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On the afternoon of the 9th of October 2012 in Pakistan, a bus conveying school children was stopped by the Taliban. One girl stood up to speak for education and what is right. She was shot three times. That girl survived to tell her story. That little “David” called Malala Yousafzai won the Nobel peace prize and silenced the Goliath Taliban.
This however, is not a tale of brave little Davids, but of the Goliaths who make them. Who, with overwhelming resources challenge the little guys – little guys on the side of right – only to fail and come tumbling down with a crash. It is a call for the so called big men to respect themselves, leave the poor masses alone and avoid embarrassment.
At a time when all hands are on deck to save the soul of the economy, dwindling revenue, unpassed PIB, and a shaky Senate leadership. When there are one thousand and one pertinent issues to be discussed about our national life, this is the time a serving senator of the Nigerian state chose to descend heavily on a poor fellow just because of a Facebook post. How did we descend so low?
Recently, Yusuf Usman, a young political activist, youth mobilizer and Bauchi state Coordinator of the APC Canvassers Movement, was trailed, hounded, arrested, brutalised and thrown into prison by “orders from Abuja”, due to the fact that he expressed his opinions on a Facebook group he organised for politically conscious youths. Senator Ali Wakili representing Bauchi South did this because the young Yusuf made a post on Facebook saying his organisation HAS NO CONFIDENCE in the leadership of the senator. One wonders why the distinguished Senator is so jittery if there is no iota of truth in the said post. If he is totally innocent and confident of his representation, why not be the bigger man and ignore? His actions are totally unacceptable in a democracy.
There is Freedom of Speech in Nigeria, as unanimously affirmed by the collective rejection of the Social Media bill the likes of Sen. Wakili tried to foist on us. Our citizens have a right to gather virtually and in real time. We have the right to express our opinions online and offline. What is Wakili afraid of that he wants to gag Nigerians from using facebook? “Dealing with the boy” is an elitist oppressive mentality that must not only be condemned but stopped. We should be able to agree and disagree without being disagreeable or abusing powers and privileges.
The Senator will not feign innocence of verbally attacking others, and has taken numerous swipes at his State Governor. Has he then been arrested, hounded and persecuted? The Senator can really borrow a leaf from the Governor; who welcomes constructive criticisms, respond to critical ones and ignores the irrelevant. As a true gentleman, his Governor knows how to sieve the real issues from a critic and let the residual insult roll off without taking offence. Gov. Abubakar knows the importance of FREEDOM OF SPEECH, supports and defends it. Mr Senator should really go home and ask the Governor how he handles it all with panache. He will surely learn a thing or two from the same person he has always criticized.
It is public knowledge that Senator Wakili supported the controversial manner that brought in the current leadership of the Senate, and a staunch supporter of Bukola Saraki. Yet, the presidency has never for once attempted to attack his person, despite the friction existent in both camps. The Senator’s recent show of sharing of “gifts” consisting of cars, tricycles, and motorcycles, to local politicians, who in his words deserve it “because we suffered together during campaign”, warrants criticism. We have moved away from the politics of material compensation. There is economic austerity and our common wealth is at stake.
The recent publication by BudgIT tracking Constituency projects is so revealing; where the number of projects not done outnumbers the combination of those that were done and ongoing. Holding public office makes you accountable to the people. They cannot sit idly and watch things go bad. They have a right to talk and complain, just like they have the rights to vote and recall.
Nigerians now know that in addition to the President and Governors, members of the National Assembly also need close monitoring. The era of free money is gone. Sen. Wakili should understand that he is a public officer answerable not only to his constituency or indigenes of Bauchi state, but to every Nigerian, period! If he cannot take it, he knows the honourable thing to do.
This gung-ho action against the young lad, is an abuse of office. Ratings of our senators has nose-dived due to leadership and ethical scandals, the last thing Sen. Wakili needs is this type of fight. He must learn to be tolerant. He may feel he has all the resources and the odds are stacked in his favour, but when the voice of the people prevails; he will have no option but to fall – like every Goliath does.
Need one remind him, that President Buhari and Governor Abubakar have been criticized frequently; yet these two men who the Senator can relate to, continue to move forward, working to bring about progress; and no one have been arrested for it.
Senator Wakili should do the needful about the Yusuf case before it escalates, but again, most boastful Goliaths do not listen. As they say; Giants do fall, the bigger they are, the harder they hit the ground. We just might have a new David in the making.
