I was in Abuja last week with my nose to the ground as usual and to get in touch with scouts in various ministries when this story came out in the Peoples Daily, a paper most people don’t read but which carries a lot of interesting news. And, the news popped out of several. The Ministry of Petroleum, as my readers must know by now, is hot bed of spies for International Oil Companies, IOCs, and unpatriotic Nigerians ready to sell Nigeria to their paymasters. I quickly got in touch with a few people who confirmed that it is true that the ministry has started to spend money meant for the implementation of a bill that has not even been passed.

“Presido, RE: PIB. What u said about Mark and Bankole is, as usual, monumental. They can make history & name. Let us watch and see what they do.” Chukwukere, Garki.

President Goodluck Jonathan did not give $9,000 to PDP delegates for their votes. That is authoritative. But, some people, from shady sources including, perhaps, donations from some international oil companies and beneficiaries of inflated contracts combined with his campaign organisation to give out real American dollars to delegates. The least given, from my own sources, was $9,000; some received as much as $20,000.

“Traitors….are an unfortunate class of people. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be traitors. They conspire to bust up a country; they fail, and they are traitors. They bust her, and they become statesmen (and women) and heroes (and heroines). (Translated from original).
Artemis Ward, 1872, in “The Tower of London.”

“Who calls them the happy people of Columbia?” I asked.
“Everyone’, said Dudley. “That’s why nothing ever happens here. The government doesn’t do anything here. They don’t have to. They know the people are happy, so they don’t give them anything”.

Marlow finished that sentence in a way I can’t. But, as Nigerians again are now at dagger’s drawn over the recent election in Delta State and the first full election to be conducted under Professor Attahiru Jega, my heart bled. Ordinarily, the outcome should have provided another opportunity to say “I told you so.” But, the catastrophe that has befallen our nation far outweighs any feeling of triumph.

“I think we are getting to a stage when he (Obasanjo) gets back from his overseas tour, we shall approach him to accept the presidency.”

“All political parties die at last from swallowing their own lies.”Dr. John Arbuthnot, 1667-1735.
(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p. 191).

READ THESE AND PONDER THE IMPLICATIONS.“GSM NUMBER WITHHELD ON REQUEST
Why are youpeople complaining about kidnappings in Akwa Ibom while we have no electricity in day time to do legitimate work? IPP lights from 1am to 6am. It’s no use to us. AKS.

Nothing is all evil. Previous military governments gave us two decrees, which in retrospect, we might wish had been incorporated into our 1999 constitution. The second was the Failed Bank Decree of the Abacha administration. Although I was placed in detention four times during that regime, I will forever pray for Abacha for at least temporarily sanitizing the banking sector.