Habiba Mahmoud
One has only to look at a matter
independently, broadly, and un-influenced by common-place ideas and truth will
look back at him. Such is the approach to be adopted in the recent outcry over
vehicles supposedly purchased by the Aviation Ministry; one has to even
set-aside fundamental truths that the Aviation Ministry comfortably maintains
the well-deserved position of Transformation
Ambassadors in the on-going administration.
It is no longer a surprise when Aviation
Minister, Princess Stella Oduah gets above her share of well-deserved media attention.
Of course this is expected as her achievement in the past and on-going as well
isn’t news anymore. What is slightly new however is the approach ‘economic
detractors’ have adopted, in what can be religiously referred to as, ‘a shameless and tenacious persistence to do
harm to one already anointed.’
What else could be truer than that? The purchase
orders for the said bullet proof BMW’s did not bear the Ministers name, neither
did the bank papers. The cars were not parked in the Aviation Ministers
residence, or in the parking lot allocated to her at the ministry. There is no
official document that links the Aviation Minister directly to the purchase from
either First Bank, or Coscharis Motors or any of the fine public serving
institutions these allegations has sought to ridicule. To go a bit further,
even if there was, wouldn’t that simply be suspicious? Isn’t it even remotely
possible that the said figures were self-generated?
The reckless series of self-serving actions to capitalize
on the sentiments in millions, of people already betrayed through spreading
half-truths and quarter-lies will surely come to end.
The attempts of recent development detractors, some
under the false guise of ‘experts’ to mindlessly feed off the negative emotions
innocent Nigerians already marred by a series of
failed administrations by putting a knife on our differences in cultures, ethnicity,
religion, world views and ways of life will also come to an end.
They will come to
know that Nigerians have grown weary at believing in change from the lips of
those once granted the opportunity and failed to even point at the ‘promise
land’, talk more of reaching it.
Although what gives
strength to these false figure blabbers is that they understand that we as a
people have become disarrayed at the actions of previous administrations and that
our common problem has become an inability to see the problem as it is. That we
fail to act when it becomes necessary, fail to recognize, pin point and
identify our common enemies (they), masquerading in various forms. So they constantly
attempt to shape-shift and deceive us each time. What else can make activists
out of former ministers, or deliver righteousness to one who isn’t even
God-fearing.
It is of no surprise therefore that
the capacity of the Aviation Minister to do so much in so little time, has
gained her so many social ‘distractions’. It is simply the mutual worry that some
interests are no longer being represented and the actions now set in motion is
one that will redefine the political machinery.
In truth, we are no longer angry
at the figures we see, or the names we hear or the actions that have been taken
by those in office. We are no longer angry at being neglected, at being
forgotten, at automatically being un-important, or left out of the political
machinery. In less than a week, it will be a miracle if a larger amount of
mis-appropriated funds does not cloud the loudly talked about vehicles.
We are not angry at Princess
Stella Oduah, how can we be? She is a model of all the things we haven’t had in
a long while, a physical manifestation of the power of the ‘Nigerian Woman’, an
enigma to the aviation industry and the Nigerian government, an idea of consistent
and creative development, an ideal that our current state of affairs forces us
to seek and violently oppose.
We are not angry at the Aviation
Minister. We may be angry at our legislators, at our governors and local
government chairpersons, but surely not at an ‘angel of good tidings’’.
Or perhaps we really are angry
that we have been left in such a deplorable state that we can no longer
recognize truth from lies. That the organs we depended on to deliver to us the
gains of a democratically elected government, as well as manage our God given
natural and human resources failed us to such an extent that we can no longer
distinctly separate successes from failures, or technocrats from criminals. No,
I doubt that.
One simply has to forget that the
aviation industry is the most vibrant, committed and dedicated sector to the national
transformation philosophy of the Goodluck Jonathan Administration. One simply
has to forget the shiny new airport terminals spread from the North to the
East, or the marvellous roadmap put in place to welcome foreign investors from
far and wide to Nigeria.
To put quite simply, one has to
forget the Super Eagles flying back home safely, clutching victory in their
hands after an odyssey of failed attempts. We are not angry at the Aviation
Minister.