SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKORoji
Today, they are everywhere in Nigeria: young men usually wearing heavily starched “agbada” or “senator suits” permanently talking fast into cell phones and flying all over the place. Nine times out of ten, they have one of the latest SUVs parked with a coterie of hangers on and security aids in tow. Please, nicely ask one of such men what he does for a living, and he would proudly tell you, “I am a politician”.
The guy has no shop that sells anything. He has no factory that produces anything. He is not creating or marketing any great ideas. He has no visible livelihood. He is a parasite of the system we have erected. These are the guys who coordinate ballot box snatching, vote buying, spreading of very damaging gossip and falsehood, and when it comes to it, the elimination of perceived political opponents of their principals. They tell you that they are “mobilizers”.
Take a stand, stop the nation from sliding – Okoroji tells activists
At the federal, state or local government levels, they grab a significant share of any state resources that shows up even before any money has been allocated to government departments, any roads have been built, any salaries or pensions have been paid. They totally confuse any leader who does not have strong will. They stand between leaders and good leadership. Nigeria is spending too much money servicing the lifestyle of this ubiquitous gang that is mobilizing our nation into destruction.
Not long ago in Lagos State, a group was reported to have gone after then governor, Babatunde Fashola and insisted that Fashola who was generally considered a good governor should not be allowed to do a second term. What was Fashola’s offence? The governor was doing too many projects! Asked the group, “Na project we go chop?” As far as they were concerned, the first charge of any government money was to them. Of course, they got rid of Fashola’s successor, Akinwumi Ambode. Ambode was doing too many projects. He did not get their memo to play ball!
Six weeks from today, the Nigerian people will make that monumental decision whether to take a new positive direction or drown in the cesspool of the idiocy we have continued to promote. The decision is likely to determine whether the Nigerian nation will continue to ramble on, blow up, or begins to move in a new direction that gives hope to millions of our young people who are today demoralized and consumed by hopelessness.
There are two Nigerians who today appear to be marked for destruction or elimination, by legal or illegal means. One is the Governor of our Central Bank, Godwin Emiefele. The order is the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu.
Emiefele’s recent policies are blocking the many billions of Naira in cash that have been stashed to buy the coming elections. Yakubu’s insistence on deploying modern technology in form of the BVAS has ended the business of ballot box snatching and to a large extent, the falsification of election results. You would think thar every Nigerian would be happy about these developments. No! The political industry is going mad. They cannot understand the audacity of these two men. They Nigerian political industry wants the heads of Emiefele and Yakubu. It appears that Emiefele has gone into hiding. Except Yakubu is crazy, he must have redoubled his security and constantly looking over his shoulders.
Anybody who reads this column should by now know where this writer stands. This is no time to monkey around.
I have repeatedly written that the structures of the PDP and APC will never lead to the emancipation of the Nigerian people. Those structures were built by a few people for mercantilism. They are terribly infested with the corruption virus and are the fulcrum of the present stinking Nigerian political industry. Their continued existence will only lead to more hunger, more kidnapping, more insecurity, more joblessness, more stealing on a huge scale and more hopelessness for the people of Nigeria. If a President Peter Obi must move Nigeria from consumption to production, as he has promised, he must dismantle the present Nigerian political industry.
The young men, usually wearing heavily starched “agbada” or “senator suits” permanently talking fast into cell phones and flying all over the place… and their female folks, sucking our nation dry and misleading our leaders, should be retired permanently. They have mobilized enough and should go and get proper employment.
See you next week.
