RDV: PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSPARENCY FOR A CORRUPT-FREE NIGERIA

Recently our dear country has been grappling with the menace of insecurity occasioned by the terrorist activities of some known and unknown groups. This has resulted in an imminent threat to that thinning fabric that was hitherto holding the various units of the country together. However it is not only the acts of terrorism that is challenging the corporate existence of Nigeria. The conduct of our public office holders has been identified as yet another possible cause of the present state of insecurity. For several years now, the sharing of the “National Cake” has almost assumed a constitutional status, where public servants and politicians criminally enrich themselves with impunity to the detriment of the populace.  Most patriotic Nigerians who would have otherwise teamed up with the security agencies to fight the prevailing insecurity are reluctant to do so when considering the high rate of corruption in the polity.

Public corruption ultimately carries in its wake extreme reactions from the impoverished masses. Nigerians of today are enlightened and seeking emancipation from the shackles of poverty bequeathed to them by corrupt and criminally enriched public servants and their cronies.

However we in Rights and Democracy Volunteers (RDV) thank our visionary President, DR GOODLUCK JONATHAN GCFR for having the courage and political will to initiate a determined fight against corruption in his transformation agenda. The FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) ACT is a veritable statute in the war against corruption and we urge Nigerians not to ignore this Act.

In the last four months we have had reason to believe that Nigeria is undergoing a quiet revolution in the area of Public Accountability and Administrative Transparency under President Goodluck Jonathan. During this period we invoked the provisions of the FOI Act in investigating allegations of contract impropriety against the FCT Administration under SENATOR BALA  MOHAMMED, the FCT Minister.

Responding to our request, the Hon. Minister directed that relevant books and records be opened for our team of Volunteers to verify claims that contracts were awarded in outright abuse of official privileges and without compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurements Act.

At the end of the exercise, which included physical appraisal of non-perishable procurements, it was evident that:

a)      Procurements at the FCT are done in compliance with the provisions of the Public Procurements Act.

b)      Voluminous procurements are segmented to accommodate available finances over a period of time.

c)       The accounts of the FCT Ministry are properly and professionally audited by the Auditor General of the Federation.

d)      Victimization of any kind is non-existent at the FCT Ministry, as people are given equal treatment without the bias of gender, religion or ethnicity.

e)      The FCT Administration under Senator Bala Mohammed is transparent and embraces public good and accountability to a high degree.

IN CONCLUSION

1.       The FOI Act, as a transformation tool of President Goodluck Jonathan – led government, is not a fluke and is meant to bring democracy closer to the people and also assist the government in eradicating corruption.

2.       The Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, has, by his respect of the FOI Act in giving our Team of Volunteers access to relevant records concerning our enquiries, shown that President Goodluck Jonathan means well for Nigerians, and that there is no “instruction from above” to frustrate the FOI Act as speculated in some quarters.

3.       Nigerians have a duty to make the FOI Act and other Laws of our nation work. Our public servants and political appointees must emulate Senator Bala Mohammed by ensuring that our Laws are respected so that democracy would thrive for the benefit of Nigerians.

4.       We enjoin Nigerians to support and encourage President Goodluck Jonathan in ensuring that the true meaning of democracy is brought to bear so that future generations of Nigerians will inherit a virile political and economic system.

Long live President Goodluck Jonathan!

Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!

ALHAJI SANI ALIYU                                                                                     BARR. IMO ABIAESSE

Country Director                                                                                                     Country Secretary

Please let’s appreciate IBB this time…

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

-Voltaire

To be sincere, I have never seen or met General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida a.k.a IBB, Maradona, the gap-toothed general, evil genius, the general on the hill top and so on, in person.  The closest I have ever come across or seen the alluring general was on TV, newspaper or magazine.  Being a Nigerian, naturally compelled me to  hear, know and see him on TV , hear his calm soft-spoken voice on radio or see his famous gap-toothed  smile in some of the  newspapers and magazines that were still lucky and bold to be floating during his long martial rule  as Nigerian military  president.

As a reader and writer , I have been fortunate to read and hear many of his utterances and actions, including the many gossips and hear say about him. And as time goes on, I became facilitated and at the same time awed about this Nigerian that has still remained an enigma in our existence as a nation, despite his many years out of public service. I read  and heard with awe  some of his  popular wahala with the Nigerian people,which includes: his structural adjustment programme(SAP), his long drawn battle with the late Gani Fawehinmi on suspicion of his regime’s hands in  Dele Giwa’s murder, his offence for killing his  childhood friend Maman Vatsa,  the popular notion that he had a hand on the  Ejigbo plane crash, his alleged involvement  in the Gloria Okon drug saga, the famous oil windfall and  his unforgettable annulment of June 12 presidential election.

I was fortunate to read and see his ideas, utterances and plans last year when he stepped out to contest one of the most controversial presidential elections in this country. And like a golden fish with no hiding place the media unleashed its fangs on the controversial general, bashing him from every angle and finally took him to the cleaners. They dusted his file and exposed his utterances and deeds to old and new generation of Nigerians and the rest of the world, taking advantage of social media through the internet. Though the bold general fought out with his valor,  the voice of the people was just too strong for him to win over this time around. He had no option but to forgo his ambition to rule Nigeria once again, this time as a democratically elected president. He had no choice but to succumb to the treacherous decision of his party to forgo its earlier zoning agreement.

Though I have never been a big fan of the gap -toothed general, nor subscribed to some of his policies in and out of government,  some of his ideas during his botch presidential campaign did appeal to me, especially his view on the issue of federalism and federal character employment. But of all his statement so far , I think his best avowal so far to me is his recent proclamation on the unity of Nigeria at the 9th Daily  Trust  Dialogue held in Abuja and I quote “ You see in this country we fought the war for  three years  for the benefit of living  together. I have a bullet in my body, so nobody will talk to me about secession or breaking away. If you do, I would always say yes, get my tailor to take my measurement, get on my khaki and go back to fight a war to keep this country together even at 71.” Wahoo! What a patriotic nationalist expression coming out from this old soldier. I wish many of our other retired generals, and self exclusive business and political elite will be bold to take their  cue from him and understand that we all have no other country than this big blessed nation and must be willing and ready to discard all our expensive and not so expensive babanriga, agbada, coats, suits, wrappers, caftans and what have you to salvage its threatened foundation.

It actually made a lot of sense to me and I believe to other rational thinking Nigerians that at last one of the many troops of retired generals and statesmen we have in this country have come out to boldly voice out his anger on the orchestrated plans by some of our self-centred, unpatriotic and prejudiced leaders and purported statesmen to cause chaos and divide this country.  At least, Nigerians are beginning to hear some fresh inspiring words  after the daily antagonized and instigating statements, utterances , press releases and actions of some of our religious, traditional and political leaders across virtually all the regions of the country; senseless statements that are not known with elderly statesmen across the civilized world.  Some of us have all been witnesses to myopic statements by different political groups, regional and tribal associations over some materialisms and vanities in some part of the country, thereby fueling our already tensed nation, with some of them shamelessly calling for the break-up of the country, forgetting that other factors like marriages, birth, trade and religion are strong natural reasons why this great country must remain together.

I think it is human to appreciate General Babangida this time for having the gut to speak out his mind on the current persistence bombings of our land and the killings of innocent Nigerians in the name of indigene/settler fracas. We should try to give a free applause to him for not taking a sidon look posture like some of the other old soldiers and statesmen who seem to have lost their courage and are afraid to say something as their ancestors land and graves are daily disturbed by bombings, ethno-religious brawls, dare devil robberies and other chilling orgies of blood bath.  

 Again, when I read the hilltop general’s speech at the dialogue I had no choice but to agree with some of his takes and observations; like his poke at our dear minister of information which went thus: “I would like to welcome another distinguished speaker, my younger brother , the Honourable  Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku. During my years in office, Honourable Labaran Maku was one of the hot –headed young student leaders in this country who was always leading student demonstrations against SAP and against very minor increases in fuel prices.”  

 I must confess here that I tried to picture the young frame of our said hot- headed minister then at the bottom of the ladder, and how he must have felt against the unpopular SAP and other hard economic policies  of the Babangida administration.

The general did not stop there, as he went further with his truthful jab. “I am very glad to note that a robust young idealist like him has now found himself in government. In fact, he is now the spokesman of the government at a time when it is facing a lot of criticism from hot-headed young and not - so- young labour, student, and academic and civil society critics for deregulating fuel prices. I am sure that Labaran will use his wealth of experience as a critic of government policy and marshal all the necessary arguments to rebut the phrases and coinages of hot-headed street protesters, since many phrases they are using today were in fact coined by him and his friends in the 1980s and1990s.”

A very important reminder, you might want to agree with me. I think the enthralling general deserves a resounding applause for reminding us that our dear minister of information just like some of his other hitherto hot- headed government critics who have now found themselves in government have since changed ship, and are now part of those encouraging and preaching the importance of oil subsidy not minding the unbearable hardship and wahala the policy is now causing in many homes and businesses across the country. Our hitherto hot-headed minister of information has since forgotten what it feels like to be at the bottom of the ladder, since he can now comfortably afford to fill his cars on the government earlier proposed N140 per litre or more if they had their way.

 Well, I don’t really know about you, but for me, I think the media and other empathetic Nigerians need to put on that human face and compassion that see and appreciate the truth anytime irrespective of whom or where it came from. I want to believe we can be generous with some applause this time around and spare the general the bashing and kick around for his patriotic declaration and readiness to thrust aside his babanriga for his retired khaki all for the unity of this great country, even at 71.

Should we trust the President on his WORDS this time?

“Civilization rests on a set of promises; if the promises are broken too often, the civilization dies, no matter how rich it may be, or how mechanically clever. Hope and faith depend on the promises; if hope and faith go, everything goes.”

-Agar, Herbert

Kudos Nigerians, thanks for that patriotic and nationalistic resilient fuel subsidy protest against the forces of human oppression, especially on your bold stand against all the physical, mental and economic suppression from these forces who hitherto underestimated your capability to collectively enforce a change irrespective of tribe, religion or class, in the hope that all those who stood up to enforce their fundamental rights as Nigerians when it mattered most would triumphantly hold their heads high and console their fighting spirits with the words of Reggae Icon Bob Nester Marley:  He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day. And to those who lost their lives in these historical record breaking mass protests, may the almighty creator and owner of everything bless their martyr souls and grant them peace in the hereafter. Amen, Amin.

To be honest, I was proud to be a Nigerian during the thronged fuel subsidy protests that checkmated the illusive power of our politicians and grounded them helplessly in their palatial homes, making them hear, see and feel the collective power of the people who brought them where they are today. I was proud to see how both Christians and Muslims, Yorubas, Ibos, Hausas, Efiks, Benins, Igalas, Igbirras, Nupes, Biroms, Katafs, and all the other numerous Nigerian languages  across the country came out en massE to protest and voice out their anger against the government and its one-sided deregulation policy. And  believe it if not for the deployment of the military and our  famous anti-people police force who came out brutally on the people, no doubt the Nigerian people would have won back their strong agitation for the government to reverse the pump price of petrol to N65. But the government sensing the near victory of the people fearfully deployed their obedient security apparatus to checkmate this victory. Well, nothing spoil, as Nigerians will say. I believe this is just a warning sign to our politicians and their collaborators that no amount of military or police troops would save and protect them the day the vast majority of Nigerians who have long been fed up with government policies and promises decide to sacrifice their lives and invade all the streets across the thirty-six states, including our pampered and fortified federal capital city.

To me, it’s no victory for the government and I hope our leaders will have it at the back of their minds that Nigerians are now more suspicious of their policies and that their actions and utterances will now be monitored more by the people. This brought to attention the current promises by the president and his team of follow-follow governors who have come out openly to tell the world some of the unrealistic policies and programmes they intend to use the fuel subsidy windfall to execute. While the commander-in-chief has promised Nigerians of an efficient transport system with the introduction of a mere few thousand  mass transit buses to cushion his introduced transport hardship on Nigerians, he has failed to see and understand that the numbers of struggling Nigerians who daily pay high transport fares to get to work, market and other places of their daily striving, far outnumbered those few unreasonable imported buses that are bound to vanish from the roads in the next couple of months or year given the well known attitude of negligence and poor  maintenance culture of the Nigerian civil service. Again,the president has just placed before the Nigerian people his words and an honourable man is known and judged universally by his words. So, should Nigerians come to trust their president and his words this time around given his past failure to keep to his words and promises?

Still fresh in most minds  was the president’s loud promise last year to ‘soon’ expose those behind the deadly bombings by the dreaded Boko Haram sect, and right now  it is another new year and Nigerians are still waiting eagerly with all ears to hear this important exposé. I am sure the majority of Nigerians have not forgotten his promise to expose and deal with the faceless cabal that have long been milking us dry and greedily siphoning our wealth in the oil sector. But has the president been bold enough to fulfil this promise? What about his campaign promises which included among others his commitment to salvage our shameful educational sector, his nationalist promise to revive some of the moribund industries and other neglected companies across the country, especially here in the north where poverty seems to be more rampant and almost all the hitherto vibrant textile industries that once upon a time sustained the large population has since all kissed the dust.

Why should Nigerians give their faith to these current promises of the president on what they should expect with the fuel subsidy removal, when they are yet to see a single change or improvement in government policies and promises since coming to office? Should Nigerians in all the states across the country still trust their governors and representatives at the states and National Assembly when none of them have been able to provide a viable and realistic frame work on how to contain the tormenting face of hunger and poverty that has taken over most homes across the country, nor have they been able to introduce a laudable qualitative free education programme for the masses the way our past patriotic and visionary leaders did for them? Should we trust our fate to the words of the president and his promises to revive our moribund railway system, our epileptic trademark poor electricity sector, our deathtrap roads, our decaying public schools and our scary looking hospitals? Should we believe that the president can be daring and bold enough to prosecute all the reprehensible corruption cases rusting away in our various courts across the country? Will he be courageous to prosecute all those who might be found guilty to have fraudulently and shamelessly defrauded the country of billions of naira and caused so much hardship in many homes through their ungodly transactions in the name of fuel importation and his current probe of NNPC and the PPPRA?

Right now it is the president and his words, those personal utterances he came out to express to millions of Nigerians across the globe, including other uncountable none Nigerians who listened, saw and read his words and promises to the people and nation. These words and promises that will definitely become part of his success or failure and will in the long run be attributed to his honour or not. And like Bob Nester Marley still wisely opined: You can fool the people sometime, but you can’t fool the people all the time. I want to believe Mr. President will be an honourable man and stand by his fragile words this time around, as the people right now seem to have been forced to retreat and temporary quieted, but most of them might have run away today to boldly come out and fight another day.

Nigeria:Is this really the government of the people,by the people?

"The problem of power is how to achieve its responsible use rather than its irresponsible and indulgent use - of how to get men of power to live for the public rather than off the public. "

-Robert F. Kennedy

When the present president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria now known as President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,a hitherto unpopular national politician came out to vie for the exhausted office of the president of Africa’s most populous and prosperous nation, his quiet unassuming and patient looking character easily endeared him to the frustrated Nigerian masses. Most of them thought they had finally found a God-fearing listening leader who would savage them from the social, economic and political wahala that had bedeviled this rich ill managed country. But alas – their dreams and positive expectations have been cut short less than one year into the administration of the man they thought they could rely on to take them to the promised land.

Nigerians were made to come out en masse to cast their vote during the last presidential election that ushered in the present administration, this after listening to the pathetic story of how the present president never had shoes to wear to school. The sympathetic nature of an average Nigerian saw in the poor struggle of the boy from the creek as a symbolic picture of what most of them had gone through during their youthful days back in their villages and towns. It was this same sympathy that motivated Nigerians across all the geo-political regions in the country to openly support his candidacy when a few self- imposed regional speakers came out to insist that the presidency must remain at a particular zone. The same Nigerians compassion had rallied around the president when the Yar’adua ‘cabal’ tried unsuccessfully to wrestle power from his hands, then as the vice-president on acting capacity as the president. I could still remember the protest, articles, comments and prayers by many Nigerians at home and abroad that ensured that the exulted seat never eluded him. Including the nationalist bold protests by various civil society organizations like the Save Nigeria Group, Civil Liberty Organization, the Campaign for Democracy and others too numerous to mention.

Today, this is the same president that has suddenly turned 360 degree against all those masses that sacrificed their lives, time, energy and resources to give him the number one position in the country. The same president many of them had thought would lend them his ears and listen to their worries and pains. Instead they got one of the most outlandish New Year gift ever presented to them by any leader in more than fifty years of the country’s independence; an oppressive fuel subsidy removal that stole into their lives like an unwanted thief. The president they had hoped on had bluntly refused to listen to the cries of many mothers and wives that had shouted their voices out against the idea of an oppressive fuel subsidy removal. He had refused to listen to the plights of the millions of Nigerian workers that had kicked against another form of suffering they have long been going through over the decades. That hitherto unknown creek boy who told Nigerians he never had the privilege of wearing shoes to school, but fortunate to now have some of the best shoes in the world today, surprisingly has refused to listen to the frustrated lamentations of millions of Nigerians students across the country that the removal of this unpopular subsidy will affect greatly. He has refused to see the hundreds of thousands of hungry school pupils still roaming our dilapidated public schools daily without shoes or modernized teaching tools. Yet he thought it wise to unleash a cruel gift on the first day of a new year.

To be honest, I am finding it difficult to believe that this government is really government of the people voted in by the people. Or should we force our conscience to still accept that this government is a true reflection of what governance is all about? How many Nigerians did the Jonathan’s administration listen to before dictatorially announcing its controversial subsidy removal? Or are the views of those international consultants from the West and others from abroad more important than our collective views as bona fide Nigerians who know and daily feel the pinch of the harsh economic situation in the country?

Why should Nigerians from now on not be suspicious of this present administration when it has brazenly displayed it’s not listening and is showing anti-people attitude in broad day light? Can President Jonathan come out boldly tomorrow to seek their sympathy on whatever issue from now on? Why should a president who promised heaven on earth and swore on oath to protect the social, economic and political interests of its citizens suddenly turn against them and give them an early dose of suffering in a new year, despite the insecurity and economic hardship they are facing? Or the fact that our once upon a time lecturer turned president, who providence smiled on with the highest position in the land has soon forgotten that not all family in the creek and in all other parts of the country now enjoys a free presidential goodies, which include a free house in Aso Rock, free petrol for all the presidential cars, free electricity, free security, free cooking gas, free food and other sumptuous chop-chop and mollycoddles that go with the office of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I thought power belongs to the people and the people are power, then should we see the present administration under the captainship and control of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as truly the universal acceptance of democracy being the government of the people by the people? And a very important question is: Will it be wise for Nigerians to see and view the government that has refused to listen to their cries really for the people?

The orchestrated plans to break up Nigeria

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

¯ Albert Einstein

True, my dear country Nigeria is no longer a safe place, especially with the daily bombings, kidnapping and senseless killings of innocent souls across virtually everywhere in the country. To be honest, I am even scared writing this column this week, because who knows where the next deadly bomb is going to explode.

Like everything Nigeria, the spate of bombings in the country has taken another dimension, with faceless living human beings among us senselessly going after innocent church worshippers and Islamic pupils. A shameless action and ungodly if you will agree with me. Is it not actually a worthless less efforts to go bomb or kill people worshipping or praising that magnificent, all knowing and all seeing God that none of us has ever seen or behold, and at the end of the day both the bombers and everyone else will definitely die and answer to all his or her good and bad deeds on earth?

What justification do we as humans really have to kill another soul none of us can ever or will ever be able to create? Or is there any one among us that God the owner of everything in this vanity world has given the license or birth right to kill on His behalf? The fact is, whosoever commits any evil in a house of worship should expect a disgraceful retribution beginning from here on earth before the final one on the Day of Judgment.

Well, it is just a matter of time before we all depart this turbulent world and go answer to all the deeds we used our hands, legs, mouth and body to commit before our creator and I am sure none shall escape His judgment, especially those who have one way or the other destroyed or killed his creations on earth.

Back to my dear country Nigeria, no doubt the series of confrontations by various groups on the people and nation known as the Federal Republic of Nigeria is without double saying a sign of war on the peace loving people of this great country. If not, why should any sincere group want to instigate a religious war in the country, a dangerous war that no sensible country would want to engage in. Right now it seems the die has been cast and those who are bent on breaking and splitting up this resilient country are fighting desperately to do so.

Another overview of the various deadly crimes going on in this country over the past ten years might showcase another angle to their motives. From the current deadly systematic bombings and ethno- religious crises going on across the north, the vicious kidnappings and armed robbery in the south-east, the orchestrated assassinations and political wrestling in the south-west and the diehard militancy and political unrest in the south-south. All these tend to point to an orchestrated plan to fulfil that doomsday prediction by the West of the breaking up of Nigeria before 2015.

Well, maybe we should not just close our eyes and senses and give way to these faceless people to win over our sovereignty. Unless if we want to overlook some of the deadly atrocities that have been committed against this country over the past ten years or thereabout. Carnage such as the spate of deadly bombs that has continued to shake the fabric and foundation of the country, the daily orgy of killings in the name of religion, tribe, settler, indigene and other narcissism that lead to senseless loss of lives across the country.

Should we overlook the ransomed attitude of some militants that occasionally threaten our co-existence, or prudently view it as part of this orchestrated plan to break up Nigeria, the nation bestowed with some of the richest natural resources on planet earth? Won’t it be proper and elaborate if we try to see the daily invasion of our villages and towns by faceless killers as part of this coordinated preparation to tear asunder the ‘Giant of Africa’ in fulfillment of 2015?

What about some of the daily inflammatory utterances and comments of some of our political, religious and traditional leaders over the years as the country boils and groans under insecurity, ethno-religious crises, kidnappings, armedrobbery,assassination, militancy,political crises, corruption, maladministration, injustice and all the other underdevelopment forces and wahala that have continued to bedevil this great rich nation over the years; should we see all these as part of this jealous sketch to sever the tight cold that has continued to bind us together since our unfortunate civil war or just overlook them as the country keeps boiling and slowly losing its hitherto solidness and vibrancy?

I tell you there seems to be many organized plans to destabilize this country, and a good observer would have noticed some of these man-made arrangements, but like everything that goes under the sun, man plans, but God the creator, designer and owner of everything has His own plan. So, it is important that we must not and should not bow to the plans of man. This is our country, none of us really begged to be made a Nigerian; we all found ourselves as creatures in a vanity world, and I think it is important that these faceless human beings among us who are all bent on cracking and splitting up this one nation under one sun would realize that none among them can really modify any part of what God has made this country to be without His consent.

Again, like everything that happens under the sky, I believe there are always solutions to everything, and Nigerians must understand that we are not the first; neither shall we be the last to be threatened by these various challenges. But the ability of those saddled with the responsibility of ensuring our continued co-existence, who are actually men and women among us is presently what is in doubt. It is important that they sit up to their responsibilities, and be courageous to step aside if they are not capable of holding to their oath of protecting and defending the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including its territory and its people. They should be bold to hands-up if the current tide of unrest and insecurity are weighting them down, instead of holding on to their positions and pretending that all is well and under their control, while hundreds of innocent lives are daily lost to this orchestrated chart to break up this resilient country.

Oil subsidy removal: The President, his tiny faction and the majority of us

“Nothing is more revolting than the majority; for it consists of few vigorous predecessors, of knaves who accommodate themselves, of weak people who assimilate themselves, and the mass that toddles after them without knowing in the least what it wants”

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The oil subsidy palaver: It is currently the hottest debate and one of the most talked about issue across the country and beyond our shores.  And its few proponents are daily churning out different propagandas and ideologies on why the vast majority of us should and must support the oppressive idea of subsidy removal as being planned by the present administration under the commanding power of President Goodluck  Ebele Jonathan.

I am still finding it very difficult to believe that our dear coordinating minister for Economy and Finance could disrespect her intimidating gele and almost practically weep to convince the majority of us to accept this repressive plan. And to quote her as reported by the press, “What we are asking you Nigerians to do is to give us a chance. We know there is lack of confidence in government. We need to rebuild the trust. Even those of us in government are tired of complaining. We can’t succeed without you. Give us chance to perform and see if we can make that change” she said.

 Thank God, our dear minister boldly accepted that we the majority have since lost confidence in government and are very suspicious of any proposed policies and promises of most of our politicians.

Perhaps the minister and those strongly advocating this unpopular plan are not really listening to the loud voices of Nigerians across the country and beyond  on why they don’t want  or subscribe to this plan called subsidy.  They are not listening and hearing the pathetic voices of our mothers and wives on the skyrocketing prize of  kerosene, garri, masara, dawa, elubo and all the other hitherto cheap foodstuffs the  majority of us have been pacifying our oppressed bodies with to keep body and soul, amidst the insecurity and total lack of confidence in  government over the years.   It seems the president and his few supporters of oil subsidy removal have not been listening to the daily lamentations of the majority of Nigerians about the crazy yearly increase of house rents across the country. They have not adequately relaxed their busy minds to really see, feel and understand the pain most of us daily go through in the hands of our overzealous transport owners as we strive daily to get to our places of work, markets and schools. They have failed to comprehend that the majority of us are already tired of this long fruitless journey of promises and failure.

The majority of Nigerians on which all the goodies from this planned oil subsidy removal would fall are loudly saying NO! to this one-sided plan that is already causing serious hardship and wahala in many homes across the country.  The few minority supporting this plan I believe are not being sincere with their conscience, if not, the poor states of our roads, hospitals, schools, including our various shut-down industries and retrogressing  villages should have illustrated how truly the various imported government plans and policies on oil have failed us massively over the years.

I think it is important for the president and his few supporters to shine their eyes and listen to the mobilizing voices of the majority that could ignite a fire that might prove difficult for them to extinguish when the furious flame roars across the country and probably igniting that revolutionary vision acknowledged by the president few weeks ago.

It is important for the president and his tiny faction to see beyond their secluded views and broaden their vision to the reality that the power of the majority can always put a match to a time bomb waiting to explode, and the index so far is indicating a fragile timeline waiting to burst.

Also very important for the president to know is the fact that unpopular policies have always been the catalyst that saw to the downfall of various  governments that failed to listen to the majority voices of their people across the world and an albatross to their regime.

I think the president and his cabinet owe all those enthusiastic Nigerians who voted in this administration and made it possible for them to now occupy their present positions a mark of gratitude and an un-quantifiable public service for all the trust they gave to them, including their selfless sacrifices before and during the presidential election; one of the most tensed period in our history as a nation, instead of now subjecting them to economic tension.

Some thoughtful questions for those in support of this anti-people polices are: Do they really have control over the pump price of petroleum product in the country? Do they have the will and gut to unmask and tame the elusive cabal that are ripping us off and benefitting greedily from this collective wealth? Do they truthfully have the patriotic zeal to deregulate this important sector of our economy for God and country? Has it really occurred to them that no government can and has so far succeed if its focuses depends solely on oil to revive its economy, initiate development and rebuild its infrastructure? Do they put into consideration that this planned oil subsidy removal is wrongly timed given the insecurity and our yet to recover economic meltdown?

The truth is the president and his fuel subsidy collaborators cannot claim to know more than all of us. It is relevant for them to have it at the back of their minds that the ladder of life is fragile and succumb easily to the inevitable wind of  change which might someday turn against them  as the future of many Nigerians, including them, their families and offspring depend on the good or bad  policy and vision they will have left behind. It is significant that they know that we all belong to this country and own it as a responsibility to see that we all enjoy the free natural wealth bequeathed to us by God.

Right now the majority of Nigerians have said no to this unnecessary government policy and I think it is imperative for the National Assembly and all the state legislative arms, and the judiciary to compel the president and his proponent team to listen to the wish of the people who are the majority and make them see the wisdom on why our mass voice is opposed to this unpopular plan. The majority I believe brought about their emergence and will continue to have the vast support of the mass populace and shall always carry the vote of victory.

President Jonathan and his many wahala…

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” Peter Drucker

Perhaps no other President has been unfortunate to be confronted by so many wahala since Nigeria independenceth than President Goddluck Ebele Jonathan. These wahala can be categorized into two:  the man-made and God made, with the latter dominating the scale.  And to be fair to the president, it has not been quite easy for him as the number one man of this great rich controversial country.

The daily challenges and wahala confronting Mr. President comprise various strikes from different sectors of the Nigerian social, economic and political fronts, which are ASSU and NLC strikes amongst others. This administration has to its credit one of the most challenging and threatening internal problems since our independence. This courtesy of the deadly Boko Haram   mayhem, the Niger Delta militancy, the Jos, Bauchi, Kaduna, Yobe, Nazarawa and Benue ethno-religious slaughtering. Not forgetting the constant political thuggery and bloody Motor Parks rivalry in Oyo and other part of the south-west environs. Worthy to also mention is the record breaking increase in dare devil robbery and kidnapping in the south –east and part of the south-south.

To be honest, my eyes just took a peep more prudently at the Nigeria nation and I can clearly see that this present administration has no option than  to buckle up and face all the man-made  challenges and problems daily  confronting it furiously. From the disgraceful Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and its scandalous privatization exercise, and the other massive corruption cases hanging boldly like a tag on its head perpetrated by past and serving government officials and politicians.

Another burden and challenge facing this government is the pathetic state of our educational sector and the eyesore that has become our public schools. Though the administration has to its credit the record of settling up new universities across the various geo-political zones in the country, it has always failed to really look inward and behold with shame what has become some of our historical public schools, from primary, secondary to higher institutions across the country. Some of the hitherto beautiful structures are now more of relics and unfortunately still accommodate hundreds of innocent Nigerians under hash and disgraceful conditions. Some of our young pupils  and  under-graduates can still be seen sitting and squatting  in various classrooms, despite the yearly billions of naira allocated to this  important  sector of our lives.

The load on the shoulder of this administration, I tell you, is not an easy one.  How else should we describe our nose-dived sport ministry and its various shameful failures despite all the commitment of the administration and support from the Presido personally in ensuring that our sport ministry has the best, especially our corruption infected Nigeria Football  Federation (NFF) and their bunch of unpatriotic and money induced administrators, coaches and players?  I wonder how many Nigerians this cluster of failed sportsmen and women would have sent to their early graves through high blood pressure anytime they come, make their loud boastfulness and at the end fail woefully with cheap excuses. Thank God, Nigerians are now wiser, they now funnel their energy to how to get their daily bread and garri, instead of wasting unfruitful time and vigour supporting or worrying about our failed sportsmen and women, who over the years have brought nothing but scandals, corruption, infighting and shame to our hitherto number one sporting nation in Africa, and among the best in the world.

It is not easy to rule a country like Nigeria;anyone with ambition or privilege to vie or govern this rich diversified nation must and should be ready to confront all the big wahala that should be expected from a country with more than 150 million people. That person should be bold enough to confront the security challenges and massive corruption that could greedily swallow it if left untamed.

Among the loads the Jonathan administration is currently carrying on its over burdened head is the important issue of good roads across the country, steady power and water supply, modern hospitals and equipment, unemployment, closure of industries, especially in the north where almost all the hitherto vibrant textile industries, and other manufacturing enterprises have long kissed the dust. I am sure the present administration has not forgotten that on its shoulder still lies the promise of  establishing a modern school system for the battalions of almajiris  still daily roaming our town and cities, disgracefully in rags with weather beaten bowls in search of food and where to lay their  oppressed heads.

There is this popular Hausa saying: tsunsu da yaja ruwa, shi ruwa kan daka. Translate: The bird that draws rain got beaten by the rain. The president since assumption seems to have been drawing some of the thunderstorm and rain that is falling over his administration negatively. From his proposed single tenure bill, his long overdue promise of naming and exposing those behind the spate of bombings across the country, the names of the greedy cabal milking us from our oil sector and his current controversial oil subsidy removal plan.

Though I am yet to meet Mr. President in person, my eyes from afar could deduce that he seems to be someone that should be able to face these many wahala confronting his administration presently, given the fact that providence so far has been on his side and fair to him in all the battles he has so far been confronted with in life. How he does this rests squarely on his shoulders, and Nigerians and history shall only remember and refer in these words: During the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, because the final buck and solutions to these loads of wahala presently, still stop on his table.