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Last Updated: Friday, November 12th, 2004 HOME | Previous Page
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Destined to fail (2)
BEN OGUNTUASE
[email protected]
How was this man Obasanjo able to sermonise on democracy yet expressed so much disdain for multi-party system opting
to drive Nigeria towards a one-party state and treating the parliament with so much disdain? How was he able to
portray to his countrymen the perception of him as a highly religious man reading lessons from the lectern, yet
leaves behind a train of unresolved murders in his kingdom, including that of his friend and Attorney General who
once saved him from untimely death through poison? How was this man able to sermonise on frugality yet cannot apply
same standard in relating with his associates and also deal with the national obscenity of the marriage of his
daughter in London, that from a man who professes commitment to national reorientation and rebirth of our national
values? How many wives and children does this man truly have and can that be used as a national standard on which
to anchor our basic family value? How was this tough anti-corruption warrior able to pay over $700 million on repair
of refineries, got nothing in return and yet failed to prosecute anyone? How was this man able to forcefully appropriate
private enterprises only to sell them to a different set of people twenty years later? There is really no limit
to the contradictions in this man as a leader, yet he is the one chosen by destiny.
Every journey begins with a step. Many would say that once the first step is wrong, the journey could be disastrous
unless the journey man is willing to learn and correct his mistake. Everyone knew that the problems with Nigeria
were its political system that is defective anchored on a unitary structure that is widely rejected; its social
structure that is chaotic; its moral values that are debased; its infrastructure that have collapsed; its citizens
that are disillusioned and its elite that constitute the core of unpatriotic, rapacious, treasury looting, indolent
and opportunistic military bred leeches determined to sulk the nation dry. So much hope was placed on this man
in 1999 who many thought having being humbled by his junior, sobered by prison experience, he would truly live
up to the bill as a new pioneer destined with the task of re-engineering a new Nigeria. What Nigerians got from
him was preservation, indeed reinforcement of the failed status quo, defence of a constitution that is fraudulent,
an economic reform designed to wipe out the middle class and a nation on the brink of collapse.
The target of his first coming was the working middle class Nigerians. This time around, he tried to make up for
that past by raising salaries. But soon enough, he proceeded to take away what he granted. By the time he is through,
every middle class Nigerian would know it is far cheaper not to own a vehicle in an environment where the public
transport system is disorganised, chaotic and insecure. He has again come with what he describes as palliative
measures. What is being offered is ill-conceived, too little too late. The government is giving N300 million to
state governors that he himself accused of ever misappropriating state allocations. The dictionary meaning of palliatives
is: tending to cause (an evil) to seem less than it is, or disguise the gravity of (a fault) with excuses etc.;
relieving (pain or disease) but not curing it. N300 million is to be given out to each state to provide low interest
bearing loan to transporters. Pray, how does this affect private car owners? Is transportation the main problem
of Ekiti State, for instance, as it is with Lagos State? How would this also address the more fundamental problem
of lack of adequate and safe mass transit means for the nation? Or is this more money, N11.1 billion in all, for
birthday parties, burials and weddings? More importantly, is this how we are going to fritter away the extra revenue
from high crude oil prices? Assuming all the N11 billion is spent as intended, we would only end up spending more
money to import more tokunbo junks into Nigeria. May be some local mechanics who specialise in refurbishing broken
down vehicles will have more jobs to do!
Simply, economic sense tells us that it costs a lot of money to transport our crude oil offshore, and then import
the refined products, pay duties offshore and locally, and then pay demurrage. We also know that the cost of labour
is higher in those countries where we import from than they are in Nigeria. Yet this government is abandoning our
refineries. If these costs are removed, petroleum products will become cheaper in Nigeria. We should note that
refining costs are already embedded in the overall cost which lower cost of labour should still drive to a lower
level.
It is unfortunate that our dear President spent his first four years in office as if the position was a reward
for his years in prison, laying the foundation of an imperial presidency that was to attain full bloom in his second
term. I guess he forgot why he was elected in 1999 which was why he had to go through so much difficulty obtaining
a second term. Apparently, by the time he realized he was elected to serve and provide leadership and direction
for a new Nigeria, it had become too late. Now, we all await the next verdict of destiny.
In five years, what really has this government achieved that we can point to as something they started and concluded
and is of value to Nigeria with the results tangible enough to see? The government lists GSM as a major achievement.
This is true except that it is also more of opening up our market to international industrialists who simply wanted
more markets for their goods. They kept the technology and merely gave us the products. Now our dear president
is dreaming of the day the first handset will be manufactured in Nigeria. Why didn�t we set as an initial target
that once they reached particular network size, certain categories of their manufacturing must be done in Nigeria
instead merely wishing it now? But apart from GSM anyway, what else can we point to as a programme initiated and
concluded by this administration leading to spectacular results that are of positive benefit to majority of Nigerians?
We can save ourselves the agony of listing all the negatives from escalating corruption to election rigging, thuggery
and political assassinations, ethnic and religious violence and all that. An indictment is out on some naval chiefs
for allowing MT African Pride to escape from our shores. If the truth be told, it is not just now that the real
African Pride left our shores. It escaped a long time ago and it is enjoying safe abode in countries like Ghana
and South Africa while we continue to delude ourselves that we are the giant of Africa. African pride left us when
we had to use a South African company to collect debts owed NEPA by Nigerians. African pride left us when we the
world�s seventh producer of crude oil can no longer locally satisfy our domestic requirement of petroleum products
and had to rely solely on import. African pride left us when our children began running to Ghanaian universities
in preference to our own universities and our ministers preferred sending their children to schools abroad. African
pride left us when politicians elected on a party platform changed their parties midway and because it was convenient,
we did not insist that they revalidate their mandate. African pride left us the day destiny decided that the star
of General Obasanjo must be the star that must determine the fate of Nigeria. It is not the Navy that was careless
with the real African pride that left our shores, it is all of us that drove away African pride when we allowed
that star to shine and as fate has determined it, that star would shine till 2007 and only after that can we begin
to hope for a new star that will be the true star of salvation for the people.
However, the question is: would destiny continue to be generous to him and for how long? If this happens, then
it would be clear that in our generation, destiny has decided that Obasanjo, not Nigeria, is the one it has chosen
to bless and preserve. As he profited from the ruins of others, he may yet still profit from the final ruin of
his nation. History should then be able to put forth the epitaph on Nigeria: here lies the ruin of a nation made
so in order that its anointed son might live and triumph.
� Concluded.
Continued next Friday Nov. 12
How was this man Obasanjo able to sermonise on democracy yet expressed so much disdain for multi-party system opting
to drive Nigeria towards a one-party state and treating the parliament with so much disdain? How was he able to
portray to his countrymen the perception of him as a highly religious man reading lessons from the lectern, yet
leaves behind a train of unresolved murders in his kingdom, including that of his friend and Attorney General who
once saved him from untimely death through poison? How was this man able to sermonise on frugality yet cannot apply
same standard in relating with his associates and also deal with the national obscenity of the marriage of his
daughter in London, that from a man who professes commitment to national reorientation and rebirth of our national
values? How many wives and children does this man truly have and can that be used as a national standard on which
to anchor our basic family value? How was this tough anti-corruption warrior able to pay over $700 million on repair
of refineries, got nothing in return and yet failed to prosecute anyone? How was this man able to forcefully appropriate
private enterprises only to sell them to a different set of people twenty years later? There is really no limit
to the contradictions in this man as a leader, yet he is the one chosen by destiny.
Every journey begins with a step. Many would say that once the first step is wrong, the journey could be disastrous
unless the journey man is willing to learn and correct his mistake. Everyone knew that the problems with Nigeria
were its political system that is defective anchored on a unitary structure that is widely rejected; its social
structure that is chaotic; its moral values that are debased; its infrastructure that have collapsed; its citizens
that are disillusioned and its elite that constitute the core of unpatriotic, rapacious, treasury looting, indolent
and opportunistic military bred leeches determined to sulk the nation dry. So much hope was placed on this man
in 1999 who many thought having being humbled by his junior, sobered by prison experience, he would truly live
up to the bill as a new pioneer destined with the task of re-engineering a new Nigeria. What Nigerians got from
him was preservation, indeed reinforcement of the failed status quo, defence of a constitution that is fraudulent,
an economic reform designed to wipe out the middle class and a nation on the brink of collapse.
The target of his first coming was the working middle class Nigerians. This time around, he tried to make up for
that past by raising salaries. But soon enough, he proceeded to take away what he granted. By the time he is through,
every middle class Nigerian would know it is far cheaper not to own a vehicle in an environment where the public
transport system is disorganised, chaotic and insecure. He has again come with what he describes as palliative
measures. What is being offered is ill-conceived, too little too late. The government is giving N300 million to
state governors that he himself accused of ever misappropriating state allocations. The dictionary meaning of palliatives
is: tending to cause (an evil) to seem less than it is, or disguise the gravity of (a fault) with excuses etc.;
relieving (pain or disease) but not curing it. N300 million is to be given out to each state to provide low interest
bearing loan to transporters. Pray, how does this affect private car owners? Is transportation the main problem
of Ekiti State, for instance, as it is with Lagos State? How would this also address the more fundamental problem
of lack of adequate and safe mass transit means for the nation? Or is this more money, N11.1 billion in all, for
birthday parties, burials and weddings? More importantly, is this how we are going to fritter away the extra revenue
from high crude oil prices? Assuming all the N11 billion is spent as intended, we would only end up spending more
money to import more tokunbo junks into Nigeria. May be some local mechanics who specialise in refurbishing broken
down vehicles will have more jobs to do!
Simply, economic sense tells us that it costs a lot of money to transport our crude oil offshore, and then import
the refined products, pay duties offshore and locally, and then pay demurrage. We also know that the cost of labour
is higher in those countries where we import from than they are in Nigeria. Yet this government is abandoning our
refineries. If these costs are removed, petroleum products will become cheaper in Nigeria. We should note that
refining costs are already embedded in the overall cost which lower cost of labour should still drive to a lower
level.
It is unfortunate that our dear President spent his first four years in office as if the position was a reward
for his years in prison, laying the foundation of an imperial presidency that was to attain full bloom in his second
term. I guess he forgot why he was elected in 1999 which was why he had to go through so much difficulty obtaining
a second term. Apparently, by the time he realized he was elected to serve and provide leadership and direction
for a new Nigeria, it had become too late. Now, we all await the next verdict of destiny.
In five years, what really has this government achieved that we can point to as something they started and concluded
and is of value to Nigeria with the results tangible enough to see? The government lists GSM as a major achievement.
This is true except that it is also more of opening up our market to international industrialists who simply wanted
more markets for their goods. They kept the technology and merely gave us the products. Now our dear president
is dreaming of the day the first handset will be manufactured in Nigeria. Why didn�t we set as an initial target
that once they reached particular network size, certain categories of their manufacturing must be done in Nigeria
instead merely wishing it now? But apart from GSM anyway, what else can we point to as a programme initiated and
concluded by this administration leading to spectacular results that are of positive benefit to majority of Nigerians?
We can save ourselves the agony of listing all the negatives from escalating corruption to election rigging, thuggery
and political assassinations, ethnic and religious violence and all that. An indictment is out on some naval chiefs
for allowing MT African Pride to escape from our shores. If the truth be told, it is not just now that the real
African Pride left our shores. It escaped a long time ago and it is enjoying safe abode in countries like Ghana
and South Africa while we continue to delude ourselves that we are the giant of Africa. African pride left us when
we had to use a South African company to collect debts owed NEPA by Nigerians. African pride left us when we the
world�s seventh producer of crude oil can no longer locally satisfy our domestic requirement of petroleum products
and had to rely solely on import. African pride left us when our children began running to Ghanaian universities
in preference to our own universities and our ministers preferred sending their children to schools abroad. African
pride left us when politicians elected on a party platform changed their parties midway and because it was convenient,
we did not insist that they revalidate their mandate. African pride left us the day destiny decided that the star
of General Obasanjo must be the star that must determine the fate of Nigeria. It is not the Navy that was careless
with the real African pride that left our shores, it is all of us that drove away African pride when we allowed
that star to shine and as fate has determined it, that star would shine till 2007 and only after that can we begin
to hope for a new star that will be the true star of salvation for the people.
However, the question is: would destiny continue to be generous to him and for how long? If this happens, then
it would be clear that in our generation, destiny has decided that Obasanjo, not Nigeria, is the one it has chosen
to bless and preserve. As he profited from the ruins of others, he may yet still profit from the final ruin of
his nation. History should then be able to put forth the epitaph on Nigeria: here lies the ruin of a nation made
so in order that its anointed son might live and triumph.
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