Buhari: Dealing With The Arm Deal
Nigeria today is a country where too many things do not work as they should. Our development schemes have not improved the quality of life as much as they should. Yet we have planned and re-planned. We have probed and re-probed. We have reformed and reformed but at the end of it all, contentment still eludes us------ NPN 1981
To know why Nigeria is a laughing stock in the comity of nations, one need not consult Amadioha. All you need to do is to lift the carpet up and you will be faced with the stark reality about the log in the wheel of Nigeria’s progress.
If poverty and mis-governance have defiled the prescription of the joint efforts of political Doctors from UNN, UI and ABU, it is because the culture of sweeping critical issues under the carpet have not been abandoned by Nigerian political leaders.
Nigeria has been a nation of deals. Since things fell apart for PDP, we are constantly been fed daily with figures that most of us cannot call or pronounce without the help of CBN; I mean the huge amount of money that can make the dead return from the great beyond. Anyway, like Bishop Kukah, the media propaganda espoused by Abuja and the APC is not moving me and will not move me because I am a Nigerian and I know very well that soon, deals may be done and the biggest looting in the history of Nigeria since 1999 will be swept under the carpet.
Before the apostles of “ Buharicracy” will began to call me names, I hasten to make this disclaimer: I am one Nigerian that is incurably optimistic about the Nigerian project and will lend my support to any administration that will reposition Nigeria and reclaim her lost glories. However, action speaks louder than words and this is one thing that Abuja and APC must learn.
Deals in Nigeria did not start with the shoeless fisherman from Otuoke. He only elevated it to a system of governance. It was there yesterday and will remain till tomorrow if the government continues to put the cart before the horse.
Bishop Kukah remains one Nigerian that have proven to have a perfect understanding of our political history and engagement . The public lecture (Nigeria: Euphoria, Hysteria and Dementia, still a long walk to freedom) he delivered in Lagos last year was a logical and objective eye opener on the war against corruption by previous regimes.
I am in total agreement with the lord Bishop. Nigerians are not good students of history and the resultant effect is that an evil genius will wake up one morning, beatify himself and the Nigerians will swallow him line, sinkers and hook. We seem to be forgetful. Pitiably, we have forgotten a lot that happened in the recent past but his lordship is too meticulous in his approach to issues to forget.
Buhari is not the first President to make public his hatred for behind the scene deals that is bleeding Nigeria to the grave, yet most of them left Aso Rock with litanies of dirty deals hanging over their neck like the sword of Damocles.
Saint OBJ, the wizard of Otta was once the Choir master of the anti- Corruption choir but after eight years in Aso Villa, he became a perfect example of a corrupt leader. As things are today, the corrupt deals he used to enrich himself, family members and his numerous Kleptomaniac college of friends have been swept under the carpet and he is busy pontificating on political affairs of this nation and moving around as a kingmaker unchallenged.
Truly, Bishop Kukah was right about his earlier assessment of Buhari’s anti corruption crusade and his approach to loot recovery. A hunter that goes to hunt monkey with flute and drum will return home with empty bags.
We are watching and waiting, we refuse to be deceived and we refuse to buy the APC propaganda that only PDP politicians are thieves.
It is one thing to convict someone in the pages of Newspapers, and another to secure a conviction from a court of competent jurisdiction. It is one thing to begin a journey and another to end it successfully. It is also good to recover our looted common wealth from the PDP sinners and thieves but it is more salient that Buhari makes sure that the college of saints in APC will refuse to eat yam by not re - looting the recovered fund as it happened with GEJ . Need I say more?