Nigeria Institutions Under Attack

Goke Butikakuro

In my tour of Westminster, United kingdom parliament that houses its House of Common that could be likened to Nigeria House of Representatives, and House of Lords, that could be described as Senate, I saw and learnt how institutions should be preserved.

There and then, I was taken to the corner of all Prime Ministers, and in a brief, you can know almost everything about each of them. Amongst them, Winston Churchill and Baroness Magret Thatcher stimulated my attention, because the duo came to the saddle in UK at very crucial periods, but one attribute connected the duo together, their interventions in stabilizing the UK economy at the nick of time.

Throughout my stay in London, I carefully found out that the only thing the Great Britain has working for her is the preservation of institutions, and ancient history. Having collected my pounds, my guides told me stories in return, and I can safely say that an average British is arrogant, because he or she believes there are institutions to protect him or her, and at best, there are stories to provide him a comfort zone anywhere he finds himself.

Yes, there is a notion out there that UK and USA have some things in common. Perhaps colonialism and mutual trust and suspicion, but my sojourn in USA revealed a wider difference, but that is a point for another day. The kernel of my story is that in rational clime, great nations have developed habit to save their institutions, and I knew it was like that until now, that the nation is witnessing a clannish President in President Good Jonathan.

It is painful that Nigeria that ought to be competing economically, and development wise with Brazil, South Korea, South Africa, and Malaysia is now begging for a space in the comity of pariah nations like North Korea and Afghanistan, not because the country is in a war, but because our leaders are not thinking.

Let someone tell me the rationale behind the methodical sack of the central bank governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi Lamido when the honey pot of corruption, NNPC is still there under the watch of corruption personified in persons of ministers, Director Generals, Group Managing Director, and directors.

We are in a soup in this country, Sanusi was a dutiful servant and loyal CBN governor when he joined the members of the cabinet of conspiratorial presidency to unleash terror of price hike of premium motor spirit popularly known as petrol on the hapless masses, but when he shouted blue murder on the missing billions of dollars, he became an enemy of establishment. It is not out of place to say that Nigeria is going pariah.

Know that I am not a fan of Sanusi, but it pains me that our institutions are being weakened on daily basis, because an insecured personality is held up in the presidency, and he must exercise power to create suspended fear that he is in control of the lever of power of the state, and my experience in the west rob salt in the sore.

Butikakuro is a journalist of intercontinental exposure.