Breathe in, breathe out, Nigeria

 By Hassan Gimba

Some time ago, I had an oblique conversation with Governor Mai Mala Buni about my health condition, and something related to the topic of this piece came out. Sometimes, I get amazed at how he recalls things we see as inconsequential or forgotten because of time and relates them to everyday life. Because of this and many others, I always believe the creator blessed him with so much wisdom that he could pass for a sage.

Thanks to present realities, I mostly stay at home throughout the week, going to the office only on Mondays. However, I sometimes stay in town until the next day to see people and accomplish some tasks before returning home to await another Monday.

Thankfully, the COVID-19 pandemic taught us that we can work from home. Having opened our eyes to that possibility, we decided it was a good idea to ‘destress’ by working from the comfort of one’s home. We also made it a policy at Neptune Prime for each staff member to come to the office twice a week.

On Tuesdays, I am supposed to visit friends I have not seen for long or pursue businesses to sustain our newspaper. There are, however, mainly three politicians of Yobe origin that I make a point to visit on these days, not all on the same day. They are Adamu Maina Waziri, a former Minister of Police Affairs; Tijjani Musa Tumsah, a prominent businessman and politician, and Mai Mala Buni, the Governor. Apart from these three, I do not visit any elected or appointed politician from the state or any state, whether at home or in his office. It is just these three that I know where their houses are.

I have come a long way with them, with or without politics. Therefore, our relationship transcends politics. It is based more on mutual respect and trust. And I can visit any of them at any time of the day without any prior notice or appointment.

So, I found myself discussing with Governor Buni. As I sat down, my breathing became laboured due to exhaustion. I had to sit calmly and remain silent while inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. That was when he jolted my memory.

After I regained composure, he said, “What you did is the best way to gather yourself. Many people do not appreciate our olden day teachers who would tell students, ‘Breathe in; breathe out’ before starting classes.”

He further said that, even “Islamically, it is one of the best ways to release tension…have you forgotten when a pupil came before a teacher, tensed up due to a misdemeanor or simply afraid, the teacher would first ask him to relax and tell him to “breathe in; breathe out”? He said it calms tensed nerves, dissipates nervousness, and increases confidence and focus.

This conversation got me thinking of Nigeria. Is there a secret in “breathe in; breathe out”? Do we need to pause and “breathe in and breathe out”? Perhaps the elixir to our tensed and topsy-turvy affairs is in that secret. Will stopping to do that clear our befuddled heads and allow us to do what is right?

Sometimes, we behave like we need to calm frayed nerves through breathing therapy. Consider a central bank governor with over 700 duplexes, just one of numerous deals. Even the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, refused to name him initially, saying he was “a top government functionary”!

Or the same EFCC refusing to name its 10 officers arrested for “tampering with work materials” that turned out not to be gadgets but jewellery and cash in “custody” as exhibits.

Or the police telling the world that kidnap victims will be used to identify kidnappers’ dens. What are they telling kidnappers? That they should not let victims return alive if they want their hideouts to remain hidden?

Who watched the police budget defence where what the Inspector General was reading was not captured on each House committee member’s paper? Yet everyone there, minus two members who protested, considered the anomaly normal.

What do you make of giving retired Generals medical allowances in dollars, implying they are to seek health care outside the country? The federal government wants to stop using dollars for transactions within the country; therefore, the obvious place for the old Generals to use the dollars is outside our shores. But does that mean there is no hope that we will see good hospitals shortly?

Look at the tug-of-war between the federal government on the one hand and northern governors on the other. Now, what do we have? Why can’t the ordinary Nigerian be confused?

Is it about the crimes in society that are unabating? Yahooism and ritual killings are becoming the norm because society honours unexplainable wealth, and the proceeds go to buy its owners political – appointive or elective – offices or a life of opulent leisure. If caught, they can afford the best lawyers and procure favourable judgements. Sadly.

However, government policies exacerbate, rather than ameliorate, suffering daily, pushing the weak-minded into doing whatever it takes to survive. There is also the “race against time” by youths who want to achieve what others took decades to attain in just a day.

Have you seen that rather than a deliberate policy to make small businesses strong enough to pay tax, the government, without any form of assistance, makes them pay taxes before they even take off, eventually sending them crashing?

God, what do you think about the kidnapping of the wife of an Assistant Inspector General of the Police? Forget whether he is serving or retired; an AIG is an AIG. Who is safe? Is that how we would continue moving as a nation? But perhaps we may now begin to see more concerted efforts by all concerned towards checking the menace of kidnapping for ransom and other vices threatening to drown our nation.

Isn’t it time for us, as a nation, to pause and ‘breathe in and then breathe out’? Perchance, this would clear the fog in our minds and allow us a collective moment of introspection. Perhaps, just perhaps, that exercise will help us refocus towards building the nation of our dreams.