Saturday, March 14, 2020

Sophisticated Morons

A few years ago, one of my Facebook friends from Rivers State, Ross Alabor-George, wrote a short piece where he gave a breakdown of the number of local government councils in Kano State and why the Kano Emirate is very rich.
If you have 44 Local Government Councils in one state and every month, each of these councils is mandated to remit a certain percentage of its monthly allocations from the Federation Account to the Emirate Account, tell me, why won't that Emirate be stupendously rich?
Who gave Kano State 44 LGCs? And why? And how come Lagos State with the same population as Kano State has 20 LGCs?
Today, they are demanding for True Federalism and Restructuring down south. From all indications, most of the agitators cannot make a coherent case for True Federalism or Restructuring.
The information they need is readily and freely available on the web. But they have problems reading long essays. Except, of course, when the author parades Ph.D. tag or they are celebrated critics, columnists, or wordsmiths.
Get it straight, guys; these writers only entertain you with their grammatical prowess - analyzing and regurgitating in impeccable vocabulary, facts that you already know. They are not policy-oriented. You are not learning anything new from them.
So, how can you feel the pulse of a revolution of ideas when you are not privy to the ideas?
How can you make a change when you don’t have the compelling facts as a push factor?
You can only know the facts and take advantage of the facts, if you are willing to read beyond your comfort zone, or you’re privy to the act.
A few years ago, a state Governor went all the way to America – John Hopkins University in Mary Land, and told his audience that what is missing in his country is True Federalism. He added that the component states deserve to exercise substantial control over the natural resources available in their respective states.
Last year here, however, the same Governor, now a Minister under President Buhari, told his audience in Lagos that he is having difficulties understanding the meaning of Restructuring.
His new position is consistent with the position of his President – the process and not the structure narrative.
As educated and informed commentators, it is your responsibility to indict such public servants. And go about educating the public about their greed, duplicity, and betrayal.
You leave the Policy Statements to the much vilified Hausa/Fulani and find refuge in reporting and news analysis. Policy Statements trump news reporting.
Take it or leave it, fresh ideas transformed SLS. He is not a born again populist because he wants to hoodwink Southerners into accepting him as a hero and voting him into Aso Rock in 2023.
The majority of you have the same information at his disposal, but it didn't worth your while to even skim it because the author doesn't fit into your definition of intellectuals in the Nigerian context, or the essay is simply too long.
I am not seeking fame. And I am not seeking relevance, either. I am already relevant and famous, because I write what leaders read.
Thank God, I have gotten the fulfillment from the labor of visions. That fulfillment is my fame and relevance. And the best is yet to come.

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

FIFA World Cup Final: Coach Didier Deschamps and a Lesson in Authentic Leadership. (A Master Class)

I am not a Sportswriter, commentator, analyst, or enthusiast. I am a Lawyer by training, and I have a passion for crafting public policy sta...