Some Happenings in Nigeria Won’t Work in Other Climes

Eddie Mbadiwe

There is this gross misconception that any criticism of government policy is an attack on the President. Before anybody puts pen to paper, he must be a stakeholder in the system which should offer him security and protection. This misconception is grossly wrong.

All we hear on a daily harangue is that people should be patient. In simple physics, there is a yield point which is a forced extension of the breaking point. Nigerian’s patience is nearly past the breaking point.

To the Nigerian Elite which includes university students and trade unions, we must guard jealously and make sure we don’t sleep walk into a one-party country. There are a number of shenanigans pointing along that trajectory and this is worrying.

A strong and vibrant opposition is a desideratum for democracy to bloom.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group provided this check and balance and that was why he surrounded himself with some of the brightest minds in the country. People like; Chief Rotimi Williams, Professor Oluwasimi (First Class London School of Economics graduate), Sam Gomsu Ikoku, Alfred Rewane, S.O. Shonibare among others.

Some of the recent happenings in Nigeria will not work in other climes. Take the case of the recent sleaze by some ministers and the chairman of the ruling party. This was exactly the case of Faruk Lawan who a billionaire businessman; Femi Otedola put in prison after a sting operation and many years of trial. The chairman of the ruling party is engulfed in a similar operation which involved stuffing of his agbada with hundred-dollar bills.

Could it be that the ruling party does not have enough members with spine and guile to tell their national chairman to ‘comot for road’ before the entire membership is slurred and irretrievably damaged. This scenario can play out in Nigeria. The response is; ‘na so we dey do am’

The only Nigerian university that is close to being called Ivy league is the Premier University of Ibadan. In our days as undergraduates, depending on which hall one belonged, we had Hall nights.

We were the first intake of Azikiwe Hall. The hall warden Mr. Ezekwesili tried to produce the pathfinder for Nigeria and one of the lessons I picked from him is that any country not anchored on truth and justice will eventually collapse. That has been one of my guiding principles.

A distinguished alumnus of the university of Ibadan; Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is currently in an encounter with Department of Interior whose officers are alleged to have manhandled Oyo State Road Safety Workers in the performance of their official duty

Safety officers in their assignment are alleged to have handled Governor Makinde’s staff. The nation is anxiously waiting for the outcome and we hope it won’t be papered over in what has come to be known as the Nigerian way.

University of Ibadan Alumni Association is proud of her alumna; Abimbola Adelakun who recently took the minister of power Adelebu to her canvas and was able to extract an apology for the Nigerian consumer.

Adebayo Adelebu must not forget that his grandfather Adegoke Adelebu was one of the strong architects of Nigeria’s independence. He therefore has a pedigree to protect.

Mr. President, the rumor mills are agog with probes upon probes. When will Nigerian people get answers to all these sleazes?

The first female prime minister of Great Britain Margaret Thatcher said that to be a good leader, you must be a good butcher; to know when and where to cut and eventually stitch back. Mr. President, I know you will find her autobiography useful.

On a parting shot Mr. President, some of your ministers and aides function as if they are cowboys chasing cattle in the American Wild West. In the interest of peace and good governance, please rein them in. There is no substitute for the rule of law.

•Rt. Hon. Dr. Eddie Mbadiwe writes from Abuja