What I learnt from John Nwodo

For those that did not follow the last transition programme, there is one thing that struck me which may be beneficial to you and the Society at large. In the last Ministerial Press Conference that preceded the return to democratic rule, John Nwodo, the then Minister of Information stood to conclude the function that looked like a war between the press and the Abdusalami-led military government due to the Press' suspicion of reckless expenditure by the government. Remember, that was the era Nigeria hosted a tournament from the external reserve. The Ministers who were mainly soldiers could not defend their budget well, I vividly remember. However, as the Minister of Information, Nwodo systematically forced the angry press men into clapping.

I still remember how he did it. From that day, I started imagining a President John Nwodo. He started by reminding the pressmen of the warning he sounded to the second republic legislators before General Buhari's men struck. According to Nwodo, he told the members of the house in his address:"The democracy you are about to destroy, you will be the first to regret it." Like a prophet, it did not take time when Joshua Dogonyaro announced the death of the second republic and the legislators were in the first set of those that went to jail. Nwodo told this story to warn the pressmen of the impending danger of their modus operandi to the on-going transition programme. My father said:"Certainly pepper is not required in the preparation of a charm aimed at restoring peace." Surprisingly, the angry pen men who were almost physical with Ministers over financial misappropriation became calm. They were all nodding in affirmative to the oratory power of John Nwodo. I was highly challenged.

In his conclusion, Nwodo hit his hand on the desk and authoritatively said:"Nigeria must march forward." The Pressmen started clapping endlessly. That was when I noticed the Military ministers also smiling for the first time and clapping along. The present condition of Nigeria has reminded me of the event. Our duty is to speak to the people whose duty is to put what we say in practice.

Furthermore, unless we still want to pretend, if not so, there is danger in Nigeria. The government has failed in many areas. The government agencies are more involved in sabotage than the work they receive our money for. However, my annoyance is that the failure of the government is master minded in order to create wrong impression in the minds of the people about the leadership of the Country. Worse still, the youths are dancing to these drumbeats either knowingly or unknowingly. The aim of the enemies of the Society is to destabilize Nigeria on or before 2015. It is a simple thing to do. Since the political activists are sounding that Nigeria cannot live beyond 2015, they keep pushing for violence that will lead to the actualization of their dreams. The nature of today's political opposition buttresses this position which is made worse by insensitivity of the ruling party. The followers are very bias in their support. Supports are given with regard to ethnicity. A Nigerian youth can call an elder from another ethnic group a fool and fails to refer to a bigger fool in his ethnic group same way.

In the same way Nwodo warned the political class in the second republic, I repeat:"THIS PEACE WE ARE ABOUT TO DESTROY IN NIGERIA, WE WILL BE THE ONES TO SUFFER IT."

Give peace a chance....