By Adeola Aderounmu

Okey Bakassi’s real names are McAnthony Onyegbule. He was a guest on The Teju Babayface Show sometime ago. He is currently the Executive Assistant to the Imo State Governor.

The position of the Executive Assistant is one of the thousands of positions in Nigerian Politics that are unconstitutional, irrelevant and wasteful.

Think about this, there are 36 states in Nigeria. Each Governor has an almost redundant Deputy Governor. Governors have several assistants, Deputy Governors have several assistants. All the assistants have deputy assistants. The chains continue down the ranks creating one of the most wasteful forms of governance in the world.

The situation is the same in the House of Assembly and House of Representatives both at the state and national leverls. Each non-thinking dude or madam creates a similar links of deputy, assistants, executive assistants and so on.

In my world, these types of situations are classical social madness.

On that particular episode of The TejuBaby face Show, Okey Bakassi as he is fondly called said so many things about Nigerian politics which made me conclude (once again) that hope is far from Nigeria.

He mentioned that what journalists write about Nigerian politics is far from what is going on in the government houses.

He also mentioned that “when you are inside” you see things differently and that there are many things on how government functions that are not known to the rest of us.

I was furious when he spoke because his body language was obvious. It gave him away as “now one of the corrupt”.

What journalists write about Nigeria may not always be the truth for sure. The reason is because Nigerian Press has been overtaken by the Nigerian Factor. Many Journalists are corrupt, they accept bribes in different forms-cash and kind-from the politicians.

There may be a few corrupt-free journalists left in Nigeria but they are rare species. This means that sometimes we still get to read or hear the truth about how corrupt and silly our politicians are. It means that on rare occasions we still get to know the “truth” about some things in Nigeria.

Many newspapers are owned by corrupt people, godfathers and all sorts of dubious characters. I have almost stopped reading Nigerian newspapers. It is so-so hard to find honest inputs in the Nigerian press.

Opinion writers and editorial stuffs are even sometimes based on the brown envelope syndrome. No Nigerian newspaper is free of this shame.

Corruption-escalated by tribalism, nepotism and ineptitude-has eaten deep into all the possible things and places in Nigeria.

“When you are inside”. What does Okey Bakassi mean by this expression?

We have asked for a transparent and honest form of government. We got nothing close. Even the present government in Nigeria is a serious scandal to the black race.

There is no attempt to fight or stop corruption because the custodians of power are travelling in the same boat as the guilty and the criminals.

When the people we know and trust enter into/ or become part of government, the first thing they do is to disappoint us.

There are thousands of names of people whom we trust. People whom we thought, Oh this is going to be better. Alas..! As soon as they are inside everything changes.

Nigeria is likely to remain a hopeless country (forever) in terms of political greatness if this mentality is not erased once and for all.

Nigerian politics has been used by people to transform their lives. One month after entering into politics, a Nigerian politician or some funny assistant can afford to send all his families abroad-to live or study there permanently.

Why can’t they fix Nigeria and let their families stay here in Nigeria like the rest of us?

They scoop our monies and loot our treasury. The truth they spoke when on the outside suddenly departs them “when you are inside”. They are now agents of lies and deceits.

I am not talking about only Okey Bakassi now. I am talking about a typical nice and well brought up Nigerian person. He/ she enters into politics and become evil in nature.

It is evil and wicked to steal, loot or to partake in stealing and looting in whatever ways.

Every kobo stolen in Nigeria adds to the persistent and increasing level of poverty. Every ½kobo taken one way or the other in the wrong manner adds up to the devastation of lives.

Look at Nigerian roads, schools, hospitals and all that is common to the common people. What you get is disaster..! After all these years and after all we have said and done, Electricity is almost absent in Nigeria!

Yet when one of us gets into government house as assistant or even the speaker of the house of rep, what we get back are monsters who suddenly forget about the transiency of life and power.

They forget completely the purpose of life. At that moment, a form of psychopathic madness characterised by egocentrism and demonic urge for money, wealth and acquisition of inexhaustible riches take over.

I will never come to terms with Nigerian politicians and public servants buying houses and property abroad with monies that should have been used to serve the people in Nigeria. We destroy our motherland while pretending to be doing good. We lie and make it a way of life. We kill those who speak the truth.

Nigerian politics is peculiar. It beats me that murderers, looters, thieves and generally incompetent people are running for the presidency and other government houses in Nigeria. Where is law and order?

If this is the best dish we can serve Africa and the rest of the world, the rest of us “who are outside of government” really have ourselves to blame for the type of stories coming from Okey Bakassi and the extremely low of quality of life that we live.

“When you are inside” My Foot!