Nigeria’s worrisome dark spots
When some people march out in the dead of night to slaughter fellow human beings in the name of tribal or religion defence, it is insanity taken too far.
When a sitting leader takes a discomforting long moment before condemning such or even making physical appearance to make a statement of impartiality, it is curious and disturbing.
When a supposed General Overseer or Bishop rains fire and brimstone and impliedly incites the Church to take up arms and “defend themselves”, he has committed same sacrilege as the condemned herdsmen. No hate preaching ever builds a nation. It destroys it.
When such “man of God” arrogates the power to “stop rain from falling” to himself, it is hyperbolic in an overreaching format and a sheer drama of sorts just to over-emphasize ego.
When kidnappers now get as bold as digging holes to the gate of Turkish international school, ” carting away” young women and staff like money from some bank vault, Nigeria is in serious trouble. All the “immediately-after” visitations of DSS, POLICE, 50 armed soldiers, Ogun Deputy Governor and other local champions who “stormed the school for on the spot assessment” is mere grandstanding. The deed has been done and it’s a slap on our face as a nation.
Now here’s a most reluctant one for me but unfortunately, I cannot hold this. I am disturbed that my very beloved health Ministry is currently engaged in some boxing with resident Doctors…and when I read the age old threats of “we’re going to sack them and replace them”, I got goose pimples. I know what to say here…but I know the Minister one on one, till very recently, I was a member of two of his committees, it behoves on me then to have a word with my very affable sister and friend, Mrs. Akinola, Director of Media in the Ministry to help me get to the root cause of this before I can make a public statement. I shall also do all I can to engage with the Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole to please resist the pressure and burden placed on his shoulder from this job and make sacrifices for the suffering masses.
Before anyone accuses me of soft-pedaling where it concerns the Minister of Health, I’ll say YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I KNOW. But for a man, who was far away in Geneva on national assignment like a year ago, and I dragged him into the domestic need of a little boy who was abandoned on hospital bed at the orthopedic hospital in Lagos, and this Minister responded to all my mails and calls, and also directed LASUTH to perform surgery on the boy, and also directed the hospital bill to be cleared by NHIS even though the parents were not on the scheme and did not stop as he rallied all his principal officers to ensure the boy got topnotch attention, I am not eager to vilify such a man until I am sure he’s no more on the side of the people. Mojeed Jamiu, my friend and Executive Director of Upshotreports knows what I’m talking about, same as other friends on Upshotreports platform. Professor Adewole is a good man. I want this crisis over and sorted. His name I can’t afford to see in the mud!
And so I heard that this government arrested Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi, the Publisher of Premium Times with his Judicial correspondent, Evelyn Okakwu. What is this???? President Buhari should call the dogs to bark off! A government that attempts to censor the media is digging its own grave. This needs no further pontificating. If the COAS feels battered by an unpalatable report, he should go to court to seek redress. Or now that he had abused his office to bully the Publisher, can the publisher order his arrest in turn? Abuse of office in naked aggression to cower the media is an act of cowardice. No civilized government should tolerate such.
I wish President Muhammadu Buhari a well-rested leave. As per his medical checkup abroad within the era of scarce dollars and decrepit hospitals, frankly speaking, shall we tell the President? And… what do we tell him!
Fadeyi is the Convener of Corruption Not In My Country Project.
Views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of TheCable.
The nation is in a deep doo doo,and it’s very worrisome that instead of things to get better,they get worse. The criminal elements have overrun the society. But I’m more interested in the solution. What can we do and how do we go about it?
Look. I will say again. The Federal Structure we run is too big to manage. I daresay, no man born of woman, even Barack Obama can’t perform under this structure we run. Let’s decentralise. Let’s get down. Let power come from the people and be responsible, at least, for a greater percentage of their lives, so Federal leaders and Federal institutions just collate real data and do effective management. A doctor living in Lagos and one living in Jos, should not earn the same money. Standard of living in both places are really poles apart. With all these MBA we are doing, we know that the best manager under a poor structure is definitely set up to fail. Clearly, PMB is telling himself, the herdsmen I know can’t be doing these killings. But the people in Southern Kaduna are seeing them live. A Southern Kaduna Local Police will do a better job than Nigerian Army stationed there without any internal knowledge of these places. We have a poor, inefficient and dysfunctional structure. Listen to BRF, he seems so much on top of his job, but we can’t see anything. Yes, an issue with expectations vs reality which also dovetails to structure. Even he tells you about working blind. No real, effective data. These things aren’t rocket science but when you have a group people working assiduously to see another group’s failure and annihilation, something is not correct. Something is wrong…….