It’s funny how Nigerians make excuses for their leaders, or should i say
rulers? Well, either way, these are the people we have entrusted our
common wealth, our national cake if you like. Some of my friends see me
as an unrepentant critic of the present administration, i must confess
that this is pretty flattering. To others, i’m just one hell of a guy
that can never see anything good in a ‘performing’ President no matter
how much he (the president) tries.
A very good friend of mine drew my attention to what she called, ‘my
obvious hatred for the Goodluck Jonathan government’ some days ago, not
just that, she went further to advice me; “But I think as a public
writer u shouldn’t make it obvious”. This friend of mine has been a
source of encouragement over the years, right from our university days
to this present moment. Oh, i didn’t tell you? Well, i am telling you
now, we both attended the prestigious Federal University of technology,
Akure. And, yes she’s a beauty!
She reads every of my articles, ignores the grammar lapses and
encourages me to write more often. So, when someone who has been a
source of encouragement suddenly takes a day off to criticize you, then
something isn’t right. i knew it was time for reflection.
I was determined to view things from the other perspective. To do this, i
needed the help of a Jonathan junkie, at least to open my eyes to the
areas i have ‘deliberately’ refused to see. So, i asked him, “how come,
three years into the Jonathan administration we are yet to witness any
serious improvement in most sectors of the economy?” He looked at me,
smiled and said,”Mark,i’m not ready for your argument this morning. You
know this problem didn’t start with him (President Jonathan), he met the
rot.”
His response really infuriated me. What??? Seriously???? He met the
the rot? This was the same excuse my Yoruba friend made for President
Obasanjo. My Hausa friend defended President Yar Adua this same way.
I think we are suffering from Stockholm syndrome; we are taking pity on
people who are enslaving us. How else can you explain a situation
whereby an elected official, after inflating the cost of a project, lets
say road, by well over 300%, constructs a substandard one that can
barely last six months. Yet, we roll out the drums to celebrate and
thank him. And when you talk, someone will say “at least he built a
road, standard or not”
Did Mr President expect to meet a perfect country? Of what use is a
president if he’s no rot to clean, no road to build, no jobs to create,
no wife to call to order? Oh, please ignore the wife part, she’s been a
very good daughter of Rivers state. You doubt me? Go ask Gov. Amaechi
nah.
When you talk of power, someone will say he enjoys uninterrupted
power in Otuoke, what of kano, Akwa Ibom, Imo,Ondo, Yobe, Lagos etc ?
Are these places not in Nigeria?
Talk of insecurity, they will say BokoHaram was created to frustrate
the southern President. What about kidnapping in south east, oil theft
in south south, daylight robbery in south west, incessant Fulani
herdsmen murdering in north central?
When ASUU declares strike, we say its political, or that the
lecturers are just selfish. Are we really satisfied with the quality of
education we got? Is that what we want for our kids? Mrs Okonjo claims
Nigeria does not have money to fund universities, but we have money to
pay $10,000 (N1.65million) per night for Mr president when he went to
New York. Its not her fault, her kids are in Harvard. I even heard the
President said “President John Rawlings of Ghana shut tertiary
institutions for one year and nothing happened”. Hehehehe, President
Obama dare not say that to Americans. But of course this is Nigeria,
anything goes.
I understand praises motivate most people, well that’s what researchers have said, but so also is criticism.
Whoops! It’s 12:30am already, time to sleep. But on a more serious note,
the reason why we (s)elected this leaders is for them to serve us. It
is their job to clean up the mess. If they are not doing that, its our
duty as patriotic citizens to tell them to sit up!
Israel Mark Ademola
Follow me on twitter @Ademola_israel
This article was first published in Boltupdates
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