You need to know that the enemies-the Unbroken-exist and they are universal.

You need that knowledge to understand why a robber who stole mobile phones can be sentenced to death by hanging in record time while politicians and the elites who stole billions of dollars-under the same justice system-are receiving awards internationally.

 

Multiple Charades

By Adeola Aderounmu

A former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Haliru Bello Mohammed, earlier this month appeared before the court in Abuja, sitting on a wheel chair.

Until that day nobody knew that he was ill or when he became paralyzed. Only his immediate family members must have known of his paralysis.

Since the sacking of the primitive and evil government of Jonathan Goodluck, a significant number of the main actors have disappeared into exile or become mysteriously invalids.

The list of the probable invalids grew longer when Haliru Bello arrived in his wheel chairs.

I think that his medical certificate should be on demand on his next day in court. Haliru Bello Mohammed may be truly paralyzed, but his doctors must be able to back his claims.

The department of health in Nigeria should find the growing number of political invalids (especially from the Jonathan era) very useful in updating the health statuses of public officials.

For real, both the federal departments of statistics and health should find the figures useful for the purpose of documentation and national planning.

In particular as parasitologists some of us should be interested in the causes of paralysis in adults.

The former chairman and his doctors should be able to provide data showing the etiology, symptoms and treatment of his illness.

Did he beome infected with some existing microbial organism of medical importance? Could it be a new type of microbe that the rest of the population or the political class should be wary of?

Is Bello Mohammed a rsik to the society? Does he need quarantine so that he does not spread a new and dangerous virus in the society?

Was his paralysis caused by stroke? Was that a result of the stress or tension that arose because of the knowledge of his imminent arrest and probable imprisonment should he be found guilty?

These information are important in preventive medicine and national planning. They must not be neglected.

Nigeria cannot add a new virus to the prevailing lassa fever currently on tour in Nigeria. Hold Bello Mohammed down now.

There are other dimensions with the fight against corruption in Nigeria. They are not funny. They have become like parts of the tradition in Nigeria. None of them is new and this will not be the last time we will be repeating them.

Reminding ourselves of what is wrong with us should one day bring out the consciousness that we need to turn on the real button of change.

Cross-carpeting at all levels is a permanent survival kit for all criminal politicians in Nigeria. Did anyone miss the news that Jim Nwobodo’s switched from PDP to APC ? This is one out of the thousands of annual cases in Nigeria.

The people do it, the politicians do it. The reasons are the same. Lack of principle and bad family names among others.

Whilst the clampdown on the Jonathan’s men and women is necessary, there is nothing in Nigeria today that prevent the total clampdown of all criminals in past and present government except the will to do so.

If anybody misses the point that the looters in PDP remain looters in APC after cross-carpeting, or that they team up with the ready-made criminals in APC, then it is a shame.

If you think that the monies that Nigeria lost to corruption under the regimes of Babangida, Shonekan, Abacha, Abdulsalami, Obasanjo and Yar Adua are not worth chasing, then you don’t love Nigeria. Every kobo counts.

The judiciary lost its good name many years ago when money became the basis for judgements and outcomes in courts. The politicians and military gangsters paralyzed the judiciary.

The weakened judiciary and the short-arm of the law in Nigeria are among several reasons the political and economic charades in Nigeria are permanent.

How many cases of corruption have been logically concluded in Nigeria? Many of the cases were sent into permanent coma either through bails or irreversible adjournments. Several more were not even visited.

Nigerian invented a charade called plea bargaining for extremely corrupt politicians and elites.

Last week l stated that the support for tyranny is dangerous.

The best way to get fairness and justice for more than 100 m Nigerians living from hand to mouth is for everybody to demand a total independence for the Nigerian judiciary.  The justice system must work otherwise justice will never be served.

But Nigerians are not united. We antagonize ourseleves in ways that help perpetrators of evils and injustice to thrive. We have come to the un-agreeable conclusion that all Nigerians must be corrupt.

Nigerians must learn that once the voting or selection season is over, they are not to stay on the same side as the politicians. The people should learn the difference between civil responsibilities/patriotism and being slaves to political manipulations.

In all of these messes the outstanding and undeniable fact is that is that majority of Nigerian politicians are psycopaths. They are totally mentally sick and incurable.

If the Nigerian judiciary had been functional and effective, if Nigeria’s health system had been remarkable, several Nigerian politicians would have gone to prisons nicely. Their terms in prisons would have been done in conjunction with treatment for various mental ailments.

The men who supervised the looting of more than 200 billion naira or the women who made 40 billion dollars disappeared from a nation’s national treasury cannot be sane people.

I don’t understand how a robber who stole mobile phones can be sentenced to death by hanging in record time while politicians who stole billions of dollars-under the same justice system- can have their trials lasting forever.

Mr. Goodluck Jonathan under whose command atrocties were committed leading to the total draining of the Nigerian treasury is receiving awards after awards in foreign countries.

Even Ngozi Iweala under whose watch monies were looted away from the Nigerian treasury has also received international awards.

You need to be suffering from mental slavery not to understand this familiar trend. It is the same way some famous world rulers who are war criminals are being eulogised and even given peace prizes.

Still, it is madness.

Anyway, the Nigerian judiciary needs to sit up. They have to help the people in their fight for freedom. The judiciary must win back its independence.

For those criminals who want to go and see their doctors abroad, the request should be turned down on the basis of the fact that there are hospitals in Nigeria.

Politicians facing trials and even the others (from the president to the last man at the local government) should be restrained from travelling abroad for medical tourism. They should be ordered by the courts to stay back home in Nigeria to enjoy the medical facilities that they have provided for the people.

One speedy way to improve public health care provision in Nigeria is to implement such a ban and entrench it in the constitution.

Recently also, l wrote about the total disappearance of the loots that are recovered or returned to Nigeria. It remains an issue that recovered loots have not been utilised for obvious projects for the people to see the actual effects of the loots and what they are worth.

In the absence of visible, completed extra-projects specifically financed with recovered loots it is safe to assume that the loots were relooted because loots are not used when budgets are made.

When you talk about budgets in Nigeria, people don’t know if the budget is in the National Assembly or if the goats have eaten it. We don’t even know which version they are now referring to. The budgets grew legs and then re-emerged in newer dimensions.

In the end, the fight against corruption in Nigeria remains an optical illusion, a part of the charade.

The more you look, the less you see.

Now the former military generals of the Jonathan era are coming to trials too. So far, it’s all trials and no judgements. Back door settlements and plea-bargaining made possible by the EFCC have taken over the role of the judiciary.

This is a shameful democracy. A laughable justice system.

The politicians are getting richer, new political recruits are made and the circus continues.

The rich get richer, the poor gets poorer and the ranks of the Broken and the Unbroken are rearranged.

The charade continues.

The daily human struggle for existence, for living in Nigeria continues too.

The economy is paralyzed, the Naira almost valueless.

Salaries are not paid. Jobs are cut off. Unemployment remains high.

The prices and availability of fuel are perfect on government papers while the reality bites the people to death daily.

Government is full of promises. Government says ”smile”. People are suffering as the disconnection between the government and the people gets thicker.

What we are saying now is what we have said before. I am not tired to repeat it again next week.

We are not talking about baby mammas here. We are talking about serious issues that concerns the largest collection of black people on earth. The future of the black race is at stake.

The people need to know that the political system is wrong and not working. Let’s take a took again at what we benefitted and how Nigeria made progress under regional government before the useless unitary system was enforced by the military.

Does anyone think that militants will still exist again under regional government? Will there be a Boko Haram if Northerners determine their own future?

The pipelines are now in flames again and Mr. Buhari is not in Nigeria. What do you think?

We need to enlighten our people, free them from mental and religious slavery.

One day they will understand. One day, now or in the future or in the next generation of thinkers, we-the people-will be on the same side and the march to freedom will begin.

aderounmu@gmail.com