In the history of governance in Nigeria , General Yakubu Gowon was an aberration. He was never accused of enriching himself and his family. Nonetheless, the majority of his governors and ministers and other high-ranking officials were accused of unprofessional conducts. These indictments were part of the reasons why he was eased out of power.

In the many years since, there have been several phenomenons: first, most of the men and women who were so accused later became part of subsequent governments; second, the Murtala-Obasanjo government that succeeded Gowon loosened the rope on embezzlers -- making high crimes tempting and profitable.

If the Gowon’s government was corrupt, the Shagari’s government was unquestionably rotten. Its rottenness made the Buhari coup possible. This was followed by the Babangida government which made sure that no inner member of the Shagari government had rough sleepless nights. Analysts have posited that the Babangida government institutionalized criminal behaviors. Babangida himself was a poster boy for jibiti and wuruwuru.

And just as Babangida never went after the Shagari-crooks, Abacha never went after the Babangida vagabonds. But Obasanjo was in a special class. He made criminality trendy. He was good. He was so damn good at stealing and duplicity he even recruited his kids and in-laws. Today, the Obasanjos are the first family of high crimes and misdemeanors.

In Today’s Nigeria , the biggest fools are the street urchins and the armed robbers. Why they waste valuable time, talent and energy robbing people of one hundred dollars or less is what I don’t bloody understand. Don’t these fools know that there are no penalties for dispossessing the government of millions and millions of dollars? Heck, the government won’t even notice if you stole billions. Oyenusi and Anini must be turning in their graves.

In Nigeria , crime pays. If you are accused of stealing, there are four rules you must observe: (1) don’t incriminate your allies; (2) don’t confess to anything; (3) accuse your political opponents of Pull-Him-Down syndrome; and (4) stay out of the media glare for a while. The accusations will quickly vanish. Otherwise, proclaim yourself a born-again.

While you are stealing and taking the people for a ride, remember to have four sets of insurance: the backing of your traditional ruler; the backing of your pastor or imam and those of marabouts or babalawos; payments to timbers and calibers; and also, look for a pool of journalists to either write in your favor or have enough clout to kill the story.

Sometimes, you didn’t even have to pay to kill a story. The Nigerian journalists and the Nigerian public will do it for you since both have a short memory bank. Most people are so bored they don’t have time to follow stories that are routine. And most media houses worry more about their own survival than some smart fool stealing from government.

Recently, Fani Kayode and Babalola Aborishade were both accused of misusing billion of public money. On the dock, both looked cheerful and unfazed. They know what most of us already know: “this too shall come to pass.” Truly, give it four more weeks; their travails may be supplanted by another drama. In eight weeks, most will not remember it.

This brings me to a comment made by Dr. Okey Ndibe (NVS: Monday, 12 May 2008): “…Oshuntokun used to write a column before he morphed into a presidential adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. As a columnist, he made it his business to pry into the affairs of public officials. Now it is time he made a public statement explaining how he got the guesthouse and how he was able to put together the money to buy it…Over to you, Mr. Oshuntokun.”

Well, it’s been more than ten weeks since this matter surfaced, and the nation is still waiting to hear from Mr. Oshuntokun himself. To my knowledge, he has kept quiet; he has refused to give his side of the story. To be clear, no one knows for sure if Oshuntokun is guilty of anything. He just might be a saint, blameless; a man with clean hands.

What is apparent is that he has taken the path taken by so many Nigerians who have been accused of misconducts. A good student of the Nigerian politics he must be. So far, he hasn’t pointed accusatory fingers at anyone; he hasn’t confessed to anything and has stayed out of the media glare knowing this matter will die a natural death.

I wonder, just as a lot of his friends and critics are wondering: what is Akin Oshuntokun afraid of? Who is he hiding from? Questions: did he really buy the house he was alleged to have bought; if he did, how much did he pay and how was he able to afford such a house considering his previous profession. And finally, as journalists, why is he now reluctant to talk to his colleagues in the media -- some of whom now thinks of him as a blot on the profession.

I repeat: Oshuntokum may not have done anything wrong. As I was cautioned by one of Nigerian preeminent journalists, “he could easily have got the money from an investment, an inheritance, a bank…Therefore; this could be much ado about nothing.” I personally have tried talking to him, but he is not confessing or denying anything. Given that he is a journalist, I thought he would welcome my efforts. But apparently not! He has my number. I await his call. 

Bayelsa State and Its Sleeping Governor:

Since the election of Timipre Sylva as the Governor of Bayelsa State, things have come to a standstill. The irony here is that when his government was illegitimate, there were some motion and some semblance of governance -- even if corrupted and at a snail speed. Since the Court-ordered election however, the Governor have fallen into a groove, into a rut -- manifested in his inactivity, lack of focus and lack of direction.

Although every now and then Governor Sylva is seen around Yenagoa, he is mostly seen in Abuja and at the nation’s international airports -- dashing from one end of the world to another, making speeches, promising this and that and that and this to foreign audiences in places like Spain. When he is not on the other side of the Atlantic, he is seen parleying and partying in Abuja . Governance is today left to the imagination of the people.

While Sylva is offering his own rendition of Ajala-travel, what is he doing about (1) teacher’s late payment in terms of their salaries; (2) what is his doing about the state of personal security; (3) what is he doing about the vacancies that are holding the government back in terms of performance; (4) what is he doing about the harrowing conditions overseas-Bayelsa State students are facing; (5) when is he going to officially appoint and swear in his commissioners and advisers; and (6) what is he doing about the relationship between the three branches of government and the public sector?

Or perhaps the Governor is looking to govern the state by executive orders from his Creek Haven bedroom. The silence and inactivity of Timipre Sylva is deafening and disturbing. Someone should please give him a gentle nudge…whisper into his ears…tell him to “move it!”  It is one thing to be incompetent, but quiet another to be lazy and devoid of grand aspirations and the ability to implement those objectives.

Sabidde@yahoo.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 In the history of governance in ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 27.07.2008 18:00

Agidimolaja  Villager

# 2 Sabella, Sir, The answer to the six questions you asked Sylva the quasi Governor is - "NOTHING". Since he assumed the driver's seat of that troublesome state,your friend has not settled down on anything to write home about as you rightly stated. Instead of settling down to do the works that the electorates voted him in to do,he is busy travelling,partying,speaking out bunch of useless lies etc. Actually he is hurriedly becoming a carbon copy of the past looter-governor Alamieyesegha who looted from his people's treasury, several millions of dollars. Funny still,the same people from whom he stole huge amount of their money,lined up the streets to give the executive bandit an hero's welcome after serving his so called jail term. O poor and fatally misled people! My greatest concern however is that all these useless nonsense are happening in the state that is currently holding the Federal Government of Nigeria for ransom by asking for the moon in terms of resource control. The numerous barbaric militants based in this state deliberately looked the other way as their leaders are looting the money given to the state by Federal Government for the welfare and upbringing of her citizens. At the same time,these misguided crooks are raisng hell with Federal Government over resource control. What justification have they for all their unpatriotic actions of killing,bombing,kidnapping,bunkeering,gunrunning etc when their own leaders are comitting such great atrocities against them unchallenged? In truth,they have no single reason under the sun for the hell they are raising if they can't first of all call their own leaders{who are looting their treasury}to order.Why can't charity begin at home? While one should hold various Federal Governments partially responsible for the deplorable condition of Niger Delta yet it must be fully understood that, had the Niger Delta leaders/governors/chiefs etc not stealing most of the allocations,the condition therein would never become as deplorable as it is. Governor Sylva has been travelling all over the world for no apparent reason at the expense of the people he supposed to govern.He is using their money to entertain himself and enrich himself just as Alams did as well as other Niger Delta Governors both now and in the past. The militants are however not saying anything about the extravagances of their Governors, but instead, concentrated all their efforts at sabotaging the nation's resources that happened {by the grace of nature} to be located in their immediate environment. Posted by Agidimolaja| 27.07.2008 20:19

Dewdrops  Villager

# 3 =Robot;4295076129>In the history of governance in ...Read the full article. Oh dia! Not again. Robot abeg bring better gist now!:cry: Na only corrruption and Naija we go dey discuss for inside NVS? Posted by Dewdrops| 28.07.2008 04:34

bobokite  Villager

# 4 =Agidimolaja;4295076163>Sabella, Sir, The answer to the six questions you asked Sylva the quasi Governor is - "NOTHING". Since he assumed the driver's seat of that troublesome state,your friend has not settled down on anything to write home about as you rightly stated. Instead of settling down to do the works that the electorates voted him in to do,he is busy travelling,partying,speaking out bunch of useless lies etc. Actually he is hurriedly becoming a carbon copy of the past looter-governor Alamieyesegha who looted from his people's treasury, several millions of dollars. Funny still,the same people from whom he stole huge amount of their money,lined up the streets to give the executive bandit an hero's welcome after serving his so called jail term. O poor and fatally misled people! My greatest concern however is that all these useless nonsense are happening in the state that is currently holding the Federal Government of Nigeria for ransom by asking for the moon in terms of resource control. The numerous barbaric militants based in this state deliberately looked the other way as their leaders are looting the money given to the state by Federal Government for the welfare and upbringing of her citizens. At the same time,these misguided crooks are raisng hell with Federal Government over resource control. What justification have they for all their unpatriotic actions of killing,bombing,kidnapping,bunkeering,gunrunning etc when their own leaders are comitting such great atrocities against them unchallenged? In truth,they have no single reason under the sun for the hell they are raising if they can't first of all call their own leaders{who are looting their treasury}to order.Why can't charity begin at home? While one should hold various Federal Governments partially responsible for the deplorable condition of Niger Delta yet it must be fully understood that, had the Niger Delta leaders/governors/chiefs etc not stealing most of the allocations,the condition therein would never become as deplorable as it is. Governor Sylva has been travelling all over the world for no apparent reason at the expense of the people he supposed to govern.He is using their money to entertain himself and enrich himself just as Alams did as well as other Niger Delta Governors both now and in the past. The militants are however not saying anything about the extravagances of their Governors, but instead, concentrated all their efforts at sabotaging the nation's resources that happened {by the grace of nature} to be located in their immediate environment. Yeah you got the point. Those militants are there wrecking havoc on the Nigerian state and right under their watch, their governors collect more that #25billion a month as federal allocation and use it as their personal funds, yet instead of kidnapping the governors and their people they are kidnapping innocent white men and killing poor civilians. Anyway the Delta militants are getting it right this time around… Posted by bobokite| 28.07.2008 10:06

NWANZA  Villager

# 5 =Dewdrops;4295076224>Oh dia! Not again. Robot abeg bring better gist now!:cry: Na only corrruption and Naija we go dey discuss for inside NVS? That is what we are going to be doing - supposed to be doing - will continue to do. It is abdication of duty as Nigerian when we do not speak about this evil - on a daily basis. The overnight wealth accumulated in modern day Nigeria is nothing but loot - there are no factories - no electricity - no water. Where is the wealth and riches coming from? Posted by NWANZA| 28.07.2008 13:14

10Kobo  Villager

# 6 Agidimolaja, well said. Let those concerned or their mouth-piece, answer these questions, in all honesty (devoid of any tribal coloration :D). Sabide, the same question of "over-night change of personality" also applies to my good brother, Segun Adeniyi, though l must point out that he stands not accused of any misdemeanor...but from the Segun we know at Thisday Newspapers to Umaru's Segun, ....is quite a monumental flip-flop as they say in the USPE :D =Sabidde>Or perhaps the Governor is looking to govern the state by executive orders from his Creek Haven bedroom. The silence and inactivity of Timipre Sylva is deafening and disturbing. Someone should please give him a gentle nudge…whisper into his ears…tell him to “move it!” It is one thing to be incompetent, but quiet another to be lazy and devoid of grand aspirations and the ability to implement those objectives. hic :D ..hic..:D hic :D dont make me laugh! Dont you know "Timpriye or Timipre" is the twin brother of UMYA? :cool: One got left behind during one of the many religious riots in Katsina, the other made it to Bayelsa ..hic. :D ..hic.:D hic :D 10Kobo BTW: Dewee, what do you want to discuss? Third Mainland Bridge? (Wo)Men abuse in Nigeria? Nigeria Airways? NEPA? (dont ever attempt to discuss PHCN, it does not exist, we dont know them! Okay, let discuss this: Why do PHCN staff come with armed MOPOL, just to disconnect a defaulting consumer, less than one hour after restoring electricity that has been off for the remaining part of the month in question? hic..:D.hic :D hic :D Cheers maami. :lol: Posted by 10Kobo| 28.07.2008 20:53

emenanjo  Villager

# 7 That Akin Oshuntokun has not responded means just one thing: SILENCE IS CONSENT. He is guilty as charged. Posted by emenanjo| 29.07.2008 05:03

felix  Villager

# 8 It is a tragedy: The Nigerian press has this tendency to create fake "social critics", fake "human Right activists" fake "patriotic politicians" whom they deliberately unleash on the national stage to criticize and harangeu every government in power.These unknown characters will utilise the respected platforms provided by these media houses to biuld an image of "man of the people" for themselves just to make themselves relevant enough to be considered for certain "lucrative" positions in the governemnt of the land ...Once they succeed to get to that stage, the hidden corupted nature of their characters unravel, the sanctimonious facade is discarded and what you have is a heartless hungry buffoon , desperate to outdo those he/she hitherto lambasted in every act of infamy...... Akin Oshuntokun falls into this category! I am surprised Sonela and Ndibe seem to be surprised by his enermous transformation during OBJs tenure...If you watched the PDP convention night in 2003 at the Eagle square in Abuja and saw Oshuntokun glaoting around like a "torotoro" in heat.., boasting about how team Obasanjo was "home and dry" even before the voting started.. , praising an Obasanjo that just destroyed many communities after killing thousands from Odi to Zaki Biam ...,painting the butcher from Ottah as an angel that will save Nigeria...., refusing to go to sleep all night just to make sure that this evil man wins.If you really took time then to assess that lanky trickstar, all the revelations that have been pouring out since OBJ left office about Oshuntokun will not surprise you...I hope somebody will investigate NAN where he ran riot as the DG.It will be interesting to see him in handcuffs with all those his funny caps. Posted by felix| 29.07.2008 08:14

Profegee  Villager

# 9 No comment. Posted by Profegee| 29.07.2008 12:40

NWANZA  Villager

# 10 =felix;4295076784>It is a tragedy: The Nigerian press has this tendency to create fake "social critics", fake "human Right activists" fake "patriotic politicians" whom they deliberately unleash on the national stage to criticize and harangeu every government in power.These unknown characters will utilise the respected platforms provided by these media houses to biuld an image of "man of the people" for themselves just to make themselves relevant enough to be considered for certain "lucrative" positions in the governemnt of the land ...Once they succeed to get to that stage, the hidden corupted nature of their characters unravel, the sanctimonious facade is discarded and what you have is a heartless hungry buffoon , desperate to outdo those he/she hitherto lambasted in every act of infamy...... Akin Oshuntokun falls into this category! I am surprised Sonela and Ndibe seem to be surprised by his enermous transformation during OBJs tenure...If you watched the PDP convention night in 2003 at the Eagle square in Abuja and saw Oshuntokun glaoting around like a "torotoro" in heat.., boasting about how team Obasanjo was "home and dry" even before the voting started.. , praising an Obasanjo that just destroyed many communities after killing thousands from Odi to Zaki Biam ...,painting the butcher from Ottah as an angel that will save Nigeria...., refusing to go to sleep all night just to make sure that this evil man wins.If you really took time then to assess that lanky trickstar, all the revelations that have been pouring out since OBJ left office about Oshuntokun will not surprise you...I hope somebody will investigate NAN where he ran riot as the DG.It will be interesting to see him in handcuffs with all those his funny caps. Thank you my friend for painting a vivid picture of the two-tongue activist turned messengers. My fear is that some of them are not doing it out of free will, but are rather coaxed into making life-altering decisions. A relative of mine once told me how he had to choose between life & death for rejecting a construction blue print from one Alhaji. He came very close to a violent confrontation for not approving a flawed building design. He rejected the bribe money, and insisted the minor design changes needed to take place. I can imagine the pressure some of our people faced under the military, and the great threat they face in this jungle called Nigeria. I am not making excuse for anybody, but hope the truth will come out one day. There is a sanctuary for those who refuse to be intimidated by the Cabal. Posted by NWANZA| 29.07.2008 12:53