And Four Other Things...

Alhaji Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, governor of Zamfara state, says all diseases are from God and the meningitis that has claimed hundreds of lives in the past few weeks should be understood within that context. In other news, cholera recently claimed 80 lives in 14 local governments in Zamfara — in another divine punishment under Yari. Bandits have killed no fewer than 1,000 herders and farmers in the last one year in Zamfara — in yet another divine punishment under Yari. To escape the punishment, Yari is either relaxing in Abuja or flying to Saudi Arabia for umrah. He avoids Zamfara like a plague while gulping all the milk and the honey of office. Divine.

In a spate four days, the federal government lost four cases in court in its anti-graft campaign. One thing common to all the cases is that the evidence was not strong enough to convict the suspects. That is, the cases were not proved beyond reasonable doubt. You can look at it several ways. You can say “corruption is fighting back”. You can also say it takes more than media trials to win a case in court. Many Nigerians have been wondering why the monies recovered so far have not been spent by the government. The truth is: it is one thing to recover money by state might, it is another to prove in court that a crime has been committed. Government must restrategise. Diligence.

I was ambushed by revenue collection thugs of Agbara/Igbesa LGA, Ogun state, on Friday. This brought home to me, once again, the terror unleashed on ordinary Nigerians by state agents everyday. I was accused of parking in a no-parking area (trust me, there was no such sign there and I was even sitting in my car). After I refused to pay a bribe, I was taken to a corner and fined N16,000, which I promptly paid and collected my receipt. My plight paled into insignificance when I saw the way other motorists were being humiliated by those thugs. I held back my tears on seeing a nursing mother, with her sick child, being rough-handled. What a society we live in. Primitive.

As a primary school boy, Aliko Dangote used to buy sweets and biscuits from his pocket money. No, he didn’t eat them like I did mine. Instead, he would give them to the maiguard at their house to help him sell. The maiguard would sell and give Dangote the proceeds, and the young boy would “restock” the tray. How on earth would the maiguard know that the little boy was going to become one of the biggest traders, and later biggest manufacturers, out of Africa someday? Coming from a wealthy family is not enough — you need that extra bit to be outstanding. As Dangote marks his 60th birthday on Monday, I wish him long life and good health. Extraordinary.