Abba Moro Must Pay For This Comrade Timi Frank — March 18, 2014 If the events of last Saturday came to Nigerians as a surprise, to me it did not. It only typifies the rot in our governance system, the result of putting square pegs in round holes over the years. Twenty-three young Nigerians left their loved ones at home last Saturday morning and went to various centres across the country to participate in the Nigeria Immigration Service’s recruitment exercise, hoping to get government jobs. Now they are gone for good. While some workers at the NIS are busy reconciling the figures expended on the exercise nationwide, 23 innocent souls have been wasted, lost forever. President Goodluck Jonathan’s men seem not to know their jobs. First, it was the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, who heaped the blame of Abuja’s filthiness and chaos on the lies and deceit of his directors. And now, with brazen effrontery, even outright insult, minister for Interior Abba Moro has blamed the high turnout of uninvited applicants for this avoidable tragedy. How so cheap! Buck passing is the lot of the selfish and cowardly leader. Everyone knows that. Minister Abba Moro, like his co-traveller in the FCT – Bala Mohammed, is still seated in his cosy office, sipping tea and just attending to ‘files of interest’ , while some families are still shocked and grief-stricken, wondering what sin they and their children committed by presenting themselves for employment. Moro cannot claim innocence considering the manner the contractor for the recruitment exercise was conscripted by the minister and his patrons. Drexel Nigeria Ltd, the agency drafted to midwife the recruitment process, I dare say, was just a front used by Moro and his cohorts. If it is true that a former PDP chairman introduced this agency to Moro and got him to use it for the exercise, even when it was clear that the agency had never handled such an exercise and clearly lacked the know- how, then they have lot of explaining to do. This is not the kind of incident the powers that be sweep under the carpet. Of course, the pie was big and a bite was not a bad idea – or so they thought. Looking at the registration fees and desperate millions that would scramble for the jobs – over N6billion raked in from the N1, 000 per head – a new set of billionaires was set to emerge! Moro’s remark to the effect that the applicants were not ‘patient enough’ hence the stampede simply shows the very reckless incompetence that he embodies. If anything, Moro’s shoddy handling of the process has further exposed to the whole wide world Nigeria’s decadent style of administration and rubbed ordure on her international image. If actually Abba Moro’s consultants had the technical expertise, they ought to have known from their registration of candidates – even if it was only 10,000 and not the 68,000 or so that turned up, that they needed to make serious arrangements for the conduct of the test. At the National Stadium venue of the exercise, what the nation witnessed was an outright disregard for professional conduct and respect for human life and dignity. Even a layabout should not be abused in that way. I really do not blame the men of the NIS in any of these. Of course, when an external agency is conscripted to come and handle your recruitment brief by certain ‘ogas at the top’, you become just an observer in your own territory. If the former Immigration boss and the last recruitment exercise were thrown away because the exercise was believed to have been compromised, why should Moro stay one more day in office? In an exercise like this, one had expected that Moro’s consultants should have evolved a process that gradually reduced the number of applicants until they got to the stage for physical exercises. To drive up the prices of white shorts and vests in the market and take over the national stadium in the name of recruitment exercise without providing commensurate logistics, is, to say the least, inexcusable. Both Moro and his accomplices must answer for murder. They must not go scot-free. Even looking at Abba Moro, what wonderful initiatives has he brought to managing the nation’s internal affairs? The only reason Moro will continue to stay put is that his godfather is Nigeria’s number three man. And since Senator Mark has been more than an ally to Jonathan, it is only natural that folks like Moro will continue to believe they are untouchable. However, one can only ask those who seek to profit from the desperation of others to juxtapose the victims’ blood with the billions cooling off in some bank accounts. Even more nauseating is that it is not the first time deaths are recorded during NIS recruitment. A similar tragedy occurred in 2008, but in their blind rush to line their pockets, those in charge took no measures to avoid a repeat. The joy of nursing a child from foetus to the university level is every parent’s big joy. The direct opposite is the pain of losing a child. It is even more painful when the child is lost as a result of the recklessness of state authorities. This cannot be condoned under any guise. Moro and all those culpable must be used set an example
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 04:51:31 +0000
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