Stock taking, time to go easy

Jul 10, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

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Hard Truths by GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – It has been a hard year.  The midyear mark prompted some stocktaking.  Call it a bit of soul searching, a speck of recalibrating, and with a dollop of a long-lost instinct thrown into the mix to round things off.  We all have been coming down too hard on Bharrat Jagdeo.  See! Now I have the attention of every Guyanese.  It is time to show a little sympathy for an embattled citizen, who is also a brother.  It is an indication of how low I have tumbled, how deep I must dig; but family is still family.  All this is overdue, if only for peace in the valley of Guyana, Exxon, and Prado-Ville.

All Guyanese are encouraged to massage this in their minds.  Dr. Jagdeo doesn’t have it easy, as Guyana is not a bed of roses for a national politician with the weight of the world (and a superpower) on his head.  As part of my new learning curve and capacity building, I start over and correct my mistake: it is two superpowers.  The first is in Washington, DC; the second is in cowboy country, Spring, Texas.  Yahoo! How Jagdeo deals with all of this, considering his other duties is more than a miracle.  The man is Guyana’s messiah, an oil saint, an oil prophet, and an oil missionary all rolled into one.  So, why is Jagdeo being harassed by multitudes of Guyanese including his own who have lost faith in him, no longer trust him as much as before?  We would all do well to give a good, uncomplaining, teddy bear of a guy a break, given the burden of his responsibilities, and this is only scratching the surface.  He is due the decency from us; and for those who have difficulty mustering even that, then at least try for some humanity.  Believe me, I am trying, but not making much progress.  I am not given, like other Guyanese, to walk with my hands folded behind my back, while walking backwards before anybody: president, vice president, ambassador.

Now to get a good grip on the great responsibilities of state that Bharrat Jagdeo has in his hands, consider the following.  He is the 2^nd Vice President of Guyana.  How is that for humility from a former president, that he yielded not one office, but stepped down two slots in service of God, country, motherhood, and apple pie.  I will give him country, but his service to God is up in the air, since he has unselfishly volunteered to take up that divine standing and calling.  Motherhood is a touchy subject, so I plead for a pass.  On apple pie, those who thought red, white, and blue are on the money.  It is Exxon, and that is what Jagdeo nibbles, quibbles, and dribbles about around the edges.  It could be said that he is not greedy, simply a conservationist, an oil one.  In addition to Vice President, superman Bharrat Jagdeo is chief policymaker, chief minister, chief magistrate, chief public relations officer, and chief PPP Government cook and bottle washer.  Re the latter, he is a delegator: check with the technical people.  And people said that this man doesn’t have any skills.  What an insult!  What nerve!  What a trashy set of people are hauled into Jagdeo’s orbit.  To be careful, I am not referring to the people from North America and Western Europe that Jagdeo deals with after they have passed through his filter and gatekeeper, the man who came back from his hurried flight to Florida.  See why I am so spellbound by this country…

If there are some who believe that I have covered the range of Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo’s duties and the tasks in his hands, be assured that I am now getting into a groove.  Think of this: England used to have a Queen Mother.  Not to be outdone Guyana’s PPP got Jagdeo to function in the equivalent role of President-groomer.  And for those who said that dear old England also had a Dowager Queen, Guyana raised the bar on itself and decided to get a Counselor President.  Is that de facto, or what?  Please don’t push me to embarrass myself by forcing me to embarrass others.  No names.  Now for the icing on the cake.  Exxon came from America and transformed a noble Guyanese into an Exxon Whisperer.  He has secrets that make vicious pit bulls turn into curious pussycats.  My God!  All this trouble to subvert the oil promise and make the Guyanese people near to it transform into domestic terrorists.

Finally, I have repeatedly told my American friends (no name dropping, please) that Guyana is a great country.  What I have not said until now is that Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo is the greatest.  The greatest at what is the question, and I am not saying anything.  Nevertheless, I remind everyone, keeping looking at his portfolio of oil and gas, leadership gas, media gas, and other kinds of gas that would revolutionize the fossil fuel world, if only Jagdeo would part with his secrets.  There it is: proof of how mellow I have become and plan to maintain for the rest of this year.  It is my half-year resolution, my belated Lenten sacrifice, and my gift to all Guyana, most of all Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo.  He does have a full ward to run.  No wonder this country has become one big, national lunatic asylum.  Notice how shaky I am, and it’s not age.  I just promised to behave myself, then went and broke my vows.  I should be a political leader.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• GHK Lall, Guyana, hard truths, midyear, National

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