The caption of this piece has a metaphorical expression which
is very much on purpose. Sit back and permit me to relate it with the state of
affairs in Nigeria. Politics in Nigeria is as uncertain and disappointing as
the casual romantic relationships among youths. The Nigerian masses since
independence on the 1st of October 1960 have been falling flat for the same old
method of aligning with politicians and being left with broken hearts taking eternity
to heal at the expense of the country's treasury. Our politicians have always
assumed the role of Shylock, offering the masses loans their lives will never
be enough to pay back. This is evident in the material tips shared during the
electioneering campaign period to win votes. It has conventionally been a case of
winners and losers.
In the real sense, the losers are not the political candidates
of the contesting political parties. The losers are the electorates who blindly
celebrate with the winner they are looking up to for leadership. This maybe a
bitter pill to swallow but it only takes the candidate's assumption of office
before the blind masses begin to see the future from a crystal ball like
wizards. Making reference to the article of the former adviser to President Goodluck
Jonathan on Media and publicity, Reuben Abati, politics is seen in Nigeria from
a business point of view.
Making the decision to run for a political post is the 'entrepreneurial
idea', joining the happening political party to start the business is like
securing a location to erect your office and getting sponsors to finance the
business is the road-map to success so as to develop a wide channel to spread
lies. In Nigeria, the best liar ends up winning and I can authoritatively say
when Garba Shehu, the Assistant Adviser
on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari called Lai (Lie) Mohammed,
former Publicity secretary of the ruling party and Minister of Information, the 'Master of the Game' of the All
Progressives Congress, APC during the inauguration of the Ministers of the
Federal Republic, he was only being truthful but as usual, the shallow-minded
masses laughed it off like it was a joke for them. When the masses buy your
lies, you have an edge, you present yourself as the messiah, you study the
weaknesses of your opponents and begin to defame him. Nigeria is a country when
the politics of character assassination is practiced at its peak and
issue-based debates are strayed away from.
Spreading of falsehood about your opponents could also be
advantageous. Maybe one day, when Lie Mohammed clocks 80 and is set to write
his memoir truthfully like Bode George, the People's Democratic Party, PDP chieftain plans
to do, he will educate us more on the efficacy of propaganda which he
successfully used to send our dear former President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe
Jonathan back to the flood-prone hometown in Otueke, Bayelsa state. Again the
masses celebrated his exit. One woman who operates a big food canteen around
the busy area of Challenge in Ibadan, Oyo state actually gave her food and
drinks out for free on the day Goodluck Jonathan made that epic call to Buhari
in concession of loss on the 31st of March, 2015. Till date, the woman is
gnashing her teeth over that reckless decision as the only 'change' she has seen
is the retrogressive one rather than progressive.
In fairness, there has been a 'change', the problem lies with
the electorates who didn't understand the full contents of Buhari's change
mantra which he is indirectly unveiling to us. Many who are secretly wailing
will come out in the media to say its a positive change for fear of not
sounding like a Femi Fani Kayode that has switched more sides in politics than
a call girl. At least for the first time in 1999, Nigerians are getting poorer
according to the Business Day newspaper and the Boko Haram insurgency has come
to live with us like the female anopheles mosquito, giving us malaria since
inception.
Now, as for President Muhammadu Buhari seeking the hands of
'Patience' in marriage, the word 'patience' purposely sounds like the name of a
person but in this context it’s a mere noun that entails ''the capacity to
calmly endure pains and uncertainties'' The only patience that strikes the
mind of every Nigerian is the former First lady, Patience Faka Jonathan, the
comical leader who entertained us with her impeccable sense of humour as a
distraction while her husband allegedly looted the treasury for his unborn
generation. Diariz god oh!
Buhari who has heavily been neglected over the years as he
kept contesting since 2003 unsuccessfully like the presidential seat was his
inheritance had a field day during the election campaign period. His campaign
promises which many call lies on the social media were well strategized.
The APC intelligently presented him as a poor man as the
masses started seeing the image of themselves in him. It was thought that
people of the same class will understand each other’s languages better. Hence,
the need to present a cattle rearer that cherishes a mud house in this jet age.
What a calculated move to sway the electorates!
The key points of Buhari's speeches were Boko Haram
insurgency, youth unemployment, ailing economy, poverty etc and ultimately 'Kwaraption'
(corruption according to his northern accent). It’s possible Buhari really had
the intentions but truthfully, there was no road-map to execute his agenda and
the first indication is how it took him about 6 months to inaugurate his
cabinet which smells of the politics of prebendalism.
Africans historically have an undue obsession with power e.g
the 91-year old Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe who is planning to rule from a special
wheelchair. Paul Biya of Cameroon has been ruling for 33 years, Dos Santos of
Angola has clocked 36 years in power, Idris Deby of Chad has been ruling for 25
years amongst several other sit-tight leaders without an idea of how to advance
the general will of the people with their power and authority. These set of
people will never give room for innovation and fresh ideas from the positive
energy from youths in the ever advancing world. They only engage in the
recycling of old ideas of stagnancy in growth and development.
It was heart-soothing to hear Buhari speak as he toured
Nigeria after he has seen life from the perspective of the north for decades.
Buhari enjoyed the wet ground which was watered by Lie Mohammed, sorry I meant
Lai Mohammed, (They seem the same anyway). Jonathan's widely believed below
average performance gave a loophole to penetrate the hearts of his loyalists
that for the first time, Nigerians pocketed some money from PDP and refused to
give them their support in return. The victims of political scam started
tormenting the culprits for the first time in the Nigerian history. People like
Raymond Dopkesi, boss of the African Independent Television, AIT and Musiliu
Obanikoro who were prominent front-liners in the campaign of Jonathan's
re-election saw the bleak future from afar. According to Bode George who took a
jab at Obanikoro that is currently observing the Nigerian drama from diaspora,
Obanikoro and some other PDP chieftains embezzled the election funds needed to
win supporters for Jonathan. I don't know how true this is. Probably, if you meet
Bode George in your dreams, you can make inquiries. I am sure Obanikoro decided
to cut his losses to avoid losing in both ways which would have been fatal.
Nigerians were actually set to vote for Buhari despite him presenting a 'NEPA
bill' as his certificate which is like a ghost we all talk about but no one has
ever seen till date.
As an observer, I got a glimpse of Buhari's slow start as a
president during the campaign period when the social media was awash with memes
of Buhari claiming he will 'stabilize the global oil price' like he is OPEC,
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Buhari was fortunate there was
no video footage to back it up like his goofs on the full meaning of INEC, name
of his running mate, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and his political party for crying out
loud.
The reality of events is that Nigerians are looking up to
Buhari to whom much has been given due to his firm campaign promises. He is
seen as the torch-bearer poised to lead Nigeria out of the dark cave of the
16-year captivity of the PDP while Buhari himself looks up to the people behind
him for direction. Hence, the need to 'Go slow' to avoid falling into the
nearest potholes created by unscrupulous contractors and their political
cohorts.
Its crystal clear Buhari felt leadership was as easy as making
criticisms until Jonathan gave him the keys and the particulars of the 'wrecked
vehicle' called Nigeria. Now, Buhari who used to be seen as the African Merlin
is begging for 'Patience' like he is not satisfied with Aisha Buhari, his wife.
The only 'patience' we Nigerians know is the former first lady from Port
Harcourt whom we miss dearly and we are not accepting Buhari's proposal as she
belongs to Jonathan. Therefore, on the denial of his marriage proposal, Buhari
is urged to 'Go Fast'.
I am a strong supporter of Buhari but the truth must be told.
Anybody that believes Buhari has brought a significant change must be a
relative or beneficiary of the political appointees. Most of the appointees can
be likened to shareholders that made huge investments with business risks and
are currently reaping e.g. the Minister of Transport Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi
who unceremoniously became the highlight of the ministerial screening process
at the senate.
According to the former Governor of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, Charles Soludo, he stated during the third anniversary lecture of the
RealMagazine news that we should support
Buhari to succeed by contributing when we can and criticizing when we must
which he described as 'tough love'. It may be too early to judge but I see the
same old Nigeria of media talks and no actions. Its on record that the only
time Buhari made the swiftest counter-action was on the alleged victimization
of the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki over a personal vendetta
disguised with the law. I wish the president could channel that positive energy
to the capture of the infamous leader of the Boko Haram sect Abubakar Shekau
who orchestrated the rumoured killing of the 105 Nigerian soldiers and 34 later
in Borno if the words of Femi Fani Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation are to
be followed for once BUT with caution.
Last time I checked the news media, Boko Haram is still
killing (maybe in a reduced form but lives are still being lost), the unemployment
rate is still above 60% with an demeaning N5, 000 palliative underway, crime
rate has been on the increase with calculated bank robberies across Nigeria and
Lagos being the worst hit, kidnapping seems to be vastly replacing a career in
the oil sector due to its lucrative nature (The current bank account balance of
the U-23 national team coach, Samson Siasia will give you a vivid insight as
his abducted mother wasn't released on a platter of gold), power issues are
still the same with Buhari giving the same excuses of sabotage of the Jonathan
administration, the queues at the filling stations have refused to disappear
despite how Buhari and the APC smoothly criticized the fuel crisis of the
Jonathan-led government, (The most painful aspect is the difficulty the senate
is having summon Buhari who is deputizing as the Petroleum Minister. At least
Buhari should appear for accountability and responsibility sake) and many other
issues.
As I write this piece, I am struggling with the low battery on
my laptop in utter darkness coupled with the scorching heat of the season and
mosquitoes providing unprecedented cover for me like the operatives of the
Directorate of State Security, DSS while my president is busy junketing with
tax payers' money. I am patiently waiting for the benefits of the image he is
building for Nigeria in the international scene as advocated by Shehu Garba who
is only doing his job well.
The way Buhari is fighting the anti-corruption war in the
media rather than in the court is mockingly admirable. I appreciate the way Ayo
Fayose, the governor of Ekiti actually challenged him to publish the names of
the looters in Jonathan's regime who have been secretly returning their loots
as Buhari claimed. Buhari may have reduced the cost of governance by merging
some ministries, cutting the size of his entourage at international events as
well as the cost of the Independence day ceremony compared to the Jonathan
administration but his alleged cost of maintaining his presidential jets in 6
months which amounts to N5.8 billion according to the Punch still shows a
loophole for the wastage of funds.
Furthermore, his inability to look into the N25 billion REMITTA
and Systemspecs scandal still makes no changes.
The silence of the APC amidst the biting crisis of fuel
scarcity before their Twitter message only showed a lack of valid explanation.
And again, Lie Mohammed's unusual silence confirmed how lame he could be aside
propaganda as many believe.
Fellow Nigerians, this is certainly not the CHANGE we voted
for. Let's offer Buhari 'patience' if that's the boost he needs to take us to
the Promised Land.
0 Comments