GEJ and corruption: A clarion call for Igbos to restore our image, By Ugo Chikezie
By Ugo Chikezie
There is a dangerous trend I have noticed in this country and I wish to appeal to all well meaning Igbo people all over the world to stand up and help to restore our image as a region.
Each time I listen to Radio programs or read comments on Facebook, Twitter etc, I notice that people who appear to be defending corruption these days are mostly people from our region. We are good people highly creative and industrious. We were trained with high moral values, and were taught to always conduct ourselves in ethical and professional manner. Our culture (Omenala) abhor evil and evil acts. Therefore, my heart bleeds each time I see my people openly defending corruption thereby giving us bad image in the country.
Abacha’s son and some of the people who served under him were incarcerated for many years, I didn’t see any Northerner shout “witch-hunt!” I can bet you, if IBB, Atiku etc are arrested today, no Hausa person will protest. Dasuki has been held for some months now, no northerner has openly come out to protest. Over 100 members of the Shiite group were killed last month by the Nigerian military, till date I’ve not heard the Hausas shouting “witch-hunt!” Meanwhile, we all know what would have been the case if the Biafra protesters were treated the same way the Shiite members were treated.
When OBJ was president, the people that criticised him the most were the Yorubas. He openly disgraced Tafa Balogun and some other prominent Yorubas for corruption and no Yoruba person made any noise. Bode George was jailed some years ago and no Yoruba person shouted witch-hunt. I can go on and on and on. Even recently Olu Falae was fingered in the arms deal scandal, and the Yorubas have not spared him.
But anytime GEJ’s name is mentioned for the way he mismanaged our economy, my people will jump out in his defence. When did we loose our sense of morality to this extent? When did we go this low as a people? Are we now proud of evil?
All over the world, people are held to account for their stewardship when they leave office. Because if there are no consequences for corruption then the whole world will be like a zoo. Sadly, in Nigeria we are shamelessly supporting evil and making excuse for corrupt people. People who say “don’t talk about GEJ” or “don’t blame GEJ” seem not to understand the dangerous path they are taking our country to.
This is the first time this is happening in the history of Nigeria. PMB can also decide to loot our treasury and go and if we protest, the Northerners will say he is past we should focus on the future. The next president will also come and loot and go and this evil trend will continue till the country will finally collapse right before us.
I know that so many people will attack me and accuse me of all sorts for daring to write this post. But I would rather say the truth and please God than keep quiet in the face of obvious evil just for fear of being abused. Let it be on record that I spoke out at a time like this when some people are giving our region bad image. There are times when silence is not golden. Evil thrive when good people keep silence. We are good people and we must arise to salvage our image and restore national and international trust.
Nigeria is bigger than GEJ or PMB. Nigeria should be more important to us than PDP or APC. It’s not compulsory for everybody in the country to support the president or the party in power, but it’s important to criticise objectively. Be a catalyst, not an enemy of the state.
God in His infinite wisdom inspired His people to write the Bible, He didn’t ask them to write about leaders who succeeded alone. He also inspired them to write about the rulers who failed, so that we can learn from them.
The world over, leaders are remembered for good or for bad. Mahatma Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Nelson Mandela, Olusegun Obasanjo, Bill Clinton, Abacha, Martin Luther King, IBB, Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, etc have all lived and some are dead but they are all still being remembered for their successes and failures. This is why it’s important to always utilise your opportunities very well so that you will be remembered for good after you exit from office/earth.
GEJ failed and he will always be on the wrong side of history (just like most of our past rulers in Nigeria) so no one should tell me not to talk about him anymore, because there is no future if you don’t properly analyse the past and learn from it.
When a child falls down, he stands up and continue running, but when an adult falls down, he will look back and understand what made him fall and address it before taking any step further. Wisdom is profitable to direct.
Let’s not forget that the world is not destroyed by those who do evil, rather the world is destroyed by those who support evil..
