Time to take on hostage takers

By Aliyu Musa

In the run-up to the 2015 elections Nigerians craved for change, courageously chanted change and charged at those who had taken their country hostage, sending them to what seemed their political gallows. But die-hards die hard, so those abductors have since resuscitated themselves and sprung back to life and are now ferociously unleashing maximum mayhem.

Not that we were unaware not all those that chorused the change jingle meant it deep down. For many we knew joining the bandwagon was merely a tool of convenience. So the actions of these die-hards hardly surprise us. But what even surprises us immensely is our capacity to tolerate the characters that have held our collective resolve by its genitals, turned our advance on its head and threaten to truncate our entire journey if we fail to pull the trigger first.


No doubt we allowed all manner of ‘democrats’ to hitch a ride on our back. But now that we have arrived home is the time to expel the moles in our midst.

Change is change; it’s not known by any other name. It’s not partial and, therefore, it’s either change or no change. So, those camouflaging in our change garments to torment our commonwealth and mock our psyche must know they have stepped beyond the red lines and earned our anger.

Nowhere in the world is a wasteful Parliament, unfortunately like our National Assembly, tolerated like this. In four years they made no laws because to them it did not matter. But to save one of their own from the hangman’s noose and to make themselves retrospectively and potentially above the law, they mastered the art of making laws and were almost remoulding two laws in less than two days before karma caught up with them.

These lawmakers (actually law un-makers) don’t cease to amaze one. We remember many of them for their role, back then as state governors or ministers, in staunchly opposing the national minimum wage of N18000 (less than US$100) per month on the silly excuse that there was no money. Yet they see nothing wrong with yanking millions of Naira off a prostrate economy to fund their unquenchable addiction for exotic cars. What would anyone be doing with a car that cost taxpayers N35 million at this time of economic meltdown? But at this impracticable price they bought 36 exotic cars, in spite of the sufferings of Nigerians. Shame!

These men have undeniably stepped well beyond the bounds of reason and must be pulled back and forced to begin to think like rational beings. But who is going to do that? Is it the President whose first budget they tore to shreds or you and I, a spited and cowed lot? If they knew we would poke back a finger in their eyes as they did us they probably would have a rethink. But they know us too well and judge us just right; we would grumble and grumble less and even less until the grumbles fade into the horizon and all is forgotten as if it never happened.

And because they knew they would get away with buying those hugely overpriced cars they also began to believe they could do worse things without any repercussions. And their next move has been a bigger tragedy!


Subjecting the President’s 2016 budget to ‘surgical’ torture amounts to a war declaration on Nigerians. Simple. And a war declaration on Nigerians by people who have benefitted enormously from their generosity is callously reckless, senseless and self-destruct. How would anyone replace a project as important as railway construction with some silly (and ambiguous) constituency project (allowance) for which a Senator gets billions of Naira on which he renders no account? This is corruption barefacedly daring Nigerians and Nigerians must fight back.

Nigerians need to realise that the battle line has long been drawn between those who genuinely want change and those who definitely don’t and are doing everything to stifle it. And, unfortunately, those resisting change are unmistakably having an upper hand. They have hijacked our change and are holding it (and us all) hostage. And unless we give them a hot chase and subdue them and rescue our change it would be history and history won’t be kind to us.

We fought very hard for this change and letting a handful of moles reverse our success is no option. So, to save our change we must take on the hostage takers and turn the heat on them. Now is the time or it shall be too late.