I don’t think it is right to say
that the rented crowd that staged a march for Stella Oduah, the beleaguered
Aviation Minister, is entirely Igbo. I
reckon that some of them might have been drawn from Alaba, Wuse, Onitsha
markets etc just to pass messages of division and hate across; to show that the
number of those calling for her prosecution is limited to one tribe; to
demonstrate that their ‘daughter’ is being persecuted by enemies of progress.
Drumming supports for politicians
in troubled circumstances are not new in the country; even in other lands you
find such supports, though dimension and intention may vary. The uniqueness of
everything about us is what some might term as strange. Every abnormality is
normal; war is peace; stealing is sane; favouritism is fair; frivolity is fun;
to plunder is to plough in some unique way. Only those who have contrary views
to these ethical propositions are idiosyncratic and snooty. That is why a mere allegation
of petty larceny is taken to mean crucifixion. After all whose business is it
when a stellar gift is given to a beautiful and dutiful Stella; or who cares
when a princely souvenir is given to a princess? No one has the right to
pronounce anyone guilty until proven so.
The perceived subterfuge against Princess
Oduah is nothing but a perennial rhetoric engineered to kill a genuine call for
a probe. Given the jejune nature of the current administration, the sacking of
Mr Oduah may prove illusive. Given Dr Jonathan’s knack for springing surprises,
one is at liberty to say that he would rather have her redeployed than sack her.
The President does not give a damn about asset declaration; he does not give a
damn about any empty call for the sack of anybody. He can only sack a
nonperforming minister. The contract obsessed FEC would not sacrifice a
beautiful woman to appease a mischievous political call. She might even be
beatified if need be. This is one of the most undisciplined FEC in recent
times. Some would argue that Dr Jonathan is not responsible for the birth of
corruption in the country, this is correct. But what has he done to check it?
Those who were on parade to give
their support for Mrs Oduah may not be Anambra. Given the stories that we have
read and heard about the rise to opulence of the beautiful minister – I mean
about her knowing what she wanted and scheming to consolidate on what she
already has – then the noise about her current predicament is coming out poor
knowledge of the way things were ab
initio. A white-bearded-old man said on a national television that Mrs
Oduah’s background is nobler enough to fetch her whatever she wants in life.
Given this assumption, one wonders what then the true meaning of nobility is.
Based on what we know of the NNPC, a noblewoman would not want to discolour her
immaculately pure autochthon by passing through the controversial energy
organisation let alone spending about a decade on her (NNPC) payroll.
The master storyteller Prof
Achebe has been celebrated in this country for high octane scholarship and
dignity. He never accepted gifts (the mundane honours from Aso Rock). In fact,
his works were more like my second Bible. I knew Achebe first as a Nigerian
intellectual. Genuine and autochthonous people of Anambra have the natural
proclivity to fete hard-work, dedication to duty, honest labour, scholarship
and excellence. So it may not be correct to see those paid people as truly from
Anambra. They have no tribe! Or, they belong to the tribe of the kleptomaniac
elites while the rest of us belong to the Nigeria tribe – meaning essentially
that there are two tribes in Nigeria; they belong to the tribe of the
omnisciently psychopathic thieves that have been plundering this country.
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