FACTIS NON VERBIS

Sometimes one cannot but wonder why Nigeria is so plagued on so many fronts at the same time. What the heck is wrong with, and about, our country? The quicksand of misfortune seems to be rooted in our country and nobody seems to have credible solutions to the myriad of largely self-inflicted wounds destroying the very fabric of our being and tearing apart the very wool that our commonwealth was woven with. Now, you may ask what the reason for my ire is today and I can honestly contend that the reasons are far too many for my humble brain to comprehend. All for us seem to understand the ‘why’ but not the ‘how’. We’re, for the most part, so pretentious in our individual belief that we know exactly how to solve our nation’s woes. Self-appointed intellectuals and experts, not to talk of those who have turned mudslinging into an art form, often come up with one ‘panacea’ or the other. Flip-flopping is the new trend, today they are for and tomorrow they are against. For and against what exactly? ‘Principle’ has become a swear word in the ears of Nigerians; it’s now a case of ‘touch ye not my anointed, he’s from my tribe or clan’. Trying to clamp down on corruption is now tagged ‘witch-hunting’ even when the facts are stacked to the high heavens. Judges, lawyers and bankers are in cahoots against the very notion of nationhood, their ever-bulging pockets unfillable. Politicians? Don’t get me started on the slugs! How and why on earth did we deserve these scumbags?

Define the thought of going back to the days of military regimes a retrograde one, but can anyone, in all honesty, say we’re better off now than we were during even the worst of military regimes? I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the crass brazenness of our modern day ‘politicians’ gives me no option. Though not clamouring for a return to those dark days of our evolution, but a brief return wouldn’t do us any harm, if only to round up those who have destroyed Nigeria, and wasted millions of lives in the blind pursuit of riches, and bang them all up until they have coughed up their illegal acquisitions and accumulations. These shameless armed robbers that call themselves politicians incessantly bang on about fundamental human rights. What about the human rights of over 180 million Nigerians they have ruthlessly thrashed and mercilessly trampled upon? What about the destinies of tens of millions of young people that have been decimated? What about the entitlements of millions of pensioners they have appropriated to themselves thereby sending them into penury and early graves?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Ninety-nine point nine per cent of Nigerian politicians are worse than armed robbers! Ninety-nine point nine per cent of Nigerian lawyers are worse than armed robbers! Ninety-nine point nine per cent of Nigerian judges are worse than armed robbers! Ninety-nine point nine per cent of Nigerian bankers are worse than armed robbers! Need I say more? If Buhari is alone in this fight against corruption, he will lose. There’s no doubt about that. We, ordinary Nigerians, are complicit in this fight against sanity because we make excuses for the armed robbers and condone their remorseless attack on our common destiny.

Look at the state of play today. Corruption cases going on forever while many have been abandoned altogether. Looters burying money like corpses and pleading not guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence. Still, we defend them just because we hate the face of Buhari. What these apologists for corruption fail to see is that Buhari isn’t even fighting for himself, he doesn’t have to. As poor as he claims to be, he’s still not begging for food and struggling for survival like most Nigerians currently do. He is fighting for you and me, for our children and grandchildren, and those yet unborn. It is only in Nigeria that I see people attacking the very person who is fighting their corner. What sense does that make? Many of us, in our comfort zones in the UK, US and other places, abuse our keyboards thinking that we’re feeling the pains of Nigerians. Utter nonsense! Many of Buhari’s traducers wouldn’t survive the harsh realities in Nigeria for six months and they see themselves as experts in the art of governance. We all need to readjust our expectations and refocus on the real issues that need confronting if Nigeria is to cease being a laughing stock and a basket case.

We’re not in a democracy in Nigeria, but rather a kakistocracy; that much is abundantly clear. When you have eighty senators tagging along to court with Saraki, with scores of SANs. Can any sane person imagine that absurdity? When you have a half-educated excuse of a governor, gaining notoriety by the hour, proving beyond any doubt that he actually is a heartless thug, taking it upon himself to destroy any notion of nation-rebuilding that we all should work tirelessly to engage in? What an absolute nudnik!

Lest you deduce from the aforesaid that I am giving Buhari an unalloyed thumbs-up; I am not, not by any stretch of the imagination. He has made avoidable mistakes and we have a right, and an expectation, to take him to task on those from time to time. Fundamental human rights must be protected, even in the face of unimaginable transgressions. That’s for another time. What I cannot fault him for is his strive to bring a semblance of accountability to governance and to deracinate corruption and confront its unrepentant perpetrators. In that quest, I believe, he deserves our total and perpetual support. It should be one for all, all for one. We should not only say it, but our deeds must  from now on portray our desire. Factis non verbis.