“So, you are still concerned about this God-forsaken country called Nigeria, and you keep writing about it with passion and faith for a better tomorrow, Mister Oyoze Baje? As far as I’m concerned and with the issues and events unfolding, things cannot get better.” I was jolted by the statement which came from a long-term fan I simply refer to as Andy. A graduate of economics, I recall that he used to submit quite incisive opinion essays to me for publishing, when one was the Editorial Page Editor of the Daily times. That was early in the Millennium but we lost contact some sixteen years ago. Our recent memorable meeting was at a fuel-filling station somewhere in Ogba, Lagos.
“Oh, come on Andy, contrary to your view, God has not forgotten the country. Things may be rough and tough, especially at the economic and political spheres, but I believe and strongly so, that things will eventually get better with the right, purposeful and patriotic people in place.
“Yes, I still write about happenings here and proffer solutions because we don’t have any other country, do we?” was my response.
“I know quite alright but Nigeria has been taken over by some power-hungry politicians who are not only unpatriotic but are heartless, cruel, callous and conscienceless to the extreme. They have no iota of the fear of God in them.” He responded, paused, looked into my eyes and continued.
“Consider the recent newspaper headlines about unbelievable happenings here. Over 60 people were recently sent to their early graves in Southern Kaduna but the governor said that he was more concerned about fighting Covid-19! Can you believe that he has never considered it worthy to pay a visit to commiserate with the relatives of the victims? What about the recent ambush of the convoy of the Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum, who is arguably the best governor Nigeria, can boast of right now?
“With all of these insecurity shenanigans happening in the country and given the fact that most of the military helmsmen have spent more than the required years in office, one would have expected the President, who told the Service Chiefs that their best was not enough, to let them go. But he is taking so long to make a much-needed decision in the national interest. Meanwhile, precious and irreplaceable lives are being lost every day and in preventable circumstances too. That is the painful aspect of it”. He said with anger, his eyeballs turning reddish. But he still had more to say.
“The task of the artist is to sense more keenly
than others the harmony of the world…
and the outrage of what man has done to it
and poignantly to let people know.”
-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
“Still talking about insecurity, what do we make of the royal treatment being meted out to the so-called ‘repentant terrorists’, being fed and clothed at the nation’s expense? Instead of listening to the alarm raised by Senator Ali Ndume that they are not truly repentant and that one of them recently killed his father, there is a bill at the National Assembly to grant them opportunities to study outside our shores?
“Why not punish these villains, to serve as a stern warning to other young fellows who might be nursing the ambition to take innocent souls? Is this so-called rubbish of an amnesty for blood-suckers not encouraging other evil minds to take up arms? In fact, have we ever cared to find out, who and who are arming these mindless murderers?
“Tell me, Oga Baje, how do we juxtapose all these heinous crimes against humanity with the criminal neglect of the victims of insurgency left to rot away at IDP camps? Most of them go hungry and several are there scrounging to feed on onion leaves, or simply left to die. What about the women? Many are gang-raped and nothing comes out of their cries.
“Apart from all these, there is the culture of impunity; whereby perpetrators of these sundry crimes get away with it all. How many of the killer Fulani herdsmen have been brought to justice for all the atrocities they have committed in Benue, Plateau, Adamawa and Taraba states, to mention but a few? What about the bandits and the kidnappers?
“If all these are acts of insurgency, what do we make of the recent investigations into allegations of monumental sleaze traced to the erstwhile EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu and the accusations he has leveled against the sitting Attorney-General of the Federation and Minster of Justice, Malami?
“As for that, investigations are on and I trust that Mister President will see it all to their logical conclusion,” I responded, surreptitiously trying to calm him down. But it was like adding fuel to fire!
“Not done with that, we have the ongoing trials of the NDDC helmsmen, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Professor Pondei. What about the NCDC claiming to have spent billions of our commonwealths to satisfy their whims and caprices during the lockdown? Or, do we talk about the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs who claimed that every household got some juicy packages as palliatives during the lockdown, later denied it but even went as far as claiming to have spent over N500 million to feed school children, who were with their parents during the lockdown?
“We are on the same page, Andy. Something must be done to stop turning Nigeria into a laughing stock in the comity of nations,” I chipped in.
“And we have just read in the media today (Thursday) that the federal police stormed the Edo state House of Assembly in a Gestapo style. Remember that is my home state. The repugnant aim of course, is to browbeat Governor Obaseki and dance to the drumbeats of the man called Oshiomhole.
“This one man who promised to end godfatherism in the state but after eight years as the governor, he is all over the place trying to foist Ize-Iyamu, the very man he called ‘a thief’ some years back, on my people as the next state governor. What more, he is doing so in a most provocative, belligerent and desperate manner under a political party that came topower with the mantra of integrity, accountability, to change the political narrative.
“As if all these sufferings are not enough, there is hike in electricity tariff, increase in fuel price, payment of stamp duty on house rent and if care is not taken, Nigeria may end up like Zambia and Kenya, losing some valuable structures to China because of the debt trap we have are caught in. Now you know why I do not believe in this country, anymore!”
As I ruminated over his views, I asked myself, is Andy speaking the minds of millions of Nigerians? I recalled the popular advert in the ‘80s pleading with ‘Andrew’, a committed citizen not to leave the country for greener pastures. Definitely, it is a different ball game with the Andy here.
While still trying to assure him that God will intervene in our affairs, Andy said, “Oga Baje, Mister Patriot, go and meet the fuel attendant. She is waiting for you and be ready to buy fuel at the new pump price. If you like, keep deceiving yourself that there is still a government anywhere that truly cares for you.”
Ayo Oyoze Baje
.Baje is the president of the Guild of Public Affairs Analysts of Nigeria (GPAAN).
