It goes without saying that one of the change agenda of the Buhari-led administration is the fight against the Hydra-headed corruption. The system in the country has made it impossible for Buhari to succeed in his sustained fight against corruption, the old man, in his wisdom, given his pedigree as a saint in office, thought he would be able to whip everybody to toe the line, but alas, what can the old man do when men and women of corrupt tendencies successfully managed to infiltrate his regime.
Today, at this time of campaign for another tenure in office, the old army General with impeccable character and untainted military career is being forced to account for the sins of other people whom he had entrusted in sensitive positions, but unknown to Buhari, these leopards can never change their skin. How would Buhari had known that Babachir, the former secretary to the federal government had his agenda to acquire wealth under the nose of his principal beyond Buhari’s imagination when nemesis caught up with him,and he was relieved of his post, he was still asking and boasting ” who is the presidency.”
When I looked at the people saint Buhari surrounded himself with, I cannot help but pity the old man. At election time like this, Buhari is being asked to account for his criminal minded Lieutenant who has been able to find a haven and sanctuary in Buhari’s presidency for their aggrandisement. Buhari’s beautiful wife is seemingly unhappy about this ugly development in the presidency under the close watch of Saint Buhari. The beautiful mother of Zahra is being made to put up with a worrisome situation beyond her power.
Sometimes I weep for my country, a place of great opportunities. What is the problem of my dear country Nigeria? Can somebody give me an answer?
It is obvious that there is nothing anybody can do about official and unofficial corruption in Nigeria, it has become our culture and ways of life in Nigeria. If I were Buhari, I would gladly put up my hands in high heavens because there is nothing anyone can do about corruption anymore. In our own time, primary school pupils now prefer to ride a Prado to school because their parents have stolen more than they need from the system for their entire life and tenth generation to come. We have seen yahoo yahoo boys everywhere dancing and fighting in nightclubs in Ibadan, Lagos, Port Harcourt,etc because they have found new ways of making money that their relative tender age cannot fathom how to use wisely.
Sometimes when I look around me, I cannot help but blame my old man who did not go to school and chose to be a farmer inside the forest somewhere in Ondo State where there is no light and portable water since the last century, I blame the old man who imperils his generation and mine because he rejected western education that would have opened his eyes to easy ways of making money using his computer and laptop.
Let’s return to Kogi State where corruption was thriving and kicking before Yahaya Bello came on board as the governor of a stare already battered and wounded and left at the mortuary by past leaders for burial by those who are unfortunate enough to lead the state at a time like this, when there is no hope of a miracle for a dead state like Kogi with an internally generated revenue of less than #200, 000,000 monthly.
Let’s not deceive ourselves; it would take another generation for anybody to perform any miracle about the comatose state of the economy of this State. This is a state where there are about eight ministries officially recognized by a panel of enquires set up by former governor, Idris Ichala Wada, as a haven for common criminals masquerading as civil servants, these corrupt minded ministries include Agric, health management board, Accountant general office, head of service and ministry of local government and chieftaincy, viewed against this background, it is easy to see why governor Yahaya Bello decided to carry out a holistic civil service screening at the commencement of his tenure. That protracted screening threw up a can of worms, the ripple effect of that screening is what is delaying the governor to pay full salaries as and when due, many ignorant people went to town to start calling Yahaya Bello unprintable names because of his unwillingness to pay full salaries to ghost workers and dead pensioners.
Sometimes I ask myself, what has Yahaya Bello done wrong if he is finding it difficult to pay full salaries under this stringent economic situation he has found himself as governor, we were in this state when under SUBEB alone, 900 fake schools sprang up, we were in this state when primary school teachers were parading themselves everywhere with fake results purportedly obtained from a notorious Kaduna based NTI, we were in this state when toddlers had their names on the payroll of Kogi State government, we were in this state when every available space in Lokoja had churches and mosques owned by unscrupulous people masquerading as pastors and General Overseers deceiving people all in the name of miracles and fake salvation, we were in this state when local government treasurers in collaboration with their local government chairmen were sharing money openly under the watchful eyes of our past leaders, we were in this state when Clerks of ministries and their accountants were building mansions, hotels, filling stations and acquiring wealth as if the world would end tomorrow.
Please and please, leave Yahaya Bello alone, the young chap is doing his best to govern well under this background, if you have nothing to contribute to help him sustain the tempo, leave him alone and see what he would do with his rightful eight years in office. Ride on my able governor, some of us are supporting you with prayers and meaningful contributions to enable you to govern well. Thank God, salary alerts don dey enter.
– Otori Ozigi is a retired public servant, journalist/PR consultant.
