REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: BITTING THE FINGER THAT FED HER

The World Press, electronic, social and hard copy are replete with news of the $9.3 million seized by authorities of the Republic of South Africa from a private jet flown by two Nigerians and an Israeli for breaching the South African law on cash movements in foreign currency into the country.

Photo Credit: Daily Trust

Before the dust could die down on this one, the case of another $5.7 million dollars being transacted through a bank in South Africa was also seized by the same authorities of the Republic of South Africa and this regardless of the fact that this was being processed through the bank.

Nigerian authorities have represented to the South African government that both funds were meant for officially authorized desperately needed intelligence and military hardware for combat with internal opposition insurgency forces that have killed and maimed over ten thousand Nigerians in a short period of three years of fighting and bombing.

Much as I fault and would state without equivocation, the raw cash deal in the magnitude of the money involved in foreign currency and for flying in such money into the Republic of South Africa without obtaining the highest level of clearance from President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, I am constrained to imagine that Nigerian authorities having offered explanations and owned up to the movement of the said money, only a conspiracy in which the Republic of South Africa is party to would make the South African authorities intransigent on this matter to this day.

My expectation is that if President Jacob Zuma was not previously informed (the Nigerian government should have done this at the highest level regardless of the desperation), after learning from the Nigerian government officials of the legal nature of the transaction – being officially authorized, President Jacob Zuma should have called his authorities in and asked them to allow the Nigerians either have their money back or authorize the arms deal.

If the Nigerian government said the movement of the cash is authorized, it should be taken as such.  Any further query of it is tantamount to poking finger into the eye of the government of Nigeria.  My people have a proverb that says that “if you see your chicken attacked by a fox, you first drive the fox before cautioning the chicken”.  This is what South Africa should be doing in this case. Nigeria is fighting a way with an Islamic terrorist organization for crying out loud.

Those of us with reasonable experience in government business know that if you expose the whole methods used in running some families in Nigeria, South Africa and the world over, the stench and smell would lead some children to kill off their parents.  When it comes to government business extraneous steps are constantly taken to keep control over the reign of law and order.  Governance is not a religious institution.  Even most religious organizations today go about their businesses in a most heinous and diabolical way.

CONSPIRACY THEORIES

The first conspiracy theory that is emerging is the United States Connection.  Some years ago, the United States of America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) predicted that Nigeria would disintegrate in 2015.  Three years ago, Boko Haram changed their tactics and have now become a full-fledged terrorist organization at war with the Nigerian nation.  It appears the US authorities were originally sure Boko Haram would achieve their prediction sooner than later and may have been frustrated with the slow pace, hence the Chibok girls abduction story was created.  As soon as it hit the airwaves, the US hurried into Nigeria to help.  Some weeks down the line, the US found no girls, found no location where any girls were stashed away and they beat a tactical withdrawal without saying a word again.  Britain, China and Australia who announced massive support to help fight Boko Haram and to get the abducted girls back all quietly vanished into thin air.  Why? What happened? No one knows to date.

Before this time, the hands of the United States were forced to even declare Boko Haram a foreign terrorist organization.

Now at the emergence of this raw dollar cash arms deal that went awry with the Republic of South African intransigence, reports are emerging that the United States which was busy some months ago mouthing its support for Nigeria to fight against the Islamic terrorist insurgency is involved in the deliberate frustration of Nigeria’s efforts to obtain needed military and intelligence hardware.  There are a couple of YouTube videos accusing the United States of being the author of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

The second conspiracy theory is one that suggests that All Progressive Congress (APC) may be involved in an effort to have President Goodluck Jonathan fail in the war against Boko Haram Islamic terrorists’ insurgency.  As the embarrassment and effrontery from South Africa is raging, the APC have gone mad with condemnation of Jonathan and his administration - the APC has not offered Nigerians any agenda beyond the abuse and criticism of President Jonathan.  While this national challenge and frustration from South Africa in the fight against Boko Haram is raging, who flew to South Africa and hobnobbed with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa but Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu who are frontrunners for APC presidential ticket for 2015.  They posed in happy photographs with the President of a country that is probably working with the USA Government to frustrate Nigeria’s effort to obtain needed arms and other military and intelligence hardware required to prosecute the war against Boko Haram.  What I read from the happy faces of Alhaji Atiku Abukakar and Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu is that Jacob Zuma has agreed to frustrate Nigeria’s effort to get needed military hardware to prosecute a war by withholding the money and sharing it with the APC so that APC would use their share to buy votes in the 2015 Presidential Election.  Dear reader, you are at liberty to read it any other way.  You are perfectly entitled to your opinion as I believe I am entitled to mine.

The other angle one can look at the whole case is to remember that President Jacob Zuma has nearly bankrupted South Africa using scarce resources to maintain numerous wives and concubines and recouping the huge amounts he spent arming ANC youths to get him to power.  The juicy amount of $15 million from the unappreciated bigger brother Nigeria which her hapless officials are throwing around would certainly help ease the noose around his neck.

Jacob Zuma and some of his wives

Google Images

I am intrigued, however, every time to see or hear Nigerian officials who are superlative in foreign engagements turn into imbeciles when saddled with public office in Nigeria.  Our soldiers, police, public office holders and politicians shine like stars in the international sphere even when working side by side or competing with the best from the Caucasian race.  Yet, each time, while in public office, they fell under the spell of corruption and would steal from themselves, shoot themselves on the toe and fail woefully in ordinary protocol management in international relations and governance when it comes to the corporate interest of Nigeria.  Or how do you explain walking into another man’s country on a secret mission as serious as procuring military and security operations hardware with raw cash without first ensuring that the highest authorities of the land were involved in the deal secretly?

Nigeria’s Consul General in South Africa is reported to say that the people coming to do the deal did not know that they should have declared they money they are carrying.  Who does not know that you ought to declare any amount in excess of $10,000 if you wish to leave Nigeria with such amount?  All countries have their limits for both inflow and outflow.  How could we send people who do not know common protocol on assigns of this magnitude?

The third conspiracy is that Nigeria is a giant everybody would like to bring down.  The truth is that if Nigeria gets it right, all the acclaimed greatness of United States of Nigeria, China, Britain, France, Russia etc would become child’s play.  Nigeria has got resources to make out of Nigeria the greatest nation on earth and a ruler over the black nations of the world. 

On their own, Nigerian rulers come rudderless and remain in that cacophony until they leave office.  There are strong suspicions among some of us that the Western world have a written script of how Nigeria should go and they have devised ways to ensure that no leader with nationalistic tendency ever sees the seat of power in Nigeria and if anyone dares one of two things must happen to him or her – he or she is either converted to imbecility, foolishness and corruption or such a person is prevented from reaching the arena of power.

The other day even Robert Mugabe who have single handedly stolen all the wealth of Zimbabwe and ruined his country to the extent that their currency the Zimbabwe Dollar has become ‘shit-paper’ has a mouth to accuse Nigeria of corruption.  This is regardless of the fact that Robert Mugabe rode to power on the money, influence and sacrifice of Nigeria.

African rulers rule the way they do because they have very short memory.  This is probably the aftermath of a heart and mind clouded by corruption and the tendency to just steal from the people they rule.  Otherwise, how could Robert Mugabe and now Jacob Zuma have forgotten so soon how they came about power and the sacrifices that Nigeria made to get them to where they are?  Unless they would say that the people in power when they got help from Nigeria were more related to boko haram than the people in power today in Nigeria, hence the current behavior of South Africa. 

What Nigeria did for Zimbabwe and South Africa if done by the United States, Britain, China, Russia, France, Spain, etc., the Zimbabweans and South Africans would still be paying for it till today in cash and natural resources mortgage.

If it is true that Nigerian government sent out these people to procure emergency armament, I strongly recommend that President Goodluck Jonathan, if he has not done so, calls President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and request him in clear terms to get his officials out of the way and facilitate the arms deal. I recommend that if President Jonathan had previously approached President Jacob Zuma on this matter or does so now, President Zuma should in both personal and general interest personally see that the arms deal goes through.  This level of contact is necessary since the carrying of such raw cash violates not just Nigeria’s cashless policy but also actually violates the South African cash policy from other countries.

Personally, I see anyone who either knowingly or unknowingly stands between us and the prosecution of the war against boko Haram as part and parcel of the enemies of Nigeria of which Boko Haram is one of those who have publicly declared their enmity with the Nigerian nation.