|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
It was difficult for me to decipher the motive behind the widely published photo, last Wednesday, of Ibe Kachikwu, minister of State, Petroleum Resources, and Maikanti Baru, group managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The way they posed, it was as if they were simply taking Nigerians for a ride. Whereas Kachikwu’s hand pointing to Baru was like saying “Nigerians, see the small man that is causing me the heartache,” Baru was flashing his gap-toothed dentition, in what appeared a celebration of conquering Kachikwu and getting him for a photo op. The way he puffed up in the picture spoke volume. But beyond the interpretation anybody could give or what could be deduced from the picture, the saddest thing about it is that their appearance trivialised what was supposed to be a serious matter. They had the photograph during the 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit and they were said to have discussed opportunities in the oil industry. Opportunities for who? It is a known fact that such opportunities never benefited the ordinary man on the street as the greater part of whatever comes to the government is stolen. Posing in such a manner that suggest there is no friction between them; appearing in public, the same public that have read all that they both spewed out, with an attitude of “we were just playing” is like pulling a wool over our eyes or amplifying the decibel of the unseriousness of government. It is part of why Nigeria has remained a dwarf in all its ramifications, 57 years after the so-called Independence in 1960. So, as it is now, what happens to the grave allegations levelled against Baru? What happens to the probe (into the matter) by the Senate? What happens, what happens, what happens? Please can somebody help me solve this riddle? Very unfortunate.
………………………………………………………………………
Read Also: Baruwa: No pipelines near location of Lagos gas plant fire – NNPC
The sin of the fathers
The lamentation last week by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) that students have gone haywire in examination malpractice to the extent of drugging invigilators with dangerous chemical did not come to some of us as a surprise. This may even be the beginning of more sinister things to come, in a country where meritocracy has been sacrificed on the altar of connection (man-know-man), you are sure to see all manner of rat race. In Nigeria, we are daily engaged in a rat race. What do you think when a candidate scores 60 percent in an entrance examination, and he or she is not taken; but another that scores 20 or 30 percent is given admission in the same country? What better country do we want to see when parents are teaching their children to steal- directly and indirectly? A public office holder is bragging before his children how he had to eliminate somebody to get a particular position, or the nefarious things he is doing to get all the wealth he is throwing about; or how else do we expect today’s technology savvy youths to react to failure of governance? They know that most of their leaders- from the highest to the least, even in religious circles are just con-men. So, they have also embraced a culture that is comfortable with a harmful aphorism- the end justifies the means. WAEC has not started to cry. Is it not before our own eyes that they created special centres; and we all know what goes on there. While the rich dullards pay to write their own examinations in such centres, the poor youths devise other means of squaring up, a part of which drugging invigilators may be the latest tactic. So, rather than raise its voice in vain cry, WAEC should cover its face in shame. The youth, who form the bulk of candidates of such examinations, are products of a failed system and it is asking too much to say they should be pure in heart and in conduct. After all, it is from the source that water usually gets contaminated. As it stands now, the solution to the malady is with the leadership of this country. No more, no less.
…………………………………………………………
Did Monkey pox come because Nigeria is a zoo?
When in May 2012, after he lost the presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari, out of frustration had warned that “Dogs and Baboons” would be soaked in their own blood if 2015 followed the pattern of 2011. Not many Nigerians thought it was a threat that should be investigated. Again, the communication between Aisha Buhari and Senator Shehu Sani, using animal names to paint the country’s situation, was just glossed over. They talked about hyenas and jackals, using the two animals to illustrate the power tussle in the presidency. Although some Nigerians felt slighted that the use of those words merely reduced Nigeria to a zoo and that they took exception to be categorised as living in such a colony, nobody was Nostradamus enough to know that Buhari, his wife and Sani were speaking about an affliction to come upon Nigeria. So, the coming and spreading like wild fire of the scourge of Monkey Pox in parts of the country is something that has flabbergasted many Nigerians, including the Federal lawmakers, who out of fear, have summoned the Health Minister to explain all that he knows about monkey and how possibly a ‘pox’ can come from it to torment Nigerians. But my question is, why inviting the Health minister to talk about animal, when he was not among the three people that had “prophesied” about the animal disease? Would it not have been apt to invite those who had spoken about, “Dogs, Baboons, hyenas and jackals”? I am just thinking aloud! Like play, like play, this monkey of a thing is converting Nigeria into a proper zoo, dropping its urine, faeces or whatever that is making everybody, even medical doctors, run four-forty. Although the Zoo talk took place in Federal Capital territory (FCT), Abuja, the monkey ravaging Nigeria at the moment appears FCT-shy, instead, it is bombarding Bayelsa, Rivers, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Ogun and Cross River States. Bayelsa came very close to blaming those in FCT for this pox palaver, but it was brow-beaten by the powers that be and reprimanded for an idle talk. But on a very serious note, why not change the narrative by giving Nigeria another name that is not zoo, by so doing, maybe this evil cup could pass over us?
…………………………………………………………………….
Frivolous injunctions and Nigeria’s forward march
The rate at which some people are rushing to court to stop legal actions against them or to avoid being probed for wrongdoing is baffling and signposts serious danger for a country that has remained a lame duck 57 years after Independence. Ordinarily, the law courts are to, through their work; promote peace and harmony in the country and by so doing help in all round development. But when a court begins to pick stones for enemies’ catapult against the country, something is therefore dreadfully wrong. Some observers had in the past said that the war against corruption has remained tough and unending because of the attitude of those who preside over the cases. There are many Nigerians today, though are known criminals, yet they are untouchable. They rushed to the court and restrained the government and anybody for that matter from investigating them. Can you imagine that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who is facing allegation of N120billion bribery allegation, last Thursday rushed to the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to seek an order restraining the Senate and the Senate President from going ahead with their plan to investigate him over allegations of malfeasance against him. A few days ago, some cronies of the embattled Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, threatened to go to court to ensure that the man would not face probe. It is sad that this is happening in an administration that is supposed to be run by puritans! Where then is the integrity they spoke about, on the crest of which they rode to power? I AM JUST WONDERING.
