Veteran entertainer, Charles Oputa popularly known as Charly Boy has called on Nigerians to leave Patience Jonathan be as regards her ordeal with the EFCC over the $15 million traced to her.

Charly Boy is not the first to publicly show support for the former first lady since the issue first made news weeks back. A militant group, Niger Delta People’s Professional Volunteer Force (NDPPVF) recently issued a threat to bomb the NNPC once Patience Jonathan is arrested by the anti-graft agency. The Ijaw Youth Council has also accused the EFCC of witch-hunting the former first family so openly. Several groups have staged protests in solidarity for the Dame.

That said, Charly Boy in his letter where he addressed the matter made more than a few good points in the sanest way possible (at least, he didn’t threaten fire and brimstone). His contention is not with the EFCC for carrying out its obliged duties, no. The area father is more concerned about the rest of us who have taken sides with the EFCC and are “suddenly upset” that the former first lady has such large amount of money in her coffers. He maintains that shes’s not the first ex-government official to find herself in this position and surely will not be the last because corruption has been institutionalized in the Nigerian system. We are aware of this, so why the hypocrisy?

The man is right.

Why are we all suddenly calling for Patience Jonathan’s head after she has fearlessly admitted that the said amount of cash ($15 million) is for her medical expenses? That claim may be a bit ludicrous but we must commend the Dame’s resilience and like the Ijaw Youth Council opined, a first lady naturally attracts cash gifts and the likes, monies that may never be accounted for. It is shocking that the Nigerians who have labelled Madam Patience in every inappropriate way since this matter began are the same ones who voted the likes of Buruji Kashamu and Joshua Dariye into the Senate. Men whose middle names spell corrupt, they are tried and true dishonest and unworthy of any place in power but the last elections ushered them into the Upper Chamber of Nigeria’s legislature. So how do we explain this?

In Charly Boy’s words, “a country deserves the kind of leadership it gets because those who rule us are from amongst us; they are not from Ghana or Togo. How many times will we let a thief into our house?” Oh, to that question, we say over and over till there’s nothing left of us anymore. Nigerians are a people who love convenience. We pick on people when it’s convenient, dribble over the matter for a few days then move on to the next convenient topic, as long as it looks good on the front pages of tabloids. This explains why most so-called corruption prosecutions are inconclusive. How many of the men who have faced corruption charges since President Buhari’s administration began are in jail now? What’s the last we heard of Senator Bukola Saraki’s trial? Oh, we’ve moved on to the next one. How convenient.

When we bundle Senators Buruji Kashamu, Joshua Dariye and the rest of them who have pending trials abroad on the next flight to wherever they need to be, we can let Patience Jonathan spend her “hard earned money” on her Panadol in peace. Charly Boy says “we have been living on corruption money long before now and we didn’t care”, at least, we know all of you who tweeted “Bring back our corruption” sometime this year, so why now act like saints? Maybe, we are undeserving of change sef.

Tolu

Your pop culture/entertainment go-to. Music head. Wallflower. I do not like to write. On a mission to decipher covfefe.