She totally had me bought over, her delivery at the centenary celebrations during the dinner was spectacular, and for the first time I had a glimpse of her raw skills, unedited, unreported, and she held sway like the captain of a ship on really cool waters.
Her economic summary of the Jonathan years was full of facts, figures, and vivid descriptions of the labours of the government in efforts to improve living for Nigerians as well as position the country as a prime destination for business, tourism, investment and all that.
Her performance had the confidence of a United States President, the finesse of a member of the British House of Lords, and the efficacy of a United Nations Secretary General. She was stellar and she held the room still, the entire centenary celebration participants and guests along with over 60 million Nigerian TV and online viewers were glued to her oratory skills and she marveled us with the high scoring cards of President Jonathan’s achievements.
I realised that we as commentators have not been fair to her and Mr. President and that they were after all doing wonderfully well, and we had no cause for worry nor alarm. That even if $20 or more billion is missing or even if $10 billion is spent on kerosene subsidy, we still have more than enough to be able to carry out tons of governmental endeavours and still produce and maintain excellence.
I promise you that while I listened to her I was swayed by her talk and practically convinced that all was well. I chided myself that I should not mind the loss of over 10,000 lives under the watch and stellar performances of this administration and that all was just fine. I assured myself that when that statistics (Nigerian death toll from 2010 to date) is put in Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s score card, the ratings would still be excellent.
After clapping for her in my small living room, I watched as the centenary dinner participants rose to applaud her and appreciate this government’s transformation miracles, including a 3-hour drive from the east to the west, even though she failed to highlight whether she was in a powerfully sirened convoy that bulldozed its way or if she was in a manageable “tokunbo” ride, similar to the cars that well over 90 percent of Nigerian car owners all use which by the way she is bent on stopping.
Before I could say well done Ngozi as I clapped, NEPA struck and halted my clappings and I went off cursing as usual with us when NEPA takes away their light, not ours. There and then I immediately reflected on what Madam Ngozi said about improved 18 hours of light in some places in the country. In my head I murmured, “All this cock and bull figures and statistics don’t really count practically wo”!
I thought of the road networks again in the darkness that I was now in, and there is actually nothing to be happy about. Is it the Abuja-Lokoja road, Abuja-Plateau road, Plateau-Kaduna road, or the Plateau-Bauchi road she is talking about? What of the Abuja-Minna road? Does she even drive? Wherever I turn to drive to, the roads are laden with pot-holes and they make it imperative that I visit the mechanic after every trip I embark on.
Anyway, I hurriedly went out to pick a jerry-can to buy fuel for my “I pass my neighbour generator” (even though no neighbour pass any neighbour in my compound, we all have the same generators, just strong enough to give us light). On my way to the filling station, I realised that the filling station had again turned into a “feeling station”. Well yes, a place where Nigerians queue up, form small jesting crowds and rant and curse the devil out of government, as they are forced to suffer to buy petrol; that commodity for which NNPC ships out our crude oil (or Niger Delta crude oil after the national confab) in order to get ample supply of it. I detoured and headed right back home; I was resolute that I would be Nigerian enough to confront the darkness.
Meanwhile, I was only a 20-minute drive away from Madam Ngozi’s office and I wondered again how on earth she could convince me that power has improved, even to a whopping 18 hours a day. As far as ordinary Nigerians are concerned, I believe her stellar performance and award worthy speech that she had read out are perhaps meant for other Presidents and dignitaries who were there in the centenary dinner hall, under the protective cover of Mikano generators; insulated from our harsh realities of life.
