Showing posts with label Oby Ezekwesili. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oby Ezekwesili. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Robbing The Poor To Pamper The Rich

 By Dan Onwukwe

Every passing day, reports about Nigeria and its political leaders, have become astonishingly revolting. It draws tears.  While the economy is on a cliffhanger, the rate of poverty in the country is frighteningly rising. With poor Nigerians facing extremely difficult times, and most parents  unable to afford to pay their children’s school fees, another class of Nigerians seem to be living in a completely different world, behaving like overfed, drunken sailors, living in denial, oblivious of the raging storms. And while the government has continued in its borrowing binge, cost of governance is soaring. It’s all about breathing down the necks of the poor to take care of the rich  at the expense of the already lean public treasury.

Never in my adult life have I seen  this class of freewheeling, impudent, profligate, reckless, selfish, self-serving  politicians to whom shame has become a passé. To borrow the words of former minister,  Dr Oby Ezekwesili, who last week described our federal lawmakers as an ‘incorrigible bunch of lawbreakers who rigged themselves into office, and felt entitled to an indulgent life funded by the miserable public treasury’. The truth is, nobody who steals political power uses it to benefit people.  That’s the heart of Ezekwesili’s message. Moreover, if  corruption were a disqualifying offence, almost all politicians in Nigeria would be out of work, and perhaps half of them would have been in jail. But this is Nigeria. What a country! 

It raises pertinent questions: Who can save Nigeria from this desperate, selfish politicians? Is Nigeria jinxed on the leadership index? Why is our present class of politicians far worse than the previous ones? Is our leadership recruitment process to blame? Why is it that what works in other democracies don’t work in Nigeria? How did we come to this sorry state, where nothing works and our lawmakers have become more of freewheelers and rent-seekers than lawmakers.  For want of a fitting description, with little exception, most of our present politicians have become open sores to the country? Frankly, any of these questions you attempt to answer, leads inexorably to another, more troubling ones. Who did this to us? Is Nigeria cursed, or are we the cause?  We need some reminders, one of which  is that, nothing happens to a country that is not a reflection of the character and temperament of the politicians in that country.    

This is in line with the saying that every country is its own laboratory  of democracy. Look around:  It’s not hard to gauge the mood of Nigerians since Bola Tinubu was declared President by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on that unforgettable wee hours of Wednesday morning, March 1, 2023. Nigeria’s skylines have been painted in worst colours. They are colours of despair, pain, disillusionment and profound frustrations never seen since the present democratic dispensation, 24 years ago.  If you have observed closely, you possibly have noticed what could be called the emergence of blood -and- thunder politicians who believe only in “their way- or -the highway” kind of politics.      

These are a bunch of politicians, who are in politics purely for personal aggrandisement, to enrich themselves at public expense. They have  little tolerance for prudence, transparency and accountability. They have no real agenda other than to dominate other people. The pain of the poor has become their luxury. And you ask: Why do the worst set of people rise to power in some countries?  That was the question posed by Brian Paul Klass, a young American scientist and author of the Corruptible, and co-author of, How to Rig an Election. Look at the idiocy that is happening at both chambers of the National Assembly. Their riotous habits remain unchanged, even when the citizens they claim to represent groan under the terrible burden of hunger and misery unleashed by the Tinubu administration.     

The danger signal to the present reckless behaviour of the  federal lawmakers began so early after the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly. According to Business Day Report of June 27,  barely one week after Godswill  Akpabio was inaugurated as President of the Senate, his security aides were seen riding expensive, exotic power bikes as part of his convoy. All over Abuja, the convoys of politicians have become obscene spectacle in a country where over 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionality poor. 

Few days ago, the lid was blown open of the purchase of 360 Prado Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs)  for all the members of the House of Representatives at cost estimated at N57.6bn or  N130 million each. Some reports put the cost of each of the SUV at N160 million each. The House spokesperson,  Akin Rotimi tried to fool Nigerians when he said that the amount was a “bit exaggerated”. He admitted that the SUVs will be distributed to the legislators, but “not for personal use”. Did you hear that? 

That was a remarkably ineffectual job, a briefcase of excuses of rebutting a collosal waste of public money.  Fudging facts has never been in short supply with Nigerian politicians. Who says our politics and politicians are not a fun to follow? This is happening at a time when our universities, hospitals are grossly underfunded, and our roads have become deathtraps, insecurity still squeezing everybody to a corner, and organised labour asking for salary increase amid soaring cost of living as a result of rising inflation, unemployment and general decline in standard of living index. And government stonewalling to grant the request of workers.            

All of this is happening as the salaries and perks of political office holders are on the rise and constantly under review. As of 2018, Sen. Shehu Sani revealed that a senator was paid N13.5 million per month as salary, and N750,000 as ‘running cost’ every month. According to recent estimates, the 48 ministers appointed by President Tinubu will cost the country a hefty N8.6bn in four years as emoluments. This is coming when the Tinubu administration is set to borrow a fresh $1.5 billion from the World Bank to support the 2024 budget. Recall that the Debt Management Office DMO had cautioned against further borrowing. At this profligate rate, it’s too early to know whether there will be anything left in the treasury in the next four years. 

Right now, those who should know say that Nigeria’s financial balance sheet looks grim like a limited liability company under receivership. Bankruptcy is imminent. Why not, when over 96 percent of revenue is spent on debt servicing, yet our lawmakers are living a life of obscene revelry in a sinking Titanic. Never in recent memory has Nigeria drifted off so dangerously in every index of human measurements as it is now. The lose of confidence in government and politicians is at all-time high. It’s destroying the social, economic and political fabric of the country. The future is bleak, yet the political leadership is unperturbed.  

Make no mistakes about it: what the APC administration has made of Nigeria and Nigerians in the last 8 years(and counting), is unimaginable. It is like a virus that has infested all facets of our lives. As already said, it’s an open sore, an existential threat that strikes at the very heart and soul of our national will to coexist as one nation in diversity. The facts are there.  Whatever APC inherited from the PDP in 2015, it has virtually destroyed all. What Buhari made worse, Tinubu has made worst in just  five months as President. Take a few samplers: In 2015, the Naira exchanged at N200/$1. As of last weekend, it was N1,100/$.                                                

Our foreign reserves was $35.25bn in May, 2015, today, it is less than $23trn. National debt profile was N18.89trn in 2015, today, it is more than N87trn. In 2015, inflation rate was 13 percent, today it’s 26.7 percent, representing 18- year  high, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). A litre of fuel was N95 in 2015, today, it’s over  N630 depending on the location. A bag of 50kg of Rice was sold at N8,000, today, it’s over N48,000. The question is: Are you better off today than you were in 2015? 

This is what Robert Allan Caro, a renowned American journalist and author of many biographies of U.S. political figures wrote about the likes of Nigerian politicians: “What leaders do while they are trying to get power is not necessarily what they do after they have it”.                                           

It’s all about the complexity of ambition, and the delusional forgetfulness by some politicians that, in the end, power is transient. As Lord Acton said, ‘power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. What does that tell us?  Certainly, there will be life after politics. Is what Tinubu doing now what he said when he was campaigning for the office of the President?  

Where is the “Renewed Hope” that he promised? Hope has given way to pessimism. Is he paying attention to the cry of Nigerians over worsening hunger in the land?  I have read Caro’s observation many times, and situating it to the context of Nigerian politicians, especially the ones strutting the political stage now, the message sinks in. One sad reality is that, to paraphrase Caro, without a vision beyond their own advancement, leaders are almost paralyzed once the goal of acquiring power has been achieved.   

*Onwukwe is a commentator on public issues    

 

Friday, June 30, 2023

Alaba Market Demolition: Matters Arising

 By Emeka Alex Duru 

I confess that I initially bought into the explanation by officials of Lagos state on the reasons for the demolition of some structures in the popular Alaba International Market. The government had on Sunday, June 18, commenced pulling down 17 buildings it tagged distressed at the market. 

The General Manager of Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Gbolahan Oki, who spoke on the exercise two days earlier, claimed that the affected buildings had been marked for demolition since 2016. “The marked inscriptions from LASBCA seen on different parts of the buildings that were looking physically distressed had vacation notices as far back as 2016, 2020, 2022, and several others issued to this year, 2023,” the state added in a post on its website. 

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Nigeria: How Drug Lords May Influence 2023 Poll

 

By Emmanuel Onwubiko

I was in deep conversations with stakeholders in the organised civil Rights community in the Country on the revelation that was made by the then Anambra State’s governor-elect Professor Chukwuma Soludo shortly after he emerged as the successor in office of the immediate past Chief executive of that state that drug barons have captured political powers in Nigeria.

The erudite Professor of Banking and Finance then proceeded at length to offer profound exposition of his claim. As we progress we will cite his assertion in full.

It was in that same period that the Chief executive officer of the National Drugs Laws Enforcement Agency, Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa, hinted that the agency may conduct drug tests on politicians aspiring for political offices.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Okonjo-Iweala, The WTO And A Naysayer

By Chuks Iloegbunam
If the current controversy surrounding the search for a replacement for the outgoing director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Brazilian Roberto de Azevedo, were not global and intense, it would mean that the position was worth little more than a sinecure. Appointed in 2013, Mr. de Azevedo has served notice that he will step down this August, a year before his term concludes.
 
*Okonjo-Iweala
Up came eight candidates from all regions of the world, three of which are Africans: Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the former Kenyan foreign minister Amina Mohamed, who previously was the chairperson of the WTO General Council; and Abdel-Hamid Mamdouhm, an Egyptian lawyer who also had a stint as a senior WTO official. Because the headship of the WTO is not geographically rotational, no region of the world can claim it is its turn to produce the organisation’s next D-G.

Friday, February 1, 2019

Presidential Debate: Between Buhari And Atiku

By Jude Ndukwe
The much talked about Presidential Debate scheduled to hold on Saturday, January 19, 2019, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, has come and gone but not without its dramas that have kept Nigerians wondering and talking about so many things including why the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, shunned the debate, and why his closest challenger, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, excused himself from it after realizing that the incumbent was not going to be in attendance.
*Atiku and Buhari 
The debate was supposed to be a Presidential Debate. Such debates world over lose their essence and savour once the incumbent is not present, and it is unthinkable that the incumbent in the US, for example, would miss out on such a debate since the debate is designed to scrutinize the performance of the incumbent/his party and extract commitments from the contenders.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

President Buhari And The Arrogance Of Power

By Anthony Igiehon
Ahead of the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election on November 8, 2016, the world watched with bated breath as the two major candidates in the election, Republican Candidate Donald Trump and Democratic Candidate Hillary Clinton went head to head at three separate debates held at New York’s Hofstra University (September 26, 2016), Washington University in St. Louis (October 9, 2016), and University of Nevada, Las Vegas (October 19, 2016).
*President Buhari 
For the two candidates who met the Commission on Presidential Debates’ criteria for participation, the debates provided a much-needed platform to present to the American voting public their plans or reform proposals on a number of foreign and domestic issues.

Monday, October 22, 2018

The Significance Of Citizen Peter Obi

By Martins Oloja
In a working democracy not polluted by soldiers of fortune, political parties and the power elite would have long courted former Governor Peter Obi as a presidential candidate to disrupt some dark forces and institutions that have held down a significant country like Nigeria. But this is Nigeria where the most important qualification to be a candidate for a high profile office is loyalty to ‘political party owners’ or the godfathers. This is the one of the reasons we have been battling with the spirit of near-success syndrome – since 1966 when we lost democracy and federalism. The vicious godfathers are still in charge even for #Project2019. 
*Peter Obi
Despite this prevailing political condition, I think Mr. Peter Obi, as running mate to a presidential candidate at this time should still be celebrated as a glimmer of hope for the most populous black nation on earth. The reason for this additional note to a series of contextual reporting of the man so far is simple. Current attacks on him by a section of the power elite in Eastern Nigeria and celebration of his nomination by the sophisticated Western Nigeria for instance, also illustrate a message of restoration for those who have lost faith in the optimism of the Mandelas who believe that it is only through Nigeria that Africa and the black race would be blessed and celebrated.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

What Do The Igbo Really Want?

By Ike Abonyi
“Those who lie to Mr. President that he is doing well in building a nation are unfair to him. Since he became our President in 2015, we have not seen much of that leverage of the personality of the President to mobilise and unite” –Oby Ezekwesili
That is the red hot question in the country now. Everyone in and out of government, are asking the question and many are struggling to provide the answer. What has become very clear however is that there is no unanimity to the answer even among the Igbo themselves. But what really do the Igbo want in Nigeria? Is it possible pigeon holing their desires into one straight answer? Why is Igbo always the issue among all ethnic groups in the country?
John Nnia Nwodo,
President General, Ohaneze Ndigbo
Why are they the issue now after they were the issue 50 years ago? Why is everyone now talking about the Igbo and the Nigeria question? Why has the Igbo question dominated the nation’s political space to the extent that the President had to make two national broadcasts under two months on it. To effectively provide appreciable response to these whys, I intent to use a story illustration to further give insight into the problem and possibly reinforce and bolster the historical journey of this crisis.

Once upon a time, in one notable Kingdom, a strong King had emerged bearing in his bag grudges against a particular family in his Kingdom for causing the Kingdom to go to war against itself for which the King was an active player as a youth in the Kingdom’s army. The new leader’s relationship with this family in question has not been the best politically as the family did not support his emergence.
Because of his record as a no gobbledygook leader there was great fear and apprehension when he emerged as the King but he allayed the fear in his installation speech assuring the people that his past was already a prologue as they were seeing a brand new convert from what they use to know.

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Why President Buhari Ran(n) to Gambia and Away From Rann

By Reno Omokri

Till date, the only person who has died in The Gambia is President elect Barrow's son, Habibu Barrow, who was bitten by a dog. But in Southern Kaduna, hundreds of people have bitten the dust. 

If in truth President Buhari really wants to prevent a humanitarian crisis, the place he should be visiting and intervening in is Southern Kaduna before The Gambia.
*Buhari

And the penchant of the President to delegate pressing domestic problems to his subordinates while personally addressing foreign challenges of lower priority is on the increase.

I have chosen to empathize with the Buhari administration over the deaths of Internally Displaced Persons and international aid workers at the Rann IDP camp in Borno state by a bomb mistakenly dropped on the camp by a Nigerian Air Force Jet, but for the life of me I cannot understand why the President, who heavily criticized former President Jonathan's handling of the Boko Haram crisis, elected to delegate his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, and some ministers to visit the victims and survivors of the Rann disaster to offer condolences and supposed support.

And to the Borno state governor who cheekily said there was progress because in his words there was no "blame game" as would have happened in the previous administration of Jonathan, I would just say, wake up and smell the coffee. I can see no excuse for this faux pas except the Borno state Governor is sarcastically trying to call out the Buhari government for its over indulgence in blaming previous administrations.

If it was possible, the Buhari administration would have taken out a registered trade mark on the phrase 'blame game'. Never in the history of Nigeria, and perhaps contemporary Africa, has an administration invested so much of its focus and time on blame gaming as the Buhari government. So Governor Shettima would have to pull more fallacious words out of his mischievous magical hat of illusions to be able to pin such a false accusation on the Jonathan Government.

It may be necessary to remind Governor Shettima that the Jonathan he so likes to blame visited Borno more than once as President during the height of the Boko Haram insurgency. Has President Buhari even bothered to drop by? That is how much the President thinks of him!

But in all this, we still must give God the glory that the mistake by the air force did not occur while Oby Ezekwesili and Lai Mohammed were combing Sambisa forest in search of the missing Chibok girls. 

And let me speak directly to the President. President Muhammadu Buhari, as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, don't you think you owe it as a duty to be in Rann at this very moment to personally comfort victims and survivors of the unfortunate mistaken bombing by our Armed Forces? 

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Chibok Girls Abduction: A Hoax Or Reality?

By Comrade Omaga Elachi Daniel
Recently, the media (both local and international) was awash with news of the release of 21 of the school girls of the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, out of the over 200 reported to have been abducted by the dreaded Boko Haram Sect. While jubilations and mixed feelings trailed this development, it is pertinent for one to critically bare his minds on some of the questions that are still left unanswered.

In its entirety, while some believe that the abduction was indeed an act of terror, others believe the episode was a hoax! A politically motivated strategy, carefully organized and executed by professional mercenaries to discredit the past administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. A hi-tech political maneuvering that could pass for an all time best seller!

On the other hand, many believe the recent release of these 21 girls is another calculated attempt to make Nigerians believe that, yes, the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration promised to secure the release of these girls if been voted into power and they are indeed fulfilling their promises. At some point, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, a close ally of President Buhari said that these girls may never be found alive. A statement which many activists believe was goofy.

Even President Buhari, his spokespersons and the wailers took similar positions. They opined that the girls must have been married away or sold as slaves. These assertions never deterred Madam Oby Ezekwesili  and her ‘soldiers’ (the Bring Back Our Girls – BBOG- team) in their struggles and advocacy for the release of the girls. Funny as it became, the FG later saw these agitation as a hydra-headed problem that must be curtailed.
Without mincing words, I want to commend our security agencies so far for their resilience and commitment in fostering lasting peace and security across the nation. You guys are the true heroes!

BUT MY QUESTIONS…

Monday, May 30, 2016

Nigeria: Tomorrow Is Dying!

By Ayodele Adio
Northern elders and the elite class have been quite vocal in the last couple of years, giving a louder voice to national issues, particularly that which affects their region. However, the sad reality is that they have focused on issues that  massage the ego of the elite class and deepen the pockets of a selected few turning a blind eye on the more threatening issues eating up the region.

President Buhari and VP Osinbajo
The dominant lexicon, Revenue allocation, as to who gets a better share from the national purse seems to take a sizable share of their mind thereby ignoring the bigger elephant in the room. If increase in allocation translates to better distribution of wealth across the social strata and an improved living standard of the average northerner, then they stand on holy ground but the evidence proves otherwise. The lack of regional purpose, poorly articulated vision, an incoherent strategy and a continuous mismanagement of resources is the cradle upon which the parlous situation of today’s north was bred.

The huge textile industries in Kano and Kaduna that employed thousands of young northerners gradually slid into extinction without any of our leaders attempting to thrown in a rescue rope. There is no doubt that the north is home to the richest man in Africa and a couple of other billionaires, what  logical explanation could one then give to the widespread poverty of the larger populace rather than the earlier assertion on the north’s focus on building strong individuals at the expense of stronger communities.

 It is this widening gap between the rich and poor that has gradually metamorphosed to the insecurity we are experiencing today. How could we not have known that economic repression breeds strife and contempt. The north is today making the headline for all the wrong things. The challenges in the north and its opportunities  are tied to a single yet critical word, Education. It is the level of awareness of a people, their skills and cerebral sophistication that determine the kind of community they build. There is a strong relationship between education and economic prosperity. When Egypt became the centre for global education, she consequently became an economic world power.

This trend extended to Greece, Rome, Britain and today the United States where seven of the top ten universities in the world are resident. The north accounts for the highest rate of illiteracy in the country, way below the national average and worst ratios  for girl child education in the country. The national demographic and health survey puts the illiteracy rate for women at 21% in the north west compare to a national rate of 50%, the 10 states with the highest number of girls out of secondary school are also found in the north.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

There Is No War Against Corruption In Nigeria (1)

By Femi Aribisala

I was invited to a Roundtable on Corruption by the Law Faculty of the University of Lagos, only to discover that some “Buharideens” had highjacked the occasion and were inclined to use it as a platform to promote the onslaught of “democratic dictatorship” in Nigeria.
*President Buhari 
The topic was on corruption in Nigeria, but the mast-head in the hall was more specific. It read: “Winning the War against Corruption”. This was easily seized on by government agents to imply that President Muhammadu Buhari was well on the way to dealing a mortal blow to corruption in Nigeria.
The composition of the invited discussants was biased. Most of those on the panel with me were dyed-in-the-wool government apologists. The Chairman was Professor Itse Sagay, currently the Chairman of Buhari’s Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption. As it turned out, he was not prepared to entertain any meaningful discussion about corruption in Nigeria. His agenda was to showcase ostensible government achievements in the anti-corruption campaign and to proclaim new promissory notes grandiloquently for public consumption.
Also there was Oby Ezekwesili of #BringBackOurGirls fame. She used to pitch her tent with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But now that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is in power, she has been romancing the new government. It was even speculated at one time that Buhari would reward her with a ministerial portfolio. Not surprising, she is no longer as strident in demanding government rescue of the kidnapped Chibok girls as she had been under Jonathan.
The kingpin of the government apologists on the panel was Femi Falani, a lawyer and human rights activist. He was chosen to give the keynote address. Falana had been heavily touted as Buhari’s attorney general. In fact, on the eve of the ministerial appointments, a list was widely publicised in the press that had his name penciled in for the post. But someone apparently put an eraser to it. Nevertheless, in order to remain in the good books of the government, Falana seems to have jettisoned his earlier dedication to the defence of human rights.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Pursue Justice, Not Retribution – American Lawyer Tells Buhari In An Open Letter

President Muhammadu Buhari
Aso Rock, Abuja Nigeria

Dear President Buhari:

When you visited the United States Institute of Peace last July, you pledged that you would be "fair, just and scrupulously follow due process and the rule of law, as enshrined in [the Nigerian] constitution" in prosecuting corruption.

Such loftiness is laudable. As the Bible instructs in Amos 5:24: "[L]et justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
 


But to be just, the law must be evenhanded. It cannot, in the manner of Russian President Vladimir Putin, be something that is given to punish your enemies and withheld to favor your friends. If so, the law becomes an instrument of injustice bearing earmarks of the wicked rather than the good.

In the United States, you declared a policy of "zero tolerance" against corruption. You solicited weapons and other assistance from the United States government based on that avowal. But were you sincere?

During your election campaign, you promised widespread amnesty, not zero tolerance. You elaborated: "Whoever that is indicted of corruption between 1999 to the time of swearing-in would be pardoned. I am going to draw a line, anybody who involved himself in corruption after I assume office, will face the music."

After you were inaugurated, however, you disowned your statement and declared you would prosecute past ministers or other officials for corruption or fraud. And then again you immediately hedged. You were reminded of your dubious past by former Major General and President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, who succeeded your military dictatorship. He released this statement:

Will The Chibok Girls Ever Return?

By Maxwell Adeyemi  Adeleye
A graveyard silence enveloped the nation of Nigeria on the 15th day of April 2014 when the despicable news of the kidnap of 276 female students of Government Day Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State hit the blogosphere. The girls were said to have been abducted by suspected Islamic Fundamentalist Group, Boko Haram.
A series of protest trailed the kidnap saga aftermath the failure of the immediate past administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the Nigerian security formations to rescue the girls from their abductors.
The incapability of Jonathan’s administration to unravel the misery behind the controversial kidnap of Chibok girls led to a wild condemnation and rejection of his reign within and outside the shores of Nigeria.
This singular factor indeed, contributed massively to the defeat of Jonathan at the polls in 2015 presidential election. The kidnap saga was a good campaign PR for the opposition desperately searching for central power. It was a well greased campaign that collapsed a political dynasty embedded with incumbency.
The hitherto loved, cherished and valued Jonathan by the international community because of his intellectual humility and erudition became a recluse character decorated with a legendary muffler of cluelessness, ineptitude and clumsiness.
In Nigeria, various groups advocating for the release of the missing Chibok girls emerged. Journalists, Activists, Social Commentators and Analysts within and outside the shores including myself descended on Jonathan and his security chiefs through our pen and voices.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Chibok Girls Never Existed!









By John Darlington
In the run-up to 2015 general elections part of the campaign promises of the All Progressives’ Congress was a double assurance that should they have our votes and be voted into power the abducted girls in the dead of the night from a school dormitory at Chibok will be rescued and reunited with their families. This sounded encouraging and thus drew the attention of Nigerians and the international community.

The then federal government under former President Jonathan was seen as none other than a clueless regime that must be jettisoned at all costs and this was followed by growing impatience as the nation waited anxiously for May 29 to send the administration packing and as luck would have it this was achieved by instrumentality of the ballot box in the general elections that took place on March 28 this year.
*Oby Ezekwesili: What happened to the once very active Bring Back Our Girls Campaign? 

‘Chibok girls’ as they are fondly called was used to score cheap political points and so much noise was made. The former President everyone would recall had his reservations when the news of the ‘abductees’ first hit the nation’s airwaves. It soon made news headlines and was widely reported by the world press and former President Jonathan was given two options either he produces the girls which his ‘cluelessness’ has occasioned or immediately relinquishes his hold on power.

Several demonstrations by Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora commenced to pressurize President Jonathan to produce the abductees. I too was enraged in no small measure against the seeming inaction of the former administration under President Jonathan considering the agonizing pains the parents were passing through over the sudden loss of their children to the devil-may-care jihadist insurgents.

The All Progressives’ Congress held tenaciously to this Chibok story and had everyone taken in that gave them that magnetic pull. As luck would have it, the elections were held which, reports say, they won by a landslide. Buhari assumed the reign of power on May 29, 2015, and six calendar months on nothing has been said about the Chibok girls or the efforts in place to rescue them from their abductors and the story is gradually disappearing like a fading star in the firmament.

The babel of voices that trailed the abduction of the girls have suddenly become extinct and the parent’s like receding hills have thinned out. Ah… this brings so many things to the mind of this author. Could we have been fooled with the Chibok story by a cast of neophyte actors to solicit for votes all in a bid to get to power? Did they really deserve our votes? Life appears to be going increasingly uphill in Nigeria since they took over power about six months ago amid pleas for patience by the Nigerian regime in Abuja and this leaves me astounded in no small measure.

What about what looked like sponsored protests at the period under sad review? Who were the people whose services were retained? How much were they paid for this massive fraud, hypocrisy, and a range of elaborate deceptions?

This writer can infer that lies, deceit were designed on whose back they rode to power in that nothing has been heard about the parents nor the relatives of the purported abductees. Buhari who capitalized on the Chibok story to attract our votes has suddenly gone as quiet as he could be. This is very disheartening!

Now the question is: Were there ever abductees from a secondary grammar school dormitory at Chibok? Why has the fiery noise eventually thinned out? Were the Chibok girls mere non-existent spooks and phantoms, a mere hallucinatory, delusional fantasy designed to bamboozle the generality of Nigerians in a criminal bid to solicit for votes? We have a burning desire to know.
Iyoha John Darlington, a scholar, social activist, public commentator on national and global issues writes from Turin, Italy.