Ebele Legacy:  Return Nigeria To True Federation Now

By

Farouk Martins Aresa

faroukomartins@aim.com

 

 

Ebele will try his best to achieve the goal he sets out for himself as most Nigerians want: infrastructure, diminished corruption and jobs for our youths. However, his lasting legacy will be giving power of federating states back to the people in less than two years. It is the only way Nigerians will see reason to embark on cooperation between states for a mega project. When we realize two or more states and political parties must work together to accomplish a project that will benefit those states, we will be watching one another like a hawk to make sure resources are gainfully directed into the projects.

 

African politicians compare their status and salaries to countries they emulate in words only. Those politicians can be voted out or recalled in less than four years but African leaders look for ways to make a comeback or elongate their terms in office. If anyone wants to make an impact, it does not take four years to make a difference, no matter our bias or their political philosophy. We watch Obasanjo in Nigeria going for a third term and Rawlings in Ghana looking for all kinds of ways to make a comeback by proxy.

 

Ebele, if you cannot return Nigeria to a true federation in four years or less, you have failed. Every part of Nigeria has advocated for a true federation at one point or the other but whoever is in the center with so much concentration of absolute power corrupts, clings to unitary government. As soon as they are out of power, they sing a different tune. Only Ironsi knows what he was thinking when he started his Unitary Government as most of the North was vehemently opposed. As soon as they gain power, it was a different tune. Now that Ebele is in power, South-south must insist on federation, not breaking up of Nigeria.

 

Africa politicians have the same problem and hedonistic instinct as the tax dodging, selfish and greed invested Tea Party democracy. Politicians that go into government in order to reduce it and come out increasing its control in the individual life of the people while denying them sound infrastructure or welfare thereof, reducing access to  education for children of others, refusing to provide for the old and the poor amongst us just to  accumulate more than they can spend. At Whatever cost, the countries bleed to death. In a federating state, each to its philosophy but not all the states will suffer.

 

Some of our politicians are not different to Tea Party. Their problem and Tea Party democracy is, some extreme selfish people claiming they represent the views of most, force their ideology and selfish interest on the masses once in control. It is not that they possess some magic cure for the country, their self inflicted malady or the economic crisis, they are willing to exacerbate as long as they can exploit it for money. Little did Africans know they have the selfish identical twins of their leaders roaming America calling themselves Tea Pot Party. The only Tea in their Pot of Herb is you know what: cannabis.

 

By some peoples’ power or luck Ebele was elected all over Nigeria with more than 25 percents of the votes in most states. Those that are waiting to trip him and called him a failed leader are already on the line sponsoring violence so that they can claim only people with military experience can rule Nigeria successfully. While he tries to appease them for peace’s sake like Obama sucking up to the Republicans, they can’t wait to sacrifice him for their goal. Majority of Republican and Democrats can see through Tea Pot Party but Democrats just lack the persuasive powers to bring independents to swing the elections to their side. Ebele, like Obama may give too much to appease radicals.

 

Watch out for African politicians learning from the masters or the crooks learning from third world masters, claiming selfishness is the way of life in the “civilized’ world where extreme minority right wingers are imposing their version of democracy on the majority that are struggling to preserve right and dignity to the poorest. It is a safety net of social services still lacking in most developing countries. Some of the African countries even based their salaries and allowances on those of other politicians in the developed world emptying most of the coffer in their relatively poor countries with little left for infrastructure.  

 

Tea Pot Party members are either yearning for the dark ages when they worked the serfs anyhow or want to turn their country into the third world. The way they go about it is convincing the weak, uninformed and feeble minded independents to vote their way, almost the same way African ethnic groups defend their sons and daughters in corruption. Whoever says power of persuasion to vote against yourselves is limited to certain group in Africa has never understood Tea Pot Party democracy in America.

 

The seniors were up in arms during the last election in United State. They gave Obama a “shellacking” because they do not want government in their Medicare. Little did they realized or were unconvinced that government provides Medicare. The Republican led by the Tea Pot Party called Democrats plan for seniors Death Panels that limit them access to Medicare. After winning the election, they saw the true face of Tea Pot Party that could care less about jobs, social security or healthcare.

 

If these were Africans practicing democracy, fellow Africans could have called them all sorts of names for working against their interest. But in United State it is almost suicidal to blame the voters. So nobody calls the so called independents, feeble minded people without conviction or let seniors know that they have been conned. Indeed, some of them still defend their positions as reasonable at the time. Well, what about now?

 

This is why we have leaders in Africa that think if we have democracy and exercise our free choice; they can use us the way Tea Pot Party members smoking whatever, use people in other countries. In most of the so called democracies in Africa, those leaders that lose elections and bow out are few. The power of incumbency is used to the maximum to get back in by any means necessary. Like the Tea Party members, African politicians and their cronies cause poverty, financial crisis, received bail out money, tax cut, sell government assets to themselves, leave job creation to small businesses, legalize tax dodging, legalize looting and come back to blame middle and working class people for all the problem in these countries. No blame, no responsibility for them.