|
Presidency 2007...Walking the Same Old Road By Prince Charles Dickson Jos, Plateau Nigeria
To say that Nigeria is a complex nation is to state an obvious fact that Ali is a man just as Aisha cannot be a man...but often I have been of the opinion that our complexities are functions of primarily leadership and then secondarily primordial sentiments of the led. In the recent past I talked about the need to abhor the crave and present call for an ethnic President, and as the epic battle for the crown approaches fast it is obvious that very few of us have reasoned and once more I am forced to ask us to look beyond our shoulders.
I had taken a week's break to reflect on the state of the nation, and as I observed the break, more events continued to happen that only reinforced the fact that Nigeria indeed has a problem. The ruling party had its congress and in many cases it was marred by various levels of violence, for the AC one of the opposition it was no different story, as the PDP continued to sell its N25M nomination form I could not but mourn my fate as I asked why did I not float a party at least for all intent and purposes to sell nomination forms. Politics a big business in Nigeria.
As at the last count, most of all the two time serving Governors had signified intention to be President, from Donald Duke, Yerima, to Udenwa, Yaradua, to Egwu, Nnanami to Bukar Ibrahim. For our South-South brothers it is the battle to correct injustice, nobel as the cause is, in the North it is about a gentleman’s agreement, that does not have the peoples consent. I ask is the agitation for the Presidency by ethnic blocs just about equity or to get a bite on the national cake. Maybe if the Obj led PDP tsunami had done the right thing we would have bothered less about who the next President.
But still on these Governors that want to be President why is it after two terms and the prospects of a political limbo that they are all clamoring to be Presidents. Is it a political calculation that it is better to be an ex-Presidential candidate than to be otherwise?
Speaking in Markurdi, Governor Attah, a Presidential wannabe acknowledged that a power pact had been agreed by the PDP but that the South-South was not party to it, or consulted...what a story, did it occur to these so-called power brokers that Nigerians probably would prefer a Middle Belt Presidency, did it occur to the Presidency that Nigerians as a result of our present suffering may have even preferred another Lugard, more like a new slavery or exodus. Has it occurred to us from all the present permutations and the gross and crass under-performance of the electoral body that yes, there would be an election but that the results are gradually been tailored to a particular desired end of some few.
How did we get here is not so much the question, but that we have refuse to acknowledge that there is a problem so we are treading the same old path. Whose agreement was it that we compensate the Yorubas for Abiola's sake, I was listening to Audu Ogbeh's stand that Obasanjo escaped being impeached early in the morning of this democracy so that the Yorubas don't feel bad...What insult, when did the Nigerian Presidency become a subject of ethnic jingoism...I will tell us, since time Imo River, it has been and we are still on that track and the result would always be visible for us to see, mediocrity!
We either face it and become a stronger nation for it, we deny it and we pay the price, for once I ask, what if Peter Odili was a Yoruba man, what if Donald Duke was from Ogun State, why is it that for all the achievements on newspapers and broadcast media that Gbenga Daniel has achieved he cannot get a shot on the Presidency, or can Tinubu not be President? Answer is no, they have had their turn, so the Presidency is a turn by turn arrangement, it is not about what Nigerians want or merit.
Today every Presidential material from the Aso Okes amongst them to the danshiki and Babarigas, very few know the problem with Nigeria way past we shall give the reform a human face, the truth is we are in state in this nation where it is not much about the reforms but facing reality. Reality is that in seven years of the present administration can Nigerian boast of portable water, are our roads motor-able, the air now is ridden with potholes, and coffins ply our skies. We cannot feed ourselves, we cannot educate ourselves, we simply cannot get much right.
The men who are seeking to govern us, what are their credentials, the roads in Port Harcourt is in a state of higgled piggledy, in sixes and sevens and the man is said to have performed. Go to Lafia, Uyo, Owerri, Dutse, haba! The others have running battles with the EFCC. Others have moral issues that cannot be thrown away but in our usual style we are throwing so much out all in the name of we just have to get Obj out. We forget that all in the name of getting the military out one way or the other we started our democracy on a bad footing with characters such as Salisu Buhari, Evans Ewerem and co., we have in a fast motion forget the furniture allowance, the Ghana must go bags on Legislative floors, the Torontos and Chicagos.
What really is different today as we look for men that will steer the ship of governance come 2007, in 1999 we were ill prepared, and today it is obvious that we are ill prepared. I have not registered by any means manual or electronic capture...The opposition is complaining, INEC is assuring us, but the truth is what a blind-man knows. We can appreciate that in the country of blind men, the one eyed man is king, but how do we explain the circumstances where the bind man seeks and successfully manipulates well sighted people.
If we could turn back the hands of time, would Nigerians have voted Obasanjo in 1999, maybe yes, but in 2003, it was obvious that Nigerians did not vote him. From the flip side of life, a friend told me that on a flight, IBB said to Obasanjo, that if they threw N5M they would make 50M Nigerians happy and the pilot said to himself that if he threw both men out of the plane130 million Nigerian would be happy. There are so many of the pretenders to the throne that would be good riddance to rubbish, there are many that would be better off cooling in detention.
Atiku speaking to the press these days more than usual gives the picture of calm desperation sometimes and has not really shown beyond doubt why he should be trusted. The PTDF for all it has been and will be is a case of asking a man that does not know how to drive and owns no car to return the car keys he never had.
From all the VP's responses, all the drama of the Campaign train of the VP's camp...the long and short is that for all rumors there is an element of truth. Each time the question of abuse is brought up, the Vice has never looked confident beyond rabble rousing answers of "I did not abuse my office" and it is just not good enough.
We have men, we have hearts, we have the stuff, we have answers to our problems. What we are looking for in Sokoto is in the Shokoto. What are the leadership potentials of the present crop, are they the best. What are the messages of hope that Nigerians need to hold on to for tomorrow? It is sad that we cannot even see a two/three horse race yet of two suitably qualified persons that can generate a passion from citizenry that things can change or is it about to change.
For the woman trader at the Central market Kaduna what hope, for the farmer somewhere in Jigawa what future...for the local tailor in Aba, where is the electricity to power his small 6 by 6 meter shop. In the neighborhood I am domiciled in , water is a privilege not a right. When the electricity is on for over three hours at a stretch I ask my household to go off the generating set, unsure that it is from the Power company that has done not much other than change its name.
What programme does Abdullahi Adamu have for the Niger Delta, how many Tinapas can Duke bring and can they really be the cure. How well has Odili managed Rivers State resources, can we trust these men with our future, is it a risk worth taking. Is it a sane decision to even allow an IBB the pleasure of even being referred to as a front runner when all he wants to do or has to offer is to once more take Nigerians like a laboratory rat to the table for experiment.
None of these men are talking about our sports, a unifying factor that has no South-South nor North, no PDP or AC, can we start seeing a new healthcare delivery system that is functional. No matter the statistics provided by the CBN, Finance Ministry and government as a whole, if a family cannot afford food, and those that manage to get something cannot afford cooking gas or fuel, how will life improve for the masses. How will these men bring about a new middle class, one that no longer exists...In Nigeria you either rich or poor, the only other are the association of managers. Will the next President work assiduously towards a Nigeria that works...
When one sets a date, it is strange how time flies, as the days approach, the picture gets clear, what are the hopes that we share, will our votes count. What have we learnt from history. I have not set out to criticize the candidates, I have not painted a picture of gloom, I simply have asked that we move from docile follower-ship to what is called a state of revolutionary upheaval. The citizens of this nation have no voice so we cannot expect Almighty Allah to interfere in our matter until we realize we have a voice and that the voice of the people is that of God...For now the only people that lay claim to hearing from their 'gods' are the politicians...because their thieving voices are loudest...Change is necessary, may the Almighty Allah help us.
|