Nigeria has always been referred to as the Giant of Africa, not just for its size and population, but essentially for its critical leadership role in Africa’s development in the past half-century.
From the early 1970s through the 1990s, Nigeria was the first port of call for African countries seeking help in areas of security, development, and independence. Nigeria sent security forces as part of the UN Military Peace team to the Congo. It did the same thing in the leadership of ECOMOG to help restore peace in embattled Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Nigeria is not a country in Southern Africa. Yet it played the leadership role among the Frontline States that helped secure South Africa’s majority rule in the mid-1990s helped black South Africans out of the Apartheid regime and brought in Nelson Mandela as the first black President in a majority black nation. The visit of Nelson Mandela to Nigeria after his release from prison is a story well-documented. According to Mandela, “the world will never respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world are looking up to Nigeria to be a source of pride and confidence.”
Again, in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, Nigeria created the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) program from which it sent Technical assistance in the form of medical doctors, university professors and other academics, and other professionals to numerous African and Caribbean countries to help them meet some of their needs in those areas. So, over so many years, many other African countries have looked up to Nigeria for leadership in very many areas. They still do.
To do all of the above, Nigeria was relatively self-sufficient financially, with resources from its oil, agriculture and manufacturing which were in pretty good shape. It managed its resources relatively well.
Then we moved into the 21st century. And things began to change gradually for the worse. Deterioration seeped into the education sector. School infrastructures began to collapse and the quality of education started declining. The health sector did not fare better and our doctors, in droves, started looking for greener pastures overseas. Agriculture was neglected as more emphasis was on oil sector and how much money people could make overnight. Even farming for local consumption was threatened by terrorists who came in various forms to invade community farms and displace the farmers. Foreign investments were redirected to other destinations. Local manufacturing was seriously hit. As a result, unemployment, especially among the youth, exploded and the resultant idle minds resorted to various forms of criminality to survive. Yet the powers-that-be did not seem to care. Politics became a cash-and-carry phenomenon. Democracy in Nigeria became government by the few over the rest. Resources were disproportionately shared. The power of ethnicity and religion became staggering. The us-versus-them syndrome in politics beclouded the ONE NATION goal of the founding fathers. The foundation of the brotherhood that was to tie us together as a people with one destiny started crumbling. The nation’s wealth was being brazenly looted with little or no consequence for the looters. The giant of Africa was slowly becoming a dwarf. If this is allowed to continue, Nigeria will go over the precipice sooner than later.
But this can be stopped. And it should be stopped now, if not, posterity will not forgive us.
We need to continue playing the leadership role on the continent, both in our own interest and in the interest of the rest of the continent. We cannot afford to relinquish that role and our rightful position in Africa and the world. A new Nigeria is possible and desirable for Africa’s sake and to set an example for the continent. We must stop voting for politicians whose driving force in governance is ethnicity, religious identity and affiliation, and the propensity to divert our national wealth into private pockets. We now need political leaders who love Nigeria for its sake and its continued development and prosperity as their goal.
These must be individuals with integrity, competence, and character. These qualities must be evident and verifiable from their experience and history of public service. Nigeria needs a new beginning, and the time to start is on February 25th when we all go out to vote. And we MUST vote more wisely this time around.
The power to change the country is in our hands. Let us make the right choices for our sake and the sake of all Africa because Africa cannot get it right if Nigeria does not succeed.
Professor Matt Mogekwu
Maryland, USA
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, is the classic definition of insanity. Nigerians, definitely, do not want to be referred to as insane. So, why should we do the same thing always and expect a different result? Why should we continue to put the same characters in governance who have brought us misery, poverty, poor healthcare, poor education, and the most ungodly level of insecurity, and expect a glorious Nigeria?
There is now a critical need for introspection to find out where we have been all along, where we are today, and where we actually should be as a nation with integrity and respect. To continue our usual practice in governance, and expect a progressive country that meets the basic needs of our people, will amount to self-delusion – no matter the extent to which we include the term “progressive” in our party name.
Democracy as a government of the people, by and for the people, will have no meaning unless it is practiced the way it should be – no matter our claim to it as our party philosophy.
So far, our approach to governance, given the way Nigerian affairs have been administered by our political leaders since independence has left us in a kind of quagmire for which the citizens can only blame themselves for their unwillingness to challenge the status quo. Worse still, most of the citizens lack the courage to speak truth to power out of fear of losing access to the crumbs from politicians during elections. The decadence continues and the masses continue to suffer in silence. No. Things have to change and the time for the transformation is now!
Today, we must be ready to confront our challenges which consist of the following, among others:
Corruption; insecurity; poor economic management; limited access to quality education; poor healthcare; poor infrastructure; and lack of inclusivity in governance.
All these issues are serious in and of themselves. But none is impossible to deal with. However, one appears to have the key to the solution of the others. And that is corruption. By definition, corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division, and environmental problems. It is clear from this definition that corruption is our overarching problem in Nigeria because therein lies all our other inadequacies listed above. Where there is corruption, there will be a lack of sufficient resources to tackle other ailments such as infrastructural underdevelopment, poor healthcare, lack of quality education for all, and lack of necessary resources to fund our security needs – hence the state of insecurity in Nigeria today. All these must change, and the time is now. We must fight back or else we are sure to go over the precipice very soon. So how do we turn things around?
Incidentally, the solution is in our hands.
We must get into governance only people who believe that public service is not for the accumulation of wealth. We should allow only people with verifiable character and competence to be in charge of, and manage our national economy. We must elect into office those who do not claim political leadership as a birthright. We must put into office only those with vision who can plan for tomorrow and beyond. The “we” in all of these, implies that everyone is involved – man, woman, and child. All hands must together pull the chain that moves the wheel from a decadent Nigeria to a New Nigeria that is for all and not just for a few privileged. We want a Nigeria in which all citizens can stand side by side, anywhere, anytime, and say with gusto that though tribe, tongue, and faith may differ, but in brotherhood we stand. That will be our New Nigeria. There is no other choice.
We can achieve this only if we vote wisely on February 25th.
Professor Matt Mogekwu
Maryland, USA
It’s like quarter to D-Day in Nigeria, we are so close to 25/2 and all still seems quite hazy.
I am not physically on the ground in the Country but I am very much around and quite familiar with the state of the Nation. I am constantly in touch with my people.
As much as I love my people, I am quite worried about how quite a number of issues are handled. I am a Christian but I am quite worried that when I try to discuss serious political issues with many of my brothers and sisters in Nigeria, rather than face the stack realities, they are always quick to tell me ‘We have committed everything to the hands of God and we know He will do it for us. I am a very strong believer but I am aware that God always works in partnership with men (male and female).
Many of our people are not picking up their PVCs and they are convinced that God will release them from the oppression of the mindless ruling class.
I hold online high-powered political meetings regularly and I sample the views of many ordinary people from time to time. Many call me on the telephone simply because Nigeria has turned many Nigerians into beggars. Most of them are very capable, hard-working individuals that I have known for a very long time, but they are now a shadow of themselves, pauperized by their Country.
In the last 8 years, insecurity has virtually crippled Nigeria. I say Nigeria looks the other way while her people are slaughtered, and put in bondage by bandits. Looks like nobody in the government really cares.
It’s been 8 tortuous years for our people and the closer we get to the Presidential election the more pain is being inflicted, no money in circulation. Looks like 90% of our people have not sighted the new Naira notes, Fuel scarcity, a common feature in Nigeria, is biting harder. The cost of living, I have been reliably informed has jumped by about 100%.
In spite of all the bad news, quite a number of us have refused to give up. In spite of the gloomy picture leading some to a prophecy of doom over Nigeria, we still believe Nigeria can be salvaged.
We are not talking about any microwave mentality. It’s all about a well-articulated scheme that will progressively turn things around, with all of us determined to be part of the change.
We however need to kick start the process with 25/2! It is gratifying to note that there are encouraging moves in this direction in Nigeria. New alignments like never before seen in Nigeria. People come together not on the basis of religion or ethnic considerations or the size of their bank account but for the love of a dying Nation.
People really determined to rescue Nigeria through the ballot box. These people are not money bags, they are not people with an extremely questionable past.
One cannot but wish to support a group of politicians in Nigeria whose plan is to offer honest and competent leadership in turning the Country around, a group that emphasizes the shift of our attention from consumption to production by running a production-centered economy. A group of politicians whose plan is to restructure the polity through effective legal and institutional reforms. A group that promises to leapfrog Nigeria into the 4th Industrial Revolution.
It is indeed the 11th hour in Nigeria’s political space but there’s still a lot of last-minute running around we can all do to encourage ourselves to get things done properly. Not to allow worn-out, tired politicians to continue to pull the wool over the eyes of our people.
We need an agile, well-packaged individual to coordinate our forward march to a New Nigeria. A leader who is equipped enough for the monumental assignment but still ready to learn from and work with like-minded Nigerians drawn from all over the Country and the Diaspora.
I keep asking myself how much monetary wealth our founding fathers of Nigeria’s political space have. Was it their financial wealth that endeared them to the people? Awolowo, Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello got into politics at a relatively young age. They were rich in ideas, with excellent physical and mental capacity to give what it takes to function at the optimal level.
For what my grandchildren would say is a ‘humongous’ assignment ahead of us as a Country, we cannot afford to make any political mistake at this point in time as that will be too costly. It is so important to face the stack realities of the 2020s in Nigeria and join hands to make what some greedy Nigerians would call impossible possible. What has never happened before in Nigeria, is in my view, set in the pipeline and we can all be part of the Bloodless revolution through the ballot box.
Femi Idowu is a Communications Consultant based in London
He was a one time Political Editor NTA Ibadan (1978)
He was also Bureau Chief , NTA News Ibadan Bureau
The events of the past few weeks in Nigeria have been extremely perplexing, disturbing, and disappointing. I must note that the problems placed on the people, deliberate or inadvertent, are most uncalled for and avoidable.
We have portrayed ourselves as a group of underdeveloped people from an underdeveloped part of the World. It’s not that the so-called developing countries do not have volatile issues they deal with from time to time, but one can see maturity in the way crises are handled and only their rabble-rousers end up as extremists as it were, most of the time.
Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Nigeria. In all spheres of human endeavor, everything looks messed up, and everyone also looks so worked up and out of control most of the time. Of course, we longer have a middle class hence I believe the poverty mentality pervades all sectors. As a Nigerian Christian, it is in Nigeria I have seen Christians from the Ivory Tower behave more like emotional wrecks in the Church. Illiterate pastors are able to lead them by the nose. That however is a subject for another day.
My emphasis today is on the odious experience Nigeria is currently going through.
I have never been comfortable with Buhari’s style of leadership and his Naira ‘recolouring exercise’ did not come as a huge surprise to me and I think that is part of the reason I have been able to manage my emotions substantially on the accompanying unfortunate developments.
We were politically immature enough to swallow the bait of ‘anti-corruption’ set by him and his allies (they have all mostly turned against each other now) pre-2015. At that time strange bedfellows got into bed together and many of us were not smart enough to see through the unholy alliance destined for doom. All along, the so called structures they thought they put in place kept imploding and quite a number of Nigerians kept saying there is none like them. That is why I believe they had the audacity to want to continue to rule the Country wallowing in their self -created mess called governance.
Too many things have happened in the last 8 years that the discerning would definitely not be surprised at where the ship of State is at the moment…dangerously tottering!
The most important thing for me to say at the moment however is that moments like this call for caution and unfortunately many Nigerians have thrown caution to the wind.
I have said at different fora in the recent past, both in Nigeria and elsewhere, that every human being needs to guard against the tendency of ‘scratching to the bone’, that is over reacting, no matter how tense a situation is. It never leads to a positive conclusion.
We are going through a period that will test our capacity to the limit-especially our emotional maturity levels.
I have always believed that a high emotional quotient, in the final analysis, is far more profitable and desirable than a high intelligence quotient (of course we need to train ourselves to be constantly upgraded in the two dimensions)
Emotional maturity (hence a high EQ) is about the ability to manage our emotion and the emotion of those in our sphere of influence. Most Nigerians, I dare say, have failed woefully in this regard in the last few weeks and we need to watch it! Many have said in anger and frustration what they should not have said. Many have done despicable things, which they are likely to regret forever.
Unfortunately, people with low emotional quotient always find it very difficult to review their actions and utterances to repair the damage. Many top political actors in Nigeria, have shown very clearly in the last few weeks in particular, that they have a low emotional quotient and so are definitely not fit to rule a complex setting like Nigeria.
Emotional immaturity is the reason why many spouses have had what would have been a beautiful journey together aborted prematurely. It’s the reason many business ventures have been badly battered and why many families have been shattered.
It’s the responsibility of everyone in any given situation to know when to apply the emotional brake before bad becomes worse. It should also be noted that even when we are not enjoying leadership from the front, there is always scope for lateral leadership which could help to substantially calm the storm in a situation like we have found ourselves in Nigeria.
As we look forward to the Presidential election on Saturday, Peter Obi, continues to demonstrate the kind of emotional capacity needed to move us forward as a Nation. He has not made any inciting statement. The people around him have not had any reason to interpret his message to Nigerians. His comportment has been spot-on on the field and in all his Television and Radio interviews. He is ever ready to discuss, reeling out facts and figures.
Peter Obi is an embodiment of both a high emotional quotient and a high intelligence quotient required to govern a new Nigeria.
His performance makes it very clear that it is only when a politician does not have a well- articulated plan for the people that they (I am being gender sensitive) resort to inflammatory, divisive statements.
As Saturday February 25, 2023 draws closer, there is the need for more sober reflection by all Nigerians. I urge more caution in speeches. Don’t allow anyone to push you to do anything you will regret forever. The current situation in Nigeria shall pass like so many others we have gone through in the Country. I am a living witness to so many political problems in Nigeria since the 1950s. Many of them ‘hotter’ than what we are experiencing now (without in anyway playing down the significance of the present problems).
No matter the disappointment and displeasure of the moment, my prayer is that out of the pain and discomfort, will emerge a stronger, more viable, more democratic, more civilized restructured Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Pastor Femi Idowu is a Communications Consultant based in London.
He belongs to the ‘New Nigeria Project’ group.
He was Political Editor (NTA Ibadan 1978)
He was also Bureau Chief (NTA Network) Ibadan Bureau
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, is the classic definition of insanity. Nigerians, definitely, do not want to be referred to as insane. So, why should we do the same thing always and expect a different result? Why should we continue to put the same characters in governance who have brought us misery, poverty, poor healthcare, poor education, and the most ungodly level of insecurity, and expect a glorious Nigeria?
There is now a critical need for introspection to find out where we have been all along, where we are today, and where we actually should be as a nation with integrity and respect. To continue our usual practice in governance, and expect a progressive country that meets the basic needs of our people, will amount to self-delusion – no matter the extent to which we include the term “progressive” in our party name.
Democracy as a government of the people, by and for the people, will have no meaning unless it is practiced the way it should be – no matter our claim to it as our party philosophy.
So far, our approach to governance, given the way Nigerian affairs have been administered by our political leaders since independence has left us in a kind of quagmire for which the citizens can only blame themselves for their unwillingness to challenge the status quo. Worse still, most of the citizens lack the courage to speak truth to power out of fear of losing access to the crumbs from politicians during elections. The decadence continues and the masses continue to suffer in silence. No. Things have to change and the time for the transformation is now!
Today, we must be ready to confront our challenges which consist of the following, among others:
Corruption; insecurity; poor economic management; limited access to quality education; poor healthcare; poor infrastructure; and lack of inclusivity in governance.
All these issues are serious in and of themselves. But none is impossible to deal with. However, one appears to have the key to the solution of the others. And that is corruption. By definition, corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division, and environmental problems. It is clear from this definition that corruption is our overarching problem in Nigeria because therein lies all our other inadequacies listed above. Where there is corruption, there will be a lack of sufficient resources to tackle other ailments such as infrastructural underdevelopment, poor healthcare, lack of quality education for all, and lack of necessary resources to fund our security needs – hence the state of insecurity in Nigeria today. All these must change, and the time is now. We must fight back or else we are sure to go over the precipice very soon. So how do we turn things around?
Incidentally, the solution is in our hands.
We must get into governance only people who believe that public service is not for the accumulation of wealth. We should allow only people with verifiable character and competence to be in charge of, and manage our national economy. We must elect into office those who do not claim political leadership as a birthright. We must put into office only those with vision who can plan for tomorrow and beyond. The “we” in all of these, implies that everyone is involved – man, woman, and child. All hands must together pull the chain that moves the wheel from a decadent Nigeria to a New Nigeria that is for all and not just for a few privileged. We want a Nigeria in which all citizens can stand side by side, anywhere, anytime, and say with gusto that though tribe, tongue, and faith may differ, but in brotherhood we stand. That will be our New Nigeria. There is no other choice.
We can achieve this only if we vote wisely on February 25th.
Professor Matt Mogekwu
Maryland, USA
There is a cloud gathering over Nigeria as we approach February 25th, 2023.
The masses of our people are suffering like never before. There is no doubt that we have an unbelievable capacity to absorb shock, to live with a lack of electricity, roads ridden with potholes, banditry, and terrorism. We, as a people, are used to the notion that since no one in government cares, we just have to carry on the way things are.
Nonetheless, our people are being stretched beyond their elastic limits.
In the days closing in on the Presidential election, the powers that be, like Pharaoh in those days in Egypt, have no doubt decided to multiply the pains, ten-fold, with the double trouble of no money to spend, no fuel to move around on top of all pre-existing deplorable conditions.
We have been further pauperized and caged in misery and they are still telling us to vote for their candidate so the punishment can continue unabated.
There have been all sorts of conspiracy theories around what we have all now come to believe as deliberate actions by a power block in Nigeria trying to scuttle the 2023 elections. They are trying to destroy the fragile democracy in Africa’s most populous Country, which unquestionably at a point in time was indeed the giant of Africa.
No part of the Country is spared in the unrelenting discomfort. We are all, as it were, weeping and wailing!
Against this background, the battle for the soul of Nigeria has also been intensified through political campaigns, like never before, in the annals of Nigeria’s history. In spite of the fact that the ordinary Nigerian cannot withdraw money they have saved in the banks, the money-bag politicians are still moving money around in very large sums for vote buying.
They are trying to buy the conscience of the people, with what is actually a pittance of what they have stolen from the people.
I have very carefully listened to what the money-bag politicians are saying at their rallies and they are actually not saying anything that could improve the decadent situation in Nigeria. Some of them have introduced mesmerizing music to their campaign rallies to dull the senses of our people while they are fed with rubbish information.
In the midst of the confusion and stagnation in Nigeria has however emerged a voice giving hope to the people, a voice different from the voices of corrupt and wicked politicians. Several millions of Nigerians believe him. He sounds credible and his track record backs him up.
He is a two-term Governor and as hard as some people have tried they have not been able to rubbish him. Rather his light has continued to shine brighter and brighter, his message of hope resonating in every nook and cranny in Nigeria.
I believe the salvaging of Nigeria is ordained by God to be actualized through the Obi/Datti movement. And Now is the time!
I don’t ever use the name of God carelessly and my meeting with Peter Obi confirms to me that there’s something divine about his candidacy.
I was returning to London from the United States with my wife and two of our grandchildren.
When we landed at Heathrow Airport, I took our two grandsons to the toilet. As I looked over my shoulder, lo and behold it was Peter Obi right behind us and our discussion actually started from the toilet (not a VIP toilet) and continued outside until a crowd started to gather around us. We were able to take pictures and exchange telephone numbers before we parted.
For me that was a divine appointment.
I had been monitoring the political space in Nigeria before my meeting with HE Peter Obi (as a matter of fact, I have been monitoring and commenting/reporting on Politics in Nigeria for over 45 years) but the circumstances of our meeting ignited more curiosity in me.
Peter Obi has convinced me that we still have Nigerians who would never be power drunk, who will never forget they are just as human as any other Nigerian and so free of guilt that they also want to move with the people they wish to govern. Peter Obi tallies with the picture I have in mind of a leader for Nigeria in a time like this. I have also taken time to study his Vice Presidential Candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed and together they fit the bill for spearheading the move towards a new Nigeria.
This is why all of us, members of a group called the ‘New Nigeria Project’ are supporting them. We are concerned Nigerians drawn from all over the World and from all walks of life.
We are Nigerian professionals from different backgrounds namely academia, military, media, and religion and we live in different parts of the world, mostly in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
We understand the crucial nature of the forthcoming election, but we are not just about winning the Presidential and other elections in 2023, we have a vision for the Country post-election. A lot has gone wrong in Nigeria and it is going to take a well-articulated, long-term program to gradually but certainly get Nigeria back to form.
Meanwhile, we are focused on the Presidential election with Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed contesting on the platform of the Peoples Party, the Labour Party(LP), with the symbol of ‘Mama, Papa, Pikin’!
We want Nigerians to pay more attention to what they have sincerely promised to do, so they can cast their votes for a better Nigeria.
The Obi/Datti team will secure Nigeria, end banditry and insurgency, and unite our dear nation to manage our diversity so that no one is left behind. They will shift emphasis from consumption to production by running a production-centered economy that is driven by an agrarian revolution. They promise to leapfrog Nigeria into the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) through the application of scientific and technological innovations to create a digital economy and they offer a lot more.
The pain is really intense now in Nigeria but we need great grace to embrace the ray of hope and ensure we use our PVCs properly as we support ourselves to shun violence. Only the poor, and downtrodden bear the brunt of the violence.
I take solace in the understanding that a boil is most painful when it’s about to burst to give relief. Nigeria will soon be released from the clutches of embezzlers and treasury looters. We should not listen to politicians who preach violence simply for their self-interest. We want Nigeria to be rebuilt not to be fractured further. If we vote according to the dictate of our conscience, we will be witnessing the beginning of a NEW NIGERIA before the end of this month.
From our ‘Observation Tower’ we are in a state of ambivalence, as we feel the pain of Nigerians with sadness. At the same time, we are happy and delighted as we see the rays of hope shinning brighter and brighter, with new alliances North to South, East and West; with detribalized Nigerian patriots determined to bring into practical reality in Nigeria, that popular statement ‘What God cannot do does not exist’ through the ballot box.
May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Pastor Femi Idowu is a Communications Consultant Based in London
He was Political Editor NTA Ibadan (1978)
He was also Bureau Chief (NTA Network) Ibadan Bureau
A couple of weeks back, many Nigerians were getting more convinced about the birth of a New Nigeria. I can confirm that we were not unduly optimistic or presumptuous. We were all along getting more and more excited about the new wave of political awareness permeating the length and breadth of our Country. We monitored how at least one political movement, was crisscrossing the country spreading the message of renewed hope, with facts, figures, and critical analyses to convince all and sundry that a New Nigeria is possible.
From our vantage position, we monitored through our sensitive antenna that the message was being clearly received and seriously considered from the North to the South, the East to the West. Naysayers continued to say it was a fluke, that it was simply a social media activity. They said only the youths were buying the ideas of the new political enlightenment wave. They said the message could not fly in some parts of the Country. However we then soon discovered they started getting jittery. Actually, they started using the names, pictures, and messages of the person they were deriding to supplement their waning campaign efforts in different parts of the Country.
The Naysayers discovered that when they attempted to campaign in some areas they hitherto considered their stronghold, another politician’s name was being chanted. As the Country closed in on February 25, it was very clear to the so-called established parties, that the person they saw just as a rock star of Nigeria’s politics really meant business. They were getting to understand that their so-called structures were made of highly flammable materials and stood the risk of being consumed easily by the intensity of light emanating from the preacher of good tidings of better days ahead for the people of Nigeria.
We got to know that they had become more desperate, craving victory at all costs. We saw that in spite of the hardship and untold suffering by Nigerians through the Naira redesign policy particularly, they were still able to roll out more Bullion vans of raw cash. They had even redesigned their vote-buying strategies! They saw that so many things had fallen apart in their camps. For them, it became indeed a do-or-die affair.
We were hoping that some of what we heard about collusion in high places, was not true until we witnessed the amazing drama on the D-Day, February 25, 2023. A day that will go down in the annals of Nigeria’s political history as ‘The Turning Point’! Whether some people like it or not, Nigeria’s political climate has changed… and I say emphatically that it’s a very drastic change. We thank God that the enemies of Nigeria were not able to unleash the totality of the mayhem they planned on the already frustrated masses of our people. In some parts of the Country, however, their thugs still succeeded in scaring off thousands of voters. It is still a mystery that on the day of the Presidential election, certain election gadgets we had banked on will make the election foolproof and decided to break down- maybe some of these gadgets have a mind of their own!
In spite of all the shenanigans, the outcome of the Presidential election is now seriously contested and since it is now a subject for litigation, one may just leave things in the hands of the law for now. There is however no minimizing the depth of pain that many hopeful Nigerians have been plunged into. The myriad of socio-economic pains in Nigeria has now been compounded by the frustration of political injustice. It is, to put it mildly, quite disturbing and destabilizing for all well-meaning Nigerians. To make matters worse and add a lot more to the pain, is the unleashing of an unprecedented level of ethnic chauvinism, post the Presidential election, and that is in anticipation of further losses by the ‘powers that be’ in the subsequent elections- the Gubernatorial and Houses of Assembly elections. I know the ethnic card has always been on the table in so many areas in Nigeria but what we are witnessing now is deeply painful and pathetic.
We really need to watch it. We all need to be sober, to be vigilant. We should not allow those who are simply interested in themselves and not in the good fortune of Nigeria, to further compound the delicate balance in the Country. There are too many politicians and their followers who will stop at nothing to use religious and ethnic considerations to get what they want. They are extremely selfish, self-centered people. Enemies of the Country! We should not allow them to tear us apart.
I have been actively monitoring and contributing to discussions on political development in Nigeria for about 50 years and I have always done my best to fight religious and ethnic biases in particular, along with other ills plaguing our society. The ethnic warfare going on in different parts of Nigeria is painful and unreasonable. I have always said over and over that those who simply resort to playing the ethnic card are ‘illiterate and underdeveloped’.
Here we are, living in the Diaspora, trying to ward off all forms of racial discrimination; realizing that ethnic chauvinism is what is dominating our own political space is so painful. I am particularly concerned as a Yoruba Christian that many in the Church don’t seem to understand fundamental issues of the faith. We pay lip service to issues like being your brother’s keeper, and loving your neighbour as yourself. We call ourselves brothers and sisters in Christ on the surface, but we don’t act it out particularly when it comes to political issues.
This ought not to be so!
I learned one of my greatest lessons in politics in Nigeria, the year Papa Obafemi Awolowo died. We virtually moved NTA’s headquarters to Ikenne. I monitored, with my mouth wide open, how politicians from different parts of the Country flocked in and out. I saw in amazement how frontline politicians from different political parties, different ethnic groups, and religious persuasions behaved indeed like brothers and sisters (unfortunately NPN/UPN supporters were killing each other then all over the place). I am persuaded that these politicians have a meeting point and I just wonder when our people will learn! And it is indeed very painful! It is comforting however to know that there are at the same time many Nigerians who are not allowing the present pain to unduly weigh them down. They are ‘hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed, perplexed but not in despair’.
The New Nigeria Project group belongs to this persuasion. We are not a political party. We are a pressure group. We are a group of Nigerians, from different parts of the country, based in different parts of the World determined to ensure the birth of a New Nigeria. We feel the pain of Nigerians but we are undaunted. Particularly as we are in the process of our AAR (after action review) following the Presidential election, our present pain is not beclouding our determination to get Nigeria back on track as the giant of Africa.
We believe absolutely that a NEW NIGERIA is possible.
Pastor Femi Idowu is a Communications Consultant based in London.
-He was a one-time Political Editor NTA Ibadan (!978)
-Bureau Chief (NTA New) Ibadan Bureau
-Member: The New Nigeria Project group
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