Article published in The Nation Newspaper
12/05/2010
Presidents come and go, Nigerians remain ignorant and in fear. All good Nigerians mourn at the official announcement of the passing of our genuine, honest and decent President Late Musa Yar’Adua. Welcome to our new President Goodluck Jonathan. Though the mystery, politics and cost to the nation of late President Yar’Adua’s death will be speculation, debate and research for years, he will be remembered for a number of good reasons like the Niger Delta Amnesty and also for poor health care in Nigeria –the reason he travelled so much. His wife Turia will also be mentioned, another first lady who attempted to stamp her personal authority over the nation, perhaps to fill the gap caused by her husband’s eventually terminal illness. Perhaps if he had voluntarily resigned on health grounds a year ago he would still be alive to enjoy his Ex-Presidency as ‘Mr Amnesty’, with the same presidential health support he has received at national expense. His early retirement would have economically affected his supporters now accused of spinning a spider’s web myth for personal gain. If you force a person to do something causing early death is that murder murder? Musa Yar’Adua’s grandchildren have prematurely lost a loving grandpa, an unneccessary loss caused by pressure from greedy people giving malicious selfish advice. How are all the late President’s delightful daughters who were married with such national cacaphony and monotonous regularity into Government Houses. Let us plead that they remain protected even though their father cannot be ‘useful’ to any governor son-in-law. Though they now have much reduced political and economic worth as an expendable, horse-trading, commodity for trade and barter, let true love prevail with no divorces. When those governors also leave office they must not forget to take the late President’s daughters with them.
I wonder how many finefine daughters Goodluck and Patience Jonathan have and how many governors will come calling between now and April next year? They should guard them well for governors are notorious for finding presidential daughters fair game in the vicious game of politics. Would you condemn your beloved daughter to a lifetime of potential unloved misery for a few years of political profit? By today the VP would have been appointed and I am sure that many governors will be assessing his or her own daughters for their political potential in case he has a chance for the Presidency in 2011, if he plays GL-J and the notorious Babangida offside abi? My countrypeople, lock up your beta daughters –the governors are coming –and they have money honey!
I have just returned from ‘monitoring’ the UK elections unofficially. The 40,000+ polling booths were in schools and buildings costing nearly nothing. Voter registration was not a crazy deadlined national affair. The entire election cost £40m pounds. The TV debates were good but deceptive. Voters did not follow the media hype. The campaign was clean with committed volunteer workers. The press, twitter and facebook played roles. Under 1,000 were disenfranchised by the 10pm cutoff point for voting and an enquiry was ordered. deadline. Not a single person died, was injured, held a stick, whip, gunbutt or other weapon for political intimidation. The results are not in dispute. All these are lessons for us as we expect a new INEC chairman and pray and plan for our next election.
Time is actually on a sleepless President GL-J’s side because a man in a hurry will do more in a year than a man with two terms. Neither Babangida nor Obasango could do electricity, railways, education, health, roads or anything much in their 8 years totally 16 years. Jonathan could do a lot. His priority should not be Nigeria@50 fireworks celebration but life changes like stopping police checkpoint corruption.
As JL-J said on CNN much of Nigeria’s corruption is man-made and can be stopped instantaneously. If a thief or murderer can be stopped immediately so can a million bribe takers be forced to stop-in his-own-interest immediately in an environment of monitoring, enforcement, embarrassment and shame. For years you could see in the North that police never took a bribe from commercial vehicles but immediately on rotation to the South they did. So citizens in the South are OK for milking, mumu-abi? Though there is institutionalised corruption in the uniformed services like the police, customs and FRSC, a strong GL-J leadership can stop checkpoint police and other institutionalised crime TODAY if he delegates and immediately holds the leadership of all such organisations responsible and sackable for. Checkpoint corruption costs Nigeria its reputation and is taking N12-24b from the citizens annually. It is a police problem and the police must stop it. Task the IG to stop it in one or two weeks or he is suspended and facing sacked. Take security reports and reports from Nigerians and sack him if reports of corruption continue. After four or five have gone in one or two months, police corruption will be history and Goodluck Jonathan would be a national hero. Of course also offer improved police welfare and checkpoint allowances. No amount of EFCC will work if checkpoint crime continues unabaited making us and the police a feared laughing stock to our children, citizens and international visitors.
Instead of fireworks, we want a police proud of itself and protective of us by 1-10-2010. Instead of fireworks, GL-J could bring smiles and intellilctual opportunity to 20 million youth by ordering a N200,000 library box in every school by 1-10-2010.