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posted Tuesday, 24 April 2007
Nigerians are an interesting people. I guess this past election has exposed the democratic pretensions of many a Nigerian residing in the so-called First World countries. It’s a bit disconcerting that the people who ought to be at the forefront of some intellectual and nationalistic charge against the bastions of deceit, thuggery and corruption (symbolized by Obasanjo and the PDP machine) are now willing pawns or perhaps unabashed mouthpieces of the cantankerous generalissimo in Aso Rock.
Earlier, I tried to point to the fact that the ostensibly more qualified citizens of the country were being sidelined. As a matter of fact, some clear-cut choices of the people—without regard to competence—were sidelined. These and more cases of electoral misconduct should fill Nigerians—at least those Nigerians who have been out of the country and therefore can boast of some knowledge of the democratic process—with sadness and perhaps moral outrage. It leaves me speechless when the comments I have read so far seem to be little more than outright jubilation over the monumental fraud committed by PDP last weekend. Before you judge, please put yourself in the position of your numerous friends and relatives in Nigeria who, despite the promises of the corrupt brigands in power, have continued to plod along in seeming helplessness and utter despair. Consider their desperate yearning for positive change; maybe that should prompt some serious introspection here.
So, what have we heard? That Yar’adua is the best candidate out there? That because he had some formal education, Nigerians should look the other way as PDP (with Baba and the incompetent buffoon Maurice Iwu) carries out some grand rape of the electoral process? Have we sunken that low? Have we become that utterly pressed for options? How and where is the change that Nigerians seek going to come from?
Pat Utomi has more to his belt when it comes to competence. Donald Duke is another great patriot who towers over the sickly Yar’adua. And while we are it, there are many other proven technocrats and professionals from all over the country who would do a far more impressive job like Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. Nigerians at home know this. It is not surprising therefore that when many Nigerians saw the potential charade that was going to go down they decided to ignore the whole presidential election exercise. But did they go out there to vote for their local representatives? You can bet you arm on that! The disappointment that Nigerians witnessed at the April 14 elections may have informed their nonchalance.
In Anambra state for example, I can confidently tell you that no real elections were held. Prominent Nigerians of Anambra state trooped out en-masse to vote for the candidate of their choice and just COULDN’T DO IT! There were no ballot papers, hardly any polling stations; as a matter of fact, the whole thing was a joke! Yet, mysteriously, some shameless crook who buried his face in Obasanjo’s arse, was declared the winner of the elections. Let me not even begin to tell you how absurd it is to think that “Dr” Emmanuel Nnamdi Ubah would have won any free and fair election in Anambra state. Perhaps, the more erudite ones may really understand where I am coming from. Look around you. What have we seen? There is some nefarious design to turn Nigeria into a one-party state. But more importantly, success or failure at any political exercise in Nigeria now hinges on how sycophantic you are, or how beholden you are to the behemoth at Aso Rock. Worse, Nigerians who have tasted the fruits of democracy in foreign lands are complacent! The whole idea of “credible and loyal opposition” seems lost on many.
Perchance that is why no one is outraged by the massive rigging done in PDP’s favor. I guess Nigerians have resigned their fates to the Manichean manipulations of one self-styled “Father of Modern Nigeria” and his PDP cohorts. Or who knows, maybe we are just too strapped for credible alternatives that we now willingly fall into the embrace of Kakistocracy. Yeah, we have heard the usual platitudes: “Rome was not built in a day”, “Nigeria will get better, just give it some time”, “It is better to be ruled by a band of corrupt thieving politicians than by the military”, “Yar’adua may have ridden the beast to get into the corridor of power, but he is a good man and he has great plans for Nigeria”, “Well, if not Yar’adua, then who? We know Utomi can’t win the election” etc etc.
Sadly, these retorts seem fatalistic.
1) Nigerian leaders don’t need an eternity to provide the most basic amenities and infrastructure for ALL Nigerian people.
2) Nothing seems to be suggesting that Nigeria is headed for glory, despite the elaborate paint-job slapped on by successive administrations’ spinmeisters.
3) Evil is evil whether perpetrated by the military or by incompetent avaricious politicians. Nigerians SHOULD NOT be satisfied with lawlessness, crippling poverty, shambolic infrastructure, record unemployment etc just because some pretender to democratic principles (or his protégé) is at the helm of affairs.
4) If recent history is anything to go by, Obasanjo enjoyed the overwhelming support of IBB. He also boasted a grander resume, a more spiritual and unifying pedestal than Yar’adua at the beginning of his presidency. Unfortunately we have seen how he (Obj) turned out. The lesson that Nigerians ought to have learnt in 8 years is that all that glitters is not gold especially when such ‘glittering’ objects are propped up by known and confirmed charlatans and rogues. It would simply be foolhardy to expect that vipers would give birth to doves!
5) I think the reason why PDP has continued to hold Nigeria spellbound is because Nigerians have adopted a self-defeatist posture. Sadly, men and women of conscience have been turned off the political process and are therefore not stepping out. Furthermore, rather than standing firm on the right things and insisting on fairness, equity, and accountability many people have simply internalized the seeming helplessness of the situation. So are they morally outraged and spurred to action when they hear that PDP has stolen their mandates? Hardly. But remember this: At no point in our history are ordinary citizens of Nigeria as WEARY, DISAPPOINTED and OUTRAGED by the PDP as NOW!
Nevertheless, all good change that we hope for our country must start from a point. It can only start when decent men and women stand up to challenge the injustice pervading the system. They may not always prevail at first. But let it be on record that at some point in time, you saw the injustices in the system and you spoke up against it. A people, we are often reminded, deserve the kind of leaders they get.
If you do not agree with what I have said here, hold your peace. We shall not fight about it. Let us save this thread and come back to it a few years from now if this hoax perpetrated against the Nigerian people is allowed to stand. Only that then, it wouldn’t give me any joy to say “Some of us had known this all along!”
[chuckles lighttly]…Nigerians and their short-sighted, forgetful and chronically hopeful dispositions! Aniway, e go better! God dey!
Cheers!
Earlier, I tried to point to the fact that the ostensibly more qualified citizens of the country were being sidelined. As a matter of fact, some clear-cut choices of the people—without regard to competence—were sidelined. These and more cases of electoral misconduct should fill Nigerians—at least those Nigerians who have been out of the country and therefore can boast of some knowledge of the democratic process—with sadness and perhaps moral outrage. It leaves me speechless when the comments I have read so far seem to be little more than outright jubilation over the monumental fraud committed by PDP last weekend. Before you judge, please put yourself in the position of your numerous friends and relatives in Nigeria who, despite the promises of the corrupt brigands in power, have continued to plod along in seeming helplessness and utter despair. Consider their desperate yearning for positive change; maybe that should prompt some serious introspection here.
So, what have we heard? That Yar’adua is the best candidate out there? That because he had some formal education, Nigerians should look the other way as PDP (with Baba and the incompetent buffoon Maurice Iwu) carries out some grand rape of the electoral process? Have we sunken that low? Have we become that utterly pressed for options? How and where is the change that Nigerians seek going to come from?
Pat Utomi has more to his belt when it comes to competence. Donald Duke is another great patriot who towers over the sickly Yar’adua. And while we are it, there are many other proven technocrats and professionals from all over the country who would do a far more impressive job like Mrs Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. Nigerians at home know this. It is not surprising therefore that when many Nigerians saw the potential charade that was going to go down they decided to ignore the whole presidential election exercise. But did they go out there to vote for their local representatives? You can bet you arm on that! The disappointment that Nigerians witnessed at the April 14 elections may have informed their nonchalance.
In Anambra state for example, I can confidently tell you that no real elections were held. Prominent Nigerians of Anambra state trooped out en-masse to vote for the candidate of their choice and just COULDN’T DO IT! There were no ballot papers, hardly any polling stations; as a matter of fact, the whole thing was a joke! Yet, mysteriously, some shameless crook who buried his face in Obasanjo’s arse, was declared the winner of the elections. Let me not even begin to tell you how absurd it is to think that “Dr” Emmanuel Nnamdi Ubah would have won any free and fair election in Anambra state. Perhaps, the more erudite ones may really understand where I am coming from. Look around you. What have we seen? There is some nefarious design to turn Nigeria into a one-party state. But more importantly, success or failure at any political exercise in Nigeria now hinges on how sycophantic you are, or how beholden you are to the behemoth at Aso Rock. Worse, Nigerians who have tasted the fruits of democracy in foreign lands are complacent! The whole idea of “credible and loyal opposition” seems lost on many.
Perchance that is why no one is outraged by the massive rigging done in PDP’s favor. I guess Nigerians have resigned their fates to the Manichean manipulations of one self-styled “Father of Modern Nigeria” and his PDP cohorts. Or who knows, maybe we are just too strapped for credible alternatives that we now willingly fall into the embrace of Kakistocracy. Yeah, we have heard the usual platitudes: “Rome was not built in a day”, “Nigeria will get better, just give it some time”, “It is better to be ruled by a band of corrupt thieving politicians than by the military”, “Yar’adua may have ridden the beast to get into the corridor of power, but he is a good man and he has great plans for Nigeria”, “Well, if not Yar’adua, then who? We know Utomi can’t win the election” etc etc.
Sadly, these retorts seem fatalistic.
1) Nigerian leaders don’t need an eternity to provide the most basic amenities and infrastructure for ALL Nigerian people.
2) Nothing seems to be suggesting that Nigeria is headed for glory, despite the elaborate paint-job slapped on by successive administrations’ spinmeisters.
3) Evil is evil whether perpetrated by the military or by incompetent avaricious politicians. Nigerians SHOULD NOT be satisfied with lawlessness, crippling poverty, shambolic infrastructure, record unemployment etc just because some pretender to democratic principles (or his protégé) is at the helm of affairs.
4) If recent history is anything to go by, Obasanjo enjoyed the overwhelming support of IBB. He also boasted a grander resume, a more spiritual and unifying pedestal than Yar’adua at the beginning of his presidency. Unfortunately we have seen how he (Obj) turned out. The lesson that Nigerians ought to have learnt in 8 years is that all that glitters is not gold especially when such ‘glittering’ objects are propped up by known and confirmed charlatans and rogues. It would simply be foolhardy to expect that vipers would give birth to doves!
5) I think the reason why PDP has continued to hold Nigeria spellbound is because Nigerians have adopted a self-defeatist posture. Sadly, men and women of conscience have been turned off the political process and are therefore not stepping out. Furthermore, rather than standing firm on the right things and insisting on fairness, equity, and accountability many people have simply internalized the seeming helplessness of the situation. So are they morally outraged and spurred to action when they hear that PDP has stolen their mandates? Hardly. But remember this: At no point in our history are ordinary citizens of Nigeria as WEARY, DISAPPOINTED and OUTRAGED by the PDP as NOW!
Nevertheless, all good change that we hope for our country must start from a point. It can only start when decent men and women stand up to challenge the injustice pervading the system. They may not always prevail at first. But let it be on record that at some point in time, you saw the injustices in the system and you spoke up against it. A people, we are often reminded, deserve the kind of leaders they get.
If you do not agree with what I have said here, hold your peace. We shall not fight about it. Let us save this thread and come back to it a few years from now if this hoax perpetrated against the Nigerian people is allowed to stand. Only that then, it wouldn’t give me any joy to say “Some of us had known this all along!”
[chuckles lighttly]…Nigerians and their short-sighted, forgetful and chronically hopeful dispositions! Aniway, e go better! God dey!
Cheers!
Leave your comments here (2)
1. Akin Akintayo left...
Wednesday, 25 April 2007 5:14 am :: http://akin.blog-city.com
Hello,
2. ThroughTheseEyes left...
Thursday, 26 April 2007 1:56 pm :: http://foreveryourlady.blogspot.com
Good point. But I think the vote was rigged. Nigerians don't have a say
in who rules them, just a few people with deep pockets in the PDP ruling
party. I am still optimistic of a better Nigeria. We will get there, you
and I. :)