A feast of fierce frustrations

By Kene Obiezu

To drag Nigeria out of the pit into which it has been put by generations of thieving leaders, Nigerians have no choice but to elect leaders who have previously shown that not all Nigerians are cut from the same soiled waistcloth of wanton avarice and corruption.

To live in a dysfunctional society is to die slowly as everything else malfunctions leaving one on the edge of despair.

In many ways and quite astoundingly, the Giant of Africa has become the poster child of the countries that are not working at the moment, and damningly do not look ready to work anytime soon.

Nigeria trudges into another election after the last cycle in 2019. Gratefully for a lot of people President Muhammadu Buhari and his army of apologists are about to drink from the trough of oblivion that has so gratefully given drink to other Nigeria presidents who failed to heed the lessons that the transience of power always offers.

But these last days of a presidency that promised so much but has put out so little appear to be the longest yet as spiraling crisis after spiraling crisis have formed the noose by which Nigeria appears set to hang.

Fuel queues have since returned especially in Abuja and Lagos, winding away like venomous snakes. As if that was not enough, a poorly planned naira redesign policy by the Central Bank have also left many disgruntled Nigerians besieging commercial banks in desperate bids to get cash. The scarcity of the new naira notes has since witnessed an uptick in conspiracy theories.

Many Nigerians have accused commercial banks of hoarding the new notes and selling them to politicians while others have simply blamed the Central Bank of Nigeria for its disastrous planning and policy. However what remains even louder than the whispers of the conspiracy theorists and their theories are the very loud groans of Nigerians under a system seemingly fine-tuned to drive people to distraction.

It all seems to have a thing or two to do with vote buying. The Central Bank has said that the naira redesign was to preclude vote buying, terrorist financing among other things but an unprecedented level of hardship, has Nigerians questioning the extent to which the policy is in their interest.

The elections are just around the corner and the ripples from a futuristic process of undeniable importance are already upsetting many lives here. People are anxious, uncertain about a lot of things, and quite edgy. A thick pall of frustration has settled on the country as desperate families desperately try to navigate the hard times.

While the Supreme Court has ordered a temporary suspension of the ban on use of old notes, which suspension is set to expire soon, people remain wary of using it for transactions. The Central Bank of Nigeria has even been forced to acknowledge that the policy was poorly planned and implemented.

A lot of things in Nigeria have always been poorly planned. The country’s history is replete with problems that have come about as a result of poor planning. Successive Nigerian governments have shown a kind of cluelessness that does not conduce to proper planning. The net result is a country where nothing has really worked.

Nigerians are right to be frustrated with everything that has happened in the country in the last eight years and with everything that is happening even now. Nigerians do not deserve the frustration that silently but insistently gnaws away at their lives. Nigerians deserve a country that works. It is the least legacy they can bequeath to their unborn.

In the light of all these, the elections that are just around

One other important problem that the people dont take seriously is the measure of the political will of the powers-that-be to see the election through; and anyone who takes this important factor for granted may find himself or herself to blame. Talking seriously, it behooves the political will of the man in power to make sure that the election sails through. If he doesnt, no matter the pretence and/or the abracadabra in governance, nothing is secured! For instance, if, behind the scene, President Muhammadu Buhari refuses to hand over power, nothing can be done!

Lastly, that poverty is weaponized and greed is ubiquitously pervasive in Nigeria is no longer news! Therefore, public administration cannot but be problematic! For most people, politics is just to secure the means of livelihood, not to develop a neighbourhood, community or country. Thats why, by the time a man who goes into politics wearing a pair of bathroom slippers is given a N26 million car with other perks of political office to boot, he moves on! So, thousands of other guys are waiting for the next term, when they, too, will have to fight for public office.

According to a Yoruba adage, ‘Aja to yo kii ba aiyo sere! (A well-fed dog does not relate with a hungry one). Undeniably, poverty in Nigeria has created a pool of both the unemployed and the unemployable; and the hope of getting even “crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” can keep some people perpetually attached to the powersthat-be, whether they have steady incomes or not. Added to this is that politicians in this part of the world are the most difficult people to deal with. Why? They forget their associates and followers easily! This is demoralizing! Its also a disgrace! Therefore, since a hungry man is an angry man, a situation whereby politicians are being used and managed as factory workers shouldnt be encouraged. A factory worker holds allegiance to a particular factory, because thats where he or she works. He reports there, as directed; and gets paid for work done at the end of the month. The salary is meant to make him stay alive as well as maintain his or her family. On the contrary, a political foot soldier is a freelance worker without a root; which makes him or her very fragile and dangerous, because he or she switches allegiance at the slightest provocation! May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

*Komolafe wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk) the corner offers an incredible opportunity to Nigerians to put into office people who will offer the country the brightest chances of making something out of its prodigious potentials.

Nigerians should elect only leaders that have shown by their antecedents that they can remain relatively unblemished in a country swarming with corruption.

To drag Nigeria out of the pit into which it has been put by generations of thieving leaders, Nigerians have no choice but to elect leaders who have previously shown that not all Nigerians are cut from the same soiled waistcloth of wanton avarice and corruption.

To get their heads in the right places and to guarantee the best possible future for their children, access to quality education will be key for Nigerians. To guarantee unfettered access to quality education, Nigerians must choose only leaders that know the profoundly alchemical power of accessible and affordable quality education because they have some themselves. Consequently, all those who peddle dubious academic credentials must be roundly rejected.

It remains a tragedy of national proportions that even among Nigerians who have been sold for nothing in the last eight years there remain those who would rather their chains remain. These people who are unfortunately many want an entire country to remain in chains and in a land of deep darkness simply because their chains guarantee that they can feed on scraps from their masters’ table.

It is not clear that all Nigerians realize it. But on February 25,2023 when Nigerians will go to the polls to elect the man who would be president of the country for the next eight years, an indescribably important lot will be cast over the future of the country. The way the lot falls will determine whether a beleaguered country breaks up or begins to escape its woes.

Kene Obiezu can be reached at keneobiezu@gmail.com