By Okoi Obono-obla
Some of our politicians canvassing for votes are not just pathological liars, they are comedians.
Listen to the latest skit:
“I technically resigned from Buhari’s government to go to university.”
“I am hungry.”
Really?
This is coming from a man who was Speaker for 8 years in one of the oldest and richest states in Southern Nigeria.
A man who was Governor for 8 years in an oil-rich state where transparency and accountability were thrown to the dogs and a totalitarian style was the order of the day.
A man who was one of the chief financiers and Director-General of one of the most expensive presidential campaigns in Nigeria’s history.
A man who then became Minister of Transportation for over 6 years, heading one of the most powerful and best-funded ministries in the country, where billions in Chinese loans were channeled for railway projects.
Today, now that President Muhammadu Buhari has gone to rest eternally, you want Nigerians to believe that the same government where you were a principal broker failed? And you think that rewriting history will fetch your new party votes and wash you clean of a failure you superintended for nearly a decade?
You were in power continuously for over two decades, and just a few months out of office you announce to Nigerians that you are hungry?
And the grand finale: you now tell us your own mother could not live to 92 because of Tinubu’s reformist agenda, that you could not even buy drugs for her?
Are you mocking us? Are you serious? Should we take you seriously? Do you think we are dummies?
Are you for real?
Can we trust them?
No. We cannot build a nation on politicians who rewrite their CVs to suit the season.
A man who was at the very heart of power for 24 years cannot suddenly become an outsider and a victim a few months after losing access to power. If you could “technically resign” while still drawing the perks of office, if you can be “hungry” after decades of feasting at the national table, and if you can blame everyone else for the collapse of a house you helped build, then you are not offering change — you are offering amnesia.
And Nigerians are not suffering from amnesia.
