by Farouk Martins Aresa,
Do you believe Bukola Saraki, Oba idu, ipa to npaja, would be recalled from Kwara? Many of us should be touched by a plea of a young man that would rather look forward to his death in Asia than die in his village as a poor man. What is even more saddening is the number of likes he got on social media. It is far from what many African cultures teach. Many of us are part of those that would rather die trying to be successful than live as a failure. There is a world of difference between the two. Die gallantly at home calling for the head of Saraki, than get wasted abroad.
Yes, in the city of Umofia, failure is not an option. Old men are respected but reverence is given to a hard working successful young men. Our culture and love of success from hard work is going to the gutters replaced by men like Adamu Ciroma that claimed they would make Nigeria ungovernable (with Boko Haram) if Jonathan won; Yekini Amoda (Tinubu) that converted Lagos into his personal property; and not the least Bukola Saraki that crowned himself as Oba Idun.
Greed has no bound. Each time Saraki steals and gets away with it, he aspires to a higher office in order to control not only the treasury but influence youths with culture of corruption on his country. The cry of the youth that wants to make it by hook or crook including dying for drug peddling in Asia, 419 in America, prostitution in Italy, slavery in the Middle East and used as body parts anywhere diminish our cultures. No, no. The means does not justify the end.
These are not the only ones but they exemplify how our society has gone down turning cultures known for hard work, perseverance and success into failures. If you look at the history of Africa, most of the countries that were on the path of success became failed states through greed and selfishness disguised as ethnic quibbling that leads to all or nothing. If you want to disorient our youths, ethnicity is red meat to kill one another like fleas (egbon) thinking they killed the dog.
There is always a precedent that somebody gets away with. When the former Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambulwa usurped the seat with the help of his supporters across party lines in PDP, Tinubu’s AC and got away with it despite his Party order in the allocation of positions for ethnic balance, opportunists took notice and learned from it. It came back to haunt Tinubu and also set a precedence that party rules can be flouted with impunity and nothing would happen.
When Saraki with no ethnic or party loyalty except play them selfishly; did the same and gained Senate President, he was not going to stop there. He forced President Buhari to accept him as Senate leader. The same Saraki was able to block the Head of EFCC, Magu that is investigating him for corruption. He got to the point of threatening the Acting President and even nursing the idea of becoming the President himself by impeaching the Acting President Osinbajo.
Why not? This man has gotten away with everything as a career banker and as a Governor too! Those that got burnt as depositors in Society General would never forgive his father, his sister and cronies: these working class Nigerians lost their lifesavings, cried that Saraki got away with murder. Mohammed Dikko Abubakar, Chief of Police in futility resurrected Saraki’s bank case.
Each time Saraki was charged to court, he had immunity as Governor and money to cheat our justice system. Youths watch our leaders and work hard as crooks instead of devoting the same talents and vigor to productive activities that would move them and their country forward. This man is not only a crook, he has more money to kill the recall in Kwara than his next generations could lavishly exhaust. But the way they got the money makes it impossible to spend wisely.
Most of us would expect families born into riches would behave in certain ways with fewer propensities for money that is not theirs. However, Saraki’s father, a refugee from Niger, was one of the medical doctors of those days that made money with means to give good education to his children anywhere in the world. Yet this is the man that led his children into risky banking where they could steal more money and turn working class folks’ dream into nightmares.
There used to be a time when the children of crooks, looters, highway robbers and kidnappers would never find a lady to marry. Not anymore. Their children are now in high demand. Actually they marry one another from the same looter’s class regardless of their ethnicity demonstrated by the “who and who” at their wedding ceremonies. They have created a class for themselves. Either for fear of being recognized as kids of looters or pride, they do not mix with other folks.
However, Bukola Saraki got married to a lady from a respectable family whose father worked hard and excel to the top of his company. When the children of the looters are sent to school in places where the well-cultured children go, they must meet. It is a shame that Omo Ojora, the wife of Saraki, will be judged and soiled by the husband; and rightly so because she cannot claim that she has not partaken in the loot that splashed on the husband.
As Yoruba say: Ipa npa arare olohun paja! The notion that the children of these looters can anonymously live a peaceful life outside their countries is not so assuring. No matter what, any African outside the Continent will be judged by the progress made in Africa not by the progress Africans make outside. So African Americans protest the encroachment of the limited space in good jobs and colleges occupied by Africans that have not had effect of generational slavery.
Saraki is the King of fleas, ipa, egbo on the dog. The point is if Africans were so good, you could have made a difference out of your Continent. Africans cannot devastate their countries and reduce it to rubbles then run out to do the same outside or deprive others of the opportunities they could have gladly had in Africa if it was any good. This is why it is harder for African to fight discrimination outside as those experiencing the vestiges of generational discrimination justify.
Our youths have been abused, derogated and lost confidence in their ability to fight back at home. This has disorientated them into thinking it is better to risk it all including their lives abroad than to be subjugated to poverty at home. It has never been this cruel because most of us were ready and did come back home in those days than face severe discrimination abroad.
But then, poverty was not biting as hard as it is now at home. Nevertheless, one that can be this desperate, can work towards revolution at home and Occupy the House and the Senate. Risking death fighting at Home, gives you a higher rate of success than wasting your lives abroad!
