ITS NOT PERSONAL - Lauretta Onochie

I am not usually given to responding to myopic, self-serving and sectional bigots but I thought a line ought to be drawn between those who are casting aspersions on the bold and decisive steps Nigerians are taking to recover their nation from the grips of a bunch of corrupt, insensitive and clueless ‘lootocrats’, headed by our ‘ceremonial’ president, Goodluck Jonathan on one hand and those bold and courageous Nigerians under the umbrella of OccupyNigeria on the other.

I would like to draw our attention to the fact that the situation in Nigeria; the poverty, the neglect and the suffering of a people in a nation that boasts so much wealth, cuts across ethnic, religious and sectional divide. Nigerians had hopes that President Jonathan would deliver on his campaign promises of a breath of fresh air. What, and all can bear witness, we have had so far is a stagnant, more pungent and massively polluted air. Nigerians are choking, Nigerians are suffocating, Nigerians are dying daily in their hundreds as a direct consequence of the actions and inactions of the present administration at Aso Rock headed by a man they trusted, a man they believed in, a man they thought identified with their humble estate and a man they thought was worthy of them. What we got was a president, but not the commander in chief of the armed forces, in effect, we have a ceremonial president who has arrogated the power that goes with the office he occupies to a nameless cabal.

Now be it known that the #OccupyNigeria Movement which was birthed online, was not a spontaneous response to the so called ‘Fuel subsidy removal’. The movement existed long before the fuel hike many erroneously refer to as ‘Fuel Subsidy removal’. In our radio and TV interviews, we stressed that the protests were about corruption and waste in government. The fuel hike provided the much needed tip to jump as we felt it was insensitive, it was cruel and it was callous for a government consisting multi trillionaires to be placing more burdens on an already impoverished nation while they, their families and close friends live in opulence with reckless abandon. Our campaign is not personal, it’s about Nigeria and bad leadership. The protest was not borne out of a desire to ridicule a southern, a christian or an Ijaw man, it was borne out of a sincere and genuine desire to see the PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA live up to the expectations of Nigerians as a whole. Recently, I was privileged to travel through some towns and villages in Nigeria particularly in the Niger Delta area and I was appalled and sickened at the level of poverty, degradation and pollution in these areas. It is not enough for a few to enjoy absolute wealth that comes from being ‘settled’ while the vast majority of Nigerians, particularly in the Niger Delta scramble for crumbs or go without. Many of the ex-militants are now multi millionaires and it seems the only way to rub two coins together is to become one or ‘carry bags’ for one. What we advocate is a state that looks after its own people, not give them handouts such as the five bags of rice for a whole community in Delta state.

OccupyNigeria will not be bullied into thronging the streets for side effects such as Boko Haram, an amorphous and faceless organisation that enjoys more support and patronage than our lame duck government. For those who are unaware, Boko Haram has moved to Yenogoa in Bayelsa state. OccupyNigeria intends to face and tackle the root causes of our disgraceful national state  and by so doing the issues of security (Boko Haram, armed robbery, extra-judicial killing, intimidation of the masses by the law enforcement agencies, kidnapping, mass raping etc) will be dealt with in one fell swoop. Our problem is a crop of leadership that is massively corrupt and has looted the nation’s common wealth which has left the vast majority of Nigerians living below the poverty line. Our problem is a selfish bunch of looters who are buying up choice buildings around the world while many Nigerians live in makeshift accommodations. Our problem is a leadership that has failed woefully to connect with the people they asked to serve. Rather than meet with ordinary Nigerians to see and identify with their suffering, with a view to alleviating it, they prefer to hop from airport to airport avoiding every opportunity to meet with them. We have a government that has perpetually lied at all levels to the people they swore to serve.

Just for the benefit of those who are uninformed and those who think that Mallam Nasir El-Rufai represents a hidden northern agenda, I will mention here that when the late President Yar Adua was unwell, incapacitated and ‘missing’, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (former Minister of FCT), Femi Fani-Kayode (former Minister of Aviation), Nuhu Ribadu (former Chairman of the EFCC), Lawal Batagarawa (former Minister of Defence), Nenadi Usman (former Minister of Finance) and Andy Uba pushed for President Yar Adua to resign so Goodluck Jonathan could be sworn in as PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA. These men were harassed and intimidated with accusations of planning a phantom coup. EFCC harassed them just because they stood for what was right. Are our memories that short?

If the same Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, who fought to have Jonathan sworn in as PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA when Yar Adua, a northerner as him, was incapacitated, is now on the side of Nigerians, calling on President Jonathan to clean up his acts, we should be hailing him as a nationalist, one who does not care about tribe and religion but cares only about Nigeria and her well-being. If the Nollywood stars and singers who were paid massively to support Jonathan’s presidential campaign are now doing the same for free, to press President Jonathan to do right by the people of Nigeria and if the West of Nigeria, that dumped their own presidential candidate to vote and support Jonathan are now on the streets to protest his failings in government, that should say something to those that are opening their filthy mouths against the peaceful and courageous showing of the OccupyNigeria Movement. If people needed to be financially induced to stage a support rally for President Jonathan and his team, it only means that they are not proud of how they have treated Nigerians because we would support president Jonathan and his team for free if they did well! Let it be known that Nigerians will occupy every mouth that opens in judgement against their desire, determination and collective will to call a failing government to order.

OccupyNigeria is working by educating the uneducated, correctly informing the misinformed, presenting facts where government has been austere with the truth and holding our government accountable, among others. OccupyNigeria rounded Prof Jerry Sachs an Economist, Professor, Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General, whose personal support for the ‘Fuel Subsidy Removal’ was touted as that of the United Nations by our lying government. After presenting the facts to Prof. Sachs, he was quick to recant.

http://seunfakze.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/discourse-with-prof-jeffdsachs/

In the last few days Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, when confronted with facts in her part of government has given answers such as, ‘I have no idea, I’ll get back to you on that’, she has also denied that the ‘Fuel subsidy removal’ was her brainchild saying for a second time, ‘I repeat, the fuel subsidy removal is a government decision. I will not allow anyone to put the blame for something I didn't do on me’. Did she say, “Blame”? This is enough for all well-meaning Nigerians to join the likes of Tam David West to distance themselves from the fuel hike that was touted as ‘Fuel Subsidy Removal’. We continue to prove daily that we have at Aso Rock, a group of people in government who know very little about what happens right under their noses.

#OccupyNigeria is here to stay and all we have done is leave our calling cards, which has now put our corrupt leaders on notice that it will no longer be business as usual and they know it. Nigerians are no longer a people who would stir the water and make a run for it. No! We will swim and we will win this battle against the agents of neo-colonialism that have taken us captives for far too long. Nigerians are occupying wherever they are, all around the world. It’s not yet uhuru but better days are coming because the collective will of the Nigerian people will prevail as we will insist that our deaf and dumb elected and appointed political office holders, listen to us.

I pay tribute to every Nigerian, the down-trodden and the concerned elites who had the audacity to take to the streets to insist on being listened to in a bid to curtail the excesses of a corrupt and an insensitive bunch of shameless idlers.