And Four Other Things...
Mrs Aisha Buhari, the first lady, recently treated us to a cryptic message on Facebook. I initially thought it was a spoof because of its highly political nature, but it has not been denied. She wrote: “God has answered the prayers of the weaker animals. The Hyenas and the Jackals will soon be sent out of the kingdom. We strongly believe in the prayers and support of the weaker animals.” She was following a similar “animal talk” by Senator Shehu Sani who spoke about hyenas, wolves, jackals, lioness and tiger in Aso Rock, as well as crocodiles, cheetahs, leopards, pumas and jaguars on the outside. Are we now running an animal farm in this Federal Republic of Drama? Coded.
Nigeria’s No. 1 monopolist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is about to set up another monopoly: dairy farming. According to reports, his proposed farm will boast of 50,000 cows by 2019 and produce 500 million litres of milk per year. He is putting $800 million into dairy production in the next three years. Since we currently import 95% of our milk in Nigeria, the new monopoly will save us several millions of dollars in forex flight, help grow the naira, create jobs and meet nutritional needs. Meanwhile, many Nigerian billionaires have plenty monopolies waiting for their investment in agriculture, but they would rather buy penthouses in New York. I hate monopoly but I’m loving this. Opportunity.
Nigeria has become such a pathetic society that when human lives are dastardly snuffed out, our first, and often only, interest is the religion or tongue of the victims and the perpetrators. The value of human life means nothing to us, insofar as the perpetrators speak our language. This is again evident in the Mambilla killings in Taraba. One side said it was Fulani herdsmen that killed people from other ethnic groups, and the other side said it was genocide against the Fulani. In Nigeria, some people only find their voice when their kith and kin are at the receiving end. Herdsmen kill farmers, great. Farmers kill herdsmen, genocide. And vice-versa. Is ours a sane society? Sickening.
Are you following the war between Prof. Usman Yusuf, the executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and Prof. Isaac Adewole, the minister of health? Here’s a recap: Yusuf was accused of fraud and has been suspended by Adewole but Yusuf says the minister has no power to remove him and has vowed to disobey the directive, maintaining that he was suspended because he refused to “play ball” with the minister. I will be surprised if processes and procedures have been breached in this matter. If indeed the minister does not have the power to suspend (not sack) him, then this will be a major embarrassment to this government. Waiting…