A cursory review of the major events of the year 2010 shows that Nigeria had absolutely nothing that was significantly beneficial, edifying and to be proud of by hapless and struggling Nigerians who are in the overwhelming majority. Apart from politicians and others close to the corridors of power, very few Nigerians could boast of better deal in all ramifications last year.

How do we classify the politicisation and manipulation of the health problem of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and the dissipation of valuable energy and resources over same at the expense of good governance in the country? The issue which spilled over from 2009 dominated the major parts of the first half of last year, needed to settle down by the incoming new president. What about the mindless and unwarranted politically-motivated crises and bombings that claimed many innocent lives? There is no doubt that 2010 was a year to be really wished away by most Nigerians.

Late last year, when a large consignment of arms and ammunition were discovered in the process of being brought into the country surreptitiously through the Lagos port, many Nigerians had genuine reasons to be apprehensive. One, only God knew how many of such had escaped into the country before the awful discovery, given the factors of porosity of the nation’s borders and pervasive corruption governing the operations of those charged with the responsibility of preventing such inimical activities in the country.

Many Nigerians knew then that the Iran factor being brought into the explanation for the emergence of instruments of mass murder at the country’s port was a mere diversionary tactic and a shameful exercise in escapism. The escalation of the mindless violence in Jos, with the use of lethal weapons and the bombings in Abuja and other parts of the country, especially the South-South, provide the confirmation for the scepticism and apprehension of most Nigerians.

This year, 2011, Nigerians have reasons to be apprehensive. The seemingly unending bestiality in Jos, the unwarranted bombings in Abuja, believed to be sponsored by yet-to-be identified sadists and the palpable atmosphere of fear being consciously created all over the country point to the fact that some people with hidden agenda are up to something unpalatable.

Most accusing fingers are pointed at the direction of politics and politicians in the country. A milieu of palpable fears and apprehension has already been foisted on the entire nation, especially since the countdown to this year’s general election.

The number of casualties already recorded in a year still less than two weeks old shows that the fears of Nigerians about this election year are well founded. A Yoruba proverb says when you put one leg into the river, the crocodile starts pulling it, what would happen by the time the two legs would enter the river?

It is, therefore, pertinent to emphasise that given the socio-economic milieu imposed on the nation by the characteristics of its pseudo-democracy, the expectation cannot be better. Today in Nigeria, politics is the most lucrative venture and the easiest access to money, which most Nigerians tend to have elevated above God as object of worship. This plausibly explains the do-or-die approach to today’s politics and politicking in Nigeria.

The nation’s pseudo-democracy has, since 1999, produced many political and economic upstarts. The IQ of many of them was too low, even for secondary education. Yet, they are today powerful and wealthy politicians! What do we expect from such a person whose chronological age is perpetually at war with his mental age in a kind of atomistic socio-economic state?

The situation now in the country is worse than the time in the First Republic, when Dr Nnamidi Azikiwe had to tell Nigerian politicians that their actions and/or inactions were capable of dismembering the conglomerate known as Nigeria.

Let’s quote Zik as he declared to Nigerians then: “Whether our beloved Nigeria will continue to remain united as one country or will become disintegrated into minute principalities depend now on two factors: whether our politicians would desist from inciting our communities to liquidate themselves and whether our politicians would cooperate so that law-abiding elements in this colossus of Africa will experience a free and fair election...I have only one request to make...if this embryo Republic must disintegrate, then in the name of God, let the operation be a short and painless one”.

Given the actions and/or inactions of the Nigerian politicians today, as insinuated in the perennial and seemingly unending Jos mindless slaughtering of innocent Nigerians and the senseless bombings and threats of bombings across the nation, Zik’s counsel is definitely more relevant today than when the late elder statesman made it.

How many politicians today think about free and fair election? How many of them bother about the survival of Nigeria as a corporate entity? How many raise a whimper about the economic survival of the nation? The bitter truth is that all these are being subsumed under the inordinate ambition and self-centredness of an average Nigerian politician today.

It is sad but it is the reality on the ground that virtually every politician in the country today believes that he/she must circumvent the rules of the game if he/she must get to that office so much desired. In today’s prevailing pseudo-democracy in Nigeria, “politician A” holds the belief that “politician B” is planning to rig the election.

What is being witnessed at the end of the day is who can “out-rig” the other. This is the root of non-performance of most public office holders in the country. It also explains the herculean task before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Therefore, there are reasons for genuine lovers of the Nigeria to entertain fears.

Comments (0)

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment