When ‘Good’ luck turns bad

A lot of people were incensed by the grip on power by Yar’Adua or his wife. It was an open secret that Turai Yar’Adua was running the executive arm of government at the time her husband was sick.

Allegiances switched, and lots of people clamoured for the current President, GEJ to take the bull by the horn and mount the nation’s topmost echelon despite being docile. After lots of drama and lots of damage done to the presidency the mantle of leadership was FORCED on GEJ.

Finally the minority rose to the highest position in Nigeria and lots of people especially the southerners thrusted their hopes and life on GEJ. People loved him so much that we immediately forgot all issues of corruption levelled against him and his wife during his tenure as Governor of Bayelsa State. I know quite a few people who named their child ‘Goodluck’ due to his dramatic and lucky ascend to power.

Presently the man who had no shoes feels the only way to make Nigerians get more dividends of democracy is to increase the hardship (for a short time). A lot of arguments have been thrown around and the same people who once loved this man dearly loathe him so much now. It is said that there is a thin line between love and hate and his betrayal have made Nigerians to cross that line.

We should get ready for another round of christening for kids named Goodluck. I suggest they should be christened ‘Bestofluck’

Our future in our hands

A lot has happened within the few days of this year. Lots of prayers have been said by Nigerians but we woke up to another regime of failure, a regime of unfulfilled promises. Little did we know when we voted a timid Jonathan that he would this day ignore people’s plea against an unpopular policy.

We are now back in the times of placards and protest. Not that the protest and strikes are not effective, but people are  wary and don’t trust the labour leaders. The likes of Adams Oshiomole currently the governor of Edo State during his time as a labour leader took us through the path of strikes and on different occasions did not achieve the objective of the average man.

The insecurity posed by Boko Haram is still looming not even in the background but also on the front burner. The current leadership has continually lied to the citizens on the issue of fuel subsidy removal. They have listed the gains and also outlined their course of action from the money realized or saved. All Nigerians are tired of promises and no one is willing to give the government the benefit of doubt. Who would trust a government that has lied from the beginning and is still at it?

This is not a time to trade blames on who voted who or who supported who. This is a time to come together and say no to the ruling class. We shouldn’t expect support from the state government or media houses because they are all party to the whole ruse. It’s obvious the leadership are not there for us, because if they are, they won’t be forcing a meal we despise down our throat. It is our future and life that is at stake and no one will fight your battle for you if you are in the comfort of your living room. And for those who say we should go on with our lives, I hope your employers doubles your salary and allowance because our rulers just halved your money.

On the road to impeach Mr President

The House of representative conducted an emergency session on Sunday 8^th of January. The session was a charade and I laugh when I think of how rowdy and immature our representative can be.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement despite some representative supporting the ill-timed manner the executive removed the subsidy. The resolution by the house looked more like a plea with the president to soft pedal. The people did not expect but want the house to compel the executive to go back to the N65 per litre. By today I am expecting the house to proceed with the impeachment of the president. But in reality they are not man enough to do such. They are all partners in crime.

I also expected them to downwardly review their allowances but they did not go to that area. No one expects the lower or upper house to impeach the president, but the journey is on by the populace to impeach each and every one of the members of the house and the presidency. The presidents needs not worry about the senate impeaching him but he should get ready to be sacked by the people.

I wouldn’t want to be president come 2015

The current agitation is definitely beyond removal of fuel subsidy. Though the government is shying away from other issues such as corruption and the cost of running governments itself, all the explanation by government officials boils down the facts of corruption.

The government, from its approach tells us that it isn’t ready to tackle the corruption. The government officials are also reluctant to make public its salary and allowances and are in no way ready to take a significant pay cut. Please forget the 25 per cent basic salary cut announced by GEJ. It just amounts to less than 5 per cent of their take home pay.

The people are gradually starting to ask critical questions. People are now seeking for information which in time past they are not interested in. The government on its part is trying to shift attention to fuel subsidy which is just a fraction of the issue on ground.

The government may succeed in diverting attention from their corruption by reducing the price of petrol. The people’s response might be to back down on their agitation but it’s more like extending the judgement day. It may not happen during GEJs administration but it will surely happen.

The revolution should happen now to make it less violent. The longer the people endure the injustice the more violent there response will be. As for me, I won’t even think of being the president of a nation on the brink of precipice if the issues are not sorted now.

Hitting the wrong note

When the pianist hits the wrong notes while playing to music the music turns to noise. And as we know noise hurts the ear. This is the same scenario playing in the executive arm of government. The removal of the fuel subsidy is a stab in the back when consultation is still on-going. Whenever I look at the replay of the town hall meeting, I always look forward to the body language of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala when she was asked when the subsidy will be removed. She is such a liar and I won’t ever believe anything that comes from ‘Madam President’. I call her that name because I suspect she is in charge. Or is it because her life seems to hang on the implementation of the subsidy removal?

Everyone almost bought the arguments the economic team presented to us at the town hall meeting but the government due to its disregard for the people used its hand to scuttle what would have been a fruitful dialogue. The counter measures; the interviews by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on BBC is a desperate attempt to salvage a situation beyond their hands.

The advisers to the President are doing a bad job with the utterances coming from them and the president himself. It’s doing lots of damage to the person of the president as well as the presidency.

I can’t imagine the president calling those against fuel subsidy removal ordinary Nigerians while a minister called them ill-informed. I wonder if the presidential advisers ever say the truth to the president. Truth be told, the president is hated and his policies are not only unpopular but questionable.

The first step to take to redeem any situation Nigeria might be is to tackle corruption. This can be done by prosecuting the so called cabal. It’s stupid for a policeman to tell me ‘a civilian’ that the man going is a thief. The police should act and catch the thief not just telling me.

Read: Hitting the Wrong Note II

For this Nation to remain one.

Nigeria is at a crossroad and the step our leaders take will determine to a large extent if this nation will survive and remain. It’s imperative this is written, not to annoy or chastise those in power but serve as a wake up call. Though different activist have adopted confrontational approach and down to outright pleading, but also adopting the subtle approach to pass the message across isn’t totally a bad idea.

The presidency at a point painted a gloomy image if it doesn’t go ahead with its major economic plan of removing subsidy. Saying the government is neglecting critical issues is by no means saying the government lacks focus. It’s obvious there is a disconnect between the people and the government at all levels. At this period where unemployment, poverty and insecurity is at its highest the government is thinking of introducing austerity measures through its purported subsidy removal.

The economic team have been having sleepless night trying to sell the agenda to the unwilling people. Perhaps they have never been affected by past austerity measures or they have forgotten the pangs so quickly. The people are been told to sacrifice but we can see the leaders telling us to sacrifice are living fat.

The spate of violence, destruction of properties, killing of innocent souls and negative image of the nation in the international community should be a source of worry for the government. The average man has lost all hope the unity of the nation. The conscious Nigerian has no belief or trust in the leadership. The national anthem hardly makes any meaning to our children.

It’s in this nation that the followership has no say in anything that affects their life. The leadership claims it wants to set the nation on the right track yet the wheels which comprise the people are not carried along. Wouldn’t it be better for the government to appease the people? Shelving the proposed subsidy removal is not the only way to seek the support of the people. The people lost all hope and trust and these should be restored. Political post should be seen more as service to the people and this can be achieved by slashing salaries and allowances by more than 50%. Once politics is less attractive, we’ll see a reduction in the number of criminals and convicts who see politics has their means of livelihood

If the leadership of this nation is sincere about turning the fortunes of our dear nation around, it needs the support of the people. The populace and not the leadership are the ones feeling the pinch thus they know what they want.

Arik Air: Flight W3:272 to Lagos: By Nodesh (A guest blogger)

2:15pm: Arrival at the Muritala Muhammed Airport. Abuja. Joined long queue at the Arik Air counter

3:00pm: About to obtain our boarding pass and check-in our luggage. A lady was between us and the attendant. She gave the lady hers boarding pass for flight W3:272 to Lagos.

3.02pm: The untruthful attendant was economical with the truth. She told three (3) different lies.

She: You are late.
We: What? What do you mean by that? We’ve been here since 2:00pm for a 3:40pm flight and you said we are late.
She: The flight is fully booked.
We: What do you mean? We didn’t just buy these tickets. Our company bought it since Monday.
She: Another lie I cannot remember.  ‘Can I put you on the 6:00pm flight?’

It was later we learnt that our tickets were sold to other passengers at an extra cost. Anyways, our flight rescheduled for 6:00pm didn’t leave Abuja until 11:55pm. Not a single one of Airk Air personnel gave us of any reason/apology for the delay. By 10:30pm, passengers who requested for a refund were refunded. Those who loathed mid-night flights or were scared of arriving and moving around Lagos around wee hours of the morning requested for their flight to be rescheduled for the next day. Crazy enough, they were not placed on the first nor second flight – God knows whatever happened to them.

We boarded the flight around 11:55pm only to find out that there are lots of passengers (even a governor)  on that flight than eight (8) of us who had been raising dust at the Arik Air counter and held the manager who was about retiring for the day to ransom – ‘Oga u can’t go anywhere until we board.’