Our leaders have refused to take responsibility, thinking they are doing us a favor by using our tax money to provide roads. This is the story of fearless Arise TV journalist Rufai Oseni and the Minister of Works, David Umahi.
Oseni is known as a fearless journalist—someone who, with all due respect, asks the toughest questions and isn’t afraid to drill politicians. Since politicians know that Rufai is no pushover, you might wonder why they keep appearing on Arise News interviews. Well, it’s because if you pass the Rufai Oseni test, I believe that would put you in the goodwill of the people—though I don’t think most politicians even care about the people’s goodwill.
Imagine Rufai asking David Umahi to provide the cost per kilometer of the coastal road—a key subject of debate, especially considering that the government had to demolish several houses to kickstart the project. The Minister of Works—who is, by the way, a public servant and a servant of the people—refused to give an account of how public funds, our tax money, are being spent.
Instead, he resorted to insults rather than answering the question, probably thinking that his half-cleverness would shield him from scrutiny. By insulting his interviewer, he insulted Nigerians on national television.
This is similar to what the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, said about Nigerians who insult him while using the roads he built. But my question is: Is it his money he used to build the roads? What a false sense of arrogance for doing the bare minimum.
That’s who our leaders are—proud, arrogant, and unwilling to embrace simple accountability. Yet they are always willing to tax us more, while we have no clear idea of what our tax money is being used for. How am I even sure the money wasn’t embezzled?
This was a perfect opportunity for Umahi to reassure doubting Nigerians, yet he only deepened
our doubts.