Nigeria is obviously at cross road, marred by a reckless political class, bundled by a garrison commander in the name of a President, and constantly conned by politicians who have no idea that power is exercised with responsibility. In Nigeria it is a season of victories and disputes in the political circle, a season of apologies, a season of declarations, a season of ‘look my way, I am a saint. I am not like them’ and ‘look at them they are the thieves’. A season for those holding the umbrella (PDP) and those wilding the broom (AC) to sweep away the umbrella men. It is really a season of accusations-the election fever that follow politicians’ endless and egoistic battle for the soul of our nation. The President fired a shot against the major opposition AC (Action Congress) led by the Vice President with the acronym ‘Alliance for Corruption’. The vice president fired back; the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a Poverty Development Party. It is a season when court rulings are celebrated and the same breached without consequences. While both present the thesis and the anti-thesis, obviously, the synthesis is that of the masses and our judgment is that it is a season for the casualties. It is a country, my dear country, where George Orwell will definitely finish the unfinished work in ‘ANIMAL FARM’.
The victims, the casualties are the poor masses, me and you who have been driven far across the borders to suffer indignation in the hands of immigration officers and some chronic racists. The casualties are the traders whose little money has lost purchasing power due to inflation and harsh business environment. The casualties, the lonely casualties -those voices we may never hear again, are those who died in motor accidents because of bad roads, those who got killed by armed robbers who lost out in the unemployment battle with hunger. Those pensioners, who gave their all to this nation, yet stand endlessly in queues begging for their hard earned money. The casualties are the teaming Nigerian youths who stay under rain and sun at Walter Carrington Avenue begging visitors (Foreign missions) in their own country to allow them to leave this fire called Nigeria. Among these promising breed of young men and women are found, graduates who by virtue of lack of engagement in their fields of study; are loosing the finer parts of their academic training. Those beautiful young ladies whom hardship has driven into prostitution are also there. Nigerian youths keep transversing seas and oceans, dangerous forests and deserts to escape from this grave of a home in search of a greener pasture. Many get to their destinations; others perish in the deserts and get drowned at the sea. Petroleum supply has remained top in our importation list and electricity supply the most epileptic in the continent, making many families unhappy possessors of generating sets that best pollute the already polluted environment. Nigeria is once again under a siege.
Forgive my style but the only business that thrives in Nigeria is the business of politics, where men who never knew what it means to do business are the controllers of the economy. Looters of treasury are celebrated and the vicious circle is entrenched in the mentality of an average citizen. Corruption has become the rule of the game rather than the exception. In spite of the roaring and posturing of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), those who control its operations are the architects of corruption. The campaign office of the Vice President recently questioned the multi-billion naira business of the seating President; who as at 1998 when he came out from prison had only 20,000 naira in his account. Mr. President responded that he borrowed 2Billion naira from a bank. In eight straight years, this borrowed money exponentially increased to a thousand fold. What a business environment, where only the President’s business witnesses a boom? Nothing could be farther from the truth or did Mr. President use Nigeria as collateral? (Probably the Petroleum ministry under him).
Is it not absurd that within the last eight years this country that generated its highest revenue ever and still lavish in poverty with untold hardship among the citizenry? Is it not even more dumbfounding, that Mr. President woke up one morning in a desperate bid to deal with his Vice and declared the former’s seat vacant? It took some wise counsels for the government to understand that the military man in President Obasanjo is not used to reading constitutions. Again, this action was at the prompting of a lame party structure whose officers are concerned more about getting settled by the President than looking into his eyes. Is it not absurd? Is it not absurd that a seating governor is kidnapped and those who perpetrated the evil were rewarded with heavy police security around them when many Nigerians perish for lack of security?
To borrow the words of Sen. Femi Okuruonmo, AC (Action Congress) like PDP represents the same structure, the same culture of corruption and subjugation of the citizens’ needs and rights. The two parties are ideological twins separated only by personal political differences and more strongly bonded by the creed of relative individual aggrandizement.
But the casualties are not only those who died in the war, they include also the emissaries of war. Yes, the ultimate casualty of this mess will definitely be these hawks in the corridor of power. This is the birth of a new season, when the present casualties must rise in unison and change the hands of time. This season is a season for ordinary Nigerians, the casualties, to reclaim their lost ground through their treasured vote. If our generation must see the light at the end of the tunnel, then we must turn to embrace new faces that hold those precious values of leadership as stewardship precious. Prof. Pat Utomi represents that hope, that aspiration, that yearning for a country whose leadership is driven by commitment, competence, accountability, transparency, humility and service.
2007 general election is decisive for the future of our country and those who care about its outcome would need to make informed choices. Many Nigerians have given up on the country and have taken to political disengagement. Prof. Pat Utomi calls it ‘Hope in Recession’. In a well articulated article in one of the Nigerian dailies, Sen. Udo Udoma emphasized that the power of one vote in a democracy is so fundamental that only that one can make the whole difference. If we are to re-live 1999 and 2003, will you vote (General) Obasanjo? If we are to re-live 1983-1985, will you vote for (General) Buhari? Can we trust Alhaji Abubakar Atiku with his rhetoric? Let us embrace the future with hope, action and not just resignation. Those who keep criticizing the system without making any attempt to change it would take responsibility for the evil that await us. A vote for Pat Utomi is a guarantee for the future, for progressive politics and for a government to which that home call to its numerous citizens abroad will be an irrevocable vocation and whose bonding with the poor masses will be a covenant of liberation and empowerment. If we cannot vote abroad, we can influence those at home to vote wisely.
The victims, the casualties are the poor masses, me and you who have been driven far across the borders to suffer indignation in the hands of immigration officers and some chronic racists. The casualties are the traders whose little money has lost purchasing power due to inflation and harsh business environment. The casualties, the lonely casualties -those voices we may never hear again, are those who died in motor accidents because of bad roads, those who got killed by armed robbers who lost out in the unemployment battle with hunger. Those pensioners, who gave their all to this nation, yet stand endlessly in queues begging for their hard earned money. The casualties are the teaming Nigerian youths who stay under rain and sun at Walter Carrington Avenue begging visitors (Foreign missions) in their own country to allow them to leave this fire called Nigeria. Among these promising breed of young men and women are found, graduates who by virtue of lack of engagement in their fields of study; are loosing the finer parts of their academic training. Those beautiful young ladies whom hardship has driven into prostitution are also there. Nigerian youths keep transversing seas and oceans, dangerous forests and deserts to escape from this grave of a home in search of a greener pasture. Many get to their destinations; others perish in the deserts and get drowned at the sea. Petroleum supply has remained top in our importation list and electricity supply the most epileptic in the continent, making many families unhappy possessors of generating sets that best pollute the already polluted environment. Nigeria is once again under a siege.
Forgive my style but the only business that thrives in Nigeria is the business of politics, where men who never knew what it means to do business are the controllers of the economy. Looters of treasury are celebrated and the vicious circle is entrenched in the mentality of an average citizen. Corruption has become the rule of the game rather than the exception. In spite of the roaring and posturing of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), those who control its operations are the architects of corruption. The campaign office of the Vice President recently questioned the multi-billion naira business of the seating President; who as at 1998 when he came out from prison had only 20,000 naira in his account. Mr. President responded that he borrowed 2Billion naira from a bank. In eight straight years, this borrowed money exponentially increased to a thousand fold. What a business environment, where only the President’s business witnesses a boom? Nothing could be farther from the truth or did Mr. President use Nigeria as collateral? (Probably the Petroleum ministry under him).
Is it not absurd that within the last eight years this country that generated its highest revenue ever and still lavish in poverty with untold hardship among the citizenry? Is it not even more dumbfounding, that Mr. President woke up one morning in a desperate bid to deal with his Vice and declared the former’s seat vacant? It took some wise counsels for the government to understand that the military man in President Obasanjo is not used to reading constitutions. Again, this action was at the prompting of a lame party structure whose officers are concerned more about getting settled by the President than looking into his eyes. Is it not absurd? Is it not absurd that a seating governor is kidnapped and those who perpetrated the evil were rewarded with heavy police security around them when many Nigerians perish for lack of security?
To borrow the words of Sen. Femi Okuruonmo, AC (Action Congress) like PDP represents the same structure, the same culture of corruption and subjugation of the citizens’ needs and rights. The two parties are ideological twins separated only by personal political differences and more strongly bonded by the creed of relative individual aggrandizement.
But the casualties are not only those who died in the war, they include also the emissaries of war. Yes, the ultimate casualty of this mess will definitely be these hawks in the corridor of power. This is the birth of a new season, when the present casualties must rise in unison and change the hands of time. This season is a season for ordinary Nigerians, the casualties, to reclaim their lost ground through their treasured vote. If our generation must see the light at the end of the tunnel, then we must turn to embrace new faces that hold those precious values of leadership as stewardship precious. Prof. Pat Utomi represents that hope, that aspiration, that yearning for a country whose leadership is driven by commitment, competence, accountability, transparency, humility and service.
2007 general election is decisive for the future of our country and those who care about its outcome would need to make informed choices. Many Nigerians have given up on the country and have taken to political disengagement. Prof. Pat Utomi calls it ‘Hope in Recession’. In a well articulated article in one of the Nigerian dailies, Sen. Udo Udoma emphasized that the power of one vote in a democracy is so fundamental that only that one can make the whole difference. If we are to re-live 1999 and 2003, will you vote (General) Obasanjo? If we are to re-live 1983-1985, will you vote for (General) Buhari? Can we trust Alhaji Abubakar Atiku with his rhetoric? Let us embrace the future with hope, action and not just resignation. Those who keep criticizing the system without making any attempt to change it would take responsibility for the evil that await us. A vote for Pat Utomi is a guarantee for the future, for progressive politics and for a government to which that home call to its numerous citizens abroad will be an irrevocable vocation and whose bonding with the poor masses will be a covenant of liberation and empowerment. If we cannot vote abroad, we can influence those at home to vote wisely.
1 commento:
This is a nice. Nigerians needs to come enmasse and vote for those who will change our economy to better.In the last 7 yrs, we cannot boast of 3 hours stable electricity supply and not to talk of water, education, job opportunities.
Nigerians hoem and diaspora, you can play your own part by voting (if u register) or use other menas to make others to vote wisely.
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