The drama at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court last Tuesday was as interesting as it was informing. A man and his wife, highly placed citizens of this country, Justice Adeniyi Ademola and Olabowale Toluwalope covered their faces in shame to avoid cameras. Come to think of it, how is it that such important personalities who previously enjoyed newspaper headlines and posed severally for photo opportunities, are now shying away from the cameras? They remind me of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, who after they fell from grace began to hide themselves from God. Before they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam and his wife, Eve, were used to communing freely with God. Justice Ademola, who had docked many criminals and allowed their photographs to be splashed all over the place, was playing the Ostrich (hiding his face- not in the sand now, but in his hand) to avoid the photo journalists do their legitimate work. Among other numerous allegations, the man and his wife received a car worth N8.5million as gratification from a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joe Agi, as well as having in his (Ademola) possession, two rifles that were not validly registered. They were also accused of transferring N85million and N90million, totalling N175million, to Franco Dan Parker on February 24, 2014. For these alleged sins against God and humanity, Ademola used his left hand to shield his face, while the wife considered her big handset as an “olive branch” to cover her ‘nakedness’ as in the case of Eve.
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Magnus Abe and the enemy within
While Magnus Abe is busy savouring the joy of his victory at the recent rerun elections in Rivers State, having been returned winner as Senator-elect for Rivers South-East senatorial district, his kinsmen are saying the election was a sham. While Abe was in church for a thanksgiving service in Bera area of Gokana Local Government Area of the state, praising God for a victory that did not come on a platter of gold, some youths in his zone under the aegis of Ogoni Youth Movement (OYM) were staging a protest, telling everybody who cared to listen that there was no election in the senatorial zone. One would have thought that all Ogoni people would be happy for Abe of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Does it mean the people have forgotten so soon the flag off of the Ogoni cleanup by the APC government at the centre? Why would they choose to be against APC at this point in time? Some analysts have said that Abe’s victory had to do with the Federal Government’s moves in Ogoni and that the people saw the election as an opportunity to say “Thank” you to APC. But how come we are hearing some dissenting voices from the Saro-Wiwa domain? Well, it is not surprising, didn’t Jesus Christ say that a man’s greatest enemies would be they of his household, and we are seeing it with our naked eyes.
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Football House and the Falcons
Whenever a man and woman goes into a brawl, judgment is always in the latter’s favour. So, it is advisable never to broach a woman’s trouble because those who will sit at the judgment seat will always say the woman must have been ill-treated because she is a “weaker vessel”. This is a crystal truth the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have neglected to their own shame. For years, sports men and women have been having tale of woes in the hands of sports ministry and NFF. Many football stars that made Nigeria proud have died while waiting for the fulfillment of tons of ejaculatory promises made during matches. But it appears that this time around, the young women involved are smarter than government officials who, as usual, issued mountains of promises to psyche up the Falcons before their critical matches. For over 10 days after they returned from their conquest of Africa in Cameroun and made Nigeria proud, the young women refused to check out from their hotel rooms over unpaid salaries, allowances and other unredeemed promises. We heard that it was not just promises made in the course of recent outing, they were piles of pledges from the Olympic qualifiers to the All African Games and now the African Women Championship. The Falcons have remained put in Abuja, carrying out their protest. They sing “soli, soli” song, bearing placards with various inscriptions and appealing to the conscience of their fathers and grand-fathers in government to please be man enough to honour their words. This is terrible in a land where people cart away billions of naira for doing nothing; those who try to sandpaper the image of their fatherland are being treated with ignominy. Too bad!
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I thought Boko Haram has been contained?
A few months ago, government rolled out the drums in celebration of the released 21 Chibok girls who had been in Boko Haram captivity with over 200 other young women. The lucky girls were paraded before the cameras and government officials in Abuja had photo opportunities with them. The release was reportedly a result of a deal between the Federal Government and the Islamist sect. It is however, sad to note that between the time the girls were released and now, over 21 people have been brutally massacred by the same Boko Haram, which appears to question the basis for the deal in the first place. In the last three months, Boko Haram has continued to unleash terror in some parts of the North East. Just last week, a popular market in Adamawa State was hit, leaving several casualties; they also hit another target in Borno State. Apart from the civilians that are being killed in the senseless attacks, the Nigerian Army says about four lieutenant colonels had been killed in the last two months. An undisclosed number of other categories of ranks of soldiers have also lost their lives. Just last Monday, the Army announced the killing of one officer, Lt-Col O. Umusu, who was a commanding officer 118 Task Force Battalion in Borno State. He was killed alongside his security details through an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), in an ambush. Now, my concern is that despite the onslaught against Boko Haram, the number of casualties has continued to increase. While the proposed North East Development Commission is laudable, government must ensure that the enemies are permanently put to rout so that the reconstruction of the zone would not be an effort in futility, after all.
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Bad losers in Africa
A number of political leaders across the continent of Africa surely deserve psychiatric tests to ascertain their mental health condition. When a president for instance, who has ruled his country for over 20 years is refusing to accept defeat after a duly conducted election, or when another who has been in office since the 80s is still thinking of contesting another election in 2018, then something should be wrong with their mental faculties. The Gambian President, Yahaya Jammeh, was roundly trounced in a recent presidential election by an opposition candidate, Adama Barrow, and he refused to accept the result. Jammeh was said to have initially conceded defeat to Barrow, but changed his mind. He moved the security forces to take over the headquarters of the electoral commission, and they refused to allow the staff of the commission entry into their offices to carry out their legitimate duties. Jammeh has spent 22 years as president and still wants to sit-tight. But the matter is so hot that some African leaders, including our own dear president, had to visit Jammeh to appeal to his conscience. No matter how great Yammeh may have performed as a president, he should exit honourably. Having spent 22 years in power, it is more than enough for him to have done everything and anything he believes he should do for the country. Anything he has not done up till now, he is not likely to do again. Talk of diminishing returns!
