In the year 2009 when I had NOT joined any political party, the article below written by me and was published on the net. You think the fundamental issues (not personalities)raisedthereinare still not relevant after 8 solid years? What sayest thou? Happy reading!
I can never blame God for dropping me in a country called Nigeria because His wisdom surpasses the limited vision and perception that mortal bodies like me are permitted to have or acquire. But what manner of a country is Nigeria? Nigeria is rich but Nigerians are paupers. A country where truth is murdered and deception celebrated by the institutions of governance. Brilliance is silenced while mediocrity is glorified by the very people that are supposed to lay good examples for the rest to follow.
A nation where the law is harsh on petty thieves on the streets but protects the pen-robbers in government.A country where life has become the cheapest commodity that can be purchased in the market of violence with bullets as the currency. A place where dynamically outspoken and progressive people are marked for assassination by the filthily rich, corrupt and powerful bourgeoisies who feel threatened by their advocacy for equity, fairness, universal application of rule of law and egalitarian society.
A country where decent and incorruptible retired civil servants are rewarded with starvation of their meager pension dues, thereby sentencing them and their dependants to untimely death while their retired corrupt counterparts seek for political posts with their stupendous wealth for more filthy lucre!A place where the qualities for leadership are the very ones that qualify people for prisons and psychiatric homes or asylums in decent countries.A country where leaders are selected by few godfathers and imposed on the hapless and dehumanized populace using the instrumentality of a judiciary in a supposedly democratic setting.
A place where those people who serve the nation faithfully are made to regret of their faithfulness throughout their retirement period. A country where agents of change like the trade unions, civil societies and the mass media that were once vibrant and vanguards/campaigners of justice have suddenly taken doses of comprise that send them into slumber in their various cocoons, snoring like never before even when the house is on fire of toxic corruption and mismanagement of national commonwealth.
The angelic NADECO, the progressive Oshiomole and Kokori trade unions together with the vibrant and fearless mass media during Babangida and Abacha eras have no replicas in the present dispensation! The national conscience is gone. The progressive and activist veterans are now old, neglected, despised and punished by keeping them out of governance by the very regime that benefited from their sacrifices. The younger progressives seeing how the veterans ended up have to make a detour with a bell ringing in their brains: “honesty doesn’t pay in this country, the country is not worthy to die for, better make your money anyhow to have a secured future, if you can’t beat them, join them etc”. What a pity!
The craze for wealth using corruption as the sole vehicle is unlimited and has become a model as exemplified by our leaders and institutionalized as the acceptable and national culture for the younger ones to follow. No wonder that Nigeria is noted world-wide for internet scamming by our youth in their inordinate quest to make quick money in an evil manner in their determination to live the same extravagant and obscene life style that our leaders exhibit.
No wonder that our learning institutions have become havens of corruption, cultism and moral decadence where certificates are churned out and grades awarded according to students’ bids. No wonder that most of our modern university graduates know next to nothing in their academics but are experts in dubious ways of making money. The preponderance of armed robbery on the highways cannot be divorced from this mammonic affliction. What a calamity!!
All facets of life in Nigeria are affected and polluted by the culture of corruption and immorality instituted by the successive leaderships of this country, except the regimes of Murtala and Buhari that could have launched us on the path of greatness, decency and national rebirth which were abridged by the evil geniuses of our time. Truly elected leaders at various levels are denied ascension to power; people with talents and vision are denied national leadership for unpatriotic reasons —one of such victims was described at death as “the best President that never be”.
This evil cycle has been holding Nigeria hostage till date. I wonder if this country has a divine curse upon it because evil thrives while uprightness is brutally thrown down the steep slope of despondency. In modern day Nigeria, what makes a man ‘big’ is money, not selfless service as in the days of our founding fathers. Sages like Obafemi Awolowo, Sadauna of Sokoto, Tafawa Balewa, Aminu Kano of blessed memory, just to mention a few, will be turning in their graves for lost national vision due to the inordinate ambition, corruption, greed, avarice, selfishness, nepotism and outright madness of our modern day leaders.
The names of world leaders like Nkrumah, Ghandi, living Mandela etc together with their Nigerian counterparts mentioned above will remain evergreen in memory purely for their selfless leadership services and not the quantum of their possessions — they were not rich anyway.There is no doubt that Nigeria is sick to the bone marrow. It is really sad that the self-acclaimed giant of Africa is still groping in darkness, devoid of democratic and developmental compass while the ‘ants’ of Africa like Ghana and even Niger Republic are already on their high ways to the Promised Land via adherence to the rule of law by all segments of the society in and outside the government as exemplified by their recent democratic and socio-economic giant strides.
To me, these are the real giants of Africa. It takes real rule of law for an opposition party to displace a seating presidential government. The situation is presently unthinkable in Nigeria. The Nigerian formula is simple: silence the opposition by all means before the election via intimidation, arrest or even assassination and it fails, then rig the election, set up election tribunal and then tell the cheated opposition to go to the tribunal for a pre-determined outcome!!
It is only in Nigeria that with the aid a few god-fathers, irredeemable imbeciles and compound nincompoops find themselves in governance toying with precious millions of lives in the laboratory of corruption, thereby sentencing multitudes to their untimely graves. In most cases these unholy acts are executed through the compromised and corrupt judiciary using technicalities of law to exterminate justice and substance of law. Let me open the eyes of supporters of bad governance to see the consequences of their actions:
Bad governance breeds pot holes on roads due to lack of maintenance leading to avoidable deaths from accidents. Blood is spilled in the process and the number of orphans and widows/widowers increase. Promising lives get terminated from the road accidents while some are wasted on wheel-chairs. Some of these victims are most times, bread winners of their respective families. Education of some kids therefore, gets terminated while some kids become street urchins. Another example.
Bad governance increases mortality rate. Many are dying in hospitals of simple and easily curable diseases because of poor medicare. Drugs are unavailable, the medical staffs are demoralized and the hospital environment is unhygienic, all due to misgovernance and maladministration. In short, the hospitals become breeding places for diseases instead of being healing centers. Supporters of bad governance are guilty of these deaths, spilled blood and calamities. Assuming you escape the judgment of God arising therefrom, what of your children? Let us know that one day, we shall all answer the call of the Almighty.
To me, bad governance is a silent but the most potent and violent ‘weapon of mass destruction’. The poor in corrupt ridden States in Nigeria are groaning daily; they are voiceless, powerless and even fainting under the crushing loads of their total neglect. The hospitals patronized by the poor, are mere consulting centers while the rich go to private clinics for medical care. While the rich people take their wards to private schools; the government schools meant for the poor lack basic amenities for learning, with some having sheds as classrooms; the pupils are consequently lacking in academic contents and character as the teachers are too demoralized to instill discipline.
In states where corruption reigns, it is typical in government owned primary schools to be under lock and key because of the refusal of such heartless governments to discharge her obligations to the sector. These are the schools for the poor! Most roads are bad within such states become impassable during raining season thereby making it extremely difficult for farmers (that constitute majority of the poor) to get their goods to the market for sale.
“Under whose authority do you speak for the poor”? I can hear government harbingers asking. The answer is simple: the conscience!! The same conscience has made me to veer into charity works via granting of fully fledged scholarships (tuition, feeding, accommodation & upkeep allowance) for the less privileged youth in the society with my hard earned money without any monetary contribution from anybody within or outside the country.
To all the poor in all States irrespective of your places of abode, religion, political leaning or tribe, I say this to you:
Be of good courage, never lose hope in the face of tyranny, denials, dehumanization, emasculation, manipulation, suppression, oppression and subjugation even though you seem to be alone in the wilderness of neglect, deserted by your community leaders and elder statesmen/opinion leaders who ought to be your defenders but have teamed up with corrupt governments to deny you your God given rights to good life, liberty and happiness.
In the wilderness, you are left alone and naked in the blistering cold of the night, shivering and longing for the day break. Nobody seems to care for you. It seems the thick clog of darkness will never move. For decades, you have endured the rough road to the Promised Land with no appreciable distance covered because of the lions, serpents, scorpions, tigers, hyenas, booby traps and other inhibiting factors that litter the path as created by corrupt governments operating at any level they may be found.
Your community and opinion leaders have jumped the ship into safety with their life jackets in the midst of ocean of misrule, leaving you with the capsizing ship under the raging storm of misgovernance. Your corrupt leaders who serve as the captains of your lives, have been reckless and rudderless all these while without compass! You are too weak to struggle as there is neither food on board to eat nor water to drink and the sea water outside is too salty to drink in your haste to quench the thirst and hunger.
All the food and drinks on board have been consumed by your leaders before escaping the troubled ship. What a disappointment! What a breach of social contract!! What a shame!!! Your hearts are fast failing you with fear and terror — no life guards at sight, no safety jackets to rely upon and the ship is too far from the shore in the darkest hour of the night with unabated surges of nagging waves. “Who will deliver us?’ I hear your deafening wailings!
But I still say to you: Be still, don’t jump overboard but rather look up from where your help cometh. Thrust forth your hands to hold the forte. Be of good courage! Have faith in God and continue to pray for His miraculous intervention. Accessing statistics from the Holy Books, the Good Lord has never abandoned poor people that look up to Him in your perilous conditions. God takes over situations from where the armours of flesh totally fail as in your present conditions.
That is why I am so sure that very soon the light will shine again, darkness will roll away, joy will displace sadness, tears will cease and hope will take over despondency. Say Amen three times! My faith/hope is purely based on my knowledge of the Holy Books. After all, we don’t have the money, influence, connections, incumbency power and authority that corrupt leaders in government have but we definitely have the overriding and unfailing power that they obviously lack—God Almighty. Where mortals have no way as it now seems, God has a million ways. Don’t ask me how and when – only God knows. Just keep praying!
To the opinion leaders, powerful people in and outside the government and elder statesmen/women who support the oppressive and repressive governments anywhere, I ask you:
For how long shall you prop-up bad governments that have brought tears and sorrows to the citizens? Do you give your support in exchange for blood money? Do you support because of your long term personal relationship spanning over decades?
Whatever may be your reason, your support brings avoidable death to many families, denies qualitative education to the poor, promotes social vices in the society, sets up a culture of theft of public funds, destroys our youth etc. Your children are living in their cocoons of comfort unaffected by the sufferings being inflicted by corrupt governments. You cannot exonerate yourself from the blood of the innocent victims and the attendant judgment of God. This is simply sinful which has divine repercussions on such supporters and their families. Why heaping curses upon the destiny of your children? Have a rethink!
To corrupt leaders where you may be found, hear me well:
I do not hate your persons but your governance style. Rather, your worst enemies are the choir members surrounding you singing hosannas into your ears for their selfish reasons. I call them vultures because they feed fat on the carcasses of the poor. These people are not only castigating you in their closets, they will be the first to shout ‘crucify him’ as soon as you are out of power. Learn from history. Constructive critics like me are your best unknown friends.
Instead of serving the people, you have been serving yourself, your mentors, thugs and praise singers. I have travelled to all the continents of this world and have seen what leadership is all about in descent countries. Leaders are the junior partners in the social contract between the leaders and the people.The poor have been the worst victims of your misrule. If you were to be among the victims of such a bad ruler (you are not a leader) without peoples’ mandate, what will you wish such a government? Your answer is exactly the wish of the oppressed people, especially the poor, about your government.
This is a rotten country indeed where institutions have become partners in crime. At this stage, I wish to appeal to all people in position of power, authority and influence to stop supporting or propping up bad governance in whichever state it may be found. There should be no hiding place for these interlopers and enemies of the people. There should be no alternative to democracy and the only way to sustain it is through justice.
I wish to pay tribute to some of the dogged fighters in our generation for sane society via constitutional means, in the likes of living legends like Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Rtd Col. Abubakar Umar, Mall. Shehu Sanni, Barrister Festus Keyamo, Rtd. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, Balarabe Musa, Professor Wole Soyinka, Dr. (Mrs) Joyce Ojei-Odumakin, Chief Ayo Okpadokun, Chief Olu Falaye, Barrister Olisa Agbakoba and others too numerous to mention here. God and history recognize and appreciate you even if the powers that be refuse to celebrate you. May the Good Lord bless and keep you all.
With the exception of General Buhari and Balarabe Musa that I met only recently, I have never met with anyone mentioned here. It reflects the objectivity and impartiality of this write-up. These people have records of selflessness that stand them out. Nigeria will one day become one of the top three in the world on the scale of positive development and responsive leadership. I pray that this utopian wish will materialize in my generation. Let us keep hope alive. As for me, I have decided to be on the side of the poor at all times by fearlessly speaking the truth even if I am alone. What about you? God bless Nigeria.
– Dr. Moses Wokili.
https://web.facebook.com/moses.wokili
