WHICH WAY NIGERIA?

Which way Nigeria? That is the question on the lips of every Nigerian patriot as the country marks the 62^nd anniversary of its existence as an independent nation. Which way Nigeria? That is the question being asked by many of the thousands of disappointed and frustrated young Nigerians who call themselves "Obidients" and who are likely to troop out this weekend unto the streets of Lagos.

Which way Nigeria? Those are the three undying words in a question put in song by the great Nigerian music maestro, Sonny Okosun who passed on at the age of 61 reportedly of Colon-cancer on May 24 2008 at Howard University Hospital, in Washington DC, USA.

Which way Nigeria? The campaign for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria to answer this question, has officially kicked off. The referee has blown the whistle. The match has begun!

Which way Nigeria? What we have seen in the many months of meetings and consultations in Nigeria, in London and elsewhere has been horse trading or the appetizer. If you are not ready with your main dish yet and answers to the question, you have a big problem. In a few days, the streets all over Nigeria will be defaced with all manner of posters. Soon, all kinds of campaign propaganda will be blaring on radio and television. John Momoh of Channels TV and Nduka Obaigbena of Arise TV should soon be laughing to the bank. The social media rats who have since been mobilized to join issues are being unleashed to take over Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, etc. They will be struggling to answer the question, Which way Nigeria?

Another question that must be answered in this election was asked by the great Sonny Okosun in song: "Who owns Papa's land?"

Can you see that the parties with big "structures" are having big problems? Big structures mean big egos and big claims to ownership and big money to share. In PDP, Wike, Atiku, Ayu, Okowa, Ortom and co are engaged in a raging battle for control. In APC, party chairman, Adamu & Co are in a wrestling match with Tinubu which has forced Tinubu to go to London to go and "rest". Big structure, big headache!

For many years, Nigerians have surrendered their country to "the cabal". Sometimes, they have been called "the Kaduna Mafia". These are the people who are supposed to determine what happens in the country. They determine who gets what and who goes hungry. They assume that the own Papa's land. The battle over the composition of the Presidential Council is really a battle for representation in "the cabal" that supposedly owns Papa's land.   

In the Obidient Movement, the Nigerian people own Papa's land. Without a Presidential Campaign Council, the "Obidient" campaign is on the move while their opponents are busy putting out fires that refuse to go away. There are no big egos to massage and no big money to share. Who says you must have a Presidential Campaign Council?

Many might wonder why the "Obidient" movement in Nigeria has caught fire as rapidly as it has done. Peter Obi simply found a vacuum created by the PDP and APC and moved into it. You might also say that the vacuum created by the PDP and APC found Peter Obi and conscripted him. A lot of Nigeria's young people today are living on the hope which Mr. Obi seems to exude. In fact, the Nigerian "cabal" must thank Obi for whatever level of sanity that still exists in Nigeria. Things might have got to the point where many would have started denying ownership of their big mansions and their fat bank accounts and running for cover from angry Nigerians. It is the hope that many of the young people see in the new movement and the possibility of a better future that is keeping the anger and frustration from boiling over.

Like the Nigerian Iconic singer, Sonny Okosun sang, "It is now or never!"  It is clear that the young people of Nigeria, the same age group that drove the

DON’T TRY ME BECAUSE I CONTINUE TO DRIVE ON A FULL TANK OF FAITH!

You may have read about my high school debacle which I once served on Saturday Breakfast.

Once in high school, I got 12% in a mathematics exam. The experience tore my soul. Me, Tony Okoroji, 12%? How did that happen?!

I usually do not blame anyone for whatever predicament I go through, believing that life is a challenge and only the strong survive.

I knew that the 12% result was my own making. Mathematics was never really a challenge to me, so I had taken it for granted. Any time the mathematics teacher was in class, I did cross word puzzles or read some comics. I paid no attention.

At exam time, my brain froze. I panicked! I could not remember any formula. Something like BODMAS sounded like Latin! It became strange and confusing. The reason was very simple. I did not practice at all. From being overconfident, I totally lost confidence.

The shame and humiliation that followed my 12% debacle affected me going through life. I resolved that 12% has no business with me and 12% success would not come my way again. Next term, I followed the mathematics teacher from class to class, took every note and practiced every formula. At the end of the term, I had an 'A' in the same mathematics. From then on, I considered 'B' a failure.  

Those who went to school with me and those who have worked with me thereafter will testify that I prepare, practice and practice for everything. I never want to go to a meeting without studying t[to1] he issues and fully understanding what I want to come out with at the end of the meeting. I do not embark on an event without checking every box, over and over again, and being sure that there is a Plan 'B', if Plan 'A' goes wrong. I am sure my lawyers are sick of me. I never let them file my case in court without checking every line and being certain that the processes are very well done and that the facts and the law are on my side and every hearing notice is served on time. Even in this Facebook era, nobody who works with me is allowed to send out a document with bad grammar or without the 'i's dotted, the 't's crossed and all the punctuation marks in place.

Have I always got an 'A'? Many of the times I have. There are however sometimes that I have not. I recall going to a Lecturer at the University of Lagos to say that I wanted to retake his paper. I had scored a 'B' in the paper and was distressed. The lecturer was very angry with my 'audacity' and told me how stupid I was. He was emphatic that he does not give an 'A' to any student and that 'A' belongs to him. At the end of the day, I found out that my 'B' was the best result in the subject. What I have discovered is that if you strive for an 'A', the worst that is likely to come your way is a 'B'. 

In the university, as a student, I used to teach classes and I realized that my fellow students preferred my classes to those of the lecturers. They would ask me questions they would not dare ask the lecturers. I knew that the students would enjoy embarrassing me if it was obvious that I did not know what I was talking about. So, before any class, I would go through the subject with a tooth comb and prepare for every possible question. What my colleagues did not know was that it was my way of preparing for exams.

I am that guy who would tell you bluntly that no matter what you are into, if you fail to plan, you have planned to fail. The problem is that there are too many lazy people, people who go through life without a plan and with little effort. They do not work for an 'A' and would readily accept "let my people go" which most times results in failure. Then, they will blame their failure on the lanky old woman in their village, everyone else, everything else and not themselves.

I have little wealth in terms of money, but I have faith and happiness. I appreciate the grace that the Almighty has given me to work hard, focus on every challenge and achieve results that are pleasing. I love the gifts the good Lord has given me, and I try to use them the best I can for the good of as many of God's children as possible. That is my own wealth.

I have said before that I do not want to be Dangote or Otedola or Ronaldo or Donald Trump. My name is Tony Okoroji and I like it.

I know that the Almighty has given to each of his children our peculiar gifts. The problem is that rather than harness our gifts, some people are very busy with envy and covetousness and fixated on the gifts of others. Somebody should tell them that I do not want to be them and no matter how much they try, they cannot be me.

I have heard that some say that I am arrogant. No sir! What they consider as arrogance is confidence. When you prepare, you are confident, you are ready, and you drive on a full tank of faith! Lawyers will say that equity does not aid the indolent. It is the same way that I believe that the Almighty does not support the unprepared.

Despite the challenges of Nigeria, I am here to stay. I do not concede my rights as a Nigerian citizen to anyone. Let me state that I am not so stupid that I do not understand that the wisdom and strength we deploy do not belong to us but to the Almighty. My guys, come rain, come sunshine, don't try me because I continue to drive on a full tank of faith!

 

See you next week

---

 

ONCE UPON A FESTUS KEYAMO (2)

 

In my last Saturday Breakfast, I served a piece, "Once upon a Festus Keyamo". I was travelling and cooking the piece at the same time and could not garnish it properly. I apologize.

I had written last week that I used to be a great admirer of the young lawyer, Festus Egwarewa Keyamo. I like bold and courageous people. I am certain that no great nation in human history has been built by cowards. Nigeria will not be the exception. Apart from the natural good looks of Keyamo, he used to appear to me as a young man of serious conviction who stood firmly for truth, justice and fairness and was prepared to pay whatever price necessary for the progress of the Nigerian people.

When I saw people like Festus Keyamo, I was assured that no matter how fierce the locusts and vampires may be, there are people who will stoutly defend Nigeria and Nigerians and our nation will survive and grow from strength to strength. I was sure that Festus Keyamo would continue with the important job the great Gani Fawehinmi did for our nation for which he will be admired forever.

Yes, I have hosted the "who-is-who" of Nigeria in the different events I have organized: Gani Fawehinmi, M.K.O. Abiola, Ezigbo Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Sani Abacha, Ibrahim Babangida, etc., etc. I wrote last week that a few years ago, Festus Keyamo honoured me with his presence at one of my events at Eko Hotel, Lagos. I was so excited by his presence. That is how much I have admired the young man and how much I saw him as a future Nigerian leader.

You must understand how I felt the day I first saw Festus Keyamo on television, frontally defending the unmitigated disaster that is the Buhari administration. I was revolted. I honestly did not know whether to vomit or to cry. Oh! I asked myself: Is this the same Festus Keyamo? Have they cloned him? What could they have offered or promised him to agree to deploy himself to tear down with his own hands the brand that he laboriously built?

I was always sure that Festus Keyamo is intelligent. At a rather young age, he became a successful solicitor and advocate and even a senior advocate, but he makes a big mistake in thinking that the problems of Nigeria can be solved by mere combative words and smooth talk, and that he is the best man to deliver the words and smooth talk. As intelligent as he may be, I am not sure Keyamo quite understands that our nation is going through a particularly dangerous period in history and that our young people can see what is going on and are appalled by it.  

I am amazed that Festus appears to believe that the problem with the Buhari government is poor advocacy and propaganda. In other words, the anguish and horror the Nigerian people are going through are make-belief. To him, it must be that Lai Mohammed, Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu and the rest have done a very bad job of selling the government. Ask him about the successes of the government and he will real out the roads, bridges and railway lines the Chinese have built in Nigeria at a cost no one is quite sure of. One of the railway lines is of course the one from Abuja to Kaduna that has since been abandoned to bandits.

For some reason, Keyamo, a relatively young man, cannot see or feel the dangerous direction that the Nigerian nation has been headed in recent times and the hopelessness that seems to engulf the citizens. He also cannot see the humongous corruption that is making our nation unable to pay its bills, the nose-dive of the Naira, the brazen and open stealing of our crude oil, the tribal and religious divisions, kidnappings, senseless killings, abductions, banditry, galloping inflation, joblessness and the political and judicial rascality that have sapped the hope and faith of our young people. No amount of advocacy or propaganda by Festus or anyone else can change the fact that the Buhari government is an established calamity. I watch Festus on TV and he talks like it is business as usual. Is it possible that he does not know that the falcon can no longer hear the falconer?

When Keyamo was named a minister, quite a few people thought that he would be designated Attorney–General & Minister of Justice and given the job of ensuring that the rule of law is sacrosanct in our country. For where? The people who believe that they own the country thought it was too dangerous to give such an assignment to someone who comes from where Keyamo comes. The job was given to Buhari's son-in-law and Festus was made a junior minister!

Festus Keyamo is excited that he has been appointed the spokesman of the APC Campaign Council. Wow! Keyamo, the chief salesman of Nigeria's totally corrupt bullion van democracy? What am I talking about? If they had not schemed Adams Oshiomhole out of the APC Chairmanship after he got Buhari to power again, our once respected NLC President may today be shouting at ASUU like Education Minister Adamu Adamu who as a journalist, was once a key ASUU supporter.

I have watched Keyamo defend the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket. He is sure that Nigeria will never become an Islamic State because of Sections 10 and 9 of the constitution. Ha-ha-ha-ha! He should know that you don't need a constitutional amendment if the people in power are determined to do everything an Islamic state does. He thinks that the Vice President has no real power. He says that his being No 2 man is just for protocol and order of precedence in public! Pray, who becomes President if the President is incapacitated or dies in office?

Festus Keyamo has said repeatedly that outside the South-East, Peter Obi is a carpetbagger and may in fact be a trojan horse for Atiku Abubakar. He believes that the purported massive support that Peter Obi enjoys is a joke concocted by putting 20 people in one room who use avatars to appear to be many and to abuse everybody. Is the guy serious?

Who is this guy on TV that looks like Festus Keyamo? Does he know that there is a tomorrow? What did they promise him?  

 

See you next week.