I must start on an upbeat footballing note yet again. This time, it is the Super Eagles that brought joy to the land. Gone are the days when they regressed so scandalously that they were lampooned as Papa Eagles. Truth be told- some of them were veritable papas, but to tag them with that name was derisive. Now they have re-invented themselves. Coach Stephen Keshi is enjoying his day in the sun, posting one remarkable victory after another. As far as soccer goes on the African continent, and in exercise of the bragging rights we’ve earned as current continental champions, we can say that winning is in our stars. Shouldn’t I consider myself lucky? I travelled out of the country under the general euphoria of the Golden Eaglets’ victory at the Under-17 World Cup; here was I one week later returning as the Super Eagles won the final qualifying match for Brazil 2014. Let no one begrudge President Jonathan for latching on to the coat tails of soccer glory. President Goodluck Jonathan can consider himself lucky. When significant soccer victories are attained under your tenure, you celebrate; even if you did not know anything about the way to the victory. If I was president I would celebrate too. Nigerians are celebrating, after all. Here is wishing the Super Eagles all the best as they prepare to confront the best in the world. My prediction: The Eagles will reach the semi-final of the World Cup in Brazil- after which anything can happen. But as we were all celebrating football, Citizen John Patrick Odo of Ebo Umuabor in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State reportedly took to his heels when his wife delivered a set of triplets. The man was not known to have ever been a sprinter. It was the thought of having three additional mouths to feed that made him bolt like that authentic Bolt called Usain. Ifeoma, the mother of the three bundles of joy, is beside herself with tears. Bitter-sweet tears of joy and sorrow. She has three kids at one go when many people would give an arm and a leg to have one. But she and the fleeing husband did not have the wherewithal to cater for the new arrivals. What does one do when one is over-blessed? How should one react when one is given an uppercut by poverty in such a way that a blessing begins to look like bad luck? And talking about uppercuts, the father of them all is being delivered to the jaws of political opponents on the national stage. While at a conference in Miami last week, a top PR guru confided in me that he would have extended his company’s tentacles to Nigeria but for the endemic nature of corruption in the system. He then reeled out instances of corruption cases which have been swept under the carpet and asked, “How do you expect serious people to take you seriously”. He referred to Thabo Mbeki’s recent declaration that corruption had found a cosy home in Nigeria because of the complacency and acquiescence of civil society groups. The erstwhile fire-spitting groups which put the military governments on their toes have now largely been ‘demobilised’, or, to use a term popularized during the locust years of the soldiers in governance, “settled”. According to the former South African president, the ordinary people who tolerate corruption and would rather find a way to benefit from it are equally to blame because they make the leaders sit pretty without any thought of delivering good governance. I told him that we had “started the process of beginning to attempt to try to punish bad behaviour”. He laughed - a very vernacular kind of laughter, which brought other conferees to our table. But I wasn’t joking. It is true. Government agencies are beginning to fight perceived acts of corruption. Read the papers. Check online sources. The only problem is that it appears that political wars are being fought as anti-corruption crusades. Anyone with a nodding acquaintance with Nigerian politics knows that those against President Jonathan’s second term project (declared or clandestine) must expect EFCC, ICPC, CID, SSS, NIA, and even the toilet sink together with its plumbing appurtenances to be thrown at them. Suddenly, government agencies seem to have acquired fresh dynamism in fighting corruption. Those who have made it their business to analyse trends in society however say that probes and anti-corruption crusades are only effective to the extent of their being colour-blind in terms of party affiliation. Even the most rabid optimist will confess to a niggling déjà vu feeling as all this seems to be a replay of ex-President Obasanjo’s scorched earth policy against anyone he perceived as his foe, especially towards – and in the wake of- the ill-fated third term agenda. The only thing that still makes the OBJ version of witch-hunting more ruthlessly efficient was that the former president was, to pinch General Babangida’s ingenious classification, “in government and in power”. So, the gloves are out. This government will throw everything it can at its opponents. The entire fine diplomatese can now take their rightful place backstage. This is bare knuckle fisticuff. The prize goes to the last man standing. Opposition governors are routinely chased out of their meeting by a lowly police officer acting on directives from above. Unseen official hands periodically force airlines to cancel contracts entered into with opposition figures with the hope of scuttling their outreach. Property owned by prominent man and women in opposition are marked for demolition by FCT authorities for non-compliance with some newly discovered ‘statutory’ requirements. The president may not be aware of most of the infractions on the rights of fellow Nigerians done ostensibly in sympathy with his second term project. Jonathan is an unlikely bully. But that is the very reason that his acolytes are running riot trying to use instruments of state to run the opposition out of town – even if they have to use paralegal means to achieve illegal goals. The question that thin-king people will continue to ask is, can the cockroach expect justice in the court of the chicken?
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 18:13:08 +0000
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