Land or Crash: locating the runway to 2007

By

Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u 

mjyushau@yahoo.com

 

 

Politics has become like a commodity packaged and sold to the highest bidder, manoeuvred for the power drunkard in the hands of the present day ‘moniticians’ who are ready to auction their integrity, devalue there principles and sacrifice the trust bestowed upon them by the patient, hardworking and downtrodden electorates whom we can argue have been reduced to the position of a football match, where the spectator leaves his activities and pay his money to come and watch  able bodied men dribbling themselves as if they are in opposition, immediately after the match, they will exchange jerseys, shake hands and retire to their hotels or beautiful mansions, whatever the outcome, the spectator is the main loser. For the highest he can get is an interim ecstasy depending on the few goals scored and the skills displayed during the match. Perhaps the same player that scored the highest goals might transfer to the competing side if pr esented with a juicy offer. But that is a footballer, he doesn’t claim to be representing anybody, as such any generosity from him can only be interpreted as a kind gesture but not a social obligation.

 

Unfortunately, modern day politicians who shoulder the burden of delivering the dividends of good governance and societal transformation adopt the behaviour of the footballer, desperate to get the juicy offer and change their position physically or by their action. To understand this, critically look at the major political parties in Nigeria and you will notice a lot of contradictions, and one common feature you can identify is that the parties have two manifestations, one looks genuine and the other affected by Abuja syndrome. As such it wouldn’t be out of place to see the ANPP having a double outlook, ANPP Proper and ANPP with umbrella, AD also looking at two directions, one to Afenifere and the other to ‘Obanifere’, and the PDP as clearly shown in the recent political wrangling, into People’s PDP and PDP Abuja. The body of each of the major parties is therefore suffering from partial political paralysis. So how can the society benefit from a healthy political atmosphere?

 

From the day the civilians took over the mantle of leadership in 1999, the polity is continuously being beclouded by one political drama or the other, some trivial others semi-trivial, but few have the taste of patriotism and self determination aimed at bringing change and development in this country. It is either the President is giving more appointments to his kinsmen, a Governor giving priority to his local constituency, or that a particular juggernaut is trying to bounce back into power, and most recently the third term agenda, a vague idea that can only succeed in back-pedalling the country into a reversed politico-economic somersault that will stagnate the nation into confusion and lack of sense of direction.

 

But where is the media that was so critical of various military regimes and their policies, where is the media that was fighting for the enthronement of democracy, where is the media that was championing the course of the common man, where is the media that has been portraying itself as the custodian of progress and development? This is a question that need to be answered with an elephant response, for as we have been taught, the media has the sole role of watch-dogging the activities of the people holding public offices so that they can see their actions and inactions visibly and try to correct their mistakes before in the words of Kofi Anan “they face a public relations disaster”. I am not unmindful of the few efforts displayed by some journalists or even media organisations, but the effort being put today by the media  is to some extent  no more than that  of a father who can feed his family three times a day  but pretend to afford only  a breakfast.

 

Though some may claim the lack of a conduc ive atmosphere as one of the obstacles restraining the media from discharging its responsibility, but the situation was the same in the previous years when they where consistent in opposing various military regimes in Nigeria. So what went wrong now?

 

Certainly the time has come when the media should lead the struggle against the emerging constitutional murder which is aimed at inserting a new provision that will guarantee the extension of the tenure of the President and possibly state governors beyo nd 2007 for those of them serving their second and last term.

 

It is therefore important at this juncture to salute the effort of the former Head of State and ANPP Presidential Candidate General Muhammadu Buhari for his intention to lead the struggle against the third term bid. It is certainly a gesture that has further exposed his patriotism and desire to liberate Nigeria from the shackles of civilian dictatorship.

 

But it is important as well to advise and caution the General especially with the current effort being made to unite and reconcile various individuals particularly from the north, who may be among the potential presidential candidates come the year 2007. Reconciliation is indeed important, but General Buhari should give no chance to be part of a future plan that might deceive him into compromising his presidential ambition (and I have every hope that he wouldn’t) in the name of returning power to the north. Many people know that Obasanjo despite his mega-failure as the President from 1999 to date is to some extent better than some of those willing to rule Nigeria. As much as it is important to understand that the problem of the common man is not the geographical location of the President, but the ability to deliver the fruits of good governance to the geographical location of every Nigerian. General Buhari should also be cautious in the way he will handle any reconciliation because of his image which has been portrayed to the south as an ethnic chauvinist who is out to champion the course of the north only, at a time when he needed a broader national support, which of course he has but undermined by selfish elites and ethno-sectional journalism.

 

But these reconciliations have their advantage and should be exploited to the latter. One of which is the fact that some of the ‘experts’ that spearheaded the rigging of the 2003 ‘419’ election are among those wishing to join General Buhari in stopping the third term agenda. Yes, Buhari and his team should use this opportunity to further understand how they did the rigging, not with the aim of participating in it, but with the double intention of arresting the rigging and calling the attention of the experts to use their intelligence for the good, so that the future of their children and grand children can be safe and prosperous.

 

 

Nigeria has suffered enough maltreatment from inept and irresponsible leadership that has crippled the country into uncertainty. Allowing the situation to continue without intervention will further deteriorate the inner part of our political survival. No right thinking individual should sit watching half baked pilots guessing where the plane should land when in reality they are flying on top of the ocean of selfishness and political myopia. Helping to secure a safe landing is a binding responsibility. Where do you stand?