POLITICS OPINION: NIGERIA POLITICS: JOGGING ON THE SAME SPOT

By Femi Abulude 

The question on the lips of well meaning Nigerians and friends of the country is “Is

Nigeria Jinxed?” The   reason behind this question is not far fetched. All positive efforts to make the Nation work had always met brickwall. She got her independence in 1960 from the British Colonialists after several years of agitations by some patriotic elements on the political landscape then. The enthusiasm was infectious. The new nation had all what it needed to be great.

This hope for greatness was cut short few years later by military adventurists. Thus the political gladiators of the first republic were shot out of existence. Civil war ensued, many lives were loss and since then it has been stories of woes. Along the line, mother luck smiled on Nigeria, she struck crude oil in commercial quantities and we started spending money like the biblical prodigal son.

After years of political acrobatics, democracy was re-instated for the second time in 1999 instead of serving the people, the “New Breed” politicians started milking the populace. The unfortunate thing is that most of the fire-brand Gadflies who fought the military government to stand still could not make it to the political driving seat. The fortunate ones are the military apologies whom the military leaders were using as cannon fodders during their regimes.

Several political parties fought for elections in 1999, PDP got the highest votes; they won the presidency, most of the states and the two Federal Houses; Senate and House of Representatives. This was the commencement of the period of the jackals. It was free for all. Everybody was in-charge; there was no respect for party supremacy. Impunity was the order of the day. Democratic norms were thrown overboard. Nigeria became a pun in the hands of PDP for about sixteen years. Things eventually fell apart and the centre could not hold again for PDP, the self praised largest political party in Africa. Despite the federal election that was drawing near then, the broken china of the PDP were scattered all over the place and nobody could gather the pieces.

It was at this period that All Progressive Congress (APC) came with the “Change” Mantra with want of credible alternative to PDP Nigerians fell for the “Change” Slogan. Yours truly enthusiastically composed a song then. It goes thus:

“This wind of change

That is blowing in our land

Let it touch us all

Positively for that matter

Lets feel it oh!

Chineke meh

Abasi nbo

Obangiji

Metalokan o!

Let it touch us all”

The slogan worked. Table turned and APC won the elections at the centre. It unseated the sitting President, Goodluck Jonathan and Gen Mohammed Buhari got convenient majority members in the Senate and House of Representatives, the party won most of the states. That put an end to sixteen years rule of PDP. We thought Eldorado had come, how wrong we were!

Politic is a game of numbers. While in the quest for power, APC threw its doors and windows opened for all comers. This free for all entrance allowed the influx of dregs and disgruntled elements of PDP into APC. Most of the discredited former state governors and members who already had cases with Economics and Finance Crime Commission (EFCC) found their ways into the Senate and House of Representatives, some were even made ministers under APC. Within a short time, they became a formidable force within the party. They overpowered and over-shadowed the original owners of APC. Before we knew it, APC became Pseudo PDP.

It was their perpetual transfer of acts impunity and camaraderie that was responsible for the emergence of Ike Ekeremadu, a staunch PDP Leader as the Deputy Senate President. This was unprecedented in the annals of political history of Nigeria. This is pure evidence of APC being the two sides of a Coin. As if this was not enough, a Former PDP Chairman, Audu Ogbe, is the present Minister of Agriculture in Buhari government. The Senate President, Olusola Saraki, who has become a recalcitrant, was a two term Governor of Kwara State under PDP.

The unfortunate thing is that all positive efforts to move Nigeria forward by Buhari Government are being thwarted by these PDP elements in APC. They have seen APC as a safe haven against prosecution for their earlier committed financial crimes. These set of powerful elements in the Senate refused to approve, Ibrahim Magu, whom Buhari presented as the Chairman of EFCC. You can now appreciate why this war against corruption could not achieve much and the nation has been on a permanent state of stagnancy after more than two years of being on the saddle.

The crux of the matter is that our expectations are too high due to what we went through in the hands of PDP hawks. These expectations had beclouded our sense of judgment we are expecting someone coming fresh from the toilet to be smelling of roses. The home truth is that PDP has polluted APC to the extent that the venom has rendered it incapacitated that is why the wind of change could not blow. The President is always gasping for breath at the enormousity of the challenges, we are jogging quite alright, but we have not moved from the same spot.

The interesting thing now is that another election would soon come and the remnants  of the PDP are warming up. Even some decampees are returning to the party. You can now realize that the whole exercise is just personal aggrandizement and not service to the people.

The general consensus now is that we are tired of all these recycled elements. It is obvious that they cannot move Nigeria forward. They have got to their wit-end. They cannot perform more than what we have seen and experienced. They should give way or better still we should shove them aside and allow new and fresh idea to take over the political driver’s seat. The action should start now.