INDIGENT INDIGENES

The unraveling web of the unimaginable acts of brazen daylight robbery of the Nigerian people and the satanic indulgence of the perpetrators of the heinous rape of the Nigerian psyche are no surprise to the generality of Nigerians. If anything, the only surprise so far has been that the nest of justice has not been cast wide enough to ensnare most of the chief perpetrators of this grand theft of our commonwealth. While it is admirable that the process of clawing back at least some of the pilfered  state funds is ongoing, it is also, without a shadow of a doubt, disappointing that the wheels of justice are rolling ever so slowly. Nigerians have been shortchanged and plainly assaulted by the consortium of criminals that misdirected the affairs of state for the past decade. The Nigerian people have been mercilessly ravaged and unfairly traumatized by the consequences of the criminal assault on their wellbeing. The country of Nigeria is now largely populated by indigent indigenes who merely subsist on hope that is as forlorn as that of a pig's attempt to outrun a cheetah.
The chilling irrationality of the PDP's initial cry of witch-hunting is now very clear amid the mind-boggling revelations of the fate of the billions of dollars Dasuki treated like confetti at a rowdy wedding ceremony. Even the whole world that has been hitherto immune to the reports and instances of blatant acts of corruption in Nigeria is aghast at the emerging details of Dasukigate. For most well-meaning Nigerians, the saddest aspect of this whole sordid affair, and others that are yet to surface, is the impact of the lasting legacy they have created. Many Nigerians, across all age ranges, now shrug off accusations and instances of corruption and dishonest behaviour in daily life. Some are actually bold enough to admit they would do exactly what those that have impoverished them have done, and more.
It is much easier to fight corruption and bring corruptors to book, but it is a wholly different ballgame to reconstruct the psyche of corruption that is so pervasive and embedded in the Nigerian society. Like I said elsewhere in my other blog (http://9jainc.blogspot.co.uk/), a lot thief catchers in Nigeria are just as bad as, if not worse than, the thieves they are after. As upright as we thought Ribadu was in his heyday, what became of him eventually? Didn't he choose to get into bed with the same rogues he was claiming to be at war with? Where is Ibrahim Lamorde today? Anyone seen him on the streets of Nigeria? Why has he decided to make a run for it? What percentage of judges in our law courts can be relied upon to fearlessly dispense justice? How many so-called men of God have a morsel of credibility? Gullible, impoverished congregations still being bamboozled into dispensing with their meager incomes to further swell the ever-deepening pockets of their pastors and overseers. Church members cannot afford to send their charges to the very schools and universities their contributions helped establish. Deceit is the order of the day in our society and the resulting damage to our culture is almost irreparable. Buhari and his government can holler all they like, not until the fundamentals of decent human behaviour are re-established can the war on corruption be deemed a success.
Yes, we are on the right path but Buhari must be careful not to end up wearying Nigerians by these endless revelations of corruption. We Nigerians are notoriously fickle people and we can now reasonably expect to begin to feel the impact of the change of direction of governance. Incessant fuel shortages, seemingly unending power shortages, worsening economic situation are the harsh realities for Nigerians at this point in time. Policies that could immediately bring relief to people would be most welcome; the short-term must not be overlooked, the medium-term must not be lost sight of, and Buhari can rest assured that Nigerians would buy into his long-term ideas for the nation. To expect Buhari to undo the damage done to our economy within seven months is absolutely insane. Change is a process, not an occurrence. Rabid sycophants like Femi Fani-Kayode, Olisah Metuh, Bode George and other disreputable wretched souls like them are just a pesky lot. They have nothing of value to contribute to the wellbeing of the Nigerian people and they have no justification, whatsoever, for their opportunistic forays into political discourse, talk less an economic one. They want to fight their way back into public consciousness, but their irrelevance is permanent, only they do not know it yet. Their moral bankruptcy is absolute and their intellectual fibre long deceased.
I wish all my fellow Nigerians the best Christmas in the circumstance and I sincerely pray that we may find happiness and may our hope for a better country be restored and realized in 2016 and far beyond. May we be deserving of the grace of the good Lord always.
God bless Nigeria and her very good people.  

VEXATAE QUAESTIONES

Anyone that has ever been on a roller-coaster will have experienced the palpitations that unfailingly tangle themselves in a web of exhilaration. But then, that's a joyride, a fun ride. Nigeria has hardly ever enjoyed the emotions of a fun ride but has been ridden and serially raped by the very people who have been joyriding it for the better part of half a century, but none more so brutal than by the consortium of evil that has choked Nigeria in the past decade or so. What is any decent human being with a beating heart to make of the Balkanization of the Nigerian State? Vexata quaestio. Why is the dream of our nation's founding fathers proving so unreachable, so unattainable? Vexata quaestio. Why do we still harbour and tolerate these hardened criminals and downright evil animals among us? Vexata quaestio. Why, when it is so blatantly obvious that these animals brazenly engage in daylight robberies, the so-called judges still bend the laws of the land to shield and protect them? Vexata quaestio. Why? Why? Why?
The cases of senseless corrupt acts and sharp practices keep flooding through and all we can do is sit on our collective backside and do nothing. The Dasukis, Sarakis, Jonathans, Iwealas, Diezanis are still prancing about in Planet Nigeria. Why are we so goddamn impotent? Vexata quaestio. If I were not a fierce opponent of the death penalty (only because of the possibilities of miscarriages of justice, mind), I would not even bat an eyelid to see these animals tied to the back of a truck and dragged through the streets. Soldiers are putting their lives on the line for our collective security and peace. These same soldiers are being denied the proper equipment with which to take the fight to the enemy, and dying needlessly because of these ars*holes' insatiable thirst for wealth. The animalistic accumulative traits of these criminals are unparalleled. The sums of money that have been stolen from our commonwealth can only be guessed at and not to be sniffed at. When are we going to egress this regressive cycle of lawlessness and unimaginable level of corruption? Vexata quaestio. Even the 'thief catchers' are themselves thieves. Where do we go from here? Vexata quaestio.
In reality, all of these questions are not vexatae quaestiones; they merely are quasi-posers. Anyone with half a brain knows that the judiciary is the chief facilitator of corruption in our society. Desperate people, with the acute need to stave off hunger, caught nicking a tin of rice or a bag of gari (not that that in itself is condonable though) get thrown into prison with consummate ease and impressive speed, in many cases without legal representation. The number of inmates all over the country that have been incarcerated for years without justifiable reasons can only be imagined. They are the lost brigade, with virtually nobody to bat for them. Human rights legislation doesn't apply to them. They cannot feign illness to allow them to go abroad for medical treatment. What injustice! Now, we have political and executive robbers who have killed  thousands through their avarice and destroyed generations through their greed. When they are called to sense the smell of justice, SANs in their droves come to their aid and protest that their fundamental human rights are being violated, that they are being witch-hunted and that their 'clients' need to go abroad to treat a hitherto unknown debilitating ailment. The judges are only too happy and ready to acquiesce and the wheels of justice are clamped. Heaven knows how many cases are languishing in various courts all over the land.
Thus, the nostrum that should be on the rostrum of political discourse and national rediscovery is the revival of the unimpeachable tenet of justice. When these political and executive thieves realise that impunity is no longer an acceptable word in our political dictionary and national consciousness, and its display would be met with the stiffest penalty the law prescribes, politicians, executives, professionals, businessmen, civil servants and all Nigerians would realign and straighten up. Whistle-blowing should be given prominence, manifestly encouraged and amply rewarded, while our law enforcement agents and military personnel are treated with the dignity they richly deserve and the respect they rightfully expect.
Buhari and his government have a lot on their plate and should be given all the help they need to decapitate this hydra-headed monster of corruption that is threatening us as a nation and people. You see, these willful destroyers don't give a rat's arse unless they are hounded, smoked out and booted out. The laws that guide human conduct don't apply to them because of their incorrigibility. The principles of decency are alien to them because of their intrinsic evilness. They flout the parameters of acceptable human conduct because of their insane inanities. The coordinates of empathy are blurry to them. Only yesterday Facebooks's Mark Zuckerberg and his wife declared they would be giving 99% of their estimated $45 billion to charity, thereby joining the likes of Bill Gates and the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett, and a host of other multi-billionaires who made their fortunes through the sweat of their own brows, as opposed to political jobbers and opportunists in Nigeria who looted the people dry and stash their loot in foreign banks and financial institutions. The table has turned and they will be made to regurgitate what they have unlawfully swallowed and put away for good. They lack dignity. They lack class. Their time is up.    

THE DESTROYERS AND THE SALVAGER

It is beyond question, at least in the reckoning of conscientious souls, that the current travails of the heartless thieves of the Jonathan administration are nothing compared to the carnage their evil deeds caused in the lives of more than 170 million Nigerians. I once opined that the extent of Goodluck Jonathan's pillage of our economy would not be fully appreciated until he left government. Even then, the emerging facts and figures are simply mind-numbing; obscenely beyond the realms of human comprehension. What is just as staggering in its sheer madness, and senseless misplacement of loyalty, is the agitation in some parts of the country that the current drive to unearth the details of imprudence and economic thuggery of Jonathan's mob is nothing short of witch-hunting. The calculus behind that sort of thinking remains a mystery, and the delusory disposition of such agitators only exposes their lack of capacity to empathize with Nigerians that have been severely impacted by the unfolding decadence that was all-pervasive under Jonathan. Tribal and ethnic considerations should have no place in the current dispensation and it will not, agitations or not.

As it happens, what we have seen so far is still only the tip of the iceberg. Shedloads of information on economic sabotage and downright financial recklessness are still forthcoming and the hurricane that these revelations will cause among the scheming and thieving elite can only be imagined. It is in the interest of fairness that stolen monies be recovered for the benefit of Nigerians, and it is in the interest of justice that retributions be meted out to the destroyers of our commonwealth. Why should the salvager then be vilified for fighting the cause of fairness and justice?

It can be only in Nigeria that those who have suffered and are suffering defend those who have brought about such unimaginable misery into their lives. Is it a surprising sight that these thieves rally round each other in a show of solidarity and defiance? When so-called Senators like Dino Melaye accompany the wife of the insufferable so-called Senate President to the offices of the EFCC, it is very clear to all and sundry that these inhuman cretins intend to stick together and fight dirty against the forces of sanity and probity. Isn't this enough reason for all well-meaning Nigerians to confront these destroyers by giving our unstinting support to the salvager? 

I know of no single Nigerian who hasn't greatly suffered the consequences of blind corruption, and hundreds of thousands have paid the ultimate price with their lives. Destinies destroyed, hopes dashed, prospects truncated. It is no use highlighting the instances of unforgivable treachery, the manifestations are there for all to see. This is why tales of stolen monies being returned in exchange for a soft landing are troubling. Can those lives lost due to the very inhuman acts of these thieves be brought back? Can the lost productive years of tens of millions of graduates be retrieved? Can those businesses that have gone bust because of corruption and greed be fully compensated? For their crimes, they must be commensurably punished. Why should they go scot-free when petty thieves who in many cases got done for stealing a few tins of milk spend years incarcerated? Why should our legal system be two-tiered? The punishment must fit the crime. There can be no compromise.

It is heartening to learn that special courts to deal with corruption cases are being set up, and judges of established probity being sourced to head them. For years, these thieves have exploited the legal system to prolong corruption cases, and coupled with the deliberate under-funding of the EFCC, they have largely escaped justice. This cannot continue, and justice must be swift. These new courts are bound to discourage lawyers who have made their own fortunes defending these treacherous clowns. Nigeria has come of age, and the salvaging is well under way. All forces attempting to undermine the process will be forcefully resisted and rebuffed. We're ready.        

AMUSING MUSINGS: THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

The so-called Peace Committee has undoubtedly drawn the ire of the majority of Nigerians, and I am one of them. It beggars belief that some people, under whatever guise, could have the effrontery to attempt to temper, and tamper with, the current drive against corruption in our country. Are the constituent members of this committee inhabiting Mars? Are they so far removed from reality that they have not really grasped the overwhelming mood of absolute intolerance to corruption and corrupt practices prevailing in the current climate? Well, some of them are past leaders that have skeletons in their own cupboards, and some are so-called men of God who have long forsaken the real essence of their calling and sold their souls for a tin of porridge. Even if Jonathan and his mobsters had been lobbying them to intercede on their behalf, shouldn't common sense and human decency impress upon them that such entreaties ought to be swatted with derision and discounted out of hand? Are they seriously suggesting that thieves should get away with the stolen wealth of Nigerians? Seriously, I haven't a clue what they actually stand for! Their lobbying of Buhari is nothing short of treasonable, that's the long and short of it.
On the same side of the coin are those who are huffing and puffing, declaring the whole process of making thieves return their ill-gotten wealth is all but witch-hunting. That's utter, sheer and absolute flumadiddle!! Buhari has insisted that the rule of law will be followed, and that means any accused person is innocent until proven guilty. Isn't this concept the bedrock of justice and fairness? What has anyone got to fear if they haven't got anything to hide or had their hands in the till of our commonwealth? Why introduce all this parochial nonsense into the noble act of retrieving for Nigerians what has been stolen from them? Pilferers and plunderers have to be punished and relieved of their ill-acquired loot, that's the long and short of it.
Buhari and his government are painstakingly preparing their assault on these vile thieves and it is a no-brainer that those who were part of the conspiratorial destruction of our national financial liberty and independent pursuit of happiness are those finding the whole process of sanitizing our economy, and politics, highly objectionable. Some folks who are clearly deficient in charity, and undeniably unendowed with the spirit of equity, are casting aspersions on the person of Buhari and questioning the sincerity of his purpose. Well, long-suffering Nigerians are just finding these musings rather amusing, that's the long and short of it. We Nigerians at home and in the diaspora are overwhelmingly in favour of the current drive and we shall back Buhari to the hilt because it is in our interest and that of unborn generation to do so. It simply could not be business as usual, and we will not settle for less than we deserve and demand.
These neanderthals have even made allusions to the noble concept of human rights in their depraved attempt to deflect attention away from the inalienable rights of Nigerians to fairness and timely justice. In their warped sense of justice, they haven't realized they are trying to justify the supremacy of the human rights of thieves over those of the victims of such unprecedented rapaciousness. When they were busy carving up our country and sharing the spoils among themselves, the human rights of Nigerians counted for nothing. When Nigerians die in ill-equipped hospitals of diseases that shouldn't ordinarily be life-threatening, their human rights are unimportant. When the death traps called roads claim the lives of innocent citizens, their human rights equal zero. When government employees go ten months without pay, their human rights are non-existent. When schools crumble due to lack of care and maintenance, millions of poor moppets have no human rights to lay claim to. These cormorants had no thought for tens of millions of impecunious Nigerians, and now that they are going to be called to account for their stolen tens of billions of dollars, their human rights are being violated!
What these perpetrators of evil did to Nigerians is not venial because they were venal beyond any objective comprehension. The onus is on each and every one of them to prove their innocence when the time comes and no apologia must be expected, nor is required, from the Buhari government. Buhari has our mandate to go after our money and bring the thieves to book according to the dictates of the law. That is the long and short of it.              

THE DULLSVILLE ACCORD

Two weeks have flown by since Buhari's inauguration as President and it's been an eventful couple of weeks. What is one to make of the past fortnight? The answer(s) depend(s) on who one asks. 

From the perspective of the deposed PDP government, it couldn't have gone any better. From the viewpoint of the new party in government, it couldn't have been more chaotic. An average and apolitical Nigerian wouldn't hesitate to say the omens for the change they voted for are not looking too great. 

The events of the past week in the Senate and the House of Representatives have set a narrative for the running of the 8th Assembly, and the PDP are laughing all the way and sticking up the middle finger at Nigerians. Whichever way one looks at it, the PDP will define the Buhari administration if extreme care is not taken. The heart and soul of the Legislature is now firmly in the grip of the PDP. The amateurish way in which the APC conducted itself in the run-up to the elections of Principal Officers in both Houses has robbed it of a large portion of the goodwill of Nigerians. Their honeymoon period is even much shorter now, and rightly so. The blame is three-fold. 

Firstly, Buhari displayed a distinct lack of leadership and foresight in responding too late to the brewing unrest among the APC ranks in both Houses. While it may be commendable not to dabble in the affairs of the Legislature, the way and manner of his aloofness was ill-conceived. How it could escape his judgement that the APC was elected into office to deliver the promises made to Nigerians, and that a Senate and a House of Representatives leadership that would help to deliver the change that we overwhelmingly voted for would be desirable, is beyond reason. His intervention needn't have been along the lines of handpicking the officers, but Party discipline should have been the preeminent consideration. I mentioned it in my video blog a day before Buhari's inauguration that party discipline is a strong indicator of government discipline. A party in government that lacks discipline lacks the wherewithal to be effective and the capacity to deliver on their campaign promises. It isn't far off the mark to suspect that Buhari was very deliberate in the tardiness of his attempt to intervene when he called a meeting of all APC Senators and Reps away from the national Assembly, while simultaneously giving the nod for the leadership contests to go ahead. He didn't even show up at the meeting he called!! This was shoddy, to say the least, and collusive in nature. Since nothing of note has happened on the Executive front itself, it isn't unimaginative to term the shenanigans of the past week 'The Dullsville Accord' between a mutinous section of the APC and a slow-off-the-mark President. Such Presidential errors of judgement and lack of decisiveness should be cut out. Buhari has to step up to the plate and justify why Nigerians went through hell to get him into office. While he's at it (it is a tad shameful that he should still be confusing 2015 with the '80s) he should bring himself up-to-date. There's no such thing as West Germany any more, and Chancellor Merkel is certainly not President Michelle!! Just in case he didn't know, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi are all deceased!

Secondly, Bola Tinubu's overbearing influence on the affairs of the APC has to be seriously curtailed. Tinubu should stop acting as if he were the only decision maker in the party and he should realize that a truly democratic governing party is essential for a successful government and a hopeful nation. Tinubu's interests should not take precedence over those of the party; the age of godfatherism in politics is dying out fast. He should curb his ego and stop destabilizing the party with his insistence on always having the last say. He should be a party man and not a party god. Internal party democracy is invaluable.

Thirdly, Saraki's personal ambition blinded him to reason. Like I indicated in my previous post, he needn't have dined with the devil to get his wish. He still would have won even if all the APC Senators were present. Had he won in that fashion, he would have been blameless because he had a right to aspire to office just like anyone else. What he did was to actually let in the PDP through the back door and made a nonsense of the whole thing. How could you have an APC Senate President and a PDP Senate Deputy President and a PDP Senate Leader? Saraki has caused damage to party discipline and cast doubt in the minds of the vast majority of his colleagues in the Senate and the party at large as to his loyalty to the cause. He has behaved very badly indeed, and the sooner he apologizes the better for party cohesion.

Nigerians are watching and waiting for the manifestation of the change programme we voted for. 

No more room for errors.          

  

BACK IN THE DOLDRUMS

Nigeria has swiftly descended from the euphoria of a hard-fought victory to the basement of the horror of the recent past. A couple of questions spring to mind: Is Nigeria truly accursed? Have we unwittingly pinned our hopes on the carcass of the PDP?

Before Buhari even spends a night in Aso Rock, his would-be government is already in tatters. Whatever change we believed we voted for has been cast aside by one evil masterstroke. In whose interest is Bukola Saraki serving? While it is unwise and uncharitable to knock him for being ambitious, it is relevant to question the real motivation behind his implacable desire to be Senate President. Should Party unity be discountenanced in the pursuit of such personal ambition?

This political gambit by Bukola Saraki has seriously imperiled this long-anticipated programme of change, and dented the confidence in this new government before it even begins the most arduous task of rebuilding our nation. It is disheartening beyond belief. The way and manner the whole election for the principal offices of the Senate was conducted amounted to nothing but a coup; a coup against Nigerians. The ramifications that would emanate from this seemingly innocuous act of betrayal would be dire and painful for the running of a progressive government we all thought we voted for.

Like I said earlier, I personally don't see anything wrong in any person to be aspirational, but when it negatively impacts upon the cohesion of the party in government, it smacks of nothing but betrayal. The unity of the APC is now in serious jeopardy and the PDP can't believe their luck! To rub it in, we now have a PDP Deputy Senate President in Ekweremadu and a PDP Senate Leader in David Mark. Can anyone imagine the absurdity? How Buhari can now effortlessly push important bills through the Legislature remains to be seen. Bukola Saraki and his old party have effectively castrated the APC government before our very eyes. Is it beyond the realms of possibility that Bukola Saraki goes back to his old party? To 'de-decamp'? How wrong we were to think the PDP has been humbled!

Then again, I don't expect this to be the end of the matter. The pity is intrigues will now dominate the agenda of the Senate at a time when Nigeria simply cannot afford it, what with all the challenges we face? No matter how hard Buhari now tries to move things forward, he'll be handicapped by political machinations in the Senate and frustrate his efforts on many fronts. There is no doubt about that. He'll be stymied at every opportunity to the detriment of Nigerians who have suffered long and hard under the strain of corruption and impunity for 16 years. 

Is there any hope for a resolution to this impasse? The APC was caught napping by the masters of politicking and trickery. Shouldn't alarm bells have been ringing when Saraki refused to attend a meeting called by the Vice-President yesterday, even though denials of him calling the VP an ordinary Commissioner were swiftly issued? The APC needs to learn, and fast. The balance of power has now decisively shifted in favour of the PDP, there can be no doubt that. Saraki is, for all intents and purposes, back in their camp. He can no longer be trusted, it's as simple as that. Any resolution that may be found would only be temporary and distrust will continue to widen the crack. The APC must surely learn from this political faux pas and fast-forward the programme of change before more unwelcome developments arise. Nigerians will not stand for excuses. Any undue influence that may have been at play in this whole sordid affair that resulted in their capitulation in the Senate must be nullified without delay. True democracy must reign in the party if it is to succeed in government. Saraki and the PDP have just taught the APC a lesson, another lesson could be fatal. Sort it out.

We'll see how Buhari will play his hand, but Nigerians can only hope that this rude awakening is put in the right context and his agenda for change is pursued with vigour and decisiveness. We refuse to be back in the doldrums.We expect.        

NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT

There's no gainsaying the fact that the tears of sorrow that will flow down the cheeks of 170 million Nigerians tomorrow will not stem from a feeling of grief being felt by the departure of the Jonathan administration. Those tears will emanate from the sense of betrayal meted out to Nigerians by an accomplished demagogue; and the ruthless vandalism of the Nigerian State by a sot that Nigerians had the greatest misfortune to have had as a President. If anyone thinks this is a denigration of a decent man's character, I daresay such an individual is deserving of even more scorn than Jonathan.

It is no use trying to highlight his failings, for they would fill a whole book! What is of pertinence to me at this juncture in our national history is the autopsy of this deceased government, learn lessons from it and ponder the ramifications of this misrule for the immediate, medium- and long-term survival of our country. Nigerians have gone through six sad and disastrous years, and not a single one of us ever saw it coming! We just basically shot ourselves in the foot, and the resulting limp will surely last even longer. We were attacked in every way with impunity and we just rode with it. As luck would have it, Jonathan was unceremoniously shoved out of power, thereby redeeming ourselves and generations yet unborn. It's no doubt that keeping Jonathan in power would have amounted to a collective seppuku and Nigeria as we know it would have been history. For the mere reason that we didn't shoot ourselves in the back, we should pat ourselves on the back. We were taught uncountable lessons in failure by the most callous, infernally corrupt and murderous leader since Abacha. Hundreds of thousands have been sent to their early graves as a direct result of sheer incompetence, unparalleled greed,  and an unprecedented level of corruption. Now that his end has come, the vast majority of those that collaborated with him in bringing utter destruction on our economy and general well-being, and a shame on our country, have all but deserted him. Still, we should be thankful that even though Nigeria is on its knees, it's not on its back. I shall not waste my, or the readers', time any further by looking back on those six inglorious years presided over by that infamous milksop. However, a befitting epitaph every Nigerian should write on the grave of the Jonathan misrule should certainly be: "Nemo me impune lacessit" ("No one attacks me with impunity". It is the national motto of Scotland and it is of particular resonance here)
We need to move on to the here and now. Buhari and his administration have an unenviable and onerous task of putting the pieces back together. Nigerians know this is going to be a rough ride to where we ought to be, and the navigation is surely going to be stormy. Nigeria, at this point in time, is a shambles. As I indicated in my video broadcast last week (https://www.facebook.com/iolarewaju/videos/10153844510259112/?l=1570642130410036759), President Buhari's first test will be the configuration of his cabinet; round pegs must be put in round holes. Eagerness to assuage political egos must not supersede competence to perform. President Buhari must realize very early on that Nigerians didn't put him in office to massage egos, and we expect our interests to override any other. Our interests are very clear and precise, and we shall entertain no excuse for failing to meet our expectations. Make no mistake, at the top of our expectations is the clawing back of stolen funds stashed away locally and expatriating those stashed away abroad. No corrupt individual should get away with whatever they have so brazenly stolen from Nigerians. We simply would not forgive if Buhari and his government failed in this regard. 
There's rumour doing the rounds that Goodluck has challenged Buhari to probe not only his administration but also the ones before it. This clearly is desperation on the part of a man who failed Nigerians so badly, and single-handedly destroyed the lives of so many. He should be made to account for the mess that he created, and it's his problem if he failed to probe the administrations before his. This odious man is clutching at straws and he must be made to pay. Sanity must be brought back into public life and there should be no hiding place for thieves in government.
Our demands are simple and can be broken down into ten actionable items:

• Bring corrupt individuals to book and claw back as much stolen funds as possible;
• Put individuals of impeccable character and competence in charge of ministries, departments and parastatals;
• Restructure the EFCC and ICPC. Strengthen their powers and set up special courts to expeditiously try indicted individuals. The era of dragging cases through the courts and wasting valuable time and resources should be declared over;
• Reform the NNPC as a matter of urgency and the $20 billion saga resolved. In the same vein, the oil subsidy scam should be thoroughly investigated and the scammers brought to book, while all dubiously awarded oil blocks should be revoked. A programme of resuscitating all of our mothballed oil refineries must be put in place;
• Probe the administration of, and disbursements from, the ECA; 
• The manner in which the defunct NEPA was 'privatized' should be revisited and prompt remedial actions that would benefit Nigerians taken. All Gencos and Discos thoroughly vetted so that seemingly intractable issue of power supply may be effectively tackled;
• The cost of governance must be tackled with vigour, as the current level is not only unsustainable, but also unreasonable, indefensible and patently unfair;
• Embark upon the restructuring of all of our security forces and make them fit for purpose and rethink the war against Boko Haram and other insurgencies;
• NDDC has to be dismantled and reconstituted to stop it being used as a cash-point for militants and miscreants;
• Finally, sanitize the judiciary and make errant judges pay for their venality.

These are the contents of Buhari's in-tray. They encapsulate his mantra of Change and I'm certain Nigerians are pragmatic enough to give him time, but not plenty of it; we are impatient for the manifestations of Change. As from tomorrow, President Buhari has to swing into action; the goodwill of Nigerians is not inexhaustible. You have been warned!!


I, along with the majority of Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora, wish President Buhari and his government God's speed as they embark upon this journey of rebuilding our great nation.
We will be with you but do not stray from us.
We have your back but do not turn your back on us.
We will challenge you from time to time but do not fob us off.
God bless the Republic Of Nigeria and its awesome people.    
   

ON THE BRINK OF CHANGE

(The transcripts of my earlier post today on my FaceBook Page) 

"I have consciously divided this appeal into 3 broad sections:

First of all, the generality of Nigerians

Secondly, the President-in-waiting, Muhammadu Buhari

And thirdly, the APC as the governing party.

Standing before you today, I have never been prouder to be a Nigerian. We Nigerians can stand with our heads held high that we defied all the doomsday scenarios and showed the world that when Nigerians really put their hearts to it, we succeed. The age-old spirit of One Nigeria was severely tested by unsavoury rhetoric salvos by depraved politicians’ attempts to split the common will of the people along tribal and religious lines. They failed, miserably, to exploit our tribal and religious sensibilities. I commend Nigerians for rising above those politically nonsensical manoeuvrings and made sure that, for the most part, our votes counted. We must not hesitate to thoroughly acknowledge the thoroughness with which the INEC and Professor Jega in particular, conducted the whole electoral process. Nigerians are highly indebted to them. It is probably only fair to note Jonathan’s readiness to concede defeat; he contributed in no little way to the calmness that followed after it became clear he had no chance in hell of beating Buhari. The vast majority of the security personnel also did their level best to keep the peace and maintain order in all areas of our country; we must be quick to offer our thanks to them. It is also incumbent on us to acknowledge and appreciate the support of the international community for their impartiality and steadfastness in their monitoring and reporting activities. We all succeeded together, and our collective faith in humanity greatly enhanced in the process.

Now that the dust has settled and the big issue of who will lead us for the next 4 years unambiguously decided, we must turn our focus to the even bigger malaise that threatens our nationhood. It is in this quest that I’d like to appeal to Nigerians to be even more vigilant than ever before; we may have won the battle, but the war rages on. The war, as we know, is multi-faceted. We have decided to be led by a proven general (for want of a better word) to lead us into the war, but we, as foot soldiers, also have our work cut out. For this war to be won, Buhari has to be ably supported and assisted so that we may have the moral right to hold him accountable, whenever necessary, for any lapse in policy direction, formulation and execution. Let’s make no mistake about it, most people voted for Buhari rather than the APC. The Buhari effect helped the APC enormously. Nigerians know that the PDP doesn’t have a monopoly on vile and corrupt people in its ranks; the APC can also boast its fair share. I seriously doubt if Buhari hadn’t been the APC’s Presidential candidate the APC would have won so convincingly. I’m sure many Nigerians share this humble opinion.

The malaise I alluded to is hydra-headed: the root causes of corruption are impunity and greed. When people realise that they would get away with anything, their proclivity for greed comes to the fore and a regime of corruption is entrenched. A lack of transparency and adequate oversight predispose politicians and officials to graft and insensitivity to the needs of the common people. We, as Nigerians, need to start exposing cases of corruption and not condone them as it hitherto has been our wont. For us to stamp out corruption we must disengage ourselves from the very act itself. Hypocrisy is never a great human attribute.

Our country is in dire straits. The outgoing Jonathan government has depleted our foreign reserves and plundered the ECA (Excess Crude Account); our foreign and local debt profiles have never been starker. The government has been borrowing heavily to even pay salaries!! Fuel scarcity is the order of the day as importers demand the payment of subsidy arrears; many State governments have been starved of allocations and in turn unable to fulfil their obligations. Things are not bad; they are unbelievably bad!! Most institutions have been heavily politicized and rendered useless. Think of the Police, the Army, the Navy, the EFCC, the ICPC, Ministries, Departments, and so on and so forth.

The 16 years of the PDP, and even more damagingly, the 6 years of Jonathan, have pushed our nation back decades and impoverished our people no end. In short, there’s no quick fix and it’s both unrealistic and unfair to expect miracles of Buhari and the incoming government. Studious and steady rebuilding process is required to gradually undo the damage that has been caused by years of PDP’s ineptitude and Jonathan’s weakness and reckless abandon of common sense.

Now, to the President-in-waiting, Muhammadu Buhari (as he wants to be known henceforth)

I have no doubt in my mind that you realize Nigerians would not entertain any excuses for failure in any area of our national life, be it in the guise of paucity of electricity supply, rampant unemployment, insecurity, Boko Haram or any other form of insurgency, infrastructural decay and corruption. Nigerians have suffered long and hard and the hope for a respite was what we voted for and it is what we expect. You’re not an ‘accidental’ President; you have been preparing for this for longer than anyone cares to remember. Nigerians shared your frustrations and we showed that by giving you the mandate to begin to bring succour to our long-suffering people. We don’t expect miracles to happen, but we expect serious action from your Day One in office. We will be watching you closely and any failures by any of your Ministers will be your failure and any act of corruption committed by them will be attributed to you. The hope of 170 million Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora rests on your shoulders. One very important thing you must note: Nigerians expect you, more than anything else, to claw back our stolen funds. Looters of our commonwealth should not go unpunished and EFCC must be restructured, strengthened and empowered to carry out its tasks without fear or favour. A special court must be set up to deal with corruption cases so that they don’t drag on for years with no resolution. Corrupt people must know that the era of impunity is over and that they will be hunted down and not only made to pay back whatever they have stolen, but go to prison for a very long time. We don’t only expect you to step on toes; we demand that you smash toes and cut them off, for good measure. The NNPC has to be paid a very special attention and all the monies missing clawed back and the culprits, no matter who they may be, severely punished. The 20-billion-dollar question must be answered without delay.

For us to have your back, you must show unambiguous determination to cure all of our national ills and the readiness to bring forth that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. We will give you time, but not plenty of it. Your promise of Change is like an albatross round your neck, and we will hold you to that promise. To assist you enormously in the challenges ahead, you’d need to put round pegs in round holes: people of proven ability and character have to populate your team. Attention to political patronage at the expense of professional pedigree would be a misstep.

You have a golden opportunity to leave a lasting legacy of change, hope and prosperity. As the 29^th of May 2015 draws ever closer, I, along with all Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora, wish you well. We wish you God’s guidance as you embark on this journey of our nation’s revival.

Now, to the APC, the governing party-in-waiting. The mistakes of the PDP have to be good enough lessons for you to learn from. The transitory nature of power ought to guide your conduct in office. Your party is in office, not in power. Power belongs to the people. The APC has to be a template for good governance at all levels of government and make Nigerians in every region its focus of attention. No part of Nigeria should be considered hostile. Nigerians are watching you closely, and party discipline is a very close guide to government discipline. Do not take the mandate given to you by Nigerians for granted. Nigerians expect you to work with the government very closely in making sure the letters of your manifesto are adhered to. Finally, one burning desire of Nigerians is to drastically reduce the cost of governance. Your push in that direction would endear you no end to Nigerians. A situation where the legislature is allocated more than the budget of any of 25 states of the country is inexcusable, unsustainable and patently unfair. Nigeria and Nigerians expect.

Thank you for listening. God bless the Federal Republic Of Nigeria and its awesome people."         

ABOVE AND BELOW

With a little over three weeks before the commencement of Buhari's incumbency, the scramble for ministerial positions is gathering pace. While the jostling is not an alien phenomenon in the current context, the incoming Buhari government would do well not to take off on a wobbly note. What has escaped the attention, or rather the observation, of many is that Buhari has the distinct advantage of being the most prepared President in this current political dispensation. After all, he has been fighting for much of the last sixteen years to be where he is today, and boy, has he earned it! The biggest battle of his political career has now only just begun: he has to translate his preparedness into immediate manifestation of his long-held ideas. He also has to stamp his authority on the configuration of his Executive cabinet, and to show Nigerians that he is going to be his own man. Buhari has to realise (if he hasn't already) that Nigerians are impatient and that he has little time to convince us that we made the right choice. Right now, time is his main enemy; other considerations pale into insignificance. We voted for change and change must begin in earnest; there should be no excuses and no flip-flopping; Buhari must be on the front foot right from the off, which is why Nigerians are waiting to see those whom he would appoint to run the most important offices of State.
It is pleasing and most heart-warming to note that he has pledged to trim the size of government, but we expect individuals with proven expertise and experience in their respective professional careers to populate the Cabinet so that visible and palpable change could be brought to bear in double-quick time. Were Buhari to shun the political shenanigans that characterized much of the last sixteen years, he would be adjudged to have lived up to his reputation as being indifferent to patronage and intolerant of corruption at whatever level. Hence, the need for a high-calibre Ministerial configuration cannot be over-emphasized. Even though the so-called Federal Character (as espoused by the Constitution) has to be applied, the need for such compliance must not take undue precedence over the absolute need for unimpeachable characters running the affairs of State. Besides, there is no part of Nigeria that such people could not be found, and party affiliation should be treated with utmost care.
Almost every government institution has been destroyed by successive governments, but none more so by the Jonathan administration. The Army, the Navy, the Nigeria Police, the EFCC, the ICPC, the Judiciary, and so on, have been so politicized that they have lost their way and abdicated their constitutional essence. The NNPC has become a cash-point and a cash cow for the political elite for many a year. The NDDC is just a sick and costly joke, with trillions of Naira disappearing into criminals' bank accounts. These are areas that Nigerians need, and demand, immediate wholesale changes. No ifs or buts. All of these institutions must be totally rejiggered without much ado so that Nigerians may begin to rebuild confidence in these areas that directly impact their lives. Nigerians want their stolen monies returned and the recovered funds be expended to reverse the unprecedented infrastructural decay that has bedevilled our nation in recent years. All convicted thieves have to be brought to book in strict accordance with extant laws, without fear or favour. No Nigerian should be ABOVE the law, and no Nigerian should be BELOW it. Equal application of the law and non-selective compliance with it is the bedrock of a decent, just and equitable society. That is what Buhari should aspire to make his legacy, and Nigerians expect, and deserve, no less.
Nigerians hope that May 29, 2015 will usher in an era of verdure in our country, and much of that hope rests squarely on Buhari's shoulders. I sincerely wish Buhari well, and I sincerely hope that Nigerians would feel justified in reposing their trust in him.

AN ANSWERED ORISON

The euphoria that followed the results of the recently-concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections goes a long way to show that the quintessential Nigerian spirit of collective visceral expression of delight at the demise of oppressive, debilitating and corrupt regimes is alive and well. As a people that have been dealt a severely terrible hand by insensitive and downright evil politicians over the past six years, Nigerians almost everywhere were very expressive in their show of satisfaction and well-deserved relief. The margin of defeat suffered by Jonathan and the PDP was a lot greater than I expected and it was a comprehensive rejection of the status quo and a yearning for that erstwhile elusive change. The jubilation that greeted cities, towns and villages was reminiscent of that which followed the news of Abacha’s demise. That says a lot. This was one orison Nigerians had been waiting patiently for an answer to.

Mission accomplished, Nigerians have earned the right to expect a better, brighter and more secure future. Nigerians have secured for themselves the right to take elected politicians to task and demand of them the social and economic policies that will improve their lot, individually and collectively. Nigerians have, electorally, voiced their displeasure with arrogant, loose-mouthed and corrupt individuals who parade themselves as politicians. We have had it up to our necks with thugs in office and murderers in power. We have decisively hauled ourselves out of the mire of ignominy as a country and taken an unmistakably decisive step in the direction of change.

As an obdurate opponent of Jonathan and his infernally corrupt PDP, I felt particularly vindicated that Nigerians moved comprehensively with the wind of change. The 31^st of March 2015 went down as one of the happiest days of my life, and indeed, most Nigerians’. It was a fateful Tuesday that hope returned and purpose made a prince-like, not a piecemeal, entrance into the political space. If 1^st October 1960 was Nigeria’s independence from foreign imperialism, 31^st March 2015 was Nigeria’s liberation from the far more oppressive and soul-destroying local imperialism.

Now that we have elected Buhari/Osinbajo and an APC-dominated National Assembly, the job of salvaging our future would be incomplete without voting for APC governors and APC-dominated State Assemblies. Uniformity of purpose and a unilateral drive for change are essential for a complete change of direction and a determined march towards that bright future we all pine for. The governments at both levels (Federal and State) have to pull in the same direction so that change is uniformly brought to all areas of Nigeria. No part or section of our country must be left behind. It is a Nigeria for all Nigerians and of all Nigerians. The voices of division, tribalism and religionism must be drowned out and silenced for good. Never again must we allow divisive elements cause enmity and discord among us. No Nigerian is better or more important than another. Our sense of unity must be strengthened and the power of our diversity be positively harvested and utilized.

As we jettison sycophants from the ship of State, we must be rather mindful of hard-core thieves and political nomads who have no place in the emergent political discourse, and the law must bear down heavily on them without delay. The Nigerian political ambience has to be disinfected and sanitized. Honour and diligence, not avariciousness and thuggish disposition, should be at the forefront of politics and public service. We have had enough of the Fani-Kayodes, Dokubos, Fayoses, Obanikoros, Edwin Clarkes, Diezanis, and suchlike; our new ship of State should have no place for such deadwoods, cringeworthy and detestable nonpersons. Such people have no right of place in our new consciousness, nor do they deserve any accordance of recognition in this new dispensation of peace, progress and prosperity.

We have reached a turning point, and there’s no turning back.

Welcome to TurningPoint.