Kachikwu and other tales: Telling the truth even we lie

Questions people were supposed to ask:

• So all Kachikwu alleges are true only because he thinks so?
• Has Kachikwu actually said $26 billion was stolen?
• Has anybody,whether from the NNPC board or not,corroborated anything Kachikwu said?

President Buhari’s pathetic leadership style is fast shutting the doors of objectivity in the mind of the average Nigerian and when the government can no longer do anything right, it automatically means it has become the number one enemy of the very people that voted it in. Days ago,a letter by the Minister of state and Chairman of the NNPC board, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu to President Buhari was leaked to the press. In it, Kachikwu alleged acts of gross insubordination and total disregard for due process by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru.

If giving a dog a bad name is the fastest way to hang it,then Nigerians aren’t afraid to do that.Not that the President didn’t already have a dog named after him any way. Never have i before seen such blatant misinterpretation of the very explicit contents of a document. We actually have more answers than we do questions.

• Kachikwu blew the whistle on a $26 billion theft
• Buhari refused to see Kachikwu when he reached out to him in person because he was shielding Baru
• Buhari is conniving with Baru to steal money

Happenings over the past few days, have given an insight to the wonders of the human mind and how it can choose only what to understand. Hal Roach once said “Every man should have a wife because there are some things you can’t blame on the government”.

But nobody needs a wife with a President like ours.In his Independence day address Buhari said he was disappointed in the leaders of places where ‘hot-headed’ secessionist youths resided for not calling them to order. Less than an hour later, the internet was agog with stories of how Buhari was blaming the South Eastern leaders for the Biafran agitation.

Facts as they really are:

1. Buhari didn’t specifically blame the Ibo leaders.There have been approximately 3 agitations for separate states since Buhari took over: IPOB for a Biafran state,Niger-Delta Avengers and others for an Ijaw nation then a coalition of Yoruba groups for an Oodua nation.

2. Buhari may have said he was working with the South-South leaders towards improving the region but the most ‘hot-headed’ agitation has come from the Niger Delta avengers who bombed a lot of our oil installations.

3. In essence, Buhari was advocating for a united nation and calling on leaders (elders) who witnessed the sad outcome of the Civil war to educate youths on the possible implications of their actions.

Facts as they were understood:

1. Buhari was blaming Igbo leaders for Biafra

2. Buhari northern supremacist agenda will never allow him want peace

3. Buhari meant to incite the South East with his remarks

PMB helped justify agitations by promising to favour those who voted him en masse ahead of those who didn’t in what has come to be popularly known as the 97%-5% formula. He lived up to his words by not appointing a single south easterner out of over 35 non-ministerial appointments.As a matter of fact, Kachikwu, a seasoned veteran of the oil sector, was removed as GMD of the NNPC for a northerner when criticisms of his lopsided appointments were most vociferous.

Kanu’s bail was revoked and the army went to get him while the FG never even bothered to as much as keep Nigerians updated on its efforts to arrest and prosecute the Arewa quit notice issuers like it promised.The ibo hate song singers were never arrested too. What is good for Kanu isn’t for them.Why? Buhari doesn’t deserve justice too.

Kachikwu’s letter was written since August 30th and the President neither deemed it wise to invite him nor agree to see him. A Maikanti Baru probe should have been well under way. Buhari was practically dragged into probing Babachir Lawal, his suspended SGF and perhaps it may never have happened had optics not become vital when the DG NIA,a Jonathan appointee had reason to be probed as well. The report of that committee we may never see. Baru was in the clear till the Kachikwu letter leaked.

So yes, one need not alter or shut out any fact with regards to the President fighting a hypocritical war on corruption.

Nigerians are simply tired of the suffering,the lies,the incompetence,the favouritism and the hypocrisy.Nigerians are tired of Buhari. He is deservedly guilty until proven innocent.

Hassan is a lawyer based in Kano.

Twitter:@alaye26

Email:[email protected]