‘‘They have given a generation of Nigerians a fate worse than death! How else could one tag a generation that consciously ignored the youths and the overall development of the system, because of senseless greed, avarice and wickedness? Justice must be done at all cost!’’-Quoted in Nowinta’s book, 2009: WHERE WE ARE (page 84)
Pebbles with Igbotako Nowinta
The last one week or so has recorded dramatic events in the life of Africa’s most populous country, known as Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Precisely on October 1st 2015, Nigeria clocked fifty five years as a nation. And for the first time ever the nation under President Muhammadu Buhari decided not to go the way of previous administrations in turning the yearly celebration into a big jamboree where some privileged Nigerians would have made a huge fortune.
And for the first time also in the life of Nigeria the list of would-be ministers in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) was treated like a great expectation.
A guarded secret so to say because President Buhari was looking for the round pegs in the round holes to pilot the affairs of the country from the bottomless pit of corruption, wastefulness and stagnation.
I was really preparing to dissect the list of would-be Ministers as the Senate gets set to screen those that made the list when the news of the arrest, detention and release on bail of Nigeria’s immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diazani Allison-Madueke flooded both the mainstream and social news media.
The ruffling of the feathers of a woman who allegedly turned the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources into a personal estate where everything was done to humiliate and torment the masses of Nigeria by authorities in London is something urgently worth discussing.
The swinging into action by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by sealing off her Abuja residence in preparation to extradite her to Nigeria for possible prosecution under the laws of the land is good news to the ears.
Well quickly I want to declare that the caliber of personalities that made the Ministerial list before the Senate are signs that President Muhammadu Buhari is hell-bent on putting smiles on the faces of Nigerian voters who thronged the polling booths on March 28th 2015 to execute the sound of thunder.
I think without blinking my eye lids to state that never before in the fifty five years of the nation has a new wave of hope been rekindled; never before has a gigantic sense of national belonging been ushered into our consciousness.
Never before have the masses of the Federal Republic of Nigeria been considered as a factor in the scheme of things.
The Price of fuel has remained stable; price of kerosene is gradually coming down across the country; the bail out money taken from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) account has dropped the high blood pressure of many Nigerian workers etc.
It is in the light of these stark positive realities that the present ordeal of Mrs. Diazani Allison-Madueke in the hands of security operatives in London is quite interesting.
It is interesting in the sense that for the first time in the history of Nigeria a government is in place in the Aso Rock Presidential Palace, saying that every Tom, Dick and Harry who allegedly stole from the commonwealth of our country must cough out the loot in every way possible.
Mrs. Diazani Allison-Madueke as Minister of Petroleum Resources under Dr. Goodluck Jonathan took the garment of impunity to the zenith and rode rough shod within the system because the president goaded her on.
Alison Madueke ensured that under her watch trillions of naira were paid to fraudulent and faceless oil importers or marketers; fuel became a do or die to get at filling stations; heartless kerosene cartel had a field day while the people of Nigeria groaned endlessly
Refineries were left to rot even after billions of naira had been spent on their Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) etc.
If what I am talking about are mere allegations it is in the interest of equity, justice and fairness that the feathers of Mrs. Alison-Madueke must be ruffled vigorously so that the whole truth can be revealed.
What Alison-Madueke represents since she was thrown into the service of our country since 2007 is negative, offensive and counter-productive.
In a nation where a few political bandits are having cocktail parties every evening while a chunk of the population are starving and dying of hunger, those who have dipped their soiled hands into the public till must have their feathers ruffled.
Thank goodness President Muhammadu Buhari has said repeatedly that all looters must be made accountable.
We eagerly await the outcome of the National Crime Agency prosecution of Alison-Madueke in London.
Nowinta wrote, Where We Are: A Call for Democratic Revolution in Nigeria
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