And Four Other Things…
On Tuesday, Lagos Governor Babajide SanwoOlu ordered the arrest of a soldier who was riding against traffic on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. The culprit was genuinely surprised because he obviously believed that as a soldier, he was above the law. Generally, members of the security agencies appear to think that the laws don’t apply to them. Many drive against traffic, go above speed limits and park at No Parking spots. Some ride motorbikes without wearing a helmet. They hardly stop at traffic lights. It may take centuries to make them accept they are not above the law but it is, all the same, worth the trouble to take them through a complete reorientation. Civilisation.
When President Bola Tinubu declared “transportation subsidy” during the Yuletide — offering passengers 50 percent discount on designated routes and rides across the country — I was expecting that the usual greedy human behaviour would kick in. Human beings would game anything and take advantage of the best of intensions. As it turned out, some officials of the national railway company block-booked seats and started selling to passengers at a premium. There was a similar experience with some inter-state buses. The heart of man is desperately wicked. The default instinct of many people is how to cheat and make greedy gain. We are a religious but godless people. Shameful.
The details of the budgets of federal “super agencies” (remember we hardly bother ourselves with the states) are now being made public after years of agitation by transparency campaigners and public affairs commentators. I think we need to acknowledge this development. It is a positive one and a win for the campaign for accountability. Sorry to say, but the details are depressing in many instances. I saw a budget of over N2 billion for the purchase of empowerment freezers for women. One agency budgeted N11 billion for long service awards. The bazaar has always been there just that the details were never made public before. We know how to burn money in this country. Wow!
As the 34th Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Cote d’Ivoire next week, there is still no certainty over how Nigerians will watch the games. New World TV, a Togolese broadcaster, surprisingly won the broadcast rights, edging out giants such as beIN, Canal+ and Supersport. It should be good news that another African broadcaster is on board, but New World is so new to the world it barely has a presence even in Francophone African countries where it targets. There are unrefuted reports that Dr Patrice Motsepe, president of the African Football Confederation (CAF), owns Sanlam, the company that guaranteed New World TV’s loan used to pay for the broadcast rights. Africa!