Still On The Matter-The APC Mandate

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

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

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

aderounmu@gmail.com

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

The Corruption Ring

May 10, 2015 / Adeola / 2 Comments

When those in the corruption ring start to sing and tell, we must not let their revelations and confessions go with the winds the way Atiku-Obasanjo open trials of each other were overlooked by EFCC under Mr. Ribadu.

The Corruption Ring

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

The change slogan that was the hallmark of the APC during the recent elections in Nigeria may bring a lot of wahala in the days ahead.

Buhari is not yet sworn in as the president of Nigeria, yet people were already expecting some actions that will change things around overnight.

During the campaign many people interpreted the change slogan to mean the same as miracles. They will be disappointed if they don’t wake up to smell the coffee, and quickly too.

On a global scale, political campaigns are loaded with promises the same way several chewing gums are coated with sugar.

When the sugar is dissolved or melted, the task of chewing the gum starts. The real work or change for Nigeria will start when the sugar coating melts away on May the 29th.

There are loads of hindrances in the way that should wake everyone up to the realities of the Nigerian calamities brought about by more than 50 years of misrule.

On the economy, unemployment, infrastructure, population distribution, population growth control, education, health, social justice, political structure and reform, you name it, Nigeria is saddled with uphill challenges.

Nevertheless the APC government must bring hope and visible developments clearly befitting the change slogan. The APC dispensation must bring success over time or pack up.

On the anti-corruption front, it appears that the wheels are getting oiled already. It is gathering momentum at a time that the true state of the Nigerian economy is becoming obvious.

The consensus now is that Nigeria’s economy is in a mess. It lies prostrate.

In the hands of Mrs. Iweala Nigeria was dished to the world as the numero uno economy in Africa.

But now she says that Nigeria is borrowing to pay salaries of civil servants. I have always thought that Mrs. Iweala is a crook and on my blog (and probably here) I have repeated calls for her to resign.

Even in 1987-1989 when I studied economy in class 3-5 l knew it would have been criminal if any teacher told me within this short interval that the biggest economy in Africa is that which borrows money to pay salaries.

This sad but realistic revelation heightened the call for the prosecution of Mrs. Iweala, Mrs. Diezani Alison and many actors in the Jonathan destructive and wasteful government.

But trust the theatrics of the Nigerian political space where there are no dull moments and no saints. The revelation of some of the corrupt activities of Olusegun Obasanjo suddenly emerged.

There are some many things in Nigeria that many people regard as coincidences.

I prefer to see the connections between the disgraceful identities of Mrs. Iweala as the woman who now borrows money to pay salaries of civil servants and Obasanjo whose rags to riches story was neglected since 1999.

How Mrs. Ezekwesili’s defence of Obasanjo in the infamous May Day interview adds to this sequence of events is also interesting in the political games in Nigeria.

At some point even before the start of the useless and corrupt regime of Jonathan, a certain civil right group in Nigeria challenged both Obasanjo and Iweala to produce one of the Abacha’s loots that was returned to Nigeria. After some foot-dragging, Mrs, Iweala produced a fabricated financial report of some expenditure that was supposed to have been in the budget.

She invariably was trying to say that Abacha’s loot was used for payments of some projects that were already provided for in that year’s budget.

What this means in simple language is that substantial parts of Abacha’s loot or all of it was re-looted under Obasanjo using Iweala’s fraudulent double cash book.

Criminals in Nigeria’s political fields come in different shades, sex and sizes.

During the Jonathan oil subsidy scam and the occupy Nigeria struggle Mrs. Iweala threatened to resign and I urged her to do so in one of my blog posts. Nigeria can never miss looters and liars. They are the ones who need Nigeria to sustain their evil ways.

I congratulate Mrs. Iweala in her roles in the sacking of Mr. Shuaib. What are we going to do about her lies about Nigeria’s economy and wealth now that the truth is known?

At this point when change is the slogan, many politicians and Nigeria’s fair-weather friends (like Obasanjo) are trying to associate with the slogan. Many are trying to paint themselves as saints who should be considered in the unfolding political scenario of the APC dispensation.

One day Mrs. Ezekwesili responded to one of my blog posts-Thy Glory O’ Nigeria-where I stated that all Nigerian politicians are criminals and that while she served under Obasanjo, she had also been a part of the corrupt people that destroyed Nigeria. She came on, defending her integrity and stance.

I am not about to change my mind about my conclusions on Nigerian politicians. Not even now when Mrs. Ezekwesili tried to defend Obasanjo’s corrupt regime.

These people don’t understand that while corruption may be relative, the consequences are the same. Nigeria as a country suffers for it and the people, more than 90% of the population, continue to live from hand to mouth. The consequences of corruption and negligence of duties to people and country are not a joke!

Every N1 stolen or taken from the Nigerian treasury at the federal, state of local levels without accountability contributes to the demeaning of the lives of the people. Hence it is not a matter of whether corruption is relative or not.

In public service people should be content with their take-home pay and allowances which in Nigeria is probably already the easiest route to wealth and prosperity. Therefore when people have taken N1 from the Nigerian treasury without probity, they are criminals just like the one who has taken N1 billion. A thief is a thief!

In a recent article I had suggested that it was not Buhari’s job to prosecute people who are corrupt or criminals. Such a task is for the institutions that are saddled with such obligations.

Indeed the APC regime must be seen to allow such separations of powers and independence of various institutions and arms of government. The judiciary and the police must resurrect to perform their obligations as part of the change slogan.

What we are witnessing in the past few days and that which will shape the nature of the change that was promised are the true situations in Nigeria.

When those in the corruption ring start to sing and tell, we must not let their revelations and confessions go with the winds the way Atiku-Obasanjo open trials of each other were overlooked by EFCC under Mr. Ribadu.The anticorruption agency blew away the chance of a life time letting 2 criminals with publicly published facts about each other go free.

The corruption ring in Nigeria that exists among the politicians and political appointees is a type of organised crime. It is crime against humanity because of the overwhelming consequences on the quality of life in Nigeria.

To take down corruption and corrupt people in Nigeria will be an enormous challenge.

When losers and political criminals from the PDP were decamping to the APC en masse it appears that what it takes to be righteous in 2015 was to disown the PDP and become a hanger-on in the APC.

The unfolding revelations about Obasanjo whose roles in promoting corruption and social injustice in Nigeria has been neglected since 1978 will partly help to destroy that myth forever.

In addition, let us constantly remind ourselves that the original APC is also full of political criminals and dubious characters.

Hence there are several reasons why Buhari must not be seen as the prosecutor and the judge in an attempt to bring back the glory of Nigeria and to rid the country of corruption.

The best he can do is to provide leadership by good examples, allow the institutions to run independently and transparently. He could also watch as the anticorruption agencies pick up men and women from the PDP, APC and other places across Nigeria.

This is one of the rare ways that change can come to Nigeria. So, when the Buhari days are over, it would be good to also serve him with justice. For in principle, no one is above the law.

Change is the result of collective wills. Change is the result of collective responsibilities.

Change will always be in the hands of the people and how they use the power that always belong to them to steer governance.

The people must put pressure on the politicians and always demand openness, probity and accountability. They must ensure that the institutions are strong, independent and functional.

Nigeria’s corruption ring ought to be broken once and for all. All the arguments and unfolding revelations in recent weeks will help to contribute to the change that may steer Nigeria to a better place.

A lasting political solution that will ease the political tensions in Nigeria and one that will ensure the devolution of power away from the centre (such as in a regional government) will be integral in steering Nigeria forward.

aderounmu@gmail.com

AIT’s Upcoming Documentaries

March 8, 2015March 8, 2015 / Adeola / Leave a comment

The Tiger Of Aso Rock, TheCrook On The Minna Hill, Criminal Couple From Otuoke, How Nigerian Transgender, Alamieyeseigha Fled London, Telephone Is Not For The Poor-David Mark, Boko Haram Is In My Government-The Inside Story, Drug Baron Heads Yoruba PDP, Sex, Drugs And Aviation-A FFK Story, The Jet-Age Of Looting NNPC, A Diezani history, Mrs. Jonathan, From National To International Embarrassment, Nigerian House Of Representa-thieves and Legis-looters, 30 Trillion Subsidy Scams-How PDP And Jonathan’s Economy Team Raped Nigeria.

AIT’s Upcoming Documentaries

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

African Independent Television (AIT) is running a documentary on Bola Ahmed Tinubu or a man they also claimed is Yekini Ogunleye.

It’s been over 5 years since l last watched any program on AIT. I gave up on them when Ibrahim Babangida, Nigeria’s foremost tropical gangster, bought Raymond Dokpesi, the owner of DAAR Communications and AIT.

Bola Tinubu has taken his case to court. That is not unexpected. He is a grown man and his lawyers are at it.

I may have seen an abridged version of the documentary. I was disappointed that l did not see the names of the producers of the Lion Of Bourdillion. I did not see the name of the narrator. The year of production and all other details that usually go with such a production were missing from the version l saw online.

I simply hope that the original version contains these information.

Some footages that need acknowledgement were also used. It will amount to an extremely poor piece of journalism if the version l saw was the original version.

In any case, l imagined if Nigerian private television stations have been airing these types of documentaries since 1960, maybe Nigeria would have been a saner country, a better place.

I don’t know what proportion of the report is true or false. That is Tinubu’s headache. He and his legal team can roll with that.

The short arm of the law system in Nigeria has really made a mess of many court cases and proceedings. I am not a fan of the Nigerian judiciary that is heavily compromised and saddled with corruption. I wish Tinubu and Daar Communications/AIT a wonderful time at the endless proceedings at the ridiculous Nigerian court of law.

Irrespective of what is true or false in the Tinubu documentary which partly looks like an advertorial for the government of Lagos State, it is a welcome development. If the PDP paid for the production and airing of the documentary, it will be a pinch of salt from the 21 billion naira raised in one day by various criminals and vested interests supporting Jonathan’s re-election. I wish AIT goodluck.

Since AIT has now ventured into investigative journalism and digging up both the past and present, it would be more interesting to see the follow up episodes.

I will like to see The Crook On The Minna Hill. In this anticipated episode, AIT should tell us how Ibrahim Babangida stole the money that Nigeria made during the gulf war. They should tell us why or how the same law system that failed to catch up with Tinubu failed to catch up with Babangida. AIT can even extend the documentary on how one Mr. Raymond Dokpesi could have benefitted from the stolen 12 billion dollars several years later. It will be a blockbuster!

I will like to see the Criminal Couple From Otuoke. In this story AIT can tell us how one Patience Jonathan was investigated on several occasions by the EFCC while her husband was the deputy governor and later governor of Bayelsa State.

AIT super investigators can tell us whose money she was looting and under whose watch they were been stolen. An update of the story can include how the Jonathans have looted the Nigerian treasuries directly and indirectly since they got promoted to Aso Rock by Obasanjo.

A documentary closely related to the Criminal Couple From Otueke will be How Nigerian Transgender, Alamieyeseigha Fled London. AIT may find the connection between the father (Alams) and son (Jonathan) of Bayelsans. Sometimes it is the prodigal son that forgives the unrepentant father.

Since AIT knows about Tinubu’s drug business, they may also probably highlight Jonathan’s drinking problems as well as his domestic and official weaknesses. If some serious investigative journalism is carried out AIT may be the first company to publish Jonathan’s Phd thesis online.

Good luck AIT, hope you hit another blockbuster!

The people of Nigeria will like to see the documentary titled; Telephone Is Not For The Poor-David Mark. When AIT is done with this production they will be able to explain to millions of middle and low class households how there landlines vanished from the telephone catalogues and for real in the twinkle of an eye.

By doing some serious journalistic work like they did with Tinubu, AIT may sucessfully trace Nigeria’s budget for communication under David Mark and Babangida to some Islands or Tax Havens around the world. Let the search begins!

AIT can even continue with the story of Mark by analysing how much money has disappeared from the Senate under his watch. They may even uncover his plot to rule Nigeria under the rumoured interim government. Who knows?

In the world of documentaries and investigative journalism, there are no limits. AIT can look at the option of making a documentary titled: OBJ, Poor Farmer, Rich President. They may uncover how Obasanjo’s salaries helped him to rejuvenate his farm.

To make the documentary interesting they should look at the role of Obasanjo in the emergence of Yar Adua and Jonathan. Where did the money for the campaigns come from and which state suffered for it? AIT can even tell those who do not know where the man who sponsored the campaign is today.

There are so many attack and watch dogs in and around Aso rock today.

What about AIT trying to make a documentary about a story or two that I’d written about. Imagine Sex, Drugs and Aviation! AIT, you have my permission to use my research material to do a series on Femi Fani-Kayode. He is a drug abuser, a woman beater and a former looter of the Ministry of Aviation. Don’t you think it will be an interesting investigative documentary to see the kind of campaign coordinator superivsing the Otueke couple?

One Doyin Okupe was alleged to have stolen from the people and government of Imo and Benue States. For him, you can do the Tiger Of Aso Rock. The documentary will show where to run for cover after perpetrating crimes at the state levels, a kind of graduation that is.

My parents are from the South Western part of Nigeria which makes me a yoruba by birth. I will like to see a documentary on The Drug Baron Leading The Yoruba PDP in South Western Nigeria. As my contribution to this documentary, I will like to pay for his return trip to the United States. Please mail me when he’s ready to fly, it seems you have him in your good books.

AIT common now, there are many, many series you can run. Your followership will grow nationally and internationally you’ll never go bankrupt again even after Jonathan’s reign of tyranny.

There is a man called Ali Modu Sheriff. He is a close associate of Jonathan and an alleged sponsor of Boko Haram. Go deeper into the allegation and tell us what you find in the Revelation Of Sambissa.

An alternative to the above will be How The Opposition Sponsors Terror. I think Nigeria and Nigerians will be intellectually richer when you have produced all the above documentaries. Perhaps you’ll help clueless Jonathan unravel the missing links between the opposition parties and Boko Haram.

Oh, l almost forgot. You should make a series on Nigeria’s House Of Representa-thieves and Legis-looters. You will not lack the materials to work with on this one. You just need to prove or disprove that the Nigerian National Assembly for example is the most expensive to run in the world.

You need to help Nigerians uncover the mysterious sums that go down the drain daily. Do a statistical analysis and see if the amount of wastage is positively or negatively correlated to laziness and the sleeping hours in both houses.

What about a neutral topic like Religous Country, Wicked People? Make several visits to the churches and mosques, try to explain the poverty index, crime rate and mumuism followership both religiously and politically.

You can show or disprove that religion leads to intellectual laziness, negligence of social obligations, lack of tolerance, bad government, blind faith and organized political crime.

To ensure that your documentary series last for several seasons, here are more suggestions:

Memory Lane, the Politicians And Soldiers Who Looted and Destroyed Nigeria, 1960-2015 (Part 1-20)
The Chibok Girls, Jonathan’s Changing Tunes
A Dictator Turned Democrat-Mission Impossible 4
Boko Haram Is In My Government-The Inside Story
Fashola: Productive or Destructive Product Of the Lion Of Bourdillion
APC States Versus PDP States: The Lions And The Tigers
Multiple Cross-Carpeting And Mental Health In Nigeria-A Political Approach To Medicine
APC To PDP And Vice Versa: The Recyling of Political Morons In A People Passive Society
Clueless Personified: Stealing Is Not Corruption-Evidence of Stupidity
Mrs. Patience Jonathan, From National To International Embarrassment
30 Trillion Subsidy Scams-How PDP And Jonathan’s Economy Team Raped Nigeria
The Jet-Age Of Looting NNPC, A Diezani history
The Useless Roles Of Private and Public Media In Nigeria

Dear AIT and management, these suggestions should keep you busy for the next 10 years. When you start, you will see that there are several more areas of investigative journalism that will make your station the envy of global journalism.

Please feel free to contact me for more suggestions should you and your production crew run of of ideas or scripts.

I hope you find genuine sponsors from around the globe and that your employees will receive local and international awards for their investigations. This will move you and your employees away from the disgraceful brown enevelope, food-for-the-belly syndrome.

Nigerians will be more enlightened, the politicians may sit up. The judiciary may have finally met their own watch dogs. The disoriented police force may find their lost ryhthms and start doing their jobs rather than shooting civilians at the ratio of 20:1.

The documentary on Tinubu should not be the end. DAAR Communications, go to court and fight your case.

I wish you goodluck at AIT and at the trial.

The pen is mightier than the sword!

aderounmu@gmail.com

It Was Not A Great Year

December 27, 2014 / Adeola / 1 Comment

When a president or a ruler knowingly acts against the constitution that he swore to defend and behold, he invariably burns the flag of the country and ought to be dismissed by law or by popular revolt the next day. The passivity of Nigerians is heavily condemnable. What a country!

It Was Not A Great Year

By Adeola Aderounmu

It’s been a great year is a very selfish 2014 expression made famous by a Facebook app and users. When I think about what Nigerians went through and endured-the spate of bombings, economic hardships and several other ills too numerous to mention-I realized that the slogan A Great Year is egoistic and can be misleading.

My recap of 2014 is here below.

I want to remember 2014 as the year that I put a meaning to the phrase the Nigerian syndrome.

The Nigerian syndrome is the condition in which Nigerians support their rulers and greedy politicians who have contributed tremendously to the demeaning of their living conditions.

It can also be describe as a condition where a crook, a corrupt ruler or a known criminal in government gets massive support from a group of die-hard followers who for personal gains and selfish reasons chose to ignore the negative impacts of the crimes committed.

2014 was the year that l continued to express my dismay at the criminalities displayed daily by government agencies and institutions across Nigeria. There are no consequences and there are no outrages to corruption and crimes even when perpetrated by the current indolent presidency.

Lack of patriotism, lack of dedication, absence of trust and a general bad attitude to work remain systemic in the Nigerian working environments. The one who is not willing to be bad or corrupt has almost no place in several working environments in Nigeria.

In 2014 I wrote about the worrying criminal tendencies of Nigerians in South Africa. It’s very hard to vouch for a Nigerian anywhere especially when they spend money that they cannot account for. In Nigeria it is a cool thing to have such funds. No need to explain your source of wealth to anyone.

In other countries, Nigerians are called criminals when they cannot legitimately account for their expensive lifestyles. In South Africa, the image of Nigeria is dented almost beyond repair. This is hurting to the good people who pursue their businesses and jobs legitimately.

Recently a number of video clips were released by an investigator who succeeded in clamping down Nigerian criminals in South East Asia. Those videos prove beyond doubts that there are Nigerians who are hell bent on destroying the image of Nigeria internationally. The videos provide evidence of Nigerians dealing in hard drugs while pretending to be pastors, tourists or students.

In the piece 50 yards of death I mourned the untimely deaths of 13 people in a boat mishap in Festac Town. It was an avoidable catastrophe. Man-made catastrophes and avoidable deaths are common in Nigeria. For several thousands of Nigerian families whose loved ones departed untimely and unnecessarily it was definitely not a great year. Water transportation across Nigeria needs to be upgraded with safety as the priority.

If you missed Mugabe’s and the Pakistani jokes about Nigeria, then you need to read the article titled The stupid jokes. Mugabe, the life president of Zimbabwe who seemed to have lost his minds took a swipe on Nigeria. Later on he was widely quoted as condemning his own party mixing it up with the opposition. Mugabe also senile-ly claimed that the opposition won the majority votes in the last election.

In 2014 I remembered some aspects of my childhood and all the dreams about professional football. In the heavily criticized The Boys From Festac article, I mentioned a few household names in Nigeria that emanated from Festac stony and sandy football fields and a few names that never went big. I was bombarded by emails and messages afterwards and my plan to write a sequel has not come to pass.

I wrote about a lost paradise for that was what happened to Nigeria. I recalled my mother told many stories of life in pre-and immediate post-independent Nigeria. The journeys by train, the jobs after education, the long walk at night and the peace and serenity that were characteristics of the olden days were never experienced by my jet-age, get rich quick lost generation.

These experiences of how life should mostly be which were taken away before l was born are now what millions of Nigerians have come to participate in in the western world. I will never forget how my mother described the old western Nigerian. Indeed by allowing mad people in power and by allowing evil to rise above good, Nigerians gave away a paradise and killed prematurely an emerging global power and giant.

In the article Terror And A Volatile Mix Of Blind Faiths, I expressed my concern about the way the Jonathan government succeeded in elevating a propagandist form of Christianity by promoting hatred and animosity between Christians and Muslims.

Jonathan’s romance with gangster arm-purchasing pastor Oritsejafor and a painting of the opposition as a jihadist movement were very unfortunate incidences. The APC was forced to produce a pastor as its Vice Presidential flag bearer. Nigerians are pitched against one another in the forthcoming doubtful elections still standing on tribal and religious pedestals.

If Jonathan and Jonathanians have the evidence that Buhari is a jihadist and that he is a co-sponsor of Boko Haram as opposed to what the assassinated General Azizi postulated-that PDP is the backbone of Boko Haram, then what are the barriers or hindrances stopping the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Buhari? What roles do the PDP, the APC and the rotten northern elites have in the emergence and success of Boko Haram? The history books will be loaded when this season of madness is over.

The roles of religious organizations in the demeaning of the quality of Nigerian life are inestimable. They promote false hope as the country runs deeper in trouble waters. The political wills of Nigerians were watered down by reassuring blind faiths. The political and religious rulers are stealing and the citizens are praying. To pray is no harm but to act wisely is more desirable.

In 2014 the exclusive ignorance of Jonathan was elaborated on many fronts. Just like the wicked late Umaru Dikko expected Nigerians to eat from the dustbin to confirm the spread of poverty in the land Mr. Jonathan used the number of Nigerians appearing on Forbes list to indicate that Nigerians are not poverty-ridden.

The WEF conference in Nigeria in the wake of incessant terrorists’ attacks in Northern Nigeria and Abuja was an unwelcome development for many because the security agents are keen on protecting the men in power while the ordinary people are roasted like chickens in regular bombings and suicide attacks. The above were highlighted in one of the several articles l published in 2014.

2014 is not a great year. The politicians are getting away with all their loots and reckless spending. The chief ruler Mr. Jonathan is getting away with several missing funds and most recently with more than 21 billion naira raised on his behalf even against the constitution of the country.

When a president or a ruler knowingly acts against the constitution that he swore to defend and behold, he invariably burns the flag of the country and ought to be dismissed by law or by popular revolt the next day. The passivity of the populace is heavily condemnable. What a country!

In 2014 Nigeria the Federal Ministry of Finance oversaw the emptying of the Nigerian treasury and reserves. The department of Petroleum Resources-NNPC-is managing criminals called oil marketers. They are stealing and looting together in an unending ecstatic orgy of subsidy. This year is not a great year; criminals are getting away as usual and a drug baron just wrote a book of justification.

The latter part of 2014 marked a turn in the expectations of many Nigerian. Even those who funnily supported Jonathan and not the PDP in 2011 are having a rethink. There are 2 main political contenders to the throne of unitary head in Nigeria.

But the issue is beyond that. Irrespective of who wins a presidential election in Nigeria, the position makes a person an automatic dictator. It is a post that makes monsters out of ordinary men and killers out of sheep.

One day it will become popular again in Nigeria that a unitary head is not a recipe for the form of democracy that Nigerians need. It is taking so long to get this message across, but it will come through.

The turn of expectations in 2015 might end up being a false hope. There was hope in 1993: it was quenched by a criminal called Babangida who did the bids of the cabal at the expense of Nigerians.

In 1999, there was hope. It became hopelessness when PDP seized power and continue to reign till date with impunity. In a country where there are no consequences for criminals in politics, there will be no end to impunity. In the country where the people pray and remain passive, there will be no light in the tunnel. It will be darkness at the end of it.

As a result of over 50 years of injustice some are crying while some are celebrating. Some are working, some are just stealing. Some are hoping and some are carting away the treasuries of the land.

For some, the system is perfect because it satisfies their desires to remain rich like their criminal parents and family members, they’ll give anything to keep the remaining 170m in chains. It is good for some because of the hope of being appointed co-looters.

In 2015 Nigerians can choose to allow these mad scenarios to progress or they can put an outright stop to it. They can create light at the end of a dark tunnel.

To think that this will depend on the winners of the doubtful 2015 general elections is a fairytale taken too far. For in the PDP, we have known criminals and treasury looters.

In the APC the story is similar. The party harbors well known criminals and self-enrichment specialists. I always say Nigerians have to choose between greater and lesser evil and that is an unfortunate dilemma.

I maintain that Nigerians need a political solution. They need a willingness to rid once and for all time all the bad eggs and the undesirable elements in the land. The level of corruption and nepotism in the land is beyond the redemption capabilities of a single political party or one man.

Summarily as it has been for as long as these wasted and lost generations can remember, 2014 will also go down as the year when many things were swept under the carpets. Name any political or economic crime against humanity and you will find it under the rug called Nigeria 2014.

Majority of Nigerians will end 2014 at different churches and mosques. They will be urged at the annual rituals called vigils to let go of the past and face the future. But that is an annual mistake, it is politically wrong.

2014 was not a great year.

A great year might come to Nigeria if all the people come together, close down the country and get rid of all political criminals and their associates once and for all. The sacrifices will be huge and the future will be great for it.

In 2015 Nigerians need to remember the errors of the past so they can have a platform to shape a politically correct present. The plan for the future must be holistic so that the unborn generations can thrive and bless their ancestors.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Sex, Drugs and Aviation

November 30, 2014 / Adeola / Leave a comment

In another place Femi will be in jail for corruption and face fresh charges for violence against women. The hierarchy system in Nigeria enslaves the police and the judiciary as institutions of justice

Sex, Drugs and Aviation

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Chioma was working at a fashion design outfit at the International Airport, Lagos. She was responsible for procurement and marketing of the products that included imported wears and Nigerian made attires.

One day Femi met Chioma at the Airport. As the minister for aviation, it is probably not unwise to have your eyes on every moving object at the airport. If you are into women, it makes it more interesting to scrutinize the cameras for the best female images in skirts and sometimes jeans.

When Chioma graduated she served at the ministry of aviation. It was easy to get such a posting. If you are from a family with an influential mother and uncle and you date the minister for aviation in Nigeria, there are almost no closed doors for you anymore.

It was easy for Chioma to find national service placement under Femi. It was also an easy automatic retention at the ministry of aviation. Eventually Chioma left the IT department for the position of personal assistant to the minister for aviation. Too easy!

There is no accountability or probity in Nigeria. Added to the heavily compromised law system and a very weak judiciary, this lack of probity makes it possible for public office holders to launder money, among other crimes. They can steal or loot without control.

Femi was one of the financially reckless federal ministers under Mr. Obasanjo. Who among them is not reckless? All Nigerian politicians have stolen from the treasury and they still do so as you read. Annual budgets in Nigeria are annual rituals for self-enrichment.

To Chioma, Femi promised the world. For real he rented a house in Abuja and bought another at Stillwater Estate in Lekki.

He promised to divorce his wife fondly referring to her as the Ghanaian who had his children.

He bought different cars that included a fondly remembered Benz and a Peugeot 607. Life was good. They travel together and they attended functions together. They had such great fun!

Festac Town never departs from my essays. I grew up seeing how Nigerian criminal politicians polluted the 4th Avenue and we called the place Naira Burial Ground. O! How they blew our treasuries away. They stole our commonwealth and built mansions after mansions on our nature reserve.

Femi was not in the picture when the criminals that ruled with the tropical gangster General Babangida destroyed Festac Town but he drove to Festac a few times when he dated Chioma. The police escort and the sirens disrupted our neighborhood. The people around could feel the oppression.

It was not clear to many people who the visitors were at that time. But that rotten aura of power and money drenched the atmosphere. Femi and Chioma’s dating was very special. She was so in love that she was keenly looking forward to the wedding bells.

Some men can carry along with a lot of arrogance and air of false impressions. But they cannot run away from the truth. The other things they cannot run away from are their past, who they are and who/what they fear.

Femi’s wife lives in Ghana. Still it appears that the fear of her is the beginning of his wisdom. He became a spiritual man when he was cured of his addiction to drugs. He remained thankful to his wife’s religious denomination for his deliverance. It may have been a wellness center or a Rehab with spiritual undertones. Whatever, he claimed victory in Ghana.

Why did Femi become a drug addict? What is he trying to run away from so that drugs were the solutions? When ex-addicts share their stories, they help contribute to the wealth of knowledge about abuse and prevention. They save lives.

Chioma and the other women in Femi’s life before and after her will be the best people to answer these questions. She became a subject of domestic violence, constant threats and abuse. On those days when there are disagreements that normal couples have, Femi would make a storm out a tea cup and send mobile policemen to eject Chioma from her residence.

Sometimes it takes a counter order from Chioma’s mum to neutralize these matching orders. The type of security at the estate where intruders are well kept off was also helpful. Who knows how many times Chioma would have been homeless in Lekki? Is this part of the pains of living with people with a history of drugs?

Who can comprehend the influence of insane minds on the Nigerian political scene? Isn’t this more significant now that a former drug baron is the PDP chairman in SW Nigeria? How many drug barons, drug addicts and other people under the influence are roaming free in government establishments across Nigeria? Don’t they need help?

In Nigeria, as long as a politician is acting like the others, there can never be a problem of prosecution for crimes or embezzlements. Femi was probably under the influence at the time he stepped on some toes that were bigger than Chioma’s. If you are a talkative and an unstable person, there is no limit to the number of enemies you’ll have to cope with in your life time.

Obasanjo who brought Femi into his PDP government was also the one who had to arrange a settlement meeting between Femi and the some elements from Northern Nigeria. Nigeria is messed up! Femi probably crawled while the begging and apology tendering lasted. Who knows how long his trials would have lasted? But they did last even after Obasanjo’s intervention.

It was not a surprise that he was exposed to a lot of probes and prosecutions after his days as a minister. He was not forgiven. The enemies from the North, who in no small measures have drained Nigeria and her economy, while contributing almost nothing, pounced on Femi as his immunity expired. Femi will remain eternally grateful to Goodluck Jonathan for his freedom.

Obasanjo, a friend of the Fani-Kayodes, was not enough to quench the flames in Femi’s political struggles and travails. His defection back to the PDP like the prostitute he is was the final option. He had to lick the boots of Jonathan after describing him vigorously as the man without balls (he was on point though).

Jonathan is Femi’s saviour. The man without balls now has balls that Femi was forced or lured to lick!

On a phone conversation last week, I had a laugh with my pal as we discussed this “freedom” because we know the guilt is written all over Femi. If he didn’t step on toes with his wagging tongue, he wouldn’t have had anyone exposing his criminal acts under Obasanjo.

But no matter how one looks at it, the judiciary in Nigeria is almost totally useless. The Police are useless too when it comes to handling political crimes committed by politicians. The hierarchy system in Nigeria enslaves the police and the judiciary as institutions of justice. Too shameful!

The freedom that all Nigerian politicians enjoy as criminals is a complete disgrace to the intelligence of all Nigerians, cumulatively.

It will be impossible to find a Nigerian minister who did not loot while in office. The presidency has always been rotten and corrupt. We didn’t need a NYT report to tell us that Nigerian politicians are guilty or that the present occupiers of the presidency are very bad and incompetent people. It has always been so.

So who are you as an ex-minister to claim sainthood or righteousness, even if you are set free by a useless court and dundee judges? People should leave the God of the Israelites out of their defective cerebrum when addressing the rest of us.

We have always known that those who go to jail or appear in the court of law at all are those who stepped on toes of the reigning power. Some went to jail a long time ago because the military led by treason perpetrators and gangsters like Buhari and Babangida sent them there.

When Obasanjo almost spent on all Nigeria’s reserve on his third term ambition, nobody could stop him. No one dare to probe or prosecute him even many years after he was disgraced out of office.

It’s kind of a funny circus because Obasanjo recently called Nigerian lawmakers thieves. They are all the same.

When Obasanjo’s camp gave practical and authentic evidence of how Atiku looted Nigeria because of Atiku’s opposition to his third term ambition, nothing happened.

In Nigeria, it pays to be a criminal in political attires, even to this day.

One day, long before the corruption court cases against Femi sprang up, all the cards started to fall apart.

Chioma was on her way to the US when she was stopped by some security agents at the Airport, a place she knows so well. It is where everything started, and almost ended. For a while Femi faded in the background and lived in denial. Talk of men without balls…I hear you loud.

But in the end, according to how impunity and lawlessness reign in Nigeria, Femi had to clean up the mess. It was already out of control, but manageable. I guessed that much he owed her.

It is not clear how many times they had done this before: that is travelling with loads of raw cash or just purely going on a money laundering trip.

However this unexpected arrest of Chioma was one in a cascade that will end the story of a castle that was built in the air.

Despite his erratic behavior, Femi was obsessed with Chioma. He almost put a gsm tracker on her to monitor all her movements. He has a lot of rules and regulations that Chioma must follow. He had the intention of cutting her away from her friends.

In plain terms, it appears that Femi wanted to breed a sex slave at home and a lover in the eyes of the world. There was a lot of air of jealousy and not wanting to share Chioma with her family. That was extreme and definitely not normal.

Chioma was occasionally battered at home. Her family grew increasingly worried about the relationship. The brewing songs of marriage was called off before it happened.

We are concerned for your life; her family told her in plain terms.

Her residence at Lekki was put up for sales when the bubbles were getting too large. She must get away to be free from sex and domestic abuses. She packed and left.

Chioma’s fairy tale ended. Before that she mingled in some of Nigeria’s powerful circuits. When she was having fun and spending time with the unstable man that was always saying bad things about his ex-girlfriends, she met Nigeria’s most powerful men-the rulers destroying the country.

No one is sure that Femi is free from drugs or the residual effects of the previous abuses. When Chioma left, bad things have been said about her. Femi cannot stop talking ills about his ex-girlfriends. It will be interesting to know what he did to the Northern mafia who almost finished him.

Chioma is rebuilding her life in Eastern Nigeria while Femi continues to wiggle in political wilderness trying to find his way back to relevance through political prostitution.

In another place he will be in jail for corruption and face fresh charges for violence against women.

There are so many things wrong with Nigeria. One of such is allowing very bad people and criminals to escape justice and to even rule.

The day leaders arise in Nigeria, the walk to freedom will start.

aderounmu@gmail.com