The Gift and The Bribe: ‪Nigerian political class never cease to amaze me, by Tobenna Obiano

Tobenna Obiano

What's your understanding of the word GIFT and the word BRIBE? That's a million dollar puzzle.

Obviously, either that our teachers thought us wrongly or we understood wrongly or the actual owners of the Queen's language had defined it wrongly. In the Nigerian contest and political backing, let's sort it out once and for all.

‪You know that till this day, former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki is still in prison for allegedly serving as a looting channel of the former administration, where it is alleged that he mismanaged the funds made for arms deal. Ahead, the Director of Defence Procurement at that time was Gen. Burutai. Today, he is the Chief of Defence Staff and his former office, procurement from where obviously all the arms deal money were looted from is in chaos and he isn't arrested, instead extolled. Infact, he has been cleansed and pardoned. ‬

The Secretary to the Federal Government had awarded a contract to himself or indirectly to contacts favouring him, as revealed by the Nigerian Senate. This public official went ahead to have the company pay in huge sum of monies, running into billions into an account that he is a signatory to and till this day, because he is amongst the untouchables, especially when the President personally wrote a letter exonerating him of the crime, unsurprisingly, he is still serving this nation. Yet, a former Minister of Petroleum, Deziani Allison-Mmadueke it has constantly been alleged has many billions named to her account or that of her cronies and her crime is irredeemable.

‪The serving Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose is consistently called a thief, obviously because he belongs to the opposition party and he often damns the consequences and speaks truth to power, afterall, like the Presidency, he is protected by immunity clause also. Yet the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timpre Sylva who the EFCC had all along held a case against for mismanagement and plain looting of billions of naira during his time as Governor of the oil rich Bayelsa State, he has of today had EFCC dropped all charges against him. He is freed! ‬

‪The diminutive Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai after his election, while declaring his assets claimed he is worth over 90billion naira and owns over 30 houses in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna et al. His only well known job was serving as the former bulldozer of the FCT under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Yet, his co-Minister at that time, Femi Fani-Kayode is consistently harrassed by the nation's EFCC and DSS for stealing as little as his colleague did.‬

‪Also, the trinity Ministers, the duo of Fashola of Lagos State and Amaechi of Rivers State looted their states dry and obviously invested a huge percentage into the Presidential election that brought President. Muhammad Buhari to power. Mr. Fashola had a website designed for him for about N85millon, incredible you may think, well, it happened; while Mr. Amaechi rendered Rivers coffers and her people pauperized to say the least. Well, they are steakholders in APC, therefore they are good to go and today, they are all been celebrated as saints.

‪Name them, Atiku, Saraki, Kwankwaso, Peterside, Okorocha, and the landlord of the entire of South West Nigeria, the Jagagban himself, Bola Tinibu are all saints without form or void. These are the kind of saints non of us with sanity, decency or integrity would never wish to become.‬

‪As for the Presidential mouthpiece, poor Femi Adeshina, a sound and disciplined media professional who sadly had been drawn into the muddy water of Nigerian politics where lies and more lies becomes novel, driven by circumstances let me not say selfishness or thirst for power, has also fallen cheap and quite early to that unprincipled ethics of the conscience. I do feel his pains and somehow, it often seems too late to back down and out, but ofcourse he has a choice and he still can.‬

‪As for the nation's lying machine, the liar himself, Lai Mohammed, the ruling party is a huge joke, monies given to former Spokesperson of the opposition party, PDP, Olisa Metuh must have been another bribe, while monies allotted to the APC spokesperson's office, Mr. Lai Muhammad is maybe manna that fell from heaven; and because he was so meticulous and judicious in spending, that earned him promotion to Minister. Well, the devil must be extremely careful with the man, Lai. Obviously, he is out for a mean competition, a very serious one at that, he is very desperate to overtake the devil, beat him hands down in his own game. Lai is symptomatic with lying, deceptions and misleading. Nigeria's lying Lai is one from the deepest part of hell, the furnace you may say.

Let me not bore you with more bribes interchangeably baptized as gifts, but even though it was secluded and kept away and out of the eyes of the public, we all know that the parrot-like-noisy-child of the President, Zarah's wedding most recently to another son of a billionaire oil magnet was of porsche class. Ofcourse, the billionaire son's marriage comes as a gift or steak for a somewhat of secured or guaranteed future, particularly in their oil business and the rot in the system. Heavens alone can tell how many other Nigerian billionaires and steak-holders made more gifts available for that choice wedding. Again, since it relates to the Presidency, it isn't bribes at all, or steaks for the future, they are gifts.

‪Hypocrisy of the highest order therefore is when the former NNPC Boss, Andrew Yakubu claims that USD9.8million allegedly found in his custody by the EFCC are gifts from friends/associates and we shout foul, yet the Nigerian President's personal lawyer also gifted a whooping sum of N500,000 to a serving Judge who he referred to as his very close friend of over 35years and same Judge actually is presiding over a case before his court concerning the President himself where this President's personal lawyer is the defendant. What do we get? Well, his own N500,000 gift, because the Presidency is involved, it has truly become a gift understandably. If this is not hypocrisy redefined, I wonder what else is. ‬

In the current Nigerian political space and understanding, the definition of gift and bribe has since changed. Let's try, once it's coming from the APC as a political party or her loyalists or cohorts or co-travelers or all those within the Presidency, it's plainly a gift, but once it steps beyond that limit, usually if it comes anywhere else from outside that domain, it graduates to a punishable offense, usually known as bribery! These are the hypocrites the good Book, the Holy Bible prophesied of and gravely warned us about, they are here and co-inhabiting with us.

Honestly and unapologetically, the Nigerian political class, past and present do not care at all about us or our wellbeing or welfare. These guys are wicked, selfish, ruthless and callous. They are murderous in acts and doings. While the likes of President Buhari is often painted in bright light as sane and saintly, the point blank is that if anyone protects or aids a thief, that person is as well, guilty of same offence and should rightfully share in the punishment. Our so-called leaders who I often prefer to refer to as "misleaders" are all criminals, sadly with less or maybe, without exceptions.

In case the Presidency wants to swim in their nearly-glaring euphoric world of fantasy ignorantly, the contract to cut grasses given by the Presidency and through the back door, stolen by the Secretary to the Federal Government which otherwise is the Presidency still and the classless and laughable rhetoric of reality where the so-called gift in monetary values was given by the President's personal lawyer to his Judge friend who also was sitting on a case against the Presidency has so far, clearly messed-up the person of the President, his usually overbloated or fantasied anti-corruption stance and sadly too, maybe also, the office he represents, made a laughing stock or say, a big joke. Pot can't sensible call kettle black; this is the case before all Nigerians.

‪Again, this Government has time and time again proven beyond reasonable doubt to be a grave mistake and misdoing of a huge percentage of fellow Nigerians. It's a broad day light shanty sham and scam. I repeat again, for the umpteenth time, I make bold to say that this Government is never honest, never serious, very misleading, clearly tribalistic, obviously ostentatious, perhaps handfully laden with religious bigots and cares completely not the slightest bit, about anything at all relating to integrity, discipline, honesty or humility.‬

‪Nigeria is on the glimpse of collapse and if care is not taken, we did be overtaken in whole or sum and be consumed by this readily burning furnace. It's spreading like wild fire and we must rise up against this nonsense.

Now, gift and bribery has been interchangeable redefined in the ever useless mind of the Nigerian political class to their own selfish interest. Somehow, we are near-completely finished. ‬

‪Tobenna Obiano.‬