When others asked the truth of me, I was convinced it was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with. ~ Anaïs Nin The Ministerial screening has come and gone and then as usual, like either nothing happened or very little happened and we continue in our national illusion. How I would have equally loved to take a bow and leave. I had told a friend the other day that actually The entire thing was a screening but not for anything more serious than a commonplace nollywood movie. Despite the best of intentions and the warning by their boss Yar'Adua during their swearing in...The question is what hope do we have in the current crop of Ministers. I am not over-flogging an issue but looking at an already known fact with a view that one more voice could make a difference. Sadly, I hope things would improve to a point where we would move one step towards probing Ministers that not only enrich themselves but those who perform woefully.

To save us from what we know, very few of the present Ministers based on the process embarked by the Senate gave us anything to think about and this is why I ask the next few questions, par adventure four years from now any of them would have said, "look Mr. Man, look Nigerians I did the best I could and it was good enough". The most dangerous phrase in the language is, "We've always done it this way". Incidentally we may have started the Yar'Adua dispensation with that notion. At the energy level, Mr. President has in wisdom decided to be in charge, but the fact is that we have started to do it the same Obasanjo way, is there hope again? Hope, that the monumental failure that was the petroleum sector would not follow such a decision? Ordinarily, it should be a good decision that Mr. President would have an on the spot opportunity to look at the failure of the last administration in the power sector, but the question is what can he do, in the face of billions in dollars thrown into private pockets? How will he confront the cabal that has transmuted from NEPA to PHCN, how will Yar'Adua challenge the record books, from the highest importers of generating plants to a country of stable power supply? Will at the end of four years see us celebrate at least just two yeas of uninterrupted power supply or will that phrase remain an illusion? There is a fact that most of the alternate power supply companies are run by PHCN Executives, while other 'executhieves' mastermind the continuos rape of the power sector, is Mr. President, as Minister in charge ready for the challenge? Today's economy largely is centered on energy, but alas woe betide a nation largely made up of illiterates, the Ministry for Education has the compliment of three Ministers but is it about number or efficiency and efficacy? Already we can see that with close to a hundred Universities, federal, state, private, quack, and professional.

 The issues remain the same inability to deal with admission palaver, poor quality of graduates, teachers, lack of funds for research, museum-look libraries, cult-related romance, in-frastructural decay, salaries, ASUU, NASU SUSU and SASU, ...the list is endless. But the solution I believe is in the truth, but sadly we do not want to hear it, we want an illusion we can bear to live with. What is our educational blueprint, one minute, we propose sell of unity schools, the next the music takes a dramatic turn from Makosa to Jazz. One morning Polytechnics had become Universities, and in the midnight it reverts back to Polytechnics with provisos to award degrees. The fact remains that we have a faulty policy. So which way education, the UBE is very laudable, but has been marked by incapable and purposeful leadership so it largely remains a pipe dream with little to call success. Back on the heels of a three months strike, these ministers, three of them, will they have a semblance of the three wise ones or will it be the 'we've always done it this way' arrangement. There are issues that affect the nation's future in that ministry, are the Ministers capable, will our education regain our pride or...? I just concluded reading a report in which the World Health Organization berated our Roll Back Malaria policy and did say that on the contrary malaria was winning the war. With some of the best brains in the health sector, we loose same every year due to brain and pocket drain. Will this stop, would the next four years not witness a strike in the health sector because of pragmatic solution based leadership? Would Yar'Adua do his catarrh check here in Nigeria?

 Do we see more of our leaders treat their insatiable lust for medical trips abroad here and save us the billions in forex? The Health Insurance is still a drawing board project, do we see a better coordinated effort? One of Obasanjo's last goof was the commissioning of empty teaching hospitals across the nation and we rejoiced and kept quite? The fact is that our hospitals rather than teaching hospitals have been reduced to learning hospitals. In one such hospitals, there is a joke that one would be lucky to be diagnosed of diabetes and die of same, in most cases, the patient would die of malaria...it is that bad. Is there change in the horizon, with an unbelievable low ratio of doctor/patient of 2 per 1500 in the rural area, is there hope for efficient primary health care delivery at the rural level? Allah save us, in Agriculture, will the politics of fertilizer stop? This is one sector that lacks focus, the primary truth being that we just sit and engage in wishful thinking that all is well, when all is not. What do I mean, the question here is simply, as a nation can we feed ourselves? I challenge a contrary answer to my capital NO. This particular Ministry has a reputation for jamborees, plenty talk and less and infact most times no action. Can that change, in the last eight years of democracy, can we point out a giant stride in the agricultural sector of the nation given its enormous earning power and the fact that a hungry nation is a confused one? The only testimony is an improved Ota Farm...just questions, just questions begging for answers from the Minister for Agriculture. I need not comment on some areas, but which one of this ministries is less important, unfortunately none.

How will the fuel matter be handled once and for all by those in charge? In the next four years can we all shout Allah forbid to any plane crash, we are hoping that cows will not decide to take to the tarmac again? Any dramatic turn in our foreign policy, one which smiles at the death of its citizens, deportation and refugee status of its citizenry elsewhere, any change? Can the finance Minister stop the government magic of figures without progress on ground. The FCT demolitions, master-plan and what? How about the telecoms sector... We are over 40 years as a nation, but in terms of comparative technology Nigeria is zero, 46 years after the ATM machine, it is just getting to us. We are investing billions on Sat 1, 2, 3, and 50, now we are even thinking nuclear power for public use. Good, however is this any difference, will we see true scientific and technological advancement? Can this affect the common man? How about our ailing industries, any hope for the textile sector, will our manufacturing outfits breathe again? Industrialization is the bedrock of economic stability. I do not know the indices with which our economists measure growth, and inflation, but it is strange how progress is recorded in a nation that cannot boast world class industries in each of its State capitals, how will this be achieved? Portable water is essential commodity, access road is only imagined and not to be experienced.

 Housing is zero except in Maitami and Asokoro. The gap in development is just minutes away, from Asokoro to Nyanyan, from Ikoyi to Maroko or even Ajegunle...which way Nigeria, which way would these gentlemen and women Ministers follow? For once is it thinkable that the information ministry would not still be in charge of propaganda? Would anything good come out of government spokesperson as the truth? All those big dreams of Obasanjo, the magic railroads, abracadabra sales of our collective sweat, will they materialize to positivity or remain what they were meant to be...dreams for the masses, grease to the pockets of a few? Minister for labour and productivity, will you be productive? Would you be fair to yourself and know that in the last ten years very little in economic terms have come as benefits to the Nigerian worker? As government has under pressure given with the right hand and taken almost immediately with the left, a most crude policy. In sports, it has been a carte blanche failure, mismanagement and scandals, even our national love, soccer has been abused, used and to say the least divorced from us. The Abuja stadium has in recent times not seen a full crowd...Off course only a well fed man would pay to watch his compatriots, we have very few fed men. Only patriotic Nigerians believe and those stock are few too.

Beyond the fanfare of swearing-in, aside the pledges and promises, the warnings and the weekly Executive meetings. My last question is that, at the end would it be easy for these Ministers to say instead of "so help me God" as in the pledge but say "so judge me Allah". Because rather than leave the people in illusion, I changed lives, I did it differently, not as we've always done it. I told the truth, not to deceive, but to deliver and I did. Allah's mercies and help be upon us, we shall see...

Robot  Villager

# 1 When others asked the truth of me, I was convinced it was not the truth they wanted, but an illus...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 01.08.2007 05:33