The Things We Took For Granted (Part 2)

August 23, 2015August 25, 2015 / Adeola / 1 Comment

Let’s love one another in Africa and appreciate the things and people around us always. Maybe if we start with our friends and families, one day the love may go round the world and our lives will be happy and free.

By Adeola Aderounmu

Often we forget to show how much we care for our families and friends. Sometimes it is very difficult to express in words or actions how much our friends and families mean to us.

Me and A friend-Onero and his wife

Absence makes the mind to grow fonder. This is so true that we (then) begin to appreciate friends and families when they are separated from us.

Sometimes the separation is irreparable or permanent because death came calling unexpectedly. This can result to extreme sadness or even depression.

Sometimes during this summer I saw my eldest brother again. He came to visit me in Sweden. The last time we saw each other before this visit was also in Stockholm in the spring of 2005. Though l have travelled to Nigeria two times after that we did not meet.

No one will believe that l have never travelled to Abuja or anywhere in the North of Nigeria. It does not even look like it will happen soon. I am that small boy from Western Nigeria.

As l was driving to the airport to pick up my brother l was moved to tears. Suddenly it struck me that a lot has happened since the last time we met. There have been a lot of good things. However since we are getting older we have had our own share of family tragedies which as a matter of principle l never share on the social media. But l made an obituary for my mother in the village square.

Distance apart means that we have not been able to share our emotions regarding these tragedies. Though my eyes were swollen, I could not shut them tight long enough to enable the free flow of tears. I needed to keep my focus behind the wheels.

But in private, I’d wept many times. It’s human nature. In some of my stories I’d written that the men who commit suicide are those who refused to cry. They sealed their emotions and punish their souls giving them up to untimely death.

When people cry on behalves of those who commit suicide, they (the mourners) find the strength to move on because their tears become sacrifices to the gods.

For about 30 minutes which was approximately how long it took to drive to the airport l also reminisced on many of the good times we had together especially in Festac Town where we grew up.

Sometimes l don’t know where to place my memories about Lagos Mainland. Are they real or are they mere fantasies? Why do I always think that my version of the aftermath of the assassination of Murtala Mohammed in February 1976 was the correct version? Why does all the pandemonium in Surulere play back and forth in my head as if they happened yesterday?

At home, when we were boys, I remember the fights and the unnecessary contests for power and supremacy. You cannot avoid these things if you have many boys growing up together in a flat or in a house. I don’t want to remember my violent tendencies because sometimes the repercussions were terrible.

I always remember the football days so much that l wrote the article The Boys From Festac. A follow up to that article is necessary. If someone had told me that l can live without playing football on Saturday mornings and Sunday evenings, l would have responded: don’t go there!

Sometimes l don’t worry to tell people who never saw me play football how good l was because they won’t understand and it is of no use now.

Sometimes too l remember how some people find it difficult to believe my brilliance at school because of my small size and extremely playful attitude. I still wonder too!

If you live your adult life very far away from the closest people you grew up with, the tendency is that when you look back, you’d wish you could turn back the hands of clock.

There are so many things you wish you could do again. There are so many people you long for but whom you took for granted when they were at arm’s length to you. What about the things you took for granted too?

Life will continue to go on and nothing will last, not forever anyway. Life itself will remain transient and temporal.

Recently l heard a story from one of our elders here in Stockholm. Obviously it is one of those stories you heard whilst growing up in Nigeria. But when you are reminded of such a story after a long time, it helps. Mr. Salimonu Kadiri, a respected elder in Sweden spoke about the argument between death and money. It was a case that was taken to the king.

Money argued that nothing can be done without him and death reminded the king that he (death) would have the last say on everyone including the king.

This folklore from Yorubaland has a lot of implications.

People should think about their pursuits of wealth and the opportunity costs.

Perhaps if we sit back a bit and reflect on life holistically….just maybe…we will live our lives differently, spread some love and warmth everyday. Who knows? We may end up living closer to our families and spend more time with the people we love.

We definitely need to appreciate more the people around us including our friends and our families. If we do, our regrets and disappointments will be minimal if we eventually are (unavoidably) separated from one another temporarily or permanently.

The other day l came home from Finland and made an unscheduled visit to a friend in another part of Sweden the same day. It was 467 km away. I left home late and arrived at his front door at about 10pm. His reaction was priceless. Shock will be an understatement when he opened his door to welcome me and my family. We even ate dinner before we left!

In Nigeria this would have been a normal thing. But in Sweden it is almost a taboo to visit someone without notifying them. It’s rare. On top of that we arrived at night like thieves. I don’t why people look too far and find it difficult to connect the individualistic traits of the western world with the high rate of depression.

When we grew up in Nigeria our lives were mainly communal in nature. We meet people everyday. We share with people everyday and we celebrate everyday. We took these things for granted because we thought we will always have them.

Since we do not have the same powers as the gods, we did not see the future. We were taught the 20 children cannot play together for 20 years. It wasn’t made so clear that the 20 children will have extreme difficulties to re-unite or re-group again once they have said goodbyes.

I see the struggle to re-unite or re-group in alumni or old students’ associations. It’s like a mission impossible though manageable from one event to another when different people show up.

I see the struggle to re-unite with friends. We have all received our fair shares of desperate mails from people on the social media asking if we are the right persons.

Even l have seen the struggle to re-unite families.

We struggle now because we took people and things for granted when we had them right in front of our faces. Some of our struggles are psychological because we are torn between two or three countries and wonder if we will ever make it back to settle in Nigeria. We miss home and the warmth of our friends and families especially.

It is now golden for us in the western world to meet our friends, families and even the people we knew first in this part of the world. Unfortunately, here, most friendships don’t last because individualism and western world syndrome gradually eat into our souls. We are in trouble. Where are our real friends? Where are our true families?

When Mr. Kadiri spoke, it was at a memorial for a man whom many people spoke well of. I’m not sure he heard so much of these good things from his friends and families when he was alive. The people who knew him or who were close to him may have taken things for granted.

How wonderful life would be if people start to say all these positive things to one another whilst they still can!

How can one preach that people should just shun bitterness and hatred towards one another?

I know. It is like a mirage to hope that the human race should place love and care above hatred and war.

Let’s love one another in Africa and appreciate the things and people around us always. Maybe if we start with our friends and families, one day the love may go round the world and our lives will be happy and free.

aderounmu@gmail.com

The Things We Took For Granted (Part 1)

August 16, 2015 / Adeola / 2 Comments

When l was growing up in Nigeria l had no idea that one day I will be living in another country and eating meat and chicken that are produced in factories. I miss my poultry in Nigeria..!

The Things We Took For Granted (Part 1)

By Adeola Aderounmu

As Africans we need to start appreciating the things we have in Africa especially nature’s endowment. We also need to preserve our culture, our heritage and the true versions of our stories and pass them intact from one generation to the next.

There are so many things we took for granted in Africa. We still take them for granted on the home soil.

When l was a little boy in Nigeria, l had not doubt in my mind that all the food including fruits and vegetables were coming from nature and in natural ways. It is possible to write a book then about Feeding Without Fears in Nigeria.

I remember my involvements and experiences in farming as a school boy. We planted crops as part of practical Agricultural Science. We even tilled the soil and prepare them for cultivation. Groundnut was my favourite. There was no need to cultivate water leaf (spinach); it was growing everywhere-along the roadside, among the bushes and just about anywhere there is soil and moisture.

I remember the poultry l kept at the backyard. My love for the hens and cocks was for them to grow up and end up in my pot of soup on that famous kerosene stove. Some of these adventures must have helped in forming me. I have patience to see things through. I know how sweet the reward is for genuine labour.

In Nigeria we have everything that nature could provide for life in the tropical region. There is rainfall, and there is adequate sunshine. There is a clear demarcation for day and night.

We have all kinds of trees. We have mango trees, the coconut trees, the orange trees, the cocoa plant trees. We have the sugarcane plantations. We have cashew crops and so on.

Irrespective of where these crops are found, one didn’t have to worry about consuming them. It was unthinkable that certain chemicals inimical to human health were consumed with them. We were children, we felt safe.

The good stories about growing up in Nigeria are varied and marvellous.

Now in Europe and other parts of the advance world, it is very disturbing to note how unnatural the foods we eat are. It is extremely disturbing to walk into the stores and find all kinds of labels on the food items.

What is biological mango? What is ecological mango? What is fair trade banana? What is ordinary banana? What is ecological carrot?

Reading food labels and tags on fruits and vegetables is a way of life that emanated from outside Africa. It may be the beginning of fear or wisdom depending on your views about food and nutrition. In whichever case, it is not a pleasant trauma.

As a child, when l bought oranges at Agboju market or when l jumped and plucked Mama Tunji’s mango and ran away to eat it while hiding, l have no idea that one day l will be settling down to first read the labels before buying or eating fruits.

One day a friend who thought that she has found a new knowledge tried to explain to me the difference between ecological and biological fruits and vegetables. What an effort to make..!

In this part of the world we are in some deep troubles because people eat all kinds of things that they don’t even know where they are coming from. How can anyone trust the labels on fruits and vegetables in these days when people are fed pork and horse meat as beef? When meat and fruits are made by artificial methods, how can expiry dates be valid?

When l was growing up in Nigeria l had no idea that one day I will be living in another country and eating meat and chicken that are produced in factories. I miss my poultry! Where are all these fake and giant bananas coming from?

There is trouble here; we eat synthetic materials as food.

Some oranges are bigger than the human head. Some bananas are bigger than the African plantain. We are in trouble.

Fruits with labels? How Healthy are tey?

Fruits with labels? How Healthy are they?

For Africans, it is sad that many of these fake products and synthetic food items have crept into the continent.

In Nigeria l remember the influx of fake chicken and turkey into the Nigerian market. This year 2015 the Nigerian custom continues to fight the smuggling of the fake poultry products from neighbouring countries into Nigeria.

In Nigerian traffic especially in Lagos, everything is sold. The shiny green apples look purely synthesized. Sometimes you’ll think they have been taken for polishing at the shoemaker’s stall.

Nigeria has since become a consuming society and a dumping ground for all kinds of fake food products and dangerous medicines. The failure of governance and the systemic collapse of institutions in Nigeria left much to be desired.

There is no shame greater than the importation of food and crops that can be produced in Nigeria. It was totally senseless to relegate agriculture as the leading foreign income earner for regionally governed Nigeria.

The rulers of Nigeria are weak intellectually. They even import petroleum products! Their dumbness is exposed in their primitive accumulation while sacrificing the present and the future at the same time, all for nothing.

In Nigeria we took for granted all the free gifts of nature. Nigeria is a rich country in all ways and by all ways. Mr. Buhari can continue to misfire-calling Nigeria a poor country-because of his low intellectual capacity and inability to reason out the meaning of rich or blessed with.

The Nigerian climate is perfect for agricultural practises. The countries that have long winter season would probably stop synthesizing food items if they have such optimal climate.

I will not forget that eating fruits while growing up in Nigeria was devoid of looking for tags and labels. There was no doubt about the safety of the crops that my grandfather nurtured on his farmland in Igbogila. I had no doubt buying roasted plantain-boli at the roadside or oranges from the hawkers.

We ate healthy and unless we expose our skin to malaria parasites we hardly become ill. In comparison the reports of catching ordinary cold all year round in the advanced countries is amazingly high.

The present and upcoming generations of Nigerians must be told the true stories. There was trust in Nigeria in the past and there was dignity in labour. Sadly when things fell apart politically, everything else fell apart. The proportions of failure in Nigeria since 1966 especially are unimaginable. It is a sad story.

For Nigeria food production that will completely eliminate reliance on import and adulteration is still very possible. The potentials are still there and though the climate may have change, it is not significant enough to disrupt full blown back to the golden days of Nigeria.

The blueprints that allowed Nigeria to flourish under regional government up till the early 70s need to be reintroduced. It is getting clearer that the APC mandate is a fluke as Nigerian politicians remain hell bent on looting and destroying Nigeria because of the nonsensical unitary system that gives power to one man as if he is a dictator even under a democratic system.

How did the Old Western Region succeed with the regional farm settlement schemes alongside a world class education system? What made the groundnut pyramid in Northern Nigeria so high? Why was the East home to cassava, yam and other cash crops? The answers to these questions that will return Nigeria to her rightful position in cocoa export, oil-palm production, yam and groundnut export are political!

How we let go of healthy living in Nigeria is related to the collapse of the Agricultural sector and it happened due to bad governments. Living in places where natural food are now produced by synthetic methods or gene modification makes one to appreciate the continent of Africa that is blessed by Mother Nature.

In my part of Africa, the tropical zone of Sub-Saharan, nature smiled on us and provided optimally for our living. When we are ready, Mother Nature will still be waiting.

A deep-rooted and sincere reorientation of the citizens will be necessary to rid Nigerians of their affinity for food and things that are foreign. Those who indulge in illegal importation of food stuffs should spend long years behind bars. They are a risk to people’s health and also economic saboteurs for local/indigenous farmers.

The health of the citizenry is the wealth of the nation.

Repeatedly, a functional political method is an integral part of the solutions to all of the problems in Nigeria. This is where the burden falls back on the citizens. They have a collective right to fight the politicians and take back their functional regions and bring back the days before the civil war when there was abundance and prosperity.

It will be a long road to freedom.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Buhari, Still A Scalar Quantity

July 31, 2015July 31, 2015 / Adeola / 3 Comments

For 60 days, a time long enough to start and finish certain university courses, the government is all about Buhari. Buhari this, Buhari that. What about the ordinary citizens?

Buhari, Still A Scalar Quantity

Adeola Aderounmu

By Adeola Aderounmu

With respect to the non-appointment of federal ministers and with the promise that the exercise will now take place in September 2015, Buhari without any doubt has shown his unpreparedness for the position that he now occupies.

Buhari is still a scalar quantity on the APC mandate-having magnitude but not yet direction.

Nigeria has been through this sad avenue too often, projecting accidental rulers to the apex of affairs. This one was preventable but when the politics of religion and ethnicity got amplified under the last administration, the recycling of old hands such as Buhari was what the APC came up with.

The beauty or significance of democracy is lost on Nigerians failing to bring fresh and dynamic minds into the front.

In any case at it is now, it seems that Mr. Buhari is enjoying the limelight. For all the days of the APC mandate (now 2 months) everything has been about him. No one else matters!

What l’d seen since early June 2015 is Buhari this and Buhari that. That is pure political egocentrism.

The headlines continue to flourish and center only on what Buhari as a person will do or not.

Buhari stop rice importation

Buhari must prosecute IBB

Buhari probes Jonathan

Buhari to prosecute Iweala

Buhari reverse privatisation of NEPA

Buhari won’t interfere with Senate Forgery

Buhari This, Buhari That..!

Invariably, Buhari as an individual has constituted himself into government so far. As at the end of July 2015, Buhari is government and government is Buhari. A tragic start/occurence if you ask me.

For 60 days, a time long enough to start and finish certain university courses, the government is all about Buhari. He is so enjoying the entire attention he probably thinks by now that he is running a military government.

The leadership of APC needs to pinch their man, wake him up to smell the coffee and probably remind him that the days of tropical gangsterism are over.

I don’t think Buhari gets it yet and please we are tired of that phrase of giving time to those who we thought have the experience of what leadership is all about.

It was bad enough to seek a mandate without a team in place. It gets worse when in 2 months, governance stood still at the federal level under a democratic government allowing only one man to call all the shots.

Buhari praise singers are part of the problems. It was the same way Jonathanians ruined their man. Here we go again..!

The acceptance of mediocrity drained Nigeria of her will and strength as a country and the damage done to the cognitive mentality of the average Nigerian as a result of more than 50 years of maladministration appears to be irreversible. Little wonder people seek miracle everyday.

Generally the people are lost for the meaning and purpose of life because government broke them down and handed them over to religious rites. It is an extremely sad situation.

More than 50 years have been wasted because every time some people complain, someone is asking for more time to destroy what is left of the ruins.

Buhari is running the APC mandate, not a personal mandate. He did not win this as a lone ranger having failed several times doing so. To set September for the appointment of ministers is extreme recklessness and an irresponsible act.

In Nigeria in the absence of ministers and head for public parastatals, almost everything is paralyzed. In several federal agencies and offices across the land, things have stood still and the days ahead look bleak.

In a country where the economy is in ruins and the naira keeps tumbling, it is an act of wickedness to leave the ministries in limbo. I had discussions with some people about this matter and I could not quantify their frustrations. To live in uncertainties at a crucial time like this is totally heartbreaking. It adds to the already devastating health statuses of folks down there.

Again, APC need to pinch their man, Mr. Buhari and tell him that Nigeria is suffering from partial paralysis since the day he was sworn in.

He cannot continue to run a one man show until September. That is absolute nonsense and ingredients! It’s pure rubbish. There are 31 days in August. The economic lose will be huge. Life will remain uncertain for several millions. He will keep gallivanting from pole to pole whilst the citizens are waiting for clues on the way forward.

Buhari need some schooling in economics. As the naira tumbles, the people suffer. Nigerians get poorer. The suffering spreads like a mad fire.

Indeed, many of those that would have been nominated to form the executive cabinet are coming from the expired generation and probably a bunch from the corruption conglomerate.

Buhari needs to sit down and set 1-2 days aside as soon as possible to look into this matter. He cannot continue to rule as a dictator for 3 months! He needs to cure his own headache rather than pass it on the citizens. He must send the names of men and women who will work with him to the appropriate quarters for verification and confirmation.

If he cannot do a common selection of credible people from a pool of more than 150m people, please let him step aside immediately. No one has the luxury of time in Nigeria.

Nigeria is running a sick democracy but until that ultimate political change is instituted or when Nigeria returns to regional government, let Buhari stick to the constitution and stop running a one-man show.

It is time to remove his name tag from all the headlines and set in the appropriate ministries and agencies. What is his business with probe if he or the APC mandate sets the anti-corruption agencies free? Buhari’s name is tagged in almost all headlines because he thinks this is a military government. He needs help!

I hope this change we asked for will not be a one chance change o!

This government is turning out to be a joke so far. The hope that it will improve will be sustained and accessed week in, week out. Real change or fake change, some of us promised to remain on the same side as the ordinary citizens, we will not be tired. Some senses need to emerge from this government.

So far, it is a government that has about 2-3 or even 4 press releases about a single incident. Now, one has to wait for the 3rd version to know exactly what they are trying to say. The fourth one nails it after that.

Buhari’s government and the APC mandate are also acting as if they are still in the opposition seat. They need to move away from speculations and plans to execution of plans and doing things instead of talking like parrots. Together, they were on the side for 16 years. Did they not plan?

Before I end this essay, I need someone in the APC mandate forum to tell Adams Oshiomole to stop acting as the minister of information.

If he has any information he can pass them to the EFCC with ease and he does not have to shout about it. He should also note that we the people expect him to also face the law when his immunity days are over.

We don’t need new sensations or sensational headlines.

Looting did not start and end under Jonathan. Babangida and Obasanjo are also there to give accounts of what they stole and what was stolen under them.

Rather than selective persecution EFCC and the other appropriate agencies-the police, the judiciary should be given the freehand to perform. We have waited for several years for justice. Why make it selective? We expect a justice system that will serve without fear or favour and without limitation of time and space.

What Nigerians want to know, see or hear is the money returned to the treasury, the criminals behind bar and perfect processes where justice actually reigns and yields results.

Buhari and his sensational crew, especially Oshiomole, should spare Nigerians the trauma of revelation of sums of monies or barrels of crude oil stolen. Let the law acts instead but take the money back and show the people what you are doing with it.

Mr. Buhari, in Africa the morning shows the day (The Yorubas actually says Owuro l’ojo-morning is the day). So far, the morning of this administration, now 2 months has not been impressive. The people are not in a hurry. They have waited so long for this change and things must happen quickly.

When they were quiet, they were called resilient. Some irrelevant surveys even called them the happiest people on earth because they suffer and smile.

This resiliency and misinformation about the Nigerian state of mind were all the politicians and military men like you needed to destroy the giant of Africa. You (Mr. Buhari) and this old wasted generation made Nigeria the dwarf and laughing stock of Africa. You ruined it together!

Just like Obasanjo, you also have a rare second and last chance but it’s so far, not good.

The Glory of Nigeria must return and for sure, a lasting political solution will be an integral part of the solution that the upcoming generation will be looking into, should in case you fail again as the representative of the fading wasteful generation.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Still On The Matter-The APC Mandate

July 19, 2015July 19, 2015 / Adeola / Leave a comment

Any corrupt Nigerian who is holding on to what belongs to the people and government should be made to vomit them. All the ill-gotten material wealth and whatsoever they claimed or acquired or built at home and abroad through their lootocracy must be regained through the appropriate agencies. That is change and a promise kept.

Still On The Matter-The APC Mandate

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Mr. Buhari is yet to announce his cabinet. This issue will not go away until the names and faces of the ministers are made known. There are many theories why the ministers have not emerged.

Not least is the flying allegation that people like Obasanjo, Tinubu and Amaechi among other politicians have their own candidates and slots for some of the ministerial positions. It is also possible that ministers have not emerged because (probably) it is hard to find people who are active in politics who are not corrupt.

So it is likely that Buhari is turning down lists and names of people with criminal records coming from all quarters. The APC is on its way to breaking the Nigerian record of running a government without ministers, a kind of pseudo-autocracy.

Other things have been happening, things that may shapen the APC mandate. If taken to the expected extent, such things will definitely shape the future of Nigeria.

There has been quite a number of arrest or interrogations in recent weeks. As a matter of fact the number of bad or corrupt people interrogated since the inception of the Buhari/APC administration is more than the number that were interrogated during the 6 wasteful years of Ebele Jonathan.

One early disappointment was the acquittal of one Femi Fani-Kayode. The EFCC should cover its head in shame for not being able to bring justice in that case. Femi Fani-Kayode will remain a criminal in the people’s court of justice.

He is not the only living Nigerian who has been part of the destruction and looting of Nigeria. The list and names are endless. One can only hope that the outcome of his trial will not be a predetermined template for all the APC politicians and godfathers that we hope to see behind the dock soon as this war on corruption rages on.

Well, it is very important that what the Buhari administration has started continues to take its course through the agencies that are set-up to do just that. If the cleansing process is aimed at PDP politicians or only those who served under the criminally-inclined Jonathan administration, then there is palaver and k-leg in the matter. That is injustice.

The recent and ongoing revelations into how the economy was destroyed under Jonathan even as Mrs. Iweala continued to dish out rubbish economics and cooked reports to Nigerians and the entire world is rather sickening.

At this point l think Mrs. Iweala needs to be sent to a reputable institution in Nigeria for psychiatric evaluation. With some high level of flawed confidence and unpatriotic arrogance, she supervised the wasting of Nigeria’s fortunes while dishing out stories of number one economy and all that.

How can an individual be so wicked and heartless? What has happened to dignity and self-respect? What happened to the family names that we were brought up to protect and maintain? What has happpened to the audacity of walking away when one’s principles are compromised? Now, everybody including Ngozi is blaming Jonathan. What nonsense! You were all partners in crime! Heartless criminals!

The APC mandate cannot unfortunately close its eyes to these obvious crimes against humanity otherwise APC and Buhari will automatically become criminals too. These crimes must be pursued by the appropriate agencies and investigations and prosecutions brought to logical conclusions. Any other approach is tantamount to the Nigerian government being at war with the citizens.

Those fools from the Niger Delta who are hinting that Jonathan may be sent to jail should please shut up their mouths. The interests of 150m Nigerians cannot be slain because Jonathan is from the Niger Delta. They should please go and sit down somewhere.

The rest of us are watching and observing the processes that we hope will consume even part of those who started it. Who told them that Buhari will not answer the call of justice when his time is over? Has anyone told them that we are not going to see Babangida and Obasanjo on trial?

They should put on their seat belts as the wave of justice takes its course. Some of us have waited all our lives to see justice and any attempt to trivialise or tribalise it is completely unacceptable. What we look forward to is sustenance of justice and to make it a way of life forever in Nigeria.

Rather than shout foul as the investigation of the Jonathan administration proceeds, they should be asking for the extension of the investigation into all the other arms and areas of governance. They should be clamouring for justice in all the states of the federation irrrespective of whether they are under the control of APC or PDP or ANPP or the Labour party.

They outght to continue to remind APC and the Buhari administration that this should not be about Jonathan-Sambo investigation but also Obasanjo-Atiku investigation for their 8 years of corruption and looting. They outght to know that Babangida is alive and hale enough for judgement and justice.

Nigeria is broke and one person that knows that so well (pending her psychiatric evaluation actually) is Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Therefore anybody in Nigeria who is holding what belongs to the people and government should be made to vomit them.

The APC mandate must ensure that all of Nigerian currencies that are stashed away in foreign countries are retrieved and returned to the government. The people at home and abroad who have laundered the funds should be brought to justice.

All the structures that are built abroad by corrupt politicians or their accomplices (in form of family, friends and other cronies) should be confiscated, sold and the funds returned to the Nigerian treasury.

All the structures, hotels, SPAs, estates, cars, and whatever objects that people have acquired using Nigeria’s stolen wealth (or other forms of ill-gotten wealth) that are located within and outside Nigerian should be occupied by appropriate security forces or government agencies and handover to the Nigerian people and government.

We know how much civil servants and politicians earned and we know that all the wealth that these criminals boast of are not achievable in their life time multiplied by a certain factor x…how did they come about all these massive wealth? It can only be through primitive accumulation, stealing and looting.

The APC mandate promised Nigerians a change and we are watching. The sudden activation of the EFCC (though we expect them to nail their cases too) is a welcome development. The independence of the EFCC must be sustained. Again, we are watching. We will keep writing!

I will not finish any article without emphasizing that while it is Nigerians who brought woes upon themselves, it is imperative that a long lasting political solution will be inclusive for the redemption of Nigeria.

Today, Nigeria is running a system of government where almost everything depends on Buhari. Earlier it was dependent on Jonathan and before him on Yar ’ Adua and Obasanjo in that order since 1999.

In the 21st century that type of government is archaic and out of fashion. It is actually a senseless system of government. Whatever changes that have been introduced since May 29 2015 in Nigeria can collapse if Buhari collapse. That is not how to run a government. That is definitely not how to run a country!

Those in the National Assembly must play their roles. We know that they are mostly chasing wealth and power as the Saraki syndrome has shown us. We are still hoping that the likes of David Mark and Dimeji Bankole will be interrogated (and possibly face prosecution) so that they can return all that they stole from Nigeria back to Nigerians.

All the houses and structures they put up or bought at home and abroad while in office must be returned. These suggestions must transform to reality before the expiration of the APC mandate so that the change that the APC promised does not become a total fraud. That was by the way.

The National Assembly is indebted to Nigerians in fashioning a long-lasting political solution that will put the Nigerian political scenario on the right path. They should read the history of Nigeria and help Nigerians to understand that regional government was more functional than the unitary system that was created by the corrupt military.

Governance must be close to the people and for Nigeria everybody’s fate cannot continue to rely on the events in Abuja. It’s like mass suicide.

It took so long to realise that Nigeria is really messed up. If the internet was not developed and if the social media was not made interactive, Nigeria will probably be another story today. Still the division among Nigerians is massive.

Therefore, no matter what the future holds, either in a unitary Nigeria or in the various regions and states of the federation, Nigerians will always need patritotism, dedication to duty, family and community. There will be no true change if everything must depend on the government.

In this changing world occupied by transient beings, the people need to know that it is a collective responsibility if greatness must be attain.

Honesty, tolerance, selflessness, kindness, awareness of nature/environment and pursuance of the common good of mankind are ingredients that must be imbibed by all and sundry.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Stop press: when l woke up on Sunday morning (19-july) to continue/finish this article l read an headline somewhere that Buhari’s ministers have not emerged because those nominated so far are deemed to be part of the corrupt Nigeria

Above The Law

June 21, 2015June 22, 2015 / Adeola / Leave a comment

I stated that those who will capture Nigeria in 2015 will continue to destroy Nigeria if the people continue to look the other way and condone madness in high places. The Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives are among the high places where plain criminal activities take place.

Above The Law

By Adeola Aderounmu

In the last one to two weeks the social media was again set agog with matters relating to change in Nigeria.

Nigerians need to understand that the majority of the politicians irrespective of their political affiliations or parties still carry criminal tendencies. Looting is criminal!

No one should forget that many of the serving politicians are allegedly corrupt and have been living above the law for a very long time. Until they are served justice, they won’t understand their crimes against humanity because it appears that they are dullards.

On May 31 2014 l wrote a piece titled Looters In Government Are Not Distracted. This means that Nigerian politicians will always serve self first and country last or not at all.

Sadly the change slogan provided them with newer opportunities and also a camouflage to do what they have always been doing best-stealing and looting.

Earlier February 22 2014, l wrote an essay on The Nigerian Syndrome And Criminalities ln The Nigeria government. I stated that those who will capture Nigeria in 2015 will continue to destroy Nigeria if the people continue to look the other way and condone madness in high places. The Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives are among the high places where plain criminal activities take place.

So whilst the conquerors of Nigeria in both the APC and the PDP are at it, the people decided to raise their voices against the criminal allowance that the bench-warming lawmakers have been awarding themselves since 1999.

If a stop is not put to all these nonsenses, Nigerians may want to start to think of not just occupying Abuja or the Eagle square but also moving on to the systematic processes that will initiate the final revolt to actualise the freedom that has continue to elude them. Nigerians must stop all the gangs that want to continue to live above the law.

I mean the Nigerian senators are among the categories of politicians who have been stealing and looting the Nigerian treasuries since 1999 and no one has questioned their audacity in awarding themselves outrageous salaries and allowances.

No one has shut down Nigeria to ensure that the Nigerian lawmakers/senators, executives and elected/selected people are placed on regular civil service wages/allowances. To make matters worse, these gangs operating in a fashion similar to organised crime have not delivered to the people.

So since 1999, crooks continue to loot Nigeria blind through undeserved allowances and outright self-enrichment. To place these atrocities side-a-side the fact that some of the poorest people in the world are domicile in Nigeria make these crimes punishable.

To make things right means that justice must be served, no matter how long the injustice has lasted. The wealth that has been stolen and wrongly allocated to senators under the supervision of criminal minds like David Mark ought to be recalled and recovered.

Nigerians must not forget that the war on corruption and criminals parading themselves as politicians needs a holistic approach. The governors and former governors who have awarded themselves mouth watering pensions and emolument must be on the radar as well. The nonsense pensions that have awarded themselves must be cancelled with immediate effect.

Those former governors who have wriggled themselves into the Nigerian senate must be told that their pensions are no longer valid in general. How can they eat their cakes and still be having it?

The central government under the leadership of APC and Buhari as the helmsman will continue to be under scrutiny. We are watching to see how they pursue their change agenda and how they lead from the top. They need to help themselves by putting a control on the fake ”official” news flooding the social media.

To remain silent in the face of the persistent and monumental corruption, self-enrichment and massive social injustice will be the height of both hypocrisy and deceit.

As l have pointed out in a previous essay the change slogan will now belong to the dustbin of history in Nigeria. The wasted generation has these 3 to 4 years to show that they mean business of equity both in wealth distribution and providing a level playing ground for all Nigerians to reach their potentials and achieve happiness.

For too long Nigerians have been at home with a system that was not working. They have been at ease with corrupt people and corrupt government. They have all been waiting in line for their turn to dive on the national cake and take what they think belongs to them rather than thinking of what can be done in the best interest of everyone alive and the unborn generation. That mentality ought to be corrected.

Above all of these problems is tha fact that Nigerians are shying away for the political solution to some of the problems facing them. The centralised government is too powerful and too unconscious of the problems at the grassroots. The local government are too weak to carry out life-changing functions as their funding and directives are dependent on higher powers that be. Corruption and ineptitude are common denominators!

The eradication of corruption in Nigeria, the ultimate change that will bring about social justice and the possibility of having a worthy existence full of human dignity are inseparable from finding a stable political solution that will work for Nigeria.

Some experts continue to advocate for devolution of power and the re-instatement of regional governments that will bring governance back to the people’s doorsteps. These are issues for the lawmakers or senators who prefer to share money than to serve motherland. What a bunch of mediocres!

The committment of everyone, unflinching patritotism to country, the elevation of institutions above people and the submission to the rule of law are some of the other ingredients that will bring about the change that the people keep yearning about.

aderounmu@gmail.com