Leadership, Obasanjo, The Rest Of Us, As Pets In Nigeria Prince Charles Dickson pcdbooks@yahoo.com pcdbooks@hotmail.com pcdbooks@voiceofnigerians.com Jos, Plateau Nigeria "Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry A pet is an animal kept for companionship and enjoyment, as opposed to livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for economic reasons. The most popular pets are noted for their loyal or playful characteristics, for their attractive appearance, or for their song. Pets also generally seem to provide their owners with non-trivial health benefits; keeping pets has been shown to help relieve stress. There is now a medically-approved class of "therapy animals," mostly dogs, who are brought to visit confined humans. Walking a dog can provide both the owner and the dog with exercise, fresh air, and social interaction. As we count days to the end of this trial by error that we will never forget as Obj's administration come May 2007, a lot of people that I talk with are living in regret and the mistake is obviously ours, the alligator that we all thought had been tamed is now showing us that an animal is always more than not, an animal that it is. Before I go far I am sure a lot of us by now would be asking what has a pet got to do with Obasanjo, and how has it got to do with Nigeria and what am I getting at, but in the next few lines, stay with me and I will be through. This is as much as about Obasanjo, our nation and our tomorrow. In three phrases, I believe that our problems lie in the betrayal of ourselves in...companionship and enjoyment, the experiment called Nigeria lacks both quality. Non-trivial health benefits; keeping pets has been shown to help relieve stress. The Nigeria of today is one full of stress and there is little that is done to help the situation. Nigerians as a whole are better classified as livestock, laboratory animals, working animals or sport animals, which are kept for 'selfish economic' reasons of leadership. And finally the air we have around us is foul, we have lost fresh air. In 1999 we found a pet in Obasanjo, a dove to many people, a dog to others, who felt in this man was humility and loyalty personified but I am sure today there is certainly a lot of regrets, go ask, IBB, Danjuma, the oligarchy, even the 'real' PDP, men like Wabara, Ghali Naba, Gemade, Rimi, Audu Ogbeh, Lar, Tafa, Alams, Gen Malu and not that I have any sympathy for these men, but last on that list is the ordinary Nigerian that has not committed any crime, whose only cry is that he be allowed to live a life that he deserves. When we all embraced democracy a lot of us felt that after years of military suppression, years of the madness of the likes of IBB, Abacha and co we would again breath fresh air, if not immediately certainly in no distant future but today with each day that passes we live that dream in a state of mirage. Many had believed that with Obasanjo laid the answer to the many problems of this nation. He had been there before, he had seen it all, he had also suffered in the hands of his so-called corp members, "the military' under Abacha, some even argued that his stand as almost an activist during IBB's tenure was enough to trust him with the nation. In Obasanjo. his PDP we all took for granted that Nigerians were going to get the much needed therauptic treatment, from the onset we saw a PDP...the largest in Africa they said, they were all experienced, they were supposed to embrace nation building as a task that must be accomplished devoid of sentiments, away from economic benefits. We never anticipated that the citizenry of this great nation would be reduced to laboratory animals, we though little that these men called leaders would make livestock animals out of us for no good reason other than to be slaughtered at their will and caprices. The playful, loyal and human character with which they were supposed to carry governance and the governed along in a short notice was transformed into a repeat of the past, as even few could not see the difference between where we were, where we were coming from and then our destination only seemed more cloudy because we tamed a snake and its colony and entrusted our chicken and eggs to that snake. We mortgaged our fresh air, our social interaction, our livelihood to vampires in government. What have we really benefitted from the entire Obj episode, what have we as a nation learned from the whole experiment...Is it not safe to assume that we still have learnt only little, and that is why weeks to the next General Elections, same crooks, same vampires are posturing as pets again and we are out there engaging ourselves in worthless debate over nothing. Is it not safe to conclude that Atiku cannot be a darling of Nigeria, can we see a pet, a healer, a Messiah of the Nigerian Nation in Buhari, does the mien and loyal look on Yaradua's face not betray his internal disposition. I ask how did we get confined to the choice of these men, in a land of better persons. Some may argue that they are the best we can offer and this may not be wrong after all, we get what we deserve is that not it. We ask for carnivores and so shall we get. I have read everything in print and watch the much my eye can take, with the exception of a Pat Utomi that wont win after all, none of the real contenders have any plane or has said anything that shows me that we are embarking on a fruitful journey forward. Again what kind of pets are on display...PDP could not provide stable power supply, could not provide clean portable water, education further crumbled, health was treated in a manner most despicable, as I write Doctors have issued a strike notice, I barely afford to fuel my car, and I have fuel in large quantum in my backyard. For eight years we battled the Niger Delta, no solution, we fought pipeline vandals, but they won. Armed Robbery rather than a vice is becoming a hobby for frustrated youths of the nation. In eight years the government talked of reforms, yet we could not transform the moral of the Nigerian, we could not muster the courage to have a moral rebirth. Who in our estimate is credible opposition, the AC made up of association of disgruntled PDP ex-this and that. The ANPP, perennial underachievers. If you really love Nigeria, one cannot help but weep for this nation, a nation with all anyone could ask for yet with men that hate fellow men and hate nation so much that words such as loyalty, love for nation, song for nation, companionship for fellow men sound strange. The EFCC list of Obj's enemies have been the talk all week but then one must ask that why is that Buhari's name is not on that list, why is Audu Ogbeh's name on that list, why did they not include Ojukwu, is IBB's name not supposed to be on that list. A lot of us can write out a list that involves all of Obj's men. How do we survive this madness called Niger Area...when a Governor acquires over a hundred and seventy properties. How much does a leader need other than the affection, love and loyalty of those he is supposedly serving? As pets in Nigeria, as the very essence of the Nigerian state how have we faced leadership squarely, have we asked for our rights or we have sat down lamely and just assumed no one is going to give us the right when indeed we have not even asked for the right. Obj accused Atiku of disloyalty, has he Obj been loyal to us, to the constitution, has he been loyal to his oath of office. The AC/ANPP accord has fallen and we are expected to trust the opposition that can barely hold their own. It is sad that we are all wild animals scavenging in today's Nigeria, a survival of the most crooked, not fittest or able. Everybody is right and nobody is wrong, everybody knows it all, yet the dog either barks and cannot bite or bites even without barking and cannot be trusted with bread how much more bone. Thousands are jobless today than in1999, more factories have closed than they did in1999, like it was before they asked us to trust them and we did, we worked hard, we struggled, but it resulted in betrayal, we were used as lab animals, what happened to us as a result of their experiment they cared less. What hope do we have for the future and what do we see from a crystal ball that is no longer clear. Obasanjo insists he will hand over to a PDP led government win or loose is what that means. INEC is run by the principle of anyhow, anywhere, somehow is a how... Really, for how long do we remain pets, abused, misused, disused at the call of a few, a few that we all know and we painfully remain silent...Almighty Allah is a merciful God but His mercy is not be abused. We shall all answer before Him A mature person is one who does not think only in absolutes, who is able to be objective even when deeply stirred emotionally, who has learned that there is both good and bad in all people and all things, and who walks humbly and deals charitably with the circumstances of life, knowing that in this world no one is all-knowing and therefore all of us need both love and charity." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt.
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Posted by Robot| 12.02.2007 14:01