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INEC, Obasanjo, Atiku And Others...Common Sense Is Not Common By Prince Charles Dickson Jos, Plateau Nigeria
The struggle between "for" and "against" is the mind's worst disease. Bruce Lee
The tale of the entity in the last few years has been one that has evoked sympathy from well meaning people even none Nigerians despite their ulterior motives have found it difficult to understand why this elephant called Nigeria has refused to stand nay walk. With great minds at our disposal, resources beyond imagination, we are still grappling with how to go. For donkey years like my granddad would call it we have remained at the crossroads.
What makes all this painful is not that we cannot make it, but at times we have seen a semblance of progress, even with the disaster that Obasanjo and co. has been, one cannot with the wave of hand dismiss the fact that the man worked, how well may be the subject of intense debate. He pursued an anti-corruption push, yet his best friends were crooks, he doctored EFCC list, his Vice allegedly stole under his nose.
I would not bore us with the details or speculated reasons, imagined or real scores both the President and his Vice has against each other but I beg to our reasoning and not emotions that both men have reduced us and the system to a fight of for and against. And the truth is that we are worse of it. Today it is sad to see highly respected citizens and Nigerians tearing at each other because of two miscreants that could have done better. In their bitter rivalry and confusion very few people have been able to stop, listen and ask any tangible question, it has been simply a bandwagon effect for supporters of both camp.
On INEC, we have reduced ourselves to charge and bail lawyers arguing the inconsequential while the necessary issues go untackled, nobody has questioned INEC regarding the following, how it came about over 60million voters, when and how it displayed the Voters' register? Barely days to the election we are yet to see the Voters' card. Things are not just falling apart, they have fallen apart.
INEC, PDP, AC, ANPP, PPA, DPP, ADC...you name it have failed practically in providing any form of leadership or purposeful opposition, rather it has been a gutter fight, men that we have or we intend to entrust our future to, simple resort to street fight language and we find it amusing. Ordinarily Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has shown judgement, wisdom, personal appeal, and proven competence. But can we say that as a group, Ijaw, Yoruba, Efik, Fulani, Igbo we are willing to entrust to Atiku, Kalu, Buhari...maybe yes, certainly not Yar'Ardua...these men have they shown beyond doubt that given the chance good judgement, wisdom, personal appeal and proven competence will be glaring at the polls?
It was Frank Zappa that said there is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life. Ngozi Iweala came, saw and ran away, but give it to her she gave it her best. Oby Ekwesili maybe going in to replace her at the World Bank, Nigerians of different ethnic groups and religion are doing the nation proud, yet we allow an institution like INEC, individuals like Obasanjo and Atiku make a mockery of us. Like it these men have for the wrong and right reasons patched their names of the sands of Nigerian times, but what does the future hold for our kids.
INEC as an institution that is funded by taxpayers' money has continued to operate like it is above the law, Obasanjo has shown that he is the law, Atiku may have won all the cases there is to win but we forget that words are reflective of the state of mind, his words as opposition has been below expectation reducing all these to a do or die affair. Through utterances and action what we have is a situation where crime has become contagious. Government has become a lawbreaker, contempt for law has followed; every man has become a law unto himself; and anarchy looms.
While the ice cream was on their plates they enjoyed it, that is their philosophy...leadership in Nigeria is come and chop, Iwu cares less about his place in history, Atiku and Obasanjo dealt all manners of blows to PTDF, when it went sour, Atiku, Fasawe, PTDF, Obasanjo,Tom, Dick and Harry are crying foul. Who would have bothered if these men fought over providing health care for their respective village, would any one have cared that Atiku built a hospital that could handle ligament operations in Yola then a school with tuition fees above the reach of the ordinary Nigerian. No one would despise Baba if Yar'Adua was treated for catarrh in a local dispensary in Katsina, yet he is to commission a Stella Obasanjo Hospital without state of art nor science equipment. When the going was good neither of these men inquired why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate was their philosophy.
May Almighty Allah punish enemies of Nigeria but above all Nigerians need to stand and fight their cause, it is our fight, our future, this Nigeria is mine as much as it is mine...There was no oil in 1940, there was Nigeria, we lived off kolanuts, groundnuts, nuts and nuts yet we had a system that was working and could be improved upon, while others worked, failed, stood up, failed and stood and are succeeding now, we have continued in repetitive failure. Same people, same mistake, same story...like a stunned market woman holding my waist...Almighty Allah save us.
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