When politicians forget that sinners voted, they become prophets

Last week we saw the return of goofy attempts to defend the ineptitude of government officials and politicians whose responsibility it is to protect citizens at all times and from everything harmful.

By now you will probably have read comments in the news by Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State that the outbreak of the Meningitis Type C strain was a result of God’s anger. People in the state and indeed Nigerians had turned their backs on God. In fact, our sins were screaming to the high heavens and causing the Almighty God some nausea, so He threw us the deadly strain, he said. He didn’t take

responsibility for not being proactive enough to prevent the outbreak and as a result, more than 200 people have lost their lives in his state.

This is the back story. On a Tuesday afternoon, Yari, alongside the Minister of Agriculture Audu Ogbeh, had come to the Aso Rock to see President Muhammadu Buhari on a $4.5 billion loan from China for agriculture. They had both spoken to journalists and after the interview, Yari specifically requested for the Hausa service interview. He obviously had a lot to say. And it was a standard

question from the journalist.

“Your Excellency, there’s an outbreak of meningitis in your state and scores are already dead. What is your government doing to arrest this current outbreak in your state?”

Boom! Off he went, ranting on about religion and God’s punishment. Like most Nigerians, I too was shocked. To hear that coming from the chief executive of a state in 2017!! It was incredulous! A governor who campaigned for the vote of these sinners with all sorts of lofty promises that did not include terms and conditions like please after

you vote for me do not sin so that I will be able to work for you.

I am so piqued and rightfully so because it is public knowledge that historically, there are usually outbreaks at this time of the year, especially a hot year like 2017. When there is an outbreak of any kind of epidemic the government should be prepared to immediately swing into action with its primary health care agency well equipped. It is their constitutional obligation to the people.

While we read of biblical plagues in ancient times, this is the 21^st Century, an era of the marvel of modern medicine. The procurement and storage of vaccines are the responsibility of the government and rather than shy away from your failures, do the right thing.

I am hoping that in 2019, sinners will decide to hoard their votes until we are sure that the senior sinners themselves are ready to repent. In fact, not doing what you should for a people that defied the scorching sun and queued to vote for you is a bigger sin than fornication.

You see, according to Yari, the leaders do not need to repent because they are ecclesiastical beings who never lied about their loyalty to the people. In his words “leaders are doing their best by enlightening

the populace and working assiduously for the good of all. Your major assignment as a leader is to convey the message; you cannot go from

house to House and arrest offenders for instance”.

Interesting right? I thought so too.

Mr. Governor refuted his claims the next day through his media aide who in a statement said: “Let it be known too that the governor still insists that all diseases come from Allah and that at no point in his

interaction with the reporters did he insinuate that Allah was punishing Nigerians but instead drew from the teachings of great Islamic traditions to buttress the point he was trying to convey”.

According to him, people were just out to ridicule the governor at the slightest opportunity in a bid to tarnish his rising reputation. In fact, after reading this, I decided to rest my case.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time we are hearing this kind of statement from a government official. The other I can remember was a statement by a minister of power in the last regime who during his screening at the Senate said some highly placed Nigerians attributed the power outages in the country to the work of witches and wizards.

At the time the professor had said God will give him the power to drive out the demons from the power sector just like he did at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The question is did he drive out anything? Down the line, the power sector is the worse for all I care.

In case you haven’t noticed, Nigerians are one of the most religious sets of people you will meet. We choose to leave for God what he has given us the power to do. We elect people and instead of them to work and get things done they tell us to pray and it is no different when you go to the market and shop for food stuff and ask God to come and cook it for you after all He said He will feed you. I rest my case.

So, on Thursday journalists anxiously waited for a media interaction with the Presidential Liaison to the Senate, Ita Enang, hoping that we will find answers to most if not all our questions on the ongoing issues between the executive and the legislative arms of government.

He straightened his suit, mounted the podium and started to tell us that the relationship between the two arms of government was cordial. According to him (in my own words) we were crying wolf when there was actually nothing wrong, no tension whatsoever. We listened and as soon as he finished speaking, hands flew up for questions only to be told another curly story of being an ambassador and representing a country and was not allowed to divulge sensitive matters of state.

Well, on Monday Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, had separately met with the

President who I gathered tried to convince them to back down on the fight with his men. I hear they had also maintained that the President must let go the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and you too can imagine the President’s response.

There still is no end to this drama right? I am hoping that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who seems to have the subtlety to appeal to consciences can work up a miracle there.

Before I drop my pen, I know you are wondering why I am not telling you anything about the President today. Well, it is because the status quo is still the same. A few hours of work per day, but yes he looked stronger on Wednesday at the launch of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) where he opted to stand rather than sit to read his speech.

Please do what you have to do and then you can be sure that our good God will do His part. Cheers.