It would appear that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, fought with the almighty lion in the Villa, a battle only a few dare to show up for, let alone win; with a victory so resounding, that the legend of the Villa lion became mere folklore, a story meant to scare little kids.
The truth of the matter is even sadder than we had all imagined and while most of us castigated and condemned President Goodluck Jonathan for his ineptitude, we failed to focus on the main actors on stage. The truth of the matter is; no matter how good and well-conceived the lion story is, the actors would still have ruined the tale and poorly depicted what the masterful storyteller was trying to narrate. Ordinarily, the manuscript was meant to be a bestseller with astounding public acclaim, raising a lot of money for its publishers. In the end, our bestseller never saw the light of day, at least in its intended form.
As Jonathan has brazenly taken the heat as the most maligned and cursed president in history, we have also been over ourselves, falling over each other, all in a rush to cast those venomous stones of anger and condemnation, rubbishing Jona (as he is popularly called) for behaving in a manner that can best be described as just not being there for his country. Clueless has been our catch phrase, our best shot at identifying who we feel our president is. While hanging onto the word clueless, we still never did away with the shoeless phrase that sort of worked for him. Even while sounding derogatory, showing he had less of something, the phrase gave him an advantage in the run up to the 2011 Jonathanian quest for the presidency. While I may not rush to rubbish the clueless theories, I am more than convinced that clueless does not completely and accurately sum up the condition and type of leadership that we have.
When an administration does nothing about government officials being indicted and perhaps being tried for numerous and grave financial improprieties, then it is more than baffling, and the question to ask is, “Is the government institutionalising corruption?” Thank heavens, the teleprompters at the Villa are now functional and Mr. President, it seems, is being teleguided appropriately as to what to do about his now growing flock of errant ministers and other top government functionaries. Even if it took a committee and a half, and half the year, the axe has come to drop on the fingered folk.
Even with the Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s meticulous defense on behalf of the federal government over Sanusi’s accusations on the unremitted funds, it was more than obvious that the CBN fella’s claims were correct and worrisome. The final question, therefore, as to whether or not there were dollars to the tune of 20 billion that were missing in action, rested on the frenzied shoulders of the NNPC, a body that has seen to the discharge of crude oil to the tune of another 6 billion dollars which was again never remitted.
Curiously, NNPC just paid up a whopping 7.6 billion dollars to the federation account and the first question to mind is, are those part of the fruits of Sanusi’s efforts in reconciling Nigeria’s petro dollars? Are the ‘funds’ usually accrued sales by the NNPC meant for the federation account but remained unremitted or unaccounted? Another chapter in the successes recorded by this new Villa teleprompter, we hear, is the x-raying and beaming of the government’s searchlight on some of its staunchest supporters and campaigners who have strutted on without any caution. Mbu has also been redeployed away from Rivers state and Nigeria might not necessarily be excited but is, at least, happy that corrections to some missteps are being made. In fact, who knows, we could be witnessing a Wike apologising to ASUU over his comments or conduct.
Whatever has awoken the teleprompter in Aso Villa, a few changes are being made and Nigerians are the better for it. The very revealing interaction between the Senate Finance Committee and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, has given insights as to how NNPC is being run, with or without presidential or legislative backing and scrutiny.
What we have all come to understand now is that President Jonathan has been held hostage by a cabal, this time largely of the feminine gender who have made him look clueless when, in fact, he has simply been helpless; helpless in the face of a more suave and slippery folk to manage. This article is a call to the now vibrant teleprompter to perhaps pay a visit to the affairs of the NNPC with a view to saving what can be salvaged from our dear country’s helpless situation.
