And Four Other Things…
BITTER PILLS
Where you think you have hit rock bottom, you ain’t seen nothing yet. With the doctors’ strike already paralysing public hospitals, the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Association say they will commence an indefinite strike in two weeks — if the federal government does not address “outstanding welfare issues”. That is total lockdown looming. Who is suffering the burden of the current strike and who will be hurt from the impending one? You guessed right: the poor. The high and the mighty are never the victims. To be poor in Nigeria is a crime, and you always get punished for sins you did not commit. Sickening.
SILENT STEALING
Rt Hon Rotimi Amaechi, the minister of transportation, says anyone stealing under President Muhammadu Buhari is doing it quietly, compared to previous administrations. “Corruption was so pervasive that nobody was talking about it. It was not hidden that people completely and openly displayed their wealth… but here, if you are stealing, it is done quietly,” the former governor Rivers state told Daily Trust. Actually, we’ve heard of some ministers buying up every property on sale in FCT. There are stories of bribes being flown into the country as diplomatic baggage. We will hear the full story when Buhari leaves office, and we hope the “quiet stealing” will be punished. Loudly.
COZY CABINET
When I got hints that President Buhari would drop two ministers, I kept doing what I was doing as if I didn’t hear. After six years in office, Buhari had cut the picture of an employer of labour who would never sack anybody. Job security in his cabinet is second to none. The incentive to be excellent is not there: you know that you are safe and secure irrespective of your performance at your duty post. Most ministers are guaranteed eight years in office. I was overly surprised that Buhari fired Mallam Saleh Mamman, the minister of power, and Alhaji Sabo Nanono, the minister of agriculture. But there are even more deadwoods in the cabinet. Let us hope the weeding continues. Overdue.
DIFFERENT PRISM
Newly elected President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia has given an appointment to the man who once oversaw his detention. In 2017, Hichilema, then opposition leader, was detained by President Edgar Lungu for “treason” — because he failed to give way to the presidential motorcade. Hichilema spent four months in detention under the watchful eyes of Kuyomba Bwalya, whom he described as “professional” (Bwalya probably allowed conjugal visits). Bwalya is now the deputy commissioner-general of prisons, fancifully called “correctional service” when it is anything but. Hichilema is saying the right things. I hope this would not be another typical African leadership story. Populism.