edes@suddenlink.net

It is arguable; tolerating permissiveness among our governing class has been detrimental to our existence as a nation. There are no strict checks and balances to stop any official from abusing the system. Because of it, Nigerians have been scammed, slapped around, assaulted, insulted, raped, bruised, humiliated, taken for granted and scorned. Unfortunately, the abuse has not stopped, but has continued unabated in the hands of those people, fellow Nigerians, the ones they have relied upon and trusted to protect them and their families. It is unconscionable and very shameful.

These fellow Nigerians are the enemies within, and their so-called leaders, namely, the past and present heads of state, the politicians, the emirs, the chiefs, the oduduwas, the igwes, the administrators, and the law enforcement agencies, etc.

The marks of frustration are on the faces of Nigerians. The scars from their wounds are noticed all over their bodies and on that of their children. The scam and rape have continued as billions of dollars of the nation’s wealth are looted and invested in foreign banks by their leaders. The bruises on them are evident from the depilated infrastructure, death traps they call roads and airlines. The assaults and insults on them are registered as empty promises and speeches that their leaders and politicians make about fighting corruption. The humiliation and scorn on them occur as often as they are disenfranchised, and their votes never counted on several attempts to select their leaders.

These are a few of many of the slapping around Nigerians have tolerated from their leaders for many years. Unbelievably, Nigerians have taken these abuses both consciously and unconsciously. I have been wondering for how long Nigerians will continue to take these abuses and allow these perpetrators to get away with it.

I do not want anybody to tell me that we have over flogged the issue of our corrupt leaders and politicians. No, we are still warming up. So far, our agitation for reforms has not yielded any dividend. Rather we are seeing some erosion of our demands.

It was on December 27, 2007 that Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was forced to resign his position as the chairman of the Commission. The reason for his re-assignment was not based on poor performance of his job, ill health, or any other cogent reasons that will not leave some doubts on the minds of most honest Nigerians. Therefore, the timing of his removal has raised some serious questions on the seriousness and sincerity of Yar’Dua’s administration to fight corruption in general in Nigeria, especially to actively prosecute those ex-governors and politicians who have been slated to face justice for their corrupt activities while in office.

I see Mr. Ribadu’s re-assignment at this time as a distraction. It is an attempt to delay and totally derail the prosecution of these ex-governors and other corrupt bigwigs in our society. It is true that nobody is indispensable, but you do not remove the most valuable player from the team when you are playing a winning game! That is exactly what Mr.Yar'Adua government has stupidly done.

I thought Nigeria was beginning to make a dent in the war against corruption when Mr. Ibori was arrested on December 12, 2007, and he is being prosecuted for scamming his state for over $35m. Mr. Ibori’s arrest and prosecution is a step forward in the war against corruption. The re-assignment of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, on the other hand, is ten steps backward in the war against corruption in Nigeria today.

“When baggers die there are no comets seen. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. The removal of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu has caused some stir on both national and international editorial scoreboards. A lot of Nigerians and outsiders who love Nigeria have cried “FOUL” when Mr. Ribadua was re-assigned. Recently, United State Senator, Mr. Russell D. Feingold, has added his voice to the voices of many other Nigerians and foreigners who saw the re-assignment of Mr. Ribadu as an affront against the war on corruption in Nigeria.

You do not get this type of positive reactions when dead wood and rust have been scraped from their hosts. When Obasanjo lost his bid for third term, there was jubilation and fire works to celebrate his demise. The same celebration and fireworks will accompany the resignation or ousting of Mr. Yar'Adua if he continues at this pace and in the wrong direction.

Mr. Yar'Adua has been in the office for about 8 months now, and all he can show the world all this period is visiting the United Nation, George Bush, and coming back from his global tour to re-assign Mr. Ribadu. What an achievement Mr. President!

So far, a snapshot of his domestic agenda reveals an empty portfolio. There are many necessities that need to be satisfied in Nigeria today. Each necessity in Nigeria today has risen to the point of top priority. He can start by fixing our depleted Federal roads and airlines. He can start by seriously map out a plan to fix problems of unstable and unreliable electricity supply in the country. He can initiate programs to revamp the agricultural sector of our economy. He can focus on providing the country with first class medical facilities. How does he plan to reduce the growing unemployment problem among our youths in Nigeria? How does he plan to reduce militant and crime activities that are rampant in many parts of the country today? There is nothing we can take for granted any more in Nigeria. If the above tasks are too tough for Mr. Yar'Adua to handle, he might as well take the easy line of resistance, and that is to step down. I do not think Mr. Yar'Adua has the gravitas and gonads to fight corruption in our society today. He has to convince Nigerians that he is not protecting these thieves, and that he is not one of them!

I do not buy the excuse from some people that Mr. Yar'Adua has been incapacitated by inability of the Nigerian Supreme Court to validate the April election. What a cock and bull story! Can somebody please tell me what is the political status of Mr. Yar'Adua in Nigeria today? Is he paid as the President of Nigeria or what? If the answer is yes, it means that Nigerians are paying Mr. Yar'Adua to sit and wait indefinitely until the Nigerian Supreme Court comes up with a final decision. Only God knows when. If Nigeria should come under foreign attack today, will Mr. President tell Nigerians that he is still waiting for clearance from the Supreme Court of Nigeria to launch a counter attack to defend the country? In retrospect, how many Nigerian leaders have been elected to power with a clear mandate from the people? The President should step down, dismantle his cabinet, and forfeit his salary until the Supreme Court validates the April election. As things stand now, I think Nigerians are better off without any President. Hello! Does anybody notice that Nigerians have any active President now? I do not.

In certain parts of Igboland, there is an expression that, “Okuku ga bu oke na esite na akwa.” Meaning that, a chick that will develop to be a cock starts from the egg. If Mr. Yar'Adua has plans to solve some of the major problems that are facing Nigerians today, he does not have to wait until the end of his tenure to marshal and implement those plans. If removing Mr. Ribadu as the chairperson of EFCC will typify his style of leadership, I will advise him to step down before he does more damage, and inflicts more pains and sufferings on Nigerians. Based on his records so far, he should assume the title of “Yar'Adua the QUIET.” He is not the “MOSES” Nigerians are waiting for.

So, what will be the last “straw” for Nigerians that will break the camel’s back?

There is a big lesson for the leaders of African countries, especially Nigeria, to learn from the violence in Kenya today. CNN World Report just announced that over 600 people have lost their lives because of violence in that country. It is sufficed to say that Kenyans had their last straw on the Dec. 27, 2007 when the government of Mr. Mwai Kibaki rigged the election to continue his leadership against the will of the Kenyans. Mr. Kibaki action is not different from what happened to Nigerians on April 2007 during their Presidential election. It appears that the Nigerian leaders are once again getting away with disenfranchising Nigerians. Let me reiterate again, the abuse of Nigerians by their leaders has continued unabated.

The Kenyans have the right to express their frustrations towards a repressive and corrupt government of Mwai Kibaki, although their cries and frustrations are falling unto the deaf ears of the government under Mr. Kibaki, who has so far used the government’s heavy machinery and equipment to block and silence the voices of the people and the opposition party. My prediction is that the voices of the ordinary Kenyans will eventually prevail if they did not give up their struggle.

I believe that ordinary Nigerians, eventually, will prevail in their struggle for their votes and voices to count in the operation of their government, if Nigerians did not give up out of frustration.

GOD SAVE NIGERIA FOR WE ARE ALREADY BLESSED.

Robot  # 1 | 15.01.2008 23:44

It is arguable; tolerating permissiveness among our governing class has been detrimental to our e...Read the full article.

overdryv  # 2 | 16.01.2008 05:34

Talking of last straw, there have been too many last straws in Nigeria. It is just that the ordinary Nigerian is too compromised to offer any resistance. Take the case of Delta state where it is well known Ibori embezzled more than N150 billion, but what do we get now? His clan's people and hired thugs are doing everything possible to thwart his prosecution. The June 12 issue should have been another last straw but the Hausa-Falani, recognizing the political clout of the south west, made reprieve by installing Obj in power. Another last straw was the 2003 elections. Nigerians because of their corrupt nature swept it aside. Then came the mother of all last straws, the elections of last year. What is happening in Kenya could not be compared to Iwu's last election. Whereas the results were being announced before the kenya's electoral commission stopped it when the incumbent was losing, in Nigeria's case Iwu didnt bother to wait for results from the states. Elections never took place in many states or where they did the turn out was below ten percent. The hard truth is that it is impossible to reform the populace. The perceptions of Nigerians have changed with all the years of corruption and hardship. Last December I was watching AIT cable news. A driver was asked whether there has been increase in fares. He answered that last year (2006) the fare to the east from Lagos was N2,500 and last december they only added a little because of increase in fuel price to make it N6,000! That is exactly how most Nigerians reason, they have virtually lost touch with reality. Talk with them about any problem, the answer you'd get is god is in control. We should not deceive ourselves that one day, Nigerians would react like their Kenyan counterparts. Nigeria is too complex and diverse for such things. The main issue in Nigeria is restructuring the polity to accomodate the interests and wishes of the various constituents. If not we shall continue to grope in the dark. Every year our presidents would continue to lay wreath for fallen soldiers whereas those ex service men continue to die waiting for their pension.

Uche Nworah  # 3 | 16.01.2008 07:15

Chukwudi There is no such thing as last straw for Nigerians. There is nothing new under the sun, everything that is happening now in Nigeria has happened before, they will happen again. Open your eyes to reality and don't be fooled by a false hope of a 'messiah' coming to rescue Nigerians. That is not going to happen, rather Nigerians should aim to rescue themselves from poverty, unemployment, corruption and social indiscipline. Change begins from the individual and then spreads to the commuinities. I have since learnt to put my fate in my God and in myself, and to work hard (real hard) to take care of myself and my family, and also to help my fellow human beings and finally my country - Nigeria. Moaning, whining and whinging from Kafanchan to Jericho will not help us. You do your best and i do my best and hopefully everything will fall into place in Nigeria. What do we gain coming out here everyday to abuse government, and to moan about this and that? Do you think they read it? Even if they do, do they care? So our helps comes from ourselves and our God. We must begin to deploy our God given talents and abilities, network amomg ourselves, share ideas and make money as progressives. If we we are all economically empowered and begin to put/give back to Nigeria through various schemes e.g give scholarships to those who need it, donate our time and skills whenever we are in Nigeria to sectors requiring it, give talks, encourage people, spread a cheer here and there, we can make a more lasting difference. I believe in economic prosperity for good natured and kind hearted individuals who hopefully should be able to encourage and empower others to rise and create wealth, everyone benefits. Think about this my brother.

denker  # 4 | 16.01.2008 10:54

=Uche Nworah;4294980439>Chukwudi There is no such thing as last straw for Nigerians. There is nothing new under the sun, everything that is happening now in Nigeria has happened before, they will happen again. Open your eyes to reality and don't be fooled by a false hope of a 'messiah' coming to rescue Nigerians. That is not going to happen, rather Nigerians should aim to rescue themselves from poverty, unemployment, corruption and social indiscipline. Change begins from the individual and then spreads to the commuinities. I have since learnt to put my fate in my God and in myself, and to work hard (real hard) to take care of myself and my family, and also to help my fellow human beings and finally my country - Nigeria. Moaning, whining and whinging from Kafanchan to Jericho will not help us. You do your best and i do my best and hopefully everything will fall into place in Nigeria. What do we gain coming out here everyday to abuse government, and to moan about this and that? Do you think they read it? Even if they do, do they care? So our helps comes from ourselves and our God. We must begin to deploy our God given talents and abilities, network amomg ourselves, share ideas and make money as progressives. If we we are all economically empowered and begin to put/give back to Nigeria through various schemes e.g give scholarships to those who need it, donate our time and skills whenever we are in Nigeria to sectors requiring it, give talks, encourage people, spread a cheer here and there, we can make a more lasting difference. I believe in economic prosperity for good natured and kind hearted individuals who hopefully should be able to encourage and empower others to rise and create wealth, everyone benefits. Think about this my brother. uche nworah, my dear! ..i have read, reread your write-up, trying to figure out if there are inbetween the lines hidden codes which might be decoded to interprete you reasonably, but, unfortunately, there's absolutely nothing, no wisdom in your thoughts.there's nothing to think about it! ...your words are words of a traumatized soul and your indirect choosen pattern to tell us that you have abandoned nigeria, at the same time exposing the emptiness of your poor tortured mind to render quasi suitably right solutions to a deplorable status quo... ps:i have tried to keep dis grammar at a level dat even a 10 yrs baby(wayfarer) would understand!:cool:

overdryv  # 5 | 16.01.2008 12:06

Denker, Before your post, I was at a loss when I went thru Uche's reply. Is this the same Uche who was pictured with a broken head at a news conference in Lagos or Abuja sometime last year? It is becoming increasingly difficult by the day to figure out what goes on in the minds of Nigerians. The solutions Uche is proffering to our problems are exactly the ones that lead to total stagnation of society. I am really at a loss to see how our hard work and doing our best individually would right the many wrongs in Nigeria and change the evil minds of our leaders. Except Uche is saying that the money he sends home thru western union would be enough to provide good roads, water, electricity, fight corruption and remove injustice in the system. I least expect such opinion coming from Uche Nwora and I hope this is not another Iwu in the making. If we have to buy his idea as central to repositioning Nigeria, we may have to till after the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Son of the Delta  # 6 | 16.01.2008 12:28

Originally Posted by Chukwudi Ede I believe that ordinary Nigerians, eventually, will prevail in their struggle for their votes and voices to count in the operation of their government, if Nigerians did not give up out of frustration. The Kenyans did what Nigerians did after June 12 but the Nigerian protest brought a worse dictator than the one they were fighting so you can understand why nobody is ready to fight for Nigeria. Ribadu cannot be arresting only those that opposed the third term and see no wrong in Iyabo's yahoo yahoo and say he is fighting corruption. Anybody that support's Ribadu in the face of such grave allegations against him like the 200million Naira Abuja mansion is an enemy of Nigeria.

overdryv  # 7 | 16.01.2008 13:58

=Son of the Delta;4294980564>The Kenyans did what Nigerians did after June 12 but the Nigerian protest brought a worse dictator than the one they were fighting so you can understand why nobody is ready to fight for Nigeria. Ribadu cannot be arresting only those that opposed the third term and see no wrong in Iyabo's yahoo yahoo and say he is fighting corruption. Anybody that support's Ribadu in the face of such grave allegations against him like the 200million Naira Abuja mansion is an enemy of Nigeria. It has often been said that Nigerians protested the June 12 cancellation. I wasnt around when June 12 took place but from what I read it appeared June 12 was a two-region affair namely north vs south west. This could be seen in the nucleus of resistance which was centred around Lagos- Ibadan axis. It was also said that some prominent Ibos like Nzeribe made sure Abiola never ruled. Were most of the casualties not Yoruba? I never heard of any prominent northerner that got killed. From the foregoing, its not right to aver that Nigerians protested June 12. If protests were carried out in cities like Kano, Kaduna, and other southern cities simultaneously, IBB could have been in exile by now. That brings me to the current events in Kenya. Despite the noise being made about democracy, african politics is still ethnic based and this is an admission that the system we adopted from the white man is still not working.The crises in Kenya has pitted Odinga's ethnic group against the Kibaki's Kikuyus. But its always easy to say Kenyans are protesting.

Oghre  # 8 | 16.01.2008 15:40

Africans (including Nigerians) are usually very patient people. Blacks were enslaved for 300 years and they waited patiently, Nigeria was colonised for round about the same time, we hardly flinched. Bad leadership and poverty is small fry, try and convince the HIV patients waiting to die why they should fight for their right in a revolution, try telling the people who live under the 3rd mainland bridge why they must protest Una no no Nigerians.... anything goes brother; Africom, mallams, bakassi, bad government, no food. Bad treatment at foreign airports, bad service from foreign airlines...Apartheid treatment from Lebanese and Chinese factory owner...

Enforcer  # 9 | 16.01.2008 15:47

=denker;4294980513>uche nworah, my dear! ..i have read, reread your write-up, trying to figure out if there are inbetween the lines hidden codes which might be decoded to interprete you reasonably, but, unfortunately, there's absolutely nothing, no wisdom in your thoughts.there's nothing to think about it! ...your words are words of a traumatized soul and your indirect choosen pattern to tell us that you have abandoned nigeria, at the same time exposing the emptiness of your poor tortured mind to render quasi suitably right solutions to a deplorable status quo... ps:i have tried to keep dis grammar at a level dat even a 10 yrs baby(wayfarer) would understand!:cool: denker Na wetin be all this, eh? Ah ha, why all this big big grammar? Na Azikiwe pikin you be? I can understand the points the author is making. I once read that when you push Nigerians to the wall they burrow into it rather than fight back. This explains why Nigeria is politically and economically retarded today. Let us see the author message in that context.

Jah Guda  # 10 | 16.01.2008 16:08

Uche, There was no need for that. Everyone has a right to have their own opinion and their right to reasonable discussion of current events. Some of us like to be exposed to a wide variety of views, and once all sides are heard, to form our own opinion based on those views. You on the other hand go immediately to labelling the author and reprimanding him for sharing his point of view with us. What difference do you think individuals can make to our chaotic country? Would you rather a select few waste and plunder our country's enourmous wealth , and get away with it? How do you expect to make a difference without electricity, clean water and good roads? Will you give every Nigerian night-vision goggles? Don't you realise it is impossible to build or fix a country without reliable electricity (power)? The 8-10 billion dollars Nigerians remit home annualy is a drop in the ocean when compared to how much needs to be spent to fix Nigeria. And I do not have to talk to you about Marslow's hierarchy of needs and receivers priorities. Let's give you something to think about: 60 million Nigerians live, exist on $1 a day. Thats the equivalent of the population of Great Britain. Imagine if everyone in great Britain lived on $1 per day, with no electricity, water, and health care. Will this be viewed as a catastrophe?

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