By Igbotako Nowinta
Of all places, why the ‘treasury’ building and the office of the Accountant General in particular, that this mysterious fire occur? The coronavirus thing has further exposed some of our public office holders and politicians as the worst agents and distributors of penury, poverty, darkness, falsehood and impoverishment. Why the fire at this time, when members of the National Assembly and concerned Nigerians have indicated ‘patriotic’ interest, to know the fact of the matter about the transparent network or modus operandi of getting this national emergency funds to desired destinations within the country? It is fast becoming a premeditated agenda by those governmental officials directly involved, to steal public funds meant for the impoverished millions in Nigeria. Today, it is the honest opinions of most Nigerians that the fire at the ‘Treasury’ building is a grandiose deceit and conspiracy against the Nigerian people at this crucial time of the country’s nationhood.
Since the Federal Government and other strata of governments in Nigeria began their understandable panicky measures, to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus in Nigeria, the sensitive issue of ‘welfare packages’ for the so-called ‘vulnerable Nigerians’ has exposed some of our politicians and other stakeholders as some of the most ‘funny and inhuman’ set of species in the whole world.
Permit me to go down memory lane a bit, to display the fact that the reckless misadventure recently dramatized by our pseudo rulers, with the ‘sudden’ fire incident at the nation’s Ministry of Finance, is not a novelty at all, in the criminal cum manipulative history of human poor governance.
Eighty seven years ago in the National Socialist (NAZI) Germany, the former Lance Corporal, who rose to become the Leader of the ‘Third Reich,’ Adolf Hitler, used the ‘night of the long knives’ and the burning of the ‘Reichstag building’ in Germany to impose a heart-wrenching dictatorship in that country, prior to the gigantic human slaughter known as the World War II.
On February 27, 1933, the imposing parliament building (The Reichstag) in Germany, was set on fire, allegedly by a communist sympathizer. From later historic revelations it was discovered that Adolf Hitler and his cronies indeed masterminded the arson and blamed it on the communists.
The burning of the Reichstag building led to an Enabling Act that gave Hitler wide powers to suppress civil liberties and made the Nazis absolute rulers of Germany.
In order to make themselves undisputable dictators of Germany between June 20 and July 2nd 1934, Adolf Hitler, Herman Goring and Heinrich Himmler used their elite squad to eliminate Ernst Rohm and his paramilitary guards who had become extremely powerful then.
The elite squad ‘SS’ entered the headquarters of Ernst Rohm’s ‘SA’ hiding their knives, and succeeded in brutally ‘knifing’ their victims to their untimely deaths. The ‘night of the long knife’ or the ‘purging of Ernst Rohm’ automatically established Adolf Hitler as the supreme leader in Nazi Germany.
In the midst of claims and counter claims of how much the Federal Government of Nigeria has given out in terms of palliative measures to the vulnerable masses in Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, has been mercilessly caught in the raging messy controversy.
Lai Mohammed indeed allegedly ‘lied’ when he said that the Federal Government doled out close to 3 billion naira recently, within ‘three days.’ Though he has refuted the alleged ‘claims,’ which is his usual trade mark, Nigerians are not deceived at all!
Does Lai Mohammed think Nigerians are some miserable morons, who could not reason out the shameful scam that is being orchestrated today, in the name of ‘welfare packages’ being dished out in the name of COVID-19 Challenge?
In this matter, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has unknowingly pronounced his conscienceless attitude to the governed in Nigeria. He is gradually becoming a symbol of impudence and unnecessary propaganda in this civilian administration.
This latest development is uncalled for, insensitive and cruel to the hundreds of millions of Nigerians, who could hardly afford a single meal per day, today, because of their nature of livelihood, such that they must step out daily to hustle to eke a living or survive.
Therefore, the recent fire out-break at the ‘treasury’ building in the nation’s capital city of Abuja, is clear to the blind and the ‘news’ loud enough to the deaf and dumb, that there was something ‘fishy.’
This is in regard to the disbursement of Federal Government’s billions of naira worth of welfare packages to the vulnerable millions of people in our midst, coming on the heels of the Senate prying its nose into the matter.
Of all places, why the ‘treasury’ building and the office of the Accountant General in particular, that this mysterious fire occur? The coronavirus thing has further exposed some of our public office holders and politicians as the worst agents and distributors of penury, poverty, darkness, falsehood and impoverishment.
Why the fire at this time, when members of the National Assembly and concerned Nigerians have indicated ‘patriotic’ interest, to know the fact of the matter about the transparent network or modus operandi of getting this national emergency funds to desired destinations within the country?
It is fast becoming a premeditated agenda by those governmental officials directly involved, to steal public funds meant for the impoverished millions in Nigeria. Today, it is the honest opinions of most Nigerians that the fire at the ‘Treasury’ building is a grandiose deceit and conspiracy against the Nigerian people at this crucial time of the country’s nationhood.
If Adolf Hitler used the orchestrated ‘night of the long knife’ and the carefully plotted ‘Reichstag fire as incidences in 1933 and 1934 to impose unprecedented dictatorship on the hapless people of Germany, the recent fire out break at the ‘Treasury’ building in Nigeria was a premeditated agenda and affront to hide the truth from fellow Nigerians about the true spending of the coronavirus funds.
Also, it goes to tell us brazenly that a chunk of the characters working in this present administration are reprehensive criminals and arch enemies of the Nigerian nation.
It has equally openly shown that by this most calculated sadistic conspiracy, any known goodwill or iota of confidence some Nigerians have had on this civilian regime, since 2015, has been eroded. What a pity!
The manner of the distribution of the COVID-19 funds and relief materials so far, has shown that too, that perhaps, the citizens of Nigeria inhabiting the ‘Northern Nigeria’ are more important than the rest of us; are more ‘eligible voters’ than the rest electorate.
This is a stab on our back, a desecration of the doctrine of one Nigeria or national unity. It is equally pathetic to declare here that most of the ‘super religious leaders’ controlling hundreds of millions of worshippers across the country are worse than the biblical ‘Judas Iscariot,’ who betrayed Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
How are they going to explain to millions of their congregation that the Federal Government is more important, more useful, reliable and more a ‘friend in need’ in these times of stark hunger and want exacerbated by the COVID-19?
How are they going to rationalize the fact that, it is better to donate hugely to the Federal Government, than to hurriedly embark on a massive network of distribution of relief packages to their indigent and vulnerable members?
To me what some of our religious leaders have exhibited in this period is treachery, a conspiracy against their helpless flocks, and a crime against God and humanity.
It is not too late for the Federal Government to apply the big stick of doing the needful urgently, to treat fellow Nigerians as equal stakeholders and without delay set up a commission of enquiry to probe the arson at the Federal Ministry of Finance, with a view to bringing culprits to book.
It is becoming a norm that most politicians do not care a hoot about the traumatized majority.
These provocative measures called ‘welfare packages’ going on, even in some states in the federation at this baffling and anxious times show that the people do not have any dependable or valuable friend in our various governments. This is sad!
In order to curb this offensive trends of ‘government for the few and everybody to himself,’ as patriotic Nigerians, we must continue to call on our present rulers, to urgently develop and devise a new concept of governance and restructuring of priorities for the common good of the people.
Nowinta Igbotako wrote: Where we are – A call for democratic revolution in Nigeria.
