THEY TOLD US THE ANSWER

       Every Nigerian has been asked or has even asked himself this question ‘’ why is Nigeria where she is today?’’ some scholars have done theoretical works, some have presented papers while orators have spoken expending much wit yet they all failed woefully or so it seems. The question is why there is so much suffering and anguish amidst plenty or better still, why are we living near river Niger and bathing with spit?

      While I admit that I did not escape an ‘’f’’ in the Nigerian course, I must confess that I heaved a sigh of relief when on the 17^th of august 2011, two old men who had ruled us in the past for about twenty years between them decided to tell us the answer.

       We all thought corruption was the destructive worm that had held us to ransom. We had prayed about it, some even acted movies about it, while people like my humble self had debated on it times and again.

       Little did we know that the birthday celebration of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida would give rise to the long awaited answer. As expected, Babangida had held a feast to mark his 70^th birthday but what we didn’t expect was his speech. He decided to use the otherwise joyful occasion to take a jab at erstwhile president, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo on lack of power supply in spite of the vast riches available to the government arising from crude oil export. He went further to claim that he could have done so much if he was the one in power.

      Obasanjo on hearing that, decided to remind everyone that he was lost for words because in chapter 26 of proverbs, verse 4, we are told ‘’not to answer a fool lest you be like unto him’’. Then again, the next verse says ‘’answer a fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own eyes’’. He then concluded that Babangida was a fool at 70.    

     Babangida  did not deny his new identity. He simply drew our attention to the fact that Obasanjo was a higher ranking officer in that identity hierarchy. He implied that Obasanjo was a greater fool. These are people who had ruled this nation for about twenty years between them. They are in a better position than anyone else to explain why we are where we find ourselves.

      Now can you imagine a man at fifty who was foolish for about twenty years? How do you expect him to excel in his endeavours when the hair begins to turn grey? That is the Nigerian story. We have been told the real reason why we are where we are and any other proposition is merely theoretically birthed.

  To be continued……….