December 30, 2023 NewsOrient
Column/Opinion
By Ikeddy ISIGUZO

A BANK once filled prime time television with a message asking us to imagine that one day cars will run with water.

The power of imagination! It takes one to a future that not many see; a future that seems foolish, or unimaginable because it has not been imagined.

The bank failed badly. The failure has nothing to do with imagination which the managers seemed to have in abundance. The power of imagination does not restrict your application of imagination. Evidence points to their imagination that was put to other uses. Yet it is futile to deny the power of imagination.

Impressed by that bank’s message, determined to imagine things going into 2024, assured that my liberties as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution allow me to think, perplexed by the actions and inactions of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, in and out of prison, I have decided to write a few things I would have done if I were in his shoes even if momentarily.

The summary is that I would not keep quiet. I would shout. Why should I keep quiet when people are turning my hard-earned reputation to hardly-earned reputation? We would all be in this.

Both the living and the dead who had any relationship with me would be known to the world. Why would I be incarcerated and people would not lift a finger for me? Where were all of them when I committed those offences they pulled off their hatless heads?

I would not have kept quiet over the unsuccessful assassination attempt of 25 July 2023 when I stepped out of court.

They claimed they were fighting over who would have custody of me. Suppose a bullet went off, and hit me, would it not have been “accidental discharge”?

It must have been the hefty bible I have been lugging in and out of court that saved me. There is power in the word, especially issuing from the Bible of a size of presence.

Why would I be quiet when supposed official reports, not submitted, are already in the media? Should that not be an indication of my innocence?

Why are they not interested in the matter being settled in court, their court? They want a media trial?

Let us go there.

The media trial should begin. All parties should lay their facts before the public, sorry the media. That is my understanding of media trial and I will not object to it.

Imagine the lawyers I hired with the little I have left reminding me that the matter is in court, that I cannot say much. I would fire the lawyers and make big headlines of it. One of my allegations against them would be the possibility that my transducers had seen my lawyers.

Lawyers who watched helplessly as nobody was willing to risk N300 million (less than what my former bank would spend on seasonal gifts, years back) as bond for me are providing that type of advice. They should go.

There may be lawyers who touched by my afflictions – or have something against the authorities – would take up the matter pro bono. If they don’t make money, they will make names for themselves leveraging my name.

So, I would shout. I would really shout. I would be salacious beyond imaginations of many. I would spice the story with dates, times, and venues of incidents. Those who approved, those who insisted on certain policies without frameworks. Everyone would be mentioned. They should defend themselves.

Who were my supervisors as the CBN Governor? If they do not know themselves, I would name them, one by one. There is nothing to gain from being nice now. That time is long gone.

I made a big mistake during the interrogations. I would have insisted that certain people must be present for me to say anything. They would have resurrected the dead for us to make any progress.

A timely warning to those who have been visiting me with all types of excuses for deserting me when I needed them. They should leave me alone. I need to rest before they come for me again. If you insist on these visits, I would name you too.

Some people from their body language have another motive for visiting. If the conversations with them continue, they would ask me to connect them to the new CBN Governor. None of them appreciates what I have been through.

My only challenge is with the people, ordinary Nigerians, particularly those who have wondered, “if this can happen to Emefiele what happens to ordinary us?”. They have been told that Emefiele killed them and their business through the Naira re-design policy. I did what I was told. I was a messenger, I had a boss called Muhammadu Buhari, a retired major-general, majoring generally in issuing orders that I had to obey.

Let me admit that I may not have delivered the message well. Where I am from, a messenger does not speak in proverbs. I delivered the message the way I got it, and was told to render it.

Assuming that I caused Naira scarcity, why has the problem re-surfaced when I have out of office for over six months? There is a problem when we treat all pains with pain-killers.

I will not keep quiet. Keeping quiet is not an option. I will roll out the allegations. Since they have scattered me, I would joyfully ride with them in the mud. They must have mistaken my regular white attire to court as a measure of my piety, my penance, my forbearance. They are all wrong. They do not know me.

No law forbids me from telling my opponents, “Go to court” if the allegations do not sit well with them. They are not the only ones who can tell people “go to court”.

Let nobody take my meekness for granted. My looks are cover for the wickedness I harbour. I have not seen people who deserve that wickedness until now. People I practically fed forgot me in prison. Some thought I would not be released even for a brief moment.

As we head into 2024, let Emefiele’s lack of imagination on dealing with his enemies limit your imagination. Emefiele in pursuit of his personal survival is bereft of imagination. Ignore him and his inadequate wickedness.

The bank that failed to see the day water would fuel cars should lead you to unfinished matters in 2024. Fire your imaginations without concerns for obstacles on your way to success. You could be the one to invent that water-propelled car.

Happy New Year.

Finally…

KILLINGS in Plateau have become normal though seasonal. The body counts of these conflicts are sometimes unbelievable.

Each time there are killings, the authorities mouth, “one killing too many”, “never again”, without plans to stop them. May the Almighty rest the departed.

CASH is so scarce in Abuja, seat of government, location of the CBN and the Mint, but available for sale in places outside Abuja. Is government in support of a “parallel Naira market” or insistent on marking the anniversary of last year’s scarcity?

LIE na lie. E fit commot from sacred scrolls. E go still be lie. Editor, you sef know say, editing na real tin o! You fit use the joint wey Baba hold for hand take write truth wey dey defy erasure. The thing be say, according to Edo, sociology, when idogo tells the truth, they say he’s drunk. When he tells a lie, they say he’s drunk still.

Usually, it comes to light too late that idogo was right all the while. – Sylvester Olumhense reacting to an image of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti with his familiar family-size igbo handy. His comments could be the untaught realms of the Correspondence of Truth Theory.

Isiguzo is a major commentator on minor issues

~ NewsOrient