Nigeria

The Killing Fields of Rivers State

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

My question to the people of Rivers state is this: for how long do you want to kill your brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers in the name of politics?

Amaechi and Wike are not used to electoral victory through the ballots. Something drastic must be done this weekend in terms of security to end the spate of political assassinations in Rivers State.

The Killing Fields of Rivers State

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

It is hard to comprehend the intricacies and complexities of politics in Nigeria. For sure it is not a normal scenario.

I am not about to change my mind that politics in Nigeria is crazy.

In recent weeks murders or political assassinations have been committed in Rivers State. It is not certain in which direction the investigations are going or if anyone will be prosecuted.

Lawlessness is still a common denominator for politics and several other areas of the Nigerian society.

Political assassinations are rampant in Nigeria and there are many unresolved cases across the country over the past decades.

Hence the Rivers State scenario is not an isolated occurrence. It is a trend that is not about to end soon considering the forthcoming governorship elections and the intrigues that may emerge thereafter.

If taken as a micro-representation of Nigeria or just a case study on its own, what is happening in Rivers State is an escalation of the stupid political processes that occur seasonally across Nigeria.

Sadly, the murders and assassinations that we have seen in Rivers State are products of the mindsets of many people in Nigeria who continue to see politics as a means to an end. To them politics is do-or-die.

To them, politics is a source of deep rooted hatred and the elimination or assassination of political opponents can even warrant ecstatic celebrations including thanksgiving services in churches and mosques.

Politics in Nigeria is generally heart-breaking and in the Niger Delta, very crude too.

The fund that INEC may have expended in organising elections in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria since 1999 may as well have been used for direct development programs instead of the elections.

Again, I am not saying that this crazy situation is peculiar to Rivers State or the Niger Delta alone.

However since the political assassinations in River State is not ending, it is reasonable to use it as a case study.

Typically, ascension to political position in the Niger delta region (if you like say for Nigeria) has always been by anointment. This means that there is usually a general consensus about who is selected or anointed to contest for a certain political post.

It is so organised (or disorganised depending on which side of Nigeria’s home-grown democracy you stand) that the opposition candidate is also aware that his opponent is already approved for the position.

In the remote places of Bayelsa, Rivers and other places in the delta, it is described as clan-to-clan rotation of political appointments.

If Godspower knows that it is the turn of his clan to be sent to the parliament in 2019, he could as well lobby within his family and probably do nothing in the years running to the elections. By implication he knew that when he gets to the house of parliament (state or local), he will become rich. He will share with his clan if he is not selfish.

In essence the political positions are shared and rotated. Governorship positions are not exempted from this arrangement. The settlement of the Odili-Omehia-Amaechi imbroglio can serve as an eye-opener in case anyone is in search of proof of this arrangement.

In furtherance of this, the Niger delta of Nigeria is not usually a place where elections are allowed to take place at voting booths or the votes from the booths are not significant.

The common practice is to find a secure or hidden location usually away from the mainland where heavily armed people are on guard. It is here that the fraudulent massive thumb printings do take place.

In the Niger Delta, as it is also common in several places in Nigeria, the rigged votes do not usually correlates with the number of registered voters. It is because the rigging is so intense that the perpetrators always forget to take the population of the people into account.

There are connections between the politics of the Niger Delta and the retention of the some of the world’s poorest people in what is arguably one of the richest places on physical earth.

The Niger delta remains underdeveloped despite the oil wealth of the area. The permanently corrupt federal government is partly to blame but the bulk of the blame rest on the custodians of the wealth that have been allocated to the region.

The representatives of the region have taken turns via federal and state government appointments to loot in the various regional agencies that have been formed for the purpose of developing the area.

There is also no commitment by the people who get into positions of authority to develop the local areas and the communities because of the way people are appointed to political positions with the collective mentality that it is the turn of a certain clan to “chop”.

May I remind my readers again that this scenario has a national dimension but with varying consequences and implications.

If one looks at the cases of former governors like Alamieyeseigha, Igbinedion, Ibori and Jonathan as few examples, one can get a glimpse of why most of the regions away from the capitals are still not where they should be considering the oil wealth that are looted away by these fraudulent characters.

Fast forward, Ameachi and Wike are from the same clan- the Ikwere clan.

The people of River states consensually know that it is the turn of another tribe to become the governor of River states. This is definitely not a democratic approach and in principle democracy is alien here.

Historically, political thugs and militants re-gained prominence in this region during the 2003 election season. It was at that time that PDP had already taken control of the region and armed the ordinary people, mostly unemployed.

The Obasanjo-Odili collabo would need to answer some questions if a probe is set up today. Similarly, some politicians should be answering for the escalation of Boko Haram terrorists in the north.

Since Amaechi and Wike are not on terms and Mrs. Jonathan is trying to fulfil a promise of electoral victory for Wike, hell is let loose on Rivers State.

Wike has a constitutional right to contest under the platform of his choice. His ambition is normal and healthy but it is taking place against a practice that is alien to the people who even with the PDP would have preferred a candidate not from Ikwere.

There are allegations that the Jonathans have helped Wike in bulldozing his way to the top of the PDP ticket in Rivers State. It is in Nigeria that you hear such things like “by special arrangement, Satan will see God”. Money can do anything in Nigeria.

Both Amaechi and Wike know how the game is played. However since they are on opposite sides of the divide, they are both clamouring that the votes should count. This is new because both of them are not used to electoral victory through the ballots.

In the recent presidential election, it appears that the Wike’s faction-the PDP won the process of counting rigged votes in the bush and presenting it on photocopied papers to INEC. Typical!

Rivers State has been boiling before and after that. APC has suffered more. Her membership is severely decimated by deaths at the top level. Blood is flowing in Rivers and the federal government is acting dumb.

Adopting violence as a way of resolving their political differences is not the best way for Amaechi and Wike. Both are adamant and egocentric on this matter. Personal vendetta is now above the interests of the parties and the will of the people.

The River State crises are not a “small” problem.

There is tension everywhere. There are soldiers everywhere but no safety nets.

As the 2015 elections days approached, APC rallies suffered violent disruptions. People have been shot and people have been killed.

In public places nowadays in Rivers State, it is almost tantamount to a death sentence to mention APC.

Jega’s led INEC accepted a number of disputable results in the just concluded march 28 presidential elections. One of the obvious ones, even as seen through the eyes of the INEC returning officer, was that of Rivers State.

INEC’s fact finding mission’s report on Rivers State as presented by professor Jega was a cock and bull story. Next time, he should tell it to the marines.

However his submission on Rivers State has both advantages and disadvantages.

Understandably, due to the intricacies mentioned in the first paragraph of this essay, Jega’s tactics was an appeasement of the PDP at their sorrowful hour and a subtle counter attack to the display of madness by one Mr. Orubebe.

The acceptance of the results from Rivers State has set the state on virtual fire because it means that whoever rigged best the gubernatorial election on April 11 2015 will capture the state.

PDP has the advantage in Rivers State as it was able to control and manipulate INEC/INEC’s official on March 28 2015. This does not mean that the APC was saintly during the process. One party just overpowered the other, that’s it.

If the presidential results from River States had been cancelled, the tension may have been reduced and probably for the first time since 1999, the people may just realise that the days of rigging are over.

Again, that is also a probability because it seems that the crazy people are on the rampage and dominant in Rivers State. Who knows which way the wind will blow?

On the other hand, cancelling the Rivers State election could also have led to the cancellation of the entire process because there were contestable anomalies and widespread irregularities.

Nigerians accepted the results; the people chose peace above all. It may mean that they know that man made processes will never be perfect.

Now, some reports from the ground in Rivers State will support a hypothesis that the people are not ready to be subdued by the Ikweres for 16 years (Ameachi 8, Wike 8).  It is this hypothesis that Wike is trying to disprove against APC’s candidate, Mr. Peterside.

But only when the votes are counted at the regular voting booths can the truth be known.

Tribal politics is killing Nigeria and it is about to drown the state of Rivers.

Unless Amaechi, Wike and Mrs Jonathan’s influence are taken care firmly by the law, things may get out of hand in River State.

In Rivers State, APC’s agents were barred from polling booths during the presidential election of March 28, 2015. Who gave this order?

Accreditation started at about noon in several places? Who stage-managed the general delay?

What is INEC putting in place and what are the roles of the security agents to ensure that normalcy prevails in Rivers State on Saturday the 11th of April 2015?

Will the army continue to stand by the PDP only or will they stay away and allow the people to vote?

Who will count the votes? PDP’s or APC’s agents disguising as INEC’s official?

Which votes will be counted? Will they be the votes from the booths or the votes from the creeks/bushes?

The most significant question should be put to the people of Rivers: for how long do you want to kill your brothers and sisters, your fathers and your mothers, in the name of politics?

Not until the Rivers run dry…..

aderounmu@gmail.com

The APC Mandate 2015 – ?

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

As early as the 100th day in office, some of the changes promised by the APC must be visible because in Africa the morning shows the day.

However for any government to succeed, it is not enough for people to shout changes. It is also important that people become the changes that they want to see.

The APC Mandate 2015 – ?

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu
Adeola Aderounmu

On the 31st day of March 2015 the people of Nigeria accepted the final results of the presidential election that took place 3 days earlier. The significance of this is that Mr. Buhari will take over as the president of Nigeria on May 29 2015.

The APC government promised CHANGE. By this slogan the party means that it intends to do a lot of things in the next 4 years that will correct most of the anomalies that trailed Nigeria for more than 50 years.

One of the fundamental flaws of the Jonathan era that resulted to 6 wasteful years was the continuous reference to the fact that Nigeria’s problems did not start with Mr. Jonathan. There were other flaws that characterised the Jonathan government. The worst of them was the endless and merciless massive looting of the Nigeria treasury at all levels.

On the eve of the election l took a stand and supported the change movement. The reason was simple. I would have found it almost impossible to write about Nigeria again if PDP had won. I had written about bad governance and everything l knew that was wrong with the PDP, yet the government got more rotten.

The victory of APC is by no means a celebration for me. I don’t glorify people or election victories. The main reason l write about Nigeria is to contribute my bits to ensuring that one day governance will be about the welfare of the citizens and not the wealth accumulated by the criminal- or dubious politicians.

For the first time since 1999, there is now a platform for comparison of performances.

For the next 4 years, APC will be under the spotlight at the federal level as everybody awaits a new Nigeria or a new beginning in the words of APC’s leader Mr. John Oyegun.

The reasons given by Mr. Jonathan that led to the failure of PDP under his watch will not be acceptable under the change promised by the APC.

Those in charge at APC should be ready to face the harshest of criticisms if they start someday to tell Nigerians and the world that they will not be able to fix Nigeria in 4 years.

From now and until the end of the first term in 2019, APC must act and pursue goals that will show that she meant business. As early as the 100th day in office, some of the changes must be visible because in Africa the morning shows the day.

Realistically nobody is expecting Nigeria to be the biblical paradise in 2019. However many basic things that have tainted the image of Nigeria and that have also reduced the quality of life must been seen to have been adequately addressed under the first tenureship of the APC mandate.

Failure to address these basic issues will make it too easy for the PDP to regroup and flush out the APC in the nearest future. Such a development may close the chapter of any cry for change in the future. The treasures of Nigeria will remain the prize for tropical gangsterism. Hope will be dashed forever until the real physical revolution takes place.

So as the days come or go by, keen observers across the world will be watching closely to see how APC intends to flush corruption out of Nigeria.

Corruption in Nigeria is systemic in nature. This means that is exist in almost every family, almost every office-both private and public and it is practised or reflected in nearly all aspects of the Nigerian life. Someone once told me that l might be killed by my colleagues in a government establishment if l try to be a honest man and hinder them from stealing or looting.

If the head is rotten the entire body of the organism is also rotten. I know this very well and l thought l also heard Mr. Buhari and APC echoed this loudly.

Corruption in government must be eradicated first at the presidency and hopefully such a positive outcome will radiate gradually to all facets of the Nigerian life so that decency and dignity can be restored to the country.

Many Nigerians have been speaking about reducing the government cabinet by removing all the useless positions like minister of state for things and objects. Even some ministerial positions can be fused so that instead of two or three different ministers, only one minister can be in charge.

This will reduce the cost of governance and will help to remove the holes that lead to executive negligence.

One of the craziest and most unacceptable things in the Nigerian government is the salaries and allowances that government officials’ and politicians take home. Since 1999 Nigeria continues to bleed through the wages and allowances of the members of the House of Representatives and the national assemblies at the federal and state level. If nothing is done about these reckless wages, I am sorry there is no change yet.

I am certain that one can write 100 chapters on how to eradicate corruption in Nigeria based on the opinions and ideas that everybody has on the topic. Even corrupt Nigerians like those who transfer funds from the central banks to the different ministries just for looting purposes have their own opinions because everybody always thinks it is another person’s fault that corruption persists.

The change that the APC promised must not be left in the hands of the APC alone. I think that everybody should look in the mirror and take off their garments of evil. For any government to succeed, it is not enough for people to shout changes. It is also important that people become the change that they want to see.

The Nigerian judiciary is still largely a scam because criminals and corrupt people have been escaping justice. Petty thieves have died through jungle justice which is a sad occurrence. Looters of the federal and state treasuries continue to smile to the bank at home and abroad.

The APC mandate must work to remove the immunity clause that has made politicians exclusive criminals. Above that the judiciary must be independent again. The new government must hands off legal proceedings and allow them to run their courses.

The successful prosecution of criminals, fraudsters and corrupt criminals irrespective of their statuses in the society are essential to a new beginning for Nigeria.

Diversification of the Nigerian economy cannot wait. It must start today. How can APC take Nigeria back to the days when agricultural products were the main exports? Is it possible that oil is relegated someday so that the major foreign exchange earners can be from the various mineral deposits in Nigeria?

How does APC intend to stop the Chinese and other foreign countries from looting Nigeria’s mineral resources immediately?

Probably before and definitely under Goodluck Jonathan’s PDP Nigeria’s mineral deposits were loaded out of the country almost free of charge under the supervision of some useless ministers. This must stop today! Those who have allowed this to happen need to be apprehended and brought to justice.

Electricity situation in Nigeria has become a case of both intellectual scandal and national shame.

Obasanjo and Jonathan both spent or looted several billions of dollars on electricity. The situation got worse. Cockroaches and rats continue to lay eggs in refrigerators and freezers. Keen observers are waiting to see how the APC mandate will tackle the nonsense talk about the generator importers and the power sector mafia. Where are all the billions of dollars?

One could have hoped that the federal character could be scrapped but it appears impossible. It’s a shame that while the best brains will lie idle or remain unutilised where they are best needed, ministerial posts and portfolios will be given (albeit uniformly) based on state or region of origin. Some fools will get on board, sadly.

Sadder still some of the posts are given as rewards for the efforts during campaigns and lobbying that led to the victory of the APC. That awareness and the mess that is going on at this moment concerning ambassadorial postings bleed my heart.

One message that will remain constant in my essays is the task to reform Nigeria politically. The presidential election results as it were clearly revealed that Nigeria is not a unified country.

The pattern of voting if taken into consideration can be a beginning of a lasting political solution. The APC must not sweep the debate for regional autonomy or regional government under the carpet. It won’t go away.

The strengths of the different regions can be utilised in creating a system of government where the power at the center is drastically reduced. This will also douse the tension and pressure of elections in the future. In the face of accountability and a center devoid of the power of the almighty, rigging and violence will be significantly reduced in future elections.

The custodians of the Nigerian historical and geographical facts can be of massive help when plotting lasting political solutions. If some of these people have emerged in the houses (senate and house of representative), they must be heard.

The fragility of Nigeria can still be exploited by wicked and selfish minds in the days ahead or sometime in the future. Why not remove that possibility while it is still constitutionally possible to do so?

No matter what the APC mandate must not go the way of the previous administrations.

There will be no excuse for non-performances. There will be no story for why the hawks and wolves sucking Nigerians through the oil subsidy, contracts inflation, non-performance and direct looting of the treasuries cannot be halted.

Millions of people are already anticipating that their children will get free lunch at school. Some are looking forward to the empowerment of the public schools back to the glory days. Education must be affordable again. The quality must begin to return.

This is the beginning of the APC mandate. As the days unfold and change to months and years, some people will be looking while some people will be acting to make the changes possible. Still, some people will be accessing the situation.

With the type of interactions amongst Nigerians on the social media, it is possible to deduce that out of the several millions who voted for the PDP, a substantial percentage are waiting for APC to fail. They want to be able to justify the evils perpetrated by the PDP since 1999.

No one should be defending a failed government irrespective of their party affiliations. Only selfishness and wickedness can make people ignore the importance of good governance and accountability that are in favour of the majority and in the interest of common good.

Those who write must continue to write. This is not the time to cross from the side of the people to the side of the government hoping to cut from the national cake. By no means should the Nigerian real and virtue landscape be depleted of uprightly conscientious minds and critics who will stand by the people no matter what.

If APC fails in the eyes of those who will be doing the analyses in the coming days and years, Nigeria may just as well self-destruct!

I appreciate the importance of peace and tranquillity and I hope that the APC will succeed.

A proper change will orchestrate the restoration of dignity, honour, pride, patriotism and service to humanity on the Nigerian soil.

There can be hope for the unborn generations.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Nigeria Decides: My Random Thoughts As Nigeria Approaches A Make Or Break Election Season

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu

The Day Before The Election

Nigerians, Take The Risk. Change A Bad Product.

I have been silent about the Nigerian elections because as early as 2011 l wrote that 1999-2015 PDP years will be the worst years of the Nigerian life. I am talking about the life of more than 90m people living in extreme poverty.

It was an easy prediction when l saw the fools, nonentities and idiots that emerged to power. It is sad because that outcome maintains an unfortunate pattern.

There is nothing l write here that will be enough to cover my thoughts on Nigeria which are already expressed in hundreds of articles spread on my blog, the Nigeria Village Square and tens of other blogs and news sites around the world.

This short post is not directed at those who directly and indirectly are beneficiaries of a system that is still built on fraud.

I thought that the thing l missed most when l look at Nigeria (a paradise turned hell for more than 90m people) is social justice.

l have suddenly realised that lack of common sense is even worse. It invariably explains why social injustice is rife.

Hence, in recent times l have restricted myself to posting my articles only and almost not commenting on Nigeria on the social media. As the level of foolishness increases, I decided to thread carefully.

The 2 major things l have enjoyed on my portable touch screen computer are the scroll down and the delete buttons. In the old days of yahoo chat rooms we called it IGGY. Some of you are too young to grab that, sorry.

Anyhow, in many countries around the world, when you buy something, say a mobile phone and it is deficient, you go back and return it. Then you get a new one. It is called CHANGE.

Sometimes you just CHANGE so that you can see what the other side looks like and to be able to make fair comparisons.

But definitely when a product is bad, you must change it. Then, if the new one is not working well, you still go back again and change it even if you have used it for a while.

Until you get something that works as you had expected, you have the right to change the product.

This scenario is the same with the principles of democracy and common sense.

A man who stick with a known bad product for whatever reasons at all is a complete fool.

If a group of people decide to continue with a crazy government led by a weakling drunkard, they may all perish in one swoop. If the majority allows go with this negative flow, a new research needs to be done on the entire population. Geneticists should be called in.

Nothing in this life is going to be perfect. Nevertheless change is constant. It is desirable because even boredom can kill both mentally and physically.

It must take one of the biggest levels of known human stupidity to be afraid of change or a new chance.

A word is enough for the wise.

The problem is, what is going to be enough for the foolish?

Post 1.                     What The IGP Said

The inspector general of police said the Nigerians should go home after casting their votes. He is not entirely wrong on this point.

There are many angles to evaluate the statement. It also depends on whether one wants to be civilised or barbaric in approach.

I have cast my votes a few times in Sweden. I go home after doing so. The results are announced and life goes on.

Nigeria is not like Sweden even though both countries are inhabited by humans.

The Inspector General of Police spoke like he is living in an organised society. For, if that was the situation, the voters need to go home after casting their votes.

Unfortunately elections in Nigeria are a matter of life and death, do or die type.

Nigerians who get entangled in election malpractices and violence are the uncivilised ones.

Or how do you describe a people who cannot cast their vote in peace? How do you describe criminal politicians who take elections as a matter of life and death? For me that is uncivilised!

So on the election day in Nigeria (if the PDP does not cancel the process this time) people will cast their votes, they will carry knives, guns, cutlasses, they will stay back at the polling booths, they will want to see the votes counted, there will be arguments, there will be violence and sadly some people will die!

Uncivilised is almost an understatement when people are dying in connection to election!

Votes do not have to be protected by deaths..!

It is sad that more than 50 years after independence, Nigerians will not be conducting peaceful elections.

Post 2: Shutting Down The Country

Many Nigerians are moving back to their states of origin or there places of births. This as usual shows the artificial coexistence of Nigerians and highlights the need for a more resounding political solution to the country’s dilemma which continues to lie under the dirty carpets.

Nigeria is shutting down due to elections. How many signs of barbarism and backwardness can one get from a simple/ordinary election?

People are moving to where they think will be safe if violence breaks out. Vehicular movements are being restricted and a lot of time will be wasted doing nothing but preparing for elections and waiting for the outcome.

Holidays will be declared for an election that is holding on a Saturday. The country will lose a lot of money and the economy will shrink further.

Nigeria embarrasses Africa a lot. Nigeria is a disgrace because she cannot conduct election on a Saturday without bringing everything to a halt.

When ordinary elections brings a people and a country to a point of uncertainty that it even becomes difficult to predict the next day after the election, then a radical solution is desirable.

At an age when computers and technological processes are making life easier and easier and when people are already solving problems of the next generation, Nigerians are stuck in the 18th century battling not only the absence of electricity but even simple things like counting votes.

There are times when being a Nigerian is hard, for example when you try to convince other nationalities that you are human just like them and that you can actually count people manually or by inputting their records in a data system.

When you have to explain to people that you are intellectually sound as they are or even better, they wonder why then your country is shut down not only by terrorists in the north, south and east but also by a process that is as easy as ABC.

Election is hard in Nigeria, it reveals a lot about the mindset of the politicians, the misruled population and the overriding but sad low level of common sense among the general population.

(unedited posts on election 2015)

Weep Not, Nigeria..!

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Nigeria, you are one country whose past must be retraced so that the future can be better. You must find that spot where it all went wrong.

Weep Not Nigeria..!

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

The home run to the Nigerian presidential elections is here, at last.

The presidential and national assembly elections that should have held since February 14 2015 are now expected to go ahead on March 28 2015.

There is still a low risk that the entire process is truncated.

The corrupt and destructive ruling party since 1999-the PDP is not in support of the Voters’ card to be used for the elections. Until the elections become realities it appears that the PDP will continue to push for the termination of the appointment of the chairman of the electoral commission Mr. Jega.

Other means that the PDP have attempted in jeopardising the forth coming elections are sponsoring of violence in the country and pursuance of various last-minute court injunctions aimed at frustrating the main opposition party-the APC.

At the beginning of week 12, some miscreants were gathered from south western Nigeria and allegedly also from south-south region of the country. They converged on the city of Lagos and unleashed mayhem in some parts of the mega city.

The wife of Goodluck Jonathan said to stone the people chanting change. This group of miscreants had more than stones. They had dangerous weapons including guns.

The commonest trend is that people who engaged in this type of senseless demonstrations in Nigeria usually do so after they must have received huge sums of looted money from the politician or the person they are supporting.

In this case huge sums of money and scam contracts have been used to induce the thoughtless elements who chose Monday of all days to interrupt businesses and other human endeavours in Lagos state.

This is not the first time Mr. Jonathan is empowering terrorists or militants in Nigeria. The warships in the hands of the Niger delta militants have not been thoroughly explained.

Mr. Jonathan has empowered terrorists in different parts of the country in different ways.

In his recent interview with a BBC reporter, he was dumbfounded as usual, unable to explain why the Boko Haram terrorists ravaged the north eastern part of Nigeria as the Nigerian military looked on helplessly.

Those who participated in the shameful Monday demonstration in Lagos, the nerve center of Nigeria and the heartbeat of Yorubaland, were paid from the huge sums given to one Gani Adams the leader of the armed militant group-aka OPC in Western Nigeria.

Some children and adults have lost the use of their cerebrum and they will use their left hands to point out the direction to their fathers’ houses. This is the lot of the thoughtless and shameless OPC faction led by Gani.

In addition, these lost sons of Oduduwa know that it is an abomination to waste away Monday mornings (ojo-aje) in Yorubaland. They ought to seek the forgiveness of their ancestors before the wrath of the gods start to descend on them and their households.

In any case, back to the scam security contract issued by Mr. Jonathan to terrorist organisations, the constitution of Nigeria is clear on whose shoulders the security of the country rest upon.

The Nigerian military will protect the country from external aggression; the police will maintain law and order internally.

On the sea and the international waters around the country, the Nigerian Navy will ensure that all is well.

Mr Jonathan is probably the most clueless ruler any country can have. Who hands over the security of life and property of a country into the hands of local militants or terrorist groups?

Only clueless and dangerous minds will justify the security contracts anomaly under Mr. Jonathan, the first of its kind in human history.

No ruler or leader in human history has gone to sleep for 5-6 years in a place where civilians and ordinary citizens are slaughtered by terrorists.

Someday it will be nice to question Mr. Jonathan on his style of rulership.

He and his advisers need to inform about what they were thinking or not thinking when they gave the functions of the Nigerian army and the Nigerian navy to local terrorist organisations.

The above are some of my arguments when I chose to describe the Nigerian lawmakers are criminals and nonentities. They have turned blind lines to absurdities, lawlessness and outright impeachable offences. Birds of the same feather will flock together.

What kinds of political solutions or approaches are they aiming at?

Why is Nigeria’s ruler Mr. Jonathan still awarding security contracts to terrorist organisations?

Apart from outright stealing and looting, there are several other reasons why Mrs. Jonathan is afraid of the prison terms that her husband may face someday in the future when Nigerians wake up from their slumbers and start to ask for justice and fairness.

Who told Mrs. Jonathan she will be spared should in case her husband ends up in prison?

They and several thousands of political criminals across different political parties will end up in prisons if the law system in Nigeria starts to function today.

There are several thousands of criminals spread in different government and private institutions as well. The jails will burst if the justice system suddenly comes to life in Nigeria.

The resiliency of Nigerians has been totally transformed to a permanent weakness. Hence there are 2 remaining remedies to the prayers of Mrs. Jonathan.

The first is that Jonathan’s statement “I will surely win” comes to pass. The second is for him to be succeeded by another PDP looter. If these 2 options fail, it will be prison or exile for sure.

As l was saying, terrorists or local militants as Nigerians will prefer to call them should never be equipped or rewarded for their criminal and terror activities.

They should never been given any pipeline contract or any other type of contract at all.

There are reasons why the Navy exists as an institution. There are reasons why the police exist and there are jobs that the military should be equipped to handle.

Greed and clueless-ness form a bad combination. In the hands of a lazy, drunk mind the tragedy can be worse that what it has been in Nigeria. I had mentioned earlier that the PDP should have presented a sane mind on its platform the moment it became clear that a dangerous mind had mistakenly been trusted with power.

However, for as long as humanity exists, money will remain the root of all evil.

A people suffering from several years of misrule will continue to miss the margin regarding the meaning of life. Their conquerors will not understand the significance and transience of power.

When greed and in-satiation take over the feeling of contentment, the human mind may be irreversibly ruined. Sadly, this condition may also be incurable.

This is the point that many individuals have reached in Nigeria.

Under the prevailing political circumstances, and sadly too under the unfortunate mindset that the upcoming generation has been groomed, the Nigeria that exists today, just like the people whose souls have been overtaken by evil, is becoming increasingly incurable.

But weep not Nigeria, weep not..!

You seek change. How genuine? Will it happen?

With the characters of men and women parading the major political parties the question arises: is this what you deserve?

Why is the landscape occupied by drug barons, drug addicts, drunkards and incurable looters as the dominant political figures?

Generation after generation, you suppress freedom and sanity and install criminals in high places. Yet you cry foul!

These criminals, are they not your fathers? Are they not your mothers? Are they not your sisters and brothers?

What are you going to do about the corrupt souls, the evil people who continue to install criminals after criminals as the custodians of your treasury and the makers of the policies that ruin you?

Weep not Nigeria, weep not motherland!

The time is overdue.

Arise; take your destinies in your hands. Clean the table, wipe the stable, tidy up your domain and seek freedom.

Under the unitary system of government in Nigeria, there is no freedom and there will be no transformation. Change will be a camouflage.

Nigeria, you are one country whose past must be retraced so that the future can be better.

You must find that spot where it all went wrong.

There you will be able to pick up again patriotism, dignity in labour, brotherliness, selflessness, dedication, duty to man and country, justice, peace, fairness, merit-based rewards, competition to promote culture, to facilitate development and preservation of immediate society while not relegating the importance of nationalism.

aderounmu@gmail.com

A Savage Mark

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

When a suspected criminal is made a federal minister and if the case is not an isolated incidence but a trend, then you have the Nigerian politics-which is largely a government of the criminals, by the criminals for the criminals.

A Savage Mark

By Adeola Aderounmu

Which Way Nigeria?

When a suspected criminal is made a federal minister and if the case is not an isolated incidence but a trend, then it may not be unreasonable to state that Nigeria is ruled partly by criminals. What is more saddening than this is the obvious reality that the situation gets worse by the day.

Exactly 2 weeks ago l wrote an article titled A Savage Situation. It was to join the protest against the re-nomination of Mr. Obanikoro as a minister in the cabinet of Nigeria’s lazy and corrupt ruler Mr. Jonathan.

As it stands now it appears that Mr. Obanikoro was approved by the senate.

The fact that the name was not thrown out as soon as it appeared in the senate is also a confirmation that the Nigerian National Assembly is a den of touts and criminals.

The lawmakers who are opposed to the approval of suspected criminal Mr. Obanikoro and thereby staged a walk out during the deliberation process may feel hurt coming under a general classification-den of criminals. But it is not far from the absolute true situation.

To this day there are no clear information as to the several millions of dollars that is earmarked for the Nigerian National Assembly and the House of Representatives monthly. The general perception is that these houses are the most expensive to run in the world.

In the type of democracy that is practised in Nigeria the Nigerian National Assembly is a complete waste and so far a part of the embarrassment that befell Nigeria’s laughable and ridiculous democracy.

Which sane National Assembly will harbour a failed executive government for 6 years? Which National Assembly will look away with all the impunities, illegalities and extreme corruption in the land? It has to be the one with the same mindset.

It must take a corrupt National Assembly to tolerate a corrupt executive and to look away at the extreme rot in the land.

The man who heads the Nigerian senate has been around for a very long time and he has done a lot to contribute to the destructions of several institutions in Nigeria. Now he appears to have moulded the senate into a criminal-approving organ.  This is not the first institution he is poised to destroy.

David Mark’s name will be indelible in the history of Nigeria. This generation will remember him for the expression-telephone is not for the poor. After the reckless statement one of the treasured possessions of the middle and low-income earners in Nigeria, the land telephones became historic and disappeared from millions of homes!

David Mark staged-managed the approval of Mr. Obanikoro, a suspected criminal despite the strength of the opposing voices. In Nigeria this means that Ghana-must-go bags containing raw cash (probably in dollars) has left the presidency or central bank and emerged in the houses of most of the senators or their bank accounts.

This is an aspect of the Nigerian politics-which is largely a government of the criminals, by the criminals for the criminals.

The people of Nigeria, I mean the ordinary citizens constituting about 90% of the population who are living from hand to mouth and unsure of the next meal are long forgotten in the political equation in Nigeria.

There might be elections in Nigeria at the end of this month. The coast is not clear. Both the ruling party and the main opposition party are moving around with wardrobes full of guilt and rotten skeletons.

Mr. Jonathan has literarily emptied the Nigerian treasury during his recent relocation to South West Nigeria. He’s been holed up in the region doling out monies as if it comes from his personal inheritance. Such is the height of corruption and stupidity in Nigerian politics.

Mr. Buhari is back from the UK, has not spoken much at the campaigns in Nigeria and is funded by unexplained wealth.

Now Nigeria remains at the point where appointing a criminal into a government is normal because it is assumed that there are no saints in government or that we who are politicians are all criminals. It is amazing that the citizens are quiet as the impunity continues to reach record levels.

The ordinary people are in real trouble. The future is so uncertain. Bandits have taken control of governance almost all of the years after independence. There is nothing happening today that is new.

The probability that ordinary Nigerians will get a better life out of any government under the current arrangement is very slim. The chance is narrow under a system that is designed to oppress and suppress.

Change is not only getting rid of the criminals in all political offices and public institutions, it also means that the political structures of Nigeria and the various institutions at the federal, state and local levels need to be reassessed for their functionalities.

Change is when people look in the mirror and see whether they are ready to shed evil for the common good of all.

Many concerned citizens and organisations continue to argue for regional government or true federalism.

If change does not come from the ruling party and if change does not come from the opposition, the category of Nigerians describe above will one day learn that they have to take their own destinies in their hands.

Ironically both fear and hope have hindered the Nigerian revolution.

It always appears that something will happen in the positive direction, but after a while hopes are always dashed. In recent history hope was dashed in 1993.  In 2007, many people were dumbfounded because it was not EUREKA. In the last 6 years Nigerians have learnt many new lessons as hopelessness and evil overshadowed good and happiness.

The fear factors were well analysed by the late Afro-beat legend Fela Anikulapo. It is one of the biggest hindrances to freedom for ordinary Nigerians.

The downtrodden Nigerians need to get organised. They need to be formidable. They need to conquer their fears and rescue themselves from the wolves.

It does not look like the wolves are going away soon if a David-Mark senate approves a fellow criminals back into its fold at the executive level.

I don’t think the wolves and the oppressors are going away if they continue to empty the treasuries for one or two accomplices, for the selfish royal families, for the religious rulers, for themselves and for their families without any consequence.

The wolves cannot depart for as long as it is possible to gallivant with stolen and unexplained wealth.

To the 90% Nigerians suffering from the over half a century of political looting and economic suppression, your future is in your hands. A savage mark can only be erased by force and popular revolt.