Jonathan’s jungle diplomacy

Successive governments including this one continues to ignore the disparity and to show that it does not warrant the trust that Nigerians reposed in it when it claimed a mandate which legitimacy is as controversial as its own authority. Governments all over the world take their relevance from fighting the enemies of the people, especially […]

Successive governments including this one continues to ignore the disparity and to show that it does not warrant the trust that Nigerians reposed in it when it claimed a mandate which legitimacy is as controversial as its own authority. Governments all over the world take their relevance from fighting the enemies of the people, especially if they derive their power from the people. But in Nigeria, the government does not rely on people’s power; rather, it takes its authenticity from the agents’ corruption and runs a selection procedure rather than a popular election. That explains why every government admits that its given subsidy ends up in the pockets of fat cats but does nothing to make them vomit it. This impotence on the part of the so-called government shows that what we have in place is not a democracy; because it fails the litmus test of the universal concept – government of the people, for the people and by the people. In Nigeria, the PDP is a hostage taker and its octopus claws have enveloped the entire country leaving us all completely incapable of freeing ourselves.

Our electoral processes are fought and won, not on capacity but on sentiments, yet we are quick to wonder why nothing is delivered where nothing was promised. We are all slim because we live on the diet of prayer and ignore work. Prayer – that someday, something would stir the nests of those who think that they are above the laws, and have hijacked governance. That they would be fished out of their glass houses to face nemesis. We all hope that when that happens, our country would be returned to us, the people so that it, and a true assembly that would come thenceforth would represent us the people and not the cabal. But it is a different ball game whether we are ready to put our votes where our prayers are and to defend it with our lives.

Truth is that Nigeria does not have a government; it is controlled by evil – the evil of corruption and concupiscence. President Jonathan went to the United Nations, as usual with the largest delegation of indolent lackeys; gave an unmoving and puerile speech to a half empty gallery. To underscore that neglect, Reuben Abati was happy to announce to 150 million Nigerians that the president attended a party held by Obama for visiting heads of states and that at that party, our president met with fellow pariah leaders – the likes of Esias Afewerki the dictator of Eritrea, President Paul Schmidt of Hungary (did I hear you say where?) and of course Jacob Zuma of South Africa. Sorry, there was also Allasane Ouattara who is seeking friends and whose broken country may soon overtake Nigeria in global relevance. After all, is Liberia and Sierra Leone, two countries that Nigerian soldiers gave their lives to liberate from self-immolation not more relevant than the Jonathan presidency?

But perhaps the most ludicrous statement to come from our President, who appears to open his mouth and say the first thing that flows before thinking either of its meaning or its implication is that the international community should not take cognizance of the impact of Boko Haram! Whao! If nothing demonstrates how dumb and daft such a statement is, we should examine it properly. Just a week before he led his delegation to New York City, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo tried to show him how to be a statesman by embarking on a personal trip to the Plateau and Borno and to meet with those he believes were injured by the general injustice which only excuses his likes but injures the poor of our land. Barely 24 hours after he left, the man he visited, who ought to be the bridge builder between the demented Boko Haram and the government was killed. That is the worst tragedy that could happen to any leadership which has the mental capacity to grasp the fact that we sliding gradually into total anarchy. His murder would not be the first and definitely not the last but nobody is counting, nobody bothers to count.

Boko Haram has even threatened journalists who fail to abide by its new code of reportage and there is no need to ask if they have the capacity to carry it out because they do. But our president is looking for British investors in Nigeria and has ordered a ten-year visa regime for British investors. Nothing could be more ludicrous. British invention is expected to run on sun (not solar) power; be secured by angels and run on rain water. This is the archetypal behaviour of the ostrich. With a failed government running a failed state at home, our diplomacy (or what is left of it) has overturned – without care about the impact on his citizens when its own embassy has evacuated from Tripoli, President Jonathan recognized the rebellion in Libya and now leads other UN members in declaring recognition for both the state of Israel and Palestine! Does anybody needs further proof that this man talks only to hear his own voice?