Japheth Omojuwa: Our Nigeria… their ATM machine

by Japheth Omojuwa

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They have monetized our geographical space, they have formed units out of our common heritage and they have made sure to share its profits, not equally but to at least share it amongst themselves in a way that ensures the country remains a going concern.

As patriotic Nigerians, we think we have a country today, but that is so yesterday, to the ruling class, this is nothing but a business enterprise. If this was ever a country, it is certainly not one for the ruling class. They have monetized our geographical space, they have formed units out of our common heritage and they have made sure to share its profits, not equally but to at least share it amongst themselves in a way that ensures the country remains a going concern. In a way that ensures this giant company of mostly 160 million victims does not go down. We the people will always scream when our country scores a late goal to win a football match. We the people will always desire the good of the land and its prosperity but we the people must not think to have a share in this good that ensures the glory of the land reflects in our lives, it is never about us, it is about them. Nigeria was described as a geographical expression by one of its founding fathers. That was then; it is a commercial expression today. Everything is for sale including the happiness of the people.

“I pledge to Nigeria my country, to be faithful, loyal and honest.” That is a beautiful thing to say and even though those running this country down share your passion, patriotism and concern, their pledge is first to this big company before a care for the world about the country.  It is important you don’t get this twisted, without Nigeria the country, there’d be no Nigeria the big company. Citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are mostly poor, shareholders of Nigeria Unlimited National Cake are mostly rich. In fact, those who eat from their crumbs are rich enough to see the Nigerians, whose sole right to Nigeria is just the fact they answer the name of the country in the space “nationality,” as underprivileged members of the society. The company is extremely rich, having the smallest of stakes makes you rich; the country is extremely poor, people cannot afford to dream let alone dare to have the basic things of life. No, they can dream to have these, but they dare not expect these from the government. The government’s business is first to the shareholders of Nigeria Unlimited before the Povertyholders of the country.

Scores of citizens of Nigeria get killed every other day in Maiduguri as they indeed get killed everywhere else. Nigerians in their numbers are sad about this, even the president is. The President spent the same day about 96 of his citizens were killed in Borno, traveling the length of the country from north to south, meeting with traditional rulers and church leaders. The president cares, don’t even assume he doesn’t, the president cares so much about retaining power next year he doesn’t care that we don’t care about his luck at the polls. While people got killed in Borno, the president was beating a talking drum in Oyo. Whatever he got the drum to say, he certainly heard the laughter in the Palace louder than the scream of the 20 Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by terrorists in the northeast. That is the lot of the country’s citizens. It would take the president of the country to care – when we have one that can at least manage the country as well as he manages the company. Parochial interests abound in every country, this is not a new thing nor a bad thing of itself; there is nothing bad in seeking for the personal good as long as that good comes with creating a value for others that earns you an interest. The shareholders of the Nigerian company do not bother to create any value; they find their interests in the destruction of the people’s values and rights.

Elsewhere, business men get government contracts in order to get things done, right here in Nigeria, politicians get the contracts to ensure nothing is done. The East-West road, the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, the Benin-Ore road etc hold the numbers of those that have lost their lives plying the death traps against those who at one time or the other got the company’s go ahead to fix the road for the sake of Nigerians. The stakes got shared but the roads remain as they were – work is going on they say, it is going on we see. A minister was once so pained at the state of one of the roads, she was moved to tears, then to another ministry where she’d not have to endure such a painful sight. Today, she is doing a great job for the company. A great job that saw the country lose trillions in 2011 under the guise of fuel subsidy, a job that continues today in a different form but with the same ministry, the same NNPCistic style of ensuring money gets made, for re-elections and for interests that keep Nigeria together, as a company. You can’t have the company without the country but the company comes first before the country except for naïve Nigerians who only see a country. With the acronym NNPC alone, trillions of naira continue to get lost – in the language of patriotic Nigerian citizens – but this only serve as cash credits for those privileged enough to hold shares in the destruction of Nigeria.

What will the Nigerian people do? Nothing! Let us continue to fast and pray, let us continue to expect the army of Heaven to come fight our battles and help us claim our rights. Remember that when God performed miracles in our holy books, the people involved never had to do anything; the Israelites did not have to walk to the Promised Land. God said it was time to inherit the land and the people found themselves there; they didn’t have to exert their energy to walk to the land, to fight battles against those who stood between them and the land. They just had to pray. Perhaps, I read a different story.

The time has come; we will see the oppressors of the Nigerian people posing for pictures with royal fathers and religious leaders. To millions of faithful Nigerians, that’s a pointer to who to vote for. Hopefully, these millions will remember where that pointer led them the last time around. Most are poorer than they were in 2011, not because they didn’t get the message of a kneeling president as “here is my son, please vote for him!’ as it was delivered, they are poorer today just because they got that message and they obeyed the words that were not spoken. We will prepare the minds of the people for Heaven while we work with politicians to earn our own rewards here on earth. We will pray against hunger for the people while we kill cows for dinner, leaving enough meat for our dogs to feed off and the bones for the straying impatient dogs of the poor, that escaped the poverty of their once rich masters who now live each day, remembering the days this country at least pretended to work for them.

We have a country, they have a company. We care about our country, they do too because this country must be kept alive for this company to survive. We will not go to war, a war is not in the interest of the stakeholders of this company. They have it all to lose, the people can only earn death, and Heaven, if they make it, or a hell different from the Hell they live here. The rich will make Dubai and America or wherever they have their treasures outside Nigeria.

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This article was published with permission from Omojuwa.com

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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