BURNING POT BY
PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON
Yar’adua And That 5
Minutes Call
pcdbooks@yahoo.com
I start on this note, I was told that at the New Year service which the
vee pee attended, at some point the pastor asked the congregation to
repeat after him… ‘This is your year of promotion’, everybody screamed
back…this is my year of promotion…I ask my source, did Jonathan claim
it…Hmmm, I can’t say he replied.
These days a lot happens in Nigeria, so much that I want to resort to
living in denial as it is the best way to keep sanity and balance…The
irony is that as much as I would have wanted do that, I cannot and I am
sure that a few bold Nigerians feel the same way too.
Yesterday a certain Mallam Tanimu Yakubu lied to an entire nation that
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday called key government officials,
including Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, on phone and spoke for five
minutes each
After 44 days, no speech, video call or photograph from Jeddah and then
when we are sure that maybe reason will prevail and we may have an acting
president. Yet another spin…
In the meantime...Kalakato, mutallab, a mysteriously signed budget,
Nigeria on terror list, sackings in the banking sector, fuel crisis and
Maryam Babangida have all happened...a nation practically on autopilot.
And even at that we are running on batteries because there is no fuel to
run generating plants to power it.
It is in this mood that we are again told by some adviser that the
president called xyz, what have they turned this nation into…the last we
heard was some clerk that flew kilometers around the globe to have him
sign the supl’ budget.
Has it become a requirement that having some 5 minutes call is the best
way to solve Nigeria’s numerous problems, a twice a week call a barrier to
invoking a section of the constitution that allows us an acting president.
Some mulls just jet in and out to everywhere and anywhere and tell us they
just came in from Jeddah. Nobody has told us how much 44 days of
Yar’adua’s absence is costing Nigerians. Travels, estacode, medical bills
and the cost of all the lies.
We have been Mutallabed, the US has wrongly or rightly declared Nigeria a
terrorist state, our citizens would and have infact are already being
harassed and the five minute man who spoke with Goodluck, Mark and Bankole
cannot speak to Nigerians and the world, tell them we are not terrorists.
Because that telephone line is not citizens’ compliant or the network soon
afterward went bad.Jonathan can hardly do anything, I mean how can he when
the rumour mill says he cannot even eat in the Villa, and these days he
attends most functions with his mother.
On numerous occasions I have stated that Yar’adua has the fundamental
human right to be sick…he is a living thing, but the fact remains that
Yar’adua’s health cannot be placed above the well being of a 150 Million
people.
We wish he recovers but the truth that his kitchen, toilet or bedroom
cabinet do not want to tell us is that this man is incapacitated and is
far from being capable of governing Nigeria. I have a small office and I
know the number of files I have to attend to when I am away for few days…
Can Yar’adua handle his table without having another bout and therefore
another Saudi journey? Infact a twist I see is that he will come back hale
and hearty but before then, must the nation come to a standstill?
Hear Yakubu… “He directed me to get the Attorney-General to intensify
lobby for the passage of the anti-terrorism bill by the National Assembly
which the President forwarded to the Senate and the Federal House of
Representatives early October. He said that he would like it to be the
first bill he assents to on his return to Nigeria.”
Laughable cock and bull story, in 44 days, “Mr. President also told me
that he spoke to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan twice in the last five
days,” he said. Errant nonsense, a nation as big as Nigeria, with all the
problems, a president and vice has spoken twice in five days.
Does anyone expect Jonathan to deny that he did not speak with Yardy…No
certainly not, but on his behalf let me state clearly that Yar’adua did
not speak with Jonathan, at least if Jonathan cannot confirm or deny…I am
denying on behalf of Yar’adua.
But on another count I agree Yardy spoke to Jonathan twice, however one
mutes, how is it that he speaks more often to Yakubu than his vice…strange
nation. I suggest therefore that he speaks with Nigerians at least for
just 3 minutes via video technology and live feed too, not some voice of
his cousin or brother.
Yakubu was not specific on the date the President would return, because
indeed he does not know, in the end, Yakubu added “In the last week, I
have spoken to him on telephone countless number of times. Our
conversations every time lasted more than five minutes”.
In 2010….I ask, has it become so bad for us, how did we come so low, now
some five minutes call story is supposed to douse the tension. Let me be
naïve, who is and why are we afraid to do the right thing?
What in this whole episode is ‘political correctness’? Every issue that is
raised in respect to moving our nation forward is narrowed down to
north-south, Christian-Muslim, however when our leaders steal, it has no
coloration. My take is that the leaders of the country are only united in
looting the state treasury. And then we fight across our naïve
idiosyncrasies, while they watch us.
Yar’adua needs rest, he is recuperating, he will return soon, but he could
sign a supplementary budget, despite his fragile health, he read the
document, understood it and signed it.
The National Assembly say they cannot do anything, my three year old
boy…apparently from a local musician heard a song and the only phrase he
recalls frequently is ‘…wahala dey’.
The CrisisWatch bulletin from the International Crisis Group released this
week puts Nigeria on the deteriorated situations status with countries
like Yemen, Nepal, Iran, Madagascar and Guinea.
We are classified as fraudsters, 419, racketeers and now terrorist and the
truth is that personally for me, the problem is not with Nigeria being
classified by U.S or anybody in anyway they want. The problem is with us.
Was China not classified in all sorts of ways over the last century? But
they couldn't be bothered; they simply focused on becoming the no. 1
nation in the world, which they are close to achieving, inspite of all
their fake products.
I picked this up some where I cant recall now, the questions were, why are
we always looking for other countries approval, and acceptance, why are we
a timid people, why are we never doing the right things at home.
It's our failure at home that has made U.S and Europe so relevant to us.
We have to send our children there because the universities at home have
failed. We have to look for jobs there because there are none at home.
Some people even feel inferior to them and will rather live abroad at all
cost- in their minds, by doing so, they've become superior human beings.
A great nation with wonderful people, some of the best brains in various
spheres of life, yet governed by a few bunch of criminals. We keep keeping
on and hoping against hope.
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