Nigerians Are Not Mindless Robots!

Reports reaching us here in the Diaspora say
times are hard in Nigeria. Recently, there has
been a campaign of calumny against President
Jonathan by the opposition. Secret and
underhand plans, we gathered, are also being
framed to achieve this by retaining the services of
professionals and social media users to totally
discredit him.
Given their ongoing malicious and scheming little
minds, let us carefully examine the All
Progressives Congress (APC) and the calibre of
men in the party’s hierarchy. The Nigerian
Constitution establishes a system of government
that allocates power between the national level
and its constituent units at the state and local
levels. These are contained and well spelt out in
the Exclusive, Concurrent and Residual Lists.
In the Exclusive List, the Federal Government has
the power to legislate solely on matters regarding
defence, foreign affairs, overseas trade, etc. The
Federal Government remains the sole authority in
these matters. Concurrent powers are those
powers which are jointly shared by both federal
and state governments; but in the event of any
conflict the former overrides the latter. Matters in
the Residual Lists are enjoyed by the states
without interference from the Federal
Government and these range from urban
planning, property issues to civil law, etc.
The Federal Government of Nigeria controls
defence. We have not had an armed invasion of
Nigeria by enemy forces, the insurgency we battle
at home today is from within solely invented by
political opponents who are hell-bent on bringing
down the present administration under President
Jonathan, that is the deal on ground – take it or
leave it. A hungry man, it is said, is an angry
man. Prices of foodstuffs as part of the lies being
peddled about by the mainstream opposition
have sky-rocketed as we now import vegetables
such as tomatoes from neighbouring Benin
Republic. For the man in the street, President
Jonathan receives the blame. This is ridiculous, if
you ask me! One third of the nation’s agricultural
produce comes from the north - the area being
ravaged today by bloody insurgency. A score of
men have been killed in the country’s north.
Local farmers have not been spared either in the
on-going diabolic attacks which in turn tell on the
nation’s food supplies. Going by the forces of
demand and supply, this results in upward
movement of prices and we find these being used
as parameters to measure President Jonathan’s
successes and failures!
Graft is another weapon being employed by the
opposition to discredit the President. Wait a
minute! Is there any stalwart of the APC that can
extricate himself from corrupt practices? Bola
Ahmed Tinubu? Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku, G-5
Govs, to mention but a few. What marks these
men out? What qualifies them as saints and
probably the Messiah of which Nigeria urgently
stands in need? Is it the billions of naira which
could not be accounted for during his days as PTF
chairman? Bola Tinubu has become mega-rich
with Lagos State fortunes going down the drain.
We are not unmindful of the billions of naira
which also have disappeared without trace under
President Jonathan. All these are part of the
ongoing scheming by his detractors.
Obasanjo, we were told sometime ago , in his
letter to the press severely criticized President
Jonathan for not containing the insurgency by the
radical Islamist sect , Boko Haram in a
Machiavellian fashion by wiping off the entire
Nigeria’s north east off the map the way he did at
Odi. This, he opined, would have nipped their
activities in the bud. Here I think President
Jonathan deserves a pat on the back for
possessing a rare gift of humility and tolerance.
However, this would have been used to score
cheap political points against him and further
incite the public against his administration. This
makes him so dear to my heart which often
ignites a burning desire in me to be as humble
and tolerant as President Jonathan.
”The Messianic Party APC”
Often times we hear members of the main
opposition say they only possess the magic wand
to fix the nation’s problems and some Nigerians
being so gullible are taken in by their hydra-
headed lies. There is nothing wrong with making
airy promises. Nigeria, like I pointed out earlier
on runs a federal system of government where
power is shared between the centre and its
constituent units. There are matters in the
concurrent list and the constitution empowers the
state to deal with such matters and these border
on road maintenance and construction, urban
and regional planning, agriculture , housing,
provision of pipe-borne water, schools, hospitals
among many others. In the light of the above
how many APC governors have been able to
transform their states to the proverbial El
Dorado? What transformation has taken place in
their states which they want to see replicated in
non APC-controlled states?
I shall use Lagos state for a case study being one
of the party’s strongholds and where I grew up as
a child which has eventually become my spiritual
home. Bola Ahmed Tinubu ruled the state for 8
calendar years while his hand-picked successor
Mr Babatunde Fashola has ruled for about 6 and
half years now. In the not too distant past the
former Lagos state governor reportedly went to
the USA for knee surgery where he stayed for
months before returning to Nigeria. This adds up
to 14 and half calendar years but the condition of
the state-owned hospitals, we understand, is
better imagined than real. All this time the self-
styled Messiahs could not build a health facility
with equipment sophisticated enough to fix his
knee. Late Nelson Mandela was never flown
overseas for medical treatment while alive!
To make matters worse reports reaching us here
in the Diaspora say Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently
acquired 3 airplanes worth over N40 bn. If this is
anything to go by N40bn, you will all agree with
me, is a lot of money which is more than enough
to build world class hospitals in the state. That
there is no such hospital and other facilities in
Lagos State today, we understand, is better
blamed on a godfather who wants the sitting
Governor succumbing to his whims and caprices
at every turn. Fortunately or unfortunately Bola
Ahmed Tinubu remains the choice of some gullible
Nigerians for leadership. Perish the thought,
folks! I am doubly sure that no state allocation
meant for Lagos has ever been held by the
Federal Government.
The economy of Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial
hub will soon hit the $45 billion mark going by
the present remarkably fast pace which will make
Lagos the 13th largest economy on the continent.
Lagos is one of the leading states in Nigeria in
terms of relative fiscal independence. It has over
N18 billion internally generated revenue coming
in monthly. This is according to official figures
released by the state Commissioner for Economic
Planning and Budget, Ben Akabueze. This is a lot
of money! Yet this state suffers infrastructural
decay with most state-owned health facilities
reduced to glorified consulting clinics. Potable
water as one of the basic necessities of life is a
rarity in the state. Local residents depend on
water sourced from boreholes sunk by rich
neighbours as the state water corporation is
increasingly becoming a lame duck. Do we need
President Jonathan to provide water for Lagosians
when he has never held federal allocation meant
for Lagos state? Yet gullible Lagosians are
bamboozled by APC into thinking President
Jonathan is responsible for the dry taps in Lagos
state!
To the Asiwaju trusted lieutenant Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.), we must now turn.
This is a man whose regime was characterized by
gross human right violations. The Oputa Panel
was established by former President Olusegun
Obasanjo through the Statutory Instrument 8 of
June 1999 pursuant to the Tribunal of Inquiry Act
of 1990. Its duty was to investigate incidents of
Transitional Justice Institutions and Organizations
gross violations of human rights committed in
Nigeria between January 15, 1966. Buhari , we
were told here , treated a Commission of Enquiry
- the Oputa Panel with unconcealed disdain by
refusing to appear before the panel in spite of the
complaints that were tabled against him regarding
abuse of power and blatant violation of human
rights. Buhari remains an arch-tribalist whose
integrity I call in question. On assumption of
power via coup d’état, he told Nigerians his
regime was corrective; more so that he has come
to revitalize the decadent paralysis imposed on us
by the prodigal years of the defunct NPN misrule.
While the then head of government Alhaji Shehu
Shagari was dethroned and kept in cozy house
detention in high-brow Ikoyi his deputy Alex
Ekweme of Igbo extraction was locked up in
Kirikiri maximum security prison in Apapa, a
Lagos suburb. Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has
little to tell us about this man Gen. Buhari:
”Shall I remind this nation of Buhari’s deliberate
humiliating treatment of the Emir of Kano and the
Oni of Ife over their visit to the state of Israel? I
hold no brief for traditional rulers and their
relationship with governments, but insist on
regarding them as entitled to all the rights,
privileges and responsibilities of any Nigerian
citizen. This royal duo went to Israel on their
private steam and private business. Simply
because the Buhari regime was pursuing some
antagonistic foreign policy towards Israel, a policy
of which these traditional rulers were not a part,
they were subjected on their return to a
treatment that could only be described as a head
masterly chastisement of errant pupils. Since
when, may one ask, did a free citizen of the
Nigerian nation require the permission of a head
of state to visit a foreign nation that was willing
to offer that tourist a visa”?
On corruption, Buhari is often given a clean bill of
health by some enthusiastic imbongis. I often
recline on my sofa mouth agape with incredulity.
What about the missing billions in his days as
chairman of PTF? As much as N25 billion could
not be accounted for by this retired General. This
is a lot of money! The PTF commenced operations
in 1986 with an initial capital of N60 billion. This
fund was to be spent on rehabilitation of roads
and waterways, health institutions, procuring
drugs and connection of parts of the country to
the national grid, extending railways and
communications amid others. This fund was
inaugurated in 1996. I am very sure that Nigeria
never had it so good at the period under review
which eventually collapsed like a pack of cards
under president Jonathan. How many world class
health institutions were built with the Funds
under General Buhari? How many world class
roads were built across Nigeria with the Funds
under General Buhari? This is just a tip of the
iceberg.
General Buhari who today again aspires to be the
most powerful man in Nigeria, we are told, is not
corrupt. Wait a minute! There is one question I
want Nigerians to answer. Did Abacha , the late
Head Of State ever indulge in any official graft?
Buhari says ‘NO’ with all the emphasis at his
command. But Transparency International says
otherwise. Which of these claims do we believe? I
would believe the latter considering the stolen
billions by Abacha sent back to Nigeria by the
Swiss government. Who stole this money and had
it stashed away in foreign bank accounts?
Abacha’s ghost probably did. For lying to
Nigerians and shielding Abacha makes him a
collaborator in no small measure! Buhari-
Idiagbon regime was sacked via putsch and
Idiagbon retired to Illorin where he led a
sedentary life till his last days. He never identified
himself with IBB or General Sani Abacha by way
of seeking juicy contracts or accepting
appointments even when he was offered one. But
Buhari went ahead romancing the regime of the
late dictator. A leopard, they often, say can never
change its spots!
Buhari as a leading protagonist of violence comes
into play with a statement credited to him that he
will make Nigeria ungovernable if he loses the
last presidential election. Errie happenings in the
country today have substantiated this as Boko
Haram, the dreaded Islamist sect have continued
their attacks with undiminished intensity. Many
people have been killed in these ongoing bloody
insurgency with no word from the General in
condemnation. San Jose, the Brazilian
philosopher did once say ”to maintain neutrality
in times of conflict is to be on the side of the
oppressor.” How can or who can fulfil his
electoral promises to the people with distractions
here and there by political opponents? Hence
there is no way General Buhari can extricate
himself from the culpable acts of his men which is
adversely telling on the President’s ability to
deliver on his electoral promises to the citizenry.
But like an old soldier that never dies we see him
marching on in the face of all agonizing
distractions repositioning Nigeria on the path of
development by making her the largest economy
on the continent.
The Hausa-Fulani Agenda: In a letter by Lord
Lugard to his colleague Walter H. Lang dated
September 25, 1918 he said:
“The Hausa-Fulani has no ideals, no ambitions
save such as sensual in character. He is a fatalist,
spendthrift and a gambler. He is gravely immoral
and is seriously diseased that he is a menace to
any community to which he seeks to attach
himself.”
In 1970 it will be recalled that northern leaders of
Fulani extraction met and resolved that the
capital of Nigeria be moved to the north. This was
occasioned by the dream the then sultan had that
someday his offspring would be asked to obtain
entry visas to the southern part of the country -
their conquered territory - which they took urgent
steps to forestall seeing that the entire country
was and is still regarded as part of the Sultanate
Empire of Uthman Dan Fodio. The control of this
empire they resolved must not slip from them no
matter whose ox is gored by a charging bull.
Religion was to be used as a weapon or
methodology to achieve this. Everyone will recall
that Buhari vehemently threatened fire and
brimstone if Sharia is expunged from the nation’s
law books when the campaign started in Zamfara
State years ago under randy ex-Governor Sani
Yerima. That dream is still alive to this day which
speak volumes of their desire to reclaim and
consolidate their hold on power and go on and
on ad infinitum. The concept of ”live and let’s
live” is Greek to the Fulani man for all I know. He
sees Nigeria as his ancestors’ inheritance; in fact
as far as he is concerned he sees other ethnic
nationalities as second-rate slaves to be ”used ,
dumped , maimed or even killed for the good of
the Fulani man which speak volumes of their on-
going political alliance with the south west. It is
their belief that others have to die so the Fulani
man may live which is part of the reasons why
General Buhari has never openly condemn the
killings of Christians in the country’s north east
and north-west by the dreaded Islamist sect Boko
Haram. Thus it is now self- evident from the
foregoing that the Fulani who Buhari represents
is ready to kill and maim in order to hold on to
his grandfather’s ''inheritance'' - the nation of
Nigeria.
In summary, this article is not to whitewash the
ruling PDP but to disabuse the mind of Nigerians
who are increasingly being fooled by the
opposition that President Jonathan’s
administration does not mean well for the
country. Over here in the Diaspora we often hear
of defection to APC. Then who are these
defectors? It is a thousand pities that an armed
robber in PDP metamorphoses into a saint
overnight the moment he pitches tents with APC.
What a crying folly! If APC is sincere in its claims
to be the Messianic party to regenerate Nigeria
then why accepting defectors with very sordid
pasts? Must defection be seen as a means to an
end? In advanced democracies, power belongs to
the people. The people decide who they want as
representatives but the reverse appears the case
back home. This, if I dare say, is bushman politics
at shameful play. I often wonder hand on chin
what exactly has indeed beclouded our sense of
reasoning like mindless robots by turning a blind
eye to the antics of these men who are bent solely
on personal aggrandizement.
Finally, I am not like a traditional imbongi whose
services has been retained to sing the praises of
the ruling Peoples Democratic Party particularly
President Jonathan and should therefore not be
mistaken for one. I remain an independent free
thinker here in the Diaspora who has been
watching behind the scenes. I believe in organized
system of governance founded on the ideals of
true democratic values as obtains in
contemporary western societies.
Iyoha John Darlington, aka Lington Donovan, a
political analyst, public commentator on national
and global issues writes from Turin , Italy.