In The News Today

First off, my heartfelt felicitations with Ms Arunma Oteh. She lost one battle but eventually won the war. 


Ms Oteh is obviously quite intelligent going by her first class degree in Computer Science from UNN and her MBA from Harvard Business School. Also judging from her sterling career at African Development Bank, one can safely assume the lady is worth her salt. 


My country has to be one of the most comical on any atlas. Every-time I think we could not go any lower, there's something in the news to jab us out of our slumber.


During the House hearing into the near collapse of the capital market, most of us watched with horror how Ms Oteh and Honorable Hembe washed their very dirty linen in public. It was on live television and it seemed to me at one point that the rest of us did not exist. In that world, Ms Oteh and Hembe were the only human beings alive. 


Hembe is currently prancing around courtrooms at the moment. Anyone who watches him close enough in court will notice the air of confidence around him. The young man is certain the attempts at prosecuting him will be efforts in futility. You do not need me to tell you why.


When the food bills generated by Transcorp Hilton Abuja hit the public, most average Nigerians wondered how anybody consumed N850,000 worth of food in one day. Ms Oteh graciously clarified the misinformation. She stated that the highest feeding bill generated on a single day during her stay was N83,000. This is just for food. When you are big, you are big. I guess she's modest, considering that our C-in-C consumes 3million naira worth of food daily. 


Eventually she was asked to take a compulsory leave in June 2012. We all erroneously assumed government was finally taking a firm stand on corruption and corrupt public officers. Alas, we were like them that dream.


Last week, Ms Oteh was recalled to head SEC.


The erosion of the moral fabric of my country has attained such unbelievable proportion. If Arunma's disgraceful showing on national television during the House probe is not enough to send her back to the African Development Bank with a 'thank you' note then I wonder what will suffice.


While I try every day to believe that there's hope for the country, I must say it is certainly a very difficult task. Who exactly recalled Oteh? With what criteria was she recalled? What impression are we giving to other Otehs in the making? What impression are we giving to our young unemployed people who would kill to earn Oteh's daily food bill every thirty days? How do we expect to clean up our now decrepit image globally when we allow such impunity?


Naturally, I don't expect answers to the fore-mentioned rhetorical questions. Does anybody give a damn?


Tunde Bakare keeps saying it takes idiots to be ruled by fools. 


The Arabs took their destinies into their own hands. The government was forced and is now forced to respect its citizenry. They don't respect us here, that is why such decisions fly over our heads. 

They know we'll murmur 'It is well' and move on.


They were once us, they know how we think. They don't expect anything different and we have not offered anything different. 


Until then, we can be sure that each time we hear 'In the news today....', it will be something more absurd and insolent from the corridors of power.




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