By Pascal Oparada
Aside the mundane issues, Nigerians were regaled with a potpourri of politics and oddities over the last week.
Top on the trends are the defection of Atiku Abubakar, former All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, who returned to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Atiku who announced his defection live via his Facebook page did not come as a surprise to many. In the live broadcast, he said he is returning to PDP because “the APC has failed to live to its promise of creating more jobs for Nigerians” and that “the issues that led to him leaving the PDP has now been resolved”.
The search for Atiku jumped to over 600 per cent after the announcement of his defection.
Nigerians were treated to horrors allegedly perpetrated by men of the Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) during the week. The outraged came under the hashtags #EndSARS, #EndSARSNOW and #EndSARSbrutality.
On twitter trend, #EndSARS remained top until it was slightly overtaken by President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano on Wednesday.
To cap it all, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, named his sister, Ogechi Ololo (nee Okorocha), as the Commissioner for Happiness and Couples Fulfillment.
The buzz generated by Okorocha’s new ministry was greeted by ridicule prompting the new Commissioner to explain her new role.
But in a twist on Wednesday, Governor Okorocha blamed the error on printer’s devil.
In a statement by Sam Onwuemeodo, his chief press secretary, Okorocha said the intended name is ‘ministry of happiness and purpose fulfillment’, not couple’s fulfillment.
He said a typographic error, caused by the printer’s devil, led to the misrepresentation, NAN has reported.
In the statement, Okorocha also justified the essence of the new ministry, its purpose and the choice of his sister to head it.
“There was a typographic error in the first statement issued on the swearing in of the new commissioners. The word “Couple” was inadvertently written, instead of the word “Purpose,” we regret that,” the statement read.
“The real essence of life is to be happy and to fulfil one’s purpose in life; Government officials are elected to address this.
“Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment Ministry therefore, is established for the lost time to correct the policy framework to guide ministries and departments on what they must do to guarantee the citizens’ happiness and contribute better to the society.
“This is the very reason people elect their leaders: to guarantee their happiness and purpose fulfilment. A great leader therefore, is one who provides happiness to the people.
“Unfortunately, this vital element of our social lives has not been properly addressed. Governments at different levels have created several ministries and departments to achieve this, yet people are bitter, angry with hate speeches which lead to crisis, war and even terrorism.”
“The choice of Mrs Ogechi Ololo, a Masters Degree Holder in computer Science, USA who has been the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor on Domestic Matters and Food Security can be described as a round peg in a round hole.
“Before her appointment as the supervisory commissioner, she was charged with the responsibility of liaising with the Federal Government on N-Power Project, CBN Anchor project and BOI, Empowerment Projects.”
