Starvation! This eerie word may actually qualify the grim paralysis in the land called Nigeria right now. Fear has gripped the people; they are now jittery; formerly acting big men are now like jelly fish—hiding…. In the throes of hunger, starvation, squalor and acute poverty. Under the ruling All Progressive Congress party (APC) the name of the game is plunder. Hardly anywhere you turn where this deadly disease is not pronounced. Perhaps, this may be the game changer they talked about.
Truly, it may be; if able bodied men could be so reduced to whimpering creatures, what else do you require? Like it was in the Biblical days in Samaria when the kingdom was besieged by King Sennacherib where by it was said that neither went out nor came in; according to the description, the battle was sore and grievous to the gory extent that they resorted to eating each other’s children. Nigeria is not there yet; but the sad news is that the nation is plummeting dangerously towards that end. Perhaps only government officials may deny this.
But clearly the devil has been let loose in the terrain. And Satan is wasting no time to inflict maximum pain and destruction upon rudderless Nigerians. This is no more James Bond series; it is Live; the nights are cold; the days dry; the trails of death, blood and sorrow dominates discussions. Why? How did we find ourselves in this crucible? If in times of peace Nigerians can be so locked down, you are left to imagine what will happen in times of war. It is not surprising to see once happy vibrant men and women enveloped in tears; their condition exacerbated by dearth of escape route; contractors, consultants can’t get jobs; banks won’t give out loans; government would only give out palliatives on television and radio—never physical.
Compliment this with the stories of billions being stolen by well-placed Nigerians. The stealing have become so much that Nigerians are tired ….so tired of the magnitude involved. If they are not stealing, they are busy releasing those who stole; they would later be allowed to return to their jobs at the National Assembly. The stealing is done at the highest level; in all the cases the figures are mind blowing: from the NSITF a lady stole to the extent that she had over 48 houses. At the anti-graft agency, the theft exceeded 32 billion; the report from the NDDC is also grisly—all the money budgeted for projects completely stolen!
Even Nigeria’s crude oil suffers from the same fate, raped daily by daredevil executives. Let’s not mention the National Assembly that is undisputedly the heavyweight robbery kings! They take from Ministries, Department and Agencies; they even “collect” from intending foreign investors and relevant stakeholders. Who knows? they may fit the category of tormentors in chief of the nation’s treasury; yes, no mincing of words. Nigeria is indeed a land of paradox.
At the last count –if you do the estimate yourself—roughly 4 trillion may have been stolen out rightly. Do the calculations and see. The big men are hardly punished. But the innocent must be taught a hard lesson. That’s the way it works. On the highways, the story is no better. You better not be caught because security men are already over stretched—and may not find or rescue you. With all these happening why would there not be hunger in the streets? And who is there to stop them anyway; none.
