Why is he the first CAN leader to provoke pitiful mirth and amusement
when he is not being derided as a tragedy, a sort of Ichabod, desperate
to separate glory from a revered body?
When light unexpectedly shines on murkiness,
those exposed by the stinging rays often berate the light rather than
regret the muck.
That is the plight of
Ayo Oritsejafor whose private jet was identified as the vessel impounded
by the South African authorities for ferrying $9.3m cash into their
country. A statement from Eagle Air admitted Oritsejafor’s interests in
the aircraft, but said it leased the plane to Green Coast which in turn
acknowledged hiring the plane out for the trip to South Africa.
Unable
to shake off his connection to the plane, Oritsejafor has resorted to
abuse and vilification. Were he more reflective, he would be pondering
how, of all the private jets available in Nigeria, it was his that came
to be involved in a covert arms purchase scandal. Would he have managed
any objectivity if the plane involved happened to belong to a prominent
person of another faith or political persuasion?
Since
abuse is not argument and is incapable of displacing fact, Oritsejafor
may care to answer if the jet involved in the scandal is the same one
that was “donated” to him in 2012? Did he register it as a commercial
aircraft or is the plane illegally moonlighting as one? Has he ever
reflected on the impropriety of mixing his religious role with politics?
Having strayed into politics, and an irresponsible variant at that, can
he expect the veneration enjoyed by his predecessors such as Cardinals
Olubunmi Okogie and John Onaiyekan? Why is he the first CAN leader to
provoke pitiful mirth and amusement when he is not being derided as a
tragedy, a sort of Ichabod, desperate to separate glory from a revered
body? Amidst his jitters, Oritsejafor must look beyond the bling to ask
himself if it was any of the individuals he abused yesterday that asked
him to make his aircraft available for monkey business, or get himself
involved in the politics of division.
It is
pertinent that we invite the Federal Government to reflect on its role
in this episode. Our country needs to bolster its military and security
forces with the material resources they need to defeat insurgency and
restore security to every inch of its territory. This would require arms
imports. But should Nigeria violate the arms export regulations of
other countries in this endeavour? Should the FG recklessly impair and
jeopardise diplomatic relations by conducting covert arms purchases in
friendly countries without the consent of their governments? Such
conduct invariably leads to suspicions that such covert arms procurement
may not be for purposes of national security.
This
instance of arms procurement outside official channels amidst an
escalating insurgency must concern every patriot. In his House of
Commons statement last week, Mallam El Rufai had alluded to the clear
implications of the likely link between governmental murkiness and the
escalation in the insurgency. The government has long tried to explain
away its incompetence in upholding security by blaming insurgency on the
major opposition party. But it is becoming increasingly clear to many
that this insurgency is benefitting the ruling party and the incumbent
president by providing them a pretext to postpone elections and, at the
minimum, disenfranchise large swathes of the population that have never
supported the PDP or voted for Jonathan.
Mallam
Nasir El Rufai urges every Nigerian to be vigilant in these troubled
times. The tragedy of mindless terror should not be allowed to become an
endless catastrophe because of narrow political calculations.
Signed
Muyiwa Adekeye
Media Advisor to Mallam Nasir El Rufai
