It is quite clear that indeed power has changed from the hand of the lanky, foxy and taciturn one to the hand of a very artful dodger who actually prepared for a strategic state capture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, it is no longer in doubt that our country\u2019s architecture of governance has been disrupted for another long walk to freedom. I can see that a great deal of feckless arm-twisting is going on in our national capital. Besides, it is getting \u2018curiouser and curiouser\u2019 that the governors we want to be the brand ambassadors of federalism, the paradise we often claim we lost and would like to regain for sustainable development are becoming more and more tyrannical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In some southern states, where the poor are agitated, even some deputy governors also cry. One of them has been locked out of the government house the organic law of the land allocates to him. He is now begging his principal to allow him to work in his office. And sadly, no one cares a hoot about the plight of that deputy governor who now walks alone. So it is with another victim of political recklessness in another state where the deputy governor has been put on a slab for impeachment by his ailing principal who has curiously relocated the capital of his state to his personal residence in a neighbouring state capital. And no one is asking for the action photographs of governance (as a process) of the recuperating governor who should be asking for the mercy of the God that can heal him. Not even a correspondent in the southwest state has contextually reported what that governor who fought his first-term deputy till their last day in office has been hiding in the old capital of the Western Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of news treasures, sorry features are hidden in the pacesetter state capital. No word yet from the civil society organisations including the classic ones that fought for the birth of this democracy that is being demonised by democrats. A great deal has happened to democracy via a strange electoral justice system that has redefined sovereignty in Africa\u2019s most populous nation. In Nigeria, our Nigeria, a new elective principle is fast emerging and it is growing luxuriantly like yam tendrils in the rainy season. Now our political leaders need the courts more than the electorate to be in power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our dear country, you can\u2019t get to any elective offices except you have the war chest to fight through the labyrinth of the electoral justice system. Here is the new thing, unless most of the big twelve (Justices) cast their ballot for you in their electoral judicial college, the votes of the millions of voters for you will amount to what Shakespeare describes as \u201ca tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope Benjamin Franklin wasn\u2019t talking about some of our today\u2019s men whom he described as \u201cgreat talkers, little doers\u201d. Our country is transiting really from darkness to uncertainty as our currency, the symbol of our economic freedom is gravitating towards a precipice that is getting more of our children out of school, signalling another voyage from darkness to darkness. And sadly our state actors who should stay at home to examine the state of their wastefulness and bloated bureaucracy are gallivanting around Asia and Europe to lobby to be part of building bricks of BRICs and G-20 that South Africa joined more than a decade ago. I hope they are re-reading a significant bureaucrat\u2019s recent piece, a warning signal, which sets the tone for more questions, which are pointing to a construct that one hopes it is not \u201ctoo early to say we are losing it\u201d already after a recent euphoria of the first few weeks after taking oath of office. What can be more concerning than consistent gaffes from the office of the chief executive of the federation from United Arabs Emirate through the state house to the economic capital of America, their America where a mere bell ringing at a stock exchange was inaccurately contextualised by a carelessly exuberant spokesperson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even as we see hope that the presidential spokesperson\u2019s gaffes will be taken care of as soon as possible, what the office of the citizen should be concerned with is this: how to stop our leaders from serving the \u2018God of Small Things\u2019. The ancient words have taught us to note that \u2018there is a time for everything\u2026\u2019
And so, we, the enthusiastic believers in a new Nigeria should begin to inspire our leaders with critical words of hope and encouragement that they should stop serving the \u2018God of Small Things\u2019 and begin to learn how to serve the \u2018God of Big Things\u2019 immediately. There is nothing esoteric about serving the \u2018God of Small and Big Things\u2019. It is simple. I mean here that we have dwelt for so long on this side of the mountain where we serve the God of Small Things that have diminished our stature as the organic giant of Africa and leader of the back race. We have been reported for so long as work in progress. But now we as pilgrims aren\u2019t making steady progress as John Bunyan would have reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s explore this construct through \u2018The God of Small Things\u2019 by Arundhati Roy. Published in 1997, \u2018The God of Small Things\u2019 is Roy\u2019s debut novel and was awarded the 1997 Booker Prize. The novel has been banned, being considered \u201cobscene\u201d due to the sexual relationship between people of different castes. There are a few things to consider when discussing the novel\u2019s title. On one hand, we can concentrate on the main portion of the title and think about the specific individual it may be referring to \u2013 the God of Small Things. All things considered, from Ammu\u2019s fantasy, we get the possibility that the \u2018God of Small Things\u2019 speaks to Velutha, the man whom she cherishes, regardless of the way that society will never accept them being together. In her fantasy (which happens in Chapter 11 and happens to be entitled \u201cThe God of Small Things\u201d), Ammu dreams of a man with one arm who holds her near him: He could only do one thing at a time. \u201cIf he held her, he couldn\u2019t kiss her. If he kissed her, he couldn\u2019t see her. If he saw her, he couldn\u2019t feel her.\u201d (205)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Ammu wakes from her dream, Rahel and Estha are there with her. Ammu notices a curl of shaved wood in Rahel\u2019s hair and knows that the kids have been to see Velutha. She knows even more, \u201cShe knew who he was \u2013 the God of Loss, the \u2018God of Small Things\u2019. Of course she did.\u201d (206) Velutha\u2019s identity as the God of Small Things is fortified toward the end of the book when we find out about Ammu and Velutha\u2019s first romantic encounters. Since they know it\u2019s impossible for their love to exist, they never talk or consider the future, or what one may consider to be the \u201cbig things\u201d; they just adhere to the present. Just as we hardly dream of big things here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here is the take-away from this story: Most of us including our leaders don\u2019t have any problem imagining a big God who does big things. In fact, we prefer it that way. Our problem seems to be believing in a big God who does big things for us. In Nigeria, our leaders seem to believe only in the Gods of small things. We are a big country always planning small things, dreaming small dreams, thinking only of small things. What is worse, we rake in small revenue and use the proceeds to buy big things for public officers who are less than three percent of the population. Our leaders don\u2019t study Israel, a small start-up country that serves the God of Big Things. Our leaders visit United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, small countries with leaders who believe in the God of Big Things. They dream big and the world cannot ignore them. They have invested their oil and gas resources in big businesses across the world. Qatar, a small country of about 2.6 million people just played host to a $220 billion worth of Soccer World Cup without borrowing a dime. They have mostly gas resources. They also have their Almighty \u2018Aljazeera\u2019, a world-class cable news channel. They serve the God of big things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadly, when you try to pass through our local and so-called international airports in Nigeria, we see clear manifestation of serving the God of small things. First, you see shameful, tiny restrooms accommodating sometimes only two passengers. Most times, wash-hand basins are leaking and ropes are used to tie some components. When you want to clean your hands, you see cleaners handing miserable toilet rolls to passengers, as no tissue papers will be found where they are to be fixed for use. In the entire North of 19 states, there is just one railway line from Abuja to Kaduna. When you disembark in Kaduna, how do you go from there to capitals of the rest 18 states? There is another magic railway line from Lagos to Ibadan. When you alight from Ibadan, how do you connect other state capitals in South West? There is none connecting anyone from South East to South South. We are an oil producing country but because we serve the God of small things, we import refined products because all our four refineries have for years been unserviceable. Even the economic capital of West Africa, Lagos can\u2019t boast of a mass transit system beyond meretricious BRT system and a Blue-line light rail system being tested in one unnoticeable axis. Only people who serve the God of small things talk about these small things as achievements in this time and age. Let\u2019s continue this story of the God of small and big things next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is quite clear that indeed power has changed from the hand of the lanky, foxy and taciturn one to the hand of a very artful dodger who actually prepared for a strategic state capture. Yes, it is no longer in doubt that our country\u2019s architecture of governance has been disrupted for another long walk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[4584,4156,4399,4146,4163,4225],"class_list":["post-11502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-context","tag-change","tag-current-news-in-nigeria","tag-martins-oloja","tag-news-analysis","tag-nigeria","tag-nigerian-newspapers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11503,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502\/revisions\/11503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}