Friday 28 February 2014

THE CENTENARY: CELEBRATING WHAT EXACTLY?

Last night in Abuja felt a lot like the day that ushered in 2014. The fire crackers lit up the sky and the air was festive. The creme de la creme of the society stood together watching the impressive fireworks celebrating a century of existence for the entity called Nigeria. Well-bred, well-spoken men and women of no small means mingled freely having soft conversations over glasses of Champagne with smiles on their faces as they waited patiently for the night's entertainment which consisted of Nigeria's finest musicians and movie stars. There was a smorgasbord of intercontinental dishes to choose from at the presidential banquet. The guests were all beautifully dressed giving the surrounding a truly beautiful look.

Adequate planning which began over a year ago and several billions of naira later ensured that for the Centenary celebration in that specific location, all was going to go perfectly without a hitch. Power was constant, food and drink were surplus and security was intact to make sure not a thing went amiss; and why not, the President was there in the flesh, along with his ministers, members of the National Assembly and the Judiciary, past presidents, representatives of Her Royal Majesty and representatives from other nations, business moguls, leeches and hangers on.

That was on the sunny side of town.

On the other side of town, somewhere in Yobe State, a bunch of ordinary people sat in their houses mourning the brutal murder of their children by the blood-thirsty Islamic sect, Boko Haram that have terrorized parts of Northern Nigeria for over three years. All they got from the C-in-C and were words of condemnation and empty promises...as usual.

In this particular two bedroom flat in Yobe State, there's no space as the house is crowded with sympathizers. The occupants of the sparsely furnished flat lost their 15 year old son to the Boko Haram attack of Tuesday 25th of February, 2014; an attack which will go down in Nigeria's history as one of the most dastardly attacks in her recent history.

Candle lights are lit in the sitting room, not to honour the dead child but as a result of persistent power failure as friends and sympathizers try to console the inconsolable mother who wails in misery and the bereaved father gnashes his teeth in agony. This is the scenario in at least 40 homes in Yobe State, on the same night the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan led-government wine and dines in the comfort and security of the Federal Capital Territory.

Faraway in United States of America or probably at the Centenary Banquet (who knows? After all, it has once been said a president can work from anywhere in the world, though we cannot be too sure if that applies to his employees), the Special Adviser to Mr. President on New Media is rather fidgety and not his usual boisterous self.

He is painfully aware of how his costly error has derobed him of the cloak of morality he once used to defend his employer beyond all scope of logic and reasoning and decieve his impressive twitter followership. He is troubled that he can now be seen for what he really is; a slimy charlatan. He had gone too far this time and Microsoft Word had betrayed him. The libelous article he had written using an alias against the now deposed CBN czar linking him to Boko Haram had been linked right back to him. How was he to know that these damn things had digital signatures?

Considering he is the special adviser on social media, he ought to have known this but he was so eager to blow off that pompous, whistle-blowing brat of a prince that he forgot the safety was off and now, he had a blown off foot. Worse still, he was not sure how his employer would react to this.

Damn!

It is amazing how the above stories are unconnectedly connected; unconnected because of the wide gulf of reality that exists for both people on the different divides and the realization of the connection that Abuja and Yobe are parts on the entity called Nigeria, the subject of celebration.

I half expected the President to call-off the shambolic celebration of mediocrity that Nigeria is but of course, I got to realize a long time ago that with President Jonathan, it is perilous to expect too much especially as it is well-known that he doesn't really "give a damn". Our flags ought to have been down at half-mast for at least a week; efforts to track down these insurgents ought to have intensified with different tactical approaches considered but no, the Centenary had been planned for far too long to be put off. The casks of wine and bottles of Champagne had to be drunk last night.

If we put it all into perspective, only a greatly delusional person will believe that this administration gives a hoot about Nigeria and Nigerians. How anyone can HONESTLY believe in a president who claims to know Boko Haram sponsors but keeps mute about it and allows innocent lives to be sacrificed on the altar of politics; a president who would think nothing of having his hired lackeys capitalize on the gruesome murder of innocent children to attack perceived political enemies; a president who protects at all costs a minister presiding over one of the greatest heists of our time and is a familiar bedfellow of corruption...the list of misdeeds is countless, is highly incomprehensible.

For the participants of the Centenary celebrations, una do well. How you can drink, eat and party to celebrate Nigeria's persistent failure to deliver security, leadership and elementary infrastructure to her citizens and not choke is truly amazing; especially in the wake of the recent killings. If you do not see anything wrong with what you all went to celebrate, then something is genuinely wrong with the world.

Malcolm O. Ifi.