On the Senator's Wall

Based on each and every of your recent posts here, one would be forgiven to believe that you have been and remain a "Business Person" as it clearly indicates on your profile. But that has not been the case for the better part of the last year and this one. You have been, in that time, an honourable member of what is the Presidential system of Government in Nigeria with three distinct but complementary arms namely the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary, each acting as a check on the other two. 

So, if you think these views of yours reflects badly on one arm because by happenstance you are in the opposition and so, as commonsense will have it, you are inculpable with no qualms about responsibility for bringing about a difference in the lives of Nigerians, it is to be then believed that some sense is lacking about what roles members of the Assembly play in the making or breaking of a country as ours. 

If someone who belongs to the body charged with the responsibility of appropriating money for spending in a country and with the job of making laws that govern the nation (even laws that the President must adhere to) spends all his waking hours pointing fingers at everyone else but the person in the mirror, questions need to be asked about psychological balance and mental maturity somewhere. 

When an elected individual representing a federal constituency invested with the power to call for the impeachment and trial of federal officials accused of wrongdoing prefers the comfort of social media to the courage to walk the talk by making that call in the Red Chambers if truly those accused on this wall are liable, question marks of intent and objective should hang in the air around such an individual. 

In sum, the fact remains in these words: no one else out there from whom you seek shared posts, likes and comments has as much power as you do to make things different. In you is the constitutionally vested power to change the status quo. Your commonsense revolution will go into overdrive if you can match your infomercial antics on TV with some achieved legislation you personally pursue to make into laws that touch the lives of the average Joe on the streets. You will realise that you will no longer need to introduce yourself. The Nigerians you've touched with good laws will do that on your behalf. 

And should anyone contravene said laws, you will again find that you have the power to bring them to justice. Even if that person is the President himself. Impeach him. Since we are into ads, I'd leave you with this line from Peak Milk, "It's in you."

NASS Elections and the Road To The Courts

It is no surprise that, for and against, there's been a mole hill or a mountain (depending on your perspective) of opinions, both informed and otherwise, about the election of principal officers at our bicameral legislative chambers. Some have made allegations, from the amusingly sublime to the utterly ridiculous, against parties on both sides of the divide in the most bilious terms possible. There's even been an attribution to karma in some cases and in other cases, to "cutting several over-bloated influential politicians to mouthful chunks." As many as there are armpits, there have been views.

What I've seen as the most overarching opinion is that the election was inherently flawed. Several reasons have been adduced to back this stance and some have alluded to the President's cautious remarks to back their stand that it wasn't fair enough and thus cannot and should not be.

No begrudging this stance. Good enough those so aggrieved have shown their desire to seek redress. And the proper mode of seeking redress in a disposition of democratic practice as ours is via the courts.

This is where the raison d'etre of this post lies. I always am excited by court cases (and it's not because of any truth-value, a virtue as alien to the courts as can be, nor is it because of any personal pecuniary rewards). No. Rather, it is because these cases not only enrich our legal system but the entire litigation process serves to inform the generality of the non-legal-educated public of the provisions of the law regarding said case(s) and how portions of the constitution that apply therewith are interpreted, explained and brought to bear on the case(s). This process brings the legalese to an easily comprehensible level for the mostly average Joe and allows us an opportunity of appreciating the law as it currently stands or immediately seeing loopholes that ought to be plugged by appropriate constitutional amendments.

By and large, the consequence will be a refining of our democratic practice in a way that ensures that as we mature as a democracy, some gaffes will either not recur or, should there be any recurrence, have appropriate legislation at hand to deal squarely with them.

So, anyone who feels that election at the NASS is a democratic aberration should quickly seek legal redress. Please. Hurry up, in fact.

I can't wait to read the proceedings from that one (or those ones). The wealth of knowledge I'd obtain? PRICELESS. I can't speak for anyone else, though.

Sorry.

To Gloat or Naah?

For someone considered ultimately anti-government and unpatriotic, it was somewhat refreshing to be embraced yesterday by "governmenters" and vilified for gloating by travellers on the other path. Anyone who took seriously to heart my "patriotic" gloating over Nigeria's need to give Americans a taste of their own pills by extremely screening them before they are allowed into the country, needs a refresher course on "The Person of Jude Obafemi".

Let it be clear: I kid (or better still, "was kidding").

How Nigeria wan do am na? Let us imagine for a second that there even was the will on the part of the government to even try it. I know, I know, it's farfetched, but let's allow that conjecture, the structure of international politics no go gree. Real politick, which is politics in terms of national interests, without fancy idealism or ethics - lies in favour of the US. The implication is that it wouldn't be in our national interests to want to be seen ostracising Uncle Sam. Yimu all you like, Nigeria is in no position to call the shots where America is concerned. As the PhD presido had earlier remarked, "America will know."

Thus, singling out Americans for screening because of the rarity in Texas is as foolhardy as going to look for our crashed satellite in Space using a keke Napep refurbished for space travel by the Directorate of National Planning. Safe journey.

Yea. That was to bring those who sent me messages congratulating me for gloating back down to earth. Now, to attend to those about to gloat that America is sending a team to study Nigeria's containment of the Ebola virus, leggo!

It is highly commendable that Nigeria, with the assistance of the international community and the uncharacteristic efficiency shown by the Ministry of Health and Lagos State government plus the personal heroic sacrifices of a few, contained the virus. The briefings that more than helped to calm public panic from the Minister of Health was a breath of fresh air unlike any we've experienced from government. To call it unprecedented would be stating the bloody obvious. It rekindled the hope of a better tomorrow, if things are done as should be. America took notice. That's how interesting it was. That's where the interesting bit stops.

Let's take a breather and see why. Pause to consider the response of two different mindsets here. The country that pulled it off doesn't stop for a while to ponder how it did it so that it can document it for posterity. It rather sees it as an opportunity to raise it's shoulders like the cock preparatory to mount the hen; an opportunity to walk around the block telling anyone with a listening ear that they beat the bully of the neighborhood black and blue and must nowtofore be greeted as Lord of the Mayor and Master.

On the other hand however is America, always intent to improve, to learn, to be better at it's best and to leave no chance unexplored in it's quest for excellence. It has witnessed a country contain the virus and wants to add the knowledge of how it happened to it's already acquired body of work in that area, so it doesn't just do as well as Nigeria but better. Hence, it chooses to learn and improve upon that which it will discover, if any.

No point saying who'd be better off tomorrow. It's black and white. And you can keep your gloating at home.

So, congratulations Nigeria. Welcome America.

(Note that all conspiratorial inferences about the EVD were kept off this piece on purpose?)

Google's Doodle on Nigeria's 54th

This is us.

Whether we feel insulted or slighted, it is us. It doesn't pretend to mingle with the flashy dazzle and drums rollout high up there in different city capitals and Abuja where the paparazzi tumble one over the other to get those exclusive front-page winner pics that conspire to deceive the world that the oil boom really glitters around this resource endowed nation. Naaah. The doodle leaves all those for the soft-sell Decepticons.

Rather, the doodle elects to reflect the life of the hussle that defines the true Nigerian spirit. Across the country, those who still can, will fly the flag or don dresses with our national colours and whisper some words of prayer for the country, mixed with the legendary "Happy New Month" tradition while enduring the hassles that come with public transportation in one of the tripartite means so depicted.

And the best part? They smile through it all. Fela may be remembered in all these, for better than most, contemporaries and all, he best captured the Nigerian: SUFFERIN' AND SMILIN'.

That is us. For the 54th time.

Oh. Thou. Nigeria (KJV-style)

Oh Nigeria, thou wast created to be much more than this. Why hast thou allowed thyself to be the butt of jokes and an object of unrelenting ridicule? Oh, Nigeria when wouldst thou attain those glorious heights envisaged by true patriots who, when they speaketh against thy inglorious descent to 4th-World-country status, act to forestall that incredulous retrogressive slide? Oh Nigeria, shouldst thou rouse thyself from such inanities and rise to thy divinely apportioned status as leader of the black race? Thou whom the rest of Africa wouldst rely to ascend to glorious pinnacles, now lies prostrate, unable to raise a finger in thy own aid, bringing to naught even the aspirations of thy own.

Would thy citizens cast aside inerrant divisions to resolve, even unto death, to see you great, oh Nigeria? And thy leaders? Where be the charisma, nay the leadership selflessness, requisite for raising such blessed State to greatness? Instead thou hast been the compendium of mediocrity, selfishness, and a litany of other petty differences that have thou, oh Nigeria, in a chokehold such that even should seeming charismatic individuals rise to offer service to the fatherland (if such were still today possible) there among them will the evil machinations rise to smoulder those aspirations, and grind the remains to dust.

Oh but Nigeria, no country competes with thou should words of mouth be the competition. The citizens that thou didst spew on this terrestrial firmament have taken the act of talking to an art form. They can be seen talking before they be fully awake and do not stop until fully asleep. And no subject is sacrosanct to these loose-lipped citizens. From issues to which their claim to knowledge is negligible to those for which their ignorance is insurmountable. Yet, an unbelievable amount of time is devoted to covering every minute of the day with mindless chatter. Match words with action? Babu!!!! For where?

Oh. Thou. Nigeria.

Thanking the President for CAR evacuations, why?

Based on my reply to a friend on why I thanked the GEJ government for evacuating Nigerians from the Central African Republic (for if Nigeria was habitable, what will they have been looking for in CAR)

No matter how good the country becomes tomorrow, there'd still be Nigerians in different parts of the world from the richest to the poorest countries. Who'd would've thought there'd be Americans, non-Muslims even, living and working in Afghanistan prior to the Bush-led War on Terror in the Axis of Evil? The truth is, as citizens of any nation, there ordinarily are no restrictions to where you can live and work. So, good or bad, Nigerians will still roam the earth for reasons best known to them.

However, it is the responsibility of their governments to protect their interests everywhere, irrespective of where they are. It promotes the status of the citizen in International Relations when the government of the country in which the citizen is a foreign resident understands that that citizen's home government will go to any length to protect the life of every of their citizen resident in that foreign country. It'd reflect in the manner in which that foreign government relates with and treats the citizen of that country's resident in their terrain.

There's a second point. It also gives that citizen residing in a foreign country a sense of patriotism of his or her home country. Imagine if all Nigerians resident outside our shores were to believe that Nigeria truly cared for their welfare? They would do all in their power to promote Nigeria's growth and development wherever they are. They will wish to come back home and make Nigeria progress and be proud representatives of the country's interests abroad. It will make them refrain from anything that will ultimately malign their country's image and so will do their best to avoid untoward practices.

These are just two of many points of the import of this singular action of the Nigerian government's aim to evacuate her citizens from the warring Central African Republic, CAR. It's not as if this evacuation means things have changed or that Nigeria now has a better image in International Politics or that respect for every Nigerian life is of paramount interest to this administration (as there are too many instances to the contrary) but it is admirable that it was conceived (based on whatever warped intentions were behind it), planned and executed.

The two positives that made me thank Mr. President were that, no matter what selfish interests were behind the execution and irrespective of the fact that he was doing what was expected of his administration, lives of Nigerians were saved at government's expense and secondly, hopefully, the planning will be followed to the letter, which included resettlements for those evacuated.

It's one big step, albeit shaky, but one step all the same in the right direct for our Foreign Policy and Nigeria's image in the international arena.

Peeking ahead... BLEAK

Often, the thought of a better tomorrow provides the spur to keep one going through hardships and turbulence. The knowledge that a time is coming when all these will end and will be consigned to the past, only a memory to be visited sometimes, makes you resolved to go on. Such thoughts evoke a determination to stay the course, keep going, until the certainty of victory causes a cessation of the 'aluta'.

In the case of Nigeria, however, the situation is different. Where is the better tomorrow to look forward to going to come from? Is it from Benin Republic, that's even now gaining from the brain drain that is education in Nigeria? When will all these end? When will that time come? 2015 has already been compromised in our very before.

Where's the determination to stay the course? Where, the guts to keep going? The die is cast, there shall be no victory to assert for the common folks, for those without linkages (nay, 'connections') to the common till, for those with no one with a hand on the National Cake. Nothing to lighten the burden because when you look ahead, the bleakness stares right back at you, unblinking. Dark. Foreboding.

Look around. The dramatis personae are already spoiling for a fight. The consternation of political stars are already aligning for the epic showdown. The personages are not secret. Look closely at them all? Where's the Messiah among them? Yes, we shake our heads collectively with the stark realisation. There is no such person. We shall be the collateral damage when this fight is done and dusted. Or children, the bloody drumsticks for the battle soundtrack.

The Messiah has probably not been born because among these self-serving individuals, we see none to bank on, none on whom we can depend for the salvation of what could have been Africa's proudest nation and the jewel of the Black Race. They have made it clear: their first and final interest is selfish. And in doing so, they have successfully raised a nation of selfish people. Absolutely ingenious.

What this implies is that even the next generation that may succeed them, if they allow (since most of them have been around for as long as the memory stretches) will not be any different, worse maybe. The quest for the materialistic at any cost is behind all the crimes reported in the dailies perpetrated by the youths. They want riches, not by hard and sustained effort, but RIGHT NOW. So, even tomorrow is not guaranteed. Nothing, at present or in future, is there to lighten the pain of today's hardship. Nothing. Colour me obstinate but don't even get me started about praying.

Pessimism? Realism? Desolate-ism? Call it what you want. The stark truth is clear. The aluta will CONTINUA unabated for a long, long time to come. UNLESS...