I just want to ramble a little. It was a week of mysterious events. No idle moment for the Nigerian media. Every newsroom boomed with breaking news by the minute. From Ile-Ife to Aso Rock, and from Kano to the EFCC, editors who closed copies early had reasons to regret the following day.
By the way, July has passed; and Boko Haram is still raging. During the campaigns for 2015 presidential election, the All Peoples Congress (APC) had promised that if voted to office, it will end Boko Haram insurgency in July 2015.
That has turned out to be an empty promise. The party has, instead of fulfilling its campaign promises, been busy creating problems for itself. The good news is that the National Assembly has finally stabilised – or so it seems. Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker finally yielded to the position of his party and allowed Femi Gbajabiamila to lead the House.
Still, it is a victory for Dogara. His emergence as the Speaker is a proof that Nigeria has outgrown dictatorship. Just imagine that the same man that ensured victory for the president at the primaries and the real election, and hand-picked the vice president, had also succeeded in hand-picking the Speaker and the Senate President.
Yes, the same man also ensured the emergence of state governors; especially in the south west. There is no doubt that he is having a say in who becomes a commissioner in those states. At the federal level, every ministerial aspirant from the south must have his ears. That’s too much power in one palm!
For the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, perhaps, he has won the battle but the real war is just beginning. His beautiful wife was last week at the EFCC where she was subjected to questioning by the anti-money laundering agency.
The allegation is that she was involved in money laundering when the husband served as state governor. What worries me is why she was not quizzed since her husband left office more than four years ago. Like other Nigerians, I am suspecting foul play here.
Meanwhile, the national chairman of APC, John Odigie-Oyegun has denied claims that his party is behind the EFCC investigation. He said on Wednesday that APC absolutely has nothing to do with the investigation.
His words: “We are completely, totally, absolutely innocent of it. What we have not done like in the PDP days, is to rush and interfere with the processes of the EFCC which our president has made quite clear; everybody should be ready to carry out their (sic) legitimate functions without interference.”
Isn’t that laughable? If Mrs. Saraki was investigated under the PDP-led administration as soon as the husband had problems with the party, there certainly would have been street-side demonstrations all over the place by now.
But, here we are, the bird of death cried last night and the baby died this morning; and we are still asking who killed the baby.
Who owns this money? Adams Oshiomhole, the comrade governor of Edo State came out smoking last week with a mouth-watering headliner. He said while on a trip to the United States of America with President Buhari, he was informed that a Nigerian minister in the last administration stole $6 billion.
Wait a minute, did you see the comrade-governor in suits on television while in the U.S.? I couldn’t believe my eyes! The man of the people seemed to have finally joined the bourgeois – a word that was very common with the late Uche Chukwumerije.
There he was; seated with the big and the mighty, spotting his trade mark semi-smile and curious look; but eventfully dressed. Certainly, it was the first time I have seen Oshiomhole in suits or anything close to a jacket except on his wedding day. Somebody even said it was over-sized!
What happened? Where did that come from? Oh! It must be his new wife. Yes, it must be her. Women are the wonders of our lives. They keep reinventing us! They know we can’t do without them. So they ensure that we submit to their desires whenever it pleases them to torture us.
So, as I was saying, Oshiomhole said the former minister’s bank account is so well loaded that even American billionaires are jealous. He did not however say whether the account owner is a man or a woman. Apparently he didn’t care to ask; after all, is he a reporter?
What worries me most is that Oshiomhole’s revelation is giving many Nigerians nightmare, especially, the emir of Kano and former governor of the CBN, Lamido Sanusi. He is worried that such a corrupt practice has the capacity to collapse the economy.
Sanusi was the chief custodian of our money under Goodluck Jonathan. I dare say that he can tell the denomination of naira note by its smell and feel. I feel like asking how such heavy amount walked out of this country without the knowledge of the CBN. I’m not asking. I just feel like it.
Talking about Their Royal Highnesses, when did it become the duty of journalists to announce the death of monarchs? If this could happen anywhere in the world, then not Yoruba land where traditions are worshipped like gods.
As captured by Thisday newspaper on Thursday, what happened last week was a clash between Nigerian tradition and modernity characterised by the social media and citizen journalism. If anything happens to the respected Ooni of Ife, Okunade Sijuwade Olubuse II, the social media should be held responsible.
I guess I’ve rambled enough. Welcome to August!
