Babangida

A Funny Ladder of Corruption

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola Aderounmu

I have my reservations about International Organisations like Transparency International AND Amnestry International and their mode of operations, still I think they are trying a little bit reminding us of the some of the things that have made this world a devil’s hive: Corruption by government and lack of respect for the rights of all.

So here we are again in Nigeria! I have written somewhere that Nigeria is the most corrupt country in the world. I have not changed my mind on that position. The reasons were also mentioned in that article which has been published on this blog and on the Nigeria Village Square. I stand by what I wrote then and when I’m affirming now that Nigeria is (probably) the most corrupt country in the world.

If a man like Obasanjo and another one like Babangida can be freemen in Nigeria where more than 90m people are suffereing as a result of looting and stealing under these two men, then it is not true that Nigeria has made any progress in combating corruption. All the looters under the last dispensation are walking free. There is yet no proper dispensation of justice in the criminal investigation of politicians.One by one, they all bought they were out or they were never prosecuted at all. The Iboris, the Kalus, The Obasanjos, The Atikus and all the other thieves in Nigeria.

Look at the excitment on the face of Farida Waziri, EFCC Boss, when meeting with Doris Basle the Transparency International representative in Africa and Mid-East. Nigeris is happy to be ranked 121st which is a climb-up from the previous 148th position. What difference does this make? More people have probably suffered in Nigeria under the period in review than in the year before. So what is the need to move up a silly ladder just to inflict more suffering on a growing number of people?

The situation is probably not going to change in Nigeria until democracy or another form of workable government takes root in Nigeria. So far, what we have is gangsters taking hold of power at all cost. The present governmenr headed by Yar Adua is a reaffirmation of the gangsterism in government. This man will not have the guts or liver to fight corruption because he was not elected, like the others before him anyway. He was made president by Obasanjo, how then can he or his government give a fair investigation into the government of Obasanjo.

Even his own 8 years in Katsina, Yar Adua could not turn around the health department and that is why he is running to Germany and Saudi Arabia to seek solutions to his health problems.

Corruption beget corruption, that should be the motto on Nigeria’s coat of arm.

Soon, Nigerians are going to be presented with another opportunity to steer the course of the country. They must know that a free and fair election is the first cure for corruption. In it lies the ability of the system to rid away with corrupt persons and institutions. In it lies the voices of the weak, the poor and the masses whose contributions will come to represent the only way forward. Not succumbing or giving in to the threats of the wicked and the rogues in power will be the only way to the emancipation of the people and the realisations of their aspirations to build a sane society where the rights of all will be recognised. A sane society where one can live without fear or panic and with the confidence that the future can deliver what today promises.

NIGERIA, Not Missing The Point!

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

Adeola Aderounmu.

It will be very instructive not to miss the points about the situation of things in Nigeria. There is no doubt that Nigeria is a very beautiful country (by nature) and a very wonderful geographical entity. There is no doubt that Nigerians are beautiful, hardworking and kind. However it is in this same Nigeria that you have beasts and lunatics who have used the instruments of governance and power to sentence millions of Nigerians to a life of perpetual poverty and agony. It is in this same beautiful Nigeria that you have some of the worst attributes of a democratic nation.

Those who govern in Nigeria are exceedingly rich. They are so rich that they could provide for their 14th unborn generation. They are so rich that they could stash away billions of dollars in foreign accounts and when they die, the money is lost to these useless oversea hypocritic countries. They tell us now that Nigeria is so corrupt that she occupies the 121st position on the ladder of corruption. How corrupt then is the United Kingdom, the United States and all these funny isolated islands who accept money from Nigerian thieves? Nonsense!

Indeed corruption is very rampant around the world but to different degrees and dimensions. It is such in Nigeria that while the public officers are getting richer and more insane, they do so at the expense of two things: the people and the negligence of public service. No administration in Nigeria has admitted to being a corrupt one and that is ridiculous. The point is that each administration is afraid to prosecute the previous one because they all have the same evil intention and that is to steal and loot from what they called the national cake. This is the monumental tragedy that has befallen Nigeria since independence. This is the biggest tragedy that has plagued Nigeria which has made it possible for the common man to live a fulfilling life.

It is made worse because of the influence of mistrust, tribalism, nepotism and extreme but inadmissible hatred for one another. There is a lot of pretense in the air and self preservation is the only law in Nigeria public service. The principle of me, myself and I is the most functional element in Nigeria military or political governments. The result is that an individual who is in public service becomes the only means to alleviate himself, his acquaintances, friends and families from the shackles of poverty and penury.

The consequence is the elaborate mind game that determine who survives and who suffers in Nigeria. Those who survive on their own are in a way the extraordinary people who stumble on the required space and function that allowed their relevance to be explored as it should have been normally. They are few and mostly intellectuals. You will find this category of people across all strata of the Nigerian society. All over the world, people in this category are used to keep the society in good shape and function. In Nigeria, they are usually hidden and silent.
There is a growing branch of the Nigerian society who are the opportunists as mentioned earlier who get rich because of the relationship that they have to power or to someone in power. There is nothing wrong with have this connection or influence but the mechanism that runs it is based on a corrupt system, a winner takes it all attitude and a mentality that focuses on self or just a few in the best situation.

We have failed to realize that the society is supposed to be built on fair play and equal opportunities. We stopped rewarding merits and excellence while promoting one useless concept called federal character. We promote violence and aggression. We, in general, promote evil over good and vices over virtues. So in essence we miss the point about the real situation of things once we get our hands on what we want. The me , myself and I attitude promotes a mentality of the survival of the fittest whereas the resources dictate otherwise. Nigeria is running a system that is defiant to the stipulations of nature and natural laws.

For example, the people of Nigeria have no business being poor. It is very unfortunate that more than 90m Nigerians are poor and cannot by themselves determine what they want to eat or how they want to eat. They cannot even determine how they want to live! It is extremely shameful that Western Union is going from Europe and America to Nigeria. Under natural laws, it should be the other way round. Nigerians are supposed to be the richest in the world not only as country but as individuals. Unfortunately, only a few Nigerians have ganged up to be in this “richest category”. It should have been everyone.

Indeed there will always be poor people everywhere but that the poor outnumbered the rich in Nigeria is catastrophic in economic evaluation. How is that possible? It is possible because as mentioned earlier, there are people who can provide for their nth generation while the living are starving. There are monies scattered all over the world in foreign banks and foreign economies and these have no real value or use to Nigerians who are alive. There are people living in Nigeria with monies that they would never be able to earn if they lived up to a million years. Yet they have this money and the state and people cannot take from them. It’s shocking and amazing!

I cannot understand why the poor cannot rise against the government in Nigeria. I mean it is a game of number, more than 90m against the others. What are we talking about? I am guilty of not fighting against the evil in my society they way I should when I was living in Nigeria. I tried a little though and I thought I did my best.

Ordinary Nigerians are so focused on religion and other things that they forget how life should be. Some people have never experienced how a good life feels like. The society is so fractionated that some people tell you stories that I call “make believe”. Those who think they are fortunate or even smart to be doing well invariably always forget what they see and those they encounter on the streets everyday.

I have written about Nigeria in many ways and from many angles and my message is the same: it is possible for all Nigerians to live a good life. But so far, there is no indication that that hope will be realized soon.

The government is in business as usual, reshuffle the cabinet and let other thieves come and steal their own part of the national cake. The politicians will never be prosecuted or they will never be made to refund the money they stole. No one is talking to Babangida anymore. He is permanently above the law. This man stole money that some African countries don’t even have! Obasanjo just messed up the power sector, he will never have to account for that! From 1960 to 2007, Nigeria continues to promote idiocy and madness in government and public service. I cannot stop saying that mad men are ruling in children! I have no other explanation for the unbelievable status of Nigeria in the comity of nations.

Everyone is public service must be good, accountable, prosecutable and intellectually functional if the society and country must move forward. Unfortunately, Only a few men are good but their efforts cannot cover 150m people. It doesn’t work that way especially when these good people are not even in public service. You must be crazy to survive Nigeria’s kind of democracy.

Nigeria is my country of birth. I’m still proud to be a Nigerian. It’s the pride of the black nation but I would really love to see my continue make real progress, not abstract or imaginary progresses. I look forward to the tangible things that can make life worth living in Nigeria.

Constant power supply, Good roads, modern and affordable health care (so the president does not fool around the world), good educational system (so the useless ministers will not be sending their children abroad), clean water and beautiful (affordable) houses and everything that promote merit over tribalism and mediocre. Nigerians abroad want to come back home. They need a place to call their real homes: This is the dream! I

Nigeria’s Fake Anticorruption War

/ Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu.

Corruption is still the biggest problem with Nigeria. It’s like a curse because despite the pockets of prosecution that we witness every now and then, it seems that things will never change.

I think that the problem will not go away because the fight against corruption is very partial and carries no sincere purpose.

If a man can plead his way out of prosecution then the war itself is absolutely useless. We have seen corrupt politicians arrested today and released tomorrow and case closed!

What kind of anticorruption war is that?

Moreso, some people have never been questioned about their stolen wealth. It gives an impression that some thieves are smarter or more powerful than the others. For example, it is either Babangida is smarter or more powerful than Bode George.

Imagine this, Babangida is alleged to have stolen more than 12 billion dollars. If the allegation is wrong, we’ll never know because he has not given an account (at least not a public one) of how Nigeria’s finances was managed during the gulf war.

The result of this insincerity and fake war on corruption is that we still have more than 90 million Nigerians who don’t know what the next meal would look like. The result also included inability to sustain good and qualitative education. It extends to Nigerian highways listed among the worst in the world. More than 400 people will die on the road today!

The insincerity of governance in Nigeria means that power generation is getting close to zero. Soon, it will be back to the Stone and Dark Ages.

It is not too late to bring corrupt politicians to book. The prosecution should be total, resolute and absolute. Monies should be returned and used to build the country.

But who are am talking to? Who will bell the cat? An illegal president? The entire system is corrupt and it seems that some things will never change.

JUNE 12 1993, Just Like Yesterday!

/ Adeola / 85 Comments

The crime about June 12 was that some cabal secretly plotted against Abiola and eternally denied him of the mandate that the Nigerian people gave to him. He was asked by the people to give them hope, but a few hopeless and selfish persons, some of whom unfortunately are still around the corridors of power decided otherwise.

May each June 12 continue to unsettle the mind of the wicked. May it bring jugdement who those who spilled the blood of the innocents.

 

 

 

20180611_093541-11448268168.jpg

MKO Abiola, winner of the presidential election June 12 1993.

Adeola Aderounmu

I remembered when my parents used to talk about how life was in the 1950s and 1960s. Then I used to imagine how they could possibly remember things that happened so long ago vividly. Now that I am an adult, I think I understand better how time can fly and then 14 years can be like 4 months!

This is the way that the time that had passed since June 12 1993 to this moment seemed to me. In fact, June 12 seemed to me like yesterday. It’s all so fresh in my memory. I was studying at the University of Lagos at that time.

As I remember June 12, I will dwell on the principles of the events of that day and not on the person of MKO Abiola, Bashir Tofa or the tropical gangster called Babangida. The reason why I will not dwell on personalities fully is because the election was not about them, it was about democratic principles and the rule of law.

On June 12 1993, millions of Nigerians voted in the best election ever conducted in the history of Nigeria. It was possible for the people to vote right because the elections were properly planned and well conducted. There were pre-election debates and it was easy to know who was intelligent and who was really dull.

The people voted and the results were rolling in more to the favour of MKO Abiola. When it became evident that Abiola would win, Bashir Tofa (the opponent) was said to have sent him congratulatory messages. Now, that is a good man when it comes to the spirit of politics without bitterness. Records have it that as the results were been announced, the prices of goods and services were dropping.

There was a tailor who refused to be paid for the services he had rendered. He was so overjoyed that “at last” hope has come to the people. That was the spirit and mood until Nigerians received a rude shock from the nonentity called Babangida. This useless man cancelled or annulled the best election in our history.

There were many theories to this annulment including that Abiola is a creditor of the government, or that a few idiots would not like to see him be president of Nigeria. Some people said it was because of what he did when he was in NPN that he betrayed Awolowo. I will not be drawn into these kinds of thoughtless arguments. The fundamental thing about June 12 was that an election held and Abiola won.

The crime about it was that some cabal secretly plotted against Abiola and eternally denied him of the mandate that the Nigerian masses gave to him. He was asked by the people to give them hope, but a few hopeless and selfish persons, some of whom unfortunately are still around the corridors of power decided otherwise.

The annulment was resisted by many true democrats, some were killed and many went into exile. Some people chickened out and were back in subsequent governments because they were simply thieves and opportunists originally. The vice-president-to-be for that annulled election is now back into the new illegitimate government that started on May 29 2007. This will show any reasonable person that such people have no shame for their misdeeds and I doubt that this man was not once a looter of our treasury.

They never get enough, do they? They always stage a return to our lives and the implication is that since 1960, we have had a system of recycling sycophants in our government houses. Those that cannot be recycled stay out as useless godfathers-destroying the system to selfish ends. Many people died in the struggle to actualize that mandate popularly called JUNE 12. May their souls find peace.

They are more honourable than Babangida and his hopeless cabal put together. It remains to be proved if there were no foreign interference in the death of MKO Abiola himself, the man widely believed to have won the 1993 elections. It is not understandable why he died under questionable circumstances while a delegate from the United States was visiting him.

How did a cup of tea become a poison? Historians have their hands full there and those who know the truth but cannot say it will always be judged by their consciences. MKO Abiola died when many thought he would be released to claim his mandate after the death of one of the notorious generals called Abacha. The implication is that he was up against an evil cabal who will not mind travelling to hell just to deny him.

Indeed the cabal succeeded in their plots and 14 years after, can anyone see any progress in Nigeria? Don’t even think about the GSM, I am tired of that jingle as a measure of progress.

One thing is sure, in as much as we have refused to take the right steps and as long as we have not resisted those who are manipulating our country to a selfish end, millions of people will continue to live in poverty. This is not a curse, I lived through this dilemma and my family and friends do not deserve my curse. It is just what I call the unarguable reality of our lives.

It is not for fun that the holy books stated that “You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free”! It is one thing for us to know the truth, acknowledge it, make amends and set Nigeria on the path of glory and it is definitely another thing to continue to deny ourselves the knowledge of the truth, make a few people enjoy the fruits of the land and leave the helpless and resilient majority wallowing in absolute/abject poverty.

The way to GLORY will be a struggle on all aspects of our lives, social, economic…and so on. The way to prosperity and the good of all will be to seek the men and women who will be ready to serve selflessly and dedicatedly.

In Nigeria, we need the rule of law above the rule of men. May each June 12 continue to unsettle the mind of the wicked. May it bring jugdement who those who spilled the blood of the innocents. AND May the goodness of June 12 bring milk and honey back to the Nigerians who are weak and poor, living on less than 1 dollar a day. This is my personal opinion and that is the way that I see it.