WHAT MANNER OF MEN ARE THESE? (2)

"I have read and re-read these reactions and as I stated in the first part of this serial, I am still wondering what manner of men are these? You would have thought that the starting point of any meaningful rebuttal to the call by Action Congress of Nigeria for impeachment proceedings to commence against the president, was a clear, unequivocal and believable declaration that President Jonathan did not“complain” to the CEO of the contracting firm."

I was saying that the direction the nation of Nigeria is headed is worrisome. And that the moral and spiritual condition of the men wielding positions of leadership and influence is the culprit. The in your face way which Olusegun Obasanjo, sought to rewrite very recent history concerning his ill-fated attempt at life presidency is already well known. Yet this man was a military general who had the privilege of ruling the Nigeria for about 12 of our 52 years as an independent geo-political entity.

Then there is the matter of President Goodluck Jonathan’s statement that a 2,500 seater church auditorium, built or renovated or both in his home village, Otuoke, by an Italian construction company doing business with government was done as result of his “complaint” to the managing director of the firm about the state of the structure. Till date undenied, to my knowledge, the fall out of that statement has once again revealed the calibre of people leading us, and most certainly the direction they are seeking to lead us.(CONTINUES BELOW)

We read the reaction of the Presidency itself and that of the construction company, Gitto Costruzioni Generali Nigeria Limited, last time. As I promised then here are some of the other noteworthy reactions:

Olisah Metuh (PDP National Publicity Secretary): “The strength of any viable democracy lies in the mettle of a credible opposition. The PDP welcomes this. However, where the opposition is irresponsibly engrossed in making a mountain out of a mole hill and ceaselessly creating an imaginary tiger in the neighbourhood, it leaves no one in doubt that it is committed to a hidden agenda that neither benefits the nation nor ennobles the people.

“Let’s therefore ask the ACN; ‘quo agendum?’ – whither your agenda?” Is it to destabilise the Federal Government and hasten the quest for a divided country? Is it to gain what the opposition in their collective whole failed to achieve in April 2011 presidential election? Or still, is it a vengeance for the inability of the opposition to win successive five governorship elections, the nullification of some of which were achieved via judgements with questionable trends?” …The the donation of a church building to a community fell under corporate responsibility and did not benefit the President in any way…”

Primate Nicholas Okoh, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion): “The call by the opposition party is not only satanic and barbaric, but equally ungodly as it was a direct attack on Christianity in the country…capable of causing further religious implosion in the country already bugged down by problems that bothered on security… anybody who intentionally kicks against the construction of church building in any part of the country under any guise should have his brains re-examined...” (In Enugu, through Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma Anglican Bishop of Enugu and Chairman of the South east zone of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

“It is not an issue, that church, I can renovate it myself, it was already built and the renovation of church can be done by either Gitto or anybody; people are looking for problem where there is none. The President doesn’t have to have a friend to renovate that church, since if anybody volunteered to do it, those people will receive blessing from God. Those who are pointing to the renovation of the church, let them search their midst, there are logs in their eyes, not the speck in somebody’s eye ”(speaking in Abuja).

Mr Konbowei Benson Friday, Speaker Bayelsa State House of Assembly: “…It is an insult to the Ijaw nation for the ACN to say President Jonathan should be impeached because a company rehabilitated a church in his village…ACN members who are Ijaws should take time to educate their national leaders on this issue.  ACN leaders should not mix politics with religion. It will create a very bad impression about their party around here, especially given the fact that the national leaders of that party and four of its five governors are Muslims. The members should also tell their leaders that Ijaw value their spirituality and also would not take insults from outsiders who like to make value judgements about others.

“We know that corporate businesses, including banks, rehabilitate roads in Lagos as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. Will it be fair to call for the impeachment of the governor of that state simply because his government does business with the banks? We know companies in the South-West are more alive to their responsibilities because of the active media there. Whatever is sauce for the Lagos goose should be sauce for the Bayelsa gander.

“ACN, with its roots in the South-West should reflect on the importance the Yorubas attach to their cultural and religious development. For anyone to say Otueke people do not deserve anything from a company that has benefitted from the locality which is Bayelsa State is rather unfortunate. For the ACN to say we do not deserve this church is for it to say we should be spiritually barren. It means those saying this do not think well of us.

“Here in the Niger Delta, our grouse is that companies don’t show enough concerns to their host communities by way of CSR. These companies don’t give back to the communities from where they get jobs by way of projects. So, when we see a company like Gitto seeing to the spiritual development of Otueke people by renovating their church, we are happy with that company…” (through his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Piriye Kiyaramo).

I have read and re-read these reactions and as I stated in the first part of this serial, I am still wondering what manner of men are these? You would have thought that the starting point of any meaningful rebuttal to the call by Action Congress of Nigeria for impeachment proceedings to commence against the president, was a clear, unequivocal and believable declaration that President Jonathan did not “complain” to the CEO of the contracting firm. That is yet to happen! It is therefore to be accepted that it did happen. Next is what weight to attach to any such complaint, constitutionally and, because it’s a church building and a notable church leader has rallied to the President’s side, scripturally. I shall attempt this, with emphasis on the latter next week. (TO BE CONCLUDED)