WHAT IS THE LEVEL OF OUR SANITY?
Feature
IFE ADEWOLE
In a country where 70 percent of the citizens are hungry, unemployment is an household name, the daily increase of poor and out of school children is growing rapidly, those who work and sweat to pay their bills lament delay or non-payment of salaries, some state governors still struggle to pay N18,000 minimum wage and the Federal Government gave excuses to oblige to workers demand of N30,000.00 as new minimum wage. As if that was not enough the Minister of Information and culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed claimed that the Federal government spends a whooping N3.5million monthly to feed an individual under detention.
The Spiritual leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shiites, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky has been on trial for unlawful gathering, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and placed in detention since 2015, the cost of his detention for almost three years warrant us to check and confirm our level of sanity.
Since Thursday, that Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the statement in a video posted on YouTube by Oak Tv which went viral on the internet, various reactions and outrage have started pouring out from every sphere especially on the social media. If indeed it is true that N3.5million is been lavished on him on a a monthly basis, then one is left to ask why the Federal government is bent on disobeying the court order and grant him bail instead of wasting that huge amount to feed a detainee who will not use such outrageous amount to feed himself, if he were to be a free man.
If unlawful gathering, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and throwing stones at the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff can make a man to be fed with N3.5m monthly, then the DSS should be ready to arrest and detain more Nigerians as it seems to be more juicy in that building. The truth is that those who are involved deserve to be arrested and subjected to serious psychiatric test.
Although various administrations that have steered the affairs of this country since 1999 came with different dramas, the ones we have witnessed in this present administration seems to beat they all.
Close to four years of the All Progressive Party (APC) administration that claim to be fighting corruption Nigerians have been presented with shocking and weird news that one may almost begin to think that Nigeria is another TV channel on a cable Tv. It was in this administration that rodents invaded the President’s office in Aso rock and drove him out for some days so that they (rats) can finish their plan to take over the country.
Unknown to us, the animal kingdom had some more wonders in stock. Almost six months rats-scene, another news report flooded the media, alas, a money-swallowing-snake consumed N36million at the Joint Admission and Matriculation office in Makurdi Benue state. In less than three months after this incident, as Nigerians were still trying to solve the initial puzzle of snake swallowing money, then the Northern Senators Caucus threw another bombshell that Monkeys have carted away N70million.
Among the possible objectives of the statement by Lai Mohammed, distraction-tactic(as Nigerians were trying to forget all that had happened and prepare for next year’s election), stands tall staring from a high angle to ‘fact-that-Nigerians-are-gullible’.
Now that Alhaji Mohammed has reminded us of how gullible we are, and how generous they can be to be feeding a detainee with N3.5million naira monthly, we are left with two options; we can either continue to play dumb, get pushed to the wall, watch the drama on until we get bored OR give that a twist and come out with our own dramatic narrative that shows our sanity is perfectly intact.