Lol the last has not been had about Pastor Ayo Oristejafor's private jet involved in the Arms deal in South Africa, yesterday as a response to the criticism by El Rufai, the Christian Association of Nigeria, came out with a statement accusing Mallam El rufai. El Rufai has replied them and threw in some jab also.
Muyiwa Adekeye.
When light unexpectedly shines on
murkiness, those exposed by the stinging
rays often berate the light rather than
regret the muck. That is the plight of Ayo
Oritsejafor whose private jet was identified
as the vessel impounded by the South
African authorities for ferrying $9.3m cash
into their country. A statement from Eagle
Air admitted Oritsejafor's interests in the
aircraft, but said it leased the plane to
Green Coast which in turn acknowledged
hiring the plane out for the trip to South
Africa.
Unable to shake off his connection to the
plane, Oritsejafor has resorted to abuse and
vilification. Were he more reflective, he
would be pondering how, of all the private
jets available in Nigeria, it was his that
came to be involved in a covert arms
purchase scandal. Would he have managed
any objectivity if the plane involved
happened to belong to a prominent person
of another faith or political persuasion?
Since abuse is not argument and is
incapable of displacing fact, Oritsejafor
may care to answer if the jet involved in
the scandal is the same one that was
"donated" to him in 2012? Did he register it
as a commercial aircraft or is the plane
illegally moonlighting as one? Has he ever
reflected on the impropriety of mixing his
religious role with politics? Having strayed
into politics, and an irresponsible variant at
that, can he expect the veneration enjoyed
by his predecessors such as Cardinals
Olubunmi Okogie and John Onaiyekan?
Why is he the first CAN leader to provoke
pitiful mirth and amusement when he is
not being derided as a tragedy, a sort of
Ichabod, desperate to separate glory from
a revered body? Amidst his jitters,
Oritsejafor must look beyond the bling to
ask himself if it was any of the individuals
he abused yesterday that asked him to
make his aircraft available for monkey
business, or get himself involved in the
politics of division.
It is pertinent that we invite the Federal
Government to reflect on its role in this
episode. Our country needs to bolster its
military and security forces with the
material resources they need to defeat
insurgency and restore security to every
inch of its territory. This would require
arms imports. But should Nigeria violate
the arms export regulation of other
countries in this endeavour? Should the FG
recklessly impair and jeopardise diplomatic
relations by conducting covert arms
purchases in friendly countries without the
consent of their governments? Such
conduct invariably leads to suspicions that
such covert arms procurement may not be
for purposes of national security.
This instance of arms procurement outside
official channels amidst an escalating
insurgency must concern every patriot. In
his House of Commons statement last
week, Mallam El Rufai had alluded to the
clear implications of the likely link between
governmental murkiness and the escalation
in the insurgency. The government has long
tried to explain away its incompetence in
upholding security by blaming insurgency
on the major opposition party. But it is
becoming increasingly clear to many that
this insurgency is benefitting the ruling
party and the incumbent president by
providing them a pretext to postpone
elections and, at the minimum,
disenfranchise large swathes of the
population that have never supported the
PDP or voted for Jonathan.
Mallam Nasir El Rufai urges every Nigerian
to vigilance in these troubled times. The
tragedy of mindless terror should not be
allowed to become an endless catastrophe
because of narrow political calculations.
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