Every October 1, Nigeria celebrates to mark the end of colonial administration which was more accommodating than the enthroned past indigenous leaders with the exception of few.
Almost fifty-nine years after lowering the Union Jack, Nigeria is still groping in the dark and tottering on the brink. The newly introduced low key of the celebration confirms the existence of hard and uncertain times courtesy of several epileptic, a brand of administrations and glaring security challenges created from bad leadership over the years.
The older Nigeria becomes, the more it drifts from attaining greatness. Not even the advent of the civilian administration in 1999 brought any significant change in the scheme of things to date. In fact, at most times, the discarded military administration becomes more preferred than what Nigeria in passing through in civil hands.
Nigeria’s claim to democracy is a ruse as it is not governed by democratic tenets but by gang of rogues and crooks disguising as democrats excluding a selected few.
My reasons are glaring to discerning minds because for more than 20 years of steady civilian administration and almost 59 years of independence, no tangible respite for the deprived. Portable water, healthcare delivery, steady electricity supply, roads, agriculture, security, education etc are near absent in most communities. In the Nigeria of today, more and more innocent souls are sentenced to a life of dependency, sycophancy, want and penury by those pretending democrats mistaken in power.
As a result, crime and criminality flourish on a frightening scale previously unknown in the colonial days. The military punished identified crooks while, civilians aid, shield and abet corrupt practices. Armed robbers and bandits are more sympathetic to the plight of the deprived than the politicians and their collaborators in the civil service and masters in power. Nigeria’s civil service has metamorphosed to the engine room of corrupt practices and stealing with impunity while the majority of the people are consigned to the dustbin of poverty, minor crimes and the bottom pit of hell.
Under the watch of several leaders, a portion of the country (North-east) is brutally being excised from the rest of the country by few misguided disgruntled beasts masquerading as jihadists with their suspected sponsors as alleged by Dr. Obadiah Mailafia walking free and dining and wining with the highest authority in the land while waiting for national honours. That is the leadership in Nigeria.
More than 270 Chibok secondary school girls were kidnapped and some still in captivity marooned in Sambisa forest where the vandals operate. In a twist of fate, one of the abducted girls was reported to have been abandoned by her captors, half dead with four months of pregnancy and visible evidence of depression and trauma metamorphosing as mental illness. Her case signifies the calamity that befell the innocent school girls who were denied the comfort of their homes and forced to co-habit with hardened criminals on the brink of lunacy. For those abducted girls, there was nothing like celebrating independence; what they desperately need and crave for is freedom from their tormentors as other Nigerians separately fought to chase the same ‘tormentors’ from power in 2015 and now wondering.
As the situation worsens, not only the abducted girls desire freedom; those residents of Chibok, Gulak, Izge, Hawul, Gwoza, Madagali, Kale-Balge, Marte, Buni-Yadi, Konduga, Baga and other towns and villages within the prone areas ravaged by the beasts are desperately seeking emancipation from further attacks. Before the 2015 presidential election, the report showed that 150 refugees from Nigeria, holed up in a neighbouring country were feared dead as terrorists descended on them and sent majority to early graves. For the lucky ones that survived, there was nothing to celebrate other than prayers for the divine intervention. In view of all these occurrences, what did Nigeria celebrate at 56 in 2015? What for? The day could have been converted to that of solemn reflection not commercial prayers in supplication to the Almighty Creator to pity and rescue the country from its anguish confrontation.
But past leaders thought in the opposite direction where money could be siphoned and partly wasted to celebrate failure. Why did Nigerians pretend that things were normal at a time they were abysmally abnormal?
On Monday, September 29, 2014, 313 selected people were conferred with National Honors by President Jonathan for undisclosed reasons because most of them never qualified for the honour or Nigerians were not briefed on why they deserved the honour. Federal Ministry for Special Duties made the selection and forwarded to the President for approval. With the speed of lightning, it was approved and commended. Critics posit that some of the recipients purchased the awards. This I cannot prove but was possible and is still possible in Nigeria.
While a good number of them could have merited it, some were mere misnomers. Among them was a former governor who was given a ‘perpetual injunction” from prosecution for corruption and other financial malfeasance while in office. He was honoured probably to encourage others in his former boat to borrow a leaf and do as he did. If not for that, what qualified him for a national honour? He deprived the people access to a good life with their commonwealth and yet he was honoured. Not only him, the list contained several crooks and rogues that depleted public treasuries but still qualified for national honour from the assessment of Special Duties Ministry that supervised activities of the Merit Award Committee.
President Jonathan who doled out the suffixes of CFR, CON, OFR, MON, OON and other medals knew the real people that deserved the honour out of the 313 but still went ahead to preside over the shame.
Jonathan even on gunpoint could not say the eight serving governors and nine ministers he decorated with CONs were better role models to the future generation of Nigerians. The sacked service Chiefs also conned the world with failed promises of ending Boko Haram insurgency within a specified time frame but still honoured for the unfulfilled promises. The stars of the National Honor, even by the President’s admission were the quartet of the designer of the National Flag, Pa Micheal Taiwo Akinkunmi; Mr. Imeh Usuah, a taxi driver who returned N18million to its owner forgotten in his cab by a commuter; corporal Solomon Dauda, a traffic warden in Abuja who did his duty with passion and Mr. Onuh Micheal, a serving cook in the seat of power (Dodan Barracks/Presidential villa) since 1979 without a personal house or car. How many of those honoured could have returned N18million to an owner or be serving in the presidential kitchen since 1979 without a personal house or car? The honours were conferred on so many shameless crooks masquerading as patriots.
Under Jonathan, leaders were incapacitated to tackle corrupt practices, instead, they provided enable environment for the hydra-headed monster to thrive. NNPC $20billion scam is still fresh in our minds as Nigerians are still waiting for the actual forensic audit report as claimed. The Jonathan administration was enmeshed in a $9.3million money laundering scandal in South Africa.
The government said the money seized was for arms purchase to fight Boko Haram, if that excuse was to draw sympathy from Nigerians and exonerate the administration from blames it failed woefully and shamefully because Nigerians had lost trust and confidence in the Jonathan leadership for its high propensity and proclivity of manufacturing and concocting lies. The same administration enacted a law banning its citizens from travelling out of the country at any time with an amount exceeding $10,000 and the same government had the effrontery to load $9.3million in three suitcases to shop for ‘arms’ from the black market and not through its officials but private persons including an Israeli.
The ‘chartered’ jet used for the scandal belonged to a known apologist and bootlicker in cassock masquerading as a repented man of God.
No amount of explanation could erase the guilty verdict already passed by the people on the Jonathan administration going by its antecedents in power.
Nigerians and the world are still waiting to know the identity of the two other Nigerians involved in the scandal and the mission of the Israeli in purchasing arms for the good of Nigeria.
As for the funky man in cassock, it was not too late for him to retrace his steps since he appeared to be easily swayed by filthy lucre for which he made no pretensions as a ‘repented’ armed robber, rapist, cultist and drug addict within and outside Nigeria.
At least, he was well known all over the place as a certificated commercial ‘Man of God’ who stopped at nothing to smile to the banks to the detriment of the ignorant that believe him. Nigerians celebrated as he vacated the exalted position of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leadership.
One thing was that he should not have allowed his greed and selfishness to pit Islam and Christianity against each other in a war of attrition.
Based on his antecedents, the danger his unguarded pursuit of worldly things almost caused to the unity of Nigeria is another concern. After all, there is no need putting on a cassock and behaving more like a Disco Jockey or Nollywood show promoter.
As for the Temitope Joshua Synagogue Church disaster at Ikotun in Lagos, my comments should not be misconstrued by my Christian friends, brothers and sisters worldwide to mean a challenge to the noble faith of Christianity that I respect so much in accordance to the tenets of my Islamic faith that forbids talking bad on any religion of God. Whoever believes TB Joshua possess any spiritual power must have been proved wrong from what happened. The man has been a magician or a cultist all along deceiving the gullible to feed fat on their ignorance of desire.
If he is what he portrays himself to be, what blocked him from receiving a red alert from his ‘spiritual’ source of what was to befall his investment for an immediate solution? When the rescue mission came to assist, why were they chased away and resisted?
For many years, Temitope was at the scene equating with the trinity and the ignorant were clapping and singing in jubilation while their savings suffer extortion. Within a few years, he built a stupendous empire with many fairy tales of magical prowess. Now the chickens are gradually coming home to roost, the man is crying foul for sympathy from the cheated.
For insufficient defence, the man said that the more than 115 people that perished were ‘martyrs of faith”. By the way, what qualified them to be martyrs simply because they were ignorantly extorted and deceived to death? Temitope was at his best to re gain his lost status.
On the collapse of the Synagogue and death of 84 South Africans, a South African journalist, Jacques Pauw described Temitope’s miracles as fake and said, “I challenge the pilgrims to provide me with medical proof that they had been healed. None did”.
One wonders why Temitope was fixated on the idea that the building collapsed as a result of external machination by those who do not wish him and his Church well. Reports said the collapsed building was originally a three-storey structure being raised to accommodate three additional floors. Lagos State General Manager Building Control Agency, Abimbola Animashaun said, “The additional structure had no official approval from investigation”.
Why did “Prophet” Temitope decide to disrespect the law to cause the death of his disciples? Had he extorted much from them or they were sacrificed for a hidden purpose? Prophet TB Joshua should open up please at this period of change.
We make reference to all these happenings to refresh memory and for the safety of our beloved country that has suffered enough in wrong hands. We have voted the wrong people all along to govern us. We erroneously believed in the folktales they trumpeted for votes. We shamelessly collected packages from them in return for our votes. Unknowingly to us, they are political merchants and we are the merchandise. We must unite to salvage our drifting country in 2023.
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues
