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Themes

Now a Toothless Bulldog!

Brampton, Ontario, Canada
yemiadegbite@yahoo.ca
December 1, 2008

From all indications, Y’adua’s government is another colossal failure so far! More of the same thing, no striking difference from the failures of the past governments that we have experienced. All the systems have broken down, nothing seems to be working, and unthinkable things are happening in the county. People in positions of power have become laws unto themselves, while ordinary Nigerians become the objects of their unhindered aggression, and gross abuse of power. What we have are career politicians, controlled by their appetites, working only for themselves, and would stop at nothing to satisfy their egos.

These shameless “honourable” members, buying cars for themselves every year, they are living free and feeding fat at the expense of the poor masses of Nigeria. At this period of global economic meltdown when every country is thinking about cost-cutting ways, where is the logic in Bankole’s House of Reps embarking on free spending to procure cars at the whooping cost of N2.3 billion and going on retreat at the expense of the people. Are these people insane? Are they blind to the realities around them? I am crossing my fingers now to see how much they would award themselves for the Xmas just as they usually do during every season. The next official business of the House now would be to distribute turkeys, chickens, rice, milk, eggs and then money before they go off for Xmas, guaranteed many Nigerians would celebrate their Xmas in utter darkness! They are very predictable. Government after government, the only thing that changes is the way and manner by which the vault is looted.

What was wrong with the cars they had before? By the way, must the people be responsible for their transportation to everywhere they go? Only in Nigeria or may be in Africa that the politicians become the people’s burden. The government is responsible for the upkeep of politicians and all members of their families plus they can help themselves freely with the public funds.
Just the past week, I saw a senator in the US who brought a camping bed to his office, planning to sleep in the office at night because of the high cost of renting an apartment in Washington area! These are the people with passion for the service of their country.
The “rule of law” axiom of this government is a hoax. Each time we think Nigeria will move forward, it relapses back into comatose. The only winners are the perpetrators of lawlessness in Nigeria. It seems to me that, Nigerian masses are not ready for the right people yet. When the people are ready, then, the right people/leaders will emerge and take bold steps to move the country forward.

While our heroes and heroines become subjects of ridicule and annihilation, we fold our arms and do nothing. The perpetrators know us inside out, they know that, we will do nothing, they are used to our gentle murmurs, and then life continues.

The shabby way in which the erstwhile chairman of the EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is being treated accentuates the fact that this government is not what it seems to be. Whatever the present people in government are doing to humiliate and malign Ribadu would blow on their faces, because history is on his side. He has put his life on the line for the masses of Nigeria, during his leadership of EFCC; he had caught many “big fish” at his own peril, the so called untouchables, consequence of what we are seeing now. We have not seen the end of his predicament, I totally expect his crucifixion, and I also know that he would survive them all. The only constant thing in life is the truth, anything less would not stand the test of time. Ribadu did his utmost best for the country, no matter what his detractors might say.

Y’adua and his sponsors have done their worst. They sent Ribadu on compulsory study leave that he resisted in the first place, many of us knew then that he is not coming back to head EFCC again. He completed his study successfully, now they would not even allow him to graduate! We all can see the fallacy behind the entire “cooked up” make belief study leave given to Ribadu despite a spirited resistance both from the public and Ribadu himself. They have turned the EFCC, the most vibrant enduring legacy of Obasanjo into a toothless bulldog. Chief Gani Fawehinmi the Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM) whom I respect very highly said that Farida has failed Nigerians, I believe so, but I also want to add that, she is not put there to please the people of Nigeria, she is put there to please the compradors (the people Professor Olorode rightly describes as the “agberos” if you will, the “area boys” of our system. The people whose hegemony was threatened and challenged fiercely by Ribadu’s EFCC. Farida is put there to maintain the status quo, placate them and heel their wounds, and that is exactly what she is doing.

The people of Nigeria will have to do something to end their misery, otherwise, the cycle would continue forever! We are a praying nation, but we also need to act. Saint Thomas Aquinas said “pray and act as if you have not prayed” When we pray for change in the country, we cannot abdicate our duty and expect God to come down and fight our fight. He would fight alongside us. We do not need to fire a shot, all we need to do is to go out in droves and reject government’s policy when it does not represent what we believe. We have the right to do that, and we owe ourselves that obligation. That is what the “agberos” do, whoever does not represent them very well in government, they aggregate and get such person removed. That is exactly what they did for Ribadu. They removed him and put their stooge, who only blows their tune. We have to and we must do the same for them.

The Inspector General of Police (Mike Okiro) is also being used to harass, embarrass, humiliate, wear out and dampen Ribadu’s spirit. He is happy to be the willing tool, because he is threatened by Ribadu’s presence around him. He is a student of history, he knows what happened to Balogun, the same fate may await him, or so he thinks, he is doing himself a favour right now by putting Ribadu down.

There are so many Ribadus in Nigeria, another one will emerge and deal with the people’s traitors in dew season when the people are ready, because in any system, the people would always survive the government.

It is crystal clear that, the EFCC is now a shadow of itself, even by her own admission, Farida says that, our fun loving government officials are all over the world now, buying estates everywhere they can find one, with public money, when every country that is worth its salt is working very hard to get through the difficult economic time. The EFCC is no longer relevant at least under the present leadership. People of Nigeria can now compare and contrast and make up their minds about who is the real deal when it comes to fighting corruption in Nigeria. Ribadu or Farida, cast your vote, good enough, Marice Iwu would not have anything to do with the outcome of this type of plebiscite.

To see the change we want and really deserve in Nigeria, we have to use the people’s power and tell the ruling elites in clear terms “do our budding or get the hell out of government”.

The people around the world have done this time and time again. We can read and see what is now going on in Bangkok, if change is not possible through the ballots in Nigeria, we can do it on the streets.

We have waited for so long in Nigeria, what we need is not religious intolerance, but zero tolerance for bad government, zero tolerance for abuse of power, zero tolerance for rigging and usurping the popular will, and zero tolerance for ruling elites that keep the people in the vicious circle of poverty by their actions and ineptitude. We deserve the government that works, after almost 50 years of political independence, we deserve respect in the hands of our own leaders, we deserve a modest comfort of life, and we deserve to enjoy the good things that the human civilization can offer. Enough of poverty in the land of abundant natural and human resources, enough of squalor in the midst of luxury, and enough of misery in the presence of fortune. We are the only people who can make the government accountable and obey its own laws.

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