A few days ago, I listened to a Catholic priest who was lamenting bitterly the hardship the present government is inflicting poor Nigerians. He looked at the security system, he said Nigeria can no longer control the terrorists and kidnappers. He remembered Deborah Samuel who was killed by Islamic fundamentalists in Sokoto, he remembered the Abuja-Kaduna highway that has been taken over by demons in human body. He looked at the education system and felt pained over the long strike the universities and polytechnics have embarked on, thereby locking Nigerian students out of the classrooms for over a month now.
In the viral video, the Catholic priest felt pained when he said Vice President Yemi Osibanjo called all Catholic priests in Nigeria together and told them to pray for the security system in Nigeria. According to the priest, the Nigerian government has been overwhelmed with the security challenge and it appears the crisis has gone beyond their ability to control. Every part of the country is experiencing the bitter pills of terrorism and kidnapping. Kaduna-Abuja high way has become a no-go-area for travellers. Anyone who plies the road has never returned home safe.
But the Catholic priest shocked my senses when he said that the members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) contributed to install the government that is inflicting pains on all Nigerians. You may be surprise to hear that. And you may begin to ask questions such as how, when, in what way did ASUU contribute to the government inflicting pains on the average Nigerians today? Hold your breath! The priest has explanations for that. The answer is not far-fetched. His explanation will open your eyes.
Now, check it. Professor Atahiru Jega, the former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was the vice chancellor of the Bayero University, Kano prior to his appointment as chairman of INEC in June 2010 by former President Goodluck Jonathan. The present INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood, was a lecturer at Nigeria Defense Academy and a professor of political history and international studies. Professor Maurice Iwu, who handed over to Professor Atahiru Jega in 2010 was also a professor of medicine. These are academics, people believed to be intelligential.
It is believed that most academics are not politicians, hence they have a level of political neutrality. This is why they are usually the last bus stop in the choice of INEC chairmen. Apart from that, these three are all professors who have attained the highest level in the world of academics. It is also believed that they have high intelligent quotient and they cannot be easily swayed along political lines. This is why most INEC chairmen are men of high intelligence. One cannot be given a professorship without being in the university system.
Now, check this again. Almost all returning officers for presidential, governorship, senatorial and House of Reps election are usually drafted from the universities. This, all of us can easily testify. It is also believed that members of the academic institutions are non-partisans, a development which led to employing their services as returning officers for high-powered elections. In the view of the Catholic priest, these academics who are members of ASUU are the ones who foisted the failed leaders on Nigerians. He believed that these academics knew that many of the leaders failed in their elections but they turned a blind eye to the wishes of Nigerians, collected money and allowed them into power.
From Professor Maurice Iwu through to Professor Yakubu Mahmood and the senior lecturers, most of whom are vice chancellors of universities, all are culprits in the failed governance we are experiencing in Nigeria. In the reasoning of the priest, if they had remained politically neutral and allowed the wishes of Nigerians to prevail, a number of the challenges in the system would not have been in existence. Most of the leaders, including governors, senators and those in the federal executive council, would not have been in office. Now, these ASUU members who foisted the bad leaders on the nation have shutdown the higher institutions because their needs have not been met.
They collected money from the politicians and cast blind eyes on Nigerians. Now, they are begging for the payment of agreements reached over many years with the federal and state government they foisted on Nigerians. And the government has refused to listen to them. In the midst of there is no money to meet their needs, few individuals are syphoning the country’s billions into their private pockets. The accountant general of the federation, Ahmed Idris, is currently under EFCC custody for allegedly stealing N80billion Nigeria money. The former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, is also under EFCC custody for allegedly stealing N47billion money of the commission.
Now, how much is ASUU asking the federal government to pay? Is it more than this combined? But only two men are with a whooping N127billion. This is just the one already exposed. Certainly, those not exposed with ministers, governors, other appointees of the federal government, if revealed, all the troubles in Nigeria will be solved. But if these professors in INEC and the returning officers who are members of ASUU had allowed the wishes of Nigerians to prevail and given way to faithful, sincere and corruption free Nigerians to emerge in all elective positions, many of the challenges today would have been at the lowest ebb.
AUSTIN OYIBODE
ASABA NIGERIA
