As is often the case with our Nigeria, the past couple of weeks or so have witnessed yet numerous episodes of incongruous developments in the affairs of State. One would have thought Nigerians should be, by now, immune from shocks emanating from such, but each passing day raises the stakes even higher, and expectations of probity and proprieties take another turn for the worse. Don't even start me on the government's involvement in the illegal procurement of arms (or was it another cover for bussing our money out of the country?) Nor do I want to be seriously bothered about Diezani's failed attempt to muzzle the legislature from conducting a probe into her misuse of N10b on aircraft use. The 'forensic' audit of the NNPC is still up in the air.Yes, it is true, nothing should surprise us any more. We have come to expect nothing worthy from this farce of a government.
What actually forced me to bother my typewriter today is the race for supremacy in the 2015 General Elections. The mathematics are as muddled as the choices before us. If it were purely a duel of ideas and ideologies, intellectual analyses of probable outcomes would be meaningful. Unfortunately, the politically facetious cabal of nonpersons that dominate the political landscape renders meaningful and engaging debates utterly useless. Nonetheless, we are where we are and Nigerians have to navigate their way through the jungle of hopelessness and wretchedness that has been our lot for the last 15 years. Still, we must choose one way or the other.
The stark choice facing us as a people is binary. Do we nail our mast to the prospect of perpetual forlornness or collectively change tack and commence a period of hope restoration? Any other considerations are premised on the bipolarity of this stark choice. I think we should at least be thankful that we still have a choice, and a voice. What we are actually clamouring for now is the respect for that choice, and a recognition of that voice. Platitudes have no place in the Nigerian hearts any more; we have come to treat what the politicians proclaim or promise not with a pinch of salt, but with sacks of it. The polity is littered with political skets who are only in it for the money they can loot and the influence they can buy.
It pains me when people say one ought not to draw comparisons between Nigeria and advanced democracies. Should we aspire to rise to the top or race to the bottom, as we've been doing for the past decade and a half? People wouldn't mind waiting for results if there were a cogent pathway to national prosperity and individual upliftment. Nigerians are a very patient and resilient lot, and they wouldn't hesitate to support a government that had their overriding interests at heart. We would support any politician from whatever party that would stand as one with us and fight corruption to a standstill. We are not asking for much, are we? We want a government, peopled by conscientious and accountable politicians, that protects us, gives us the tool to bring our aspirations to fruition and ensures a level playing field in all areas of governance, including the justice system. The long and short of it is that we want someone at the helm that abhors corruption in absoluteness.
This era of parodic justness and cantic religiousness has to be brought to an end. The 'religion' market has to be properly regulated and monitored. So-called religious leaders should be made accountable and an end put to the manipulation and exploitation of people. Thieving pastors should be exposed and punished for their iniquitous practices. Pastors fleecing church members populate Christendom today and the promise of prosperity is luring vulnerable people into their embrace. The justice system needs a revampment of the highest order and the virtues of judicial impartiality brought to the fore.
We have to zero in on the pervasiveness of perverseness if we are to stop yapping on about the potential of Nigeria to be great, and actually start on the road to fulfilling that potential. Political criminality and unconscionable social behaviours have to be severely punished.
2015 will be a watershed in the history of our nation and we cannot possibly let the opportunity to correct our ills slip us by. We have a choice to make and we have a fight on our hands to make that choice respected. We have a voice and we have to duke it out with the forces of oppression and regression to make that voice recognised. The status quo should, and will, be history.
We can't afford to mess up. Our destiny is in our hands.
What actually forced me to bother my typewriter today is the race for supremacy in the 2015 General Elections. The mathematics are as muddled as the choices before us. If it were purely a duel of ideas and ideologies, intellectual analyses of probable outcomes would be meaningful. Unfortunately, the politically facetious cabal of nonpersons that dominate the political landscape renders meaningful and engaging debates utterly useless. Nonetheless, we are where we are and Nigerians have to navigate their way through the jungle of hopelessness and wretchedness that has been our lot for the last 15 years. Still, we must choose one way or the other.
The stark choice facing us as a people is binary. Do we nail our mast to the prospect of perpetual forlornness or collectively change tack and commence a period of hope restoration? Any other considerations are premised on the bipolarity of this stark choice. I think we should at least be thankful that we still have a choice, and a voice. What we are actually clamouring for now is the respect for that choice, and a recognition of that voice. Platitudes have no place in the Nigerian hearts any more; we have come to treat what the politicians proclaim or promise not with a pinch of salt, but with sacks of it. The polity is littered with political skets who are only in it for the money they can loot and the influence they can buy.
It pains me when people say one ought not to draw comparisons between Nigeria and advanced democracies. Should we aspire to rise to the top or race to the bottom, as we've been doing for the past decade and a half? People wouldn't mind waiting for results if there were a cogent pathway to national prosperity and individual upliftment. Nigerians are a very patient and resilient lot, and they wouldn't hesitate to support a government that had their overriding interests at heart. We would support any politician from whatever party that would stand as one with us and fight corruption to a standstill. We are not asking for much, are we? We want a government, peopled by conscientious and accountable politicians, that protects us, gives us the tool to bring our aspirations to fruition and ensures a level playing field in all areas of governance, including the justice system. The long and short of it is that we want someone at the helm that abhors corruption in absoluteness.
This era of parodic justness and cantic religiousness has to be brought to an end. The 'religion' market has to be properly regulated and monitored. So-called religious leaders should be made accountable and an end put to the manipulation and exploitation of people. Thieving pastors should be exposed and punished for their iniquitous practices. Pastors fleecing church members populate Christendom today and the promise of prosperity is luring vulnerable people into their embrace. The justice system needs a revampment of the highest order and the virtues of judicial impartiality brought to the fore.
We have to zero in on the pervasiveness of perverseness if we are to stop yapping on about the potential of Nigeria to be great, and actually start on the road to fulfilling that potential. Political criminality and unconscionable social behaviours have to be severely punished.
2015 will be a watershed in the history of our nation and we cannot possibly let the opportunity to correct our ills slip us by. We have a choice to make and we have a fight on our hands to make that choice respected. We have a voice and we have to duke it out with the forces of oppression and regression to make that voice recognised. The status quo should, and will, be history.
We can't afford to mess up. Our destiny is in our hands.
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