IS NIGERIA A NATION OF DEAF, DUMB, BLIND AND STUPID PEOPLE? (1)

[Salimonu Kadiri]

​The editorial of the London based news magazine, the Economist, of 23 October 2021 had the following headline: Nigeria - The crime scene at the heart of Africa, while the subtitle read: Insurgency, secessionism and banditry threaten Nigeria. The government should wake up (p. 14).

Significantly, the economist wrote, "Meanwhile, across wide swathes of Nigeria, a collapse in security and state authority has allowed criminal gangs to run wild. ....//.... Two factors help to explain Nigeria's increasing instability: a sick economy and a bumbling government. Slow growth and two recessions have made Nigerians poorer, on average, each year since oil prices fell in 2015. ...//... Economic troubles are compounded by a government that is inept and heavy-handed. Mr. Buhari who was elected in 2015, ..... has failed to curb corruption which breeds resentment. Many Nigerians are furious that they see so little benefit from the country's billions of petrodollars, much of which, their rulers have squandered or stolen. ...//..  Nigeria's army is mighty on paper. But many of its soldiers are 'ghosts' who exist only on the payroll, and much of its equipment is stolen and sold to insurgents. ...//... The police are understaffed, demoralised and poorly trained. Many supplement their low pay by robbing the public they have sworn to protect (p.14, The Economist, Friday, 23 October 2021)." The main article, on p. 37-39, was titled, Nigeria - When things fall apart with subtitle: How kidnappers, zealots and rebels are making Nigeria ungovernable. On page 37, readers were told that "Nigeria's instability is largely born of poor governance." On page 38 the Economist asserted, "Muhammadu Buhari, a former general and military ruler, was elected that year (2015) after vowing to restore peace. Alas, he has failed." 

When a newspaper magazine, like the Economist, based in Nigeria's current neo-colonial master's country, Britain, publicly strip-naked the Government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari, the least expected is that the presidency should put up a strong rebuttal to clothe government. Has Muhammadu Buhari's led government failed to combat corruption and insurgency as he promised to do before ascending power in 2015? Why is it a taboo for Nigerian intellectuals inside and outside the government to discuss rampant stealing of public funds, often called corruption in Nigeria, which the Economist claimed Buhari has failed to stop?  

It is a well-known fact that Nigeria is a single product economy that depends only on crude oil export. By the time Muhammadu Buhari ascended presidency in 2015, the price of crude oil which had oscillated previously between $100 and $140 per barrel fell to between $18 and $30 per barrel. The cause of the fall in crude oil price in the world market was because NATO countries comprising of US, Britain, France, Poland, and Turkey invaded Libya militarily, killed the leader, Muammar Gaddafi, overthrew the government and seized the country's oil wells. They tried to overthrow the government of Syria too by requesting the UN Security Council for no-fly zone resolution in Syria, as it was successfully deployed in Libya, but the resolution was vetoed by Russia and China. However, as President Trump's first National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, revealed ISIS was created and trained by the US to topple the government of Syria. Although the attempt failed, some areas in the Kurdish part of Syria was seized, including oil wells. Free crude oil from Libya, Syria and Iraq turned OPEC into a paper tiger and oil price nose-dived. Although Nigeria is a crude oil exporting country, ironically, she is also the biggest importer of refined crude oil for internal consumption. Buhari's presidency did not have a good start, since apart from inheriting Boko Haram insurgency, all the money earned from crude oil had been stollen by the outgoing government and their cronies.

The 62^nd independent anniversary of Nigeria this year was the last celebration by Buhari's presidency since his eight years tenure, according to the constitution, will end in May 2023. Now, is the time to reflect on how he has managed the affairs of Nigeria during his very soon to be eight years in office. Before Buhari won the 2015 presidential election, he had contested thrice (2003, 2007 and 2011) but failed. Therefore, Buhari that had contested in vain thrice before winning on the platform of APC in 2015 could not be said to have been unprepared to be President of Nigeria. Yet, while he sluggishly looked on, the National Assembly was seized by the old and new PDP and the second arm of the government that would be vital in making laws that would, among other things, combat corruption was not controlled by the real APC. It took him six months to name his Ministers and appoint people into departments and agencies. Better late than never as the saying goes would have been applicable if his appointments met the expectations of Nigerians. The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, was interviewed by Naziru Mikailu in BBC Hausa on 14 October 2016 and she made Nigerians to know that it was not only the National Assembly that was captured but Buhari himself and the APC. The BBC asked, "Almost two years after President Muhammadu Buhari was elected into this government; it appears as if things are not going well, the people are complaining: where do you think the problem is?" Aisha Buhari responded, ".... I think so far so good. The only thing that almost everybody is not happy with, including myself, is on those that really suffered for this journey and now people who do not have registration cards, are guiding us, which is so unfair and unfortunate for the journey that we started for more than 13 years ago. People who never knew what APC promised the people are in the government. The President (Buhari) does not know 45 out of 50 of the people he appointed, and I don't know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years. Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position. They don't have a mission or vision of our APC; you understand what I mean? BBC asked, "Whose fault is this?" Aisha Buhari replied, "It's the fault of 15.429 million people because they are the one that brought in the government. It's their fault. They should protest, the 15.429 million that voted for Buhari and APC." Aisha Buhari's BBC interview was a bomb shell that echoed throughout the whole world and in faraway Berlin, President Muhammadu Buhari in the presence of the then German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Defence Minister, Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen, resorted to locker room joke when he commented on his wife's BBC interview by saying his wife belonged to his kitchen, living room and the other room but not the APC. It was a terrible joke on a very serious problem. In order to evaluate the government of President Muhammadu Buhari after his almost eight years rule of Nigeria, his appointees as observed by his wife, Aisha Buhari already in 2016 cannot be ignored.

The two prongs on which Mohammed Buhari rode to power in 2015 was his assurance to Nigerians to combat the stealing of public fund, euphemistically referred to as official corruption in Nigeria and to fight off Boko Haram insurgency. To this end, he made three good appointments in the person of the Finance Minister - Kemi Adeosun, Professor Itse Sagay, Chairman - Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, and Ibrahim Magu - Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). While Adeosun and Magu were maliciously manoeuvred out of office, Professor Sagay is frustrated in office with the nod of President Buhari. Kemi Adeosun took her job seriously and believed that President Buhari really wanted to stop stealing of public funds in Nigeria. Therefore, she reasoned that if the Police force were not free of thieves it would not able to arrest and prosecute thieves. That was why she began the audit of the Nigerian Police Force electronically. After the Federal Executive Council meeting on March 21, 2018, the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, told the waiting press that the numerical verification of the Nigerian Police Force she conducted electronically showed that contrary to the 371,800 police officers on payroll only 291,685 could be verified. Evidently, she pointed out that 21.548% or 80,115 of the Nigerian Police Force personnel were ghost officers. Campaign of calumny against the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, began almost immediately and she was accused of having criminally evaded Nigerian Youth Service Corps and therefore, was not entitled to employment or ministerial appointment. Based on the accusation of illegal acquisition of NYSC exemption certificate, Kemi Adeosun tendered her resignation as Minister of Finance on September 14, 2018, barely six months after exposing Nigeria Police Service Commission of harbouring 80,115 ghost police officers in its payroll. One is forced to wonder if Nigeria is a nation of deaf, dumb, blind and stupid people. (To be continued)   

S. Kadiri

     

[Oluwatoyin Adepoju]

Interesting, but is it true that Western countries invaded Libya?

Thanks

Toyin

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[Olaide Aro]

The problem of our dear Nation; Nigeria is the foundational problem we have been living with before independence. The problem of tribalism, nepotism, ethnocentricism, and nationalism. 

All the problems mentioned by the editorial of ECONOMIST and Salimonu Kadiri are problems that can be resolved within a limited period if we have leaders with the will to pilot the affairs of Nigeria without the above-mentioned social vices. The leaders in question include the President and those around the seat of power or those desiring to be around the seat of power.

This is because all the mentioned problems were problems that have been in the system and deliberately planted in the soil of this nation and continue germinating. After all, some people are benefitting from it.

Thank you.

Olaide Aro