By Hezekiah Oladele Bamiji
Personally, i take strong exception to the ongoing mischief by certain political opportunists who are shamelessly twisting the patriotic and constructive comments made by Representative Bamidele Salam representing EdeNorth, EdeSouth, Egbedore and Ejigbo federal constituency in the national assembly. It is both unfortunate and dishonest that these elements would rather play politics than address the core issues affecting millions of Nigerians away from parochial politics of ‘Na We Dey Dia’.
Rep Bamidele Salam’s aired opinion was a measured and rational response to the public tirade by former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who had openly, and dangerously too, accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of sectionalism in governance.
Surprisingly, these same critics, now crying wolf, were deafeningly silent when Kwankwaso painted the president as a divisive figure. Is their silence an endorsement of Kwankwaso’s unguarded outburst, or are they simply too timid to speak truth within their own political space?
Rather than join the bandwagon of blind attacks and in his characteristic manner, Rep Salam made it clear that the neglect of federal roads is a national problem, not just Northern or Southern. He courageously pointed out that citizens in the South also suffer from deplorable infrastructure, and therefore the issues raised by Kwankwaso cut across regional lines.
But we understand the plight of these mischief makers. They lack the moral spine in their current wave of confusion, to confront the truth and the intellectual clarity to grasp the substance of Rep Salam’s message. They would rather attack the messenger than face the hard realities: a country bleeding under infrastructural decay, while scarce resources are being sunk into a so-called coastal road that offers no immediate relief to Nigerians struggling to commute across broken highways for their daily survival.
Are we expected to mortgage the entire nation’s economy just to build one grandiose project? Will the coastal road alone compensate for the abandonment of countless other critical federal roads scattered across both the North and the South?
The questions are simple: Is it wrong to demand equity in development as it affects our country? Must we all suffer in silence because we are afraid to speak out? Rep Bamidele Salam has done what many fear to do – he spoke the truth, boldly and patriotically. Nigeria needs more of such voices, not less.
HOB
