So, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, picked up his pen a day after Christians celebrated Christmas and finding nothing worthwhile to report from Aso Rock, decided to write instead about how the anti-corruption war is in actuality a political onslaught against the only party that can keep the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on its toes for now.
Garba Shehu
Pardon me, but I am not impressed.
Shehu’s history as a runner of media narrative for one of Nigeria’s former Vice-Presidents is well known – his deployment of his pen in defence his against the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s corruption attacks can easily be recalled – that his pen writes about anti-corruption now is a sign that some pens are without conscience.
Then as now, Shehu should be reminded, that Nigerians were not convinced that the former Vice President was entirely without stain in corruption matters, but we rallied behind him as the spearhead of the only coalition that could put a stop to ex-President Obasanjo’s attempt to impose himself for a third term.
That script has now firmly passed from Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari whose wish seems to be absolute freedom to do as he pleases – with a caged legislature, a tamed opposition and a judiciary that delivers judgments in favour of the ruling party – we have been here before.
But we choose not to be distracted.
There are real issues that Shehu could have addressed – the lingering fuel scarcity for instance, of which ministry his principal heads as Petroleum Minister – when can we expect succour?
Nigeria has never experienced a worse festive season as this since the days of Obasanjo – from an economy spiraling out of control and without direction to a government of clear contradictions – that promises transparency but fails to disclose how much is allocated to Aso Rock as feeding allowance (rumour says NGN1.7bn, 700m higher than last year’s), if for nothing, but so that we can laugh at it as we did with Jonathan, and for a moment not be reminded of our present troubles and very likely bleak 2016.
We will remind Shehu: Mr. President was voted into office for different reasons, just one of which is fighting corruption in PDP alone – the battle against corruption is supported by Nigerians in the belief that it will help turn things around for us economically and perhaps we might ask: how many loopholes and leakages has the current administration blocked so far or shall we assume that the barrels of oil we were told are being stolen per day are no longer being stolen since May 29?
When will Shehu or the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina tell us of how some ministries did not exhaust their 2015 allocated funds and they returned it to Government coffers?
One is encouraged that Boko Haram has now being technically defeated. One must ask however when the Chibok girls will be brought back?
This, if Shehu will realise, is another reason that Nigerians voted the incumbent government in.
Has Garba Shehu seen the picture of Senator Dino Melaye posing for pictures while exiting a presidential aircraft? One of the many that APC told us would be sold off once they come into power as a cost-saving measure?
If you had like me thought that Femi Adesina’s tweet on Christmas Day where he referenced “Wailing Wailers” was a joke or mockery, it wasn’t – and Garba Shehu’s article is the proof – the idea is to keep us politically divided and tag everyone who supports the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a supporter of corruption but here is why it is so important for this Governtent and its spokespersons to keep us divided politically:
They’re fast losing support. It was always going to come at some point – with Jonathan picking over twelve million votes to Buhari’s fifteen million, it was clear that some rejected the change message of APC as well as the incumbent President.
