The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Benjamin Kalu, has just assaulted the sensibility of right-thinking south easterners. In an interview with Channels Television a few days ago, Kalu said: “The president has never pretended about his love for the South East”. For this reason, according to Kalu, the people of the zone will readily support the president’s bid for a second term in office. Those who watched Kalu on that interview session readily noticed one thing. He was too eager to be seen and acknowledged to be one of President Bola Tinubu’s chorus singers. That was why his disposition in the interview bordered so much on the obsequious. His level of servility was nauseating. Anybody who wants to experience sycophancy in practical terms should endeavour to get a clip of that interview. It was ingratiation writ large.
Let me quote Mr Deputy Speaker again: “The president has never pretended about his love for the South East.” This declaration is sickening, to say the least. It is not only a gratuitous insult to the Igbo, it is also an assault on the people’s sense of proportion. Kalu spoke as if he was addressing morons; He probably imagined in that moment of self-deceit that his listeners have no power of mind. This is because everybody knows that the president Kalu was referring to has never pretended about his hatred for the South East. Yet, Kalu chose to say otherwise. Did he do that to confuse the Igbo? No. Did he make that declaration to win converts for President Bola Tinubu? No. He knows, in truth, that nobody with the faintest sense of self will be carried away by his apologia for Tinubu. In fact, Kalu knows that he lied to himself. But he had to say what he said to ingratiate Mr President. He knows that such a sycophantic display will be pleasing to the president. When this is the case, more doors could open for Kalu at the Presidency. Kalu’s outing has taught us that sycophancy is truly a disease. It can make otherwise respected people look unbelievably cheap. If only this young legislator knows how many admirers he has lost since he made that thoughtless statement. I pity him and his indiscretion.
But what were Kalu’s areas of elaboration? One of them revolves around the establishment of the South East Development Commission (SEDC) by Tinubu. The Deputy Speaker was full of praises for Tinubu for making this happen. To be fair to him, Kalu is not the first sycophant from the south east to praise Tinubu for bringing about the SEDC. A few others like him have had to eulogize the president for the same reason. But such an adulation beats the imagination. Before Tinubu, Nigeria had the North East Development Commission. But the president, for whatever reason, decided to set up five other development commissions to take care of the North West, North Central, South West, South East and South South. In other words, Tinubu gave to the south east the same thing he gave to the other geopolitical zones. So, in what way does that of the south east look special? What makes it a favour? I cannot see any. It is because there is nothing special about setting up development commissions for the zones that no zone has been heard praising the president for giving them what he gave to others. It is only in the south east that sycophants are trying to make mountain out of a molehill.
Even at that, the setting up of the development commissions in the way Tinubu has done has cheapened the whole idea behind the scheme. We saw the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo. There was a reason behind it and it has served that purpose well since it came into being 25 years ago. But instead of setting up these commissions in areas of need, Tinubu has decided to make it an all-comers affair, thus bastardizing what ought to have been an intervention agency. As it is now, development commissions have lost their appeal.
The other action for which the Deputy Speaker praised the president profusely was the appointment of a south easterner as the Minister of Works. Before we elaborate on this, we need to ask: is the Minister of Works the number one minister? Is the works ministry the most important of all? I answer both questions in the negative. Under the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, Babatunde Fashola, a south westerner, was the Minister of Works. Did that make him the most powerful minister? No, of course. So what is it about Tinubu’s administration that makes the ministry of works the most pivotal? Nothing. That specialness exists only in the imagination of the Deputy Speaker.
As I earlier hinted, Kalu’s defence of Tinubu’s hateful disposition to the south east is nauseating. This president would not have appointed anyone from the south east a minister if the Constitution did not compel him to do so. That is why he can afford to appoint three ministers from one state but grudgingly gave five to an entire geopolitical zone. Even at that, four out of the five are second class ministers. This setup should be of concern to Kalu. But rather than see the president’s undisguised disdain for his people, Kalu is busy talking about the ministry of works.
We should then ask: in what way has Dave Umahi’s occupation of the office of the minister of works brought to the south east any preferential treatment? There is none that I know of. The president decides where he takes projects under the ministry to. The minister only supervises. That is why Umahi will only end up in that ministry as a bench warmer. Under Umahi, for instance, we have the bogus project called the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. Under him as well, federal highways in the south west and north west are getting utmost attention. Is there any signature road project in the south east under Umahi? None. Not even the Second Niger Bridge which was commissioned under Buhari without full completion remains the way the last administration left it. So there is nothing to celebrate.
As a top-ranking legislator, Benjamin Kalu can do better for his zone than he is doing at moment. He should begin by facing facts. Painting a false picture of situations is unhelpful. It is self deceit in a grandiose style. He should also recognize that sycophancy does not elevate. Instead, it diminishes those who indulge in it.
QUOTE:
“As a top-ranking legislator, Benjamin Kalu can do better for his zone than he is doing at moment. He should begin by facing facts. He should also recognize that sycophancy does not elevate. Instead, it diminishes those who indulge in it.”
