Conversation With A Compulsive Critic
By Dr Uche Diala
#SECURITY. Is It Better?
I do not know whether it is selective amnesia or mischief on steroids but as we Igbos say ‘ihe eji n’aka, anaghi eji enyo ele ya’ (one does not need a mirror to see what one is holding in one’s palms). May God never allow me to not acknowledge the truth and speak it all times.
Someone asked me if security is “really better” and then said the “jury is still out” on that. Yet failed to answer the question when thrown back to him. He forgot that himself, myself, Senator Ali Ndume, Gov Prof Zulum, Joe Jomomoh etc are equally part of that “jury”.
I live in Abuja and have done since June 2000. So I can relate to before and after in Abuja and the FCT with authority. In 2014/15 and in the lead up to that timeline, this same Abuja that I have lived in for 20 years:
Witnessed the bombing of the UN Office where sadly I lost one of my very close patients.
The HQ of the Nigeria Police Force named Louis Edet House was bombed.
One of my former employees was missed by whiskers as the vehicle she was coming to work in just crossed the Nyanya bridge literally seconds before the bombing that killed scores there went off. They saw it from the rear view mirror of the car.
Interestingly the then Commander in Chief went on to Kano same day to dance ‘skelewu’ at a PDP Rally. And some of these compulsive critics, nillists and serial deniers never saw anything wrong in that then.
I personally missed or rather was missed by the bombing of EMAB Plaza, Wuse II, Abuja by less than 5 minutes. I arrived to meet fresh burning fingers and palms of the not so lucky victims.
Going to Church and Mosque in FCT then was such a torture that many opted to simply stay at home on Sundays, Midweek and Fridays.
It was a matter of when and where, not if a bomb will go off then. Today, all that has ended and someone is asking me if security is better? Ask anyone resident in Abuja during this same timeline that same question.
I won’t bore us with the situation in the North East, North West and NC then when bombings, suicide and otherwise were a daily occurrence. Life was simply brutish and short and the future bleak for real, not by gerrymandering or social media propaganda. You did not need any one to spin it or weave conspiracy theories about it. It was real, clear and present for everyone to see.
Suffice that to say, add my verdict on security here to those of Senator Ali Ndume, Gov Zulum … and others and then answer the question of is it better? Beyond political gerrymandering and self deceit.
EXPECTATION OF “FUEL TO BE SOLD AT N40” PER LITRE
This is part of the problem – unrealistic expectations. Yet when they are not met, we get angry at others instead of at ourselves for being so unrealistic.
Only an ignorant person would have believed fuel would sell for N40. How?
When every informed and dedicated Nigerian and Buhari supporter knew that Subsidies needed to go for fuel scarcities to end. How on earth would any person have expected PMS to sell for N40 in that situation? You see the problem?
Have fuel scarcities not ended? Has the product not remained available?
Is it better to buy fuel at N163 per litre and it is readily available while at the same time saving money for critical infrastructure or buy it an N250 even when we claimed the official rate was N86 and it was hardly available, leaving us spending nights at filling station especially every Christmas and end of year?
What do we really want as a people?
EXPECTATION OF “24×7 POWER” SUPPLY
I do not know where you stay my compatriot but I live in Area 2, Garki Abuja and my office is at Area 11, Garki, specifically Area 11 Shopping Mall. So you can call and verify if I am lying.
Before 2016, we hardly enjoyed up to 5 hours of light daily at the Plaza. Sometimes we would go for days and even weeks without power. The first task every morning was to buy fuel. God help us if there was fuel scarcity which was a regular occurrence then.
Since 2016 to date, power has remained largely constant at my office, often times not going off for weeks (24×7) and my generator can stay a month without being switched on. Same case in my residence. Feel free to find out.
Now I am not saying it js the same every where in Nigeria. Of course not. Surely the situation is different in my village in Ehime Mbano, Imo state.
But I know the power supply situation has changed for many other people in different other parts of Nigeria. If you are sincere enough you can attest to if it has improved in your area or not. I will believe you if you say it has not. But it is undeniably better than it used to be overall. Yet we have a long way to go. Yet we know that the government is working for real. The Siemens Project will be a game changer.
Permit me to add though, with all due respects – anyone who expected or believed, even if that one was told or promised that he will have “24×7 power” after 6 months is naive.
With power generation at less that 2,700MWs at handover in 2015, a collapsed National Grid on the day of handover, a wicked privatization program that sold off NEPA to DISCO dancers on such unbelievable terms and conditions that tied the hands of the incoming administration? It is a no brainer.
#InClosing
Are we where we need to be? Hell No.
Are we were we used to be or worse? HELL NO.
Anyone who denies that obvious truth is a liar and the truth is not in him or her.
Once more, I humbly appeal to us all compatriots, irrespective of our chosen political leaning to pause a bit and ponder sincerely.
No one is a Saviour except God but I daresay, if we pass up this unique and golden opportunity provided by Muhammadu Buhari, sorry will be our case.
This is not politics.
Nigeria Shall Endure And It Is Enduring.
@Uche Diala, druchediala@gmail.com
