A cursory look at the items budgeted for the so called Nigerian 50th Independence anniversary celebration shows that President Goodluck Jonathan is not different from all the past wasteful leaders and heads of government; and you wonder why the clamor for his continuation in office come 2011.
Icheoku condemns this profligacy in a country where more than 75% of its employable workforce are unemployed and with a practically collapsed infrastructures. Yet a government with its head up its ass, is embarking on a wasteful celebration of nothing and squandering 10billion Naira to do so? President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Icheoku calls on you to call off this madness now and save the country the embarrassment of embarking on another frivolity while the country goes to hell in hands basket of abject want, need, insecurity, lack of power, good roads and general poverty. Now help us figure out these mind-numbing budgetary allocations under:-
1. An independent anniversary logo at a cost of 30million Naira?
2. Designing and hosting Nigeria@50 website - 6 million Naira for two years? Icheoku says website hosting does not cost that much as Google blogger hosts same for free, Yahoo hosts for about $12 dollars per year and Godaddy.com hosts for less than $15 dollars per year? So what and where is about $48,000 going to be spent?
3. Anniversary parade, including march past, fleet review, aerial display - 950 million Naira.
4. Independence anniversary celebration parties in Nigerian missions abroad - 600 million Naira?
5. Children's independence anniversary party for 1000 children at 20,000 Naira each child - 20 million Naira?
6. Replacement of carpets at the International Conference Centre with anniversary color-coded carpets - 100 million Naira? And the madness goes on and on.
Icheoku says the only plausible explanation for this craziness is that President Jonathan Goodluck is using this opportunity to feather his nest and fill his tiller for his much anticipated 2011 presidential run against Babangida. Faced with the stark reality of Babangida's over 400 billion naira war chest, President Jonathan reasoned that he might as well start now to fill up his piggy-bank; and which other better place to start than the anomalous Nigeria 50th independence anniversary celebration. And it does not matter to this President Jonathan that Nigeria has nothing to show for its 50 years of existence and therefore nothing worthy of celebration?
Icheoku calls on the national assembly (senate) to please come to the aid of Nigerians and overrule this budget of stupidity; or at most slash it to a barest minimum of just 1billion Naira. At times like this, Nigerians recall nostalgically the late president Umaru Yar'Adua, who once faced with similar wantoness in disguise of a party's convention, drastically cut the proposed PDP national convention budget from the high billions to mere 400 million Naira; yet it was successfully hosted. But Jonathan, company man, only knows how to kow-tow in order to belong and be allowed to preside. What a spineless son of the Niger Delta, found at the helmof power could not muscle his way through and overule such wasteful exercise as this impending celebration.
It is quite unfortunate that this subject is even being discussed in view of the total want and decay in the country. Where is SNG, NLC, NBA, CAN and other pressure groups in Nigeria on this drunken sailor's spending spree that they should allow President Goodluck Joanthan to siphon Nigeria's scarce resource in such very unpatriotic manner. Better still, if Nigeria is to celebrate, why not task the corporate world to fund it. It also does not matter that the budget was cut down from 16billion to 10 billion; since the most appropriate budget for a Nigeria on a sick bed should not be more than 1 billion Naira and at best, about 500 million Naira.
President Goodluck Jonathan, please call off this madness that is 10 billion Niara Nigeria's independence anniversary celebration! It is uncalled for, unnecessary, ill-advised, wasteful, purposeless, pointless, unproductive and prohibitively exorbitant; but should you proceed anyway and waste this money, you might as well forget whatever plans you may have or is nursing for 2011, as Nigerians will use the opportunity to remind you of this thoughtless wastage of state's funds; and use it to showcase your penchant for frivolity and wastefulness. Icheoku asks Nigerians to say 'NO TO THE 10 BILLION NAIRA NIGERIA'S INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AS THERE IS NOTHING TO CELEBRATE AND THE COST IS UNREASONABLY PROHIBITIVE!'
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Christy 'Apena' Essien-Igbokwe , the wife of Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade and Nigeria's lady of songs is dead; she was 51years old. Although her family claimed that "brief Illness" killed her like so many Nigerians; Icheoku retorts that it was most likely AKwa Ibom voodoo and remote control that was used to arrest her. It is on record that she had fallen out with the governor of her native Akwa Ibiom State and have been having a relentless war for political turf with the governor? So who knows whether she was sacrificed to Ekpe cult or even Alusi-Okija as an offal; afterall African science is still very much alive and portent. May her soul rest in peace.
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