Let Nigerians Breathe

Eddie Mbadiwe

Nigerians have once again reached that crossroad, when we don’t know if we are going forward or backwards. It is a typical state which academics call anomie. It started building up from the day President Bola Tinubu was driven to Eagle Square in Abuja, in the company of his friend, Chief Bisi Akande.

By his own admission, he had a mental block whether to remove petroleum subsidy or not. To everybody’s surprise, he announced the removal of petroleum subsidy. Opinions were divided, and a good number of his supporters cheered, and the response from the presidency was, “How High’.

While other Nigerians opposed it, it is only the average Nigerians can judge whether the removal of subsidy has improved their living standards in the last two years. Wole Soyinka, Nobel laureate, not long ago went public and said he cannot maintain his two cars because of the high cost of petrol.

We have unknowingly reached that state which psychologists refer to as state of anomie. Government business has almost come to standstill, as all resources are diverted and channeled to election 2027.

Let us warn politicians to be conscious of Ides of 2027, and those chasing it may be chasing the wind and will definitely reap the whirlwind. As the Holy Book says they should get ready to harvest what they are now sowing.

Let us not forget that the law of karma still holds strong in some Eastern religions. At a time like this, it is unsavory to say unpleasant things about the dead. It is true that many people believe that the eight years of late General Muhammadu Buhari reign were eight wasted years. If miracles were still possible, that of Colonel Tunde Idiagbon should be reinstated. Of course, we cannot play God.

Politicians and their cohorts are very busy Criss-crossing the nation, promising a docile, largely illiterate electorate of so many funny things.

Let us not forget the indelible words of former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, who reminds all of us that there is ‘God O’. there is no provision for free oxygen supply.

In the last two weeks, our brand-new capital, Abuja, was drowned in roads without drainages. The stench was unbearable, and some people moved out of town. The contractor, who ever signed and paid him, should be arrested. Abuja without adequate drainage, together with the official who signed and paid him, should be arrested.

In the former Soviet Union, any official, even though dead, would be exhumed, tried publicly, and if found guilty, publicly hanged. This was a deterrent to their generation. A major part of Nigerians’ problem is that there is only a mini-Schedule of people with integrity who have the courage to speak truth to power.

Please allow me to sign off with the words of my favorite minstrel, Isreal Nwoba: ‘’Many days are for a thief, one day for the owner of the house.

•Rt Honorable Dr. Eddie Mbadiwe writes from Abuja