Misguided Anger: The Myopic Reasoning of the Nigerian Elite

When the rights of people are presumed trampled upon as indicated by OBJ’s recent action in Plateau State, they react fiercely because they believe their liberation is being threatened. In the case of the president’s decision to declare a “State of Emergency” in Plateau State, I strongly believe the reaction of the Nigerian elites have been premature and ferociously misdirected. OBJ’s action may been wrong, but that is not and should not be the obvious position of concern right now. Soyinka, Falana, and others may be justified in filing complaints, but they are in their rush to judgment, also missing the point.

Obviously, OBJ’s approach may be different from that of most contemporary leaders but that doesn’t negate the fact that Joshua Chibi Dariye (JCD) failed woefully in his duties at the time of need. What has placed JCD in his current position is his lickerish tendency towards money and we must not allow the outcry by other state governors, noble and ignoble elites divert our attention from the actions of JCD who was allegedly detained and interrogated in London for about a week by the British Police for the millions of foreign currency deposited into his account. In the framework of objective reasoning, the killings in Plateau State, combined with the money laundering case should be uppermost in the minds of Nigerians and not the action of OBJ at this point. On the long run, the killings and the nocuous actions of JCD may have longer lasting consequences on Plateau State than the decision made by OBJ to install an administrator.

Yes, I know and have heard it over and over that OBJ’s action is a trend that could derail the effective flow of democracy over the years and I completely disagree. I believe steadfastly that it is a trend that will moderate the decisions of our state governors and their compatriots in crime from placing first, the calculated and devious enrichment of their secretly prearranged foreign accounts at the expense of their states and the people they govern. During the Ngigi saga, it took the governors a few months to react and come to the support of their “supposed” colleague. In this case, it took them a few hours to react because they read between the lines and realized that maintaining their greed for wealth could cost them un-similar but yet strong consequences in the future. I completely doubt if they are worried about OBJ declaring a state of emergency within their states. Their concern is more in line with defending their chosen modus operandi of diverting funds to foreign bank accounts than losing their power and privileges within their states. Reading between the lines may open the eyes of our elites to the actions of these governors that act as if they have a secret oath amongst themselves to prevent interruptions of any kind from derailing their greed for wealth.

Mrs. Nenadi Usman made a powerful claim a few weeks ago about the actions of our governors in relations to diverting the allocations of their states to buying foreign exchange and transferring it to foreign countries; but yet, the outcry was minimal in comparison to OBJ’s action. I am not a supporter or fan of OBJ and may never be. However, I believe that a presumptive analysis of his actions is premature and lacking good judgment by those that have continued to criticize him without all the details on why he chose his cause of action. This is not the first time JCD has been out of his state during crucial times and his propensity to navigating the world with the people’s money is what finally caught up to him and sadly enough, Solomon Daushep Lar could not rescue him this time. In my opinion, JCD failed to learn the rules of engagement and he is now going to pay the price if any.