ONUMBA.COM – Ah. “Birds of the same feather” flock to defend each other.
Apparently, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is mad. Hopping mad. In his ‘holier than thou’ view, he feels that impertinent treatment is being meted out to ousted Hosni Mubarak by the mean-spirited Egyptian authority now prosecuting him for epic shenanigans and abuse of power.
From Kenya, where he was attending a clambake with his fellow feckless African leaders, Obasanjo expressed the high-minded view that Egypt is transgressing for not showing disgraced Mubarak the ilk of respect befitting a former leader. He loathed the 82-year-old Mubarak being wheeled into court in a cage and derided it as an infradig. Accord him the “personal dignity” “befitting his status,” he demanded. Worked up about this, he kvetched and fervidly assailed the conduct of the Egyptian authority as unbecoming and worried about this not being “good for the image of Africa.”
Isn’t that comical? All that keelhaul, coming from a military-civilian hybrid with a pugnacious demeanor, whose glib acrobatic moves to cling on to power beyond his lawful duration blew up on his face and vividly exposed his power-gluttony and self-serving nature. He and Mubarak probably swapped playbooks and his ranting caterwaul is claptrap and a mighty-bloody joke.
Of course, Obasanjo is entitled to his sanctimonious opinion when he said that this is not good for Africa’s image. But he is certainly not entitled to having his remarks go unchecked. Obasanjo, if I may helpfully point out, still stokes tantrum in riled Nigerians who are still convinced he got away with his own catalogue of shady indulgencies while in office. Some are still rabidly demanding investigation of his regime, though there’s very little chance of that happening since no one has the balls to go after him.
What Obasanjo failed to mention in his irrational and unhinged harangue in Kenya was the ugsome truth about the factors really responsible for besmirching Africa’s image. He should look elsewhere for why the global view of the continent is skuzzy, crummy, depressing and shameful. The treatment that Mubarak is receiving is not it. Perhaps, the pestiferous corruption, grand mismanagement by bumbling leaders and systemic ethics morass in Africa are the undeniable culprits. They are the bunyanesque albatross ravaging hopes, bedeviling and dragging down the continent. The opprobrious and pervasive culture of marauding and siphoning Africa’s exiguous financial resources into foreign bank accounts by greed-infested African governments, led by mindless byzantine charlatans do more to bedaub Africa’s image than anything else. And then there are the vicious bloodcurdling conflicts wreaking havoc on folks and battering societies. Jaw-dropping footage clips of morbidly skeletal-starving children of Somalia dangle as an emblem of infamy staining Africa’s image.
The furious revolt that doomed Mubarak’s monstrous 30-year long dynasty was past due. Just look at his appalling record. He rained vicious tyranny on the Egyptian plebes while presiding over a regime involved in a smorgasbord of crimes. He is now facing a plethora of charges, some for pilfering billions of dollars from the people’s till, having ruled Egypt as his personal fiefdom. Media reports variously peg his obscene worth at between “$40 and 70 billion,” safely stashed in Archipelago of foreign banks.
But Mubarak is not alone. That kind of notorious canker and perfected thievery is incorrigible in virtually all African countries where you have thriving corruption factories manned by effete Kleptomaniacs and parasitic jackasses. Yet, you wonder out loud why these wretched countries are mud-stuck in deepening torment and apocalyptic squalor. African governments are globally known more for pittance than advancement, more for brutal conflicts that innovation, and more for a culture of untamed hedonism than pride in self-reliance. All of that clearly sums up to a “bad image” for a floundering continent that has become a global laughingstock wallowing in multilayered social malady and economic mess.
But it also adds up to why Obasanjo’s audacious demand for “dignified” treatment for Mubarak is utterly misplaced. And the suggestion that he is not being treated courteously is a profound departure from basic candor. How much more respect can the Egyptian authority show him that he is not currently enjoying? Mubarak is not in a Gulag receiving shabby treatment. He is facing justice for his crimes, for crying out loud. It is not supposed to be a leisure walk through a flowery park with canorous songs from crooning birds. But if somehow, a gold-trimmed Jacuzzi and a plush Benz to ferry him back-and-forth to his trial is what Obasanjo has in mind, then that’s a quixotic wish.
Stick with me guys as we meticulously examine the treatment that Mubarak is receiving and wrap this up. He is enjoying a VIP treatment for his array of illnesses. He is being well fed when he is not on hunger strike. And since his ouster, they have sheltered him in a cozy country-side hideout. Anyone else would have been dumped in a tartarus calaboose. Taken together, Mubarak is being accorded far more succor than the innocent and defenseless pro-democracy minions brutally mowed down by his camorra of butchers on his ukase.
What’s more, he is receiving far more respect that the Egyptian rank and file he robbed of a better future. For his museum of atrocities as the leader of power-grabbing and looting corruptocrats that studded his vicious tyranny, Mubarak certainly deserves all that is being hurled his way. Yep, ‘facingthemusic bologna’ is a sandwich better served cold. I’m just glad that justice for brutally shady politicians in Egypt is not as mushy and laughable as it is in Nigeria.
My advice for Obasanjo is to go back to his Ota Farms and butt out of it.
Mgbatogu is a freelance writer and editor of Onumba.com based in Columbus. He can be reached by email at: Onumbamedia@yahoo.com
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