THE BLIND ALLEY

The recent international awakening to the evil of government inaction in the wake of the abduction of the 200-odd school girls almost 3 weeks ago is belated but wholly welcome. The amount of time that has been lost speaks volumes about the paralysis of Jonathan and his government. The whole world has now realised the impotence of this regime in all areas of national life, and that the only area this government excels in is corruption. Yes, corruption is their bailiwick. 

Now, to the issue at hand. I watched with mortification, last night, a short live interview conducted with Okojo-Iweala on Channel 4 news (in the UK). I was ranting at the telly and I was careful not to vent my extreme frustration on the telly and throw it out of the window. I don't want to dwell too much on the twaddle she was coming up with, but apart from the blatant lies and pretences as to what effort had been hitherto deployed at rescuing the missing girls, John Snow (the interviewer) pointedly asked her if widespread corruption didn't have a part to play in the whole picture of lawlessness and insurgencies. Our dear Coordinating Minister sidestepped the issue and brazenly insisted that that topic was not for discussion, and that the rescue attempt of the girls must be focused on. Didn't Jonathan saunter off to Kano to dance at a PDP rally the day after the first Nyanya bombing? Wasn't that the same day the girls were abducted in Chibok? Now 3 weeks on and now that the eyes of the world are on Nigeria's feeble attempt at rescuing the unfortunate girls, Jonathan made a nonsensical speech about the abduction, and his wife disgraced the whole country with her incomprehensible and lunatic theatrics on national television. We've all seen it. Heartbreaking that Nigeria has been reduced to this pitiful state. Why can't these guys use interpreters for goodness' sake and employ shrinks to check their states of mind? 

Now you see what I'm getting at. They have been forced by the international media attention to get off their fat backsides and out of their comfort zones and display fake empathy with the families of the abducted girls. Okonjo dared not talk about the effect corruption is having on the social and economic fabric of the country, after all, according to Jonathan, most of the corruption cases are mere cases of stealing.

It is true that such apathetic behaviour to the plight of ordinary Nigerians is now par for the course and the wider world has borne witness to what Nigerians are having to endure on a daily basis. Make no mistake about it, no one is putting all the blame on Jonathan and his effeminate government, but the primary responsibility of government is the safety and security of its citizens. Adequate measures must be put in place to ensure those, but this has been made impossible by the corrosiveness of corruption and graft at all levels. For instance, just imagine how far the stolen $20 billion would have gone in fighting this scourge of Boko Haram.

Now that the United States has stepped into the breach, I pray along with all well-meaning Nigerians that the plight of these poor girls and their families may be brought to an early and satisfactory end, and the evil that is Boko Haram may begin to crumble. The lackluster performance of this horrible government is now world-renowned and Nigerians may now look forward to the day that this government will crumble with Boko Haram and they can both disappear into the blind alley they are headed for. Both of them have wreaked enough havoc on us and we can ill afford to accommodate such drag on our progress as a nation any longer.