Support for insurgency victims: Good policy, little scope

Joe thought that the Danjumas of this world have had more than enough of public assignments insisting that recycling such individuals in a nation overflowing with dynamic and bubbling human resources suggested the failure of government to ponder outside the box. Although I agreed that we have many persons of proven integrity for such assignments, […]

Joe thought that the Danjumas of this world have had more than enough of public assignments insisting that recycling such individuals in a nation overflowing with dynamic and bubbling human resources suggested the failure of government to ponder outside the box. Although I agreed that we have many persons of proven integrity for such assignments, I couldn’t disapprove of Danjuma’s inclusion. To start with, the man has never been found wanting in any previous assignment. Second, not being a sycophant like most other government appointees, he would not fight shy of telling the President the truth as he did as Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) when he openly opined that government was not only unduly top-heavy but also unnecessarily bloated thereby urging government to rationalize its public service. We can therefore assume that he could be trusted to handle any assignment with due diligence
Again, if the rumour that Danjuma is stupendously rich is true and that his problem has become what to do with his money; he is not likely to follow the common path of trustees of public funds in Nigeria who ingeniously expropriate what is in their care. Joe and I then concurred that President Jonathan did well in setting-up the committee whose major advantage would be to put a halt to the old practice whereby victims of insurgency are hardly remembered after the original visits of our leaders to their homes and hospital beds immediately after terrorists’ attacks. We also agreed that enlisting a credible Danjuma to head the committee was likely to attract virtually all patriots especially public spirited individuals to support the noble cause of rehabilitating our fellow citizens who had become victims of insurgency. This encouraged both Joe and i to look forward to donating our widow’s mite at the appropriate time.
However, it did not immediately occur to us that the fund raising event could take the pattern of a dinner for the privileged class. We didn’t imagine that such a good policy would serve to narrow the scope of participation of Nigerians in the event. It was in earnest frustrating to learn, that the fund raising event was scheduled for last Thursday at the highbrow Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.  For God’s sake how would the average citizen get into such a venue which on a normal day has more security operatives than laymen? This reminded me that the last time I had an event at the Broadcasting Commission which is only a neighbour of the villa; I had cause to promise myself to avoid that part of the city which is good only for the board room politics of the ruling party and not a public event.
The most intriguing part of it all was the announcement that attendance at the event would be “strictly on invitation”.  If we were to assume for a moment that a restricted audience was expedient, why was the event publicised in the media for the rest of us that government did not intend to welcome? Would it not have been sufficient to disallow entry at the gate to the few uninvited guests who accidentally heard of it? Even at that, whose donation did government not want at the dinner when the President said that no amount was too little to be contributed by anyone?  In addition, why was the event an elitist dinner and not a rallying point for us all? Put differently, why would government restrict a fund raising event for the common good to only those who get formal invitation cards?  Will the explanation that more opportunities and indeed other venues would arise and that donations can come in different forms change the opinions of the uninvited?
We just hope that some queer aides did not concoct a theory of likely security breaches if the event was thrown open.  If they did, they have once more unwittingly robbed the President of a golden opportunity to mobilize the masses to stand by him on this common source of unity. Considering that supporting insurgency victims is an issue that is acceptable to many Nigerians, its fund raising event concerns us all-not just the high and the mighty. Throwing it open is not just about how much we can collect, it can also unite all. The stadium, International Conference Centre or the Eagle Square would at any point be a better rallying point for all. Of course, we are not imputing that some evil minded persons may not find their way to such places for mischief but it is obviously ridiculous for public events to be moved to the President’s bedroom for security reasons.
Our premise is that public events should still hold in public places even in these hard times but amidst tight security. That is why we have what we hear daily-a robust security outfit.  The contrary is for critics to hold the view that our security framework is suspect. Again, if by any chance such reasoning accounts for the trend of holding within the villa, public events like our independence anniversary meant for every citizen, those behind the thought are President Jonathan’s friends that well-meaning people need to save him from. This is because their perception would always render nugatory, the benefits of many of Jonathan’s public policies. Indeed, a perception that keeps a popularly elected President from the ordinary citizen is unwise and ought to be discarded. The meeting of the President with the Chibok community for instance was quite reassuring but it would have been more valuable if “loyalists” did not dissuade him from meeting the community in Chibok. It is worse that the same loyalists have turned the ‘gift’ meant to alleviate the suffering of the people pending the release of their girls into an avoidable and scandalous controversy.  Our plea today is to the handlers of our President to let him flow.