I just saw a short video clip where the Hon(?) Minister made the above statement. That immediately erased any reticence I had in widely sharing the following argument that I had with a friend earlier today. Obviously, relative mediocrity apart, the Federal Executive Council is definitely a mixed bag. Before Solomon Dalung attracted this unpleasant attention to himself, other ministers have faced or are still facing their own deserved inquisition.
My friend Ike Ezugwu had posited as follows:
" . but we should learn to trust people in authority . . to do what they consider best for us. . " Hmmmm!
MY REPLY, exerpted:
Ike Ezugwu, I beg to disagree with the first part of the above quote. Many people, myself included, do not feel inferior to those "we elected" or who forced themselves on us. That we have mostly allowed them to decide "what is best for us" explains our current national predicament. I never allow false modesty to prevent me from weighing in on issues. I am sure that I am not alone here. And when I do comment, I do so with the firm knowledge that either the people in authority are probably capable of standing toe to toe with me or as is more often the case are not even competent to open their mouths when I speak.
Ike Ezugwu, I beg to disagree with the first part of the above quote. Many people, myself included, do not feel inferior to those "we elected" or who forced themselves on us. That we have mostly allowed them to decide "what is best for us" explains our current national predicament. I never allow false modesty to prevent me from weighing in on issues. I am sure that I am not alone here. And when I do comment, I do so with the firm knowledge that either the people in authority are probably capable of standing toe to toe with me or as is more often the case are not even competent to open their mouths when I speak.
For example, did we or did we not elect Buhari as our president? Following your thesis we should just follow his stumbling without a whimper. It is one thing allowing your inferiors into positions of authority. It another matter altogether attributing to them superior wisdom that they obviously don't have. Why on earth should we lionise the inept only to go home and complain behind closed doors?
You would have easily deduced that I refuse to ascribe good faith to our rulers on an issue that is amenable to rational analysis. We have been led by the nose for too long.
PS: Where do the likes of Dalung fit into all this highfaluting discourse? I wonder.
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