Nigeria

Pastors, Jets and other stories

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Adeola Aderounmu

Nigerian pastors may have declared to the millions of Christians in Nigeria that there is no God. How? By openly showing opulence and recently by the trendy acquisition of private jets, the message I got from that is “to hell with you in the congregation”!

I don’t understand why pastors cannot travel by economy or business class. What is the need for private jets? These are men who don’t work.

The congregation members who are ranged from extremely poor people to extremely corrupt politicians (and of course rare, legitimately rich people)toil day and night to make money and dumb the monies at the altar of God. Someone takes the money and buys a private jet. There will be no greater testimonies from these evil men that there is no God.

Religious veil is an additional ingredient to the rot in Nigeria.

People don’t demand justice and fairness from the government and the (useless) politicians continue to cart away billions daily.

The other day one useless wife of a governor tried to justify her frequent trips to London. In my view the fact that the child of a state governor can attend school in London means that the governor is foolish.

It means the governor has not done enough to equip the schools in his state. It means that the governor and his wife do not believe in the future of the state that they preside over. The Oyo state governor and other governors in Nigeria, like the one buying private jets with state funds deserved to be condemned to prisons. So should it actually be for 99.9% of Nigerian politicians that are thieves.

It is just too hard to ignore Nigeria. This is a country with so much promise but with many vices and unbelievable happenstances.

To even think about the rise of terrorism and overall prevalence of evil about good in the most religious country in the world is depressing.

The Nigerian pastors have shown that there is no point waiting for rewards in heaven because they don’t believe in heaven that they preach to the poor souls. They take from the poor and build estates and wealth for their unborn generations. It appears that the congregation is made up of fools. They are fooled by pastors and they are fooled by politicians.

I wondered if Mrs. Wife of governor has just returned from her weekly trip to London on tax payer’s money.

I am thinking out loud, how long will Nigerians be fooled and taken as muguns?

Obama’s Victory: The Lessons for Nigeria’s Do-Or-Die Politicians

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Adeola Aderounmu

The American Electoral System is a modified form of democracy in itself. The people have become used to the system after 200 years and they are satisfied with how it works.

In my country of birth Nigeria one is constantly worried about the nature of the politics. Nigeria’s politics is a disgrace to humanity. It is depicted by lack of common sense and it does not serve the purpose for which it is intended.

Nigeria’s politics is bloody and deadly. It raises violent men and women and suppresses intellectualism.

Nigeria became an independent country in 1960 and since then it has been from grace to grass politically because someone fools and idiots ran the show using violence, arson and aggression.

In very worrying situations, intellectuals have been part of this worrying politics.

It is so sad because Nigerians are not ready or willing to change their violent democratic principles.

Check out this joke on facebook:

IF USA WAS NIGERIA, TODAY’S HEADLINES WILL READ:

•Don’t celebrate yet, Romney tells Obama (TELL magazine)

•Concede defeat, Obama urges Romney (Punch newspaper)

• 20 opposition cadres riot (The Sun newspaper)

• Romney Demands Vote Recount (Vanguard newspaper)

• Elections rigged (Guardian newspaper)

• No evidence of manipulation (NTA news)

• The Church declares elections free and fair (News Line)

• There will be violence if we lose; Romney declares (LTV 8 news)

• Election results for Arizona awaited (Channels news)

• Trucks with suspected ballot papers crosses into USA from Mexico (Tribune newspaper)

• Romney is an opportunist – Go back to your farm (AIT news)

• I will not accept results, Romney tells Obama (STV news)

• McCain heads to Election Petition Tribunal (MITV)

• White Majority rejects results (PM News)

• Kenyan Big Boy Senator Obama Throws Lavish Party to celebrate Election Victory (City People)

• Free for all fight at Obama rally in Grant Park (Channels TV)

• Northern elders, Arewa and Sultan rejects results (ThisDay)

• Republicans and Democrats supporters clash in Ketu and Ajangbadi, 14 dead, Romney threatens more heads will roll. (Sahara Reports)

• The people behind Obama’s victory: True story uncovered (Newswatch)

Funny. But Let’s Be Objective This Would Have Been The Report If USA Was Nigeria.

Food For Thought.
Learn And Change (likely source, ENVOY MAG facebook page)

These imaginary headlines are so true and sad.

Nigeria will not have a free and fair election in the nearest future because the political structures are weak and the system of government is very sickling.

True federalism is needed and there is an urgent need to take power away from the center.

The people of Nigeria actually need a referendum to decide on the future of the British creation. This is why Biafra will never go away no matter how much it is suppressed by the reigning gangsters in Abuja.

The poverty in Nigeria is tied to the recklessness of the political status quo that promotes nepotism and total corruption. Total corruption is the state where almost everything in a system is corrupt and where the mentality of attaining sufficiency and happiness are tied to malpractice and ills rather than common good. This is the situation in Nigeria and it is very sad.

If this generation is too cowardly and too corrupt to make the radical changes, I am convinced that one generation in the future (no matter how long it takes) will make it right. It will never be too late to catch up with the rest of the world if the world doesn’t end today.

Free the Biafran Soldiers

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Adeola Aderounmu

Mr. Ben Onwuka, the leader of the Biafra Zionist Movement along with hundreds of his supporters have been arrested today after declaring the republic of Biafra in Enugu.

Details of the entire scenario and the riots/demonstrations are still sketchy.

My views about Biafra are clear. The people of Eastern Nigeria have the right to leave Nigeria but the approach and manner must be modern and acceptable. They could ask for a referendum through their representatives at the local, state and federal levels and seek a way forward.

The people of Eastern Nigeria can go a step further to make representations at the United Nations and push for global diplomatic supports.

One missing link in the new struggle for the actualization of Biafra is the absence of the voice of reasons. Do the Igbo leaders or rulers support the new aspirations? What is the position of the leadership or rulership of the Igbos?

These rulers or leaders cannot be hiding or creating incitements without a proper public declaration for the support of the aspirations of the people.

At the burial of late Ojukwu, sentiments were high and the Biafran flags were flying high. Just recently Achebe published his memoirs about the war. Some Igbos read the book and advised even on facebook that it was time to return to “their tents”.

Yes, in due time everybody will return to their tents. It will not matter how long it takes. Even these feeble generations of Nigerians don’t do the right thing, their children or grandchildren will do it-that is break up the fake marriage of completely different bed mates.

One day the different nations trapped within Nigeria will break apart and these break-ups will lead the biggest proliferation of nations ever seen in the history of man. It will happen even if this generation, like the previous generations continues to deny the knowledge of the truth of where the fake country is heading.

The greatest oppositions to the break-up as history and the present have revealed are those who are benefitting from the plundering of Nigeria.

They can live out their lives with these lies. Life afterall is transient. But truth is constant and one day those who cannot stand these mad acts with allow the disintegration of the British makeover.

There is no sense arresting the pro-Biafran activists. They came out in the open to state their wish even if their leaders are too selfish to stand behind them.

The annoying Nigerian government should instead turn and keep its radal on the Arewa Militants otherwise known as Boko Haram. These terrorists are hiding and they continue to kill, maim, destroy and plunder Northern Nigeria.

The Nigerian government should show some respect to those who wanted something and spoke their mind-even went a step further to show their intentions. What is the intention of Boko Haram, the militants arm or Arewa North?

For now, the Igbos should put their acts together and find a way to achieve their Biafra. If that is what they want, everybody must support it or they get it from a referendum. What Ben Onwuka is doing is beyond him. He and his BZM should make their case through the proper channel and involve the rulers of their regions. If their local rulers and politicians in the federal constitutions do not support Biafra, they may achieve it through a new war. They may also fail in the new bid. Millions of Nigerians in eastern and western are trying to avoid another war based on the experiences of the previous one. The bitterness even lingers. Ask Achebe!

Achebe Distorting History

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By Adeola Aderounmu

It is unclear why Chinua Achebe smeared late Awolowo in his new book-There was a country. People that are well respected worldwide in literature, art or any endeavor at all should need always to be careful when they go to the print.

Tribal sentiments and even emotional sentiments should not be allowed to overtake vivid reasoning.

Unfortunately Achebe did not realize this and it is shameful that despite his age and exposure to historical facts he decided to write the role of Awolowo during the Nigerian civil war. What Achebe wrote about Awolowo are pure lies and historical jargons.

There are so many books out there that have explained the role of late Ojukwu in both the war and the consequent genocide suffered by the people of Eastern Nigeria during the civil war. It is therefore needless for me to repeat or recant the things or issues that are known as facts and truths.

Those who are not sure should seek knowledge. What Achebe has done is to fan the tribal conflicts in the minds of people-both Easterners and westerners-which is diabolic in itself.

It brings to fore that one of the most important things in life, viewed consciously or unconsciously, is the protection of one’s race. Achebe’s book which I will definitely not read strengthens the call for Nigerians to return to their tent and mind their own business and destiny.

No matter how long it lasts, people of different races in Nigeria will continue to pretend that they love one another superficially while harboring contempt, hatred, malice and un-forgiveness in their hearts and souls.

It is a tragedy to live a life that you didn’t choose and to pretend that it was okay. It must have been painful and hurtful for Achebe that he and his people were denied of their country-Biafra. Living with that lose for several years took its toll and the book must be a piece of the iceberg of the inner sufferings.

However laying the blame at the feet of Awolowo was an irresponsible act.

The pseudo-existence of a country like Nigeria remains a recipe for racial discrimination, tribalism and severe underdevelopment. Only the captors of Nigeria and few people benefit from Nigeria. The rest are-in the words of late Fela Kuti-suffering and smiling.

My Random Reflections at 40

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Adeola Aderounmu

I am 40 years old today. I started this series when I turned 36. So this is the fifth edition of my random reflections on Nigeria.

The occurrence of negative things and tragic occurrences in Nigeria are so rapid and frequent that both local and international media cannot stay abreast of the tragedies. Nigeria records one of the highest frequencies of terrorist attacks in the world today. How did we get to this point?

Adeola Aderounmu

Adeola Aderounmu

I remember in 2009 when a group (known as APELSIN TILL JOS) was planning to take a road trip from Sweden to Jos in Nigeria interviewed me at my home and how the trip was eventually cancelled due to political and religious riots in Jos. The upheavals in Jos in 2009 and 2010 now appears to be dress-rehearsals for the mayhem that Boko Haram has inflicted on Northern Nigeria and Abuja since the emergence of the Jonathan administration.

I don’t think that anyone is still in doubts about the gross incapability of the Jonathan administration. In terms of security Nigeria has never had it so bad. Many innocent people have been murdered and slaughtered by the blood thirsty terrorists in Northern Nigeria. Mostly the terrorists walk free and have constituted themselves to a potent factor that may end the union of Northern and Southern Nigeria.

In general the safety of life and property is at an all-time low and Nigeria has one of the lowest life expectancy in the world. In Nigeria people are not guaranteed of safety in their homes and elsewhere. The roads remain terrible and the airways got a bad hit due to the recent tragic Dana Air crash. Survival of both the fittest and the rugged is a daily interplay in the Nigerian society. Anything can happen at any time and any place.

Unless something ingenious comes up the sleeves of the occupiers and rulers of Nigeria, there is a slight probability that the regime of Goodluck Jonathan might go down in history as the last one for Nigeria. The successes of Boko Haram so far however tragic may trigger the emergence or reactivation of other regional warlords in other parts of Nigeria. At least a people or a tribe must have the right to preserve its own existence once the condition for such gets out of the hand of the irresponsible rulers in Abuja. Events in Maiduguri and other key strongholds of Boko Haram have lent credence to the prediction that Nigeria may cease to exist by 2015.

It is not clear how federalism, regional government or new nations emerging from Nigeria will survive. Corruption is on one side, loss of values and cultural disorientations are on the other side. Too many uncertainties and a totally disorganized system are lurking in the background. Educational institutions and loads of other values that keep a society sane are lost in Nigeria. Nigeria has been on a free fall for over 50 years and it seems the chickens are finally home.

The problems with Nigeria have folded into a complex labyrinth. It appears that the dead ends are numerous. The worst thing is trying to exit the lobes with rulers having bloody hands, corrupt minds and almost no sense of direction.  Many years ago Nigerians substituted their leaders with rulers and ever since the demise of the regional governments, the road to perdition was certain.

My biggest concern for Nigerians is their welfare. No doubt the followership has been almost as bad as the rulership. I tried to refrain from using leaders or leadership when I write about Nigerian rulers. They rule, they never lead. The welfare of the Nigerian is non-existent and somehow a Nigerian does not know what the state owes him or her. The last time I was in Nigeria, I saw again the disconnection between the ruled and the rulers. Everyman runs his own kalakuta republic and there was no way to check both individual and executive recklessness. Nigeria more or less runs on “autopilot”.

It hurts to see the persistent widening gap between those who are rich by crooked means and those who are poor because of their positions in the society. Nigerians are paying more for electricity despite the fact they run their homes with generators and power plants. In other places that I know, that single act of “social terrorism”-that is paying the government for what the government is not providing”-will so much raise dusts, unrest and upheavals that it will bring down the government in no time.

It is amazing how the governments in Nigeria remain in the face of extreme corruption, social injustice, insensitivity to the plights of the masses, increase in the death rate due to unnatural causes, low purchasing power, extremely low wages and other vices too numerous to list. Governance in Nigeria is a big joke. It exists in words and vanishes in acts.

When I write my opinions about corruption, bad governments, useless rulers and acts like the worthless federal character system, I do so against a background of experiences I’d had since I was 8 years old-the first time I had to lead a group and it the first of many years of leadership and service. Today, as I’d always been, I am contented with my life. I work to earn a living like I’d done since 1990, a year after I left high school. My parents taught me all I needed to know about honesty and I believe in them because they trained us with good examples.

It hurts also to see how stupidity has reigned supreme in Nigeria. Many people have told me that I would be killed if I join Nigerian politics because “you must steal”. If you don’t the people around you will set you up and eliminate you. I have listened to some people who are planning to join politics in the future, from 2015 actually. According to them there is money in politics and those who are stealing until now don’t have 2 heads. This type of motivation means Nigeria will probably not make it. People steal; they are still stealing and walking free. In a disorganized system where institutions don’t work and the type of governance is counter-productive, it is hopeless to be hopeful.

Sometimes my hope in Nigeria is not just diminished, it is gone completely. In Nigeria good people are not keeping quiet anymore, they are actually drafted into government to become part of the looters. Many Nigerians of good characters have been drawn from home and abroad over the years just to become evil doers in different governments (civilian and military). The Nigerian system spreads evil and poverty at an alarming rate.

They say that a people get the type of rulers it deserves. Maybe this is true for Nigerians. For many years the country was on a free fall, the acceleration was magnified when the military destroyed the regions and brought in the useless state system. It has not worked and all indications point to the fact that it may never work. Nigeria’s jagajaga governments have over the years brought disaster and penury on the majority now over 90 million.

Hope for Nigerians can come with life and attitude, not with religiosity. It is time to remove the veil of God. Nigeria has the highest numbers of churches and mosques in the world yet Nigeria ranks amongst the worst places to live on earth. The lessons are obvious. The deceits are huge. My first message for Nigerians in 2011 was simple, stop saying it’s God. Everyday Nigerians tell me in chat rooms that God will do it. Even the politicians are saying God will do it at the same time that they are stealing and reaping from a system that is programmed to fail over 100 million people and benefit those who capture power.

No matter which way Nigeria turns, the efforts to regain her glory and positive fame will not depend on men or women but on institutions. It will not be unilateral but multi-dimensional and an aggregate of several simultaneous but positive forces. It’s like trying to revive the dead because with the advent and spread of terrorism Nigeria became a confirmed failed state and itself a ticking time bomb.

Everyday people open their facebook accounts to actually read about what is going on in Nigeria. It’s quite amazing where people go these days for the latest news. With the way things are going now and with the unhindered massacre across Northern Nigeria and below it, one day the news will come that Nigeria has made the final turn. I have written earlier that a people have the right to preserve its own existence, so if you ask me where that turn leads, my answer for now is I DON’T KNOW.

I’m 40 and I’m happy that my parents and my teachers prepared me for the life now. I’m happy for the gift of life. I’m happy to be able to contribute meaningfully to other people’s life through my friendship with them and also through my activities in the Yoruba Union in Stockholm. It makes a lot of sense to still be in touch and actually making useful contributions to Festac Town through my involvement in the Alumni Group.

I’m blessed with a wonderful family here in Sweden. It feels like home. In 1995 I read a wall poster at my aunt’s place in Omitowoju-Ibadan. The inscription was BLOOM WHEREVER YOU HAVE BEEN PLANTED.

There is going to be a celebration on Saturday the 14th and I’m expecting about 40 guests to celebrate with me. I have been planted. With my family and friends, I bloom.

These are my random thoughts.