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RODHAM CLINTON’S SPEECH: A CHALLENGE TO NIGERIA AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS
By Louis Brown Ogbeifun | January 31, 2010
During the Bill Clinton years as the President of United States, I was an avowed follower and admirer of the Clintons because of the charisma, effectiveness and aura of effective leadership President Bill Clinton brought to bear on the world’s socio-economic landscape. Even when the Lewinsky saga raged, I fasted and prayed for the Clintons because of the positive things his administration was doing and the food they had to put on the table of the Americans. I thought then that any successful impeachment at that time will spell doom for the American people. The era of Bush that followed proved me right. For Rodham Clinton, I particularly admired her courage and forbearance on the Lewinsky issue. Out of office, I still see Clinton as a model of an effective leader that has eluded my dear country for so long.
I also do appreciate the passion with which the American leadership sides with the downtrodden masses of Nigeria. I am profoundly in agreement with Mrs Clinton that Nigeria is suffering from severe deprivation due to the massive looting of our treasury by some of our past and present leaders. I also agree that there is the need to change from this unwholesome attitude if we must get Nigeria back on track. In doing this, every Nigerian must be ready to fight against the present system where nothing seems to be working. As at the time of this post, Nigerians are spending hours on end at gas stations queuing to buy gas when indeed we should be a net exporter of these products. The slough and sleaze in our banking sector is a disgrace to modern day banking. Our electoral system is nothing we can be proud of as a nation and there is nothing to show that our leaders have learnt anything from our chequered history. I have also written in some of my previous posts, that, our government must do something about the religious crisis, Niger Delta militancy, corruption and other executive recklessness.
I also agree that our destiny is in our hands and that we must brace up if Nigeria must rise again. I have said it times without number that no foreigner will build Nigeria for us and that once the milk and honey (oil and gas) that brought them here dry up, we shall be left in the cold. When the Niger Delta militants threw the oil and gas sector into tatters, the so called friends of Nigeria have abandoned her. So, Nigerians especially the Civil Society Organizations must rise to deliver Nigeria from the claws of our selfish leaders.
However, I disagree with the postulation of Madam Secretary Clinton on her recent statement, on the reason for Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab unacceptable act of terror.
When Madam Secretary, Rodham Clinton visited Nigeria in August 2009, I watched the clips of her speech and interactions on the electronic media on the 12th of August and I was in deep shock seeing the intermittent claps for her when she was mentioning the ills and evil in Nigeria. Paradoxically, those clapping, smiling and hailing her to go on, would have buried their heads in shame and be weeping right there for our country. Why? Over the years, the citizenry including the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that organized the parley have made life too easy for the Nigerian rulers. I believe that our resilience has been carried overboard and therefore become accomplices in what is happening in the Nigerian State. Here, we have a great country hitherto the toast of several highly placed nations in the sixties and seventies, now a midget among nations. If we all had done our bits, I am sure we would be having a better country we can call ours by today. At every turn, every dick, tom and harry finds a way to ridicule Nigeria. The latest was in far away United States. Madam Secretary found the slightest opportunity to lash out at Nigeria and tell the world how corrupt we are, and the evil we represent. In making statements, world leaders should be mindful that everybody in Nigeria is not evil. Majority of Nigerians are very good people. Let them not forget that Okonjo Iwealla and Oby Ezekwesili of the World Bank are Nigerians who also served in public offices in Nigeria. If they were bad people, I am sure the World Bank will have no place for them. The touted corruption, advance fee fraud and other vices are perpetrated by less than 1% of the populace in active connivance with people from America and other advanced nations. The list is of such connivance is legion but a few examples will suffice in this write up.
(Compass: 2009) “Swiss logistics provider Panalpina said it has started settlement talks with U.S. authorities over alleged corruption involving Nigerian customs officials and American oil companies”. (Russell Gold: 2008) “In a wide-ranging foreign-corruption investigation, fired former Halliburton Co. executive Albert J. “Jack” Stanley pleaded guilty to orchestrating more than $180 million in bribes to senior Nigerian government officials. The bribes were used to win a contract to build a liquefied-natural-gas plant in Nigeria”. (Sahara Reporters: 2009) “Former congressman William Jefferson has been sentenced to 13 years in jail for corruption that involved US companies and Nigerian officials” (WSWS: 2004) “In December 2003, Pentagon auditors uncovered a overcharge of $61 million by KBR on a contract to supply fuel for the military in Iraq. Halliburton was also suspected of overcharging by $67 million on food for military mess halls in Kuwait and Iraq. In January 2004, Halliburton repaid $6.3 million in overcharges and kickbacks for fuel contracts in Kuwait. In February 2004, the Pentagon announced that Halliburton would repay it for $27 million in KBR overbilling for meals served to troops at five military bases in Kuwait and Iraq. The meals were never delivered”. Has the United States forgotten too that Switzerland is a haven for “corruption funds” from Nigeria. Why has the United States not dragged Switzerland to the Hague for economic crime against humanity or lash at the Swiss people for keeping looted funds in thier vaults at every turn?
It is in the US, that a State Governor bargained to sell the vacated Senate seat of President Obama. The 2000 Florida debacle during the Presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore and the “unusual event of the winning candidate having received fewer popular votes than the runner-up” (Wikipedia) cannot be forgotten in a hurry. It was in the heart of civilization (UK) that Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab got indoctrinated and had access to Al-Qaida.
I cited these few examples to show that criminality and corruption are pervasive and not just an exclusive preserve of any country. Referring to the 2009’s Christmas day bomber Umar farouk AbdulMutallab; who tried to blow up the NWA/Delta flight 253; Mrs. Clinton at a town hall meeting of the State Department of employees on January 26th 2010, virtually wrapped Farouk’s delinquency on bad leadership in Nigeria, the mismanagement of our economy, corruption, growing illiteracy and insecurity. She sarcasticaly and derogatorily said that “Farouk took to the path of terrorism because he was disturbed by his father’s wealth and the kind of living conditions in Nigeria that he viewed as being not Islamic enough”. This to me is a very wrong answer to an innocent question and making mockery of the Nigerian State. If Farouk was disturbed by the stupendous wealth of his father and reacting to the ills in Nigeria, one would have thought that the best place to vent his feelings and anger should have been here in Nigeria and not against any United States’ interest just like Mcveigh and major Nadal Hasan did. I feel there is a great disconnect between Madam Secretary’s reason for Farouk’s underlining intent(s) and his final action.
Taking Mrs. Clinton’s comment on its face value, would it have been overfeeding, reaction to his own father’s wealth, the level of poverty, disease and illiteracy in America that led Major Nidal Malik Hasan to kill his fellow Americans in the Fort Hood shooting spree, which caused so much distress to hundreds of families? The American government agreed that the action of Major Nidal Malik Hassan was a terrorist act but Madam Secretary in the entire Fort Hood encounter in November till now has not told us the discontents that led a Major in the American Army, on the soil of America to turn the gun meant for protecting Americans against fellow Americans.
If Farouk was indeed reacting to the perceived societal injustice, corruption in Nigeria and disturbed by the stupendous wealth of his father, will it then be right to say that Major Nidal Malik Hassan of the 2009 Fort Hood fame, Timothy McVeigh and his accomplices that bombed the Alfred Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City on April 1995 (all Americans) killing 168 Americans and injuring about 600 more were also disturbed by their father’s wealth, reacting to the level of corruption, disease, hunger, poverty in the American system to have made them commit such havoc and heinous crime against the American State?
The cases of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab and Major Nidal Malik Hassan showed that that these two folks had links with an Al-Qaida Cleric in Yemen. If Madam Secretary must know, this is the Islamic ideological voice the duo listened to. How come that all through the planning phase of the Fort Hood incidence in 2009, the US with all her high technology in information gathering never found out the plot of Major Nidal Malik Hassan against America?
On the other hand, the father of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab warned the United States through her agents in Nigeria of the activities of Farouk and his visit to Yemen. Were the security agents that had the information and refused to act on such sensitive information also disturbed by their own fathers’ wealth? Was it a reaction to hunger and disease in America that made them keep sealed lips and refused to act on such vital information? From the above, Mrs Clinton’s submissions on the reasons Farouk took to the path of infamy represented one side of the coin, unfair judgement and double speak.
During the Bill Clinton era, there was less tension around the globe. At that time, Americans were loved by the world. The question is, few years after his departure from the White House, one would love to ask, what astronomically went wrong, that Americans became targets of terrorists all over the Islamic world? The leaders of America must find sincere answer(s) to this question. The truth is that America and her allies focus so much on external enemies and forget that the mouse in the house is the one that signals the mouse in the bush that there is food inside the house.
Apart from the issue of Farouk, there are underlying reasons for the United States’ cold shoulder towards the Nigerian State. Some of the reasons include, the rejection of the U. S. Military Africa Military Command (AFRICOM) on African Continent, the decision not to extridite Charles Taylor to the United States, the introduction of Sharia in the Northern parts of the country and religious insurgencies etc. Though a hard pill to swallow, the truth is that all countries including America have had an ugly past that their citizens cannot proud of.
The Farouk issue only came in handy to express the unhappiness of the U. S. with Nigeria. We must recognize that terrorism is a very grievous anti-human activity which must be rejected and fought with all seriousness. World leaders should get serious in seeking to unravel the real reasons behind terrorist activities rather than wish it away on a platform of sarcasm like Mrs Clinton did.
Recently, there have been increased terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Iraq despite the heavy presence of the allied forces. More men in uniform are dying than ever before in these places. The funding of military and intelligence gathering activities is also escalating. In Pakistan, terrorist activities have taken a new dimension despite the billions of dollars in aids and personnel. Why?
Name calling, the blame trade and looking for scape goats are wrong tactics to deploy in times like this. Therefore, time has come to change tactics because the terrors of today are beginning to be more daring in leaps and bounds. The effective management of information, which has been ignored for so long should take the front burner and remain the bedrock of anti-terror war. The second aspect that could deal a fatal blow on terrorism is the identification of the linkages with the terrorists’ financial lifelines and cut them off. As long as terrorists are well funded, terrorism remains a thriving business for their leaders. The 2009 December 25 aborted bombing of the NWA/Delta 253 and the 2009 November Fort Hood incidents are examples of ineffective management of information, which needs urgent attention.
On terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism I opined in (Ogbeifun: 2010) “Terrorism is evil and must be roundly condemned by every responsible human being. Head or tail, terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism are whirlwinds that blow no one any good. To forestall these extremes of thoughts and actions, governments all over the world should also provide the platform for social justice, equity and fairness that will allow every citizen to become whom he or she wants to be………………Let us not lose focus of how fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism led the world into several preventable wars in the Middle East. Yesterday it was Lebanon and Gaza; today it is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. With the insurgence of the Maitasines, Boko Harams and Kalo-Katos; the face of tomorrow’s terrorism may well be in Nigeria. The time to act is now!”
Irrespective of the views I have over Madam Secretary’s statements, I hold a very strong conviction that no matter the reasons behind terrorism, extremism and fundamentalism that will make individuals or a group of people take human lives and wreck havoc on mankind, they are evil and cannot be condoned. Mrs. Rodham Clinton’s Speech should pose a Challenge to all well meaning Nigerians and the Civil Society. It is a wakeup call for us to rise up and do everything possible to liberate Nigeria from the claws of the oppressors and treasury looters. Let this house not fall, so that we can have a Nigeria we would hand over to the next generation.
Death in the sky as contemplated by the likes of Umar Farouk AbdulMtallab has no respect for race, social strata, tribe or religion. It could happen to anybody when travelling. So, the world must unite to fight global terror.
My prayer is that, where we fail to catch the terrorists at the planning stages of their evil designs or at the point of the execution of their plans; may they persistently suffer equipment failures like the cases of Umar Farouk AbdulMtallab and Reid the shoe bomber, so that those behind the threat(s) can be exposed and brought to justice.
http://louisbrownogbeifun.com/?p=88
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/oct2004/hall-o30.shtml
Topics: Uncategorized |
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