Once upon a time, Nigerians were told that the nation could not have effective and regular power supply because some giant snakes were eating up electric cables in Kainji Dam Power Station. This time around, Nigerians have been told that rodents ate up vital facilities in the office of the President. That is why the President would have to work from his residence rather than the Aso Rock office. Management of public affairs would definitely not suffer or fail because of the activities of snakes and rodents.
One clear evidence of failure in any management process is the use of excuses to rationalise or justify avoidable lapses. It is a common saying that a problem clearly identified is a problem already solved half-way. Can we say that the giant snakes which made power supply in Nigeria difficult many years ago, are still around and doing havoc to electrical facilities? We have snake charmers in the country as well as those who hunt and eat snakes, but they were not given any contract to do what they know best.
The menace of rodents has been addressed by creative and enterprising Nigerians with an effective brand of rodent-killer called “Otapia-pia”, as well as “kill-and-dry” poison and rat-gum. Managers of Aso-Rock and the office of the President would do well to hire the services of Nigerians who can eliminate the menace of executive rodents that are not afraid to invade the office of the country’s President.
The worry which well-meaning Nigerians have with managers of the affairs of the nation is not that there are lapses and issues to complain about here and there. Rather, the sad observation is the frequent resort to excuses and mendacity when national issues of serious nature which demand forthright honesty arise. Handlers of such issues often appear to be either overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems thrown up, or, deliberately resort to clever mendacity or cover-ups.
In personal as well as national affairs, there can be no mutual confidence without integrity, and, patriotism can hardly grow without these elements. Politics and diplomacy are known to thrive on clever talks and gimmicks which often assume that all persons can be fools all the time. The danger in any game or business which uses bamboozlement as a tool is that when the unwary partner or customer becomes wise, then, things would fall apart.
Please, let those who are in the business of politics as well as those who work for and with them, realise the truth that ordinary Nigerians are fast becoming wiser and conscious than before. Even when they would not speak up and say what they know, to push them too hard, believing that they are always stupid, can be a dangerous step which no one should take.
In the language of symbolism, snakes and rodents can mean quite a number of “unseen” things. For example, the “snakes” which invaded Kainji Dam Power station many years ago, thus, keeping the nation in darkness, may not be ordinary zoological snakes. If someone is described as a “snake”, it has one obvious meaning of a “clever person”; it can also mean a “tempter”. Similarly, those who play the role of the “devil’s advocate” are usually clever  intellectuals who apply their wit in the service of darkness. There can be no light wherever snakes occupy or invade a power-generating station.
Once upon a time, when the current  President was the flag bearer of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), in his interview with the Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service, he was quoted as asking the North to boycott an on-going National Identity Card scheme. The reason which General Buhari gave was that the scheme would present the North as having a low population since a majority of the rural dwellers who would not understand its importance would not participate in the exercise.
That “rodents” had the audacity to invade the office of the President of Nigeria and eating up vital facilities, thus, making him to work from his residence, can also be seen as a symbolic occurrence. Rodents, like snakes, can mean, in the language of symbolism, “smooth operators”. Rodents rarely make noise when they set out to eat up your grains or foodstuff.
In that VOA Hausa Service interview over the ID card project, our current President said that “our tradition in the North showed that we know the death and the birth record of our people; in every ward, we know those who have reached the age of paying taxes”. What have rodents desecrating the President’s office got to do with a VOA interview a long time ago? Just symbolic! Not hate speech!
Dr Amirize is of the Rivers State University.e-mail:bamirize@yahoo.com

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