WAR OF DISTRACTION This morning, I had an epiphany; and the penny finally dropped. Have you been following intensely the salacious story of the Buhari certificate saga in the last few days? If your answer is in the affirmative, ‘Big Mistake’ we are all making. Here is why. One of the vital strategies in a time of war is Distraction. It is a simple but effective strategy. Essentially, you make your enemy look the wrong way so that they don’t focus on your own weaknesses. Many wars have been won and lost in this way. In seeking to respond to fundamental issues that affect us (I will come to these shortly), the PDP machinery has revved its engines to condition our minds to focus on a few mundane things of late, in response to APC and Buhari’s discussions on more serious matters. If we truly love this country, what are the things that should bother us today? What are the things that a serious government or serious minded people that we entrust to govern us should focus on? Don’t believe me but speak to any respected economist you know. Because of this government’s inaction, incompetence and corruption, expect the following this year. If you plan to vote this government back to power, save this and tick each factor as it unfolds during the course of 2015. First is that, the Naira / Dollar will rise well above above 200; and by this, I don’t mean the parallel (aka black) market rate. Second is that, because no plan was made, government’s Naira borrowings will reach record levels this year. Why? It is simply because we have lower revenues because price of oil is now below $50 per barrel and will not return to the $100 plus we saw in 2014. Oil theft will continue because there is no will to address the current practice that has reached unprecedented levels. Third, because government will be a big borrower, please expect domestic Naira interest rate for businesses to eclipse 30% per annum. Fourth, because businesses will perform worse due to higher borrowing costs, expect that unemployment will remain high. Fifth, expect many state governments to be unable to pay civil servants’ salaries because federal allocation will remain weaker and will deteriorate further. Sixth, as a consequence, expect social unrests in different parts of the country, and project further that political instability will be a feature with a government that lacks the will to do or comprehend both simple and complex matters of governance. Seventh, please buy all you can today because inflation will be our bedfellow for sometime to come. I could go on but I don’t want to depress us further….. Yes, you would have thought that a serious minded set of politicians will be articulating how they will address these issues instead of creating confusion and distraction for Nigerians. When we elect people to govern us, we do so because we want them to become custodians of our sovereign wealth; to protect us and make us feel safe; to be equitable and to make a distinction between what is personal to them and what belongs to all of us. What kind of people are these that pillage our sovereign wealth and still have the audacity to ask us to allow them to continue? Why should we give this government a second chance? Atonement cannot be for them to come back to attempt to right the wrongs. I will not regain tomorrow and I don’t want to give a second chance to a group that has manifestly shown incompetence. Let nobody deceive you, a government that cannot manage our resources during periods of buoyancy will not solve our problems during lean times. I have high hopes that a different orientation, with a different set of people, stands a better chance of providing us with progress; but if we vote these people back, what looks like light at the end of the tunnel is most likely to be a fast approaching train that may crush many of us, if we are not careful. I had shoes before GEJ came. If I don’t buy a new one, at least let me retain my old one which is now beginning to look worn out. It’s in our hands. Vote for change!! From a concerned Nigerian
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:52:34 +0000