A large chunk of this contraption called Nigeria is in serious danger. It is held by the jugular. And this comes with its grave backlash.
Some are being unwittingly frustrated out of the forced union. And by a tiny minority; imagine! The masterminds are arrogantly beating their fleshy chests. They don’t care whose ox is gored or brutally bruised.
To them, the end justifies the crude means. They stubbornly insist this fragile union must be sustained. In fact, that it is not negotiable. Who says?
Oh, wait a minute. They may be right to some reasonable extent. Did we negotiate before we were unwillingly amalgamated? A loud and big NO! They have turned the tables against our strength.
Our strength has been converted to our weakness. And vice versa. Our unity is being assaulted daily. The Fulani killer herdsmen are sending that strong message with reckless impunity.
Trust, it couldn’t have been lost on us. They are telling us by their actions and inactions that we are better weaker together and stronger apart. It is “divided we stand, together we fall.” That is our new normal.
It is eternally baffling. A bunch of lawmakers voting against the collective interests of their constituents! The very people you claimed elected you to represent them? We never saw this so blatantly demonstrated until the All Progressives Congress (APC) came.
It was pathetic watching this crop of southern federal legislators in action. They never before showcased such brigandage as displayed in the National Assembly last week. The shenanigans were shocking in this age of technology. It was the utmost, the climax of greed and covetousness.
They perceived the PIB and e-transmission of election results bills differently. Not from the people’s perspective. They rather saw business in the bills.
They would rather turn them into cash cows. And they made the maximum use of that chance. They opted to ditch their electors.
It was a show of solidarity for the wrong reason. In the two bills, the North voted strictly for its interest and future. But not the South, particularly the South West, looked the opposite way. It elected to stab its people in the back.
That was exactly what played out in the National Assembly. By that cruel act, they left their people in the cold to keep others warm. Huge shame!
They are no longer fit to be called our representatives. They have lost that honour. The grace is not there anymore. We have long withdrawn it with or without their consent.
We don’t need to consult them. They never sought to consult us when they sold us out cheaply. But this should not shock us. They are political whores, the biblical Judas Iscariots in our midst.
This is how the dictionary dresses him up: “An Apostle; full name Judas Iscariot. He betrayed Christ to the Jewish authorities in return for thirty pieces of silver; the Gospels leave his motives uncertain. Overcome with remorse, he later committed suicide.
“A Judas; a person who betrays a friend or comrade.” These political prostitutes perfectly fit the Judas’s bill. They practically acted Judas to the hilt. It was disgusting, tragic and appalling.
This parasitic species would always hang around. They were in the beginning in the mould of Judas. They are in the present in the cast of political whores. And they will be in the future in yet unknown form.
I was lucky to stumble on this profound sampler on a platform. It was a throwback from the Second Republic, 1979 to 1983. It aptly confirms that we would always have these spoilers around.
In fact, the narrative has not changed much. The piece was signed by one Agbaakin: “This madness is not new, the North has been at it since inception. In 1981, there was a vote on the revenue allocation sharing formula.
“The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP), being opposition parties, were involved in an exploratory working alliance against the ruling NPN. The parties had agreed on an equitable formula that will benefit the states and LGAs more than the central unitary government installed by Obasanjo and his cliques in the military.
“The country was taken aback when the voting gave 58.5 per cent to the Fulani unitary government. Joseph Wayas from Cross River State was the Senate President then. One Senator Bitrus Kajal from the then Gongola State wrote a letter to late Ibrahim Waziri, the leader of the GNPP, which leaked to the Nigerian Tribune.
“He stated in the letter that a caucus that spreads across party lines existed in the chamber, which is committed and devoted to the promotion of the supreme interest of the North, such that party supremacy is ignored and side-lined when such votes arose in that Senate. The man did not deny that letter.
“The current PIB charade is another in the series of northern parasitism stretched too far. It is the reason to break Nigeria up is a task that must be done.”
That notwithstanding. We didn’t have it this bad in that Second Republic. There was still some semblance of a vibrant opposition in that parliament. The then Senate was a verified case study.
Senator Jonathan Odebiyi was the man to admire. He was the Minority Leader. He belonged to the UPN. He provided dynamic leadership in the Upper Chamber.
He led the onslaught against the fragile NPN/NPP coalition. He was always at loggerheads with Senate Leader, Olusola Saraki; and for the good reasons.
We carelessly allowed that era to go into the winds. We were careless not to feast on that. And we are worse off. Across the parties, many of our legislators were upright and steadfast then.
No power, not even the ruling NPN/NPP, could sway the opposition otherwise. They stood their ground and stuck to their guns. They were neither robots nor rubber stamps.
We lost all that last week in the National Assembly. Our southern legislators greedily gave us away. Just like that.
With the passage of the two bills, the election has been lost and won. These irresponsible idiotic lawmakers crashed out when they were needed most.
They collapsed like a house of loose cards. See how they kowtowed to the whims and caprices of the Fulani hegemony. Sure, they have murdered sleep and courted nightmares.
They are the unnecessary evils of our time. Ours is not to dine with them even with a long spoon. They should be identified, isolated and neutralised.
We are scandalised. Our legislators could not display courage, boldness and bravery. Why? Simple: they never had one. And you can’t give what you don’t have.
Instead, they flaunted utter greed, timidity and covetousness. Those they have in great abundance. And they would not fail to exhibit them at the slightest opportunity.
From this ugly mess, a disheartening generation is thriving fast. This particular flourishing cohort is greedy, ferocious, fierce and desperate.
A very dangerous group it is. It has become generic and a lucrative business, so to speak. It is growing overwhelmingly. Forever, willing to betray.
I wonder aloud why some characters choose to do their kinsmen in. Just for a plate of miserable porridge? They care less for collective interests. It is theirs that matters all the time and at all times.
Many of the Yoruba federal legislators succinctly demonstrated that. It is heart breaking and disheartening.
See the irony of their tragedy. The northern lawmakers openly celebrated their collective victory. Their southern counterparts were holed up. They were left to individually lick their self-inflicted wounds. All alone in the confines of their rooms.
Such is the fate of a betrayer, traitor and mole. This generation must not be allowed to flourish.
Who still wants to be one?