“ONE FOR ALL…”

The US ambassador to Nigeria petitioned the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives on the alleged misconduct of three members of the lower house in Cleveland Ohio a few days/ weeks ago. Ambassador James Entwistle regrettably informed the Speaker Yakubu Dogara that three (3) able bodied and testosterone secreting young men from the green room were not interested in  watching LeBron James dunk the basketball but tried to get mates to play ‘bedminton  and waistlifting’ with. The three men  Mohammed Garba Gololo, 41 (Bauchi APC), Samuel Ikon, 43 (Akwa Ibom PDP) and Mark Gbillah 44 (Benue APC) were said to have solicited for prostitutes from hotel parking assistants and one of them was said to have made attempts to palpate and/ or percuss intercontinental bosoms.

We do not know if these allegations are true but the ambassador stated that they indeed painstakingly investigated the complaints received on the matter. I’m sure this would have involved debriefing all witnesses and reviewing surveillance footages where available. I really doubt if these claims from the American Embassy are spurious and just a case of ‘oversabi’. I understand that Mr. Gololo has since issued a statement demanding for an apology and retraction; he has also demanded for video footage to back the allegations and likened the situation to a case against a former IMF boss caught up in a sex scandal backed by video evidence. I hope Gololo is sure of himself and realizes that ‘NEPA doesn’t take light there’. He also said he is ready to sue and thereby take on the mightiest nation on the earth to save his marriage and reputation. 

All three men have Bachelors and MBA degrees so if the accusations are genuine; we cannot simply say they stooped low (if true) because they lacked basic education. From their profiles on the National Assembly website, Gbillah is a builder listed as chief executive officer of one company and consultant for several companies including Huawei ( I don’t quite know exactly what he did or does for those companies) while Ikon is an economist listed as managing director of companies. Gololo simply had a 1996 reference to a maritime job he did two years after he left secondary school. These are young men who are potential future presidential or vice presidential candidates especially in a rotational system. Some have suggested that we permanently did away with our septuagenarians and allowed the “yoot” steer the Nigerian ship; these same folks accused of these kinds of things?

I believe one thing we should not get carried away with is physical appearance. That a man or woman is 35 years old does not mean that such an individual cannot reason like a relic. The Nigerian parliament is perpetually dominated by individuals who are there for personal profit and for the early phase of their retirement after being governors. They are obviously crown princes like the character Hakeem of the fictional Zamunda kingdom in the feature film ‘Coming to America’. These men and women are capable of misconduct (just like most Nigerians are) but are also too stupendously rich to indulge their extravagant lifestyles. It does not matter to me what party politicians and government appointees come from; anyone who breaches the laws ought to dance to the tune of justice. None is bigger than Nigeria; we have laws in need of enforcement which we must do.

The current hostility towards the current administration from certain quarters is totally unnecessary. Many times, this hyperventilation distracts us from knowing who the true enemies of the state are.

There are good and bad people from every part of Nigeria and the misdemeanor of one person should not lead to branding an entire ethnic group, religious body or socioeconomic class as what they are not. Ten (10) lawmakers went to Ohio but 3 were accused of misconduct; we should continue to drum it into the oscicles of our people that we are all responsible for maintaining the image of our nation both at home and abroad. It is just these accusations we have heard about; I am certain there are much more complicated stories. I hope this case is properly investigated and not just get rebuffed like we usually do in Nigeria. These men if  found ‘guilty’ will probably continue on as if nothing ever happened and the people must resist this and support whatever tool we have to continue cutting the National assembly to size beyond mere “common sense” rhetoric. 

Let us learn to support what or who is good to ensure good continues. To those going on about how Nigeria needs young blood; the young men and women are on their way but we must understand that many are already corrupted or possess the ‘corruption oncogene’ which only needs an external force to activate. We cannot just dislike a man because of his accent, age or educational background. If it was all about giving younger people a chance, Americans would not be going to the polls later this year to vote a 69 or 70 year old first time president 23-24 years older than when the outgoing president took office.

Let me help Gololo, Ikon and Gbillah with a defence if indeed they are guilty; they should write a joint letter to Mr Ambassador and ask him to mind his business and that of the potential incoming first man of the US (FiMOTUS) who had White house interns like biscuit only a few years ago.