Date Published: 12/30/09

LIES AND PROPAGANDA By Imohimi Uduigwome Airenevboise

I wonder if Jonathan actually gave the order to some ministers to stay back in Abuja to unravel the fuel shortage crisis or the announcement was made in the misguided notion that it would assuage the frayed nerves of Nigerians sleeping at petrol stations. How were they expected to do their job when practically all the management staff of NNPC went on vacation. One would have expected NNPC staff to be included in the ‘stay at your desk directive’. Only one minister who happens to be from the Niger Delta obeyed the directive. However, it was revealed by the media that some ministers actually ignored the directive, with one elderly minister who is said to have dual citizenship (and to all intent dual allegiance) traveling to his adopted nation oblivious of the chaotic fuel situation in his country of birth. Naturally if Jonathan’s spin doctors know their job, I expected them to come out and say that the order did not emanate from Jonathan (this will be a face saving measure-how can a political appointee defy a directive on an elected vice president).Now we are told that the elderly minister obtained permission! Fuel is only available at triple the official price, the refineries are not working and this minister decides “to obtain” permission to travel for personal matters! The funny aspect is that the minister’s face saving statement came through, not his media aide but the spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC) .If I may digress I wonder what the top media man of NNPC is still doing there when he makes it a point of duty to show his chubby face on national television at least once a week spewing out lies about the availability of fuel (he ought to have left the NNPC with the former top executives but perhaps his bootlicking skills are still in demand.)  

At a period of economic melt down, job losses, and general hardship in the Niger Delta why is it now that Jonathan is trying to assess his spare tyre situation that some lackey came up with the idea that the man from the Niger Delta merits a seven billion naira mansion while his people wallow in poverty. Initially the mansions were to be built for the Vice President and top shots in the National Assembly but only that of the VP made it to the media! Was it that those of the Senate President and Speaker were approved without any fanfare while that of the Vice President made the front pages? If actually the VP deserves a better accommodation why did it take two years to notice? Or is it simply a plot to discredit him by creating a situation where he presided over the award of a seven billion naira mansion for himself? If he could take such a decision while he was a mere spare tyre vice president, who knows what he will do if he is allowed to be the president knowing fully well what his wife did with tax payers money when he was Governor of Bayelsa State! This is what they want people to think. Political subterfuge is definitely afoot! 

Obviously because the allies of President Yardua are stealing from the coffers and nobody is complaining or has made any remark they think Nigerians are STUPID! Reports say that our President is seriously ill and they came up with the ingenious idea to forge his signature on the supplementary budget and inform Nigerians that Mr. President has signed the supplementary budget. Ha, ha, ha, I wonder which security agency handles signature forgery cases; they certainly need to look into it. If Yardua signs it then the signature ought to be irregular because he is ill, but in their haste am sure they will have paid good money for an expert to forge the signature, so I can bet my last dime the signature will be flawless. For the Hawks at Aso Rock this should be a catch-22 situation; if the signature is perfect, it’s fake because Yardua can’t sign perfectly in his condition and if it’s irregular because of his illness then it’s useless as it carries no weight! Can a man as seriously ill as our President sign a flawless signature? If he can sign, why not fly the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in waiting to his bed side for the swearing in?

If he is fit to sign why not fly the NTA (the government’s propaganda media) to his bed side for a word or two from Mr. President thanking Nigerians for their prayers and good wishes! The President signing the supplementary budget from his bedside is pure hogwash! How do we become a great nation when good people are fed lies by those in power? Was the six thousand megawatts before December a lie? They say the economy is improving but can we see any evidence? Billions of naira down the road, Federal roads still remains death traps and the Government says they are working, working to kill Nigerians! The government is fighting financial crimes but corruption is on the increase in various tiers of government, and Dora thinks rebranding Nigeria is the work of the poor masses while the rich steal government money and their kids take hard drugs and try to blow up airplanes for pleasure. 

Is there no sane leader among the Federal Executive Council or National Assembly? The country is heading towards a dangerous precipice but because of financial gains they refuse to do what is right! The President is ill yet he has refused to hand over to the vice president and not one of them can say this is wrong! For goodness sake the President is ill or as they want us to believe recuperating but either way in his present condition, when he needs rest, must he also be encumbered with governance and petty politics? Even his son-in-law prefers to be by the side of his pregnant wife in the United State of America while the state he professes to govern is engulfed in a religious inferno. I guess governing by absentia runs in the family.Must we wait for our nation to break up before we realize that a nation without a head has no vision and direction? Members of the Federal Executive council were appointed by Yardua (and to some extent their godfathers) so in their little misguided minds they owe their allegiance to Yardua and their godfathers and not Nigeria. While we can pardon members of the Federal Executive Council since they are political appointees, the pardon cannot be extended to members of the National Assembly since they are elected representatives of the people. If the Senate President and Speaker are bereft of direction and love for Nigeria they should be impeached to pave way for patriotic Lawmakers to assume the mantle of leadership. 

History has not yet forgiven the Senate President for his snide remarks while he was a minister and stated that phones and air travel are not meant for the poor, if he decides with the Speaker to vacillate instead of taking a timely and patriotic decision then they will definitely be placed in the darkest corner of history among those that when it mattered most failed the nation because of their love for money or because they were cowards. 
 

Imohimi Uduigwome Airenevboise