Jos

The Question is: Where is Mr. Jonathan?

/ Adeola / 4 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

Nigerians are still asking: where is Mr. Yar Adua? Silly question.

Yar Adua belongs to the past. As far as Nigeria is concerned Yar Adua belongs to the history books as one of the several illegal rulers. He was foisted on us by Mr. Obasanjo-the man who means many things to may people. To me, he’s just one of our biggest shames. A thousand years from now, there will probably be nobody in history that would have the same opportunity that life gave this man. He screwed up-big time. I cannot recount here, I’m sick of his shortcomings.

Right now, Nigerians should be asking: where is Mr. Jonathan?

Mr. Jonathan should face the reality or get out of the way!

Nigeria wants a leader. In the short term he has, he cannot afford to concentrate on wealth accumulation and signing contract. He is not even allowed to be pleasing any stupid member of the cabal or pro-Yar Adua organisations.

His task is simple: Make yourself visible and lead.

Go to Jos and show sympathy and empathy with the people of Dogo Na Hauwa. They need consolation. You cannot hide in Aso rock and pretend that you are in control. Actions speak louder than words. Go, be among them and console them. Help them bury their deads and fish out the killers. Put them where they belong.

If they are from Niger or Chad or Sokoto, go after them, sniff them out and bring them to Justice. Now, not later!

Make sure that this never happens again..!

Jonathan, you can’t afford to take it easy. If you do, Nigeria will go up in flames under your carelessness.

Jonathan, get out of your shell and end the useless power game in Abuja. Sack the sackables and step on toes to move Nigeria forward.

You can’t spend one year trying to please everyone. Please the poor masses, give them electricity.

Make their votes counts, give us total electoral reform.

Give us a referedum-it has eluded us for 50 years-let us decide how we want to live in a National Conference. Let us formulate our lives and make collective decisions on the type of lives that we want to live.

Mr. Jonathan, stop acting like a coward. Acting president in word, put it into power and action.

This is one of the rare opportunities for any Nigerian ruler or leader when the majority of the people seem to be on the side of the ruler (we have no leaders). The way you use this moment will define your political future. It will define your roles in the history books.

Corrupt you are, but you have a fine moment to clean up things and redefine yourself. This may be your last chance to make an impact.

You have been idle and the ball is staying too long in your court. Kick it or get knocked out..!

Jos-Nigeria, a lawless state

/ Adeola / 5 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

Jos has now become the death valley. Jos the capital of Plateau State in mid-Nigeria is now notorious for religious attacks, counter attacks and revenge.

What a sad situation!

Jos is supposed to be one of the most attractive tourist attraction centres in Nigeria, but see what religion has done to Jos. What a shame!

Jos has a climate that is superb and it’s one of the places I would have loved to visit but I dare not. I am disappointed, not in Jos really, but in Nigeria. The country is a completely failed state. Lacking in democracy and genuine leadership, the problems of the states is actually a reflection of the stupidity of the rulers. Not to fail to mention the absurd resiliency of the masses. These two abnormalities have now melted Nigeria into a jungle country.

The other day we read about, and saw horrible pictures of innocent people murdered and dissected by armed robbers. No greater insanity. Time after time, Jos and other places continue to erupt into violence and “small” wars.

There are problems upon problems in Nigeria but the politicians and conquerors of Nigeria are busy stealing, looting, talking nonsense in the house of assembly, sharing money and allowances across the various arms of government-monies that end up in private account and overseas. This country is a failed country! I’m so convinced.

No credible elections, no electoral reforms, no legal president, useless anticorruption war and all sorts of stupid things going on daily.

The one who is the acting president is still romancing the same people who stole, looted and destroy the country. He is one of them.

The Jos issue is not a local issue. It is a reflection of the lack of democracy and failure of the system. We have no defined system and the country is built on very useless people instead of strong institutions and good principles of governance.

I am not just crying for Jos, I am also crying for Nigeria.

The Jos Massacre: When Religion and Politics Blend

/ Adeola / 4 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

ONE of the most disturbing issues in the unification of Nigeria is religion. The North of Nigeria is dominated by Muslims and the south by Christians. But Muslims and Christians spread considerably well across the length and breadth of Nigeria. In my own family for instance we have both Christians and Muslims. My family is well educated and there is no doubts that we know what religion is and how to tolerate one another.

But how does one deal with thugs and illiterates who do not understand the views of other people on religious matters? It is a difficult situation indeed and in Nigeria the politicians over the years have continued to blend politics and religion. For instance, the constitution of Nigeria does not apply in every state in Nigeria. Yet some people are saying that Nigeria is one country. That is far from the truth, the only thing that is keeping Nigeria as one country is the crude oil from the Niger Delta.

In Northern Nigeria, the sharia law has been imposed on the population during the disastrous regime of Obasanjo. So depending on where you are in that geographical entities, different laws apply and your life style can change considerably. The ugly truth though is that the politicians have instituted the law for their own selfish gains.

In Jos-Nigeria, hundreds of people may have lost their lives because of an election that took the dimension of religious inclination. You can imagine that ignorance remains a weapon that has been used to send innocent people to their early graves. The perpetrators of these evil acts will never be found. They will never be brought to book. In Nigeria, this type of killing usually comes with the backings of some wicked politicians. The perpetrators enjoy privileged protection or anonymity and they will be unleashed again to do the same harm in the future. This is why religious riots or political riots associated with religion remains recurring incidents in Nigeria.

One of the reasons why this type of nonsense happens in Nigeria is because the politicians are thieves. Who would fight or kill in the name of service to the people? Politics in Nigeria is a winner takes all game. The winner steals and loots the treasury while the losers lick their wounds. If someone or a politician would pay or go to jail for stealing or for looting, I do not think there will be this mad rush to government houses across Nigeria. It is not an easy thing to serve. You need skills, you need knowledge and you need to be tolerant to a lot of things. You will persevere.

This is not the case in Plateau State where some idiots and fools have been killing other people because of election results. This is in fact not the case anywhere in Nigeria where the reason for politics is to steal and oppress the people.

In 2007, Yar Adua was forcefully imposed on Nigerians in what has been adjudged as the worst election in human history. If the president is occupying a position illegally, what do we expect from the other subordinate positions across the country? If the head is rotten, what part of the body can be whole? Nigerians are shying away from the truth and the consequences and repercussions will continue to be grave.

If the anomaly of April 2007 and the anomalies since 1914 and 1960 are not rectified, Nigeria will not make progress and these types of pockets of violence will continue to make the citizens to live in panic and fear.

More and more Nigerians are sliding below the poverty level while only a privileged few continue to enjoy abundant wealth. Corruption continues to eat deep into the fabrics of governance. The present illegal government continues to shade the likes of Ibori who used the stolen wealth of Delta State to bundle Yar Adua to Aso rock. This type of obvious evil acts will continue to deny this country of progress and the insincere search for prosperity will continue to be abstract-resulting in self-enrichment of the politicians and a few selected people. Nigeria today is definitely not for all Nigerians.

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Eye witness account: On BBC Africa