State of the Country: Olympics, Seized Planes, Subsidies, Ndume’s Apologies & BATs Machines! - Ik Muo, PhD
Most of my friends
must have become used to my most famous
invention, the FPA( Front
Page Analyses) research method. No abstracts, or concept notes, no long
stories, no hypotheses, no Chi-square et al and yet, it always yields incorruptible outcomes. What World Bank would fund with billions and will take NISER one year of field work to concretise will take just a few hours, 20 litres
of fuel and 1gb of data to complete! It is famous because it is easy, simple
and attracts no questions because it is
self-explicit. Two weeks ago, we were overawed by the PaP( Protest against Protest)
and then the real thing; End-HuBaGo(End
Hunger & Bad Governance) protests.
My apriori expectations were met because the government
did not disappoint as they prodigiously deployed lies, propaganda,
divisive strategies (in a country
standing in brotherhood) and brutality. There were also looting and mindless
destruction of properties. When the protests ended or were rather suspended,
I took out time to look at what the
front pages said about the State of the Nation or rather, the State of
the country, because we are yet
to become a nation, and here we are.
I did not even
remember that we went for the Olympics until one ‘jokist’
wondered why we were missing in action from boxing even though we have 1001 practicing thugs
at Mushin, Oshodi, Mile 2 and Ojuelegba. However, that my friend appeared to
have forgotten that drug-test is mandatory in such sporting events. Then the
final medal table was released and Nigeria scored a deafening zero, after committing N12b to
sponsor 82 athletes ( more than the number for
the last Olympics). I have searched for the number of officials but I have hit
a deadwall. I wont be surprised if the
officials and their ‘handbags’
outnumbered the athletes. Meanwhile, in this same olympics, USA won 126
medals out of which athletes from Standford University accounted for 39!
Then I was led in the spirit to read a pre-Olympic report in the Punch of 26/7/24 by
one Godwin Aikigbe titled ‘N12bn Olympic budget: Is Nigeria on another
Jamboree in Paris?’ The reporter based his question on poor preparations
and controversies, especially in the
selection of athletes. Sure, the reporter had an uncommon gift of prophecy because it ended up being a
jamboree. Why did we go since the evidences of woeful outcomes abound? Because the giANT of Africa must be
there (after all, as our people would say, the head of a goat cannot be
missing in a pot of soup) and somebody must chop!
Just then, I read
that three of our presidential planes, including the new one
that was bought without budgetary approval, were seized in France by one unknown
Chinese Company. to which Ogun State was indebted to 73m Euros through judgement debts. This is
first-class international embarrassment.
How can our presidential jets be
seized by idle civilians because of Ogun State carelessness and
debts ? So a court has ruled! How did
they get close to the jets with all associated security and diplomatic
immunity? The French ruling was supported by a US court, which authorised the company to seize
any Nigerian asset ANYWHERE over the same debt! Then it was reported that the creditor
company had compassionately released the youngest plane, which arrived on 18/8/24 and with which BAT
travelled to the same France almost
immediately, for a brief work-stay( wetin this one mean?). A
columnist wondered the kind of strange courage that led BAT to France because he could also be
seized as well! Abimbola Adelakun was so nauseated by this development that she felt strongly that
the Chinese can
have Amosun too. It happened that Amosun, when he was the
Governor, cancelled a contract duly signed by Gbenga Daniel, his predecessor. The man with the long cap allegedly said he signed
mistakenly while Utomi reported that his own contract was also
cancelled by the same Amosun, in similar circumstances. And there is the story
flying around about somebody who committed suicide over a similar matter… and
we are seeking for foreign investors. Sowore then joined the fray, positing that the FGN stage-managed
the whole thing so as to tactically
launch the 15 year old ‘fresh’ presidential jet. Some busybodies are asking two
questions: why we should discard a
19year old jet when the Airforce1 is still powering at 34? And why should we replace a 19 year old jet with a 15
year old? I did not ask those questions but our people say that a bird
that left the ground and perched on an anthill is still on the ground!
The story got more curiouser when it was reported that the same Chinese ‘investors’ have seized Nigeria’s
guest houses in Liverpool London ( 15
Aigburth Road & 49 Calderstones Rad)and offered them for sale at $2.2m! And then, the same company, identified as
Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd, subsequently seized a relatively
new jet worth $57m ( Bombardier 6000
type, BD-700-1A10)in Canada, initially seized from Etete. So what has the plane
beenl doing in Canada abi we no get space for ‘garage’ to park it? The
most interesting part of this juicy story is that Nigeria could not
defend the case in court for 9
months, because we were conducting general elections; an
argument the judge termed ridiculous!
How does an election prevent defence of
a court case, and why should an election
last for 9 months? I believe that we
will hear more from this Zhongshang
Fucheng people, especially when my Chinese friend informed me that the name means: by the
time I finish dealing with you… I had thought that diplomatic immunity
covers such properties but it appears that we ain’t seen nothing yet!!!
And these are just micro enforcers!
The day of macro enforcers
will come, when China will come for Nigeria over our $5bn+ debts. That will be
the day!!! Creditors are generally Shylockical but I am particularly
averse to Chinese loans and I have
shouted myself hoarse in the market square over those loans. When
somebody lends you any amount you request just like that, then… My treatises on Chinese
Loans include Nigeria and China: Till debts do us part( November,
2019); Our addiction for Chinese
Loans: Only the TRUTH will set us free! (January 2020); $5.5bn loan? Count me OUT! ( March, 2020) and Nigeria and love for Chinese debts:
Love is blind. I have done my bit! A slave who sees another slave being
buried alive knows what his fate will be. However, Nigeria is an
exception. We are inside a hole and we keep on digging furiously!
And then there
was the information by the Minister of
Information, Mohammed Idris, that the generous Federal Government had given ALL the state governments N570bn, EACH in the last 8 months as hardship grant, and this was
in addition to the huge FAAC allocations!
I was warming up for an ‘one-oldman-march’ to Agu-Awka to ask Soludo why he hid this
gift from us and what he did with it since Igbo-Ukwu’s shopping list of just
three roads was still pending. However the bombshell by Governor Makinde of Oyo
State stopped me on my tracks. Makinde who
has never been known for shaking tables thundered:
‘Thou Liest’, boldly declaring that the Federal Government did
not give any state any money and concluding that ‘It is ANOTHER
misrepresentation of facts’. He explained that it was a loan under the Covid loan ( World-Bank NG- CARES ( COVID19 Action
Recovery Economic Stimulus) project, ; reimbursement for money already spent by
the states that was in the pipeline before BAT came on board!!! There has been no rejoinder as at now. There is nothing
wrong with the Minister of Information
informing us. That is his duty but not when
he audaciously
dishes out some untruths( my mouth is holy; I cannot say that he lied).
Was it deliberate or accidental? If it were deliberate, to what effect? To turn the End-HuBaGo people or busybodies like me against the governors? If
it is accidental then, it shows how seriously we take official businesses.
I know that you must have heard that the
fearless Ndume, who prides himself with saying
it as it is (some people will DISAGREE with me), has apologised to APC
for criticising BAT of APC in the market
square. He had averred that BAT had been caged by some unknown people and
prevented from knowing the hardship ‘we, the people’ are going through. He also
averred that the government is populated by kleptocrats. ‘They’ removed him as the Chief Whip( which was why
he had the capacity and audacity to whip
BAT), he narrowly escaped suspension, was demoted to a less juicy position,
which he rejected.; was advised to
resign from the party and then they extracted
this apology from him. He however quipped that even though he
rendered an unreserved apology,
he stood by what he said. I don’t know if he was standing with both legs or
with some supporting infrastructure as he said this. So, what do we make of
this? That he lied before? That he was misquoted? That he was quoted out of
context? That it was a family affair? Probably
he is trying to reopen the pipeline!!!
There are also some
other HOT ‘newses’ in the front pages. One of them was the presidential authorisation to NNPC to divert the 2023 dividends due to the Federation
to pay for the ‘non-existent’ subsidy. This came after NNPC had
tried everything under the books to stabilise petrol supply. NNPC was also
authorised to use the 2024 interim dividends to stabilise its cashflows. Only
God knows the state of NNPC accounts but that is by the way. So, we still pay
for subsidies? Some even allege that we
are paying the highest subsidies in the past 25 years, in addition to the
numerous criminalities in the oily ecosystem! NNPC has however declared that it
did not pay subsidies; that it was cost-recovery or under-supply
something. Well, Subsidy is GONE; long live subsidy!
However other matters
have arisen along this line. The most important matter that
arose, is the skyrocketing price of fuel, which now stands at N950 in
my community. On this, there are two
things to note. When the price
was N 750( just the other day), BAT assured NLC that once it agreed to N70k minimum
wage, there would be no price increase. To this, they foolishly agreed with a thunderous glee.
I say foolishly because that promise
would not hold as long as our fuel
supply remains tied to an unstable
foreign exchange rates. Now that Ajaero
is an endangered specie as a terrorist
or terrorist financier(after he was beaten like a common criminal at Owerri),
lets see how the story ends. Then, there is fuel scarcity across the land. We
are used to it because one unknown
fellow has just flashed the images of fuel scarcity in 1974( 50 years ago),
just to assure us that it not start with APC or BAT. The key issue however is that the NNPC has announced that the scarcity
is caused by heavy rains and accompanying thunderstorm et al. I have invited
the Guinness Book of Records to document this. Meanwhile, one unknown
Nigerian is perplexed that the
FG is destroying illegal refineries that are working while maintaining legal refineries that are comatose! Even the about-to-commence and
game-changing legal refinery is facing obvious roadblocks from unknown
quarters!
Another issue is the
resurrection of the longstanding debate about what Senators earn and what they
ought to earn. Senator Shehu Sani once said that he received N13.5m as running
costs, in addition to his basic salaries. His colleagues shouted him down and
nearly placed a fatwa on him. Recently,
Senator Kawu of Kano South announced
that he received N21m monthly. This excluded the amorphous constituency funds.
Senator Elisha Abor, who is better known for his exploits in an ‘adult shop’
said that it was even N29m but that it is not a lot of money
since he made much more than that from his businesses. This was as the Revenue
Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission insisted that a senator’s salary was
a mere N1m. Somebody comes out, without coercion, to say what he earns and
somebody stays from the comfort of his office to say that he does not earn such
an amount. Should I believe the person who earns the amount in question or the
person putting mouth into somebody’s affair?
Finally, BAT has taking delivery of two ‘machines’. Some local MCs have this habit of asking those who came with motors ( like the son of man) to park outside( at the mercy of area-boys) while those chauffeured with machines should park within the secured compound. BAT has just taken delivery of two machines: an armoured black Cadillac Escalade, N995015000; ( as against Mercedes Maybach used by his predecessors)and a presidential jet worth about N150bn, and of which nothing is known( this is not the first time; we are used to OPACITY). Of this Ugo Egbujo said ‘Tinubu preaches austerity( and asks us to be patient and give him more time) but he makes no efforts to curtail his lavish public expenditure. More patriotic people may argue that a man who leads 200m people and who has just secured a vote of confidence from people that matter is at liberty to thump his nose at disgruntled elements. Other patriots may argue that the leader of the giant of Africa cannot move about like a lizard just because there is hunger in the land( Ugo Egbujo, BAT and his black beast). Lasisi Olagunju asked members of the other NBA(Nigerian Busybodies Association) If the president of Nigeria does not spend Nigeria’s money, who else will? But one fact has just come up, also in the market square: the new jet is Tokunbo and has been on the ‘road’ for 15 years. Some busybodies are asking two questions: why we should discard a 19year old jet when the Airforce1 is 34 and is still powering? And why should replace a 19 year old jet with a 15 year old? I did not ask those questions but our people say that a bird that left the ground and perched on an anthill is still on the ground! Anyway, BATs body-language reactions to the End-HuBaGo are: show of opulence (flaunt the Cadillac, acquire the tokumbo jet), and admit that petrol subsidy is still alive. In effect, he is saying: life goes on!!!
However, we need not worry about the costs of
these machines because somebody who is at the centre of the kitchen has
allegedly said that the great BAT funded
these machines from his pockets. This is good but if
it is true, it will resurrect the
questions that have been afloat in recent times. How did he make his money?
What businesses has he been doing since he returned from exile empty-handed and since 1999 when he became
the governor of Lagos State. In effect, what are the sources of his infinite
wealth?
Conclusion is what the writer does when he
is tired. This treatise would have ended long before now but as the
minutes went bye, more interesting newses
emerged. What of the unfortunate death of Emir of Goboir whom a ransom was
placed on his corpse? What of the 20 medical students kidnapped and rescued(??)
the other day? What of the legal relationship between NNPC, it’s retail arm and
Oando? What of the news from Malta? What of the numerous End-HuBaGo detainees, who were sent back to detention because they had
no lawyers? What of the increased tuition fees for Federal Government Colleges,
which are deceptively called Unity
Colleges? What of the absence of the DOT-people
from the students loan fund chart? What
of the invalidation of ALL certificates from University of Cotonou since 2017? Some
of these stories have been clarified, denied and augmented! So, I am concluding, not because it
is concluded but because it has to be
concluded!
Unpleasant Truths & Comforting lies….servants living above the masters
The state of the country is obvious from these
front-page ‘newses’ but for those who want to be spoon-fed, here it
is. The country is characterised by shoddy
preparation for events, misplaced priorities, searching for IGR by all means,
wastefulness, lackadaisical attention to contracts, winner takes all tendencies
by politicians, village headmaster tendencies of governors, poor
attention to legal obligations, weak legal oversight, failure to learn from experiences like the P&ID and other
Nigerian factors,:
propaganda, godISM: ( god: government of deceits), deliberate misinformation, subterfuge DBT or
TAD( Doing before thinking or Thinking after doing) as instruments of
governance, toying with official responsibilities, governance as one HUGE Joke, denying the obvious truth, preferring the
comforting lies to the unpleasant truths, disregard for public financial management
principles and processes, unapparelled impunity, condescending or do your worst
attitude to the people, the practice of
‘ostrichesm’, hypocrisy, sinful profligacy in a nation in distress, lackadaisical attitude to state matters and
the servant living above his masters. The main problem is that the country
characterised by these awful features, that country which practices anomalies
as the most normal of things, wants to be taken seriously by others; they want
to develop like others and they claim to be the giant of Africa or as Lumumba
would say, the biggest dwarf in a dwarfdom!
A friend of mine the other day accused me of ALWAYS being negative with regard to Nigerian affairs. I hereby decree and declare that I did not invent any of these stories; they are in the market square. However, this ‘construction’ of the present state of the country as deduced from these stories are personal. Those with alternative perspectives should please share with the public as I have done
Enjoy the
second edition of the spicey Ihuowelle Quarterly( IQ,1.2)
-
“Find a great mentor, someone who has already been through the many challenges of being an entrepreneur..” -Jodi Levine
Entrepreneurship in Practice: Cases, Challenges and Lessons By IK, MUO PHD is now available on Amazon, since 14/5/21. Click here to view Available for order +2348033026625 | Delivery: Worldwide
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