What shall we say to these things?

Sometimes I think that most media commentators in Nigeria must be suffering from a mild form of post traumatic stress disorder. Yes, I think so. You write on the same issues over and over without the desired changes and it forces one to ask “Is it worth it at all?” Do they even care? Or, once in a while, you’re forced to do a double take and ask like the biblical phrase, “What shall we say to these things?” These were the questions running in my mind as I sat down to write this piece. Looking back at what most columnists have written thus far this year and the kind of responses from our public officials, there is that temptation of throwing in the towel.

It is also, however, a call back to reality: don’t take yourself too seriously. You’re just but one in a country of over 100 million seeking a better society than what we have presently. A joke usually shared in journalism schools worldwide is how a vendor kept on thrusting newspapers at an editor’s face at a train station in London many years ago. The editor kept moving away from the intrusive vendor having just finished the day’s production and heading home for a good night rest. It was back then in the days before the 24-hours news cycle where there is no break between the day and the night shifts any longer. Mr. Editor still refused to buy any newspaper, but blurted out, “I don’t buy newspapers, I produce them.” Angry at the loss of a potential customer, the vendor retorted, “No wonder they are not selling, they are produced by arrogant people like you.” He thereafter walked away. A columnist cannot afford to be arrogant, not at all.

The import of this self-deprecation is not to take oneself too seriously, especially in this period of recession and what have you. There is, however, consolation in the knowledge that many citizens are desirous of changes too and would love to see our country punching beyond our present level. Another reason why I adopted this style is the fact that many issues were begging for attention as I prepared for this week’s piece. From the boast of our dear Governor Wiyesom Wike that no one could probe him, to the nauseating activities of his brother governor in Kaduna State who confessed publicly that he pays murderers to stop killing citizens he sworn to protect, and the murder of a LASTMA official in Apapa last week by yet-to-be-identified, no, not identified; but apprehended, as a video of the killing is in public view, deranged people. It is only of you live in critical areas of Lagos, read mainland, like some of us, that you will appreciate the LASTMA folks. They have their excesses no doubt, but their presence on our roads is an assurance that one’s travel time is reduced considerably.

It was the inimitable Olatunji Dare who used to write a series those days in The Guardian newspapers, Matters Miscellany, a nice way of writing on many issues in a piece. This piece is also an attempt at doing a similar thing. Speaking of style, it is clear now that our president’s is uniquely his. His see-no-evil, hear-no-evil style is so wonderful that only a statement by one of his spokespersons, Garba Shehu, telling us that President Buhari has asked the attorney general to probe the administration officials who have been accused of graft is his response to the senate asking him to fire one of his officials. Consequently, journalists have to do interpretative reporting to mention the names of such officials, a list, one must add, is growing at an alarming rate. Even if one pardons Mr. Shehu, a fine gentleman, for such empty statement which as a former editor he knows does not pass muster, it is incredulous that Buhari has forgotten that the attorney general himself is enmeshed in allegations of corruption involving MTN and the fine imposed on it by the communications commission, how can he then oversee a probe of his colleagues whom they see each other regularly? How come the president has not even asked any of his officials accused of corruption to stand down and clear himself of the accusation before continuing in office? Last week, this column wrote about the secretary to the government of the federation who used his office to corner choice contracts for his company, the best we could get was our president ordering a probe of nameless people. Hope springs eternal, surely.

But we still hope for a better tomorrow, especially 2017. We hope too that the administration will stop giving excuses that they did not lead Nigeria into recession cleverly forgetting that they keep dragging us deep in its mire. We hope also that our president will have a better turn around time on critical governance issues and come out of the campaign mode of we shall do this or that as he has just a little above two years. This is wishing you a Happy Christmas, folks. See you in 2017 by God’s grace.