14 Mar 2007 |
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| Energy Minister, Ticking Bomb And All That Nonsense. Ebi Bless Asain A little synopsis here might suffice. Following the tragedy at Abule-Egba last year, Obasanjo, rather than sympathize with those who died in the inferno blamed the victims. He lamented the fact that most of those who died were jobless criminals who were stealing from the federal government. In fact, he didn’t see that has a tragedy. It was God catching up with the bad guys. Therefore, he employed all jobless Nigerians to go look for meaningful jobs to do. Stupid advice. Always blame the victims, always. Bad, very bad and shameful strategy. If Obasanjo was not the most incompetent president ever ‘elected’ in Nigeria, he would have followed the terrible figures for Nigeria’s Leading Economic Indicators which point to a terrible Nigerian economy. If Obasanjo was not as incompetent than we thought he is, he would have realized that for the most part, the Abule-Egba tragedy happened because there are no jobs in Nigeria. That the dead were all victims of his incompetence……. so much for Obasanjo. Many months later Frank Nweke, the Minister for Information came out and gave a disgraceful performance in the Jeff Koinenge’s CNN report on the Niger-delta. Then we all thought how washed-out Frank Nweke was as a Minister. Now comes another Edmund Daukoru, the Energy Minister talking about a ticking time bomb and all that nonsense. What else does the Minister know? Apparently, not the fact that the Niger-delta is what it is today largely because of the fact that it has not been given a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD for more than 50 years! As an Ijaw man and now Minister, has he heard of late Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro and late civil rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa? If not, shame on him. For the Minister to suggest that the militancy is fueled by a generation of youths who are uneducated and lacking the skills suited for gainful employment in the oil sector is the stuff of which incompetent Ministers are made in Nigeria. And Minister Daukoru’s incompetence should be a cause for outrage across the region. But I dare the Minister to go in the way of the creeks and challenge the militants about their illiteracy and lack of skills. As an Ijaw man , let him dare. The Minister’s insensitivity, compounded by his lack of knowledge of the fundamental causes of the Niger-delta conundrum is both degrading and highly insulting. The Minister can not claim to be unaware that many of these militants are graduates, Engineers and men with skills that the system have denied them gainful employment. Even so, where is the logic to expect a people denied opportunities for half a century to suddenly come and compete with those who have feasted on their families illegal acquisition of wealth, education and skills? It has been a very difficult exercise trying to fathom just how incompetent the Obasanjo administration has been these past eight years. But with Ministers like Edmund Daukoru crawling out of their shells in full force in the waning days of his administration, it becomes much easier. Finally, I ask: What value is Edmund Daukoru to humanity if he cannot even help his own people to pick up themselves? It is not too late. For the likes of Obasanjo, Nweke and Daukoru, they can still learn a thing or two about William Shakespeare’s The Quality of Mercy (Merchant of Venice). Right now, for all their wealth and education, they are just VANITY in human vessels! Minnesota, USA
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