FACT:-
“POWER GENERATION IN NIGERIA DROPPED TO 1,714
MEGAWATTS”.
SOURCE:- A.I.T NEWS, FRIDAY 18TH
APRIL, 2014.
By: Eddy Ogunbor.
Last weekend, Friday 11th April 2014 to be precise,
my daughters informed us (my wife and I) that they were going out to, as they
will always say, “hang out with their friends”. We always laugh over this and
thereafter advise them to “hang out” responsibly and moderately. This
particular weekend, when they came back home, it was noticed that my younger
daughter’s shoes had some traces of sand and on further prodding, she accepted
that the “hang out” was in the open park.
Now, for those that frequent Abuja and socialize, Abuja has
Parks and these are the usual places for relaxation. On impulse, they were
advised to avoid such places for now because of the security situation in Abuja
and especially the threat by Boko Haram terrorists that they will strike in
Abuja and environs. Curiuosly, Abuja parks do not have adequate security
checks!! Anyone could drive in and out with anything at anytime. In places
where there are security checks, even in the five star Hotels, apart from metal
detectors to check under the car chassis (that is, if the metal detectors are
really effective), you are asked to have your car booth opened. The check takes
only few seconds. Explosive devices are not only planted or installed
underneath the car chassis or booth for crying out loud!! What about the car
engine and the interior of the car!?
This discussion with my daughters was just one week away
from the festive (Easter) holiday. The government and security agencies assured
Abuja residents that they were “on top of the situation” and adequate security
arrangements will be put in place during the festive period. The normal
government and security agencies official response to all situations – good or
bad.
Reasonably, security should have been beefed up in a
responsive government, atleast one week before the festive period. For government
and security forces, Easter was still a week away when all security personnel
will be deployed to worship places because the “ogas at the top” will worship
in these places and must be protected. The Parks were now left vulnerable and
travellers in the motor parks (masses) were left at the mercies of the
terrorists.
Was it any surprise that the terrorists struck at Nyanya
Motor Park early morning on Monday 14th April 2014? Lives were lost
and many injured. The country’s security preparedness was once again exposed to
all and sundry. Expectedly, government moved to Nyanya Park. The who-is- who in
government visited the motor park. Condolences as usual were conveyed to the
victims (dead or alive), the relatives of the victims etc and to Nigerians. As
usual, Nigerians were informed that government and security agencies were “on
top of the situation”, “the perpetrators of this dastardly acts will be fished
out”, “security is not only the responsibility of government” and “
politicians/people should not play politics with the situation” blah, blah,
blah.
Finally, government moved to the various Hospitals (public
and private), in full glare of national and local TV cameras, then promised
full responsibility in taking care of all hospital bills. What did we find out
thereafter, relatives of victims and survivors were asked to settle bills by
the hospitals pending when government will settle the bills and therefore wait
for refund. In Nigeria, knowing the way things work, getting refund will take
eternity and some people in government will make a “kill” from this situation.
The medical team called for blood donations to save victims
lives. Sadly, no government official and all the “ogas at the top” responded to
the call. The British Envoy to Nigeria shamed them all and along with his
members of staff at the British High Commission, became the first blood donors to
save the lives of Nigerians in Nigeria.
The shock of all these had hardly sunk in on Nigerians, then
followed the shock from the stable of the ruling party PDP, that is, the rally
in Kano, to receive just one "decampee" to their fold, on the following day Tuesday
15th April 2014. This shocked most Nigerians to a state of “unshockability”
(late Dele Giwa). The party bigwigs, including Nigeria’s President, danced,
clapped, laughed and threw abusive words at the host Governor and the main
opposition party, APC, in the country. This took over two hours of live TV
broadcast, at a time Nigerians mourned, grieved and survivors still in
different hospitals, still not certain of their chances of living.. This was,
in the opinion of most Nigerians, one dance too many on the grave of the dead
from the bomb blast and outright insensitivity on the part of these shameless
politicians to the plight of the injured, still recovering in the hospitals and
the relatives of all the victims.
Not done with that shameful act, on the same day, the
President, some government officials and ruling party members jetted to Ibadan
to celebrate with the Olubadan of Ibadan on his centenary birthday ( which was
celebrated a day before) and photographed cutting a special cake with the Monarch.
The country was further informed and shocked same day, while
the ruling party and the President conducted the shameful rally in Kano, that
over 200 secondary school girls were abducted by gunmen in Chibok, a remote village in Borno State. Nigerians
are informed by one of the girls that was lucky to escape, that the gun men
came in buses, woke them up at about 9pm, ushered them into the buses and drove
off with the girls at about 3am. A whole six hours and no security check points
and no trace of security in the area for those long period of time they
operated!? The girl informed Nigerians also that at least two of the buses broke
down twice. Yet, no security agencies picked the terrorists up?
Then the mother of all lies and deceit by the military. The
military spokes person, a serving General informed Nigerians and the world that
the military rescued some of the girls, while the school Principals and parents
of the girls debunked the the story. Nigeria’s Minister of National Planning,
Bashir Yuguda was on international TV Al Jazeera talking through both sides of
his mouth and lying to the world that, indeed the abducted secondary school
girls were rescued by the military. On Thursday, 17th April 2014,
the military shamelessly came out to retract their earlier statement that the
military had rescued the girls. The military spokesperson claimed that the
military was misled!!
The “celebrated” megaphone" of the ruling Party, Olisa
Metuh, in an effort to gain political mileage from these situation, came on air
and with a press statement, to announce and accuse the opposition party, APC
and its leaders led by General Muhammadu Buhari of launching and master minding
the Nyanya Park bomb blast. His ruling party towed the same line of accusation
even though the security agencies informed Nigerians that investigations to
unravel the perpetrators of the bomb blast are still ongoing. The good news is
that General Buhari has given the ruling party PDP and its Publicity Secretary,
Olisa Metuh a seven day ultimatum to retract their claims or face legal action.
This is a step towards the right direction by General Buhari to redeem his
image and put a final stop to these unwarranted and unsubstantiated falsehood by pathological
liars. We await this retractions anxiously.
This informed my decision to go on a three day mourning
period, shunning postings on facebook in honour of all victims, dead or alive
and to protest my disgust for the shows of shame and insentivities of
government and the ruling party.
The President, as a result of the nation’s security
challenges, on Thursday summoned an “extended” Security Council meeting,
supposedly to include all security Chiefs, the 36 State Governors, DSS, DMI
and NIA Chiefs, NSA, Defence Ministers etc, with the President to preside as
the Commander-in-Chief. However, only the PDP Governors attended as the APC
Governors were not present. Then another embarrassing situation of claims and
counter claims ensured. The Presidency gave the impression that the APC
Governors shunned the security meeting. The President’s “man Friday”, Godswill
Akpabio informed Nigerians that the APC Governors were not invited as the
meeting was only for the PDP Governors. Lai Mohammed, APC Interim Publicity
Secretary claimed that the APC Governors were initially invited but, a phone
call from the Presidency to one of the APC’s Governors aides informed them that
the security meeting had been called off. Hence the APC Governors did not
attend.
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