Last week, the
political scene almost burst at the seams as it simmered with commentary on
President Muhammadu Buhari’s working visit (some said holiday) to the United
States of America with a large delegation, the size of at least, three football
teams. And we are not talking about pot-bellied aides, operatives of the State
Security Service and other faceless members who joined that train. If you are
good in mathematics, you’ll come to a size of at least 100 heads who frolicked
to the US in beautiful robes ostensibly to go see the Apothecary of Nigerian disease─
Barrack Obama who according to them, exclusively hold the talisman to move
Nigeria from a third world Country to a First World nation.
They would not read
and study the principles of Lee Kwan yew on how to achieve such feat. They have
no need for that hypothesis and so they sought the easy way and made the trip
to the Freest State in the world forgetting that the hard way is the only way.
But all those are now
history at least for now. In our last week column, prior to this visit, we had
debunked and written off the trip to go see ‘Santa Claus’ as it would not be
any different from the ones before it. It appears we were prophetic and not pessimistic
as many thought.
So while the
jaunty-ride lasted, we threw our ears to the ground, avoided the crisis rocking
the National Assembly and other issues that oozed out from our political suck
away last week and became friend of the foreign media, where we followed the
president’s trip from the cozy confines of our office.
We have in this column,
sampled 10 observations that made or marred the trip depending on which side of
the coin you choose to belong for the consumption of readers who I’m sure must
have one or two knowledge about them already.
They include:
Nigerians Resort
to Petty Propaganda and Public Show of Inferiority Complex over the Whole
outing
We are very funny and
trivialistic people who try to make a point out of anything however banal or
baseless. Last week immediately the president’s itinerary was announced, Yusuf
Buhari, the handsome son of Mr. President was spotted in the list and before
one could shut the windows, the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ran
to town with the story questioning the import of the young man being part of an
official visit by a man who campaigned on a platform of Change with a renewed
vigor to reduce the cost of running the government by any means.
Just before Olisah
Metuh concluded his Press Statement, the ruling party and their army of
supporters in their trade mark manner, went on the defensive but instead of
answering the question posed, they sought validation and corroboration from
distant lands. They sought to validate an error of protocol with what obtains
in other climes. Femi Adesina, presidential foreman was in the forefront of
that – saying it is no big deal that the president travelled with his son as
other presidents so often do. In fact, he said that Obama traveled with his
daughters abroad and that Clinton visited Nigeria with his daughter Chelsea
during his tenure in 2002 as the 42nd president of America.
Assuming this is true
(but which is not) when does what happen outside become a justification for how
we do things here? Even if Bill Clinton visited Nigeria with Chelsea, who are
we to muscle up with the Americans in terms of financial prowess. A nation
whose singular State budget doubles our national budget for the whole year. And
if we rush to secure legitimacy through foreign practices, why are we still
sponsoring pilgrimages with state funds? Why have we not upheld gay rights?
Haven’t America which we are quick to reference done away with these things or
is this a case of selective amnesia? Lai Mohammed and his APC owe us a lot of
explanation at the very least.
A friend of mine
labored to justify Buhari’s decision to travel with his son by posting on my
Facebook wall a picture of Obama, his wife and their daughters behind a military
plane on the tarmac of an airport in a bid to prove his position that Obama
once went on official visit with his family (wherever he got the picture from!).
But our friend forgot that the President of The United States (POTUS) do not
leave for official visits with military pads but strictly in the Air Force One.
When I made the observation to him, he capitulated but perhaps, still digging
the archives of Google to get the slightest thread of proof to back up his
point. We pray that success shall greet his efforts.
Away from that, some
overzealous supporters of APC, also took the occasion for an opportunity to
make a public display of their stupidity and obtuseness on Social Media,
posting pictures of PMB alighting from the plane to a red carpet stretched
ahead of him with a guard of honor mounted for his inspection in accordance
with diplomatic protocol for visiting presidents to another country in official
capacity.
These group of
charlatans pic-mixed PMB’s visit to Chad, Niger and Germany where such courtesy
was extended to him and added beneath the pictures: “Guard of Honour in Niger,
Guard of Honour in Chad, Guard of Honour in Germany and now, Guard of Honour in
America. Sai Baba!” The height was when PMB sat for bilateral talks with Obama.
The same petty individuals went ahead, comparing PMB’s handshake with Obama
with GEJ’s handshake with Obama when the latter was on a similar visit in 2011.
Others went to town chorusing; PMB is the 1st Nigerian President to be
hosted at the Blair House, the 1st Nigerian president to use the toilet
at the Blair House, the 1st Nigerian President to address Congress
and a whole lot of other Lilliputian and shallow mindedness that were on
display that make one to wonder if Followership rather than Leadership is the
weakest link to our meteoric rise
While I was putting
finishing touches to this piece yesterday, word got to me that the governor of
Imo state, Rochas Okorocha who has since returned to his penurious people of
Imo state had erected gigantic bill boards across the city bearing pictures of
him in a handshake with Obama while PMB watches closely with the inscription:
“Behold The New Faces of Change”. What
pettiness! I think we have to start getting serious in this country biko!
Femi Adesina’s Gaffes
My friend Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to Mr.
President must be having it tough at a job that comes with so much trouble than
the pleasure that comes with it. While at Daily Sun, I never missed his columns
every Friday at the back page of the daily where he was the Editor in Chief
until his current job. It is so evident that the man is still learning this
very difficult job. Before now, he hadn’t a Twitter account to enable him
understand how life in the Social Media works and so during this trip, his lack
of skill at his new job of presenting Mr. President in positive light was
visible to every eyes like a seven-month pregnancy.
He tweeted regularly without backing up facts with pictures
forgetting that in such trips, pictures speak more than words and thus became a
victim of mudslinging by the ‘Wailing Wailers’ of Nigerian political tweeter.
Away from that, he contrived to no profit to seek justification for Buhari’s
son being on that fat delegation and found one with the purported Clinton’s
visit to Nigeria with Chelsea. But my friend Femi was wrong but I think he was
being wrong deliberately for lack of justification for his master’s undoing.
Suffice it to say that President Bill Clinton came to Nigeria in 2012 with his daughter
Chelsea but in unofficial capacity as the president of the Clinton Foundation.
This is at variance with his State visit to Nigeria in 2002 where he came with
an official delegation. Adesina also exposed his flanks to attack by a very
funny tweet: “APC supporters in Washington waving at PMB”, as though the elections
haven’t come and gone or as though PMB was on a visit to the United States of
America to shore up votes from Nigerians in the Diaspora. It was really unprofessional
of a man who has reached what could easily be termed as the peak of print
journalism in Nigeria. I hope Femi takes his corrections going forward.
Bazaar
of Empty Promises
In our last week
column, we had expressed the sentiments that PMB and Co. would come back with a
bag full of promises, most of which will be kept in the breach. It was our
opinion that America is way too occupied with Iran and Cuba and not the
problems of Nigeria. We went further to add that the best they could get would
be promises to do this and do that from our American friends but most of which
are not new here to any serious mind. So POTUS while addressing PMB, promised
to help Nigeria recover stolen funds stashed away in foreign countries namely;
Luxemburg, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Britain and the US by a crop of former
Nigerian Thieves of State and former public office holders who milked the
nation as much as their purse could carry. One can only but wonder how America
would come about that, and how Buhari and his team came about the $150 Billion
mark.
Obama has less than 18
months as the president of the United States and one of his major task henceforth
will be to clear the coast for Hillary Clinton from the pirates of Donald Trump
and Jeb Bush lest they send the democrats parking from the White House. It was
only normal and diplomatic for Obama to sound the way he did but any
conscientious and thoughtful observer who understands the intrigues of
International Politics would see through the ruse and call the bluff of the
Americans. Anyone who believes that $150 Billion will be recovered could as
well believe that one day cars will ride on water or a camel passing through
the eye of the needle in faith with the Sermon on the Mount.
Violence
as a Bargaining Tool.
At Amanpour, PMB made a volte face like the Janus
god by turning away from his previous stand of crushing the insurgents and
brought negotiation with the terrorists on the table. I remember vividly
watching PMB at a brief interview in a function he attended in Kano early this
year, when the elections were postponed for six weeks by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC). With a stern face, GMB (as he then was), told the
reporter who tried to seek his reaction to the sudden postponement: “How can they tell us they are postponing
election because of Boko Haram. What is Boko Haram? Nigerian troops have
performed gallantly in foreign lands how much more will it take to confront miscreants
lurking at a corner of the nation”. He walked past the reporter visibly
disappointed and vexed.
Fast forward to the present, PMB (as he is now) only
last week told Amanpour that he will be willing to negotiate with Boko Haram to
get the Chibok girls against his previous position and mantra of “Taking the
war to the camp of the insurgents” on which he campaigned to garner the votes
of Nigerians.
If this ever happens, it will be a reward for evil,
a celebration of vice and deification of anomaly by the Buhari administration.
Shekau and his murderous sect do not deserve any mercy. The popular Chibok
girls cannot and should not be used as a bargaining chip. Boko Haram must be
crushed and PMB must take the war to their camps as he promised but he may do
otherwise at the detriment of his integrity.
The slightest
negotiations with Boko Haram risks making violence a bargaining tool and
earning it legitimate status. Accordingly Fesehun and his OPC boys, may pick up
their struggle from where they left off, Tompolo, Dokubo and their comrades-
in- arms may vacate their mansions and take lodgings at the creeks, Nnamdi Kanu
and his Radio Biafra would attract more sponsors, and if possible merge with
MASSOB, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP) would beat
their war-drums all of which may lead to the birth of a ceremony of anarchy and
set Nigeria on edge. PMB should be well guided.
Is
the World Bank Loan worth it?
PMB joined the pantheon
of “Oga Tituses” when he accepted the offer of $2.1 Billion loan from the World
Bank (where our very own has just been appointed the Vice President/Treasure –
Arauma Oteh) to the end of rebuilding the North East. The loan when drawn will
have a ten year interest moratorium. This means that if we are able to pay off
before the next ten years, we won’t have to bother about interest on the loan
and vice versa.
However Some people have
said it is uncalled for as nothing of such nature has been extended to the
Niger Delta region whose land and water ways have been rendered decrepit as a
result of oil exploration in the area. To this people, PMB is being overtly biased
and showing predilection for the North where he comes from. But in my
considered opinion, the North East is today a metaphor for destruction and dilapidation.
I spent the last six years of my life there and I know enough that this region needs
all the help they can get for the rebuilding of towns, villages, markets,
schools, recreational facilities, bridges and completion of numerous abandoned
projects in this area. If we must get a loan, it must be judiciously used so
that the purpose will not be lost. The discordant tunes of those making a case
for the Delta must know that these regions enjoy fatter federal allocations,
thanks to the 13% derivation policy which is enough all things being equal, to
cushion the effect of exploration at the base of the nation.
Did
Buhari Write that Op-ed Piece?
A
day before the Visit, PMB purportedly wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post
adumbrating the essence of his visit and the Overall State of the Nation.
Trying to seek validation for not having appointed ministers two months in the
saddle, PMB tried to derive legitimacy for his actions and as usual referenced
America and Obama. In his words,
“When cabinet ministers are appointed in
September, it’ll be some months after I took the oath of office. It’s worth
noting that Obama himself did not have his full cabinet for several months
after first taking office and the US did not cease to function”.
Well,
this is a bag of misinformation if we really have to seek validation for our
actions overseas. To keep the facts straight, President Obama, few days after
his inauguration in 2008, appointed Harvard Economist and former Treasury
Secretary, Larry Summers as his Chief Economic adviser and the rest of his 15-man
cabinet almost immediately after that.
The
craze to justify events here with their having happened elsewhere really speaks
of us as a people without a style, and only serve to reduce our self-esteem.
Whoever wrote that piece, whether Adesina, Garba or Baba himself we hope have
taken their corrections.
PMB’s Excellent
Outing at Amanpour
I had to stay back in
the office last Tuesday beyond regulation time. It was for nothing other than
to watch a woman I have come to admire so much, Christiane Amanpour take on our
president. It was worth the wait as PMP replied every single of her questions
with the demeanor of one who is fully in charge and understands what is at
stake keeping the answers brief yet covering the subject of the questions. I
was particularly impressed with his response to the sensitive question on whether
he supports the International Criminal Court’s resumption of trial of Hissene
Habre the former Chadian dictator for Crimes against humanity committed during
his despotic reign from 1982 to 1990 and Buhari’s response was poignant: I will
support every judicial process in so far as it is fair and unbiased in the
administration of justice. Kudos to the man!
Okorocha’s Sartorial Contradiction
Our friend who occupy the Douglas House in Owerri, Owelle
Rochas Okorocha was by every standard, the flop of the whole outing. It was
nothing but his wrong sartorial combinations that got almost everyone talking
which secured him that feat. His counterpart, the Edo state governor however
impressed with nice set of suits with matching red neck-ties that exudes an air
of confidence all around him. Perhaps his new bride/model must have talked him
out of his signature comrade outfit for this particular visit which he thought
it wise to oblige her. I think Rochas has a lot of lessons to learn from the
former labour leader. If the gateway to that is picking a model-wife, then the
Oowelle Igbo must start shopping for one for he has embarrassed Imolites more
than enough with his Agberoish sense
of dressing. How much does it cost to look smart anyway?
Nigerians are Still Divided along Ethnic Lines and PMB seem
to be making the Gulf Wider.
In our trademark manner, the whole Buhari trip provided an
opportunity for us to reveal our differences and tell ourselves how we are not
united and how Goats and Yams can’t be kept together. Literally everyone saw
every single statement made in the visit by PMB, through the ethnic or
sectarian prism and Mr. President didn’t seem to make matters light. A classic
example was with the negotiations/Amnesty for Boko Haram. Many people from the
southern part of the country were of the opinion that no negotiations should
subsist between the Federal Government and Boko Haram as they are murderers who
must not be extended any mercy in any guise but must be crushed and their
bodies fed to dogs. However, most northerners think otherwise and have argued
that since the Niger Delta militants received Amnesty deal, it is only fair
that the insurgents receive same if they are ready to lay down their arms.
Quite a sound argument, but suffice it to say that the Niger Delta militants
were more of an organized force who acted professionally and fought for quite a
legitimate cause. In any case, the Social Media provided the platform where all
these bitter exchanges and parochialism were ventilated. Which way Nigeria?
And Finally, the 97%,
5% Logjam
Visibly and mentally drained after being guest to series of
events and shackled by over bloated protocol, Mr. President was almost worn out
as he made his address at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) last
Wednesday. I observed how he struggled to deliver the very long address at that
occasion periodically losing touch with his audience. By some magic, he managed
to read through the address and sat down for a brief question and answer
session. It was here that Mr. President made the greatest blunder ever by a
Nigerian president. In a bid to proffer answer to a question posed to her by a
female journalist who sought to know how Mr. President would tackle the problem
of the Niger Delta region threatened by environmental degradation. PMB who it
appeared didn’t have a full grasp of the question, went out of key and in a fit
of verbal incontinence, posited that constituencies which gave him 97% votes
would have the first line of charge as against constituencies that gave him 5%
votes in accordance with the election result sheet as it was only fair to so
do, in his opinion.
Before he could
elucidate further on the statement, noticing he had spoken out of turn,
Naysayers were already in town with their ‘pick out’ and they rushed to the
black market and sold it at a very cheap price sentencing Mr. President to
public opprobrium for given the North preference ahead of other regions
especially the South East earning points for themselves with the lopsided
appointments so far that seem to favour the northern region of the country
most.
In our opinion, Baba
goofed. He could have been smarter than that. And this statement cannot be
reversed no matter how much energy Adesina and gang dissipates trying to paint
Baba’s statement. Whatever it was Baba meant, it came out really bad and this
could taint the remainder of his first tenure. Trust Nigerians who love and
hate in equal measure. In a nation divided by the cleavages of religion and
ethnicity squarely, no statement can be more inciting and suggestive by a
president who is expected to accommodate and represent every singular interest.
As it stands, the South
-South and the South East are already disenchanted with the Buhari
administration and PMB and his All (Nigerian) People’s Congress may downplay
this at their own detriment. There is something worrisome about a government
yet to hit the ground running to be associated with the appellation─ Federal Republic
of Northern Nigeria (FRNN) in a secular political setting.
So what did We Achieve?
It is clear to the
blind that last week’s exercise was nothing more than an exercise in luxury and
stupendous show of political ineptitude. For the likes of Okorocha, it was a
picnic little wonder all through the outing, excitement took hold of him. That
he has littered the streets of Owerri with pictures of his visit, allows us an
entry into the mindset of the man. In the final analysis, nothing much could be
said to have been achieved as the bureaucracies involved in the litany of
promises might impeach their actualization. The Leahy Act would not allow us be
beneficiaries of Arms deal with America because America thinks our Soldiers are
“murderers and rapists” who kill for fun and would not allow arms sold by them
to be used extra-judicially. So we must look to Russian and China for military
hardware until our soldiers are ‘disciplined’ enough in the opinion of Patrick
Leahy.
For PMB, I think it’s
high time he marshalled his team and get this nation on course. The solution to
our problem lies with us. Let us seek it within. God will help us.
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