“Their hate for President Goodluck Jonathan justifies the suffering in the land. Recession matters not. Hunger matters not. Loss of jobs matters not. Polio matters not. Making a mess of the naira matters not. Fulani herdsmen matter not. High cost of foodstuffs matters not. Chibok matters not. We have men consumed by their hate for Jonathan and it matters not if Nigeria burns” – Prince Henry Nwazuruahu Shield, Facebook, August 11, 2016.
How right Prince Shield is. His contribution is not only courageous but also insightful and profound. The Buharists and the “lying liars” are blinded by their hate for Jonathan and for those of us that have chosen to stand by him.
It is so bad that if their wives were made pregnant by another man they would say that it was Jonathan that was responsible. Yet their record of governance is clear and there for all to see.
In one year and two months of President Buhari and his APC’s “Mai Chanji”, Nigeria has become a very different place to what it was before. Our nation has, so to speak, really been ‘‘transformed”.
A few examples will suffice. One year two months ago, we were the largest producer of oil in Africa but thanks to “Mai Chanji”, that is no longer the case. One year and two months ago, we were the number one destination for foreign investment in Africa but thanks to “Mai Chanji”, that is no longer the case. One year and two months ago, we were the largest economy in Africa but thanks to “Mai Chanji”, that is no longer the case. Sadly it gets worse.
In the space of one year and two months, the naira has depreciated from N160 Naira to $1 United States Dollar (USD) to N410 Naira to $1 USD.
If there is no change in fiscal and monetary policy anytime soon, there is a consensus amongst economic and fiscal experts that by Christmas the Naira would have depreciated to, at best, N500 Naira to $1 USD.
One year and two months ago, Nigerians could buy a bag of rice for N8000 but today, they are paying N20,000 naira for that same bag of rice.
As Pastor Reno Omokri, a former aide to President Jonathan said, if the minimum wage is N18,000 naira, where are the people meant to get the money to buy rice and other basic food commodities for their families?
In one year and two months graduate and non-graduate unemployment has soared, banks and companies are retrenching, manufacturers are closing their factories and plants, industries are collapsing, farmers are complaining and businessmen and traders are crying. That is “Mai Chanji” for you. Yet it gets worse.
One year and two months ago, we were generating 5000 megawatts of power for the electrical grid but today, we are generating less than 2000 megawatts.
Again, one year and two months ago, we were making large sums of money from the export of our crude oil but today, oil production has been reduced by one third and we we are importing crude oil and refined products from the neighbouring nations of Niger and the Republic of Chad.
One year and two months ago, the Nigerian Stock Exchange was recovering and on the rise and our banking sector was flourishing and liquid. Today, the Stock Exchange has lost 1.6 trillion naira in the last 14 months and our banks have become nothing but weak and barren money-lender stalls and pawn shops. That is “Mai Chanji” for you.
In one year and two months, our Air Force, once the pride of Afrcan skies, has been reduced to nothing but a cow and sheep recovery agency. In one year and two months, our army, once one of the most professional, feared, disciplined and respected in Africa, has been turned into a civilian-killing machine which, on several occasions, has been unleashed on the very people that they are paid to be protecting.
Just to give one example, earlier this year, they slaughtered over 1000 innocent Shiite Muslims in the streets of Zaria simply because they blocked a road; they worship God in a different manner to others and they are not Sunni Muslims. That is real “Mai Chanji” for you.
Again, it doesn’t stop there. In one year and two months, Boko Haram has redefined itself, resurrected from the dead and acquired new, more dangerous and more sophisticated leaders and weapons. They have also established two equally ruthless factions and come back bigger, stronger and more deadly than ever before. Gosh, don’t you just love “Mai Chanji”?
In one year and two months, well-armed government-sponsored and government-protected Fulani militias, who pose as herdsmen, are raping and killing innocent and defenceless Nigerians in the farms and towns of the Middle Belt and the South.
In one year and two months, the majority of Nigerians have been cowered into silence out of fear of persecution and trepidation of being locked up indefinately by Buhari’s gestapo. That is “Mai Chanji” for you.
In one year and two months, we have been turned from a democracy where the freedom of speech once reigned and where the criticism of the president and the government was welcome and even encouraged, into a totalitarian police state where the press is muzzled, judges are muscled and legislators are threatened and docked.
One year and two months ago, judges were reverred, court orders were honoured and respected in the land and the rule of law prevailed. Today court orders are violated and treated with contempt and impunity; the rule of law has been reduced to an inconsequential and empty mantra and members of the Judiciary are threatened with criminal investigation, media trials and public witchunts, infantile probes and baseless criminal prosecutions if they do not play ball and do the bidding of the security agencies and the executive. That is real “Mai Chanji” for you.
One year and two months ago, Nigeria had a cerebal, world-class and outstanding Minister of Finance and a flourishing economy, but today we have a cockney-accented, hackney-eyed Minister of Finance, who is not only struggling but who is also clearly out of her depth and our economy is “officially in recession”.
One year and two months ago, President Goodluck Jonathan, his government and indeed the people of Nigeria were desperately looking for the Chibok girls and the Obi Ezekwesili and Hadiza Usman-led ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign was in full swing, marching, demonstrating and criticising the government every day for not finding them. Today, the Chibok girls have more or less been abandoned and forgotten. President Muhammadu Buhari appears to be indifferent to their plight, the search for them has ground to a halt and the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign has gone into a deep coma whilst some of its leaders have been pacified and settled with juicy political appointments. That is “Mai Chanji” for you.
Up until one year and two months ago, a great and illustrious son of Nigeria and a man who was a great source of pride to African football by the name of Stephen Keshi was honoured and celebrated by his president and government on behalf of the people of Nigeria. Yet one year and two months later when he passed on and when his family needed all the comfort and support that they could get, our “Mai Chanji” President and government did not give him a state burial, did not participate in his funeral and did not see it fit to honour him in death. That is how encouraging and supportive “Mai Chanji” is.
Four years ago, our sportsmen and women went to the London Olympics with their heads held up high and with all the kit and resources that they needed but today, our sportsmen and women at the Rio Olympics have been begging foreigners and Nigerians alike on the Internet for transportion, food, clothes and their allowances. That is “ Mai Chanji” for you.
To be continued