13 Jul 2007 |
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Margaret Hill, Ali's outburst and the Chinese message " I HAVE always said it, you journalists would get your come-uppance one of these days. Dr Ahmadu Ali has now given you guys the full-length of his tongue, and you should all be ashamed." "It is Senator Ahmadu Ali who should cover his face in shame. What have we done to him? Journalists do not manufacture news." "But the man says he was quoted out of context, and that journalists do not understand his English. Let me quote him: "They can't because they never studied the way I studied." "And in what way did he study? I think he is just being irresponsible. And I find his conduct totally uncouth." "You are fighting back. You probably don't understand his English too. The man says you journalists are a bunch of ignoramuses". "He is the one who is ignorant." "He described you as a group of scumbags." "You are the one adding that. He didn't use that word." "But what is the difference? He asked that journalists should be walked out of an event. "Get of them", he said and he added: "good riddance to bad rubbish." "Instead of quoting that fellow with relish, you should in fact pity him. What has the press done to him? He made a comment about the privatisation programme of the Obasanjo administration. And the newspapers quoted him verbatim. But instead of standing by his position, he turns on the media, and boasts about his special kind of English." "I hear President Olusegun Obasanjo didn't like his comment at all, and that members of the PDP were already treating him like a leper for urinating on the same party which he serves as National Chairman." "What the man has done is to show that he is a coward and he has no scruples at all." "Do you want them to give him the Anenih treatment?" "The guy is pathetic. You know what should be done to such a fellow? A broadcast station should get a copy of the recorded tape of his interview, and play it repeatedly on air. That is what we should do to people who make statements, only to show up later to blame the press for reporting the truth." "I don't see anybody playing that tape. You know the media establishment in Nigeria has its own problems." "Ahmadu Ali does not deserve any protection. His insincerity should be exposed. And after that, every media house should blacklist him. Shut him completely out of the news. Look, all these your so-called big men are media creations. They are nothing without the media. But every scumbag that is turned into a celebrity eventually turns round to spit on the media." "I won't be surprised if Senator Ahmadu Ali turns round again tomorrow to say that he never abused journalists, and that he was again misquoted because journalists simply cannot decipher his English." "The whole point for me, is that public officials and persons in public life generally ought to realise that playing in the public domain comes with a lot of responsibilities. If you don't like the heat, please do not go near the kitchen. Volenti non fit injuria. And if you are the type who opens his mouth first before making an effort to think, then for Heaven's sake keep your mouth shut." "One of these days, Ahmadu Ali is going to give a journalist, a dirty punch in the mouth. You know the man used to be a soldier" "Look, can we discuss more serious-minded people?" "Like the faceless hoodlums who kidnapped Margaret Hill, the three-year old, British-Nigerian girl in Port Harcourt, Rivers State?" "Those are not serious-minded people? Those are criminals." "But what they did was serious." "It was a pure act of criminality. The people of the Niger Delta should be embarrassed that what began as a revolutionary protest in search of justice and freedom, has now been hijacked by schizophrenics who cannot differentiate between evil and protest." "Even MEND condemned it. The militants who kidnapped Margaret Hill crossed the line. They went over the top. According to MEND, women and children are not supposed to be taken as hostages." "Why are you joining women and children together. It is no longer politically correct to do so. In development politics..." "Please, can you save that? Don't give me any headache. But did you see how the British Government took up the matter? The toddler has only 50 per cent British blood in her system, but her life was considered very important by the British. The story was on CNN, BBC, Sky, Reuters...they played it up, the local media here got to the story late, and even President Yar'Adua had to take an interest in the matter because of the international pressure." "You know here in Nigeria, kidnapping of persons in the Niger Delta or anywhere in the country is no longer news. We are used to it. If the girl had been 100 per cent Nigerian, I doubt if the Presidency would get involved." "A Nigerian has low hostage value. You won't attract good ransom." "It is a question of the value that we place on human lives. You judge a nation by its treatment of its people in difficult circumstances. In Nigeria, we simply do not care. Human life means nothing to us. That is why over 142,000 persons will die in road accidents in 19 years, and nobody will raise any alarm. It is why a 23-year old Nigerian, Osamuyia Aikpitanyi will be tortured to death by Spanish authorities and there will be no outrage on the part of the Nigerian government." "When a Nigerian drops dead, the official attitude is one of good riddance to bad rubbish." "And that is crazy. The British in taking up baby Margaret's case have shown us that we can behave differently. But I think above all, something has to be done. Life has become short, nasty and brutish in the Niger Delta. Port Harcourt in particular is a den of criminals. I wonder how decent people still manage to live there." "Life is short, nasty and brutish everywhere in Nigeria. This is a national reality, but I think the Yar'Adua government is making the right noises about making a difference." "We should move beyond noise-making. I want to see a government that acts, a country that functions, a society that is worthy living in." "You have to start from somewhere. For example, the Senate is now asking questions about the over N1 trillion that was spent on road construction by two former Ministers: Anenih and Ogunlewe. What happened to the N1 trillion? Why are our roads still in such a bad shape, resulting in accidents daily?" "I don't trust the Senate." "Ah, ha. So early?" "Have you been watching the screening of the Ministerial nominees on television?" "I did." "What do you think?" "I think it is a good thing that the screening is being done in the open. It gives us an opportunity to know the Ministerial nominees." "The whole exercise looks like it was rehearsed to me. Stage-managed, I would say." "You and your cynicism. This is why they abuse you journalists." "The questions are not rigorous enough. One nominee was allowed to go because she is a widow! What has that got to do with public service." "You must admit though that the Senators could not do much because the President did not indicate the portfolios for each of the nominees. That was a major handicap." "Well, if you say so. But we must set standards. Look at the Chinese. They have just taken off the head of the former Chairman of their Food and Drug Administration Agency for corruption, gross dereliction of duty, aiding and promoting the production of fake drugs. I'd like to see that happen here." "They may just decide to start the process with journalists who don't understand English, and who are always misquoting and embarrassing people. Come, let me look at your head." "I am trying to say something serious." "Am I holding your mouth?" "How I wished there was an opportunity to interview Zheng Xiaoyu before his execution. I can bet that he has Nigerian collaborators. He could have given some information about his Nigerian partners." "That was not the issue." "But you know that many of the fake drugs in Nigeria are imported from China." "Dora Akunyili is dealing with that and she is doing an excellent job. She closed down Onitsha drug market, she has only just re-opened it." "There are many Nigerian public officials who deserve the Xiaoyu treatment. Those who use their positions to sabotage the same people they are expected to serve." "We'd get there. After all, two governors have been picked up by the EFCC." "Don't count on that. Nothing is going to happen to any former Governor." "But the EFCC is determined." "Look, once some traditional rulers visit President Yar'Adua to plead on behalf of those former Governors, that would be the end of the matter. Have you not observed that traditional rulers are very powerful under his new government? You go and find out the role the Emirs played in the resolution of the labour strike and the ASUU strike, and what they are doing to get Buhari and Atiku to drop their petitions against the President at the election tribunal." "I understand the President is proposing a Constitutional rule for traditional rulers and the establishment of a National Council of Traditional Rulers." "There you are. But he should be told he cannot do that. We are running a Presidential system of government, a Republic." "I think the man has a mind of his own." "This is not about his mind. This is about what is best for Nigeria. Who needs traditional rulers in government, any way? Yar'Adua just wants them to come and chop. The pot is getting bigger" "By the way, have you read that report by Chief Tony Anenih, the deposed Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees. He has in fact been talking about pots. He says no pot is big enough to cook him in Nigeria. He is obviously referring to former President Olusegun Obasanjo." "I am not too sure OBJ intends to cook him. I think he wants to roast him. And he has done that. But just look at Chief Anenih, he is now busy condemning the Obasanjo government, the same government he served as Mr-Fix-It." "When he is summoned by the Senate Committee for Works, let him go and boast about whether anyone can cook him, or not."
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