POLITICIANS WITH DEAD CONSCIENCE - LIKE YAR'ADUA LIKE SUNTAI

To say Many Politicians do not have a conscience is an understatement, they are callous and wicked. In a Nation of so much poverty, can our Politicians justify entertaining guest with champagne that cost as much as 150,000 Naira a bottle in cartons and on daily basis? Why fly Private Jets in the midst of so much lack? Must they travel in long conveys, even in the face of Fuel Scarcity?

Nothing typifies the heartlessness of Many Politicians as much as their failure to pay civil servants their meager Monthly Income. I have stated elsewhere that our failure to ask those we elected or allowed to be selected into Public Office questions is one contributing factor to their display of arrogance and disdain for the masses. Why were the Governors unable to pay Salaries (Including some States that pockets 13% Derivation Monthly)? Governance is all about Management, we knew of the dwindling Oil revenue, how come we were unprepared for it?

Yes we hail the so called Bail Out or more appropriately additional revenue shared as we are told its payment from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (NLNG), Again the Niger Delta to the rescue.

Many are screaming; cancel the Amnesty Program, don’t Pay ex – Militants, Cancel all Contracts issued to ex – Militants, I don’t blame them, as a people we are inflicted with a high dose of  incurable selective amnesia, we conveniently forget that the Region is the main stay of the Country (perhaps the only reason why we are still a Country today) and had been so for the better part of its almost 65 years of Nationhood but the region lacks behind in basic amenities such as Roads, Light, Health facilities, schools, Housing etc and to add insult to injury Majority of the People Defecate (Shit), Bath and Drink from the same River.

All around us we see Gas being flared daily with its attendant health hazards but we cook with firewood, they come from all across the Country and the World to work in the Oil Flow Stations and Platforms in the guise that they have certificates, but our people are unemployed, they live in very Beautiful houses right beside us with 24 hour supply of electricity, we sleep in thatch houses with lantern, they drink Bottled water, we drink from the river they have already polluted, they live the life we can only dream of right under our nose.

But this is our Land, our Home and the resource that feeds the Nation is from this same Land, are we not entitled to even the crumbs that falls from the table? That is what the Amnesty Program represents Crumbs from the Table.

There is no available record to show that any of the State Governors who had not paid salaries for upwards of 9 Months in some States, reduced their expenditure, their conveys or avoided their often frivolous and No value adding Foreign Trips. Dead conscience or wickedness? You define it.

              “I hate low People who take advantage of the misfortune of others”

                                                                                      ~ Unknown Quotes

The most pathetic aspect of the Politician’s lack of conscience is their hardheartedness in feasting on the misfortune of others. After reading the painful story of how colleagues and associates of former Governor of Taraba State Danbaba Subtai who was involved in a Plane Crash while in office have abandoned him as his health deteriorates. Political intrigues in the State were the main motivation why he was hastily and prematurely brought back to the Country. Today the former Governor is said to be suffering from Stroke and has been unable to meet up with his medical appointments outside the Country. Reports say current Governor Dairus Ishaku is unwillingly to assist the former Governor but that succor is said to be coming from Adamawa State Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindowa as all those who rode to power on Danbaba Suntai’s back have abandoned him as his Health deteriorates daily.

Obviously Danbaba Suntai has been made a sacrificial lamb, if the former Governor had stayed in Hospital for a minimum period of two and half years as his American doctors had initially recommended, by now he would have fully recovered his Health. But, the Power mongers had a different agenda, so they kept moving him and that constant movement against medical advice has made his Health situation to spiral downwards. We pray the former Governor comes out of this ordeal Alive.

Similar scenario played out when Late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua was ill and rushed to foreign hospital for treatment. The political Hawks around the late President did not allow him to recuperate, they organized all sort of visits to the sick President, creating an impression he was still in charge, churning out all manner of statements in his name, when it became obvious Nigerians were not buying their tales, they did the absurd, moving the late President to Nigeria in the dead of the Night (we await former President Jonathan’s memos on those trying days in the Villa). The spin doctors went to work and again the Nation was held hostage by those who will not hesitate to take advantage of any situation, including Ill health to score cheap political point, until the Man died. Perhaps if the late President was left in Hospital he would have recovered. Perhaps, perhaps.

When someone is sick, their minds are fixed on their recovery and in many cases, they are willing to give up anything and everything in exchange for their Health, but our very Greedy Politicians paints pictures of sick men in Hospital beds writing speeches, preparing budgets and making recommendations for Political Office. Are Politicians Pathologically Bad People?

Far from it. All we need is a mind shift, an Hindu Proverb says “Help thy Brother’s Boat across and lo! Thine own has reached the shore”

It’s the same mind shift that is required in our fight against corruption, no matter the pretensions until People like Danjuma, IBB, OBJ, and other past leaders that had feed fat on our cracked and shaky foundation of a Nation and built wealth for themselves, Families and cronies are put on trial, every other trial is a mockery of Justice.

Governments at all levels should stop this blame game and move on, if our Nation had survived a devastating  earthquake or war, wont we rebuild our infrastructure? No administration in Nigeria is insulated from shortage of funds; every successive administration had met an empty treasury. We must do the needful, take responsibility for our actions and rise to the challenge by prudently managing the resources available. As Bo Bennett puts it “An excuse becomes an obstacle in your journey to success when it is made in place of your best effort or when it is used as the object of the blame”

What are the lessons we can learn from Late President Yar'adua and Former Governor Suntai? The same people who sang Hosanna for Jesus Christ screamed Crucify! against Him. 98% of those around you as a Leader are sycophants.

Next Issue: President Buhari and the Niger Delta Question

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