And Four Other Things...
When a “high tension” wire fell on a Unilag undergraduate in September 2015, I wrote an article asking: is this God’s will? I also said if Nigeria was a country that learns lessons, such a tragedy would never occur again. But, of course, we never learn anything here. On Thursday evening in Calabar, Cross river state, 30 football fans were electrocuted while watching a match. Cause? A “high tension” wire fell on them at the viewing centre. Is that going to be the last? No, I’m afraid. There are many “high tension” cables hanging dangerously on people’s heads all over the country, and we are just waiting for the next “God’s will” to kill them. We learn nothing. Never.
Mr. Babachir Lawal, secretary to the government of the federation, was suspended during the week by President Buhari over allegations of impropriety in certain contracts. Ambassador Ayo Oke, the DG of the National Intelligence Agency, was also suspended pending investigation into the huge cash find at a private residence in Ikoyi, Lagos state. I don’t know what to think: if these men are not found guilty eventually, it will be a big PR problem for Buhari to recall them. They won’t even be able to function in office, morally, again. Yet Buhari cannot ignore public opinion on these grievous allegations. But except they are found culpable, Buhari will be in a tight corner. Snag.
Did you enjoy the recent banter between Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state and Speaker Yakubu Dogara? In case you missed it, el-Rufai took up the challenge of Dogara and published his security budget, and then challenged the speaker to publish details of what federal legislators earn. Dogara released his pay slips and said el-Rufai did not release details of security votes but just the security budget. El-Rufai fired back, saying he does not have security votes. That was all about it. You didn’t miss much, really. I cannot make head or tail out of all the figures that were published. But it provided the needed entertainment in these tough times. Distraction.
My chairman, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, once told me that when God says someone’s time is up, you would see a litany of errors. He referred to the cases of Michael Jackson and Stella Obasanjo who died because of basic medical mistakes. This is what came to mind on the death of Kika, 18-year-old daughter of Magnus Onyibe, former information commissioner in Delta state. She complained of lower abdominal pains for months, and her doctor in UK did not consider a scan nor suspect appendicitis. By the time she came to Nigeria, the appendix had ruptured. The hospital rushed her into surgery. Another error. Life support was also allegedly poor and she died. Depressing.