Nigerians were kept busy last week as they reacted to different events in the country’s political scene.
Among the stories that kept them busy, we picked those that were ridiculous including the story of the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Ali Isa Pantami and his alleged affiliation with terrorist organisations, in our Politics Roundup. We looked at the implications of the stories to the nation’s development.
Read through to find out other events that also appeared absurd, which made our picks.
1. Pantami’s saga
One of the most ridiculous events in Nigeria’s political scene last week was the saga involving the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Ali Isa Pantami.
Initially, the minister maintained a posture that he had nothing to do with any terrorist organisation. However, after his past statements in support of Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups in the past years went viral on social media, Pantami on Saturday, April 17, recanted the controversial comments.
Speaking during a question-and-answer session of his daily Ramadan lecture at Annor Mosque in Abuja on Saturday said: “Some of the comments I made some years ago that are generating controversies now were based on my understanding of religious issues at the time, and I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity.
“I was young when I made some of the comments; I was in university, some of the comments were made when I was a teenager. I started preaching when I was 13, many scholars and individuals did not understand some of international events and therefore took some positions based on their understanding, some have come to change their positions later.”
Implications: Although Pantami has apologised and claimed to have made those comments in support of terrorism in the past and in ignorance, the concern of many people remains how the minister, in the first place; got nominated as a minister and even got his nomination approved by the National Assembly without any recourse to his past.
The Pantami story only points to a leadership failure. Nigerian leaders only succeeded in making a ridicule of the country, showing the lack of thoroughness in the selection process of who is appointed into public offices in the country. A plaque the country has continued to suffer.
The whole situation seems to give credence to the claim by some people that Nigeria is a joke.
2. Obaseki’s bombshell
Another ridiculous event that worried Nigerians last week is the April 11 claim, made by the Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki that the Federal Government printed N60 billion in March in support of the economy.
Speaking at the Edo Transition Committee stakeholders’ meeting, Obaseki said, “We run a very strange economy and a strange presidential system where the local, state and federal government, at the end of the month, go and earn salaries. We are the only country in the world that does that.
“At the end of the month, we all just go to Abuja, collect money and come back to spend; we are in trouble. Huge financial trouble! …Last month, we got FAAC (Federation Account Allocation Committee) for March; the Federal Government printed an additional N50 to N60 billion to top-up for us to share.”
Implications: The claim by Obaseki, the denial by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, and the unclear response of the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on the matter as well as the altercations between the ruling APC and the opposition PDP, only showed how the political class play politics with anything and everything.
It is important the leaders understand that Nigerians are not fools. One needs no soothsayer to understand that the country’s economy is in a precarious situation.
It’s time the political class, rather than play the ostrich in the terrible state of the nation’s economy, accept the reality and look for means to urgently find a solution to the economic woes.
3. Okorocha’s face-saving claim
On Tuesday, April 13, former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha denied a report that he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged corruption.
In a statement by his Media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha said he only honoured the invitation by the EFCC ” as a patriotic and responsible Nigerian.
However, the ex-governor, who currently represents Imo West in the Senate, ended up spending two days in EFCC custody.
Implications: Okorocha’s claim shows how Nigerian politicians keep deceiving themselves in their bids to hoodwink the citizens.
It is important Nigerian leaders, especially those with immunity, understand that power is transient and that there is always a day of reckoning.
Okorocha should understand that some ex-governors are still cooling off in prison over corruption. His worry should be about being arrested by the anti-graft agency but the number of years he may have to spend in prison if eventually found guilty by a court of alleged money laundering to the tune of N7.9 billion while serving as a governor of Imo State.
4.Minister Lai’s funny excuse
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Thursday, April 15, said that unpatriotic Nigerians are to blame for social networking service provider, Twitter, snubbing Nigeria to make Ghana its African headquarters.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, Mohammed said, “The natural expectation would have been for Nigeria to be the hub for Twitter especially in this part of Africa, even with the fact that we have 25.4 million Twitter users in Nigeria, against eight million users in Accra.
… I hope that this will serve as a lesson to Nigerians. Unpatriotic Nigerians have continued to project the image of the country negatively on social media platforms including Twitter, especially during the #EndSARS protests last October.
“If you recall, the #EndSARS protest started on Twitter before physical mobilisation on the streets.”
Implications: The minister’s claim only shows the determination of the Buhari-led APC government to keep their blame game attitude which they have been known for since coming to power in 2015.
The minister and his party rather than always indulge in blame games should look at some of the policies of the government that possibly informed Twitter’s dumping of Nigeria for Ghana. May be is time the Buhari government reconsidered those bills perceived to be targeted at stifling freedom of the press and speech like the Social Media bill, Hate Speech bill among others.
5.Aliyu’s revelation
In a statement titled, “Why we opposed Jonathan’s second term bid” and released on Friday, April, a former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu revealed that some governors on the platform of the PDP worked against the re-election of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
On why they did that, he explained that the agreement with Jonathan was that he should complete the remaining years of Late President Yar’Adua’s tenure and go for only one term “but midway, Jonathan insisted on running for the office in 2015 against the grain of our earlier agreement. And the governors in the North felt the North would have been short-changed if Jonathan had succeeded; we rose stoutly to insist on the agreement we all had.”
Implications: The confession by Aliyu points to how personal and regional sentiments affect political leadership in Nigeria.
Until personal, ethnic, regional and religious sentiments are jettisoned in Nigeria, merit and credibility will continue to be sacrificed on the altar of mediocrity. The result of which is the challenges the country is facing today; World Capital of Poorest people, heightened insecurity, poor economy among others.