, or get into some really complicated situation that it would be difficult to extricate them without a serious backlash that might even threaten the peace and stability of the entire class. So, they sacrifice him to preserve the rest. And because the current rulers also aspire to become a “prominent Nigerians” like their predecessors, by equally retiring into incredible wealth, they would not want to make too many enemies who may disturb their post-public office peace. This is how the first set of “prominent usually Nigerians” emerges.
Now, there is also another equally powerful set that emerges through a slightly different route. While in office, these rulers recruit fronts and errand boys (and girls) whom they use to prosecute their criminal accumulations. But while managing their oga’s “businesses,” the errand boys also put away some part of the booty for themselves. And before oga quits office, they would have been able to also accumulate enough resources to qualify for enrollment in the idle “Eating Class,” also known as, “prominent Nigerians.” It is only those who were foolish enough to not fully utilize the opportunity while it existed that now find ways of either aligning themselves with their oga’s enemies or the new man in power (if he was not planted by the oga), to make their own fortune. And very soon, the press would be awash with “revelations” of the excesses of the former ruler “by his former trusted aide,” all in the spirit of “anti-corruption.” And a gullible public would be cheering him on, not knowing that their collective resources have since been auctioned off to the lowest bidders!
In this category of errand boys (and girls) are also the countless mistresses, concubines and state prostitutes who take care of oga’s leisure moments. These, too, endeavour to do well for themselves while oga’s generosity still flows. The foolish ones would squander their own “earnings” on vanities, and end up on the rubbish dump soon after their man quits power or becomes tired of them, while the smart ones would waste no time to invest wisely and widely. Some of them even date several other men in power, including oga’s errand boys, and rake in so much while their attraction endures.
And before long, their boutiques, beauty palours or events management, interior décor or even manufacturing companies would start springing up here and there, while they live in idle opulence in their own mansions at cozy spots in town. And having firmly established themselves, some work their ways into politics (preferably, the ruling party) and soon, use everything at their disposal to get appointed as Special Advisers, or even Commissioners and Ministers, thus finally and firmly establishing themselves in the “respectable” club of Nigeria’s political elite.
Some might even “win” elections as council chairpersons, State or Federal lawmakers. Others may choose to remain in the “private sector” as contractors or just “friends” of the government, with their usually over-made faces dominating the countless lavish parties that flourish at State Houses. At this stage, the press would now finalize their consolidation as “Prominent Nigerians, with flowery profiles and enchanting features, placing their pictures at prominent spots on their Entertainment and Style pages, as they star in high profile parties, beauty pageants, fashion shows and all such ceremonies. Here and there, they might occasionally grab the headlines as “political bigwigs,” or generous spaces on Personality Interview pages, where, normally, they would say nothing inspiring. Occasionally, they would be thrown up as role models, and invited to youth forums to pontificate about “hard work, honesty and uprightness,” holding aloft the fairy tales about the “hard work” they had put in during their youthful years to “arrive” where they are today, as examples!
We also have the business elite who uses its vast connections in government to build vast business empires. They get incredible waivers, unspeakable monopolies and unimaginable concessions, and become emergency multi-billionaires, fit to be used to launder stolen money and/or as fronts, by serving public officers to set up various business outfits. Indeed, some were (former) errand boys to rulers and former rulers. With their resources, they are able to ensure that only those who would never pry into or terminate the sources of their incredible wealth are able to come to power.
Now, I am not saying that there are not decent men and women, professionals and businessmen alike, out there doing honest business and achieving explainable prominence and affluence. What I am saying is that they constitute only a marginal minority.
Now, with such a very formidable criminal elite controlling the politics and economy of the nation, how can anyone enthrone transparency in the country? How can corruption be rooted out? Where will the person intending to root out corruption even start from? The sheer number, clout and destructive ability of those in this criminal class are simply intimidating. Some have even matured to become refined, patrician “elder statesmen” (and women) with vast “family business” empires, commanding enormous respect. Yet the only works anyone could remember they ever did in their lives were that they were once either ministers or ambassadors, local government chairmen, governors, presidents, army or police officers, special advisers, commissioners, permanent secretaries or just “directors in the presidency.”
This is a most saddening situation. These people have created an evil trend, whose reversal, I am afraid, would tarry for a very long while, perhaps, long after President Musa Umar Yar’Adua has finished his thing and left. If Yar’Adua were the one who would initiate that paradigm shift, he would have at least, by now, made a statement about the source of the incredible wealth of his predecessor.
So, let no one ever ask me to help identity “prominent Nigerians” because the list I might come up with would be shocking. Some of those regularly identified as prominent Nigerians make me sick. Like I tell my friends in the media, we can help redefine and reclassify the concept of prominence and statesmanship in the Nigerian polity. All it would take would be to simply blackout members of the criminal class and prop up decent people, whose lives have exemplified honest labour and selfless service, whether they are obscenely affluent or not.
Maybe, one of these days, a keen and enterprising researcher or historian would assign to himself the really profound and very challenging task of determining when and how looting and plundering became the defining character of leadership in Nigeria. It would be interesting to know whether this unwholesome preoccupation is part of the sterling legacies of colonialism, in fact, one of the poisonous items in the briefcase the Whiteman deliberately forgot here when he enacted his reluctant exit more than four decades ago.
Could it be that this desperation to steal the nation blind and stash the proceeds in European nations was wholly or partly plagiarized from the marauding British colonizers whose meticulous and transparent repatriation of resources they looted from here could not have escaped the keen eyes of the smart natives they were grooming to take over from them? When eventually these issues are clearly determined and properly articulated, it may throw up a new definition of imperialism and neo-colonialism in the twenty-first century
To most Nigerian rulers, the country is merely a well stuffed huge castle whose collapse appears very imminent, and so, everyone with criminal smartness and a seared conscience who gets the slightest access to its rich vaults would, instead of seeking to prevent the collapse, battle to cart away to the safety of Europe and America (the unrepentant receivers of stolen goods) as much as he could before the anticipated great fall.
What makes the matter even worrisome is that there is no sign yet that the deep-rooted selfishness and greed that fire this unrestrained looting may soon be extirpated from the core of those that aspire to positions of leadership in Nigeria? For now, it doubtful if one would be able to fish out more than a handful of leaders out there with the slightest interest in building this nation to become a place anyone will be proud to call home?
Given this very grim situation, my friend’s anger and frustration are understandable.
Prominent Nigerians, my foot!
Tuesday, November 30, 2007
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