….Between the strength of Jonathan and the Wisdom of Mohammadu
Written by: Nwazuosa Nkem Kennedy
So I heard them say he is too old and feeble, that his strength can’t take him longer than the designated tenure that is if the wishes of his sponsors and his own desire which he has been chasing for almost a decade come to pass. Proponents of the General believe that he is the saviour of our time and has vast wealth of wisdom as an elder in the political space of the nation coupled with his military expertise which will help shove off the insecurity situation in the country especially in the north-eastern part of the nation. These supporters chant “change” and see him as the face of the real transformation while some see the wrinkles on his face as the only thing that changed since he was overthrown by the same tactics that brought him to power in the 80’s.
Most of the populace consider the other as an ill experienced fellow to confront the realities that has over the years held bound most parts of our country. His strength they say is so much stronger than the former and it is that strength that has kept him agile not to have given up on those who count on him to restore the years they believe the former contributed to devour. His supporters however, have emphasized on the achievement in the railway, airport, road networks, agriculture, power sector, youth empowerment strategies and more recently the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product that led to the nation becoming the continent’s most sought investment destination by investors as the series of achievement recorded by this administration hence he deserves a return to office- although as noticed, some other Nigerians feel otherwise and have criticized these figures in terms of his achievements and has accused the administration of colossal waste of our resources, mismanagement and total collapse in all sectors hence the need for a restoration.
This blame game has been in existence by different political parties long before I began my conscious course and I again got the confirmation when I bumped into a track from our great Fela Kuti whose lyrics goes thus – ‘you be thief, I no be thief…you be robber I no be robber, argument, argument’ .
For the current turbulence which our great nation has no doubt been experiencing especially with the recent strikes by a group who have pledged allegiance to the world’s most deadliest terrorist squad- ISIS, the Boko-haram sect has continuously in their propaganda mocked our sovereignty and unravelled how weak our once exalted armed forced of the federal republic of Nigeria can be by the dynamics in their distasteful and incessant attacks which have countlessly triggered reaction from most prominent world leaders. The blame game even goes further to the economic turmoil facing the nation in the manifestation of Unemployment, Food insecurity, falling Strength of the Naira and the list goes on and on.
The statements from the opposite direction say that even if we desire changes, the modern realities and civilisation has overwhelmed the feeble man and he wouldn’t be the face of that desired change. He and his team have only hammered on change using the imperfections and realities of the current situation to their advantage with inscriptions like “it’s over 216 days so far…where are our chibok girls”, “retail corruption” and other sentimental strategy that appeals to the vulnerable emotions of every common Nigerian. Note that they have not highlighted in detail how they intend to achieve this change in their manifestos- it is not just enough to yell change without articulating how it will be achieved. They also said that they will not attend the presidential debate for a reason i have no grasp of.
Both individuals are not the only once in this race but they have been noticeable considering the large chunk of financial strength they possess – from a source which is questionable- as well as large fanatical followers at their disposal. These followers could be the reason why we have noticed this kind of heat in the polity with their utterances and threat which is highly regrettable and uncalled for.
Between the strength of the president and the wisdom of the former head of state is someone who is blessed with the two gifts – Now, finding a balance where Nigerians feel like they enjoy the best of both worlds will be the only way this nation would move forward. As it stands right now between the main contenders, Nigerians cannot find that balance and this is the reason why some Nigerians will be voluntarily disenfranchised or have remained undecided and may even vote for cakes, candle lights, roses and dinner with loved ones on that date instead after all there isn’t any connection with the political situation of the nation and their pocket. But a peaceful nation performs better than a nation in chaos. This year will be the most strategic year in the history of Nigeria. It could either form the basis for our continuous existence as a nation or further divide us; hate it or not, this is the bitter truth. Again, the outcome of this election is a major decider of the truth some of us have refused to accept in optimism or in naivety.
I will burst your bubbles now but the truth is that the best of both worlds currently is unavailable and again, we are left with no choice but to accept the once they have presented to us causing us to do the thinking and fighting ourselves with sleepless night in an attempt to determine which of the candidate is less worse-off – that is the basis of our choice. Is it not pathetic that till now we are not even resolute as regards our decision of the presidency? We shouldn’t blame ourselves for this, it’s just that they have failed to present to us one who will convincingly represent our interest and they have concentrated on factors that are religious, ethnic and sentimental as a basis to pull votes only. I wonder how many of us bowed our head in shame as they watched the vice presidential debate on the 01/02/15. We deserve better as a nation than those…!!!
But if we have to enjoy from the balance of strength and wisdom, we must consider Nigeria first with all sincerity only then will issues as trivial and laughable as the ones revealed within the last few months be irrelevant and the nation will be driven by achievable goals and a formidable team committed to see that these goals are achieved. Maybe in 2019 then we shall have a different individual who is the future and not a group of individuals who claimed we were the future 3 decades ago and still occupy powerful decision making positions in our country today. Where then is the future they say we were? Hmm… Like they said, I will join them to say too that we are the future but this time I hope I don’t say this in 20years to come that my current generation is still the future.
Wish you a Happy “Votintine”
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