THE MONTAGE OF FAILURES

I, like any other long-suffering Nigerian, sincerely hope that, one day soon, will be able to point a finger of tacit approval at one laudable achievement of this rudderless government. Things have gone beyond a state of despair and almost beyond that of repair. The package of unrest, religious, political and social insecurity, humongous embezzlements, is all that has been delivered to every home, place of business, worship and pleasure the length and breadth of our country. Just as we thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, up popped the farce of the so-called national merit awards; many of them given to people tainted by so much scandal and controversies that the only award they could possibly have merited was the longest-serving prisoner in Nigeria. I challenge anyone to take a cursory look at the recipients and make up their own minds. Worthless gongs for worthless gangs, I'd say. Little wonder the venerable Chinua Achebe declined to be part of this farcical charade.

Moving away from that, how about the stink being caused by the PDP in Bayelsa? Without sounding too alarmist, it's almost fair to opine that Afghanistan could be a safer place to be than Bayelsa at this point in time. The scramble for power and influence has always been the life purpose of these cottage me-me politicians. Their eyes reach blowing-out point at the mere mention of any election; the only thing they see beyond the present is money, more money, and even more money. Ask any of these political eunuchs and intellectual impotents what they are aspiring to, and you'll see the blankest stare you'd ever see on their hideously convulsed faces. They may break out in grins to attempt to hide the inanity of their very pitiful existence, but they fool noone. They break bones and draw blood for the loot they have their satnavs hooked on. Oh, what ignobility of life and essence!!

Moving on, how can I not mention the stance the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dahiru Musdapher, took on the issue of plea-bargaining? What a misfortune that Nigeria does not have loads of such independent and superior minds on its benches! The grab-and-grab mentality of many in the legal profession has given legitimacy to the smash-and-grab mentality of the vast majority of politicians. The greedy lawyers are always at the ready to 'defend' the profoundly ungodly looters. Just when they are about to face justice, they discover their new-found belief in the rule of law and their fundamental human rights. They are even desperate enough to escape justice that they bring curses upon themselves by claiming to have a goddamn illness that requires treatment abroad, or necessitates a cessation of their trial. The grubby lawyers are always there. Plea-bargaining is even a bigger fraud than the actual embezzlements that brought it about in the first place. If it wasn't a fraud, why not extend plea-bargaining to all levels of criminal financial activity? Why not ask the poor man on the street that stole N5,000 to pay back N500 and walk free from court? The whole injustice of it is enough for any well-meaning Nigerian to yaff all the way to Aso Rock. The kibitzers at the inept EFCC should be cleared out for the good of justice.

All of these and a lot more besides just amount to a montage of failures.