Still reflecting on Nigeria: the madness continues?
By Adeola Aderounmu.
As we have settled for the illegitimate government in Nigeria, the only thing I can do now is to wish my country of birth good luck. Good luck always remind me of the name of the man they call the vice-president in jagajaga Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan. He has vowed never to make public his assets declaration. He is not obliged by law!
Law or no law, Obliged or no Obliged, it would be nice if he can change his mind especially if he has no skeleton in his cupboard.
But there are more pressing things in Nigeria than the bad luck of the so called vice-president.
Nobody has explained to me how David Mark, a thief, is now the senate president in Nigeria! Since I don’t have an answer to that question, I have refused to join voices to tell Badluck to declare his assets. I have also stayed out of the campaign for the same reason that Maurice Iwu, Obasanjo, Babangida, Adedibu and Akala, Kalu, Alamieyeseigha are not in prison.
To me, all these men and their contemporaries (from 1960 to 2007) are criminals and I cannot say prosecute one without saying prosecute all. Nigeria will find it difficult to be a great nation as long as thieves are in power or they are still going about as free men.
We have seen how ex-convicts took glorious rides from prisons to Aso rock. We saw it in 1999 and we are seeing more of it in 2007. Thieves are getting away one by one and all they have to do is called plea bargaining. Amusement does not cease in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, there is a way to justify every stupidity. It bothers me because none of this madness translates into better life for the masses. May the glory of Nigeria come, soon.
STOP PRESS!
Goodluck declared his assets publicly on the 8th of August 2007.
To my readers!
On July 14th, I posted a title: Nigeria, what more to write about you? I have gone ahead to enter more entries (including this unexpected one) after that posting. Many of them appeared first on the Nigeria village square and then I just re-post them here. I may not be regular with my postings as much as before. There are things to take care of and the summer holidays are over.
First, I will see to it that I publish my book. I must do that! The title has been modified/ changed to reflect the scope of the book but I’ll keep it a secret until it is out.
You can always leave a message on any of my blog entries or directly to my email: aderounmu@gmail.com
Surely, 1-2 posts per week will still surface!
A View From The Scandinavian 
You will always have an audience. Better to be late than never. A volcano that is inactive can always turn to be active once more!
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While I do not hold brief for the Senate President, but I have the right to frown at the name calling to wit ‘Thief’ I want to believe this need more proof and I mean concrete proof. Whilst most Nigerians are brainwashed that every politician are thief, the truth is nobody bothered to have concrete proof about what they stole. Perhaps this contributed to the reason this so called “thief” will continue to rule us whether we like it or not.
Having said this, constructive criticism and potent opposition to gear up the present government into action is more logical than name calling, I resented that, especially coming from someone who probably resides outside Nigeria. For God’s sake our VP is not badluck, Nigeria is not jagajaga neither is our Senate President is a thief.
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Twinstaye, you deserve a reply.
Do you know what David Mark did as the communications minister under Babangida? If you know, then you need to better proof that David Mark is a thief.
If you don’t know,then you have to read a little bit about the impact of military rule on Nigeria.
The VP is badluck because the election that produced him and his master remains the most shameful election in the history of mankind.
Have you ever travelled or drove on Nigerian road? The Benin-Ore road is the worst highway road in the world! That my friend, is jagajaga.
There are several jagajaga roads in Nigeria and the way the people live is also jagajaga. You either take it or leave it.
As per living outside Nigeria, what has that got to do with wanting a better life for the people of Nigeria? I am a Nigerian by blood and I have the freedom of speech and expression to express my views on a sick nation.
I want the Nigerian children who are abroad to come back home and the only way to achieve that is to let the idiots who are ruling us to know what is right and what is wrong.
The best way this is done in all societies is thru criticisms.
I have offered constructive criticisms on Nigeria and I have no apology on how I express my views each time that I write.
If those in governance do not know the right thing, tell me, why are they there in the first place.
That is JAGAJAGA arrangement!
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So going by your analysis, and using US as an example since they are exemplary. The election that brought Bush to office was fraught with irregularities and so he is bad luck, the bridge that collapse in Minnesota of recent makes US jagajaga and what David Mark did during his days as Minister of Communications is still fresh in my memory because what he said was that “the phone is not for the rich” that does not prove him to be a thief. Truth is whilst I do not see anything wrong in criticism, I again stressed that there should be at least a limit to the name calling, less those who do not want the best for this country will capitalise on our write-ups. One thing is quite clear, this is the system operating in Nigeria now, and that is what makes Nigeria what it is now, those of us who does not have any hope of living outside Nigeria believed we and our children have to put our hope on Nigeria believing that it will be well one day. This type of name calling on what we put our hope on, makes the whole hope we have on Nigeria a hope in vain. If you dont know what I am saying, we had been, and would settle for what is obtainable here in your so called “jagajaga arrangement” because since 1960 todate, it is still the same story.
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Thank you for this healthy argument!
Talking about the Bush saga, We want progress in Nigeria, so we don’t need to use failure as our yardstick. If you want to write an exam, you do not try to fail because someone else failed not even if that person is your mentor!
David Mark and his atrocities will fill a 340 page book, believe me, I know what I am talking about, so I will not overflog it. That we could not find a better person in Nigeria to be our senate leader speaks volume!
No matter how perfect humans become, accidents will be inevitable. So the collapse bridge is not a related issue. The issue is the shock absorbing mechanisms that the society can muster in the face of such accidents.
Really, Nigerians should start taking a proper look at the 3rd mainland bridge before we have similar occurences.
We do not have crises management team or they are inefficient, so in our case, prevention will be better than a cure.
Still, are you trying to compare roads in the US with roads in Nigeria?
If that is your point, I have a smile for you!
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Adeola, your point well taken, but I regret that I still hold firm to my opinion, even though I learnt some home truth from yours too.
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Having a right to our opinions is the beauty of independent thinking and being able to express such gives us the feelings of satisfaction that such moral rights are uninfringed.
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Having a right to express our opinions is like self defense which is crucial to our survivability as individuals and to our freedom. Any nation that does not guarantee these rights to the citizens will never see progress; and the citizens that do not demand these rights will remain in a perpetual servitude. Since 1960 up-to-day, Nigerians have maintained a statusquo of always trying to tolerate or acquiesce with any government of the day irrespective of how such leaders got into power. Everybody is afraid to ROCK THE BOAT. That is why, in a large measure, Nigerians have not seen much improvement in their governance as evidenced by the level of corruption we have noticed among our leaders and politicans. So, based on the history of corruption by our leaders since 1960, all of them will fall into one or two of these categories of criminals, either as perpetrators or suspects.
Yes, we should criticise our politicans and even call them names not only when it is proven that they are thieves, but also when we suspect them to be thieves. I am disappointed to read that somebody will have the effrontery to say something good in their defense. The only defense any of them should enjoy is in our court of law and justice.
Again, we cannot place a limit on how to criticise them because of what outsiders and enemies are going to think about our country. I am more worried about the enemies within . The fact of the matter is that they invited these criticisms and name calling through their shameful activities. As we often say, “If you cannot stand the heat, you should get out of the kitchen.”
Declaration of assets by our leaders and politicans should be mandatory. The exercise should be carried out before any leader or politican assumes office, and must be repeated every year that servant remains in the office.
If all we can come up with is to cite George Bush 2004 presidential election exercise in Florida, and “Bridge Collapse” in Mississippi river to justify the actions of our leaders and politicans, we might as well give-up all our hopes and remain in a perpetual coma. Nigeria does not compare favorably with America in all ramification.
We need to shake our leaders and politicans, or we will endure more worst years of their insensit ivity to the plights of ordinary Nigerians.
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Hi wanted to read more on the histry
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