WHO IS A TRUE NIGERIAN PATRIOT AND NATIONALIST IN ALL REALITY?

"Patriotism" or the English word "patriot" comes from the Greek word "patriōtēs" which means a "countryman" or a "fatherland". The question of that surrounds the true meaning of a Nigerian patriot or nationalist is divisive and controversial in nature. The Greek philosopher Socrates once said, “Patriotism does not require one to agree with everything that his country does, and would actually promote analytical questioning in a quest to make the country the best it possibly can be.” 

Are Nigerian corrupt leaders who openly looted our treasury dry in order to become super-rich men and women overnight as public officials truly patriotic to the Nigerian nation in all truth, honesty and reality? Are those politicians and the government officials who set up one-sided economic policies that primarily benefit the foreign business interests and their few selected or anointed Nigerian businessmen instead of the entire Nigerian nation patriotic? Are those Nigerian public officials who are intentionally mismanaging our state resources, destroying our future and then forces our nation into economic mess, penury, debts and international borrowing truly patriotic? 

Are those popular Nigerian pastors and religious leaders with large followers and organizations behind them who use their influential positions and personal connections with those Nigerians in the corridor of power to diabolically evade import duties and the weight of the law really patriotic? Are those Nigerian popular pastors or religious organizations who receive donations as tithes and personal gifts that run into the tens of millions of the Nigerian Naira from those corrupt public and government officials who are never paid in the same tens of million of the Nigerian Naira as their salaries and allowances our genuine patriots today in Nigeria? Are those Nigerian popular pastors who intentionally endorsed the candidacy of those mediocre and corrupt politicians for public offices really patriotic to the nation? 

Are those Nigerian public officials who intentionally reduced the monetary values of the government owned and failing corporations, government houses and government valuable properties to be sold to their friends and family members at those ridiculous or giveaway prices really patriotic to Nigeria? In conclusion, many of our so called leaders in both the secular and the religious worlds in Nigeria today are simply our true traitors or real enemies in Nigeria. The true patriots and the genuine nationalists in Nigeria today are the men and women who never went alongside with our government decisions, choices and policies on those important national issues that affect the future of the Nigerian nation primarily and the welfare of the 160 million ordinary Nigerians in general

"THE REASONS WHY THE NORTHERN NIGERIA WANTS THE PRESIDENCY BACK IN 2015"

The election of President Olusegun Obasanjo to the presidency of Nigeria in 1999 through the PDP was politically possible because of the gentlemen agreement of the rotational and zoning policy of the PDP and the massive support that Olusegun Obasanjo received from the Northern Nigerian voters in the 1999 presidential election. Nigerians should never forget that Olusegun Obasanjo did not have the needed political home base in the Western Nigeria or the votes of the Yorubas to win that presidency in 1999. The election of the late President Yar'Adua in 2007 continued this political pattern of rotational presidency within the PDP until his sudden death in office in 2010. The presidency of Nigeria then fell automatically into the hands of Jonathan Goodluck based on the Nigerian 1999 constitution. 

The personal decision of President Jonathan Goodluck to seek another presidential term at the expiration of the uncompleted presidential term of the late President Yar'Adua was considered a political slap on the Northern Nigeria and a direct violation of the PDP's unwritten gentlemen political agreement of rotational presidency. This political development around the presidency of Jonathan Goodluck set into motion the PDP's internal crisis and the President Jonathan Goodluck's second decision to contest again in 2015 for another presidential term has now finally culminated in the division of the one PDP into two different PDPs today in 2013 (the old PDP and the new PDP). No matter what happens at the end of the day in the divided PDP. 

The internal political crisis that has plagued the PDP will never be over as long as the Northern Nigerian elements in the PDP want the presidency of Nigeria back in 2015 and President Jonathan Goodluck is 100% bent on seeking another constitutional presidential term in the Aso Rock villa in 2015. The year 2015 and the natural element of time will both remain the most important determinant factors for the final outcome of this ongoing political war inside the PDP for the presidency of Nigeria.

"MY PERSONAL STORY OF NIGERIA THAT I KNOW"

Whenever I write about Nigeria, her leadership, whether secular or religious as well as her most important national issues, I write based on my own first-hand personal experiences and eye witness accounts of those important national events that have shaped the destiny of Nigeria to date growing up in that country. I know most of the past and the present actors in the corridor of power in Nigeria very well, from the government of Yakubu Gowon to the present government of Jonathan Goodluck.

I personally witnessed the rise of television evangelism and the prosperity gospel in Nigeria as both were pioneered by the late Arch-Bishop Benson Idahosa in the early 1980s with his army of young disciples or devotees, such as, David Oyedepo, Mike Okonkwo, Tunde Joda, George Adeboye, Chris Okotie, Ayo Oritsejafor, Fred Addo, Chris Oyakhilome and many others. I am also a direct eye witness to the sudden rise of legalism in the Nigerian Christianity that was pioneered by Pastor Kumuyi, the then junior lecturer in mathematics from the University of Lagos using his official residential home at Akoka in the early 1980s to promote this new type of Christianity in Nigeria. 

In my adult life, I have also visited 30 of the present 36 states of Nigerian federation. I am also a first-class eye witness of the glory days of the Nigerian Naira as a major international currency in the world and the thriving Nigerian financially vibrant middle class that was made up of university graduates. I saw the rise of mass poverty and hopelessness in Nigeria beginning from the mid 1990s under the military dictatorship of Ibrahim Babangida and the mass craving for religions or the spiritualization of every issue of life in Nigeria due to the terrible state of secular leadership failure in Nigeria and the cloud of hopelessness that enveloped Nigeria. 

I also saw how unabated Islamic fundamentalism of Maitatsine in Kano in the Northern Nigeria grew slowly into the today's Boko Haram in 2013 that is now threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria as a secular state. I witnessed the slowly decaying of our citadels of learning, the massive brain-drain of the nation's best minds and brains in the 1990s as well as the rise of mediocrity in leadership across Nigeria and the gradual death of meritocracy in the Nigerian society"

"PRESIDENT JONATHAN GOODLUCK IS NOW A POLITICAL PLAYING CARD IN THE HANDS OF THE NEW PDP

News report out of Abuja said that the meeting that was held inside Aso Rock villa to resolve the political division in the PDP ended inconclusively on Sunday with the new PDP demanding two political conditions for their own faction of the PDP to agree to amicably resolve this political stalemate. The two conditions given by the new PDP are:(i). President Jonathan Goodluck should forget completely about 2015. (ii). The PDP mini-convention that was held should be nullified. The two PDPs (the old and the new) were said to have agreed to meet again today (Tuesday) for more deliberations. The new PDP was reported to have suddenly cancelled that meeting and decided next week Tuesday to be the new date for the proposed meeting with this lame-duck President of Nigeria. 

History may be made in Nigeria before 2015 in two unique ways:(i). President Jonathan Goodluck may officially announce before 2015 that he will not contest for a second term. (ii). President Jonathan Goodluck may be pushed by his self-ego and through his political beneficiaries to stubbornly vie for a second term in 2015 under the fragmented old PDP. President Jonathan Goodluck may make history as the first seating President of Nigeria to be officially defeated and publicly humiliated from power through the ballot box in 2015. Today, President Jonathan Goodluck is going through the worst political experience of his entire political career as a loner or a lone ranger. Where is the power-drunk Patience Goodluck? Where is Olusegun Obasanjo his political godfather? Where Tony Anineh, the master fixer? Where is Bamanga Tukur? Where is Pastor Enoch Adeboye his spiritual adviser? Where is Chief Edwin Clark, the South-South mouthpiece? Where is the Oil militant Asari Dokubo? Where is Reuben Abati, the presidential mouth organ? Where is Doyin Okupe? Where is Dr. Gulak?

"HOW TO BECOME AN OVERNIGHT BILLIONAIRE IN NIGERIA" - FEMI ARIBISALA

If you want to get rich quick, here is the Nigerian blueprint. But please, don’t tell anyone I “wiki-leaked”this highly-classified national secret to you. 

With only some 50 years of independent national existence, Nigeria is a country reeking with “new money.” The overwhelming proportion of the millionaires and billionaires in the country are “nouveau-riche;” they became rich literally “overnight.” We are talking of people whose wealth does not go beyond a generation. Indeed, the fantastic wealth of Nigerian billionaires like Femi Otedola scarcely goes beyond ten/fifteen years. Not only does Nigeria’s wealthy few have a short history, they often have a short future as well. The money comes “miraculously” and goes just as “miraculously.” 

In my youth, S.B. Bakare was the celebrated Nigerian tycoon. Highlife stars and juju musicians eulogised him in their records. But ask a young Nigerian today who S.B. Bakare is, and I can bet my bottom dollar he has never heard of him. S.B. has fallen off the radar and so has his wealth. It is not identifiable by any major industry or enterprise. His descendants may still be in litigation over the dregs of his estate, but undoubtedly it is nothing to write home about again. Certainly, nobody is singing about S.B. Bakare today. There are now new pretenders to his throne.

New dawn 

Time was when wealthy Nigerians built something, developed something, or made something. At that time, the rich were truly captains of industry. Alhaji Sanusi Dantata made his fortune in the era of the groundnut pyramids in the North; buying and shipping them for export. Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu had Nigeria’s largest fleet of inter-city “mammy-wagons.” He also imported “panla” (dried fish) on a large scale. Sir Mobolaji Bank-Anthony had a tanker fleet and a pioneering charter airline. Emmanuel Akwiwu, hauled oil-rigs and supplies for British Petroleum. Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola produced bicycle tires for the growing army of Nigerian bike-riders. 

But thanks to oil, much of Nigerian wealth is no longer the product of such ventures. Yes, we have billionaires like Ibrahim Dasuki and Mike Adenuga who can still be rightfully described as highly enterprising. But even more significantly, we have tycoons who came into wealth through “wuru-wuru” and “mago-mago.” These men are hardly Nigeria’s Bill Gates. On the contrary, they don’t have a clue what to do with their dubious wealth, and they are ignorant about wealth-creation. As such, they add little of value to the Nigerian project. Their praises may be sung today by their horde of parasitical hangers-on, but they will not be remembered for good when they are gone. As mysteriously as their wealth materialized, so will it vanish.

These men became rich through some of the following tried and tested methods, which can be relied upon to lead to one’s inclusion in the Nigerian Book of Irrelevant Rich Men. If you want to get rich quick, here is the Nigerian blueprint. But please, don’t tell anyone I “wiki-leaked” this highly-classified national secret to you.

1. Rob a bank 

This strategy has gone through some transition. Bank-robbers used to be men of the underworld who held banks hostage at gunpoint and then made off with the cash. However, it was soon recognised that this approach has distinct disadvantages. You might get arrested and jailed. Even worse, you might get shot. It also became apparent that banks carry limited amounts of cash.Therefore, a successful bank robbery of this violent kind might only land you perhaps 50 million naira tops, which is not even enough to buy or build a house in Banana Island. There is a better way to rob a bank with far limited risk. Simply establish a bank. 

When you establish a bank, you can rob the bank every day without a gun. When people deposit money in your bank, they don’t know that they are handing over their life-savings to a thief. You then rob the bank you establish in a number of imaginative ways. For example, you can lend money to your bank and then charge it a very high interest-rate. Better still, you can borrow billions from your bank and simply forget to pay it back. Or, you can use the money deposited in your bank to buy houses and then rent them out as branches to your bank at exorbitant prices.

This approach is guaranteed to make you a few billion naira until the EFCC policemen come calling. When they do, you can quickly fall sick, spend a few months in Deluxe Hospital Hotel and then relocate to your village to enjoy your wealth, never to be heard of again.

2. Join the PDP. 

This one is a sure banker. As a member of the greatest party in the history of Africa, you will be given a credit-card to spend Nigeria’s oil wealth. If you are not getting enough attention in the party, make a lot of noise. Abuse Tinubu on the pages of the newspapers and call Buhari an idiot. Insist that Goodluck Jonathan should not only run for re-election unopposed in 2015, there should be a constitutional amendment to make him a life-president. This is a tell-tale sign that you are hungry; and the powers-that-be will soon invite you to “come and chop.” 

As a distinguished member of this great party, the opportunities open for you to set yourself up for life are considerable. For example, you can startcollecting billions for petroleum subsidy and simply not import any petrol whatsoever. You can get the government to change all car license-plates nationwide; and then become the sole supplier of the new license-plates. You can ask the president to make you the sole importer and distributor of diesel for the entire country. Of course, this might also entail that you become the chairman of his re-election campaign, to which you duly make a handsomecontribution. Alternatively, you can ask to be chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority.

Nobody will bat an eyelid when, within a matter of months, you have a fleet of cars, have two or three houses in Asokoro, and own four hotels in Dubai. You may even kick out your wife and marry a fourteen-year-old “Suzie” befitting your new status. You have arrived as one of Nigeria’s celebrated rich men. But keep your eyes on the ball. Don’t get distracted or carried away. The enemies of Mr. President must always remain your enemies.

3. Start a mega-church 

This one is pure genius. Peradventure you lose your job or fall on hard times. Don’t go into depression. Just start a church. Make it a purpose-built church. Think of something that men need. Tell them you have the anointing to provide it. Tell them whoever wants to be a billionaire should come to your church. Start a few of your messages with “Thus says the Lord.” Then teach your congregation the everlasting principles of sowing and reaping.

Make sure they understand that if they really want God to bless them financially, they first have to give you as much money as possible. Create a special prayer group for millionaires and billionaires. That way, if they get any new government contract they will attribute it to the efficacy of your prayers and credit something big into your bank account. Tell everybody to give you their “first-fruits.” That is a code word for their entire January salaries. Then come up with imaginative offerings to collect, such as “prophet’s offering,” (you, of course, being the prophet); “Father, Son and Holy Ghost offerings;” “Jesus will do it offering.” 

Very soon, you will be flying your own private jet to preach your gospel in Ilesha; you will be wearing white Armani suits and jerry-curling your hair; you will be collecting gate-fees for new years’ eve services; billionaire thieves and robbers will be queuing up to see your private-secretary on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway; and you will be inviting Bill Clinton to open your multi-billion naira Tower of Babylon in Osapa-London. In short, you will be living large. For good measure, you will also be slapping demons out of poor bewitched damsels with impunity.

4. Become a mule 

There is high demand for this job. There are many politicians and men of timber and caliber looking for >a>mules; men who can keep stolen money for them, or smuggle it to safe havens abroad. This is a highly lucrative job because for every ten billion naira you smuggle, you can pocket one billion. Don’t get greedy and come to the conclusion that you can make off with the entire loot. That is a sure way to have assassins on your tail. Before they kill you, they will first break your legs. If you are caught while smuggling money abroad, you can easily escape and come back home dressed as a woman. Then you can get a national merit award.

If you are a mule for a president or a governor, you are set up for life. You will get 24 hours military protection so that no petty thief can come near you. You will get to travel all over the world. You will get free medical check-ups, so that you don’t just fall down one day and die. That would be disastrous, especially if your sponsor does not know exactly where you kept his loot, or if he does not have the password to the secret account you opened for it in the Bahamas in the name of Ali Baba.

Obituary 

I remember the story of a former Nigerian Head of State who allegedly kept a billion dollars with a mule. Then the mule had a stroke. Every effort was made to get him to say just a few words, namely the number of the account where the loot was stashed; but to no avail. After a few months, the man died. This “national” calamity has prompted the review of the conditions of service of mules. There are now two new, strictly prohibited, clauses. Mules must not have strokes, and under no circumstances should a mule presume to die. If he does, his generations yet unborn will suffer for it. 

(P.S./N.B. If you have perfected other Nigerian approaches to quick wealth than these, don’t hesitate to let me know. I promise to keep the matter strictly confidential.)

"PRESIDENT JONATHAN GOODLUCK OF NIGERIA DIMINISHES THE VALUE OF THIS OFFICE"

(i). He openly and publicly knelt down at the feet of the Nigeria's most popular Pastor Enoch Adeboye for the laying of hand and prayers in a religious ceremony for the first time in the history of the presidency of Nigeria. (ii). Mrs. Patience Goodluck, the power-drunk lady, the first lady of Nigeria, the mother of Nigeria and the wife of President Jonathan continues to publicly violate the international and national protocols and thereby making Nigeria the laughing stock of the world in 2013. (iii). President Jonathan Goodluck suffered another public humiliation and embarrassment when Abubakar Atiku and 7 PDP rebel governors staged a walk-out before the whole world at the PDP national convention in Abuja last week. He was reported to be lonely, sad and then dozed off several times at that mini-PDP convention. He called for a meeting of all the 23 PDP state governors to address the party internal crises yesterday with only 16 out of the 23 governors honored his invitation to this meeting.

"ABUBAKAR ATIKU:THE TRUE POLITICAL REBEL INSIDE THE PDP OF NIGERIA"

(i). Abubakar Atiku served as the Nigerian vice-president for two terms or a total of 8 years under the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo. The first rebel in Abubakar Atiku came out around 2002 when his political boss, Olusegun Obasanjo started to nurse the political ambition of a second term as the President of Nigeria. Many reliable sources in the top echelon of the then PDP said that Abubakar Atiku was simultaneously nursing his own ambition to challenge his boss for the presidency of Nigeria with the solid backing and the full loyalty of the majority of the then PDP state governors. Olusegun Obasanjo was said to have lost all hope for a second term and he had to go personally to prostrate before Abubakar Atiku to save him from the political disaster by dropping his own political ambition for the presidency and supported him through the PDP governors who were loyal to Abubakar Atiku at that time. 

(ii). The second rebel in Atiku Abubakar showed up again in 2007 at the end of Olusegun Obasanjo's second term when he was prevented by his boss from contesting for the presidency of Nigeria under the PDP. Abubakar Atiku left PDP his own political party as the seating vice-president of Nigeria and joined the opposition party, the Action for Democracy (AD) and contested for the presidency of Nigeria which he lost. (iii). The third rebel in this politician was seen last Saturday at the PDP mini-convention in Abuja when Abubakar Atiku led the 7 PDP rebel governors to stage a walk-out from that convention and then announced the formation of a new parallel PDP that has now factionalized the ruling political party in Nigeria at the national level for the first time since the formation of the PDP. This rebellion is now the biggest political nightmare and obstacle for President Jonathan Goodluck of Nigeria who nurses a second term presidential ambition in 2015. Will the PDP and Jonathan Goodluck survive this political revolution engineered by Abubakar Atiku as the year 2015 draws closer? Time alone will tell.