Justified Anger

When I woke up this morning, I didn't plan to start my day with so much anger as I'm feeling right now. I only just figured a good way to vent, beyond tweeting, is to put my feelings down in writing on my blog. I hope I will feel better when I'm done with this post.

Two stories have triggered my rising annoyance this morning and I will write on them.

The first is the news of how a 24-year-old lady named Jessica Edionwele has seemingly disappeared. Yes, you read that right. According to her friends (@is_salsu) on Twitter, Jessica boarded a flight to Abuja from Lagos on the 7th of October, but her family, waiting to receive her, never saw her arrive at the Abuja airport. The airline confirmed she boarded the flight, they confirmed the flight arrived in Abuja but they have no clue as to Jessica's whereabouts.

How is this even possible, one wonders? Could this be a scenario in a movie? NO! This is real life and a family and a bunch of loved ones are in bewilderment and heartaches as to what fate could have befallen their dear Jessica.

How difficult is it to install functioning CCTVs all over Nigeria's especially in strategic places such as an airport? How can a whole human being go missing in an airport and not just any airport but an airport in the Federal Capital Territory? Even if this disappearance is a figment of one's imagination, wouldn't a footage have proven this?  I sincerely hope this news reaches the Presidency and something is swiftly done to unravel this mystery, bring Jessica back home and see to the installations of CCTVs across the country.

I'm pretty sure someone's father has collected the money meant for such technological advancement for Nigeria and squandered it on luxury cars, holidays and perhaps a private jet or two. Such is our situation here in Nigeria whereby corrupt polticians have no iota of care for the common man but rather loot to stupor.

And speaking of looting to stupor brings me to the second news that riled me this morning. Yesterday, the web was agog with news of the passing of former governor of Bayelsa State,  Alamieyeseigha. He is said to have died due to a cardiac arrest. For those of you who don't know him, Alamieyeseigha used to be a governor in Nigeria but was arrested in England after a HUGE amount of cash (£1million) was found on him. He was placed under house arrest by the British authorities but he managed to flee the shores of Britain, presumably, disguised as a woman. He fled to Nigeria and was given a hero's welcome by some of his people. He was arrested by the EFCC, impeached, tried and jailed for a very brief period in Nigeria because his two-year sentence ran concurrently. A few years later, he was granted a presidential pardon by the past President Goodluck Jonathan. Just last week, the British authorities called for Alamieyeseigha to be extradited and face the charges he fled from. Alas, yesterday he was said to have passed away.

Those who know me, know I am compassionate to a point of insensitivity to my own self so pardon me if I cannot summon up an iota of pity for this man and his reported demise. He stole without remorse from Nigerians, an act which has resulted in the death of hundreds of innocent Nigerians. Money which could have been used to propel our country forward was squandered by this man and his croonies, yet some people think because he is dead he should be pardoned afresh. No! Death does not make him a Saint nor take away from his nefarious activities while he was alive.

If you ask me not to speak ill of this dead, I will ask you this;
Who will speak for all those who died because they couldn't afford the barest of medical attention?
Who will speak for the many lives lost on our shabby roads because the money meant for development had been looted by Alamieyeseigha and his peers?
Who will speak for broken parents who watched their children die from malnorishment?
Who will speak for families of the lost and never found victims of ritual killings and kidnappings because the money meant for security was shared and looted?
Who will speak for the uneducated stark-illiterate man or woman, forced to do manual labour to survive because they had no access to education?
Who will speak for the hundreds of people who died because doctors went on strike over months of unpaid salaries when their allocated salaries had been spent lavishly and selfishly by some unscrupulous buggers?

You might as well ask me to be pitiful towards Hitler because the lines between what he did and what these thieving politrickcians are doing to us is getting really blurry by the minute.

I sincerely hope corruption will be a thing of the past in Nigeria soon enough and especially with the new government in place.

I feel slightly better after having poured out my heart in this post. Please overlook any typos that may have occured in my haste and discomfort at typing this on my phone. You see, I'm on my way back to Lagos from Abia state and sadly, we do not have WiFi-enabled trains or luxury coaches to permit me the chance of typing and editing all these on my laptop. We are yet to have a government think up and implement such an idea of an inter-state WiFi-enabled luxury rail travel system here in Nigeria.

Yes, the year is still 2015.  :)

Have a fabulous Sunday ahead.