caption:
Pius Adesanmi
Columnist:
Pius Adesanmi
"Fellow Liberians: As I speak to you
today, I am most gratified by the
caliber of the delegations of our own
African Governments, Foreign
Governments, partners and local
partners as well, who have come to
join us to celebrate this triumph of
democracy in our country. I am
particularly touched by those you see
- our dear brothers, the delegation
from the United States, headed by the
wife of President Bush and my friend,
our mediator, who has been with us
so long and brought us to this day.
We pay homage to all of you. We
respect you.
We welcome you. Bien vene a tous.
My dear Brothers and Sisters of West
Africa: You have died for us; you have
given refuge to thousands of our
citizens; you have denied yourselves
by utilizing your scarce resources to
assist us; you have agonized for us,
and you have prayed for us. We thank
you, and may God bless you for your
support to Liberia as well as for your
continuing commitment to promote
peace, security, stability, and bilateral
cooperation within our sub-region -
and beyond." President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf (excerpts from inauguration
speech)
Shortly after inauguration, she was on
a thank you visit to the United States
and addressed a joint session of
Congress thus:
"But our ties greatly exceed the
historical connection. I stand before
you today, as the first woman elected
to lead an African nation, thanks to
the grace of Almighty God; thanks to
the courage of the Liberian people,
who chose their future over fear;
thanks to the people of west Africa
and of Africa generally, who continued
to give hope to my people. Thanks
also to President Bush whose strong
resolve and public condemnation and
appropriate action forced a tyrant into
exile and thanks to you - the members
of this august body - who spurred the
international effort that brought
blessed peace to our nation."
-----------------------------------------
...which brings me to my point. This
was the Liberian President in 2006
giving credit on two occasions to
George Bush in particular and the
United States in general for services
rendered to her country mainly by
Nigeria. For who does not know that
ECOMOG is a synonym for Nigeria's
petrobillions and Nigerian limbs? Yet,
in both speeches, one could barely
make out the silhouette of Nigeria, lost
in broad remarks about West Africa
and Africa. Before Liberia, you could
possibly count fifty something other
ungrateful lepers across the continent
who, at various points in Africa's
postcolonial trajectory, have been
beneficiaries of the bottomless pit of
petrobillions of Abuja, only to run to
Washington, London, Paris, or Lisbon
to give thanks upon being healed. At
least one of the ten lepers returned in
the Bible to give thanks to his healer.
In Africa, Jesus heals them and they
run to render thanks unto Caesar.
I am therefore "maniacally
bewildered" (apologies to Patrick
Obahiagbon) that, upon the latest
insult by South Africa, Nigerians are
behaving like they've only just
discovered this fact today. From
Abakaliki to Zungeru, the din of our
outrage is threatening to invade my
second ear. South Africa, folks claim
correctly, seems to have forgotten the
source of the petrobillions that funded
the struggle in the 70s and the 80s
and has given the funeral oration
stage to those who put Madiba and
the ANC on terror watchlists while
money that should have been
invested in our roads and other
infrastructure went to buy ammunition
for Umkhonto we Sizwe and to provide
Federal Government scholarships for
thousands of black South Africans to
study free in Nigerian Universities. All
of this is true. But why are we
behaving like it has only just started
to happen? Nigerians have this
irritating habit of going to bed every
night with indignity for decades only
to wake up one day in the middle of
the afternoon and scream: "Mr.
Indignity, what the heck are you doing
in my bed? How did you get here?"
It means that those who are
screaming today about the insult from
the South Africans aren't even aware
of the previous insult from the
Liberians. In short, they do not know
when, where, and how the rain began
to beat us. All these cries of insult
remind me of Tortoise who fell into a
pit latrine and was there for seven
years. Then one day, his neighbours
discovered where he was whereupon
Tortoise began to scream, asking
them to get him out quickly lest the
stench killed him. Folks, we have been
in this stench of Africa's ingratitude for
our incurable habit of Santa Clausing
our petrobillions for a very long time.
The point is not to scream outrage
today. Your responsibility is to think
very critically about why and how we
got here. Are there any connections
between this state of affairs and the
quality of Nigeria's leadership,
especially since 1999? If we had
leaders who could think and deploy
critical intelligence, would this be
happening to us? What is your own
role in canonizing mediocre and
intellectually inferior semi-gods in our
political process? Are you contributing
directly or indirectly to this state of
affairs when you display a
programmatic hostility to any criticism
- no matter how justifiable - of the
quality of service and leadership of
your canonized political gods?
Perhaps in 2015, you should vote in
folks with enough brain power to
understand that you cannot buy love
and respect with petrobillions?
Perhaps you should vote for those
who understand that if your citizens
are healthy and well fed and gainfully
employed, if your infrastructure is
world class, if your Universities in
2013 don't look like the University of
Timbuktu in the 12th century, respect
and global esteem shall be added
unto you? There are connections
between things. Let us think urgently
about all these connections and make
something constructive of today's
insult. I salute you.

So The President of Nigeria Goodluck Jonathan didnt make a speech at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela, but so what? Critics have gone to the social media to say he was snubbed. Haba, what about over 90 other head of states who never made a speech? But critics will be quick to say Nigeria is the giant of Africa hence the President should have made a speech, if it pains you, why not go to the podium by force and ask that you want to make a speech on behalf of Nigeria?

Word

Ok

Fashola and now Pius adesanmi,
Omoluabis will always be on point.
Everyday we ask ourselves to think.
Yoruba RONU O
Think individually,
Think as a group.
I SEE HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.
AS LONG AS THE CHILDREN OF ODUA KEEP ASKING THE SERIOUS QUESTIONS,
THEN ,OYO SHALL RISE AGAIN.

I don't think the author was referring to PGEJ. Truth be told, he was only pointing the fact that our leaders effort in helping other countries in time of need has not been reciprocated.

@ ajara am not pained by that, only trying to point out the major problem facing africans and that is worshiping the west