AN APPRAISAL OF AN ESTEEMED IDOL
BY: ORIMOLOYE, Ifeoluwa

WARNING: IGNORE ANY SARCASTIC TONE, BETTER STILL… TREAT SARCASM IRONICALLY!

Another name for the idol of money in this part of the world is corruption, ably supported by its second-in-command, His invisible majesty Owonikoko. And until one pays an homage to this idol or its agents or use personalities that have been blessed by this idol as a point of contact in prayers, one shall continue in the light of ‘isetakuntakun’ a state of toiling and reap the ‘ibukun’ that can only be attributed to the intensity of ‘blessings’ in my state. When you try to fight this idol of money in this part of the world, you shall incur its wrath. If you have been privy to an occasion where the idol of money engages in a fracas, you are bound to understand that it answers by fire and brimstone. In no doubt, the fear of the idol of money is the beginning of riches. Oh! May I quickly include the fact that this idol is a jealous idol and as such, will visit the atrocities of a rival on his generation from the first generation to, perhaps the third generation.
The fact that the Nigerian society has institutionalized corruption is an understatement which is aimed at making the impact of corruption look ideally simple. Rather, the truth is that corruption is the machinery that makes institution of state function effectively. It is similar to a situation where a priest appease his idol, as such, one can get in return the kind of service that cannot be anticipated from institutions of state in the country. In return for every appeasement made to the idol of money, you can get a faster delivery of services in a way that you have never seen, you can get especially the kind of courtesy that you think that you cannot find in Nigeria. That is the extent of this epidemic.
‘Researchers’ have as well discovered that the purposeful utilization of the blessings of His Invisible Majesty, Owonikoko is by dishing out as much as you can obtain from this royal blessings. The law propounded as a result of the research work goes thus, “the more the supply of the yields from corruption, the more secured the tracks of the supplier becomes.” This law was carefully exemplified in the manner in which Col. Dasuki (rtd) was said to have meticulously disbursed proceeds accrued from the royal blessings from His invisible majesty, owonikoko, but for few lapses.
It is in this society that you get more elevation for every act of corruption, this leads me to the second law of corruption which states that, “for every public wealth stolen in Nigeria, you get a step higher in any accepted societal system of standardization.” That is, you can become whatever you want to become through corruption. For instance, as a lower cadre officer, with the aid of corruption you can get elevated within the twinkle of an eye, if you so wish, all thanks to this idol of money.
This takes me to the story of the former president of Brazil whose government is acknowledged to be a corrupt one. He is supposed to undergo trial on corruption but was nominated as a staff to the new president due to close ties including the fact that the incumbent Dilma rousseff’s candidacy was endorsed by the former president. But some citizens kicked against the appointment of this former president and further went ahead to seek a court injunction against this perceived impunity. This can happen elsewhere, but not in Nigeria where the shrine of the idol of money is supposedly located!