By mohnice
Ever since I became conscious of my existence as a citizen
of Nigeria, I have always wished that Nigeria should be
revitalized in all aspects so that it would be a country that
would put grin on our faces. But so many unpleasant events
idealized by our leaders and promoted by sycophants make
me to wonder if our leaders want us to be patriots or traitors
to Nigeria.
A patriot is a person who vigorously supports their Country
and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors.
It is also a person who loves, supports and defends his or
her country and its interests with devotion.
A traitor is a person who betrays a friend, principle or
county. It is also a person who commits treason by
betraying his or her country.
Patriotism is devoted love, support, and defense of one’s
country; national loyalty.
A true leader is supposed to be a patriot by defending his
country against internal and external enemies or detractors
such as corruption, but when a leader promotes corruption,
he betrays his country and therefore becomes a traitor
because corruption is an enemy to democracy and
development and leaders are supposed to fight against it
not to promote it.
Why are Americans more patriotic to America than
Nigerians are to Nigeria? A friend of mine once told me in
Makurdi, Benue State that America gained her independence
on July 4, 1776 while Nigeria gained her independence on
October 1, 1960 so there is no need for any comparison.
But I told him that a balanced comparison can be made on
equal levels or stages of development in America’s past in
relation to Nigeria’s recent past or present state of affairs.
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United
States from 1801 to 1809. He was a patriotic leader who
contributed to making America a great nation today.
Jefferson’s political philosophy was one of the pillars to
America’s greatness. While he affirmed “the best
government to be that which governs least”, he was equally
convinced that “the welfare of the whole is the proper
purpose of the state”. In his book: American Education: A
historical perspective. Gutek Gerald, an American writer
says that Jefferson encouraged the need to use federal
powers to advance the national interest for the common
good.
George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin were among those who
stood firm against corruption and encouraged Americans to
be patriots and not traitor through good leadership.
In Nigeria, the case has always been different right from
inception of Nigeria till date. Most Nigerian leaders who
should be patriotic have become traitors.
To mention a few, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida
(IBB) (Retd), late General Sani Abacha, General Olusegun
Obansanjo (Retd) and Goodluck Jonathan are among those
who have taught us to be traitors by the corruption they
committed with impunity.
There is no government or leader that is not naturally
corrupt, but when a leader institutionalizes corruption, he
becomes a traitor because he does little or nothing to fight
against this enemy called “corruption”.
Under Babangida administration which began on August 27,
1985 after Buhari’s military regime was deposed in a
peaceful military coup; foreign debt rose to $30.2 billion
according to THE NEWS of 7 June 1999, Vol.12, No. 22 P.
16. THE NEWS says that it was this time also that Nigeria
witnessed an unprecedented level of capital flight,
divestment of foreign investment from key industrial
sectors, low capacity utilization, outright closure of
industrial concerns and unemployment.
THE NEWS also noted that he was alleged to have “siphoned
the $12 billion Gulf war windfall. These are a few among his
many corrupt acts.
Ernest Shonekan was handed over power as the interim
Head of State by Babangida after he annulled the June 12,
1993 presidential election, which was to usher MKO Abiola
as civilian president. Shonekan was handed over power in
August 1993. In November 1993, Gen. Sani Abacha forced
Shonekan out of office and formed his own provisional
ruling council.
During his administration, Abacha was noted to have
diverted funds meant for financing certain projects into his
account. Most prominent of these projects was the
sprawling Ajaokuta Multi-billion dollar steel project. The late
dictator simply arranged to buy back the $2.5 billion debt of
the steel company. THE NEWS notes that pinching the
whopping sum from the treasury; Abacha clearly diverted it
to his account without effecting any debt buy back. From
the large sum, he gave $5 million to Alhaji Bashri Dalharta,
his power and steel minister, who described it as a “gift” for
his role in facilitation the deal. Also known to have benefited
from the scam was Chief Anthong Ani, the despot’s finance
minister, THE NEWS says. These are a few among his many
corrupt acts.
In his greedy nature, Abacha had planned to change to
civilian rule, after which he met his death on June 8, 1998.
Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar immediately took over the
mantle of leadership in the same month. Gen. Abubakar
was also not free from corruption. But unlike his military
counterpart, Abubakar actually worked for the return to
civilian rule that finally ushered in Olusegun Obasanjo as a
civilian president elected on the 29 May 1999 in the third
republic.
Although Obasanjo established Independent Corrupt
practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), his
government was one of the worst in terms of corruption.
In 1999, the World Bank compiled a list of Nigerian funds by
depositors in four Western countries and gave the list to
President Obasanjo. But he ignored the list. The 2003
election which ushered in the second tenure of Obasanjo
and some PDP governors was another peak of corruption. It
was characterized by cheating, hijacking of ballot boxes,
buying and selling of votes, rigging of results and so on.
The third term agenda of Obasanjo started shortly three
months after he had assumed office for the second tenure
in May, 2003. On August 23, 2003, THE SUNDAY SUN
published a cover story with the title: “Mandela warns
Obasanjo- Don’t Try Third Term”. The paper disclosed that
Mandela had a hint that Obasanjo was plotting for a third
term after May 2007. On September 15, 2003, INSIDER
WEEKLY Magazine came out with a cover title: “Third Term
Presidency: Nigerians says no To Obasanjo”. In the main
story, which was captioned 2007: Obasanjo’s Secret Game,
the Magazine stated: “It started as a strong rumour. But
assumed a life of its own when venerable Nelson Mandela
(of blessed memory), former President of South Africa sent
a warning to his friends, President Olusegun Obasanjo not
to tread the path of infamy by attempting to run for a third
term in office . . . .” According to INSIDER WEEKLY of
September 15, 2003, P. 18, source who spoke to the
Magazine said, “it was the game plan of Obasanjo to
attempt an amendment of the constitution that would enable
him seek a third term in office”. He wants to be life
President, if possible.
Titus Terver Mamadu writes in his book titled:
“CORRUPTION IN THE LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE OF
NIGERIAN POLITY” that for the third term plot to be
effective, Obasanjo needed the endorsement of the National
Assembly and two thirds of the state assemblies. This was
because the section 135(2) of the constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria makes it clear and definite that subject
to the provision in this section, “the President shall vacate
his office at the expiration of a period of four years . . .”
However, the corrupt mind-set Obasanjo who claimed to be
fighting corruption pumped Senators and members of
House of Representatives Billions of Naira so as to make his
way through and effect the amendment of the 1999
constitution to favour his third term agenda.
THE NEWS of December 5, 2005, P. 33 reports that the
Movement for the Defense of Democracy (MDD) reported on
November 23, 2005 that in pursuit of the third term
ambition, Obasanjo budgeted more than N90 billion to entice
lawmakers to facilitate the third term agenda. They gave the
following details of the amount of money involved in the
alleged bribe: Each member of the 360 Representatives was
offered N70 million (a total of N25.2billion). Each of the 109
Senators was offered N140Million (a total of N15.2billion).
Every member of each state House of Assembly in the 36
states was offered N50million.
In a survey of the bribe, THISDAY of May 5, 2006 reports
that “pro-third term Senators and House of Representatives
members in the defunct joint committee of the National
Assembly on 1999 constitution review were alleged to have
received $37,000 each to encourage them recommend a
review of the tenure clause in the Constitution from two to
three terms of four years each for the President.
VANGUARD of April 14, 2006, P.1 also reports a similar
story.
In view of the huge amount used on bribe of Senators and
members of House of Representatives, one can see that
Obasanjo was a traitor and not a patriot. These are just a
few of his many corrupt acts.
When President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (who became
President in 2007) died on 5 may 2010 and Goodluck Ebele
Azikiwe Jonathan was sworn in on 6 May 2010 as the 14th
Head of State of Nigeria, he cited anti-corruption, power and
electoral reforms as focuses of his administration. But his
administration has rather promoted corruption than curbed
it. The basic problem Jonathan has is corruption which has
neutralized his achievements and made most Nigerians to
see his Transformation Agenda as a big failure.
The Malabu Oil deal corruption is one of the issues that has
questioned Jonathan’s anti-corruption competency.
According to THE ECONOMIST of 15 June 2013, In 2011
Goodluck Jonathan’s government facilitated the transfer of
payment of $1.1Billion to a fake company set up by a
controversial former Petroleum Minister under Sani
Abasha’s corrupt regime, Dan Etete. The fake company,
Malabu Oil and Gas was set up in 1998 by Etete using a
false identity so as to award himself a lucrative Oil block,
OPL245, for which he paid only $2million of the $20million
legally required by the State. At the time of Jonathan’s
government helping to facilitate the transfer of payment
from shell and Eni to the fake company, Etete was already a
convicted felon of money laundering in France. THE
ECONOMIST further says that only $800million out of the $
1.1billon meant for Malabu Oil and Gas was even remitted
by the Nigerian government.
The Nigerian Attorney General, Mohammed Bello Adoke,
who signed the documents involved in facilitating the
payments, denied the rest was shared by public officials.
The transfer to convicted Felon, Etete, only came to public
light when a Russian lawyer that claimed to have helped
Malabu negotiate a deal with the Jonathan’s government
sued in New York for a $66Million unpaid commission. Both
Shell and Eni as of September 2014 were under investigation
for corruption by the UK and Italian authorities for the
incidence.
The way which Jonathan handled the corruption act of the
erstwhile Minister of Aviation Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah
who bought 2 BMW bullet proof cars at the rate of
N255miillion upset many Nigerians.
According to PUNCH, February 27, 2013, Mr. Abdulrasheed
Maina was accused of spending up to N1billion to carry out
biometric verification for retirees, both in Nigeria and
abroad. On the whole, Maina allegedly misappropriated
about N195billion, according to the Senate Pension Probe
Committee headed by Aloysius Etuk and Kabiru Gaya. This
resulted in extreme difficulties in getting money to pay
thousands of pensioners their due.
Lamido sanusi was suspended by Jonathan and later
replaced as the Central Bank Governor for leaking
information that about $20billion of petrodollars were
missing from the coffers of Nigeria. And this act made most
Nigerians to lost faith in Jonathan’s government in
effectively fighting corruption.
PREMIUM TIMES of March 24, 2014 reports that the
Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke was accused
by Federal lawmakers of squandering N10billion to charter
and maintain private jet for her personal use. She was
accused of spending about N130Million Naira monthly to
maintain the aircraft, solely for her personal needs and
those of her immediate family.
Samuel Adejare, the lawmaker who raised the matter made
it explicitly clear that there was irrefutable evidence showing
that the financing for the Challenger 850 aircraft was drawn
from government funds.
According to Mr. Adejare, the estimated N10billion would be
“a tip of the iceberg” as further investigation would show
the minister spent far higher.
As a result of many cases of high level of corruption in the
Jonathan government, the United States Government in
2013 indicted the President Goodluck Jonathan led Federal
Government of massive and widespread corruption.
According to the United States Department of State,
government officials and agencies frequently engage in
corrupt practices with impunity.
The former United States’ Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary
Clinton in a public interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts,
lambasted Nigerian government saying: “They have
squandered their oil wealth, they have allowed corruption to
fester and now they are losing control of parts of their
territory because they wouldn’t make hard choices”.
According to her, President Goodluck Jonathan led
government is indirectly aiding corruption to worsen the
nation’s many problems.
From all the corrupt acts of these leaders, have they taught
us to be patriots or traitors? They have taught us that
corruption is right and we should not see anything wrong
with it.
How can we be patriots when most of our leaders don’t care
about us? How can we sacrifice for Nigeria when most of
our leaders are killing it? Patriotism is motivated by good
governance. It is reciprocal. And for Nigerians to be patriotic
to Nigeria, the leaders must first lead the way through
exemplary leadership.
If Nigerian leaders continue to be traitors through bad
leadership, there is no way we can be patriots. Until a
patriotic leader takes over the affairs of Nigeria and lead by
example through good leadership, Nigerians will never be
patriotic to Nigeria.
The pendulum of support that swung against Jonathan and
PDP in the 2015 general elections was projected out of
patriotic spirits of Nigerians. Most Nigerians voted against
Jonathan and PDP because of the high level of corruption
and negligence of the masses.
We expect the President-elect, Major General Muhammadu
Buhari (Retd) to motivate us to be patriotic to Nigeria
through good leadership once he is sworn in on May 29,
2015. If he will be a patriot, we will also become patriots.
But if he will be a traitor, we will also follow suit.
GOD BLESS NIGERIA

Nice article, though almost unbearably long...at the end it was worthwhile.

Tooooooo Looooonnnnnggggggg

I have exams tomorrow