I believe strongly that a prosperous
and united Nigeria is in the best interest of the federating units. That the
country’s socio-political, global, and economic fortunes have continued an
unabated free-fall is not in question. Also not in question is the fact that
corruption is the main moth largely responsible for the rot in our nation’s
fabric.
Some caveat ab initio: I have no
direct affiliation with any of the individuals whose names will appear in this
write-up. Neither do I have any relationship with the parties they represent,
or which represent them. I am therefore not an official mouthpiece for any of
them. I am a Christian and I am also, proudly, Yoruba. But before you jump
overboard into the shark-infested waters of ethnic rumpus, let me quickly add
that I am unashamedly a Nigerian, and fiercely loyal to her.
The opinions I
represent here should be seen as products of painstaking analyses of our
country’s states of affairs pre and post-1999 when we returned to democratic
governance. |
| Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammad Buhari during the recent Centenary celebration State House |
Those wishing Nigeria a breakup do
not wish her peoples well. This is especially true when we consider that the
reasons adduced for Nigeria’s breakup are not tenable. There are other
multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural countries that have positively
harnessed the opportunities of their diversity to national advantage.
In addition to the major ethnic
groups within their territories, the countries of Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia,
and the Peoples Republic of China officially have 53, 38, 38, and 56 minority
ethnic groups respectively. With over 2000 ethnic groups and several official
languages, India remains a resolutely united country trudging to greatness in a
world trending towards multicultural and multilingual diversity.
I believe strongly that a prosperous
and united Nigeria is in the best interest of the federating units. That the
country’s socio-political, global, and economic fortunes have continued an
unabated free-fall is not in question. Also not in question is the fact that
corruption is the main moth largely responsible for the rot in our nation’s
fabric.
All other problems - including
religious terrorism and ethnic militancy - all feed off, and fester via, the
carcinogen of corruption. Nigeria is in a critical stage of health; the
much-needed surgeon – the messiah – must not have been part of the problem.
I judge by facts; not sentiments. So
should you. I work with the proven and the established, not the hoped; albeit
secularly. By sight and by history I adduce the real and the empirical. I do
not subscribe to the idea of the blind phantasm. If you claim it you must
either demonstrate it or prove it to be true. That is the simple foundational
praxis of science. Historical facts are never censured by sentimental
postulations and biases. Facts are facts irrespective of how they are told or
interpreted.
The October 15, 2014 declaration to
contest the 2015 presidential elections by General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) marks
the beginning of an era, and not the end of it, of progressive politics in
Nigeria. That GMB is the man to beat, given a free and fair presidential
election exercise, is not in doubt. That GMB commands a towering political
profile above and beyond those of his closest opponents is also a fact that
even the fiercest of his opponents would readily agree to. GMB is either
fanatically loved by his admirers, or fiercely hated by his traducers.
To his admirers, GMB stands tall
because of his zero tolerance for corruption. GMB has his tent firmly pitched
with the masses and the oppressed of society. His ascetic and austere lifestyle
despite his erstwhile access to Nigeria’s treasury easily gives him away as one
who will not only tackle the corruption head on but also break the monster’s
neck in the process. Whoever defeats corruption in Nigeria will succeed in
getting the country poised for development and greatness.
Those who oppose the presidential
run of GMB fall into two main categories:
aThose who misunderstand and miff at
his persona.
b)The filthy rich of Nigeria
To the first set of people,
accusations against GMB include a perceived religious fanaticism. I have had to
engage in discussions about these allegations with even close friends. When GMB
was accused of sponsorship of Boko Haram, my response came in the form of a
question. Given that GMB stands as the sole or main threat against Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan’s (GEJ) 2015 reelection bid, and given that GEJ as the President
and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has a sort of fascist-like control
over the armed forces, don’t you think a proven Buhari-Boko Haram alliance will
be a rare opportunity for GEJ to lock GMB away and throw the keys into the
Atlantic Ocean, thereby removing the sole threat to his 2015 agenda?
GMB’s alleged role in Nigeria’s
membership of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) is still another
reason some vow to withdraw support for his presidential run. It matters little
to such people that not one person has ever accused GMB as the man who, because
of religious affiliation, robbed them of equal opportunities while he held
several command positions either in his military or civilian career.
It matters little that no one has
been able to prove GMB as giving support to adherents of one religion against
others. Though GEJ controls the Police, SSS, and the military resulting in
massive intelligence at his disposal, he has not been able to prove GMB’s
so-called fundamentalist accusations. I am a Christian, and I am very fervent
in my Christian beliefs. These beliefs define my Christianity, and sometimes
run contrary to the beliefs of people of other faiths. Am I, then, a religious
fundamentalist?
There are also those who oppose
GMB’s presidential run on account of what they call his serial failures at the
polls. To such people I offer the Abraham Lincoln example. While GMB only lost
(lost, really?) the presidential elections 3 times, Abraham Lincoln lost
elections 8 times and experienced business failure two times. Yet he was one of
the most successful Presidents, and historically speaking by far one of the
most popular US presidential figures. If you ask anyone, including
non-Americans, to recollect names of five former US Presidents, Abraham Lincoln
will be prominent on the list. Even Barack Obama, who won two presidential
elections, was terribly defeated in his first attempt to run for a seat in the
US House of Representatives.
To those who think GMB is too old to
run for office, I also offer the Ronald Regan example. He was elected into
office at age 73. Since, like GMB he had been in office before, his age and
experience rather than be a problem proved an invaluable asset to America and
Americans.
But GMB is not the only one with
synonymous attributes with past US Presidents. Looking through history, I found
a past US President whose history is synonymous with that of GEJ. Gerald Ford
became the Vice President of the United States of America when in 1973 Spiro
Agnew resigned as Vice President following charges of bribery, sleaze, and tax
fraud. On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned following the
‘Watergate’ scandal. ‘Watergate’ at that time referred to several illegal
activities of the Nixon administration, including the use of FBI, CIA, and the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to harass opposition political figures. Once
again, Gerald Ford became President by default.
The most striking aspect of the
Ford-Jonathan ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn’ and ‘In-your-face; what-can-you-do’
official gaffe was when less than a month after becoming President, Gerald Ford
announced the granting of a “full, free, and absolute” pardon to Nixon. The
criminal cases of D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha, Major Al Mustapha, Chief Bode George,
etc readily come to mind. And like Gerald Ford, the micro and macro outcomes of
GEJ’s six years misadventure in Aso Rock is visible even to the short-sighted.
Can Nigeria survive another four years of operational ineptitude and criminal
desecration of the presidency?
It is necessary that we debunk some
of the lies being peddled through the NTA and other Stock Exchange news media
in Nigeria about the so-called PDP government’s achievements in Nigeria. These
lies include credit for the so-called growing economy and victory over Ebola.
After recalibration of economic figures, Nigeria was declared in 2013 as the
biggest economy in Africa. The GEJ-led government, through the World Bank
vassal Lord – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, took the credit of the outcomes. Nigeria as
Africa’s biggest economy is not because, but in spite of, governmental
activities that rather created and nurtured hostile business environments in
Nigeria.
It is a fact that government
overbearing and antagonistic policies are antithetical to the growth of small
and medium scale businesses. Double/triple taxation in most cases, prevalent of
highest inflation and unemployment figures in history, lack of enduring power
supply, etc has translated directly into weaker or lack of purchasing power by
the populace. The real heroes of recalibration are the dogged market men and
women trudging on in spite of harsh environments, and their Diaspora sons and
daughters who in 2012 alone (according to officially recorded figures) remitted
funds into Nigeria in excess of $21 Billion. When you add other unofficially
recorded remittances like physical courier of foreign currencies into Nigeria
by travelers, importation of goods and wares into Nigeria the proceed from sale
of which are channeled into projects (including the building of personal houses
and set-up of businesses like farms), the remittances may well run into figures
double the officially recorded rate. This is by far bigger than Nigeria’s
yearly budget.
Though the ultimate hero of our
victory over Ebola remains Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, Lagos - an APC state - deserves
the accolade for Nigeria’s victory over Ebola. The Federal Government merely
paid lip service to the struggle against the dreaded disease. Other than its
usual fire shots, the FG’s efforts at taming Ebola was nothing but
catastrophic.
Facts can easily be misinterpreted
and misrepresented; but they are not mutable. More than any other time in our
nation’s political history, religion and ethnicity may be deployed to full use
in determining the next Commander-in-Chief. But in the interest of Nigeria and
Nigerians, young and yet unborn, we must allow reason to direct our ballots.
Phantasmal sentiments played a huge role during the 2011 elections. The results
of that sham glare us in the face today. Lesson: God will not do for us what He
has equipped us with the capacity to do for ourselves.
The writer is Dr. Adeleke Otunuga, a
management and organizational consultant.He can be emailed
at: manlesky@yahoo.com, at twitter @LekeOtunuga
source:sahara reporters
No comments:
Post a Comment