FEATURE ARTICLE

E O EkeSunday, October 26, 2014
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OF NATION BUILDERS AND LOOTERS

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ho will speak out for the Nigerian poor and downtrodden? Where are the real politicians who truly love Nigeria? Who will take up the task of building the Nigerian nation? Who will tell Nigerian senators that they are not laying solid foundation for Nigerian democracy and that some of their actions and constitutional amendments undermine accountability, rule of law and justice as fairness.,

In a country where the gap between the haves and have nots is approaching infinity, who will speak out for the abused and dispossessed silent majority? Who will fight for their rights and share of the oil wealth?

Who will tell the government that it is immoral to continue to spend 80% of the resources on itself, while many go to their early graves without education, good and affordable health care and not having lived a descent life?

Who will tell Nigerian leaders that their salaries, allowances and pensions are open robbery of the treasury? Who will say to Nigerian leaders that approving a pension equivalent to salary of serving president, senate president and speaker of house of assembly for life, for past holders of the office for less than ten years service to the nation, is criminal and a betrayal of trust and abuse of power.

Who will make Nigerian leaders understand how unfair, immoral and criminal it is that they can live in houses bought with stolen money and educate their children in British and American private schools, live in opulence, while thousands go without basic primary education, healthcare and shelter? Who will tell the Jonathans, Obasanjos, Babangidas, Buharis, Danjumas David Marks etc., that they have destroyed Nigeria by their greed, arrogance, lies, corruption and sectarian mindset and that they should give way for a new vision before it is too late.

Who will make the Obasanjos, Babangidas, the Jonathans, etc., to understand that it is betrayal of the country to build private universities, while destroying state owned universities by underfunding, establish private farms, while failing to implement an empowering agriculture policy and buy back government utilities with stolen money in the name of privatisation.

The injustice in the Nigeria system is intolerable to contemplate and seems to defy solution. It simply cannot continue.

We cannot continue to allow Politics in Nigeria to be about politicians and what is important to them, their ego, ambition and what they want to do for themselves with public fund.

Politics should rightly be about the people, how to provide shelter for them, build safe roads, and better and safe egalitarian society, educate their children, provide accessible and good health care services and protect and provide for them in old age. Very little of the above is taking place in Nigeria today. Today it about the corrupt elites and the attempt by their children to use stolen money to retain power. This is wrong and unacceptable.

What we have is a president who declared assets worth 800 million Naira, when he was elected Vice President, but refused to declare his assets when he became president.

A president who kept silent while his wife was appointed permanent secretary in a state she has spent less than two months in 8 years.

Today, Mr president spends his time defending money laundering, and denying that he is not one of African's richest men , instead of providing leadership by fighting corruption, making institutional reforms and empowering them, improving transparency in government, making social investments and ensuring accountability.

Instead of providing solutions to the many problems crippling Nigeria, the leaders are obsessed with jostling for positions, selfish ethnic and religious matters, and moving from one party to another in search of better and greener pasture, even when it is against the best interest of the electorates.

This is why APGA leaders have no qualms deceiving the Igbos that in a multiethnic democracy that their future lies in an ethnic party without clear ideology or convictions, while APC and PDP continue subvert democratic process and sale positions to the highest bidder.

Very Soon in Nigeria, there will be no more oil money to share and the people will be forced to look for nation builders instead of nation looters. Nigeria will then need men who will task the people to invest in knowledge, and become creative and innovative in the use of resources and opportunities.

Nation builders see politics as service to the people, while nation looters see it as business and consider whatever they spend as investment. Which explains why they would pay any amount for mere political party application form.

Nation looters are motivated by greed, selfish interests and sectarian considerations, while nation builders are driven by principles, sense of social justice, ideological convictions and love of the country.

Nation looters form parties where ability to bribe party Chieftains in form of millions for mere application form determines who the party selects, while nation builders allow the party to throw up good candidates through democratic process.

Nation looters move from one party to another in search of positions and opportunity to loot, while nation builders, build ideological political parties on principles and civil and democratic values that are dear to their heart.

Nigerians have to figure out what each politician is, ether a nation builder or looter. At the moment, there appear to be no nation building political parties in Nigeria, which conduct its affairs the way political parties should in a democracy and it is a worry.

You hear of party leaders endorsing candidates, after the candidates have paid them millions to them, instead of party members electing candidates through democratic process.

When one has to pay a party 27 millions just for application form to present one 'a self as a presidential candidate, one wonders what future such a party has for the country.

Nation looters approve life pensions for themselves and imposed a 4000 Naira tax on vulnerable graduates asked to serve their country for one year in a NYSC scheme.

What Nigerisn senators are doing is destroying Nigeria right at its foundation by embedding injustice and corruption into the constitution by the protection of undeserved privileges for leaders and imposing unfair tax on the most vulnerable and poor.

No nation can build a viable nation on injustice and corruption, Nigerian senators must listen to the people and remove immunity and undeserved pensions for corrupt leaders and abolish tax for youth coopers.

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