The clouds have gathered. The sky is heavy, and darkened by
an unseemly weight waiting to be unleashed on the earth. Normally, the mention
of clouds should elicit feelings and expectations of showers and refreshing. But
I this parlance, it is the clouds that have to do with how far and how well the
future of our great country will be determined. It is the cloud that comes with
a lot of dramatics and theatrics. A kind of cloud that once again reminds some
class of people that they have roots. The kind of cloud that drags in its wake
weeping, wheel-barrow pushing, and chewing or roasted corn in the streets,
standing stuffed in a kindergarten uniform singing the national anthem and standing
at attention, and all of the sad reminders of the people’s relevance which
comes once every four years. It is a kind of cloud that gives the people a part
of their stolen commonwealth in exchange for their blood. Yes, it is the clouds
of the elections which will happen in no distant time.
Like is expected, an avalanche of aspirants have flooded the
polity, each jostling over themselves to outdo the other to garner the sympathy
and affections of the people, who would be induced one way or another, and
abandoned for the next four years, as stated by the vicious cycle which has
become the sorry lot of Nigerians, and indeed the scenario is not much
different in most parts of Africa and the third world.
Without any libelous undertone, it is clear as crystal that
the present administration has failed the Nigerian middle and lower class,
which boasts of the larger swathe of the populace by the way. There is not a
single verifiable index of development that this government has been able to
bequeath the nation, and I for one have been one of the very patient ones who
was willing to give the government time to acclimatize to the horrendous state
of the economy it met, being in the know of the larceny and perfidy that
characterized the penultimate administration. But, as it were, it would appear
that this administration has wasted every snippet of goodwill on which it rode
into power. In the place of the Messianic position it appeared to have
occupied, the people have been all the worse for it, receiving death,
suffering, tears and blood in exchange for the hope and optimism that gave the
administration the mandate to rule.
But be that as it may, the four years which many thought
would never end are finally drawing to a close. Those who thought they would
not survive the hunger in the land and all of the vices that has pierced the
fabric of the country like a lance, can now clink glasses and offer toasts. But
the decision to change the narrative of the goings-on in this country rests
solely on us, and the length of this celebration will depend on the quality of
wine we choose to drink. But, for starters, we can at least jump up and punch
the air Drogba-style for scoring this feat-almost surviving the fiery darts of
lack and frustration which actually killed some of our compatriots, destroyed
marriages, dehumanized people, demeaned the value of the human life, humiliated
many, and made patients of many hitherto healthy countrymen.
But in the words of a notable philosopher, where you have
been is not as glorious as where you are going. He may have said it in a comparative
light, but in the Nigerian sense, no body wants to even cast a glance at where
we have been. The sights are too gory, the memory is acidic, its vibes too destructively
deafening to even desire a retrospect, such that the only tenable option would
be to do all in our power to move forward, without as much as a backward glance.
That we can do if we collectively decide as a nation to take our fate in our
hands and collectively decide that this macabre dance has got to stop.
For starters, there has to be a mechanism in place that
holds leaders accountable to the populace. This is not the usual recourse to an
already infiltrated arm of the law devoid of bite and drive. You can’t just
come up, make promises you know you will not keep, do what you like during your
term, and come back cap in hand after four years. This is too much of a
sodomization, and it is worse in our case because it is done with piece of dry
wood. This system has to be verifiable, effective, and efficient. Secondly,
there has to be a way of decentralizing power, and making it more of an avenue
for service than a means of moving several steps up the wealth ladder. A collorary
of this also is the fact that public office has become a means of compensating
political associates and party faithfuls, instead of an avenue of effecting the
much-needed change and development that was promised. A doctor has no business
being the Minister of Labour, for example.
The nation suffers more from this kind of political stance. It kills the
commonwealth and reduces all that have should have meant anything to mere cash
and contracts. The main expertise and know-how that should have been brought to
bear becomes practically non-existent. To effectively do this, there needs to
be an extent to which the party can prevail on the administration to do certain
things. What we have seen in the past is a party system fraught with loads of
godfatherism and excessive control by people whose only understanding of governance
is how much will flow to their private pockets just because they finance a
particular brand of candidature.
Again, we should strive to usher into power people who have
a proven track record of integrity, knowledgeability, skill, administrative
prowess, standing in the society, mettle, people with a robust understanding
and appreciation of the complex and peculiar structuring of Nigeria and the
Nigerian people, not just someone who has bags of salt and soap and lean cash
to throw around. When we are ready to collectively call the bluff of any such
people who have nothing but a stolen piece of our collective heritage to offer
us, we can then say that uhuru is by the corner.
The general argument to the call to come out en masse to
exercise our franchise is that however much and vigorously we vote, what will
eventually happen will happen. But that is not completely true, even though it
can happen to an extent. It only takes a collective will to do the right thing,
and the things and people that seem powerful will not be as powerful as they
threatened to be.
A lot of the time, the solutions to complex problems are not
complex. It only took a simple Word from God to give life and form to a chaotic
earth. This submission may seem simplistic and pedestrian, but a holistic application
will see us miles away from where we are now. Let us use this opportunity
wisely.
Ogbonna Nnaemeka Henry
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