My immediate reaction to Rev. Chris Okotie’s piece in The PUNCH edition of Tuesday, October 22, 2013 titled, ASUU Strike: Implications of Political Infidelity”, was, “Oh, here we go any again, another Pastor asking us to pray for the resolution of a national crisis!”
However, on reading the article, I was pleasantly surprised that his overview of the sundry national issues he raised was predicated on sound reasoning and practical solution to the myriad of problems of governance bedevilling this country. Yes, Nigeria remains great and shall remain so despite the occupation of our State Houses by politicians of fortune whose tenures appear to be secure only because our youths, the previously vocal and active civil society groups and the organised labour have sudden become docile.
It never used to be like this. The contributions of the Michael Imoudu- led labour unions to our independence struggle cannot be overstated, likewise the patriotic battles of our human rights trojans like Gani Fanwehinmi, Beko Ramsome-kuti, and many others who died without seeing this country liberated from the clutches of a greedy governing cabal that has kept it hostage till this day.
Although, there are a few surviving committed patriots from this extinct tribe of vocal human rights activists, who still speak for the oppressed, the silent majority, there’s little the Femi Falanas, Fred Agbajes, Joe Okei-Odumakins can do if Nigerians refuse to stand up and fight for their right. Okotie’s article therefore reminded us that ASUU’s seeming uncompromising stance in its face-off with the Peoples Democratic Party administration is just the right thing to do to jolt the people out of their slumber in the face of habitual executive infidelity with promises.
There have been discordant tunes from the corridors of power that suggest that the ASUU strike is politically-motivated. That is cheap talk that borders on blackmail. What is political about lecturers asking that government honours its part of an agreement it signed in 2009? When this tactic seems to fail, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Labaran Maku, has now come out to say government did not know the cost implications of the agreement before signing it. Can you believe that?
In civilised democratic climes, this shocking statement is enough to earn whoever signed that document on behalf of government a sack, if they are still in service. It is clearly irresponsible for a top government functionary to commit the administration to a serious obligation such as this ASUU project without first counting the cost. It is very disappointing that the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, could come out to say that the government won’t be able to pay ASUU because of other commitments. In other words, the lecturers should accept a default of the government’s financial obligations to them as a fait accompli.
As a respected World Bank technocrat who enjoyed the privilege of serving her country twice in the exalted position of Finance Minister, and now, a defacto “Prime Minister”, one expects Okonjo-Iweala to know the implications of a debt payment default. At least, she worked very hard to pay off our external debts during her first stint as Finance Minister under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government just a few years ago.
Charity ought to begin at home; why is it convenient to mobilise local and external resources to liquidate a $40bn dollar external debt when we were not under pressure to do so, but so difficult or virtually impossible, as she now claims, to do same to pay just N130bn worth of local debt, much of which will even go to revamping our dilapidated educational infrastructure? Such double standard is not expected of someone whose call of duty demands that she gives quality advice to leaders, especially in a dysfunctional polity as ours.
There’re a thousand and one sources in a system notorious for leakages and needless expenses from which, with due diligence, the Finance Minister could mobilise funds to pay the striking lectures. Who knew that in spite of our present dire straits, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, could procure two bulletproof cars worth N255m allegedly for the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah? On top of that, a country that is cash-strapped could still afford the luxury of running a Presidential Jet fleet of 10 aircraft which requires about N9.08bn to service each year.
Our government functionaries cannot continue to deceive the masses that we have no money when our oil wealth is stolen daily with impunity by our ruling elite. According to Okotie, “Not that Nigeria has no money, but our governing elite creams off our oil wealth to private foreign banks, leaving the nation impoverished and in dire straits. That is why we can’t pay the minimum wage or fund the demand of ASUU and its counterparts in the Polytechnics. If you stack all these with the massive theft of our crude oil by thieving politicians and their collaborators in the Navy, who are supposed to be guarding our oil wells, you know our country is in serious trouble. Like one commentator said, “the elite have become so daring in the acts of brazen corruption that they no longer allow the oil money to get into Federation Account before stealing it. It is now stolen from source: the creeks!”
If President Goodluck Jonathan and his aides are sincere, they should dismantle the corruption complex and divert our stolen wealth to rebuilding our collapsed national infrastructure, not just in the educational sector, but in health, power, agriculture, transport, and security among others. Nigeria needs far-reaching, drastic measures to kill the goliaths tormenting our people. We do know that Mr. President is not the David that can do this because of his shocking misdiagnosis of our present problems. When told in a media interactive that corruption is Nigeria’s no. 1 problem; he disagreed, saying, insecurity, not corruption, is our greatest problem!
Come on! Even children know that the dragon we need to slay in this nation for things to fall in place is corruption, which obviously is the mother of insecurity and other vices plaguing this country.
Just why President Jonathan finds it so difficult to combat the corruption pandemic is something one cannot fathom. His seeming poor grasp of the dimension of its negative impact on our economy, global image, and overall well-being as a nation is amazing. Now, back to the all important issue at hand. How does the President intend to break the deadlock in this ASUU strike? The lecturers do not appear moved by the President’s pleas to go back to work unless their demands are met.
Who will blink first? While waiting for reason to prevail, our youths are at home, bored and tired with all these.
•Ayo wrote in from Ibadan via ridebukieayooo7@gmail.com.
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