The change I see (II)

Continued from last week You do know that the country’s chief revenue earner is crude oil don’t you? Well we are earning much less from it now and that probably explains why your husband’s contract fees have not been paid. Do you understand the point I’m making Hajiya?’ I asked her.

‘I understand just one thing’ she said, looking straight at me ‘you are a member of the current ruling party.’ She alleged and continued. ‘I should have heeded my husband when he advised me to be careful how I talked to strangers because I wouldn’t know who I might be talking to.’ She added

‘But I am not a politician Hajiya. In fact I have never been a cardcarrying member of any party. So my views are not partisan. They are based on my assessment of our current reality. Yes, we are going through some economic hardships but no, they were not deliberately inflicted on us by the government. You might have seen the interview the President granted to some pressmen early in the days of this administration. In it, he likened Nigeria to a mother who had a broken limb. He said one cannot say because mending a broken limb is so painful, I will leave my mother’s injury to remain the way it is. Whoever does that will only subject his mother to greater harm since the wound will only fester and cause more pain. So the thing to do is to take one’s mother to a hospital and make sure she goes through the painful treatment necessary in order to mend her broken limb. In sum, the President was saying that the Nigeria he met was so battered by the selfish and unpatriotic conduct of previous politicians that it needed to be subjected to some harsh treatments before it can recover. Therefore, this recession is the direct result of the looting and squandermania that took place in previous governments.’ I argued.

‘But do you honestly believe that anybody out there is happy with what the government is doing? I mean you claim that you are not a party member, so I expect you to be honest enough to tell me if there are people out there who have seen any positive change under the new dispensation.’ She challenged.

‘Yes, I believe there are and lots of them too. I mean you were here when the Nigeria Labour Congress called for a nationwide strike to protest the fuel price hike last year, did you see Nigerians heeding that call and taking to the streets? No, that was because they had faith in the government and were willing to give it a chance to do things for the better.

Another indicator that majority of Nigerians are with the present government, is the issue of its anti-corruption crusade. Our compatriots are so happy with the way unscrupulous leaders are being arrested and stolen monies are being recovered that they are willing to weather the storm of the recession, as long as the loot will be returned to our national coffers for use in future.

So you see, while there are people like you who see only their personal woes and judge everything through it, there are also people who look at the big picture, believing that if government did the right thing, everyone will rejoice one day.’ I declared.

‘So now you are calling us nearsighted because we are lamenting our losses? If only I didn’t need to keep this appointment with the principal, I would have left this place right now. It is obvious to me that you are becoming insulting Hajiya.’ She responded, heatedly.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean to insult Madam. All I’m trying to do is to show you that those who celebrate Democracy Day have their reasons. They are not being hypocritical because the dividends of democracy are visible to them despite financial difficulties. The other day I had a visitor at home. While we talked, the TV and AC in our sitting room stopped working. I complained about the power failure but she quickly assured me that they have nothing but praise for this government, because where she lives they now see electric power several hours each day. She told me that previously they would get power just twice a week and lasting no more than thirty minutes each time. They had to stop storing anything in their freezers because everything ends up getting bad. Now imagine, with the little attention this government has paid to power generation, the impact is already being felt. Do you recall that a previous government spent over 16 billion dollars on power generation and yet we saw no light. Look at the state of our railway transport. It has been revived and Nigerians are the happier for it. Agriculture is getting a huge boost with renewed rice farming in many states.

But the best part of this ‘change phenomenon’ is that those inhuman looters had been stopped in their tracks. Imagine where we will be today if they are still ruling. I mean the country was at war and yet the very money budgeted to buy arms and fight for the safety of Nigerians and to preserve the nation’s territorial integrity was looted and shared into private pockets or used for electioneering campaigns. And so over two billion dollars was shared while our people died at the hands of murderous insurgents. To those corrupt politicians, the rest of us didn’t matter, as long as they held onto power.

And you may not know this but even your husband might have been a victim of these treasury looters and that was why his contract dues have not been paid. Yes, what these top-ranking public officers did was to inflate a contract sum many times over and keep the excess for themselves. If a new government reviewed and saw such discrepancies it will naturally clear them first before paying off the beneficiaries.’ I concluded.

‘Do you really think this had happened to my husband?’ She asked in weak voice.

‘Yes it’s very possible, because we are dealing with very greedy and unscrupulous elements. So despite what you saw as your good fortune, they might have actually used your husband to enrich themselves many more times than you can imagine.’ I quickly responded.

‘In that case may God expose them the more, so that all they stole at the expense of ordinary Nigerians will be recovered.’ She prayed.

‘Amin to that dear sister, amin to your great prayer.’ I replied, finally smiling at her.

Concluded.