2012 did not come with the pomp and pageantry that marks
every new year. I have been quite for the past few months, but I have watched
with keen interest, the gradual but imminent revolution that is seizing my
nation – Nigeria. At last we can say for certain that today the 14th
January 2012 we stand at the door post of our revolution and history beckons.
It is very important that we stand back and assess what has
transpired in the past few weeks.
The Christmas day bombing of a Catholic Church in Madala,
Suleja (near Abuja) marked the beginning of a series of events that will shake
the foundations of this country leading to a reawaking of the masses to assert
their fundamental rights and demand [for the first time in Nigeria’s history]
that their leaders be accountable to the Masses, the people.
I will not bore you with the details of the events that
brought us here, because several interesting articles of have been writing
about them. The national debate on why Nigerians should support governments move
to remove the oil subsidy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7mFz6dlqug&sns=fb).
The passage of the 2012 fiscal budget.
The Christmas day bombing and subsequent sporadic killings in Northern
and Southern Nigeria (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zye0qajNTLc). The declaration of
a state of emergency in several local government areas in the North East. The
“Surprise” removal of Oil Subsidy on the eve of the New Year and its attendant
direct effects on the livelihood of common masses. And the subsequent on-going
strike action called by the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union
Congress (TUC).
As I scroll through the interesting SMS’s, blogs and tweets
of friends and family, it is very clear that the masses are tired of the same
stories all over again. From where I
seat, the motivations are diverse; whose story are you buying? The governments
story; as eloquently expounded by Central Bank Governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi and IMFs “Economic Hit Woman” and Nigeria's’ Hon. Minister for Finance, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala? Or, are you on the masses side - with civil society, activists
and the labor who demand the subsidy reinstatement? Perhaps there is yet another
set of people who do not care about subsidy but would love to see a more concerted
effort towards changing the way Nigeria is governed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAoLBCmB_Ms&sns=fb).
Regardless of what group you belong to, we can all agree that what we want is
to see progress, for ourselves and for the nation and our children yet unborn. However, what is not clear is the motivation,
why are some on the street, while others declare an electronic crusade in
support of the government? I have not yet read any article that clearly sorts
out the various schools of thought that abound concerning the situation in the
country yet if you read in between the lines of our leaders are doing, one
might make an inference and that is exactly what this piece will try to
address.
Being such a paranoid mind, I have decided to briefly
examine all these conspiracy theories in a bid to make sense of the situation –
Some are clear and straight forward, while others are mere blue sky thinking - I
have made sure to take every aspect of our present problem into consideration;
The Islamic fundamentalist sect - Boko Haram, Removal of the PMS subsidy, the
plight of the Nigerian masses, The existence of the so called “Cabal”, the
silence of the lambs, and the passion with which some government officials
speak about the issue.
- Conspiracy Theory No. 1 – Divine Intervention; The invincible hand of God.
- Conspiracy Theory 2 – Honest Truth; The Government is broke.
- Conspiracy Theory No. 3 – The Usual Suspects; Politicians want to “Share the money”.
- Conspiracy Theory No. 4 – The Bear & the Eagle; Uncle Sam is at it again.
- Conspiracy Theory 5 – Sucker Punch! Jonah is no fool after all.
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