Democracy

Foolish Expectations

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Mr. Robert Marley must be flabbergasted in his grave. There is a place where you can fool all the people all the time by repeating the same jingles every four years and make them have the same expectations of a better life. It must be foolish expectations waiting for good to emerge from evil.

Foolish Expectations

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

I have a friend who strongly believes that ordinary Nigerians who are waiting for Nigeria to improve politically and economically will grow old (or not) and die while waiting.

This friend of mine is one of the several millions of Nigerians who discuss about Nigeria almost every day. Some of us go the extra mile to put our thoughts and arguments into words. That is why we are able to blog regularly or opine our thoughts weekly.

Nigeria is approaching an election year and that makes the discussion about election the hottest for now.

The reasons why Nigeria will not improve politically have not been tackled because Nigeria remains a “geographical prize” presently chased by several crooks and political scavengers grouped mainly into two factions-APC and PDP.

In the past the prize has been chased and won under different dispensations. In politics it is the politicians and their army of sycophants who win the prize, steal the monies in the treasuries and disappear into thin air.

Under military rule, it is the soldiers who steal the monies in the treasuries and carried out counter coups to take turns in looting the treasuries.

Irrespective of the dispensations, the criminals have mostly gotten away with the proceeds of the treasuries, and to this day they continue to live large. Some died leaving billions of dollars of Nigerian money in foreign accounts/countries. There is no limit to stupidity in that sense.

An interesting dimension is the persistent of some people in the Nigerian political scene. It’s not all the crooks who disappear. It is amazing how long some of them have continued to carry out their nefarious activities while the people and the short arm of the law look away.

One of the most shocking aspects of the Nigerian life is the way the people condemn the rulers and the politicians despite the fact that they know that they were criminals before they were selected or bundled into important national and political positions.

In Nigeria the knowledge that a fellow has criminal cases or is incompetent are not deterrent factors to eventual elevation in public life or politics.

For the ones who became criminals while in office Nigerians have not find the way to boot them away or send them to prisons. Instead Nigerians develop a weird follow-follow Nigerian syndrome that is built on nepotism, blind faith and waiting for my turn to chop.

There are several examples that cut across the two major political parties, and beyond.

There are too many examples from the past and the present. The future seemed already awash with dubious characters waiting in line. The Nigerian society continues to thrive on systemic falsehood, alignment with bogus promises and foolish expectations.

This is a repetition. One criminal called James was sentenced in a Nigerian court. He later became a governor and what happened next is history. He raped the state and looted it blind. It took a London court to confirm to the foolish people of his state that they had a criminal ruling them!

This type of obvious stupidity-allowing criminals and extremely bad people to rule and dictate the policies- is spread across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

Nigerians know that occupiers of government houses across the land are not true to their promises and they rank them in order of their corruption tendencies instead of forcing the law to take its course.

There are millions of Nigeria who knew that a former governor in Bayelsa and his wife have been stealing directly and through couriers while ruling the state. They even know the criminal before that called Alams.

Yet when Obasanjo brought Jonathan to the national front to become one of the rulers of Nigeria, Nigerians accepted him. It is not as if Obasanjo is a saint but majority of Nigerians canonized him. It’s part of the foolishness, to raise one evil above the other instead of total condemnation of such in public offices.

Jonathan who never did anything tangible in Bayelsa continued to fool Nigerians 6 years on. His romance with all kinds of criminals-or their offspring attests to the nature of his true personality.

Mr. Robert Marley must be flabbergasted in his grave. There is a place where you can fool all the people all the time by repeating the same jingles every four years and make them have the same expectations of a better life. It must be foolish expectations expecting good to emerge from evil.

I remember watching the campaign trails of Jonathan versus Atiku during my visit to Lagos, Western Nigeria in 2010. I remember the walk down the streets in Iyana Ipaja, Festac Town and some parts of Amuwo Odofin. I can’t forget the disconnection between the people ruling and the people being ruled. It was two worlds apart.

The people who should be in prisons for crimes against Nigeria and Nigerians are always the ones on the campaign trails every 4 years. They are here again. Amazing!

The system is not right.

In 2014 Nigerians expected Jonathan to have solved their problems despite knowing his background as lazy, corrupt, feeble, and lacking courage. They know there is no way his wife would have been stealing so much money if he was not providing them from the Bayelsa state coffers. How much money has been stolen from the Nigerian treasury under Mr. Jonathan?

Since the return of civil rule and the virtual exit of the gangsters in uniform, several politicians and soldiers have been smiling to the bank and building businesses and empires by stealing public funds. Many of them have been receiving contract sums for work they never did. Nigeria’s most notorious ghost worker lives in Aso Rock.

In Lagos State it appears that everything is in the hands of Mr. Tinubu. Many have argued that this is necessary to provide a formidable opposition for the ruling party. Really?

So, Nigerians will get rid of crooks in Aso Rock by supporting crooks in the opposition parties. The people who treat symptoms rather than cure the disease won’t stop praying for miracles. This cycle is programmed to exist for as long as Nigeria exists.

I ponder. So Nigerians will for as long as they exist continue to choose between different forms of evil. So there will be no fresh start someday in Rivers, in Ekiti, in Adamawa, in Kogi, in Bayelsa, in Anambra and everywhere.

My friend does not claim to be a prophet but on this one, he is on point. If this is the mindset of a typical or an average Nigerian then the ordinary people will grow and die waiting for miracles in Nigeria. Their life time will be defined by complete hopelessness.

It is sad. Despite all the knowledge about what is wrong with Nigerian politics, Nigerians will follow-follow and repeat the same process in 2015.

Afterwards they will start to oppose and counter oppose and ask for a new fake change especially on the social networks.

Why can’t Nigerians soft pedal on elections and clean the system inside-out?

What are Nigerians going to do to stop politicians from stealing? What are they doing to stop the wastages at the federal execu-thieves level? What are they doing to stop the representa-thieves and legis-looters?

What are they doing to put a final stop to crimes in all the governors’ offices across the land? What are they going to do to ensure that elections become meaningful and that their votes really count?

How long do Nigerians intend to go before arriving at a point where Ghana-must go bags will not dictate the outcomes of (s)elections?

How do they intend to arrive at a point where the temporary condition of their stomachs is not a reference for thugs turned politicians?

How do they want to rebuild electoral principles/manifestos around education, health, jobs, social welfare, social justice and the protection of life and property? How?

I remember writing an article arguing that the 2011 elections should now hold until a political solution is adopted. I knew fully well that Nigerians were heading to the polls to select fraudsters. In 2015, the same process of selecting fraudsters will take place. The cycle of idiocy will be nourished.

The urgency of seeking political solutions has never been more critical than now when many things have already fallen apart in different regions. The worst hit is the N-Eastern axis under the control of local and foreign terrorists.

Nigerians should be tired of their rulers.

They need to elect leaders amongst them who will lead them in organizing and creating regional societies that will suit their goals and pursuits. This has been a mission impossible, and it is even sadder.

In 2018 slash 2019, people will be shouting, we told you not to vote for Jonathan-he is a liar. We warned you about Buhari-he is a dictator. We told you Atiku stole from the custom department.

We told you we want to control our resources. We told you the government was Boko Haram. We told you the oppositions were behind Boko Haram. We don’t have electricity. My children can’t go to school. Schools are for the rich. I have no job and no social security. There is serious problem of insecurity. The roads are bad. And so on.

My friend will still be right then because the system is just not working for the ordinary people. It was established out of oppression and oppression of the ordinary people will sustain it.

Nations or countries that prosper were mostly built on honesty, trust, patriotism, solidarity, probity, accountability, sincere promises, wise expectations and the pursuits of the common-good of all.

All the above virtues are missing in Nigeria. There will never be progress where there is no trust.

Majority of the citizens of any nation must cultivate these virtues. It must be forced down their throats through proper education or enlightenment campaigns.

In addition to integrity, functional institutions and a return to a system of government that works, these virtues are the hope of a brighter day for all the nations/regions entangled in non-functional unitary Nigeria.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Simple Things

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The simplest things in life have become the most difficult to achieve or recover in Nigeria. In a society where self is the most pursued ambition, the concern for others become secondary or non-existent.

Simple Things

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

The invention of the battery and electricity took place more than 200 years ago. When a country claims independence in 1960, it is natural to expect that a phenomenon already established should be easily sustained or adoptable.

This is an example of a simple thing.

Nigeria was/is not troubled with the task of discovering electricity; she just needs to produce and use it according to laid done principles. How hard is that?

It is too simple.

That the use of constant electricity is impossible in Nigeria 54 years after the so-called independence means that the handlers of Nigeria (both at the presidency and the state levels) are either brainless or heartlessly wicked.

Any other excuse (like pushing blames to institutions or persons after all these years) will be an act of self-delusion or complete senselessness.

There are so many simple things of life that remain elusive to / or were taken away from ordinary Nigerians. When they are available or affordable, they become like gold. Take education for instance.

Just ordinary simple things!

At a time when elementary school children were already going to schools with mobile phones in Europe and other places, it was used as a reference point in Nigeria. For example, people say, that lady with a cell. Some may say, the man whose mobile phone is always ringing during a church service.

In the year 2000 mobile phone was used to raise the statuses of Nigerians. Nonsense!

It was therefore a Nigerian miracle not performed in a church when Obasanjo opened the market for GSM applications in Nigeria. Some people still worship him for that without asking first what the heartless people and criminals heading the Ministry of Communications did with our land telephones.

Nowadays simple things are miracles in Nigeria.

Therefore in 2015 if Nigerians luckily arrived at the polls, they will be choosing among men and women according to the levels of non-performances, regions, tribes and religions.

Election is one of the simplest things I have seen.

In normal situations, people vote for candidates with dependable track records and people of mostly impeccable character (at the time of their entrances to public offices).

This is so simple, and the votes are counted!

Unfortunately for Nigerians, after many years of disorientation by both civilian and military governments, the majority have thrown away both their moral compasses and their sense of reasoning. This is sad because the institutions of governments at all levels have been bastardized. 54 years of social maladies!

Simple things became complicated and Nigerians reached a point of no return.

Hence, the amount of criminalities perpetrated since 1960 or 1999 or even in the last 4 years will not count substantially when people turn to the polls next year. Religions, regions and tribes will be more significant.

Nigerians won’t think about the men who truncated democracy albeit an imperfect, corrupt one. They have since allowed them to rope with ordinary politicians and made sure that both groups rape the country in similar manners.

Revolution is actually a simple act too.

It ranges from using mild but sustained, consistent, and purposeful civil disobedience to extremely violent measures in ensuring for example that public servants and politicians who have stolen from the national and state treasuries are made to face the music by force or they’ll run to exile.

It is a way to change things, mostly for the better. It is a way to seek changes until people understand that government is for service, not for stealing or enrichment.

Referendum is a product of a mild revolt and the subsequent outcomes always bring new awakening no matter what.

When the laws of a country are functional, the need for revolution is actually not necessary. A referendum will do. It is a simple thing.

It is a simple fact that the law system and the methods of justice in Nigeria represent ridicule for the African (black) race. There are so many looters in/out of government offices across Nigeria and they will decide the turn of things to come in 2015 if the people remain as they are-endorsing social maladies and accepting criminals as rulers, brothers, sisters and families.

Nigeria surprises me in how it held together despite all the atrocities of the politicians and the other categories of failed citizens entrusted with the policies that dictate the way of life and the value of it.

Nigerians shock me more than their country does.

How a people so diverse in cultures, languages and ways of life generally remain organized in corruption and sustenance of failed unitary governance must shock the most brilliant philosophical anthropologists.

Some votes will be counted, the rest will be adjusted by the electoral commission/commissioners according to the party that spend or spray the most looted currencies to the electoral commissions.

Nigeria will never be an ordinary country for as long it holds together. Unless a good change occurs, what may even follow Nigeria may be worse.

Many Nigerians lack the knowledge that simple ideas brought into actualizations can bring peace and prosperity to everybody. The wickedness and selfishness that reside in their hearts as a result of several years of absence of both sensible governance and patriotism speak volume.

Politics, pure criminal activities including armed robbery and religious frauds, are among the commonest methods to inexplicable wealth in Nigeria.  Yet the popularity of these vices grows.

The simplest things in life have become the most difficult to achieve or recover in Nigeria.

Where do you find a Nigerian politician who has not misappropriated public funds? It is therefore not a surprise that in 2015 every dick, tom and harry is venturing into politics-to become criminals accepted by the society.

Nigerian politics is also wasteful, probably the most expensive to run in the world.

A person who loots public funds and thereby living above his income and claim the grace of a god is a criminal except in Nigeria.

If you want to achieve holiness as a Nigerian even as the people you are supposed to serve are still living in penury, then visit Mecca or Jerusalem. The zombie people will even pray for you!

These things happen in Nigeria. People are praising a god or running after one god after stealing from the common wealth that is supposed to be used for developing the society and infrastructure in general.

The man who steals praises a god, the man who is robbed hopes on the same god. Both of them are stupid but the one who is robbed probably needs to be induced with a dose of cerebrum.

The bands of failed politicians ruling in Nigeria for example since 1999 have not been able to stabilized or improved electricity. They cannot account for the funds invested because the funds were mostly stolen or looted.

In several ways many things that are common sense, easy and simple have been thrown open as wild dramas in Nigeria.

A criminal becomes a state governor. Checked and move on!

A fraudulent person becomes the political godfather of a political party. Checked and no case!

A known convict is elevated in public life. He’s our son, checked!

A man who cannot explain the source of his wealth becomes the kingmaker and the most important socialite. Don’t jealous him, pray to god to give you same wealth!

These things, revealing simple facts but serious anomalies, should earn condemnations and they should spin the law into action. But they don’t in Nigeria. Useless law system!

These simple things that should arouse a revolution of minds, thoughts and actions have become seated as the standard and way of life.

Nigerians are hypocrites. They pretend to be united but they are far from it.

They are mostly divisive on simple matters that common sense can dictate. The dimension has become cancerous.

Simple things have become unhealthy debates on social networks taking on ethnic, religious and tribal dimensions. Reasons are clouded. Silly!

The future is bleak when criminals, sycophants and ass-lickers continue to cross carpet or leave Aso rock for governor’s offices and other appointments and vice versa.

The future is bleak when criminals flow from one section to another because the rest of the people remain silent or accomplices.

It is possible that more than 70% of Nigerians will live and die without experiencing the simple things that make life worth living.

They will not live with constant electricity and they will not live with constant flow of water in their homes. They will not live in standard apartments, flats or houses as these will remain the exclusive rights of the few, mostly rich.

They will not have basic education and their health statuses will be largely unchecked.

These simple things that elude Nigerians, these simple things that are easy to correct but remain ignored put a gigantic question mark on the mindfulness of the Nigerians.

The commonest (and probably also the most unacceptable question) to social critics is “what are the solutions?

How can we not know that the solutions to these problems are very simple?

People in public offices and positions of authorities should do the right thing or get booted by law or force or revolt!

How hard can it be to know that when a criminal or groups of criminals continue to have their ways that the problems (like lack of electricity, lack of clean water, lack of good roads, lack of proper public education) will persist?

How do we think? What are our views of public service?

What are our obligations to humanity and posterity?

But these simple things are complicated because many people are greedy and they will hide the truth just because of the things they hope to gain. They ignore their mindfulness.

In a society where self is the most pursued ambition, the concern for others become secondary or non-existent.

Nigeria will never get a magic dose. I know about the clamor for regional governments which may be a step in the right direction. Even secession is in the air.

How to take care of the simple things will be a concern no matter what type of dispensation that emerge in 2015.

The saddest thing will be a carry-over of the status quo.

aderounmu@gmail.com

The Cost Of Freedom

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Unless a country or a group of people are willingly to genuinely give their today in the name of true freedom, their children will never be free tomorrow.

The Cost Of Freedom

Which Way Nigeria?

Which Way Nigeria?

By Adeola Aderounmu

Nigeria’s 54th year as a so-called independent country was marked in several ways. One headline that caught my attention was the one that stated that poverty in Nigeria has been reduced by 50%.

The headline is first class fraud.

Statistics was one of my favourite subjects during my first and second degrees at the University of Lagos. It is one of those subjects that I really felt comfortable doing. At Idiaraba it was Medical Statistics and oh, how I enjoyed every bit of it and the lecturer was awesome.

Poverty may have been reduced by 50%, it depends on the sample size or the part of the population where you draw your samples from.

So I can conclude that if we take the population of the follow-follow people flocking Aso Rock since the inception of Jonathan’s administration, he has successfully tackled the poverty among 50% of the ass-lickers including the expanding society of Aso Rock Bull Dogs.

If I cast my dragnets at the places that I know like Oshodi, Ojuelegba or Okokomaiko, my data will produce a result that will make nonsense of the results produced by some drunkards in Aso Rock. More than 90% of the people will be below poverty level and living on less than N500 a day.

For more than ever before majority of Nigerians groan under an increasingly senseless and insensitive government. Increasing the death rate and lowering the life expectancy of a population does not mean that poverty has been reduced.

In several essays I have depicted the nature, spread and characteristics of poverty in Nigeria as one of the worst hidden tragedies in the world. I have also been very quick to dismiss the claims of the few people who escaped the threshold of poverty sometimes through luck or unmerited opportunities that their situations cannot be used as the yardstick.

The title of this essay came as a result of my feelings in recent months. I’ll approach it.

I do know, and convincingly too that there are a few people in Sweden who have cultivated the habits of reading my articles, not because they want to be “my readers” but because they “enjoy” this culture of gossiping about “what did he write this week”?

I am happy for them, that they found a weekly delight.

I’ll keep them in the dark by not defining their range but amongst them are people who need to understand though that I have the right to my views about Nigeria no matter what they think or feel.

I cannot help those who found out too late that they had been talking to someone who has been writing about Nigeria since 2001.

One of my pictures on Facebook must have tilted the table over. I had a T-shirt with the inscription Oduduwa republic on my mind. It is one of my ideas of freedom. The image must have gone viral among some folks. I am still happy for them and I hope they get a pat on the back when they make their reports.

I wonder how much shock my Swedish-Nigerian readers suffered in the last 4 weeks when I had written stories about love. I will choose love any day over a failed country under the bondage of crazy and deaf rulers.

The love stories came to me after a recent trip to Finland. I think my ancestors love nature and they prefer the solitude of a calm sea to bring me teachings and guidance.

Today I wanted to write a story about “The Dreamer Boy” but I thought some people will like to know if I am still in tune with Nigeria and how the drunkards have reduced poverty by 50%.

What is more interesting than this blatant lie is the growth and spread of individuals, groups and associations that are intensifying their doubts about their continuous recognitions as Nigerians.

They are weighing the options of bailing out of a jaga-jaga Nigeria. There are many t-shirts nowadays with a lot of messages and one boy even tore his green passport and posted it on YouTube.

I have a lot of reflections on this emerging trend especially among “Nigerians” who are far away from their regions in Nigeria, based mostly in Europe, Asia and America.

For the Nigeria we have today became a total mess as a result of our collective failures as citizens and participants or onlookers in the successive corrupt and useless governments in Nigeria over the years and even to this day in October 2014.

The Nigeria of today was not the dream of the men and women who fought collectively to wrestle the country from the colonialists.

The reason we write or recite or even highlights repeatedly our failures as a country is because some people need the education at some point on what has happened and what we expected. Where Nigeria is today on the scale of human development and quality of life is a complete disgrace to the intellectual abilities of the African race.

One failed government blames the other and the cycle of idiocy rotates as nobody tackles the menaces of corruption, federal character (yes, it is a menace), nepotism and tribalism.

It was the greed in Nigerians and the corruption in their veins that exposed the madness of the colonialists who married different nations into one entity. “Irreconcilable differences” is an expression made in Nigeria. The crazy rulers destroyed the institutions of governance and many crazy people in government stole for themselves, their friends and their unborn generations-even to this day.

Since the mid-1960s, no government has made efforts to return power and freedom to the regions just the way it was when education, health and technological developments were functional until greed and outright stupidity reared their ugly heads.

The process of divide and rule, looting and total disregard for the rules of law continued and reached a new dimension since the inception of pseudo-democracy in 1999.

For Nigeria I have oscillated between hope and hopelessness and my understanding of statistics says it is time to try something else.

I am all for the freedom and the emancipation of the people who are currently enslaved in Nigeria.

It is imperative to define the modalities and the cost of freedom so that the sycophants and the major players of today do not ruin the future of our children and grandchildren the same way they ruined our parents lives and displaced us to different places around the globe.

I wish that all the groups and associations around the world will emerge from their clandestine positions and start to talk openly. The Scottish people just had a vote. The outcome was not as important as the action they took but it will define the things to come in the future. Their children will grow up feeling more secured.

It is old fashioned to seek freedom in the dark rooms. It is very primitive to seek independence through confidential emails or social media closed groups.

If you want something, make it open, make it plain. Go for it and carry the people who need the change along.

Healthy debates, open groups, open discussions and other form of transparent dealings may help to check some of my personal fears regarding the stakeholders in all these clandestine groups scattered around the world.

What is the cost of freedom?

The cost of freedom lies in service to humanity. It is not looting the treasury and telling stupid lies about security and poverty.

The cost of freedom in public service lies in willingness to die at the altar of truth. It is not in building houses of gold on the polluted land across Nigeria.

The cost of freedom is the deprivation that comes with the belief that humanity comes before self.

The cost of freedom will be correlated to conventional free thinking and explorative mindedness.

It will not be locked to dying for the sake of acquiring virgins in an imaginary place. It will not have anything to do with deadly assembly at the feet of gangster mortals called prophets. The cost of freedom will rid a nation of the defenders of evil.

Unless a country or a group of people are willingly to genuinely give their today in the name of true freedom, their children will never be free tomorrow.

For the nations entangled in Nigeria these sacrifices are non-negotiable.  Along with the irrepressible truth, they will be the ultimate cost of freedom.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Big Rewards For Political Prostitution In Nigeria

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

The wave of swapping political allegiance in Nigeria is out of this world. There is no need to assign a Guinness book of world record to it. It is super unique and there are just no other countries as contestants.

Last year five governors (s)elected on the platform of the PDP in Nigeria left their party and joined the APC. What would have been more honourable and sensible was to denounce the mandate they stole through the PDP. They kept their mandates while seeking desperate means of self-preservations. It’s purely unethical and somehow also a criminal act. People who rob Peter to pay Paul will always be diabolical.

Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers has been leading the pack of aggrieved governors and he is still at loggerhead with Mr. and Mrs Jonathan on several River state and national issues. When you read or hear about some of his ordeals, they are like in the movies. It is either he narrates the “police-and-thief episodes” or the “cowboys-on-the-mountains” version. But the series are endless and this makes Amaechi a good real life actor. One day Hollywood may come knocking for him because Nollywood will not be able to afford him.

But seriously, governors like Amaechi (and other swingers cum politicians) who have been swinging or running helter-skelter, changing political parties like their underwear would have done humanity a big favour by delivering services to their people and bringing them out of poverty and extreme hopelessness. Rather than serve with their whole hearts, they keep oppressing the poor and selling propaganda across Nigeria and even paying corrupt bloggers and social commentators to kiss their asses. Politics should be about service to the people, not ego or blandishment of persons.

But trust naija where looting remains the shortest criminal way to wealth, the name of the game is survival, not service. The other PDP governors that defected to the APC with stolen mandates are Alhaji Ahmed Abdulfatah (Kwara), Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Alhaji Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), and Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto). Nyako was given the shakings of his life penultimate week. He knows who not to blame while his sweat is un-dry.

Just a few days ago one Fayose was returned to Ekiti state house riding on the back of unlimited funds looted by the presidency in Abuja. He had been bundled out of the PDP, went to the APC and then returned to the PDP. In all of Ekiti, there is no one leader to stand tall among the people. There are generally no leaders in Nigeria but rulers abound. No one could stop the return of a looter to the same treasury he once looted. What has become of the children of Oduduwa? Orunmila must be shaking his head in disbelief.

It’s typical Nigerian syndrome, that those who steal more money have greater opportunity to own the government houses across Nigeria. As it is for the PDP, so it is for the APC, they just loot the treasury away while doing very little or sometimes nothing.

Does anyone remember Atiku Abubakar? He probably holds the title of the “chief prostitute” amongst Nigerian politicians. Between 1980 and 2014 he had been a founder or member of PFN, PDM, PDP, AC, PDP and APC. There is no doubt that this behaviour exemplifies lack of seriousness. It shows an unrepentant strong desire of a political prostitute to serve self rather than humanity.

Examples of Political prostitutes in Nigeria

Examples of Political prostitutes in Nigeria

Femi Fani-Kayode (FFK) is among this category of Nigerian political prostitutes. During the reign of Obasanjo he became a minister, first of culture and tourism, then of aviation. Under Yar Adua, he was investigated and arrested by the EFCC. Like many uncountable political-criminal cases, his trials relating to corruption and money laundry will drag until eternity. Then, they’ll fade away too and he’ll continue to claim innocence. In Nigeria, with the useless nature of the Nigerian judiciary, a James Ibori will always be innocent.

Mr. Fani-Kayode is now back in the PDP claiming that the APC is full of dictators. Thanks to Mr. Fani Kayode, we now know that the APC is also pursuing a jihadist agenda. Are we supposed to thank the moron of a corrupt general who cancelled the June 12 1993 elections? Perhaps the PDP is also no longer a nest of killers; it’s safe for some people to return.

Since the renewed romance with Aso Rock, Mr. Fani-Kayode will now have to disown all his “rubbishing” of Jonathan’s government including referring to it as the worst in corruption in the history of Nigeria. He will need Abati’s lesson notes. Nigerian politicians are too shameless.

You also have to wonder what the presidency and the Nigerian military are doing about Boko Haram and APC with all the intelligence and secrets at the disposal of FFK. Obviously FFK has also told us about the man without balls before he went back to his camp. Can Femi help Jonathan get his groove back? Can he help him to regain his balls?

But we know that the balls won’t matter once 2015 is secured by the PDP, for then FFK will likely become a minister again, under the same government (if PDP wins) he labelled as the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history. The toothless EFCC and the corruption-prone judiciary can suck it up in advance if they like.

One of the additions to the ranks of political prostitutes is the former governor of Kano State Ibrahim Shekarau. He’s done the full cycle in his prostitution journey moving from ANPP, to APC and now to PDP. Obviously his political experience can make him useful as a serving minister but it carries a previous taint of allegations of links to Boko Haram.

The ranks of people with alleged links to Boko Haram in the Jonathan government are increasing daily. What is FFK going to do about PDP and the Boko Haram appeasement tactics? Another mischievous angle to Shekarau’s appointment is that it is one of the several nonsensical political gimmicks in Nigeria. His impulsive appointment as a minister without a portfolio is coming on the heels of fundamental changes connected to the emirate in Kano, Northern Nigeria.

The journeys along the line of political prostitution can never be justifiable. It confirms the age-long fear that the major political parties in Nigeria are the fingers on a leprous hand. Some, like Atiku have done the cycle uncountable times. If you have sound principles and a convincing political ideology that are based on honesty, service to humanity and selflessness, there would be no need to change your political party like you change your underwear.

Again, the goal is clear in Naija’s peculiar but rotten politics: always put yourself in the best position to make political gains that will lead you to the treasury you can loot with impunity. The justice system will look away or help you get away if trials come.

It’s impossible to highlight all the unprincipled men ruining Nigeria but Femi Pedro the former deputy governor of Lagos State has been around too. From AD to Labour Party to PDP and now back to APC. I actually wrote about Femi Pedro here in the village square (see Nov 3 2007).

Someone responded then that he had dug his political grave when he left Tinubu’s party. That person saw the future. You wonder if Nigerian politicians are the hungry people actually. Their insatiable lust for wealth, power and ego is either evil or a special brand of psycho-egocentrism.

Olagunsoye Oyinlola must be really feeling princely. Even Jonathan is begging him to serve the PDP. Of course like the rest of the poli-thieves, the guy will keep serving his stomach. How can Olagunsoye missed the fact that Mr. Fayose got unlimited funds stolen in Abuja and his dreams came true in Ekiti in grand style?

I have no doubt that almost all Nigerian politicians are “dead on arrival” on money matters. They’ll kill for it. The forthcoming Osun state governorship election is already a box office thriller everyone is waiting for. Tax-payers money is about to go to the drain again!

Even common aides are shifting bases. Wonders will never end in Bongo! I can’t dwell on the two ordinary aides of Adams Oshiomole who are now political prostitutes in the PDP. But I can emphasise again that as long as the government treasury remains the shortest cut to sudden wealth in Nigeria, and in the face of non-existent honest mentorship manifesto in any of the political party, then the master-and-discipleship relationship or the governor-and-aide concept can rest in pieces.

What has been the saving grace for all categories of political prostitutes is simply the total failure of the Nigerian judiciary system. For we know that under normal circumstances many of these criminal-minded politicians would have been successfully prosecuted and many would have spent time at various prisons.

If punishments for political crimes and other crimes related to abuse of public offices had been in place before and after 1960, Nigeria would have been a paradise and probably the best place to live on earth. Currently, and sadly too, as an outcome of the sum of the activities of all these politicians and their military-junta counterparts/accomplices, Nigeria is ranked amongst the worst places to live in the world. It is still probably the worst place you want to have children!

Ironically, sometimes one wishes that the people can listen to these rulers and crooks very carefully. Just like Reuben Abati suggested in one of his many write-ups before tasting the forbidden fruits that revealed the real Abati, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has also been quoted more recently as saying that Nigerians need to start stoning the politicians because of their corrupt practices.

Imagine if the Nigerian people start to stone all the crazy politicians looting the treasury at the local, state and federal levels. Maybe that will put Nigeria on the right path again if they are not replaced by similar crooks! There is also a problem of new set of crooks taking over from expired crooks.

Every 1 kobo that is stolen from any treasury in Nigeria contributes to the systemic poverty and these crooks can even steal 12 or 20 billion dollars in one swoop. It’s amazing the magnitude of corruption and impunity in Nigeria that allows the criminals to live large and rise above the law system. I cannot over emphasize this treasury-rape syndrome.

Nigerians are letting the politicians get away. Nigerians are allowing themselves to be fooled by the political parties and all the criminals that saturate these parties. The people are totally subdued mentally and even physically despite their numerical advantage. They act not in the face of obvious oppressions because their friends, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and other family members are involved in the crime or are waiting to benefit from the insane system.

The political parties in Nigeria and their imaginary manifestos have never been significant especially after the second republic which saw to the demise of parties like the UPN popular in western Nigeria. Even the days of SDP and NRC provided Nigerians with distinct options.

Nowadays, the common people are happy to mortgage their future and that of their children for a 5kg bag of rice and peanuts as proven again (recently) in Ekiti state. The handicapped police are totally inefficient and the judiciary is absolutely corrupt dispensing justice on a cash and carry basis. In essence the institutions are grounded. This combination produces a dilemma of the highest order in Nigeria.

Come 2015, it won’t matter the prostitutes or group of prostitutes that seize Nigeria when the institutions are not working and at a time when the people are already deflated and defeated by both politicians and terrorists. Even if we turn on the fight for regional governments, it won’t matter if we allow the political prostitutes cum rapists to return to their different regions to continue the rampage and rape locally.

For Nigerians, the roads to freedom within Nigeria or in the different nations that may emerge remain a very long one. Nigerians have one more walk to do. It will be the longest walk of their lives. Freedom from political and mental slavery will never be given on a platter of gold. It must be earned.

Such freedom will not come from the “dead on arrival idea” of a useless rotational presidency coming from the secluded and retired minds caged in a carnival-like arena in Abuja.

Nigeria’s longest walk to freedom which will rid the country of sycophants and low-grade mediocres and hopefully re-establish the institutions that will serve humanity and posterity will come from a united, purposeful and well orchestrated revolution of sound minds and committed citizenry.

aderounmu@gmail.com

US Army, Nigerian Army and Boko Haram Playing Hide and Seek In Sambissa Forest?

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

I don’t know who is having a laugh or a rough time now among these 3 gangs. I mean the US promised intelligence and provided it. At what cost I don’t know and I’m sure many people do not care the cost as long as the “Chibok girls” are found and Boko Haram esterminated from the surface of the earth.

But many people have been disappointed and they are like: you mean the girls have not been found! You mean the US in Nigeria is not doing the magic? wao!

Well, sources have it that the US provided images on the movement of Boko Haram to the Nigerian Army. But what is the Nigerian Army doing? The Nigerian Army is avoiding the locations where Boko Haram operates. So rather than use the information from the US assistance to curb Boko Haram, it turned out that the Nigerian Army is using the information to actually avoid Boko Haram. This is very serious but laughable.

The Nigerian Army over the years have sold many of its weapons and ammunition to Boko Haram. Boko Haram is a big threat to the Nigerian Army that is full of treacherous fellows. We knew that before the US came, but now we have a confirmation that they are not only treacherous but also fearful.

This is the same army that stopped the war in Liberia, Sierra Leone and made impacts in Congo. At home the Nigerian army is a failure. But this is not a sudden occurence, it was a systematic breakdown coming from the failure of governance and the roles of the Northern elites.

The Northern elites remain pleased with Boko Haram if that is what we bring them back to the presidency in Nigeria in 2015.

The way this whole mess is playing out and with the murder and massacre of Nigerians in Northern Nigerian and Abuja, the Northern elites will wake up soon to realise that they have been chopping off the fingers that feed them knowingly or unknowingly.

Governance in Nigeria is a huge joke anyway with the ruler Mr. Goodluck apparently not feeling safe outisde the Aso rock and bursting off any visit around troubled areas. He is so scared of the Nigerian army he feels like one of them can sniff his life away. This is the state of loyalty of the Nigerian army to the Nigerian nation.

Goodluck Jonathan is a coward, but playing smart in a small confine. He should have rounded up all the former and serving generals and civilians who promoted, supported and financed Boko Haram. He was so slow things got out of hand. He may have been part of a terror cell himself which will seem logical too. I agree it is more complicated than that but doing nothing at all because of selfish interest and political power is costing Nigerians innocent life. Add to the injustice and madness of corruption in Nigeria, this is hopelessness for the common people.

So, no the girls are probably gone a long time ago. Boko Haram had all the time in the world to diaply arrogance and “freedom”. The hide and seek game is very insultive to the collective inteligence of informed Nigerians.

I don’t know how Nigerians can co-exist in 2015, it will be one of the greatest miracles of all time if Northern Nigeria (now harbouring PDP “settled political prostitutes”) goes along with a Jonathan presidency in 2015. How are they going to conduct elections around Nigeria with bombs dropping daily? If elections are held only in certain parts of Nigeria, will that count as national elections? How far will Boko Haram take this war as the Nigerian Army plays the handicapp? The thriller will be another box office hit.