By Victor Agusiobo
In a moment that tried to justify the trivialities of governance, a certain former resident of Aso Rock once wrote lucidly about the presence of witches in that President’s abode.
At first glance, the ‘witch’ story presents a patently unbelievable tale and alibi to the recurrence of abysmal performance of many successive governments in Nigeria.
But experience and the stubbornness of ineptitude in the polity seem to confer a strange verity to the Aso Rock witches and wizard tale. Otherwise how can one possibly begin to explain some of the actions and words from the presidency?
How could an Onanuga, an elevated presidential spokesman have trivialized the anger and resentment of Nigerians over the excruciating hunger and deprivation in the land by suggesting that such frustrations are instigated by Labour Party and their leader Peter Obi. Good Lord! Does this make sense to Onanuga?
This piece is obviously not about Peter Obi. If Onanuga had blamed even pupils of a primary school or a community of monkeys, infact anyone for that matter, this piece would still be as germane.
It is therefore an attempt to help Onanuga make sense of his high station in government; to help put a wedge to his rather infantile attempt to play on the intelligence and agony of Nigerians.
It is important to remind the presidential spokesman that he is yet to advertise the policies and programs of his principal for them to make sense to Nigerians and compel their sacrifice and patience thereby.
As a professional colleague, it has become imperative to let Onanuga put the blame of whatever may happen tomorrow to Nigeria squarely on where it resides. And one may ask, where?
Definitely if there’s a protest tomorrow, Onanuga should be able to blame some distasteful cues from government that depict mindless and insensitive opulence against a deprived and tormented people.
He must understand the role hunger plays in the restiveness of humans and then come to terms that there’s real and palpable hunger in the country. The alarming profligacy and depravity in government in the midst of increased homelessness, inability of more Nigerians to procure the basic staples should bother the government spokesman.
How could Onanuga have missed the import of the present state of Nigeria where he was so busy chasing and wanting to embrace shadows. His latest outing on the protest issue presents the spokesman as possibly an externalizer, a character which in some persons is a frank symptom of borderline personality disorder. Escapism is surely not the best method in image making.
One would have expected that by now the presidential spokesman would be suggesting to his principal to address the nation on a number of issues: outline pragmatic policies of government to improve security in order to allow more farmers go back to work; announce the state of government policy on duty free import of grains and what measures government is putting in place to hobble possible hoarding. How government will help the private sector pay the minimum wage. What skills acquisition problems are available for young people and then call for patience and understanding. But no, he sought for a low hanging fruit. Let’s blame the hunger in the land and the intended protest on Labour party and let’s get back to sleep. Cheap, low, perfunctory, unimaginative and an insult on our collective intelligence. This offers a glimpse to how much of dullards those in government consider the citizens.
Life has shown that persons who execute wars so well end up as poor managers of men at peace time. Perhaps that explains why Onanuga a veteran of guerilla journalism would allow his prized ink to easily descend to bathos.