I haven’t blogged in a long while. Some
of that time, it was for a lack of topics that I thought were worth the read
but most of the time, it was for the lack of motivation or time to put my
fingers to a keyboard (used to be “pen to paper”). Today however, I have
an excess of all elements and they are all embodied in the man popularly known
as GEJ.
When GEJ made his Presidential debut I
thought (as did most Nigerian’s) “Here’s a man with a grass to grace story.
Here’s a man who knows the pains and agonies of lack (He did say he had no
shoes at some point!). Surely he would know how to bring about change. Surely
he would WANT to make a difference. Surely he would want his
grass to grace story to end well and probably itch a mark or two for himself in
the sands of time.”
I have been so sourly disappointed on
so many counts and occasions since I first entertained these thoughts that I
have lost count and have I resorted to bidding time till he is relegated to the
archives of the long and sad story of the brutalization of the country called
Nigeria.
There are so many ills and misdeeds one
could lay at the feet of GEJ but at the moment one particularly resonates in my
mind.
On the morning of Monday the 14th of
April, 2014 dozens of Nigerians lost their lives in a bomb blast attack by the
infamous Boko Haram sect in the Nyanya area of Abuja . Picture from the scenes
of the blast depict such carnage that the weak of heart have made conscious
efforts to avoid them. So desperate was the need to help the survivors that
even the British High Commissioner to
Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Pocock, went and donated blood. All we got from dear GEJ
was what seemed like a half-hearted visit to the scene of the blast (several other curious
Georges visited the scene as well) and hear-says from his not-so-eloquent
Speaker. Is it that the Brit is more concerned about the hurting Nigerians than
the Nigerian President or does the sight of his own blood make him queasy?!
Even if the act by the High Commissioner was politically motivated, I dare say
a politically motivated move that saves lives is better than a limp handshake!
Several hours after,
on the same day, some members of the same sect stormed an all-girls Secondary
School in Chibok, Borno State and carted off about 200 students in a style
similar to that in which 20 or so girls were lost earlier in January. If there
have been any search-and-rescue operations by our military forces they must
have been EXTREMELY hush-hush and we all know that is not the style of our
government. So I’m wondering “Don’t these girls matter to Mr. President?!” and
“After every terrorism attack does he just like most Nigerians check to see how
close to home the casualties are and heave a sigh of relief when
all family and friends have been safely accounted for?!” Doesn’t he ever wonder
if just maybe the call to Presidency might be more than
placatory remarks hurriedly flung from the steps of a plane bound for some
western country or another so he can hobnob with the world powers on the bill
of the Nigerian people?! What does he discuss with his other power-wielding
friends at those meetings anyways, because it’s definitely not how to move the
nation he leads forward!
Now I get to the crux
of the matter…the reason I felt moved to speak. I was not shocked by his
inaction on all of the above issues after all what is new
about the President of Nigeria doing nothing as the country seemingly gets
ripped at its seams by the many ills that besiege us? Nothing!
What is new to me
however is how loud I heard GEJ speak on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. Wow was he
passionate and all fired up! What IS sad is that he wasn’t
speaking at the sites of any of the calamities that struck recently nor was he
commissioning the eradication of the ill that has been scourging some parts of
the northern part of the country. I heard our President’s voice at its loudest
ever since his rise to power at a political rally in Kano less than 24 hours
after all those people he purports to lead were killed and some more with
promising futures stolen away to face new futures the thoughts of which cause
me to cringe with pain. And No, he did not stop at the political rally. Our
Dear GEJ flew to Ibadan to felicitate with the Olubadan of Ibadan who was celebrating his
100th Birthday! Couldn’t his VP or some other of his
hypocritical cohorts have represented him at that event while he sat with his
service chiefs and strategists to review the events that had just occurred and
perhaps pretend to be concerned about recovering those innocent girls? No oh!
Mr GEJ’s priorities are obviously different so why should he bother?
My religion teaches
that where a man’s treasures are there his heart will be. What does Mr.
President’s heart gravitate towards? Sometimes I wonder (GEJ being a religious
man and all), what would his response be on the D-Day, when he meets his Maker
and is asked the famed question ”What did you do with the Country I gave you
leadership of?”
On the premise that
there is still a tiny part of him that really means well for Nigeria and its
people, I give this advice: The next time there is a disaster or mishap in the
United States (not because I wish ill on the country but because such are the
times we live in), His Excellency should grab pen and paper and take diligent
notes on how Obama reacts. I am beyond doubt that a thing or two would be
gleaned.
Picture culled from here
