Nigeria MUST be restructured!

by Eze Eluchie 

Who will blame Goodluck Jonathan for the sentiments he is expressing when he says "Those seeking the disintegration of Nigeria are “lazy politicians seeking to be kings in tiny islands,” Perhaps Jonathan is confusing 'disintegration' with 'restructuring' and or 'renegotiation''.

If you are sitting atop cash pot of over 3-million barrels of crude oil per day and can spend the proceeds thereof without accounting to anybody but your henchmen for it;

If you get elected into the office of President by default;

If when your wife/kids/cronies fall ill, she/they will be flown to any hospital of your choice abroad for treatment at whatsoever costs all without a dime coming out of your pocket;

If your only qualifications to being president are your first name (goodluck) and your wife's first name (patience) and you do not have to bother about such 'frivolities' as track-record, performance, intelligence or any other virtue for that matter;

If you have a convoy of several bullet-proof Mercedes Benz limousines (paid for by public funds) at your beck and call when the rest of the population have to dodge bullets and terrorist bombs as part of their daily routine;

If you once had no shoes and you now have a million and one shoes and are unable to account to even yourself how the 'miracle' came about.

Oh yes, Goodluck Jonathan, Yakubu Gowon, Ibrahim Babangida and others who have been opportune to fleece the cash-cow known as Nigeria can jolly well castigate those of us who want a renegotiation and restructuring of the contraption called Nigeria. But one thing they, as sure as hell, cannot do, is to stop the tide.

Nigeria will be restructured and renegotiated! Those who dare to stand in the way will only find themselves restructured and renegotiated in the process!

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php/other-sections/lead-stories/177366-nigerias-unity-not-negotiable-jonathan

Picture: Nigeria, crying for a peaceful restructuring and renegotiation.

Time to mourn the living

by Eze Eluchie

Anybody in doubt that our contraption as is, is irrevocably contaminated and in need of urgent rejigging needs only consider the reaction of the remainder of the population to the senseless killings which occurred in Baja, Bornu State yesterday.

With over 185 fellow Nigerians killed in a fracas between men of the Nigerian Army and Boko Haram militants, the rest of the country acts and feels as though nothing has happened.

The headlines of the newspapers continue to publish mundane matters; politicians are still struggling one with the other to seize access to seats of power and, invariably, control and ability to loot with impunity; the Bar Association is worried about a pending ‘Corporate Manslaughter Offence’ before the rubber-stamp Senate, and the looting goes on unimpeded.

Required: Rapid and Robust Response to Terror

by Eze Eluchie

One cannot but commend the Government and peoples of the United States for the timely and effective response with which the cowardly, senseless and heinous attack on the Boston Marathon was handled.

The speed and dispatch with which virtually the entirety of the American system was deployed to confront terror will obviously send a clear message to budding punks who may be thinking similar vile thoughts. The message was trite and unmistakable – there is no hiding place for terror.

Contrast that with how Nigerian governments respond to the various terror strikes that has rendered the core northern region of Nigeria uninhabitable and unsafe to all: 

a. A few minutes after the terror attack, the Media Assistant to the Nigerian ruler will release a poorly worded often recycled message assuring all that the government is on top of the situation and that all should go about their activities (perhaps pretending also that over a dozen of our fellow men did not just have their limbs blown across streets and life snuffed out of them by our local terrorists.

b. The President, by now scared of his own shadows, will cancel all official engagements for the remainder of the week and recline to the comfort of his fortress from where he will receive all guests and perform all State functions.

c. The hapless Media Assistant or spokespersons of our (in)security agencies will, a few days later, release yet another senseless statement, denying the involvement of the terror groups which have already claimed responsibility for the attacks – pray if these guys are so smart as to know who did not do it, does that not presume that they have a clue as to who did it?

d. Sensing yet another opportunity to fleece the national treasury, smart alecs masquerading as kingpins of ethno-religious subsets of our contraption, begin to campaign for an amnesty for terrorists – to these characters, it is immaterial that the terrorists for whom they advocate amnesty have repeatedly stated that it is the entire people of Nigeria who need and ought to be ‘praying’ for amnesty.

e. Pronto, an ‘Amnesty Committee’ is put together, comprised of persons with known history of fleecing the country, of. Millions of dollars gets released to the ‘amnesty committee’ – money which disappears before it even leaves the federal vaults.

g. If adequate tracing mechanisms had been placed on the funds released to the ‘amnesty committee’, it would really not be a surprise if it turned out that such ‘amnesty funds’ become monies used to fund arms purchase and training costs of the terror groups.

In the interim, many more of our nationals get killed by bombs placed by the same terror groups which had all along stated an express desire to destroy the federation as it is presently known!

What will it take to get it through the thick skulls of those in rulership in Nigeria that you simply do not negotiate with terror?

The weak, ineffective and myopic response to terror in Nigeria is most unfortunately fueling the emergence of militancy across much of West Africa. If adequate measures are not taken to nip this cancer in its bud, one shudders to conceive the implications in the very near future.

I extend my heartfelt condolences to the victims of the unfortunate episode at the Boston Marathon and once more doff my hat for the heroic and exemplary response of all who contributed towards putting an end to the unfortunate situation.

Once more the United States and its peoples have shown exemplary leadership

Picture: (c) Rueters - House near where 2nd bombing suspect was arrested

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