JUST IN: For The Sake Of Posterity—What Onitsha told Obosi (IBB Vs Tai Solarin replay)
Sinach
Published Date:
Jun 30, 2024
Last Updated:
For The Sake Of Posterity—What Onitsha told Obosi (IBB Vs Tai Solarin replay)
For in may 1956,during the days of father Holy Nweje, Onitsha and Obosi communities had land disputes. During the dispute resolution, Onitsha told Obosi, "Adi ama ama(i.e incase of posterity)". This being said,the pros and cons of our actions are supposed to be weighed for every action has equal and opposite reaction..
During the days of President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida,the alleged People’s voice, Tai Solarin was a trouble for IBB; a hard critic of IBB and a perpetual lover of the poor.
The distortion being peddled by Tai, was to make the Babangida's military look bad and he succeed as he was praised by media organisations as not kowtowing to the corruption and evil of IBB as the new normal and joining them to swim in the filthy lucre, just like the former celebrity super cops, Abba Kyari.
In leu of this, IBB invited Tai for a discussion, he asked him what he could do to better the lives of the poor.
Tai was happy, he quickly proposed a soft loan for all the poor Nigerians to enable them start small scale businesses and as they return the loans, other poor people will continue to benefit until it reaches all.
IBB clapped for Tai and pleaded with him to champion the noble cause so that the programme can run without a hitch, and Tai agreed.Using Decree No. 22 of 1990, IBB set up the People’s Bank of Nigeria (PBN)
Newspapers headlines had Tai, the People’s hero in the front pages
People’s Bank: How Tai Solarin gave corruption a black eye.
This and more were some of the headlines.
The Bank granted loans to over 245,000 costumers,Unfortunately for Tai, by January 1992, but the officials of the bank mismanaged the bank’s funds under his watch, subverted due process, and after giving out loans to the poor, the poor refused to return the money, neither did we see their businesses on ground, they have spent the money but no repayment.
After many futile attempts to recover the loans, the Celebrated Peoples Bank crashed and became liquidated. Tai was running helter-skelter.
He finally went to IBB but IBB was not angry, he merely said It is easy to talk, talk is cheap sir but look at your bank. This is just one small bank that you cannot manage o, imagine how many banks we have, imagine ruling a whole country sir? If people now blamed you for the collapse of the bank you proposed and ran, how will you feel? Don't worry sir, you will not be prosecuted. Just go home and rest.
Truly, they've never built a statue for a critics, so let's adjust and our policies for what goes around, comes around, forget tearing down each other for all dogs eat faeces na just because breeze never blow na him make we never see fowl yansh.
Remember, the wisdom of the wise will keep life on the right track.
About the Author
Sinach
A les Avocat, living with the It Begins With Me Mantra and determined to dot all i's and cross all t's for a better Nigeria.
