This present unitary government that has now moved the headquarters of the Nigerian government to London is foolish, and a means to continue to breed bad leaders or to turn progressive leaders into mumus

 

The new clamour for the restructuring of Nigeria and the advantages for it will on the long run outweighs the useless unitary system that had kept more than 100m Nigerians in poverty, living from hand to mouth.

My Random Reflections @45

By Adeola Aderounmu

This is the 9th edition of my random reflections.

Nigeria is still in a lot of mess. Nigerian musician African China prayed that we should not let this country fall into a well. I am afraid that this country is not only inside a well, it is also drowned in the well.

ANOTHER MESSY, CLUELESS PRESIDENCY

Nigeria’s president is unwell. He is holed up somewhere in the world, most probably the UK. Earlier into his tenure, in several of my articles, l’d suggested that Mr.Buhari ought to be home to his family in Daura, taking it easy and enjoying the rest of his days.

In matters relating to health, it is not everytime we need people or doctors to advise us. Common sense about how our body functions and how it respond to stress and rest should be more important signals. No one can cheat nature. President Buhari should have handed over to Professor Yemi Osinbajo a long time ago. Now he struggling to stage a comeback in the kingdom of hyenas, wolves and jackals. Who was it that described Nigeria as a zoo again?

WE NEVER LEARN

In the time past, Mr. Buhari and his cohorts in the APC/opposition party demanded for the resignation or impeachment of Umaru Yar Adua when he was sick and flew round the globe in search of a magic healing.

There are other issues related to the above. We know that several billions of naira have been budgeted over the years for the State House clinic in Abuja. The fact that ailing presidents always continue to fly abroad for treatment is shameful and extremely embarassing to the black race. What was the meaning of independence again?

 

DASHED HOPES

We know just how bad leadership and massive corruption had sent this country into a well. The hope that came with the APC-Buhari mandate was probably about 20% of that which came with the botched June 12 1993 presidential elections.

When APC promised change that was to come in 2015, the people bought it. They did because the Jonathan government was wasting our time, money and resources. It is now obvious that this regime is not better than the Jonathan regime. With the kind of fluidity that allows cross-carpeting and merry-go-round, the two parties, APC and PDP are in principle the same nonsense.

This government (the APC-Buhari-Osinbajo mandate) so far is a popular disaster. It is not in such a way that one wishes that the PDP government was never defeated at the presidential election in 2015. It is rather in such a way that one looks back with sadness over what had taken place since 1999.

Both PDP and APC have brought shame, destruction, poverty and extreme hopelessness to the ordinary citizens of Nigeria who numbered more than 100 million.

 

HISTORY OF FAILURES

The civilian rule from 1999 to date represents a time in the history of Nigeria where criminals, thieves, looters, assasins and political gangsters remain in control of Nigeria. In terms of prosperity, this period of time is the worse in the history of Nigeria. Previous failures have been recorded during the military regimes 1966-1979, 1984-1999 and civilian rule 1979-1984.

 

CORRUPTION UNABATED

Corruption is also thriving under the Buhari-Osinbajo-APC Mandate, like never before. One month ago, on June 14 2017, Mr. Olusola Saraki was cleared and acquitted of all the criminal charges against him in the law court in Nigeria. If you are looking for the biggest scams of the 21st century, that judgement will pass as a key blacklist. Despite the promise of change, prosecutions for corruption are rare and the buffer provided by cross-carpeting remains a huge joke in Nigeria.

 

POLITICIANS OR CRIMINALS

The entire political class in Nigeria itself is one huge scam. There are no new ways to describe the levels of looting, stealing, mischieviousness, misdemeanour and outright crime against humanity that Nigerian politicians are commiting daily, on a large scale.

 

The incursion of the military into politics in Nigeria through coups and later the civil war, would forever remain a calamity. They left with a constitution that turned Nigeria into a unitary state. They promoted and sustained corruption, nepotism, tribalism. They also flamed religion and ethnicity and brought Nigeria to her knees. The country never rose again and Nigeria is still crawling.

 

NOTHING HAS CHANGED

There are a lot of things we had talked or written about for decades, years and months. There are no changes, so it’s like we are wasting our time. For example, we complained about former governors looting away states’ treasuries through undeserved pensions. Today they are still looting (in form of pensions) several billions of naira monthly.

Several former governors have invaded the Nigerian National Assembly as Senators. They are on live pension even though they have not become handicapped in any way. They are carting away salaries from the National Assmembly and pensions from their former states.

We are talking about a National Assembly that is sucking away between 20-25% of Nigeria’s annual budget through world record salaries and allowances.

Is that change? That is daylight robbery that calls for nation wide protests and revolution.

 

POOR MASSES ALWAYS DEFEATED

Nigerians surely love changes, the latest being the election of Adeleke as the Senator representing Osun West senatorial district. However, what remains sad is the sustenance of the status quo, that is, head or tail the masses have always lost.

 

RESTRUCTURE NIGERIA

Some people think this is new whereas Nigeria gained her independence in 1960 as a well structred entity. Governance was concentrated in the regions and the country prospered. True, the politicians had their shortcomings, but there was progress everywhere in the country depsite all the political troubles. Progress was based on the instincts of the various regions to develop and outshine one another.

Therefore the incursion of the military into politics in Nigeria through coups and later the civil war, would forever remain a calamity. They left with a constitution that turned Nigeria into a unitary state. They promoted and sustained corruption, nepotism, tribalism. They also flamed religion and ethnicity and brought Nigeria to her knees. The country never rose again and Nigeria is still crawling.

The new clamour for the restructuring of Nigeria and the advantages for it will on the long run outweighs the useless unitary system that had kept more than 100m Nigerians in poverty, living from hand to mouth.

The restructuring, now put better as both political and economic restructuring, will not be a magic solution. However, it should in a matter of a couple of decades be a blessing for the upcoming and unborn generations.

This present unitary government that has now moved the headquarters of the Nigerian government to London is foolish, and a means to continue to breed bad leaders or to turn progressive leaders into mumus.

The APC promised to restructure Nigeria and got voted for that purpose but to date the APC-mandate carriers are promoting the useless system of come, chop, clean mouth and go.

 

PERSONAL LIFE

For my birthday, it is been time well spent with family as usual this time in Sweden. We gathered at the family country home to have a dinner. It’s been so for over a deacde now.

Last year, the celebration was in Lagos, a place dear and close to my heart. It appears flood and badoo boys are wiping the state and people away. Shameful!

I am happy despite all the problems. Nigerians are supposed to be the happiest people in the world a few years ago. Are we all still happy? I guess so, especially in the absence of rage and urge to flush the politicians away for good.

I believe in change so I resigned my position as the president of the Yoruba Union in Stockholm after servng for 6 years and organising 4 annual Yoruba Days in Stockholm.

Last year l published a book The Madrilenian, a collection of 8 short stories.

My next book, a story about how an Italian family tried to cope with the post-mafian era has reached an advanced stage and may hit publication in 2018 or 2019. It’s fiction.

In our country Nigeria, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We are in a dilemma.

Life goes on and nothing last…

Live and let live

 

aderounmu@gmail.com