Today’s article being my 41st in the sun newspaper is significant to me as I remember the 41st united states President Judge W. Bush who passed a week ago, he served only one term but became best of friends till death with the President who defeated and denied him a second term a lesson for our politicians and students of politics.
As we the people of this nation Nigeria prepare to elect of select men and women, geopolitical offices come 2019 I see a nation in trouble once again, most politicians have come to agree that the political structure is not working, a good number say that the economy is fragile and fading even as Nigerians have now accepted that the safety and security of the populace is not guaranteed and that has affected the mental state of the people particularity those that live in the IDP camp during the last few years, the standard of education being offered to the present generation who will become leaders of tomorrow is flood and has no learning therefore the future is bleak and we the people must stand up and be counted.
Every time I write a piece on matters affecting my nation, I am constantly thinking to myself about the generation that will inherit the future. The generation that will be gifted the future had no role in the outcome but will need to work through blood and sweat to brighten it. I can only say that the present generation and past especially those of us between sixty five and eighty five must be held responsible. My generation took so much from Nigeria and gave back very little. Now, we are departing the earth in a worse state than we met it.
Right before our eyes, despite the privilege of having the best of two worlds, the foundation of our nation though largely influenced by the British was crashed and the immense resources that followed the independence was mismanaged or out rightly stolen. We began to thrive at tearing the country apart and dividing it to a point of no return so that all that is left is transition from one crisis to another which only serves to hold back the emergence of the nation’s once great potential.
Asking questions and holding elders responsible for the trouble we are in today is against the culture of many Nigerian tribes but I have always opposed this and made it a point to tell my children and grandchildren, both biological and non-biological, to start now to ask questions before it is too late.
My generation must be asked how come that the many nations of the world where Nigerians work in every capacity are building centres in space and all we have done is build castles to touch the air. More questions like how come my generation got good education and learning yet all we could offer the next generation after us was some education but no learning. I recall that with only five or six universities in the country, the standards and infrastructure were of world standards, students came from across Africa and the world to study in Nigeria. Today, Nigerians are travelling anywhere and everywhere to find good education.
As we prepare for yet another election at the beginning of 2019, I have listened to lots of interviews and debate coming from almost all the aspirants and would-be presidents of the people of Nigeria. In all my travels around the world I have never known any country that possesses the class, the intelligence and the leadership credentials that the young men and women of our country have shown. It can be seen in the well-articulated programme they have for the office to the well prepared manifestos been dished out to the people as well as, the love they proclaim to have for their nation.
There is still the norm though. We have seen candidates unable to articulate their plans or disregarding the need to since they hold the power at the moment and/or have the money to ‘buy’ the votes. There is also the usual theatrics that come up during elections amongst the different parties.
If what I have read and listened to is anything to go bye, we may be heading for the kind of change we saw in 2015-2016 or back to the business of over 50 years, My questions for those that want to give the country a change or a different direction are as follows; Where have all these wonderful politicians or magicians been all these 50 years? I listened to some of them and they make the Clinton/Obama debate of 2010 look so ordinary. Even Putin of Russia debating the press in his one party structure did not possess the convincing posture that has been displayed by our presidential aspirants. I find myself pondering on this so much that I cannot help but to ask where have all these men and women been all these years. Is this case of the beautiful ones have now been born or Nigerians have had enough? Maybe it is both. Another question I have is, ‘Is there a chance of victory for any of these wonderful candidates in a system so steeped in corruption?’
For the latter, my ever hopeful self believes so. However, there would need to be a lot of sacrifices and unity as there can only be after all one captain on a ship. From the eight to ten young presidential aspirants that I have listened to, most of them can give the nation the leadership it desires but there can only be one president at a time. Therefore, they must all get together and start to prepare for a journey that will take not less than eight years to dismantle the present political structure that have held this country in bondage for decades. It won’t happen now sadly but the bricks of the wall of fake democracy can begin to fall from now. During that journey a true leader will emerge amongst them that will take this country to the Promised Land. It is only by agreeing amongst themselves to appoint a leader that the process of restructuring, reshaping and repositioning of the country can commence for the sake of the coming generation.