WHY WE SHOULD STOP CALLING FOR ABBA MORO'S HEAD

Its always too late to cry when the head is already off. The Immigration recruitment exercise has come, gone, and cancelled, yet the heat that the tragedy that befell the exercise generated is now a veritable source via which most Nigerians showcase their grammatical prowess, and intellectual wherewithal.

To be honest, I was one of the thousand applicants that wrote the exam at the Benin center. When I saw that crowd in the money I knew it was almost a hopeless situation, and my greatest sympathy was with our pregnant women who decided to partake in the deadly and almost a hopeless struggle for the immigration job.

THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE STAMPEDE.
The major cause of the stampedes are not systematically different from the same reasons why we have unnecessary holdups in our roads, why people don't obey the traffic light, why people fight in queues while waiting for for fuel. These reasons are clear, they rang from impatience, to greed, from the desire to outsmart one another to getting things done through the back door. But sincerely my heart goes with the victims.

ON THE MUCH POLITICISED #1000 PAID BY THE APPLICANTS.

I don't want to believe that we are affected by any form of amnesia in this country, but if I must remind those criticising Moro about what I think they already know, let me quickly remind them that we paid #2600 for the just concluded navy recruitment exercise, and those that applied for the army exercise knew how much they pay and no Nigerian, not even the national assembly raised a voice. It is a know fact that over the years Nigerians have been paying for recruitment forms from military, paramilitary and most government agencies.

ON WHETHER MORO SHOULD RESIGN OR BE SACKED!
Though the interior ministry should have taken responsibility for the tragedy in line with global best practice, sacking Moro will merely amount to treating symptoms and allowing the disease to remain. Tell me the last time a child from poor neighborhood secured employment in NNPC, what about our federal and state university and polytechnics, do they employ any body without letters from appropriate quarters? In fact, one of my friend that went to see the rector of a renowned polytechnic for help during there recruitment exercise said that the rector told him pointblank that she already have many letters that she don't even know how to settle, let alone listening to other pleas. Therefore, we must stop looking for scapegoats and genuinely search a way forward in reducing unemployment which today is the biggest social economic problem we have as a nation.

ON THE POLITICIZATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN NIGERIA BY APC!

Though unemployment have attained a laughable height in Nigeria, politicizing it is pure hypocrisy as any one coming to equity should do so with clean hands. For instance, I come from a state were APC have been in power for six years and after four years of graduation I have not been able to secure a job the volume of applications I have written notwithstanding. In every where you go in Nigeria, whether its a PDP or APC controlled state, it is still the same sad story of "who you know". Hope for government job for a poor man today is almost non existent as recommendation letters from high offices conveniently suppress the hope of the poor. The frequent language of these government recruiters is "our hands are tight".

Finally, let me borrow from the great quotes of Michael schumsneider. He said, those that cannot define the object of their study definitely did not know what they want, and if they don't know what they want, how will they recognise it even when the come across it.

So, don't fight Moro, but the bad structures, the Nigerian factor and the status quo which influences and conditioned not just Moro, but every political office holder that want to remain relevant in the Nigerian political space. I won't be surprise if the people who would have pleaded with him to help their children will be the same that will crucify him. We are equally as guilty in this country. So let's collectively repare this country rather than trying to repare an individual.

Louis Akhigbe writing from Benin. 08061368681, SMS only pls