The Sovereign Wealth Fund is a common pool of funds to cushion the effect of a financial crunch when such seasons emanate. The necessity of this has been a subject of controversy, and the response from essentially the states and local government has been circumspect, if not defiant.While we may advance all good reasons in support of why we should remain as a united country, yet the perception of mutual distrust that attended to the pre-independence era has remained unsuppressed in spite of all the institutions and activities that have been created to foster our unity.Even more palpable these days is the uniting entities and their unifying structures that have become very tenuous in outlook and commitment. So much so has this pervaded our psyche that every issue that President Goodluck Jonathan has to deal with, is presently greeted with the loud question 'Why now''Sadly, the manner of infractions done to ourselves have festered a threatening divide and the mutual commitment that would have galvanised growth and unity has been severely fractured by selfish pursuits. Therefore, every entity has become overly protective of its own; assume it to be the most, if not the only guaranteed hold on the prospect of self-actualisation.In this context, you can behold a very sick father, who has so many children from different wives, with importunate grandchildren that feel covered by the same implied warranty as the direct biological children of the sick father, and always willing to assert their rights of progeny in acquiring the parental heritage. It is therefore, inconceivable to assume that the states (Direct biological children) and the local government (Grandchildren) would trust any money to be well stowed in another's care.In a typical polygamy, when the father is sick, the different siblings of a common mother begin to draw together and ruminate on how to enhance their lots from the paternal assets. There is this unspoken understanding that very soon, they would all have to embrace the command of 'To your tent O Israel' This presupposes that it is the most inauspicious time for a beloved and uniting father to assume that his children from different mothers would heed the call to maintain a common purse; except on account of his burial.Maintaining a Sovereign Wealth Fund is anchored on all good reasons, when we especially rely on the economic benefits of saving for the raining day. But again, we are at a time when the states and local governments are still ruing the excruciating demands of coping with the minimum wage burden, balancing the deficits of maintaining the political parties' carpetbaggers and providing the necessary infrastructure that the society demands, coupled with the persistent state of insecurity that now denies all presumptions to possessing the instrumentality of protecting lives and property.Now, we can critically examine the import of the sub-title 'The unseen hand and the blind safe-keeper' Regularly, our sensibilities are being bashed by reports of stolen billions in the custody of the Federal Government (The blind safe-keeper) by some of us (The unseen hands) And always as a matter of fact, the unseen hand never gets caught, and the blind safe-keeper never rewards us with a successful catch. How can this case of double jeopardy be presented for any to trust'Perhaps again, we can ask what modicum of comfort the Federal Government would expect the states and local governments to abide with when the above scenario has become a monotone. What has happened to the Excess Crude Oil Account' What answer would we get from enquiring about the financial windfall consequential from the Gulf War' Would it not be denial upon denial'This reminds me of late Pa Osunde, the quintessential liar. Please permit me. The late Pa Osunde while he was alive was a devote politician. As a ward chairman, he undoubtedly was a gifted organiser. He ensured victory for any party to which he belonged in his ward. Because of him, persons, who ordinarily were apolitical, became conscripted. Everybody said they never missed the ward meetings because of the regular dose of his anecdotes. And so much more is said as flowering remarks of him.These alone would have been the only outstanding things about him, if not for the major flaw that made them all seem like rubbish. It was a general knowledge that the late Pa Osunde could never be trusted with money meant for all.As it were, you may recount this as a common trait in the realm of politics. But Pa Osunde had a unique style about his. Whenever aspirants brought funds for the logistics of the ward, Pa Osunde as the ward chairman was always on hand to receive it. If only you are present in Pa Osunde's house at the time the money is brought, would you be luckily given an unfair share. 'You know there are so much to do, and so many other people to be given' was always his popular remark. And yet, nobody outside those present when the money was brought in, ever got a dime, as he equally had a pattern of raining curses on the aspirants, who he accuses of not bringing any funds for logistics.On a number of occasions that some have dared to accuse him of circumventing the funds meant for them, Late Pa Osunde did not waste time to circumambulate, he immediately went into action by asking all the gods to smite his children on the same day, if their accusations were true. At that point, the person, who was supposedly present at the time the money was brought to Pa Osunde, and has been truthful enough to accept his haven been given the normal unfair share, would recant in his bid to act as a prosecution witness against the late Pa Osunde, when he saw an old man weeping profusely.The Federal, states and local governments may not be exactly like Pa Osunde, but with the now flying unseen hands and the blind safe-keeper, they have absolutely a lot in common.On the face of all the problems with their ethnic dimensions that are plaguing modern day Nigeria, let's hope that the country finds a way of pulling out of it, while maintaining its delicate unity.Ogbeide -Ihama can be reached via mustardaffairs@yahoo.com
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