Surely, Boko Haram is a judgment against our collective failure to make democracy real and follow through on the hopes of 1999 when Nigerians were told that corruption and tyranny have ended! The bitter truth is that the past 15 years alone have seen corruption in Nigeria increase by a troubling margin; dwarfing whatever sum and opportunity that the military and others may have squandered in 40 years. Many Nigerians have been made to accept that God chose our leaders- thats not TRUE. How could God choose such disastrous leaders, most of whom are only clever by half? Dont even let anybody make you think that God chose president Jonathan because if God actually chose him, it means that President Jonathan is a divine and messianic leader who ought to redeem this nation, economically, politically, socially and religiously. But what have we today? On Sunday, I travelled around Lagos and saw poverty face to face at its most dehumanising level. Besides, Nigeria has never been as divided as we are today. The price of oil is down; yesterday the government introduced some austerity measures; import duty that Obasanjo refused to touch has been tripled; most traders and importers are out of business; politics of nepotism all around; and Boko Haram is claiming an average of 50 lives daily, killing more than 1400 in May 2014 alone and decimating the military. Nigerians are not told that tens of soldiers abandon their duty posts on daily basis to return to their homes on AWOL! If that trend continues, very soon, the military force would be cut by half! Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the spirit of 1999 and boldly challenge the status quo. What killed that spirit was the error of allowing the same old corrupt political block to have a role in it. Thankfully, as our online activities continue to draw offline attention, and as millions of Nigerians begin to move beyond the concept of smooth tribal loyalty to embrace firm dissent against the political class and against those that have received the mandate to lead them but have failed to even protect them, our leaders will not have it easy! Of course, two of the difficulties in speaking out today against the government of the day is the possibility of being sidelined and the fear of those who are seeking to equate criticism with disloyalty. Yes, its a sad day for Nigeria when high-level government folks will seek to use every method of propaganda to accuse people like Rotimi Amaechi, Rochas Okorocha and many others of selling out. Selling out to who? If they are selling out to the North, is this present government now admitting that Nigeria is divided between North and South? Already, some parts of this country are not under the direct administration of the president and Commander in chief. What can be more dangerous than this? But something is happening, and people are not going to be deceived any more. The truth must be told, and I say that those who are seeking to make it appear that anyone who opposes the government of President Jonathan is a traitor or an enemy of the Ijaw nation are indeed the ones who have taken a stand against TRUTH and against their own CONSCIENCE. (MIU, Nov. 2014).
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 21:09:48 +0000
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