By Oluwaseun Omomowo

I try as much as possible to stay away from the American political debate. I feel it’s better to remove the forest of trees in our eyes before taking a microscope to the speck in others. Our problems in Nigeria are more than political leanings and leftist or right-wing agendas in developed nations. However, the video being shared of the female doctor caught my eye.

The Nigeria social media user is a unique breed. The bandwagon effect is a psychological state that sees people doing stuff just because others are doing it, irrespective of logic, common sense or their own beliefs. It has always been said that if you want to keep something from the average Nigerian, hide it in a book. We, as Nigerians, mostly typify this assertion.

First, where did all the people posting the video get the information that she is a Nigerian? We like to famz anything progressive but shy away from the reality of our warped orientation. The army of social media tigers shouting and saying God is exposing evil doers and all that balderdash, I ask these questions: What does that have to do with anything? Why must we in Nigeria spiritualise everything and play the religion card?

We have not focused on the various anti-christ elements bleeding and sucking our nation dry, but we have ample evidence that it’s the devil that’s trying to manipulate elections so Trump won’t be re-elected. We have truly sunk to an interminable abyss. Is our problem the political space in America or the fact that our collective patrimony has been stolen before our eyes.

In Plato’s allegory of the cave, he writes about the theory of human perception. Plato claims that knowledge gained through the senses is nothing more than opinion and that true knowledge comes from reasoning. It seems that reasoning is something alien and foreign to the average Nigerian. Be it vaccination, or hydroxychloroquine, the fact remains, Nigeria by virtue of a divine and inexplicable grace dodged a bullet. We are focusing on the wisdom of wearing a mask or not when the bigger issue is the possibility of survival if infected.

By Oluwaseun Omomowo

Nigeria is once again in the news. The media has been awash with stories of the alleged massive fraud perpetrated by Ramoni Igbalode a.k.a Hushpuppi and his cronies. He is being charged with multiple counts of wire fraud in connection with a scheme that diverted funds meant for Covid-19 relief efforts.

He was arrested in Dubai, UAE, and has been extradited to the US. Interpol, the Dubai Law enforcement agencies and, lately, the EFCC have been touting this as a win for the good guys. Everybody wants a piece of the action. My focus is not on the crimes he allegedly committed or the vast amounts he allegedly stole. I am stupefied by the level of hypocrisy and posturing being adopted by my dear country.

An ethical dilemma is an issue that leaves the question of either following or breaking rules. Whether you as a person believe those rules to be correct and just constitutes a moral dilemma. Umar Ganduje, the governor of Kano State, was seen in a video stuffing bundles of dollars into his babariga pocket. There were claims that the video was doctored and the true scenario wasn’t captured. The most nauseating part of the story was the claim by a certain Magaji Ramindado, the head of the Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-corruption Commission. He stated that the commission could not investigate the allegations because they were not carried along in the investigation and there was an immunity clause that prevented them from doing so. He went ahead to win a second term as governor of the state. If that is not a clear case of an ethical conundrum, then what is?

I have no sympathy for Mr Ramoni. He is part of the systematic rot that has pervaded the country and has promoted the concept of get-rich-or-die-trying. The crisis of leadership we have in the country has added to this malaise.

Selective amnesia concerning looting and pillaging of resources by public officials places a burden of responsibility squarely at the feet of government and the leadership structure . You only have to scroll through various social media channels to realise that a cross section of the youth of Nigeria empathise with our modern day Pablo Escobar. And therein lies the moral dilemma. To whom much is given, much is expected, but to whom nothing is given, anything goes. To this persons, Internet fraud is seen as the self-help mechanism that will ostensibly pull them out of poverty and help them position their families to have a better life. However, the end never justifies the means. Until the collective mindset of the average Nigerian changes, we will produce more Hushpuppi’s and Woodberry’s.

The moral bankruptcy prevalent in our society today is a reflection of the putrid rot wafting down from the highest levels of governance and leadership. It’s not even a question of ethical codes or violations, it’s a question of moral integrity. We are good at playing the ostrich, expressing hypocritical outrage at a hushpuppy scenario, while keeping quiet when a Ganduje is caught on camera stuffing dollars in his pockets.

The justice system protects the high and mighty and sends a petty thief to life imprisonment for stealing a tuber of yam. That’s why the army of youths have the ‘me against them’ mindset and will do anything to get out of poverty. If an Orji Uzor Kalu can get out of prison on a technicality and go straight back to the senate, we should then reserve the mock outrage we have at Ramoni’s malfeasance. We have politicians wanted for crimes and fraud in the United States walking about freely and with police escorts in Abuja .Abeg, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it can never be a turkey. But, we can see the role exposure plays in the commission of a crime . A Diezani will have the foresight to buy the citizenship of a non-extradition treaty country, while Ramoni will spend all his time on Instagram flaunting Gucci and dollar bills. You can take a monkey out of the jungle, but getting the jungle out of the monkey is another issue entirely . We go dey alright finally abeg. At least, Hushpuppi didn’t need a visa to get to USA . He flew there first class sef. His Gucci jumpsuit is waiting for him.

Africa, tell me Africa
Is this your back that is unbent
This back that never breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying no to the whip under the midday sun

I was introduced to the poem ‘Africa’ by David Diop in 2003 and it kindled in me a strong awareness and passion for Africa. I further delved into the riveting masterpieces that were Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and Franz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth and was instantly set on a path of self-discovery. Africa has long been exploited by a combination of power politics and assets-stripping that have rendered us perpetually cowered and made us resort to go cap in hand, begging for handouts from the western world.

A balance to this thought is the lack of purposeful and insightful leadership that Africa has been saddled with over the decades. I have long been an advocate of a united Africa that is upwardly mobile and politically progressive and that will stand up to the western world.

W.E.B DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah and others mooted Pan Africanism as an ideology that would ultimately unite Africans politically and economically. I strongly believe the integration of the African continent and the Black race in general will only truly burst to life when the embers of that progressive fire are stoked and fanned.

The current witch-hunt of Akinwunmi Adeshina is a case in point. This is an opportunity for Africa to extricate one of the claws of a western super-power out of our collective backs. I am convinced the status of the United states as the largest donor country is a trojan horse that masks the insidious attempt to recolonise and keep the continent perpetually on its knees. The ethics committee of the bank exonerated the man, but the US Treasure Secretary has called for an independent investigation. This goes against extant laws and procedures of the bank.

It is time for the African man to stand up and say enough is enough. We were taken from our continent in chains to go and cower to the white man. Years later, we are voluntarily leaving the continent on planes to bow to them. Must we allow them into our house and still kneel to serve them?

Like Kwame Nkrumah said at the Africa must Unite conference in 1963, ‘The forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the superimposed influences that keep us apart’. Africa must unite.

NOTE: This begins Omomowo’s weekly column in Phenomenal.com.ng.