By
Lekan Akinosho
Eligible
voters in Nigeria will have the opportunity of exercising their franchise in a
couple of days if the incumbent President and his ruling party, PDP, allow it
this time after the inexplicable postponement of the last election.
In choosing
between the grossly inept and roundly decadent president and a former military
ruler and retired general, the decision of the electorate will not be based
mainly on socio-economic issues, which should be the central focus of any
meaningful campaign.
The passion
with which those who find themselves on either side of the political divide
hold tenaciously to their viewpoint is disquieting.
The
pervasive decadence in the polity ensures that all reasonable persons settle
for an alternative to the 'shoeless' hypocrite who patently lacks the clue to undertake an assignment of such
enormity, not to imagine his inability to appreciate the level of sagacity
required to manage even a county, let alone a multi-cultural political climate.
All good people look forward to a change in leadership soon. Herein lies the
problem. The country has been so battered economically to the extent that Nigerians now expect a super human being, a
modern day Hercules, who will come to clean the Augean stable. Added to this myriad of socio-economic
challenges is the retrogressive politics of ethnicity
introduced into electioneering campaign by those rooting for Jonathan.
Nigerians have never been this divided along ethnic and religious cleavages.
There
are many commentators who, out of deep frustration foisted on the long
suffering people of the country by the thieving band, now express their
preference for the ascendance of a strong and incorruptible leader who will arrest this
free fall into the abyss.
Many Nigerians, professionals, students, artisans,
market women and an ever increasing army of the unemployed and disillusioned,
appear unanimous in their rejection of the incumbent and the approbation of the
aspiration of Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the APC.
The belief is
anchored on his antecedents as a disciplinarian whose military background stands
in good stead to rescue the country. There is bound to be the belief that most
Nigerians are waiting, anxiously, for a leader with moral integrity to salvage
the polity from the rudderless and unscrupulous leadership.
On
the other hand, those who accuse Buhari of sundry offences point at this very Messianic posturing, in an implied
admittance of failure on the part of the ruling oligarchy, asserting that
Buhari is not the saviour that the people need at this time. The APC candidate
has never told anyone that he is the answer to all the problems bedeviling the
country. He refers to himself as 'a born again democrat'.
He appreciates the
severe limitations imposed on the president of the country by the provisions of
the Constitution and the institutions of state in a democratic setting. He has
alluded to the enormity of the problems facing the country at different fora
and left no one in doubt that he intends to run a government that will be all
inclusive, but with zero tolerance
for corruption and all acts- which militate against the development of the
country.
Ethnicity
and religion have been the major pillars of deception upon which the structure
for the expropriation of the commonwealth has been hinged since independence.
Nigerians have always been reminded of their ethnic cleavage at a time like the
current electioneering campaign going on in the country.
This was the situation
before and after independence up till this moment. But, it is arguable, if the ongoing
mudslinging and basically indecorous verbiage employed as a campaign tactic is
not the worst since politics started in the country. Nigerians are being
driven back to their ethno-religious cocoons and fraudulent politicians are
leaving nothing to chance in their attempts to divert the attention of the people from
the embarrassing facts of mass poverty in a country awash with petro-dollars.
The
emerging political structures appear to support the disempowerment of the mass
of the people. The so called National Assembly is not truly representative of
the yearnings and aspirations of the people. The people only come into
reckoning when their name becomes a tool for negotiating for humongous
allocations for the novel, but criminally conceived notion of
'constituency projects'.
Virtually all public institutions have been
affected adversely by the putrescent acts of corruption to the extent that
average Nigerians are joining the change chorus every day. They fervently seek
solutions to the endemic socio-economic problems facing them as a group of the
dispossessed and marginalized.
Herein
lies the conundrum; they seek a super human being whose moral
stature towers above the equally moral dwarfs in the polity. Many are supporting the People’s General in the mistaken
belief that he possesses the magic wand to solve all problems. Those who stand against
his aspiration also remind us that he may not be messiah that the people are
waiting for because fundamental distortion in the plan designed for development.
The
APC candidate himself has never pretended to be a messiah. He has never failed to
tell everyone who cares to listen that what the PDP has taken sixteen years to
destroy will require all hands on deck. He promises to lead by example. He vows
to ensure that nobody gets any salaries or allowances outside what the Revenue
Mobilisation body will approve. He will revamp our moribund refineries and
reverse the parlour state of our infrastructure.
All these are laudable. What
we must all assist him doing, however, is the restructuring of the country, not
in the manner which some confused elements canvass. Devolution of powers
must take into account the peculiar nature of our geo-political
zones. We can all aspire towards achieving lofty heights adopting different but
complementary approaches. We need a charismatic figure at the center who will
be the guard and mobiliser.
Our
right to choose must not be limited to the periodic expression of wishes, which in reality, we are
excluded from the decision-making process. It is our civic responsibility to
ensure that we participate actively by challenging, vigorously, retrogressive
measures put in place to short-change us.
Democratic institutions are not just created
by fiat by sincere democrats. The evolution of these institutions must be
at the pace of the political development of the society involved. These
institutions must reflect the complexities of the community. Mere presence of
these institutions does not necessarily presuppose that a truly democratic
system has been entrenched.
The
people must be able to claim ownership of these structures. The current disconnect
existing between the people and the so called representatives confirms the
futility inherent in reposing too much confidence in the ability of individuals
as agents of representation as against the conscious development of the
socio-political structures needed for real development.
As
Nigerians prepare to vote on the 28th March, 2015, the choice between them will
not be between a weakling and a superman. Far from it. Jonathan is indeed weak and corrupt. Buhari cannot be placed
on the pedestal with the clueless and inept incumbent.
The General, on the
other hand, will not lead to the satisfaction of the people because of his
antecedents in public service alone. He will need a strong system and a
progressive embrace of the politics of altruism by those who truly desire
quality change. Only he cannot do it. The institutions must be strengthened to discourage malfeasance
and other social ills which militate against development.
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