A former Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Na’Abba, on
Tuesday said he has been searching for job
since he left the House in 2003. A member
of the People’s Democratic Party, Na’Abba
represented the Kano Municipal Federal
Constituency of Kano State from 1999 to
2003 during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime.
He said, “In the last 11 years since I left the
House of Representatives, I have been
trying to find what to do. I have looked and
considered various things to do
professionally; I still have not come out with
something. ………….” The Punch Newspapers.
August 19, 2014 by Olalekan Adetayo

While the statement or the title above would
sound amusing to many of us, it is however,
when looked at critically, very instructive and
must be of concern to Nigerians. It is a big
cause for concern because, like they say “The
devil finds work for the idle hands” and this
applies equally to jobless politicians who do not
have any job or anything to fall back on after
they exit their positions and power (and whose
fault, may I ask, is that?) They are therefore
prone to all kind of insidious and invidious
political intrigues and chicaneries, not to talk of
inanities and stupidities.
It is another confirmation to us that many of
our politicians and so-called leaders consider
politics and political positions as lucrative
career jobs, which if they lose, or do not have,
they cannot survive in the society. That is one
of the reasons why we have a dearth of good,
sincere, honest and committed leaders whilst we
have mediocre, corrupt, insincere and thieving
leaders in all areas of governance and legislature
in the country. It is the reason why Nigerian
politics is a “do or die” affair and why many will
go to extreme devilish and devious lengths to
either stay in power or get to the corridors of
power. By any means necessary, including the
taking of lives and fetishism.
The reasons are patently and painfully obvious
to us:
First, the pay is too damned good, in fact more
than good, many of them earning far more than
even the President of the United States earns,
and for a lot less work, and mostly for no work
at all; Second, there is the unfettered and
virtually unrestrained opportunity to loot the
treasury without being caught, and even if
caught, there is no punishment. And third, the
opportunity such positions create for and
affords them to oppress and intimidate their
own people – sirens blaring and scattering their
poor people on the roads, getting private jets to
travel instead of using the bad roads they have
condemned their people to use, going abroad
for medical treatment because they have not
funded and maintained the local hospitals to
adequately serve their people and of course
only care about themselves and their families
but not what happens to the common people
who voted them in, in terms of healthcare,
sending their children abroad for their
education because they have plunged the local
education system into an abysmal mess, and
generally showing us that they are mini-gods
and they hold our petty lives in their hands.
I am of the suspicion that Africans derive some
kind of warped joy and satisfaction, bordering
on sado-masochism, in seeing their fellow
Africans oppressed and suffering. It is the
African psyche, when you get to the top of the
ladder, not minding how you get there, and
then looking down at those at the bottom and
discourage them from climbing up after you; or
looking at those who are climbing already, and
trying to use your superior position to push
them off the ladder. It never fails.
In fact, the President, Dr Jonathan had made an
observation in a short message he delivered
during the first Sunday service of the year held
inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja in January
2014 and confirmed this suspicion of political
joblessness when he said that most politicians
are in politics because they were jobless. He
said over 50 per cent of those who call
themselves politicians today were not supposed
to be in politics and that most of them opted to
become politicians because they lacked any
other thing they could lay their hands on.
So the questions we should be asking Na’Abba
and his ilk are:
What were his qualifications before he went
into politics?
What was he doing in terms of career or job
before he went into politics?
Why couldn’t he get a job after leaving
politics? Was it because of his age,
qualifications or disposition and attitude?
What has he been living on for the past
eleven years that he did not have a job?
What kind of jobs was he looking for – is it
still in politics?
Why couldn’t he go back to his old job/
career before he went into politics? That is
if he had any before?
Is it compulsory he stays in politics?
Does it mean that once one was in politics,
one could never find nor do any other job
apart from politics?
Why is our own brand of politics so lucrative
and “to-die for”?
According to Abiodun Ogunseitan, Nigerian
politics is like the nature of the beast. This is
because Nigerian politicians only play politics
with the minds of the people since it is only in
Nigeria that a foreign concept allows politicians:
*To engage in political intrigue and shenanigans.
*To deal with the public in an opportunistic or
manipulative way.
*To embezzle money, loot the treasury and abuse
their powers, because there are no punitive
measures for wasting, stealing or squandering
public funds.
*To be largely educated illiterates.
*To lack foresight, vision and focus.
*To be imposed on the people by parties that
have no ideological bases about what the people
want.
Who do not care about criticism; they just
ignore it.
*To rule and ride roughshod over uninformed
and docile citizens who do not know their
rights.
*To have political influence, hence doing nothing
in office is business as usual.
Hence in Nigeria, crass politicians are lying and
cheating rogues that see the people as
uninformed mules and dumb followers.
These are people who read speeches and make
flattering statements on live TV but the fact is
these are written for them by their sycophantic
advisers. So therefore, these people have no
clue of what they are reading or its content and
measured objectives. It is just fine speeches and
rhetoric for the gullible. These speeches have no
meaning or value to the speaker hence they do
not recall the promises made or ideology
behind their speeches. Did President Jonathan
not promise in his manifesto to improve power
generation and distribution on resumption of
office on his second term in office? Ask him
again and he would prefer to talk about Boko
Haram to avoid embarrassment. Our political
leaders and politicians know there are no
consequences for their failures. Nobody takes
them to task, or asks or cares for their
performance reports. Ask any minister before
appointment and they would promise heaven
and earth and tell you what you want to hear.
Once in office, it is coffee time, looting spree
and strings of girls strolling in and out of Oga at
the Top’s office. These are Yes Men; paid fat
toads - ineffective, inefficient, grossly
incompetent and mediocre and absolutely
devoid of ideas of governance; and why?
Because they can and usually get away with it!
It is no wonder then that after exiting office
(usually, they are forced to exit office), they are
bereft of ideas on how to survive without
government largesse and corruption,
opportunity to steal or embezzle our money or
outside political patronage. Even those of them
who are well educated, (formerly) brilliant with
good and higher degrees, skills, experience and
abilities, eventually slump and descend into this
chasm of dismal non-engagement of their brains
and faculties. The lure of free and looted
money, perks, wealth and power have their
brains so addled and totally inoperative, that
they can’t even bear the thought of going back
to their former careers.
It is therefore not inconceivable or improbable
that the nethermost and basest of these jobless
politicians and political jobbers will fall into a
life of crime after their (often) inglorious and
ignominious exit from office, more often
sponsoring armed robbery and drug smuggling.
And of course, sponsoring and arming thugs,
scheming and plotting assassination of their
opponents.

Hence we should be concerned about these set
of people. The devil, as they say, will always
find work for the idle hands and rapacious
minds of our “jobless and expired” politicians.
We are seeing this manifestation every day,
aren’t we?

Let the Truth be said always!!

brb

Too long. Someone should read it and summarize for me.