Nigeria

A Remarkable Pact

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Buhari and Jonathan signed a peace agreement. Historically this is a very remarkable pact-that a peace agreement was signed before a war or in the absence of war between 2 factions.

A Remarkable Pact

By Adeola Aderounmu

Ade

The ugly tradition of politics in Nigeria remains and is madly sustained.

Several politicians flock from the PDP fold into the APC fold as the February 2015 elections draw closer. This massive, aimless exodus of purposeless, selfish and greedy politicians is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria.

Nigeria is peculiar.

I have emphasized before that there are rewards for political prostitutions in Nigeria. As it stands now, it is impossible to find the definitive line that separates the two main political parties in Nigeria.

A good friend based in Southie argued that APC is different from PDP: that when the PDP members cross carpet to the APC they will act differently because people are influenced by the type of company that they keep.

I disagree on this one because APC is increasingly becoming a party of PDP dropouts. So the party continues. Where is the change? Who is fooling who?

Every four years people fall to the same political scam. It’s like a ritual. For those who are entering into political awareness for the first or second time, they will soon learn the name of the game.

For several others suffering from political myopism because they have not been paying attention for a very long time, they have refused to learn that the system of politics in Nigeria is remarkably dysfunctional.

Since the clarion call for the abruption of the faulty political system to allow for the re-actualization of the dreams of the fighters of the Nigerian independence is not yet popular, the follow-follow majority continue to hold on to false hopes every four years.

As the national existence in denial continues, there are probably 3 scenarios that may emerge depending on if peradventure the forthcoming presidential election, against all odds, reached  conclusion, or not.

The first scenario is that Goodluck Jonathan may continue in power. This is possible because global democracy has a nasty history of what is called the power of incumbency. Umaru Yar Adua missed out by his untimely death.

Despite the gross incompetence and laziness of corruption-laden Goodluck Jonathan, he may persist to extend beyond 2015 the worst post-military years of the Nigerian life which began with Obasanjo in 1999.

It is not only the power of incumbency that could tilt the votes in his favor. There is always a difference between what people might consider as social media popularity and the reality. Sweden and in fact the rest of Europe provide classical examples.

Racists and extremists’ political parties are winning more votes and finding their ways to European parliament despite the upsurge of campaign against them on the social media.

So the question is why do they keep getting so many votes? In Sweden the racist party is the third biggest political party. The party may not be popular online but it garnered massive votes on election days.

A lot of people think that Buhari will sweep the Nigerian presidential elections. How many of those who support Buhari at rallies have the cards to vote? Many Nigerians like to attend political rallies just the same way they attend religious crusades.

Nigerians are very good lookers too. If taxes are collected for looking, a lot of money will flow in to the government coffers daily in Nigeria. But the money will be looted anyway.

If we assume that Nigeria conducts a free and fair election, the social media denigration of Jonathan does not necessarily imply that the coast is clear for Buhari.

But there are crises and mayhem already in Nigeria that may escalate and hinder a free and fair election. The success of Boko Haram is an additional catalyst to any chaos that may trail the 2015 elections in Nigeria.

The second scenario is that Buhari too can win the election. If the massive support on the virtual social media and at the physical rallies translates into non-pretense active participation, then Buhari may win.

In addition if all the PDP prostitute politicians who cross-carpeted to APC can successfully convince their followers to do the same and if they all have the voters’ cards to exercise their rights, then Buhari may get a land-slide victory, l think.

The third scenario is what many people don’t want to talk about because it is highly undesirable, but not impossible.

If Nigeria reached an unresolved stalemate, say, as an outcome of the interplay of inconclusive presidential elections, violence around the country and escalation of the Boko Haram war on Northern Nigeria, then the future of Nigeria may be decided following long-drawn battles that will take place both on the political and war fields.

I maintain that it is very risky that Nigeria entered into this election season with many prevalent problems unsolved and many questions unanswered. The dirt under the carpet is massive and stinking.

Nigerians must know that there was a reason for the peace accord that was signed in Abuja in week 3 of 2015 by the principal members of both APC and PDP. If anyone thought that it was ordinary eyes, they better go wash off their eyes to see the handwriting on the wall and the reason for the peace agreement.

Again, Buhari and Jonathan signed a peace agreement. Historically this is a very remarkable pact-that a peace agreement was signed before a war or in the absence of war.

Nigerians must hope that this peace accord spreads to everyone including Boko Haram before the election. It is in fact a good deal and it is better to use it proactively than to try to use it by hindsight.

In the meantime isn’t it about time the intra-and interparty uprisings in Rivers State are stemmed before they spread to other parts of the country? We know that Amaechi has been promised a number of ministerial slots and the elimination process by murder had started in earnest! Wike and Amaechi will need their own peace accord before the River burns!

Nigeria faces her biggest challenge ever since the end of the civil war because an election is planned amidst a long list of uncertainties and in the face of Islamic fundamentalists waging a war in the northern region.

When, and if the dusts ever settle, the bigger challenges will remain because the future of any nation is more important than where she is now.

There are outstanding problems that are partially independent of whoever becomes the ruler of Nigeria as I call them.

Summarily, as a matter of urgency, Nigeria needs to:

  • End the war in the north and disarm the terrorists in the south and elsewhere
  • Find a permanent political solution
  • Face the current economic reality from a global perspective

The political solution ace lies with the National Assembly all the time. Instead of doing their jobs, they have over the years allowed themselves to be overshadowed by calls for Sovereign National conferences and all kinds of ruses called CONFABs.

The Nigerian National Assembly has, for so long, neglected its role of debating the political structure of Nigeria and how to systematically remove or reduce the power concentrated at the center. This negligence reflects the evil nature of the extreme selfishness of Nigerian politicians.

The system works for their pockets, makes them billionaires and promotes their ineptitudes. The system that has destroyed virtually all important organs of governance, probity and accountability makes Nigeria probably the most corrupt country in the world.

As the National Assembly continues to ignore this role, corruption persists as the most organized activity in Nigeria.

Hence successive corrupt governments continue to institute or plan own convention and conference. Mr. Jonathan wasted a fortune from tax payers’ money on this recently. The real National Assembly must start to debate even if the debate outlives a certain government.

It will not matter how long Nigerians beat about the bush. One day in the future, they will be forced to discuss reasonably through the national assembly. If it becomes too late the third scenario highlighted above may be triggered.

Then they’ll again have to bring their representatives who will discuss and negotiate the future of Nigeria by force so that they can come forward with a functional system of government.

On the economy, let me remind Nigeria that the future of crude oil does not look bright. The world is looking and it is finding alternatives to fossil fuels including crude oil. The argument is to reduce the extraction and refinery of crude oil to the production of raw materials that are related to medicine and household needs.

So it means that the diversification of the Nigerian economy cannot wait.

Solving the political problems and allowing the different regions in Nigeria to plan their survival and economic future are some of the ingredients that can move the country forward as a true federation the way it was before the ugly coups of 1966.

Nigeria must make use of her honest historians and political scientists to show the proper road maps.

All the fools, nonentities and dunces running to politics solely for money making need to be stopped!

Apart from an effective military that is well trained and combatant ready, the removal of the excess power at the center is probably the other most effective check to the nonsensical ambitions of Boko Haram.

This suggested political option is also probably the most significant check that can remove violence/chaos that characterized the election campaign seasons. For if the power at the center is removed or reduced, the hassles for it will almost vanish.

Definitely functional law and judiciary systems play their unquestionable roles.

All that is needed to put Nigeria among the best countries in the world in the next half a century, which also includes eradication of corruption at all levels, cannot be discussed in one essay.

The people must be educated, live in manageable planned family, learn the civics of trust, co-existence, tolerance, selflessness, dignity of labor, patriotism, nation building and commitment to humanity and nature.

These virtues will avail much and their acquisitions are not dependent on religion or any remarkable political agreement.

aderounmu@gmail.com

A Season Of Uncertainties

/ Adeola / 3 Comments

Is this the Nigerian future: to create a country determined by interplay of terrorists, dictators and authoritarians?

A Season of Uncertainties

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola_2013

Nigerian politicians and rulers are out doing what they know how to do best. They are now telling lies in accordance to their ritualistic electoral campaigns largely without manifestos, without ideologies.

In a 2-part essay The Kings Are Mad, l highlighted some of the problems facing the Nigerian people whilst the rulers continue to lie, make empty promises and merry.

Mr. Buhari has now promised to send corrupt politicians to jail. Well, we don’t know how the February elections will turn out and many people are still afraid of the destructive roles that Boko Haram can play.

Apart from the obvious threats that Boko Haram poses, the entire polity is over heated.

But Buhari must be promptly reminded that his era as a dictator and tyrant are over. If people are corrupt they must first pass through a process of lawful prosecutions. It would be very, very interesting to see a bold system in Nigeria where all the political criminals in APC, PDP and other small parties can be put to trial.

A legal war on corruption and political criminals that may even consume the originator is long desired in Nigeria’s rotten political sphere. First, let them remove the stupid and useless immunity clause.

On his part Mr. Jonathan has been going about in Nigeria exposing his ineptitude, more or less disgracing himself and his political party, the PDP. Never in the history of Nigeria has anyone seen such an incoherent, unstable man at the helm of affairs.

It probably sounds wiser for Jonathan to call off his campaign until he can gather his thoughts and speak sanely.

Up till now, he has not been thinking before speaking. It appears there is no reservoir of intelligence left to tap from. On several occasions he has given opposite views on the same discussions.

After reviewing his contradictions in the press, how does it feel to look in the mirror and see the face of an unrepentant, lazy liar? How does it feel to be a commander-in-chief of a weak and defeated armed force on home soil?

In 2011 Jonathan made more than 200 promises on his campaign trails. He was going to be a magician l thought. He told Nigerians to discard him into the dustbin if electricity is not stable after 4 years of his reign. That is one major reason he should have passed the mantle to another candidate in his party. Perhaps someone else in PDP got some brains that work!

Jonathan exhibited the cruelest attribute of a dictator in recent memory when he ensured that only one nomination form was printed for the PDP primaries. He killed the idea of intra-party democracy under his watch! Greed is an incurable disease.

On his campaign trail this week, Jonathan has avoided issues and concentrated mainly on responding to whatever Buhari or APC have done or said. He puts himself and his party in a defensive role. As l write l don’t know my home telephone number by heart and l have no plan to memorize such. What is wrong with Mr. Jonathan?

Nigerians must blame themselves for the choice that lies ahead of them. They created or allowed a system that permits evil to prevail over good. Now they will choose between 2 undesirable elements whereas there are political solutions that could bring out the best men and women locked up (in their safe havens) by a cruel political system.

Now, on one hand is this liar, a sinking man in a PDP boat. Jonathan has no vision beyond his Bayelsa enclave where he has now armed the Southern terrorists with state of the art weapons. He handed over the security of Nigerian waterways to Niger Delta terrorists and continues to stock their pile with all kinds of arms and ammunition from around the world.

On the other hand is a former dictator with earlier indications of sympathy to Boko Haram and a man who will probably still not hesitate to create retroactive decrees to satisfy his thirst for brutality and injustice. Buhari is pretending to be a latter day repentant democrat.

A real political solution will bring about the emergence of true federalism or regional autonomy pre-January 1966 Nigeria. This is one way to rid Nigeria of authoritarians like Jonathan and dictators like Buhari who are both sadly products of a failed unitary system of government.

A real political solution will rid Nigeria of these national nonentities. A real political solution will bring out the intelligence that will rescue the nations locked up in non-functional Nigeria.

The persistent political nonsenses are thriving amidst very serious uncertainties. I have previously highlighted some of these uncertainties in recent essays: Daybreak 2015 and A Waiting Mayhem. The mayhems are here already.

The lazy government of Jonathan is on a campaign trail. It appears all the security apparatuses in the country have been totally deplored on this selfish campaign trail.

Since the emergence of Mr. Jonathan, Boko Haram has shown superiority of warfare combat than the Nigerian military. This is both disgraceful and embarrassing to a country that prides herself, falsely that is, as the giant of Africa.

There has been a form of de-classified information in the international community stating that the Nigerian government is contemplating postponing the 2015 elections. Against the backdrop of preparedness of INEC and the threats of insecurity across Nigeria, the truth will soon emerge.

Furthermore the escalation of massacres in North Eastern Nigerian coincided with the assertion by the governors from this region insisting that elections must hold in their states. Therefore it seems that the terrorists are hell bent on thwarting any plan towards conducting elections in Yobe, Adamawa and Maiduguri.

There are several problems in Nigeria. The most pressing since the emergence of the lazy Jonathan government is lack of security. It appears that Jonathan and his cohorts are prepared for the self-destructive process that could accompany forthcoming elections.

For, it must be stated clearly that it is uncommon and actually unthinkable that a country that wants peace for the people would go to an election year or period with as many problems.

What are the plans made to retake the terrorist-occupied states before the February elections? How can a presidential election be valid if elections do not take place across the country?

Nigeria herself is being held hostage presently. There are some hypotheses indicating that this may be true.

Firstly, it will be very sad if the APC adoption and support for Buhari were built on the fear created by Boko Haram. Many people are anticipating that Boko Haram will close shop if Buhari is elected. But that hypothesis was put to test in week 2 of 2015.

Boko Haram was reported to have massacred more than 2000 people in the town of Baga effectively closing down the town. Rather than slowing down, Boko Haram is decimating Nigerians and taking more land space.

There is unrest in Jos this weekend. Jos remains a boiling point of ethnic and religious problems. It is a permanent volatile city that swells for revenge and counter attacks dating back many years, precipitated by the British rule. The torching of the Jonathan PDP buses will definitely be a tip of the iceberg, if history is anything to go by.

Secondly Jimi Agbaje attested to the second hostage situation when he stated that the Nigerian economy will be crippled by the Niger Delta militants if Jonathan is not re-elected. Is that what Jonathan went to tell his “fada”-Babangida in Minna?

Was the meeting a sponsors’ meeting? Was a battle line drawn between what Boko Haram wanted and what the Niger Delta militants wanted? Is this the Nigerian future: to create a state determined by interplay of terrorists, dictators and authoritarians?

Few people were reported killed in Rivers State when Buhari flagged off his campaign. In the South, this is a preamble to the waiting mayhem come February 2015. There are weapons and small arms everywhere in Nigeria.

This will be a remarkable year of uncertainties.

The price of crude oil continues to drop in the international market.  Nigeria is officially broke after all the lies told by Mrs. Iweala under whose watch billions of dollars continue to disappear.

In any case massive retrenchment looms in the air; unemployment is set to reach a new record high in 2015. Austerity measures will be re-introduced; realities of life will bite harder in Nigeria.

Unfortunately the costs of running the government will likely go up and politicians will continue to loot the treasuries across the country.

What will Nigerians do regarding all these uncertainties and realities? Will they reach a new level of threshold of human resilience?

Change is the most common expression in the air.

People need to be informed that change is beyond replacing one man with another man.  A cosmetic change is too superficial. At this point there should be a simultaneous, energized clamor for a long term political solution for Nigeria. The most important change will be to eradicate the power at the center that makes demons out of men and Jezebels out of women.

For growth and development, Nigeria needs to reinvest in public education at all levels making them free and compulsory. Nigeria needs to pay more attention to health, science, medicine, family planning, technology and attainment of the millennium development goals.

For the economy diversification cannot wait because crude oil will either suffer extinction or its use will continue to diminish. Today, crude oil no longer has the relevance it has in the last couple of decennial. Alternatives are emerging every day and the global pursuit is to limit the use of petroleum products to products that are not obtainable from other processes. Running cars is not one of them!

Every part of Nigeria needs repositioning for increased and improved agricultural productivity. Oil Palm, cocoa, groundnut, yam, cashew and all the other agricultural products must receive renew attention and implementation of development policies.

The natural resources need to be retaken from fake expatriates and corrupt, foolish, illiterate ministers who keep selling them abroad cheap! More investments in this area under the control of the regional governments will be desirable in a reformed political system.

In all other areas, there should be strict regulations on areas where Nigerian and Nigerians are being robbed every day. The communication industry, power generation and distribution are examples of where better control will bring genuine revenues that can be used for development and remove the exploitations that Nigerians face ignorantly!

At all cost, power supply must improve and be stable.

Production and manufacturing in Nigeria can be developed without denying Nigerians the right to import desired goods and services. Long term development goals and programs to improve the standard of living without unnecessarily increasing the cost are very much desirable.

Change can come to Nigeria but the people must be wary. They have already tarried.

They need commitment, patriotism, trust and rededication to humanity and country.

By supporting the calls for regional autonomy or true federalism, Nigerians can remove the cankerworm sucking them at the center and reposition the country where it belongs-a global giant-say in 50 years if they start now.

2015 Most Wanted Report

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 If the calls for the trial and imprisonment of George Bush Jr. for example cannot be found in the report for 2014, maybe a call for pardon or amnesty (and not a justification) for Charles Taylor will not be out of place as well.

All men are equal and what is good for the goose ought to be good for the gander.

2015 Most Wanted Report

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola_2013

The Human Right Watch Report for 2015 is one of the most anticipated world reports of the year. It will read 2015: The events of 2014.

What keen observers will be hoping to read will not only be the events of 2014 but more accurately the revelations of 2014. This means that known but hidden/classified reports covering the human rights violations of the United States and her allies during recent wars and occupations of other countries will be expected to make the reports.

In 2014 the United States, was described as having medium risk of human rights offenses and she ranked 139th among the 197 countries. The ten worst countries were

10. Nigeria

Yemen

Myanmar

Iraq

Afghanistan

Somalia

Pakistan

The Democratic Republic of Congo

Sudan and

1. Syria

The conditions that made these ten countries the worst places in 2013 were largely unchanged in 2014.

For example the Syrian civil war with the rise of ISIS in the Middle East still places Syria and Iraq amongst the worst places to be born in 2014. Religion despite all its rites of morality unfortunately also remains the most dangerous tool when brothers set out to kills their own kinds.

Boko Haram kept its hold on North Eastern parts of Nigeria and continues to control many local government areas in Borno and neighboring states. The terror group remains specialists in abducting and raping young girls. With Boko Haram, slave trade and human trafficking are kept alive in the Sahara.

The rise and successes of Boko Haram may stall the February elections in certain places in Nigeria. This may be so significant that it may result in the postponement of the elections with expected mayhem and escalation of the drums of war.

In Southern Nigeria it appears Mr. Jonathan has equipped his local militants with weapons from Norway, South Africa and Pakistan in readiness for war. The Nigerian military on the other hands is ill-equipped and had forfeited many grounds and weapons to Boko Haram.

In the 2015 Human Right Watch Report, Nigeria will be presented not only as an extremely corrupt country but a geographical region where human rights violations are rife and face escalation.

The rest of the world will not be disappointed with the established activities of the Taliban. Their yearlong crimes in 2014 culminated in massacre of 132 school children in Peshawar.

But back in the United States, there were more provocative revelations about the roles of the United States military in Iraq and Guantanamo. The revelations have heightened the call for the trial of George Bush a former president of the United States and some of his military chiefs.

Apart from the war crimes there were serious internal challenges in 2014 that rightly positioned the US as a serious contender as one of the countries with the worst human right violations in 2014.

The extra judicial killings that have been watered down for several decades reared their ugly heads and took on a non-suppressive dimension in 2014. It will be unfair to blame this awareness on media hype. I do not agree that the media blew the unfortunate events out of proportion. It is just the right thing to do rather than remaining silent when a persistent evil repeats itself with clear precisions.

Human Right Index 2013-2014

Human Right Index 2014

No amount of media hype will be excessive to seek justice and redress for the killings of Eric Gardner, Michael Brown, Kajieme Powell, Vonderrit Myers Jr and Antonio Martin just to mention a few that got our attention in recent months. Who knows exactly how many John, Jane and Baby Does went down in the US in 2014?

There are quite a handful of images and videos emanating from the US and going viral on the social network that depict in extreme situations daylight executions of colored people by white cops.

The 2015 Human Right reports will be of interest, a waiting thriller perhaps.

The place of the killer drones is hard to define but it has come to represent a form of repressive, excessive force, large unaccounted for. The American killer drones under Mr. Obama widen the stretch of international war crimes.

The world is waiting. Where will the US be? Based on current knowledge and events, will the authors miss the position of the US among or near the ten worst countries? Shall we be distracted to Russia, Ukraine and North Korea as a reprieve?

More so the double standard of rating human right abuses is condemnable.

What makes Charles Taylor suitable for prosecution / jail term based on human right abuses in Liberia and Sierra Leone but the presidents of the United States and the Prime Ministers in Britain unsuitable for prosecutions despite all the war crimes committed on their behalf around the world?

Charles Taylor is serving a 50 year jail term for aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sierra Leone and Liberia. His arrest, detention and trial brought about a weird diplomatic drama among many countries including Nigeria, Liberia, the US, Britain and the Netherland.

Charles Taylor spoke of injustice early in his trial because he pointed out that George Bush and Dick Cheney are guilty of the same crimes he was accused of. All his other lines of defense also fell flat.

The world is watching closely again. The United States is expected to be among the worst countries in the world where human rights violations became an issue. This view is shared by several independent human right observers.

It is expected that Human Right Report will be clear on highlighting how different forms of torture were used in Abu Dhabi, Guantanamo and so on.

The world is waiting to read the report about the innocent American citizens who fall to police bullets everyday on home soil without recourse to justice.

So many things are unclear. For example, there are more colored people in jails for crimes related to drug possessions but the white population has the larger percentage of drug users. The tilted nature of criminal prosecutions in America does not favor the African-Americans.

The Human Right Watch report for events of 2014 is under a special watch light.

The reports of the watch dog will be closely monitored. If the calls for the trial and imprisonment of George Bush Jr. for example cannot be found in the human right report for 2014/2015, maybe a call for pardon or amnesty (and not a justification) for Charles Taylor will not be out of place as well.

All men are equal and what is good for the goose ought to be good for the gander.

aderounmu@gmail.com

A Waiting Mayhem?

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

In this age of information just like it was in the dark eras a few hundred years ago we continue to see that money is the root of all evil and religion remains the most potent tool when a brother is set to kill a brother.

A Waiting Mayhem

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola_2013

Ahead of the 2015 Nigerian elections one of the likely places where ominous signs can trail or follow the process is in the western part of Nigeria.

Three main factors are deepening the cleavages in western Nigeria.

The first is the different political parties that the aspirants belong to. The second is their religions. The third factor is the money flowing from PDP’s Aso Rock and APC wallets.

There are cold wars in western Nigeria between the two main political parties, the APC and the PDP. Politics across Nigeria is generally full of bitterness and hatred. One can have a legitimate reason to be worried about the likely things to come in the Yoruba country.

For instance the APC will like to continue its grip on Lagos and other states in Western Nigeria. Even the Oba of Lagos has vowed that PDP will never rule in Lagos.

Mr. Agbaje will fly the PDP flag in Lagos. Unless my statistics is failing me, the Muslim community is torn between their religion and voting PDP to take over Lagos. The twisted slogan has changed to “not about party but candidate”. It’s a very sad development to even consider religion ahead of the pedigree of a candidate. The Lagos thriller will be interesting.

The greater influence of religion on the mindsets of the descendants of Oduduwa and Orunmila is in the presidential election race.

There have been a lot of undertones loud enough to show that the support for Buhari in the Yoruba country is more of religious sentiments than one can relate to ideology.

Buhari has not proposed any political ideology or manifesto and his party APC has not produced a blueprint to set Nigerians free from their mental and political slavery that Buhari himself helped to build as a dictator.

The total failure of the PDP since 1999 and the Jonathan government in particular since 2009 means that ideologies can wait in a geographical region where stealing is not corruption.

The reverberation and the boomerang effects that emerged when the PDP accused the APC of being an Islamic party were also enormous. If Jonathan sits on evidence linking Boko Haram to Buhari or APC and has kept mum, may the souls of the victims haunt him to his grave.

With all the romance of Goodluck Jonathan with gangster pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and the church in general, not many people have accused the PDP of pursuing a Vatican agenda.

Even when Jonathan led Nigerian politicians to weep in faraway Israel instead of weeping at home for their failures, no one has accused the PDP of pursuing a Jewish agenda.

Then to make sure that it neutralizes the assertion of the PDP, the APC nominated a relatively unknown pastor as the vice-presidential aspirant of its political party.

Those who say religion cannot be eliminated from Nigeria’s politics were right after all. They won the argument. Some of us are just stubborn and hoping that people will begin to use their senses instead of their brainwashed cerebral hemispheres. We lost.

The third factor tearing the children of Oduduwa apart is money. A lot of money continues to disappear daily under the watch of Mrs. Iweala and Mr. Jonathan. Parts of these missing funds are pumped into the hands of Jonathan loyalists in Western Nigeria without accountability. It is like an open tap that has even flown to groups abroad.

In all of these unwholesome dramas, a complete thriller is set up in the Yoruba country. Brothers are now set to kill brothers. The influences of lazy Mr. Jonathan and brutal General Buhari are detrimental to the Yoruba country where reasons have been thrown to the winds. It’s a shame.

Even within a party the hatred is boundless and it smells of insane cruelty. For example gunshots were heard during the PDP primary that led to the emergence of Jimi Agbaje. Mr. Obanikoro is still running from pole to pole and from coast to coast to seek the annulment of the process.

He cannot comprehend how he lost the primaries despite all the funds from Aso rock at his disposal. He succeeded in Ekiti and failed at home. Now he has no portfolio. What a pity! He should team up with Atiku to become the biggest losers group of company.

There is trouble across the Yoruba country. The curious re-emergence of Mr. Fayose in Ekiti continues to brew palaver. The dusts seemed not going to settle and a spill over to February 2015 is not in the interest of the Yoruba people. A plump of a tiny fart can do a lot of havoc in the pant.

Now the APC Ekiti lawmakers are meeting clandestinely. They are on the move constantly. They cannot live in their houses as thugs or security agents can emerge to cut their heads or slice their throats. Is this the dream of the Yoruba country? Is mayhem the way forward?

There are deeper cleavages between the Muslim and the Christian communities in western Nigeria. Buhari was compelled to nominate a Christian as his deputy. How bad will it get in 2015?

How did religion come to play a master role in the election process in Nigeria when Abiola and Kingibe conquered all just in 1993?

For all his crimes, is Buhari forgiven in Yoruba land? Just like that?

Nigeria may be heading to the abyss, for these problems are not restricted to the Yoruba country.

There was a headline that Anglican members in one eastern state are rejecting catholic-catholic candidatures for electoral offices. This is not just stupid, it is also silly.

What is wrong with people in Nigeria? Have they replaced their heads with empty coconut shells?

In all of these wahalas, ideologies are yet to be brought to the fore. We have not heard the programs for education, health, infrastructure, immigration, security and solutions to unemployment.

For the 2015 elections it would have been preferable to have an opposition that is based on ideology and the clamor for change based solely on the failure of the lazy Jonathan government to deliver at the national levels. After all many state governors failed to deliver at the state levels and many local government chairmen are mere crooks.

The upcoming general elections in Nigeria elections are brewing a lot of anger, dissatisfaction, hatred, bitterness and vengeance.

The coming days are going to be tougher for Nigerians. The global price of oil is dropping by the day. The government as it appeared has not saved for the rainy days despite being mainly a single-market economy, relying heavily on the sales of crude oil for sustainability.

Almost 60 years of maladministration may catch up with Nigeria, suddenly. Lack of foresight and lack of planning for the future may catch up with Nigeria. Greed, selfishness and corruption may catch up with Nigeria. Allowing corrupt and silly people including dictators to rule in Nigeria may catch up with Nigeria.

These ingredients-elections under uncertainties, deep seated hatred between and among tribes, religion brainwash-ness, bitterness and a failing economy likely to make monsters out of men-in a country already on a free fall might spell disaster unless a Nigerian-styled fire brigade shock absorber is set off early.

The success of the elections, the outcomes and the acceleration of quick-fixes that may beam of hope will sustain the resilient spirits of Nigerians. It may put the mayhem on hold in western Nigerian and other places.

There is no unifying factor on ground in 2015. In the time past, male football has helped to hold Nigeria together. Nigeria is not playing at the 2015 Nations Cup. The omen up to February does not look good.

Additional characteristics for building a successful future for Nigerians and the unborn generations must be elaborated: long term developmental goals, functional political structures, devolution of power to states/regions, true federalism, purposeful implementations of programs to diversify the economy, focus on education, science and technology, dedication to people and country and the respect for the equal value of the human life. All of these will be useful.

There is nothing that is too late in life. It’s still about 2 months to the elections. Who will embark on the rapid nation-wide campaign to down tone the influence of religion as the countdown to the election days draw near? Will INEC? What about the Ministry of Information?

What will happen in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno during the elections?

Who will put a hold to the financial recklessness at Aso rock? Who will stop the draining of funds from the APC states so that the people can have more benefits?

Will it require Jonathan worshipping in a mosque or Buhari conducting a church service to show ignorant Nigerians that religion is not supposed to be significant in public service?

Did I mention that I don’t fancy any of these 2 candidates? In my dreams growing up in western Nigeria, I did not see a clueless or weak man leading the now sleeping “giant” of Africa and l had no idea a former dictator will become a superhero of anybody in Nigeria.

But a country is the sum of the people’s wisdom or foolishness. Nigeria tamed her men and women of valor and good characters. Stupidity was elevated in public offices.

In this age of information just like it was in the dark eras a few hundred years ago we continue to see that money is the root of all evil and religion remains the most potent tool when a brother is set to kill a brother.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Obasanjo’s Medicine: Shake After Use

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Obasanjo’s is shaking after taking his own medicine. He will not be canonized. He ran a corrupt government too. If it took him 8 years to realize he also handed over to corrupt people like him then he may have suffered from a form of premature dementia

Obasanjo’s Medicine: Shake After Use

By Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

Around 1988 my physics teacher at Festac Grammar School Mr. Olatunji, a civil engineer by training told the class a joke. He said there was a man who was given a prescription by the doctor. So the man went his way, bought the medicine and took it.

After a few days his condition did not improve. So he picked up the bottle of medicine and read the instructions carefully. Somewhere on the bottle it stated “SHAKE BEFORE USE”.

When the man discovered the instruction, he started to jump up and down, whirled his waist and shook his belly at the same time. He wanted to ensure that all the medicine he had taken mix thoroughly inside of his body.

You’re guaranteed of getting wiser for every lesson you attended with Mr. Olatunji in front of the classroom. He told us at that time that with his knowledge and education-he should be sitting on the 35th floor of a civil engineering firm.

But he was stuck with us for a while, teaching and giving us hope for a brighter future. To make ends meet Mr. Olatunji also ran a private coaching outfit popularly called lesson. A very clever man with excellent skills in mathematics, I learnt later on that he found a job outside of teaching. I hope life treated you well, sir!

Now I look forward to reading General Obasanjo’s book. But I have seen a few of the previews that early birds have posted online.

Sometimes in late 2007, several Nigerians started the process of canonizing Obasanjo. It was either he controlled the media or the impatient people were doing an early comparison of his tenure as the ruler of Nigeria with that of the puppets that he almost singlehandedly installed after his failed third-term bid.

Some believed that Obasanjo brought in Yar Adua and Jonathan because he wanted to show Nigerians that they would have been better off with him as a life president. There are still many theories on why Obasanjo brought 2 peculiar political invalids to rule Nigeria.

I am trying to place Obasanjo in the positions of both the doctor and the patient in Mr. Olatunji’s narration.

As the former ruler of Nigeria for a total period of about 10 years, are there pieces of information in Obasanjo’s book that he could have applied in making Nigeria a better place for all? Were there prescriptions he didn’t read out loud when he addressed Nigerians for 10 years?

What efforts did Obasanjo make to minimize corruption under his regime as a military dictator and a civilian ruler? Does he have the justification to accuse other people of the same crimes that he committed? What efforts did he make to stop the introduction and implementation of extreme Islamism in Northern Nigeria?

Why did he employ the services of a criminal in the person of James Ibori to spearhead the change that would have ensured that he ran for the office of the Nigerian president for a record third time?

Then when the third term bid failed Obasanjo oversaw that Ibori continued to drain the resources of the people of the Niger Delta in promoting Yar Adua. Ibori, an ex-convict was almost going to become Nigeria’s vice president under Obasanjo’s watch, a road map that could also have placed him in line to the presidency.

Obasanjo is like the people he criticized in his new book. How did he get Otta back from scrap to a multi-billion naira project just after emerging as the military’s choice in 1999?

What happened to all the billions of naira spent on power generation under his watch? I hope I will read about his shady deals in his new book of revelations because from space Nigeria is still one of the darkest places in Africa today. What about the funds meant to equip the police force that ended up with his family members?

Obasanjo and some of the people mentioned in his book like Atiku where co-criminals at the helm of affairs in Nigeria. They even went a step ahead in their criminal pursuits in the international Halliburton bribery scandal. It was only in Nigeria that the criminals involved in this scandal were not punished. The criminal law system in Nigeria is a huge joke.

Obasanjo can win accolades for his book, for the gladiate contents. He likes to play to the gallery and that sort of excitement is what most Nigerians want.

They want to accept one form of evil above another. They want to agree that Obasanjo was better than Jonathan because the law system in Nigeria does not query, try and send people for prison for serious crimes like state murder and looting of the treasury with good governance as the opportunity cost.

How has the larger Nigerian populace benefitted from Obasanjo’s wit and tricks since he emerged as a PDP politician?

I am not thankful to Obasanjo for his contributions to the misery of the Nigerian life. I cannot appreciate him for his roles directly and indirectly in the demeaning of the Nigerian life.

In terms of establishing institutions and empowering people that will contribute to the progress of Nigeria Obasanjo is probably more clueless than Jonathan.

If the law and justice system in Nigeria are fair, would Obasanjo be a free man or a prisoner today? Who takes the responsibility for the political assassinations under his watch? Who killed Bola Ige? Did he provide the hints in his book?

Obasanjo enjoys having his hands and voice in everything. The preview of Obasanjo’s books that I’ve read placed him in the category of the people I described in my column last week-the people with foolish expectations.

He led a corrupt government and imposed another clueless corrupt government yet he’s out there crying over a foreseeable tragedy. What hypocrite!

In the same vein, when I would have read his book, I might still find it difficult to remove Obasanjo from the category of Nigerians on Lagbaja’s scale of mumuism.

Millions of Nigerians also fit in to the patient role in Mr. Olatunji’s story. They are now jumping up and down and wriggling their bellies because they have taken their medicines without reading the label where it state shake before use. We’ll see where this takes them in February 2015.

Obasanjo knew that Jonathan was incompetent as the governor of Bayelsa. Everybody in Bayelsa knew his deputy was in charge when he was a governor. If Obasanjo was not aware of that then he must have suffered from a premature dementia. If it took Obasanjo 8 years to realize that he handed over to a corrupt government like the one he managed, then he needs a quick help.

Millions of Nigerians were basking in 2011: we are voting for Jonathan, not the PDP. It was laughable, yet very sad to read the collective reasoning of a people drained of both mental and physical strengths. What options were available anyway? An endless dilemma it must be.

It sounded as foolish as when Babangida said he did not cancel the results of the 1993 elections, that he only annulled it. It’s the same rigmarole when he said he was stepping aside when he ought to have been arrested and imprisoned for treason.

It was that fateful cancelled elections that Obasanjo benefitted from. He even campaigned on behalf of the treason perpetrators like Ibrahim Babangida. Obasanjo said MKO Abiola was not the messiah.

Obasanjo’s messiah for Nigeria since 2009 was Mr. Jonathan. When did he detect the truth that now set his wicked mind free?

I am making efforts to get Obasanjo’s books to my domain. I look forward to reading Obasanjo’s explanation as to why he collected the Halliburton bribe.  Also I want to know how much he got. Was it a third of $74m or a straight N27b?

I will like to read Obasanjo’s book so I can mock his gullibility-that at his right and ripe ages in 1979 (Shagari), 1993 (Abiola), 2007 (Yar Adua) and 2011 (Jonathan) he was fooled or he fooled Nigerians.

Obasanjo’s is now shaking after taking his own medicine. Too late I am sorry.

When Mr. Obasanjo is done with whirling his waist or shaking his belly, I hope someone can tell him that some people actually read the labels and instructions on their medicines before they swallowed them.

If he ever gets another chance in his life time, one hopes that he reads the label before prescribing or taking the medicine himself.

For now he should stop crying over the milk he spilled as the search for true and exemplary leaders continue in the rising struggle to liberate Nigeria and Nigerians.

aderounmu@gmail.com