PLAYGROUND BULLIES IN GOVERNMENT HOUSE. - Lauretta Onochie

Child's play! Literarily, that's what the Nigerian leadership is. The sort of thoughts, mind sets and actions of this sham of a democratic government makes one cringe at the thought of being a Nigerian. How did we get to this pass? How did a nation of intelligent, educated, sophisticated and determined people end up having the dregs of their nation presiding over them?

In case you think I am being too harsh, I'll quickly explain what I mean. You see, I grew up in Nigeria and lived there until a few years ago. I have since, as a teacher learnt that playground antics are the same or at least similar all over the world. Children engage in crude bargaining methods and mete out appropriate retaliatory sanctions when in their childish and selfish minds, their friends are out of line. It is not uncommon to hear children say, "You know I don't like John and you played with him, since the football is mine, you will therefore not join in my football game?." Many of us played these antics or were "victims of this forced allegiance to our peers. In simple English word, it was nothing short of bullying.

A bully is defined as one who uses strength or influence to harm or intimidate those who are weaker. To bully therefore, means to

use superior strength or influence to intimidate someone, typically to force him/her to do something they do not wish or want to do. Bullying is evil as it leaves some psychological dent in the lives of those who experience it at a young age, typically at the playground. If not dealt with, some of them grow up to become bullies particularly if they find themselves in a superior position that gives them a lot of influence over others. Because like terms attract, bullies gravitate towards one another and if they find themselves in positions of power and authority, they shamelessly exert ruthless authority to the maximum, dishing out disproportionate punishment to anyone who dares step out of line. 

Ladies first, please! I was totally appalled and I know many Nigerians were too, to see our current First Lady Mrs Patience Jonathan go to battle with her immediate successor, Mrs Turai Yar Adua. One would have thought that as the present occupier of Aso Rock and the beneficiary of all the trappings that go with being the number one wife, Mrs Jonathan would have acted in a more dignified manner towards the widowed Mrs Turai Yar Adua. No, Mrs. Jonathan felt she had a point to prove, a sign of acute low self esteem. She wanted to show that she was now in charge. She went for the jugular, laying claim to a piece of land already allocated, legally to Mrs. Yar Adua's NGO. Hian! Of all the pieces of land available and at the disposal of Madam Jonathan, all she wanted was that particular one that belonged to her predecessor. She bared her fangs and bullied Mrs. Yar Adua! Her aim was not to acquire a piece of land but to humiliate Turai. How petty can anyone be? How low and dumb could a Dame go? 

The current shameful saga in Rivers state that has seen a free for all fight among elected representatives of the people, also has Mrs. Jonathan's signature all over it. She could not stand the fact that there is a man in the Niger Delta who appears to wield more influence than her husband. So she began to throw a tantrum and enlisted the support of a clown and a tout in the Rivers State house of Assembly. This man, declared that Mrs Jonathan is his Jesus Christ! His shameful acts were not to defend democracy then, its all personal. He has personal favours to return to madam Jesus Christ! This is a woman who has the greatest opportunity today, to positively impact on the lives of women and children in our nation but choose instead, to be a tormentor of those who cross hers or her husband's path. How does she sleep! It is disgusting that at a time when well-meaning Nigerians are frowning at "God-fatherism", Mrs Jonathan is laying the foundation for "God-motherism". Her actions are akin to those of Imelda Marcus of the Philippines in her hey-days. She must watch the recent documentary that featured this female tyrant and apply some brakes in her vengeful and stupid antics. 

Mrs Jonathan has thrown all caution to the winds by challenging a world icon, Prof Wole Soyinka to a wrestling match. This arrogance of the dumbest dame in the whole wide world must be curtailed. Her husband owes it as a duty to the nation to call his raging bulldog of a wife to order. Even people who have been afflicted by some serious mental heath issues do have a few moments of sanity. This one is acting as invincible. May I remind Mrs Jonathan that the nation belongs to the people of Nigeria and not just her. May I also remind her that nothing is forever. It would do her a world of good if she spent her time in Aso Rock doing good rather than squandering her time on vindictive antics. 

Enter President Jonathan and ex Governor Timipre Silva, the erstwhile governor of Bayelsa state. The nation was aghast when we suddenly learnt that the governor had fallen out of favour with his "Oga at the top". Not that I am a fan of Timi Sylva's, but we were told that the people of Bayelsa voted for Timi Sylva. Nonetheless,  it was clear from the utterances attributed to President Jonathan, that he wanted Sylva out of Government House in Yenagoa. Threats were made to his life and he is indeed, lucky to still be alive.President Jonathan had his way and in a sham election, shunned by the people of Bayelsa,  installed a stooge. This is a lesson that no one is allowed to have an opinion contrary to Mr. President's or his wife's.

Nigerians are bedevilled with people in  leadership who are ungodly, yet at every gathering, they ask us to pray to God to recover our nation while they loot the funds budgeted for the recovery of our nation. They attribute everything to evil spirits and enlisted the services of some criminals in pulpit. Poor and epileptic electricity supply, lack of portable water supply, dilapidated structures such as roads, schools and hospitals are all the handiwork of the devil. Massive looting of our common wealth is attributed to God through whom all blessings flow. Snatching of ballot boxes during elections  by political associations  and their electoral fraud partners, the not-so-independent electoral commission, are all the handiwork of this God. Certainly not the God many of us believe in! 

When South African investors held their noses and held a meeting with one of our Power and energy minister, Zainab Kuchi, she boldly and shameully told them how evil spirits have been at work in her sector. Now, if one does not know the root causes of a problem, how can they possibly begin to find a solution? These people turn state functions into a gathering for comedians. They clown and joke about everything because they have nothing of substance to offer. The audience goes away with nothing but empty jokes and dry humours. 

Nigerians have lost that human capacity to be shocked by happenings in their nation under this playground administration. We have seen it all. From graphic videos of sitting legislators taking bribes from a PDP Oil magnate to a state Lawmaker who formed a majority with touts he brought into the Rivers state House to impeach the Speaker. From a criminal who was granted state pardon to a President who openly endorsed crime by calling the criminal, "My mentor". We have seen crime soar under these playground bullies. Armed robbery, kidnapping, gang-rape, lynching, etc are now the order of our day. Extra-judicial killing by the Nigerian Police and the Army too, is on the increase. Innocent Nigerians are being murdered or framed and killed at will. If it happens at Esu River in Eastern Nigeria, its police brutality and wrong. If it happens in Maiduguri in Northern Nigeria, its right and deserved!  Yet this playground head bully, President Jonathan, sits and does nothing. 

Under this administration, no one, including our Governors have a right to have a mind of their own. They must sing the Jonathian song or their ignoble party would fall on them like a ton of bricks. So how dare Gov. Rotimi Amechi show some signs of independence? Who authorised him to nurse a secret ambition when his brother from the Niger Delta has not fulfilled his delusional ambition to transform himself into the first Emperor of our nation!

The Rotimi Amechi debacle has given President Jonathan such sleepless nights he exposed himself to Africa. He could not handle the fact that the Rivers state governor won the Nigerian Governors Forum chairmanship election against his stooge, Governor Jang of Plateau State. He took to the bottles and could not be roused from his drunken sleep to honour a speaking engagement with The African Union in Adis Ababa. What a shame that brought to our nation, the once giant of Africa that has now become the laughing stock of smaller African nations. How low could a leader fall!

Nigerians have never had the good fortune of listening to their president or his ministers and walk away with some intelligent points. The intelligent ones do nothing but lie through their teeth about the state of affairs in our nation. "I have brought good luck to Nigeria because of my name. I know some other people in my village named Goodluck or Lucky but they are not as lucky", declared the president of the most populous African nation in a public gathering.  In the same vein, the Information Minister Labaran Maku declared, "We want to thank the president for bringing facebook to Nigeria" For heaven sake, are these people for real? Where are their heads? Kukuland is my guess. Each time they open their mouths, idiotsy oozes. It seems they cannot differentiate between reality and fantasy nor jokes and facts. They do not understand that a certain decorum is expected of people in high places. 

Those who exercise their rights as citizens of a free nation by holding their government to account are called the opposition in other nations. Not in Nigeria! President Jonathan and his hangers on do not think we ought to exercise our rights to freedom of speak. They commit all sorts of heinous crimes against our people and in our nation and when we as much as moan, they call us their enemies! They have turned our once beautiful nation into a hellish abyss and they insist we suck it up.

Nigeria must be about the only nation where a collection of imbeciles proudly parade themselves as leaders, selling ignorance and stupidity as cheaply as a dozen for a penny. Where did they come? So again I ask, "How did we get to this pass? How did a nation of intelligent, educated, sophisticated and determined people end up having the dregs of their nation presiding over them?" The answer is simple. Those intelligent and educated Nigerians became too sophisticated to bother with politics so hoodlums invaded our national polity. This group of Nigerians who have a heart, owe it to our nation to rise up now and join the process of recovering our nation from men who reason like two year olds. Nigeria is too big for the Jonathans and the Anenihs of this world. . They have nothing to offer and they are not willing to learn. 

Nigeria needs her sons and daughters who have a heart. It is no longer acceptable to shy away from mainstream politics. If we all continue to do so, clowns, nonentities, imbeciles, touts and hoodlums will continue to make life unbearable for the rest of us. Nigerians deserve better than they are getting now. We must all come together to put a stop to this punishment being meted out to us by the ruling party, PDP. Get involved, don't stand aloof. Educate your families, friends and neighbours as to how we can have a better nation. Let them know the evil this government has done and is still doing in our nation and expose their lies so our people, especially those who are not on the social media. Unless we do this, it will be a long nightmare for all of us. 

Follow me on Twitter @Laurestar