Nigerians woke up yesterday to the story of forfeiture to the Federal Government, of properties alleged to belong to erstwhile Cabinet Minister Diezani Madueke.

Any day, I remain an advocate of punishment for thieves in the corridors of power. Holding public service position is for service to the people and meant for development. It is never meant for personal amassing of inordinate wealth.

Cursory look at items to be forfeited by Diezani Madueke include 18 flats, 6 penthouses, 125 wedding gowns, 13 small gowns, 11 invisible bras, 73 hard flowers, 31 houses, 589 vehicles, 17 magic skirts, 64 pairs of shoes…

I wouldn’t seek to know what magic skirts are, or what she was doing with 125 wedding gowns and 589 vehicles if the figures are correct. I would have saved myself some headache if the authorities told us if she owned a bridal shop or a car manufacturing plant.

My main concern however, is why we have suddenly degenerated to inanities. How low can a government descend in the name of propaganda? Talking of sale of female undergarments? That’s abysmal low and an insult to our womenfolk and our sensibilities. If Diezani bras are now our problem, it shows we are rather very unserious.

Propaganda brought APC to power in 2015 and 2019. By descending to okrika level shows a government bereft of ideas. Bandits are daily terrorising hapless Nigerians, using phones on Nigerian networks to demand ransom, yet the government cannot track them. Rather our Custom officials are bold enough to speak on national TV of taking rice to bandits in exchange for not getting attacked by them. What a leadership!!

By bringing up Deziani’s corruption case and harping on her alleged bras, the government wants to whip up negative sentiments in Nigerians, by reminding all that she served under a PDP federal government, and could spend so much on inner wears. This is just to allude that PDP is corrupt. But they have not taken into cognizance what we have in Benin adage, that asserts that whoever bends down to look at other people’s arse, someone else is looking at his.

Another election year beckons. Year 2023 is around the corner. Such cheap propaganda as forfeiture of bras would not impress Nigerians. The system that made it possible for Diezani Madueke to be forfeiting bras, is the same system that has empowered Nigerians, whose only source of income is to be in public office, to own and maintain private jets. Today is time enough for us to vote in a leadership characterized by true democracy, openness and integrity. A leadership that will encourage hard work, honest business, such that individual indulgences would not become item for beer parlour gossip.

May God grant us the wisdom to identify a presidential candidate that believes in the Nigeria project

In God I trust,
Senator Ehigie Uzamere