By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi.
Ishaku Elisha Abbo was in the hallowed chamber of the Nigerian Senate (what is referred as the upper chamber of the National Assembly (NASS) in this country. But a lot of what the former Senator did while in Senate was anything but hallowed (respectable).
A fraction of what he did as a senator would not have been tolerated in the country, the United States, from where we copied the system of government that we practiced in Nigeria.
The President of the USA, George Biden was in his country’s Senate for more than 30 years, but he never owned a personal house. One of his Children died of a life threatening disease, because he did not have the money to pay for the operation needed to save the life of his son. Another of his sons is currently charged, and would probably be sentenced to jail, for a tax evasion.
A former President in the United States, in our memory, Nixon threw in the towel before he was impeached by the Senate in that country because of an offence (wiretapping the National Convention Center of the opposition Democratic Party) he committed in the run up to his reelection. This was despite enjoying immunity from prosecution.
A male offspring of the famous Kennedy family (considered and worshipped as a royalty in the US) is at the moment being charged in a competent court of law in the US for DRAGGING a CARCASS (dead body) of a whale more than ten years ago. Ten years was the time it took the investigators of the ‘crime’ to establish the complicity of the accused.
A former governor in the same US was recently jailed for some infractions, that would not get the Nigerian ‘big’ man a second look by those (authorities) in charge.
Shaun Diddy, a very wealthy (by any standard) rapper musician, music producer and everything else, is facing an obviously life sentencing court action in the United States, for sodomising, compromising and video filming many celebrities, among them young children for his own queer pleasure.
Such ’mare mundane’ matters would not even be considered as serious enough by the authorities to warrant wasting their time on them. Nigeria is a country where service is mostly to self, but not to the electorate who were said to have ‘elected’ their representatives.
The only time when those charged with the responsibility of doing something about a matter would risk their lives doing the right thing is when the child, an immediate relation of self or of the wife or even the ‘big’ Nigerian himself, is negatively involved.
Most of our so called lawmakers whether in the States Assembly or the National Assembly, only
get up and doing to satisfy whatever the President or the Governors want in their domains.
We can all recall the speed with which the NASS accented to the request of Mr. President for some huge amount of money to enable him buy a brand new official aircraft, a brand new official yacht (unheard of in Nigeria) and a brand new official motor car.
But the President’s Chief of Staff and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Bjamiala told the world that Mr. President used his PERSONAL money to purchase those items. But no one but himself believed him, because of the fact that the President did not buy those things when he was just a rich Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
In Nigeria, despite the humongous amount that our so called law makers collect each month as salary and other allowances, plus the misnamed ‘Constituency Allowance’, most do not perform their so called ‘oversight’ duties without getting huge amounts of money from the ministry or agency that they are supposed to perform the duty.
To be sure, there are many ‘Senator Ishaku Elisha Abbos’ in our NASS, only that their dirty doings are not known or exposed to the public. But sooner or later, many others’ dirty deals would be exposed whether on the popular Berekete Family’ programme or other ways.
For those who missed the many bad things that he allegedly performed, instead of making the laws required to move the country to the next level of progress, was to engage women, including small and young girls, as well as women, regardless of their marital status, in illegal sexual acts, video film the activity in secret, and later used it in blackmailing his over three hundred victims.
One of the dirty things he allegedly forced them to do was sleep with whoever he wanted the victim to do so, or he would threaten to make the secretly video recording go viral on the social media. The REVEALATION and DISCLOSURE of the lurid lifestyle of one of our so called Senators were made on the popular Berekete Family’ programme by one of his former female staff, a married woman. She claimed to have been blackmailed into sleeping with him and his friends for about six times.
The Berekete Family’ programme is serving a very important purpose in Nigeria, a country where the rule of law leaves much to be desired. It is a land where ONLY the very rich people, whatever their calling may be, have their way at all times. Nigeria is a country where, despite its many in-demand mineral wealth, majority of the citizens live in abject poverty and lack.
Nigeria is a country where despite its vast wealth and potential for economic prosperity, PETROL, ELECTRICITY, WELL EQUIPPED HOSPITALS and REGULAR PIPE BORNE WATER have remained luxuries that only the very rich or top government workers can afford. The poor citizens are left to the mercy (where there is any) of the society. Or they die in silence.
In Nigeria, it is a rare sight to see an elite at the polling booth for the purpose of voting, unless of course it was an election in which he is a candidate. The children and those dear and near to them are DEFINITELY not among the often senselessly drunk area or rowdy boys who ALWAYS distrup and, oftentimes, stop elections, forcefully and, often, violently. They then take and run away with polling boxes, whether used or empty, to prearranged places where they are filled with false stamped voting papers for their paymasters.
But it is the same elite who would ALWAYS determine who gets what, who goes with what and who goes with empty hands, regardless of who the ACTUAL (real) balloting favoured, because of the seemingly unlimited resources in the country, which the GREEDY among our so called leaders cannot have enough.
The Senator (former) Abbo affair, represented just one of the low levels to which our so called representatives could sink into. And like we said in many of our past write ups, ‘it served us right’, because we opted settling for stipends and a few material things, and mind controlling drugs by some of us, to electing people who would serve us credibly with the fear of God in their hearts.
Now that almost everyone is affected by the bad decision we made during the past general elections, it is perhaps time we really do what former President Muhammadu Buhari used to advise the voters before his eventual victory in the polls. He was wont of advising the electorate to ‘cast their vote, guard them and witness their counting’, before leaving the polling centre. It is necessary, because this is Nigeria where anything can happen at the proverbial ‘twinkle of an eye’.
It is therefore not enough to just wish for the bad eggs among the politicians to change their attitude, the voters have to be up and doing about it. Those of us who do not have their voting cards handy, should immediately do something positive about it.
It is then that we can pray to God to intercede in our affairs in Nigeria, where MOST of the daily-use essential commodities are out of the affordability of most of the citizens, including the so called educated ones, no matter the extent of their bookishness.
Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.
