But the power is nothing
If your people cannot get quality education
The power is nothing
If your people keep on dying of disease and starvation
The power is nothing
If your people have no peace (no peace)
The power is nothing
If your people cannot live in unity (eh)
E be like say by Tuface Idibia
Right from my University days particularly with my involvement with
Pat Utomi’s “Patito’s Gang” and my readership of the Guardian, i
naturally developed an admiration for Reuben Abati as journalist, writer,editor and social critic. Orally and literally his words were
punches, poignant enough to arouse certain passions. When he spoke i
readily listened and agreed with all he voiced out. Today sadly i cannot lay claims to such feelings, this is not because
of the school of thought that believes that it is wrong for a
professional or a social critic to serve in government, i do not agree with such views and did make the argument that there was nothing
wrong with an Abati serving as a Special Adviser(Media and Publicity)
to President Jonathan based on my belief that here is a man(Abati) who
knows how to speak truth to power, perhaps his elevation would be an
asset to the Jonathan administration despite the fact that i did not
support nor vote for the Jonathan/Sambo ticket, his actions as
president by virtue of the powers of the Nigerian Presidency may make
or mar this country’s chances as a nation, thus to wish him ill is to
wish myself and millions of Nigerians ill.
Nevertheless it begins to appear that power, particularly in the
African context is a corrupter of one’s morals and principles or how
else can one define Abati’s sudden metamorphosis from one who many saw
as the voice of the people, the voice of reason and an oracle readily
consulted on the pages of the Guardian to a hollow flute, advocating
the wrongs of the Jonathan administration through a concerted assault
on the critical and moral faculties of teeming Nigerians. One is
naturally forced to ask the question, what may have happened to our
Abati? The same Abati who recommended that we stone our economists
sometime ago, the Abati who condemned nepotism, corruption and the
injustice inherent in our system is now the same man blindly defending
every false move by the Jonathan administration to the consternation
of many of us who believed in him.
Reading though Abati’s homily on how we as Nigerians and free born
citizens ought to criticise our president, i wonder loudly at his
description of those who normally criticize Mr. President as the
“collective children of anger” “the distracted crowd of Facebook
addicts” and “the BBM pinging soap opera gossips”. Is Abati not one
of the first born sons of the collective anger exhibited and written
in all spheres of the life of the ordinary Nigerian, a knowledgeable
witness of the way most governments and our leaders have squandered
the goodwill reaped from our hopes as a people whilst they have
recycled themselves, wives,children and concubines to continue to
plunder at our commonwealth? Should we stop criticising because Abati
has simply crossed to the other side of the bridge? Worse of all was
his terming of these critics as “an army of sponsored and self
appointed anarchists” that is to include the pen wielding,
facebooking,twittering,BBM pinging and other forms of social media
anarchists who no doubt are giving Mr. Abati and his boss sleepless
nights.Such a branding for young men and women who only desire to
better our nation and their generation is unfair. Even a look at the
dictionary offers an unambiguous definition of anarchist as “One who
believes that government is undesirable and should be abolished”.
Surely Mr. Abati gets it wrong in choosing such a description,
something milder would have been more appropriate and acceptable
before our reading public, Mr. Abati by this blunder had lost his case
before he started presenting it.
Again i am forced to wonder why Abati ignored a thousand and one
germane issues raised by Nigerians on all forms of media, issues such
as his handling of Corruption, Boko Haram, Ayo Salami,Fuel Subsidy,
Power,Education, Non implementation of budgets and his dictatorial
tendencies as recently exhibited by the Otuoke born politician, no!
the man skillfully evades these issues rather choosing to dwell on
matters of lesser importance, such as Jonathan’s food time table, kai
kai drinking and his penchant for fasting and prayers. One would agree
with me that these areas mentioned above are not so special nor is
there any myth in them.Contrary to Abati’s thinking, I dont give a
damn(Remember Abati’s boss popularised this phrase) whether President
Jonathan has cassava bread or kulikuli for breakfast!When millions of
Nigerians are not assured of having a decent meal in a day. Whether he
drinks kaikai like water or awonpa! Whether he takes time out to fast,
pray and even give exhortations to all and sundry who come in contact
with him, Nigerians are known for their high level of spirituality,
which is like a river bed but an inch deep, most especially our
leaders. If this is the President Abati wants me to know then he is
mistaken, it is neither here nor there.
Furthermore Abati presents Jonathan as a clever, methodical and
intelligent man, this may be true after all he holds a Doctorate
Degree in Zoology, which by and large is a testament to its holders
intelligence quotient. Nevertheless we as Nigerians want to see such
intelligence transform our lives, our infrastructure, our educational
system and our collective security. Anything short of this naturally
invalidates such claims to intelligence and can be likened to a book
that has never been read. Its intrinsic value would only be a subject
of speculation, a reason why many buy the idea that Mr. President is
clueless.
Is it not surprising that our president has lost a substantial part
of the goodwill that swept him into office? What has happened to all
that song and dance about the goodluck in Goodluck that ruled the
pages of facebook,twitter and other forms of social media. Even the
mainstream media then did seem to have some sympathy for him. Today
the enthusiasm seems to be ebbing and we all know why except Abati and
other remnants of sympathizers who for one reason or the other are
trying so hard to believe in him.
In conclusion, let me state that the president i want to know is a
president whose word is his bond, a president who would not shirk from
his responsibilities, a president on the side of justice and a
president not given to sloganeering but to action, inspiring hope in
this generation and generations unborn. A president who will not fail
to realize that it is not to late as Lord Tennyson states in his poem
Ulysses,”To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
–
Igboeli Arinze Napoleon writes from Abuja
