…And the house crumbled

Is it not said among our people that the stubborn grasshopper would inevitably find repose in the chicken’s gizzard? Many Nigerians, unfortunately, do not have eyes to see; even when they see they cannot hear and when they hear they cannot understand. When nation becomes thus depicted, then the fate of the doomed dog that can not perceive the stench of feaces or excreta awaits that nation. Among the Christians, Solomon was reputed to have asked a fundamental question to the children of Israel at a point of obvious national decay.

Worried by the economic and spiritual putrefaction that overwhelmed Israel at that time, Solomon asked the question: “if the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” For Nigeria, this question could be rephrased thus: “if Nigeria’s foundation be destroyed, what can a true patriot do?” Unfortunately, in Nigeria’s case, we never had a foundation. What we regard as foundation is the contraption created by colonialism and we have spurned every opportunity to create a truly Nigerian foundation.

I weep for this country- a country so generously blessed of God; with awesome potentials but wasted by ineptitude and leadership idiocy. I still find it difficult to understand why Nigerians would be living by the seashore and yet wash their hands and faces with spittle. Unfortunately, this is the tragedy of the so-called “giant of Africa”; a clay-footed giant by any fare description; a lumbering behemoth about to depart from its historical destiny.

The apostles and prophets have been many; the prophesies disturbing. These prophets have one message- Nigeria is in dire straits and would soon die if the proper medications are not administered appropriately and urgently. Regrettably, like the Sodomites and Gomorrahs, we have ignored the prophets and like the accursed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Nigeria appears to have been condemned for destruction. And like the stubborn grasshopper, Nigeria is a peck away from the beak of the chicken.

This house called Nigeria is about to crumble; all the indices on ground in this country point to this fact. A story is told in the Holy Bible by Jesus of a house built on shaky foundation and when the rains and winds came, they house was destroyed and the ruins of the house were great. Nigeria is built on a dangerously shaky foundation. There are intense storms and tornadoes raging against this house. I foresee a calamitous and enormous ruin of this house. The present Nigerian leadership is not helping matter at all.

I recall that about this time last year Nigerians were drugged with a nebulous mantra of change by the APC. The PDP was effectively cast in the role of a felon by the APC-biased press. Nigerians were told that Muhammadu Buhari has the magic wand to solve all Nigeria’s problems. He was the magic wand of the APC. The press drummed his incorruptibility and Nigerians swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker.

Even though, I did not and have not yet seen any fundamental difference between the APC and PDP (both being different sides of the same coin), I had predicted that an APC government at the center would expose Nigerians to the worst type of suffering yet. That basis of my prediction is simple- you cannot give what you do not have.

The majority of Nigerian press, in typical fashion, demonstrated its penchant for collective amnesia and factual delirium went to town with the gospel of APC that Muhammadu Buhari would be the best thing Nigeria would experience in her treacherous history. A section of the Nigerian press probably forgot that there are several millions of Nigerians still alive today who witnessed Muhammadu Buhari’s first coming as military dictator. Apart from his unilateral imprisonment of politicians on the blanket accusation of being corrupt, and the backdating of death sentence for drug offenders, the Buhari apostles could not point to any tangible achievement recorded under Buhari from 1983 to 1985. Perhaps, the section of the Nigerian press that sounded abroad this Buhari presidency may have also forgotten that the reason why we put on dress to cover our nakedness is because of the outsider; within our domain we know who is who; we know ourselves and the contours of nakedness.

At that time, I had challenged the Nigerian press to publish Muhammadu Buhari’s track record and credentials. What the press fed Nigerians were pitiable. Look at Buhari’s track record and credentials: he was a coupist and former military dictator who lost out in a palace coup to the more calculating Ibrahim Babangida; he was the person who truncated Nigeria’s Second Republic; his highest educational qualification is first school leaving certificate, our president does not have ordinary school certificate or its equivalent. As a usurper of political power, his track record include the unilateral imprisonment of politicians on charges of corruption, the retroactive effect of a death penalty and the stifling of freedom and creating economic hardship. These track records were lost on the Nigerian press. Regrettably, the Nigerian press was agog with this Buharian trait of unilateral gaoling of politicians as a proof of his incorruptibility.

But surprisingly, Nigerians were not told of Buhari’s selective treatment of “corrupt politicians”. For instance, Nigerians would have loved to know that though Buhari’s various military tribunals at that time did not find people like the revered Pa Michael Ajasin, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, etc Buhari still went ahead and imprisoned them. Nigerians would have loved to know that till date Buhari is yet to account for his stewardship as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund. Even in the heat of the Dasuki-gate, Buhari is still to deny allegations of benefitting from the arms money. Dasuki himself confessed that Buhari was given three bullet-proof SUVs and a staggering three hundred thousand dollars. Are Nigerians, for instance, not entitled to know that their would-be president then is manifestly deficit in formal education and has not reasonable qualification safe “corking and firing of guns” and plotting of coups to terminate democratically elected government?

What was rather paramount to the Buhari apostles at that time was the emergence of core northern president. For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP did not lose the last election because of the charges of corruption but solely because it did not produce a candidate of northern extraction. The entire North at that time was accusing former President Jonathan of reneging on an earlier agreement to do one term and revert to the north. If the PDP had stuck to its zoning arrangement and fielded a candidate from the North, we will not be talking of APC today. That was basically why PDP lost that election. The core north felt that it has been out of power for far too long and there was this unwritten but stern resolve among the north, across party lines, that it was time power returned to the north.

My argument then was that if power must go to the north; a good candidate, well-educated and with proven track record should be presented- somebody who has the intellectual capacity to understand the process and dynamic of our politics and economics. The truth is that a man cannot give what he does not have; no person can lead a group of people beyond his intellectual capacity. If you place a goat at the head of a pack of lions, those lions would start behaving like goats. The people imbibe and externalize the spirit and essence of the leader. Did not the Bible say it clearly: that a blind man cannot lead another blind man otherwise both will fall into a ditch?

Muhammadu Buhari does not have what it takes to lead Nigeria to the next level. The truth as at today is that he has been overwhelmed by the many issues yearning for attention in Nigeria. He lacks political tact and education. For a president to say that he would give different attention to his constituents according to how they voted him is the height of political naivety. The world heard when Buhari, at his swearing-in, said he would concentrate more on those areas that gave him 95 percent as against those areas that gave him a paltry 5 percent.

My interpretation of him at that time and as always is that Buhari is a sectional leader. We knew who he was referring to when he said five percent. The South-South and South-East rejected Buhari, not because of anything other than his leadership deficits and penchant for brute force. Even in his various appointments, he has amply demonstrated that Ndigbo do not matter in Nigeria. He has suspended the contract on the Second Niger Bridge; and has shown passionate disgust for Ndigbo.

That today the Buhari administration cannot provide the basic needs of Nigerians is lamentable. Today a liter of fuel is N250.00; electricity generation has dropped to an all time low of 1000 megawatts; even staple food items like garri, rice, yam, cassava and fura-de-nunu (a staple food in the north) have been dollarized beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians. We are now re-living the Buhari military dictatorship of 1983 and 1985.

That Muhammadu Buhari is not and cannot be the messiah Nigerians are expecting is further signified by his handling of the several ethnic agitations in this country, especially the issue of Biafra. Biafra has been an open wound on the conscience of Nigeria and only truth can heal it- the truth about self-determination and a properly negotiated Nigeria.

No doubt, Nigeria is walking a tight rope. Over the years, many Nigerian and world leaders have leveraged on my writings and prophetic advise to steer clear of trouble. Unfortunately, this government has demonstrated acute mental lethargy and supine grasp of issues and the result is where we are today. I have at various time warned on the need and urgency for a renegotiated Nigeria as the only escape route for the continued existence of Nigeria as a corporate entity. I am even afraid that we may have lost precious time in this direction and time is no longer on our side. Muhammadu Buhari’s pedantic and crass handling of issues of urgent national importance; his mismanagement of the centrifugal and centripetal socio-political economic forces has only exacerbated the Nigerian conundrum; further weakened the fledgling pillars of our society making the crumbling of this building inevitable.