[ajimoh]

No amount of huffing and puffing by the image launderers for this government will save it from the inevitable. How could a government composed largely of people not chosen on merit be expected to perform? When this government starts performing, or ever performs, let its apologists direct as much vituperations as possible my path. This government is founded on dishonesty and fraud, it is beholden to too many disreputable people in the ‘House of Thieves’ and that is why many clueless people have been put forward for ministerial appointments. Amongst thieves, there are NO honours; so palpably it is with the thieves ruling Nigeria and stripping it to the bones and fighting amongst themselves in the process, with token scape goats here and there! A house not built with a solid foundation never last long and it is a matter of time for this government to pack it in via the Tribunal or the people. How difficult can it be to provide the basic necessities of life to ones people? I take it the increment in the President’s salary had been premised on performance; is it? That is Nigeria for you! The other day, it was reported that new cars were approved for ministers and that the Secretary to the Federal Government (WHO ELSE?) had defended the decision before the legislators! Yes, new cars for ministers, salary increases for the Executives and what else? All these no doubt predicated on the sterling jobs they have been doing! There is now abundance of food, habitable shelter, quality education, quality and affordable health services, motorable roads, confidence in the security of life and property. The masses are all smiling and thanking their good fortunes. Nigeria has suddenly been blessed with leaders who place the electorates before their own pockets, who meet to address matters of concern to their constituents!

Outside, the international community have no qualms doing business with us at all and foreign investors, at least the honest ones, are queuing up to come and do business in Nigeria because of our enabling environment: we do not ask for kickbacks here; children of government functionaries (who may even have their hands in the commonwealth pie themselves) do not go around the globe signing documents using pseudonyms; we award contract here based purely on competitive tendering. We do not apply sanctions selectively and have recently reawakened our consciousness to root out corruption: most of the erstwhile corrupt public officials have been tried, convicted and jailed: we refused to succumb to the temptation of doing deals with criminals in return for lesser sentences because to do so would have sent the wrong signal to the coming generation that there are two sets of laws in Nigeria – the one for the high & mighty and the other for lesser mortals!

What has been most astonishing about us, to the chagrin of our detractors, is that we were meticulous about choosing a man of unquestionable poise, intellect and integrity, not smeared by the tar of ‘conflict of interest’ as our chief law officer: we chose a man who had never been compromised by his antecedents, utterances and actions as our Attorney General, a man who is honest and down-to-earth, who is not beholden to any corrupt ex-government official. Our choice has been the envy of the British legal system in particular, who remain befuddled by how intelligible our Attorney General is about their system: it was a surprise to them that our AG knew, and understood, that it was sufficient for an official of the Home Official to sign request on behalf of the British Home Secretary. Above all, the pro-activeness of our AG in assisting the international community in rooting out corruption is still being marvelled at. In one case involving an ex-con, who later metamorphosed into a State Chief Executive, all the available evidence have been placed at the disposal of the British authorities with such alarming alacrity that they, the British, are now contemplating naming our AG the man of the decade for his stance against corruption.

There is such a buzz about governance in Nigeria, that some British parliamentarians are coming to learn from our legislators the art of purchasing properties all over the globe, junketing around the world, renovation of official quarters at an ‘undervalue’, allocation of houses to elected officials (in a country that cannot feed its citizens, educate children, quench the thirst of its people for water and decent living). Whilst in the country, they are scheduled to visit Chief Lamidi ‘Amala’ Adedibu to learn about political tolerance; visit ‘Dr’ Andy Uba to learn about how to assist in laundering and pilferage of state resources; the triumvirate of General Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Iyiola Omisore & Atiku Abubakar will grant them audience on the subtleties of handling how one former Attorney General got murdered and his wife indirectly murdered by the intrigues surrounding the trial. They are bound to be astounded by the abundance in our society, so much that our leaders are so popular with the masses that they go around mixing among the teeming masses, using the same excellent public transportation systems, sending their children to the same public schools that they have adequately provisioned and equipped to the same, if not better, standards as obtain abroad. There is so much to learn here; the Kenyans have just left to put into practice what they came to learn.

Postscript
Nigeria will continue to go down the drain for the obvious reason that we have a nation largely founded on dishonesty and led by hugely corrupt, selfish and greedy people. It does not take a year to start making an immediate impact, when you have no skeletons in your cupboard, e.g. the ghost of a singing Ibori! A situation where the first act done was to appoint the same old guard, a man of questionable integrity, as Secretary, gave me the first inkling that it is going to be business as usual. I invite Mr Olusegun Adeniyi to tell us what exactly has been the achievement of this government so far. After all, he went to the US the other day to learn about information management. I envy him and wish him good luck in his endeavours with this government. The day for Nigeria has not come. The present president is a hostage, just like Shehu Shagari was a hostage, and we all know what happen to hostages in the end: they are either killed, die, escape or freed from bondage. I hope that the present president is freed from bondage by the Election Tribunal.