Ebuka Obi-Uchendu: Finding my voice again (Y! FrontPage)

Ebuka Obi-Uchendu

How do you continue to shout at a government that has had almost no single arrest or conviction of a government official for corrupt practices in almost 3 years of its life only to make its strongest corruption statement by forgiving a thief of all his sins?

I haven’t written an article in a few weeks for some particular reason. Of course, writer’s block and an inability to put words properly together, have also contributed. But even they are tied to the main reason, which has everything to do with being bored, tired and frustrated with my self for sounding repetitive every single week. And I promise you that this has nothing to do with the fact that I may not be a great writer. It has everything to do with what has become our reality as Nigerians.

Many columnists and writers in Nigeria will easily tell you that it is one of the easiest places to write. There is an abundance of material seeing how quickly things unfold almost on a daily basis. Let us take this past week for instance. Impeached Bayelsa State governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was controversially granted official state pardon by the Federal Government, along with 7 others including some who were granted official state pardon (or clemency as Reuben Abati would rather call it) in 1999. In the same week, the Federal Government continued to deny the murder of 7 foreign nationals who were kidnapped weeks ago by the new terror group Ansaru, even when governments of the said foreign nationals had confirmed their deaths.

Also this past week, the APC drama got even more twisted as the Federal Government’s political party was accused of trying to subvert the effort of what is arguably Nigeria’s biggest opposition party yet, with 2 other parties laying claim to the acronym. Still last week, the Edo State governor was caught on TV almost in a fist fight with the Minister of Justice Bello Adoke SAN over the perceived inaction of the Federal Government with regards to apprehending the killers of the Edo governor’s Personal Assistant who was murdered in 2012.

Obviously, anyone who writes has more than enough material from the above, to pick from and dissect for the week. And if for any reason, you want to write a two-page article like Reuben Abati used to do with The Guardian, then you could easily write on all the issues put together, and rant and rave about how we as a country are doomed. But a closer and different look through the issues, as diverse as they may seem, will only show you one central figure or factor connecting all of them; the Federal Government, led by President Jonathan. In every single case, the government at the center has either through its actions or inactions, continued to succeed in making each Nigerian week more confusing and depressing than the previous one.

This brings me back to my first point. I got frustrated, bored and tired of ranting every time about the same government who for some reason, sees no point in doing any better. How do you continue to shout at a government that has had almost no single arrest or conviction of a government official for corrupt practices in almost 3 years of its life only to make its strongest corruption statement by forgiving a thief of all his sins? How do you bother about a government that has failed to make any progress in the fight against terror within its territory, and yet finds all the time in the world to deny the death of foreigners in its country without any proof of same when everything points to the contrary?

It is a tough country to govern no doubt, but it really does leave many Nigerian wondering where we are headed, when what does seem like a simple decision or decisions, cannot be made without creating massive pitfalls and sinkholes for both the government and people to fall into.

But write I must, and continue to hope that at some point, someone who should, will not only start reading or listening, but also actually care. These are weird times. And every Nigerian except those in government, seems to agree. It is easy to get frustrated and tired but the truth remains that we have no choice since this is the one country we have. Nothing and no one should make us go silent. I am learning that fact over again.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

Comments (3)

  1. Pathetic and trying periods we are in our Nation presently #signs

  2. Obviously, the so called Nigerian Govt could care less about the wellbeing of the citizens of the country, neither do they heed to the voice of the public. They assume themselves to be unquestionable, forgetting that only God is. But, it won’t be for too long!

  3. I think with respect to the state pardon (or clemency), we are making a moutain out of a mole hill.
    The presidency is fully within its rights, politically, legally and constitutionally, to grant a pardon, we might argue about the morality, but how ‘moral’ are we as citizens?

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