To make a change you need to take the bull by horn, the New Nigeria.

It is no longer news that the change we long sort as a nation is here with us. Whereas we now have a government with the topmost leadership meeting the standard of integrity which the generality of Nigerians sort, we unfortunately have challenges and bottlenecks in diverse places that may seek to wreck the expected outcome of a changed system of governance.

Whereas we can attest to the focused mindset of the President as the ultimate leader of this change movement, we cannot at this time conclude that the Senate leadership supports this transition to change; neither can we convincingly state that all the members of the Judiciary are on board this movement to change and correct our faulty systems. As an employee of an organisation, a statement by my employer that he is interested in only competent, upright or courageous employees for a particular assignment will make me consider resignation if I wasn’t selected.

The years when people not only settled their criminal cases out of courts but also in the bedrooms of law adjudication and enforcement officers must be over if we must realise the dream of this change movement. Truly, any wise person can sense the level of anger and frustration in the society as citizens feel deprived in this land of plenty. As they say, the situation on ground calls for urgent and meticulous action on the part of the elite first and then everyone that is Nigerian.

As we have all witnessed, for a country that is in dire need of righting all the wrongs of the past, I wonder how sensitive it was for members of the National Assembly to be inaugurated only to turn around and vacate for six weeks and then resume for some days and vacate yet again for another long recess when Nigerians are grappling with hunger, disease, unemployment, insecurity, micro and macro-economic challenges. Whereas we commend the National Assembly committee for even muttering the long overdue need to investigate the Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde since change calls for watch me I watch you, must they make a mockery of the one acronym, Senior Advocate of Nigeria as reserved for learned and accomplished legal members of the Nigerian bar?

It is worthy of note that some disgruntled and dishonorable persons whose integrity is still in doubt as shown by some of the cases pending in the law courts are parading themselves as distinguished and honorable members. In addition to that, certain of their members we hear are now scheming to be recognised as SAN. I really wonder how senile an advocate the initiator of that discussion will be. Unfortunately, all the happenings in the National Assembly clearly informs my desire to seriously consider one of the most important topics for discussion in the land today which is whether Nigeria can afford a bicameral system of legislature or should we begin a constitutional amendment to establish only a Unicameral system or single national assembly chamber. Alternatively, we must also consider having a part time national assembly which is affordable and a way to cut governmental costs as it is done in some parts of the world.

Judging by the testimonials of our National Assembly members, it is apparent that most have at some point worked as employers of labor. I wonder if any one of them would really consider engaging an employee to work for half of the year and earn a full year salary. It is worthy of note that the 1999 Constitution as amended, in section 63 states “The Senate and the House of Representatives shall each sit for a period of not less than one hundred and eighty one days in a year” while freeing up 184 days “more than half in a given year” for the personal use of any of our legislators while receiving full time salary, perks and benefits.

For the change movement to succeed, it will require the notion of “if you see something, say something good and if you know something, do something good”. The Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) must therefore now, do something good in this matter of urgent national concern by raising a proposal for the downward review of the earnings of our representatives in the national assembly. Otherwise, how can any sensible person accept Nigerian legislators earning more than their colleague’s in every country in the world including richer western countries such as United States of America, France, Canada and Great Britain?

As we battle the nemesis of our failings, corruption in all ramifications must be chained. We have over the years watched in dismay and gross disappointment as high level officials who were accused under oath with fraudulent acquisitions or looting of public funds running into Tens of Billions of Naira whimsically charged by the EFCC with minor charges that can easily be thrown out by a serious minded Judge. For us to get it right in this new Nigeria, the EFCC must be overhauled as all they are doing now is playing to the gallery.
With our wonderful EFCC, people who were employed over the years as bank managers that made their way to the top of the banks ended up as owners of the banks and some are even doling out Millions of Dollars of Nigerian monies to foreign Presidential candidates to buy favor while the initial owners of the banks are wallowing in debt and poverty.

Could our Economic and Financial Crimes Commission not have checked to see if there were cases of insider trading or inappropriate lending practices involving some of this our new found Billionaires who now own and peddle private jets and world-class properties in the most expensive cities of the world? Is it possible that we don’t know of our public servants who drive around in simple cars without air conditioners when they own housing estates even in Abuja? We all wonder whatever happened to the Billions of Naira pension saga. Was anyone ever convicted?
In Sydney Australia where property developers are banned from making political donations, a Police Minister resigned in 2014 after he was implicated for “only seeking” ways to funnel donations by Buildev, a property development company, even as his private jet and helicopter was seized by government liquidators.

Last month, Bronwyn Bishop resigned her post also as Australian Speaker of Parliament as government investigators closed in on her in a case of misappropriation after she was implicated for spending her offices 5000 Dollars to charter a helicopter to attend her party’s fundraiser. In 2011,  Karl-Theodor Guttenberg, a popular German Defense Minister resigned his post after he was accused of plagiarism just for not properly referencing one line he copied in his PHD thesis. This and many more examples show seriousness for countries who earnestly seek to overcome the evils of corruption.

In the soon coming Bayelsa State elections, our ruling party, the APC must urgently consider ways to protect the image of our disciplined President by not allowing some persons who still have unresolved issues with National Security and corruption which is still pending with the EFCC and ICPC to represent the party. People with these tendencies as known in Nigeria and internationally should never be our party’s flag bearers considering we are sworn to change lest we blur the line between us and the former ruling party and then make room for any looter in their ranks to push back our probe and drive to terminate corruption.

I remember a discussion I had with the former GMD of Sun Newspapers Ltd and now the SA to the President on Media, when he queried me after I sent in a material for publication. In that discussion, he wondered which regular female visitor to the villa I was referring to as the engine room of corruption in one of my previous write ups. Not being sure on whose side he stood, I shied away from that discussion. I am comforted to know that he is on the side of the people and on the side of the great majority of Nigerians who have vowed never to see this great country slip back into gross and sickening impunity.

For this new Nigeria that must evolve, it is forward ever and backward never. As we shift away from graft, oppression, policy and administrative inconsistencies and high wired manipulation often to the detriment of the citizenry and our nation state, we the people must make a conscious decision to seize the moment to steer this glorious land of possibilities into a nation of honor, general accomplishment and shared prosperity where the hopes and dreams of all are easily realizable.

We therefore enjoin the President to please remain steadfast, resolute, undeterred and as always courageous as his leadership qualities are what we as a people have long desired to counter the ever obnoxious people parading themselves as leaders while continuously scheming to lead our people into oblivion.