Let’s think seriously about this; what does David Cameron tell his children across their kitchen table, about Nigerians and Africans in general. It matters because we need to understand what these ‘friends’ of ours, who have claimed to be ‘assisting’ us, really think about us. We live in an age where the unfortunate majority are being taught, and intimidated, to stop thinking. When we question the motives of these ‘friends of Africa’, we are called ‘conspiracy theorists’, but thanks to the cameraman who managed to capture Cameron derogatorily telling the Queen of England that they were expecting some ‘fantastically corrupt’ countries like Nigeria and Afghanistan in his so-called ‘ant-corruption’ summit about three weeks ago, now we know that the leader of Britain is another closet racist, getting his kick by condescending on people he thinks are lower than him.
I have lived among the British and as a fast learner, I understand them better than most. Many of their jokes are missing on an average Nigerians; and so are their insults. The Brits are the masters of understatement. ‘Fantastically corrupt’ in front of the Queen of England, is equivalent to ‘hopelessly corrupt, uselessly dumb, irretrievably stupid, a bunch of monkeys jumping from tree to tree without a clue of what they want to achieve and what is going on in the world’. Pick your choice. It is not about whether ‘he is saying the truth’ or not. If he said that in a different setting it would be different. That it was said while he finalized plans to receive the leaders of these ‘fantastically corrupt’ countries has even more significance. It shows that the summit was not meant to achieve anything lasting and is another waste of precious time. The speaker of the House of Commons who was with the team also asked if those countries are coming to the summit at no expense to Britain, to which Cameron affirmed. The Brits don’t care. But so also does every other country on earth. Everyone for himself. Nigeria is perhaps the only country going around the world embarrassing itself by begging everyone for alms. As Nigeria’s Federal Government goes a-scouting for loans and ‘foreign investment’, all its state governors also scurry around like rats – while wasting resources at home. What a pity.
If it is any consolation, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Church worldwide, was also at the cocktail party at which Cameron drunkenly revealed his heartfelt thoughts about Nigeria – and perhaps every other ‘commonwealth’ nation that his ancestors gracefully colonized. The graceful Archbishop chipped in that our current president is not corrupt and is trying his best. The wise old Queen of England did not also toe Cameron’s line, but seemed happy that Nigeria was alleged to be doing something about its situation.
President Buhari’s estimation of Nigerians by now is not unknown to most Nigerians. He had received some criticisms in the earlier part of his presidency for going around the world and ‘putting Nigerians down’. His critics were angry that everywhere he went he was telling foreigners how his people were corrupt and how he alone had come to right the wrongs. Earlier on in a visit to the UK, he said that because of the criminality of some Nigerians, no country was ready to receive them with warm embraces, or something to that effect. I personally, don’t agree with his approach. Neither the ‘truth’ that Cameron said, nor our president’s earlier truths – including his corroboration of Cameron’s ‘fantastically corrupt’ allegation against Nigeria, gladdens my heart. In short, we should be careful how much of our dignity we concede to these people who are solely interested in how much more money their country can make off less developed countries like ours, and how many of their friends can feed on the blood and tears of Africans. Some of these Cameron-types are totally heartless and must be called out for whom they are.
That Cameron, there must be something seriously wrong with him of late. He equally made racist comments against the new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, while Sadiq was contesting. Something to the effect that Sadiq was a terrorist or will encourage terrorism if he became Mayor. No self-respecting person should align his opinions with that of David Cameron these days. He has become a disgrace to himself, to the UK, and to leadership at that level. I therefore found Baba Buhari’s idea of ‘demanding for the money’ a bit shortsighted. Some things are more important than money; like dignity and respect. And love. In one of their sessions, President Buhari said he will not demand for an apology but will ask for the monies stolen by the likes of Late Alamieyeseigha which the British are sitting on – the cunning lot they are. I believe what the president says in the open matters a lot. A minister of Nigeria can drag Britain into the gutters about unreturned loot, but that should not be the plank for engagement for the president. If I know the Brits, they will do their best never to return any money to Nigeria, and if they do, maybe a tiny fraction. I also found it odd that our president tried to make a joke out of Alamieyeseigha’s alleged disguise out of London as a woman, while asking for his loot to be returned.
There are two critical things to note about this matter of who is corrupt and who is not. First is the way this corruption tag is used to stigmatize countries and how corruption figures are often ballooned out of proportion to make countries look worse than they are. At heart, we are all the same. The average Westerner loves a good story that puts other people down and makes him look better. We are all emotional. And so, whereas some African leaders are trying to make a dent on the corruption issue, they should note that some of the countries they kowtow to, are worse than us. In fact we should never play into their hands. African leaders who are friends of the West, have been destroyed in the past with allegations of corruption spun in the media, the moment they want to start thinking for their people. The Brits could have done a lot more to damage the Zimbabwean economy if Mugabe had been one of those leaders who love the high life. Mobutu, when he tried to change and do something good for his people, was shocked at how much his western friends hung on his neck.
We may pursue our lost monies, but we should never accede to sensationalism from these people. We heard the other time that Diezani had tried to buy Hyde Park. For anyone who knows London, that information should be seen for what it is; a sick joke by sick racists. But we bought it hook, line and sinker. Many of the trolls who go around spreading these corruption news and sensationalizing the space are people who would have done worse if they had the chance. Some of them even benefited some from the largesse. Before the Hyde Park purchase bid, we had been fed with the ‘news’ that $700 million cash was found in Diezani’s bedroom in Abuja. $300 million was allegedly found in Labaran Maku’s water tanker. These stories were supported by the government of the day, much to my dismay. They intended to paint their predecessors in the worst of lights and managed to achieve that with most Nigerians. The Jonathan regime was bad alright, but there is no need to embellish their badness with deception. More next week.
