Many of us have come across the unharnessed ranting of unnamed internet warriors like ‘Akpos1’; anonymous commentators who relentlessly profess tribal and religious hatred. Few of us respond to such banter, but when this sorry defect in human character openly reveals its christened identity, in shock, it is hard and no longer safe to refrain from discussing the plague that affects not just Nigeria, but much of the world.
Captain Ore Kingsley has sadly highlighted himself as one of such persons who tests our compassion and corrodes our little remaining sense of security in the humanity of humanity.
We can only hope that his recent article, “The Gang Up Against Stella Oduah” was a momentary glitch and something he will soon recover from and recount.
Defending suspected robbery of the money of Nigeria’s suffering masses, and condemning those who point out such possible criminality, by invoking religious, ethnic or gender sentiments, falls into the category of actions of anti-Assad rebel Abu Sakkar who devoured a human heart in Syria, qualifying it as merited “retaliation” for the alleged atrocities of “the other side.”
The media did a good job of providing us document evidence of the accusation of gross misappropriation of OUR money by the minister of Aviation. Capt. Kingsley acknowledged this. Any responsible individual should invoke honest investigation and await the result before condemning the accusers and blackmailing the nation. Is that not so? But what is the justification for the dangerous accusation of one side, the media, while boldly appraising the other? What is pulling out the victim card and threatening regression of development of the nation if one questionable public official is investigated and sacked and imprisoned? Blackmail? Terror?
Some of us stopped seeing the opportunity to convey our thoughts in the formal and informal media as merely a sport in intellectual wit, when we related the leadership, political, class and ethno-religious meanderings with actual and bloody deaths in poisoning, terror and all the various painful deaths around the nation.
The minister of Aviation herself will not openly defend her actions. The offense if true is inexcusable and indefensible. Hers is a tight spot, to put it kindly. This Captain throws away every and anything he has of a sense of social, religious, cultural and mental conscience to defend and counter threaten.
What does the actions of the minister, doing her work for which she is tremendously well and perhaps overcompensated, have to do with the allegation of theft from the wealth of the people? Theft from the money to build safe roads, pay police for better security, pay teachers and improve health care to reduce deaths? Do we really have to spell this out?
Where else are we compelled to punish or pardon those caught with hand in pot based their “history of doing” their salary providing JOB? Are public officials now angels who can do no wrong? By God, it seems we caught one and we will catch them all.
Is Nigeria doomed if Stella is sacked and jailed? Is she really the best possible Aviation minister we can get? Captain, really? Airplanes falling out of the skies, with Nigeria having the worst aviation accident in 2012 in the entire world, I guess does not factor in your job evaluation. We are still waiting for the ‘greatest’ minster to inform Nigeria of “who the VIP was” that delayed the doomed Dana aircraft from making its emergency landing at Lagos airport and the VIP was again that delayed another flight from landing in Abuja June 19 that passenger Femi Falana demanded of her last year; that those who died will not have done so in vein. Does this not concern you? “She did something?” Nigeria, when they build road, they will throw party that government has done something. It is not your fault; we will soon get real leaders.
And what about the theft of my, your, my mom, your mom, my grand folk, your grand folk, my and your kids and their kids’ money by the minister in conspiracy with Coscharis motors, if the accusation is confirmed? Captain, where you work–I assume you do other than write such “defensive” articles–do you permit and encourage theft from your “efficient” co-workers or staff?
Or in your ethno and social war, you only believe in justice and incarceration for poor thieves who steal indomie noodles and serve years in jail, and not wealthy elite thieves? Do you really consult for our aviation industry? God save us in Nigeria.
When we as a people openly defend what may be grave criminality with recognized deadly impacts and consequences in terms of suffering and terror to the masses, by provoking ethnic hatred and beef, we have degenerated to the lowest point of our civilization.
When we get to the point where we ask the religion, race, class and/or ethnic group of murderous armed robbers, and based on their professed affiliation, admit them into our homes and safeguard them from justice, we are worse than mere gangs, we are less intellectual than herds of ravaging buffalo.
Instead of us to be congratulating our media for doing what EFCC and ICPC just cannot do anymore for the past so-many years, we are disgracing ourselves.
Let us call a thief a thief. Haba!
Dr. Peregrino Brimah
http://ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something]
Email: drbrimah@ends.ng Twitter: @EveryNigerian
