BY TAYO DEMOLA
At this moment of our national life where Nigeria has been plunged into
avoidable economic hardship and the living standard of many Nigerians
instead of improving, has gradually deteriorated below poverty level, many
Nigerians are shocked by what they got from the Buhari government which has
failed to make any positive change in the lives of the people. And with the
way we are all astonished as to how a government that promised us heaven
could turn around to give us hell instead, many Nigerians have wondered if
that Presidential Villa, Aso Rock is truly a blessing to Nigeria or a
curse.
Is the President even aware that many Nigerians are killing themselves due
the hardship and suffering brought about by his incompetent government?
Does he even know that an average Nigerian is so disenchanted with his
government that Nigerians are now even ashamed to call him their President?
Does he even know that due to the high expectations Nigerians had of him
when he was sworn in, that Nigerians now regret voting for him in the first
place? But the President knows all these, he cannot pretend not to know but
the activities of praise singers and the enemies of Nigeria who would tell
him that all is well would not make him realize the magnitude of the public
disenchantment and disconnection of his government from the masses of
Nigeria and from the reality on the ground.
The Nigerian government has undoubtedly been hijacked by a certain selfish
cabal who are no doubt enemies of Nigeria and who would do anything
possible to entrench their own selfish agenda on Nigeria. People like the
President’s Special adviser on Media Mr Femi Adeshina would always tell him
that all is well and that Nigerians are wailing wailers. And talking about
wailing wailers, Mr Femi Adeshina has introduced another vocabulary into
the Nigerian political arena which we shall make reference to from time to
time.
But let’s look at this critically. Does Mr Femi Adeshina have any right as
a political appointee who is paid with the Nigerian taxpayer’s money to
even call Nigerians who are complaining about bad government as wailing
wailers? Does he not know that the Nigerian masses have the ultimate power
to choose whoever should lead them and after choosing such person the
people have every right to complain about the government if their
expectations are not met? Does he not know he is a public servant and that
his duty is to serve the interest of the people and that it is completely
disrespectful to call the people of Nigeria wailing wailers?
If as a government you have failed the people and you failed to meet up
with the expectations of Nigerians, then don’t expect Nigerians to be happy
with your government. It is completely unacceptable to continue to take
Nigerians for a ride after we have voted you into power and instead of you
to improve the lives of the people, you ended up increasing their sorrow.
What sort of government is that? I noticed that every Presidential
candidate or political party in Nigeria would always come with sugarcoated
mouth and promise heaven and earth during campaigns and the people will be
so deceived into voting for them thinking they would change their lives for
the better but as soon as they get power, they would not fulfill such
deceitful promises to the people.
It looks as if there is something in that Aso Rock that twists the head of
every President that gets there and makes him forget all the promises he
made to the people. It looks as if that Aso Rock is jinxed against the
Nigerian people. It seems to me Nigeria may never make any meaningful
headway until that Aso Rock is completely disbanded to pave way for the
building of another Presidential Villa by a Godly and properly elected
Nigerian leader who would lay a good foundation for the building of that
new Presidential Villa.
It is very clear that there are many forces militating against the
performance of any Nigerian leader who enters that Aso Rock. It is very
possible that our lovely Aso Rock which we built with a lot of money during
the military era may actually be the problem of Nigeria. If not, why do
leaders suddenly turn against the masses as soon as they’ve taken over the
mantle of leadership? Why do they say one thing and do the complete
opposite of what they say? Is there not something mysterious about that Aso
Rock?
The one thing that also amazes me is how the President allows certain
people, praise singers and cabal to hijack his government without standing
up to the occasion for the sake of Nigeria. Is the interest of Nigeria not
above any selfish personal interest? The level Nigeria is now economically
shows clearly that this government is either unprepared for leadership from
the onset or completely incompetent and therefore does not deserve to lead
Nigeria any more. Nigerians were even better off during the tenure of
former President Goodluck Jonathan and things were not so bad. We are tired
of promises that will never materialize, we want action. We want an action
government that will ameliorate the suffering of the masses of Nigeria
within a reasonable period of time and better the lives of Nigerians and
any government that cannot do this should be shown the way out of Aso Rock
for another government to take over.
Nigerians have never had it so bad and even during Jonathan’s government,
the economy was not so harsh on Nigerians. Despite all the efforts of
Jonathan, we called him clueless because he could not meet up with a whole
lot of our expectations. He didn’t fight corruption and he exhibited a
lackadaisical attitude to the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents who
destroyed countless lives and property in the Northern part of Nigeria. But
while Jonathan could not do any of these and Nigerians hated him so much
and voted him out, we now have a President who we think is fighting Boko
haram and corruption but the people are dying of hunger and committing
suicide on a daily basis due to the excruciating economic hardship in
Nigeria.
But under Jonathan Nigerians could still afford to eat what they wanted and
the cost of things in the market was never so outrageous. We
called Jonathan clueless but I bet you many Nigerians are so disappointed
now that they don’t even know what name to call the Buhari government. But
this government is worse than clueless because if in a clueless government
the people are better off and in a supposedly ‘‘non-clueless’’ government
the people are suffering, then what is means is that the Buhari government
is worse than clueless. And it is very clear that things were quite better
for an average Nigerian under the Jonathan government and despite his
supposed ‘‘cluelessness’’, Nigerians even wish they never voted him out in
the first place.
If at all you are fighting corruption and Boko Haram, this is never enough
if the people are suffering. And what manner of corruption is the
government fighting in the first place? Is the corruption fight all
encompassing or is it only against some perceived opponents and enemies? Is
it only against certain people while some sacred cows are left off the
hook? What about those in the President’s cabinet and those in the current
government who have been indicted and who should have been investigated and
prosecuted if found wanting? Now we can see that it’s the usual
‘‘paddy-paddy’’ government which our all-time legend Fela told us from time
immemorial. The fight against corruption can never be holistic if certain
people who are indicted for corruption and tainted are still in this
government without being shown the way out. It would be hypocritical to do
so and that would mean taking Nigerians for granted.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently told us that President Buhari
is not good with the economy. Now some Nigerians might take that statement
with a pinch of salt but that is the plain truth. If Buhari was good with
the economy, if he were a good manager of the economy, by now the Nigerian
economy would not have gone from good to bad and now to worse. This clearly
tells us that we made a great mistake for voting in the Buhari government
into office in the first place since he is not a good manager of the
economy. It’s just like someone who doesn’t know how to cook and you ask
him to go and manage the kitchen and get a good meal out of that kitchen,
how possible is that? He will only go there and turn the kitchen upside
down and get you a badly prepared meal that will turn your stomach upside
down. That is what you get when you make the mistake of voting in someone
who doesn’t know how to manage the economy.
But mind you, former President Obasanjo cannot be wrong on this statement
because we can all see how the Nigerian economy is being badly managed with
all sorts of trials and errors that keep impoverishing the masses the more.
And the funny thing is that the President acts as if he has all the time in
the world to make the change that we Nigerians desire.
He acts with so much slow pace and reckless abandon as if he has ten or
twenty years more to lead Nigeria. He has forgotten that he has only FOUR
YEARS to make any impact and nothing more because it is very clear that
Nigerians will never vote for this APC government in 2019 except if Buhari
is not the Presidential candidate of the APC. The people want change and we
want it in record time and not endless promises. You don’t have to make
things worse before you make it better. Any government that makes things
worse for the people with a promise that things will get better is an
incompetent government that should be removed from office. Infact Nigerians
were already tired of this government as far back as 2016 when it started
to inflict pains and suffering on the hapless masses.
We were promised that the fuel price which was increased last year will
gradually come down but nothing of such has happened. We were told that
kerosene will soon get cheaper but instead of getting cheaper, it now even
costs more. And every commodity in the Nigerian market is beyond the reach
of an average Nigerian.
So with all these failed promises and with 2019 around the corner when the
government will come up with another set of deceptive and dubious promises,
we must all ensure we obtain our voter’s cards and vote out this government
since it is clear it cannot take us anywhere. We must change this
government before it finally destroys Nigeria. Is it when everybody dies of
hunger that the change we all clamoured for will come?
*TAYO DEMOLA, HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE & RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLOR, LAGOS,
NIGERIA. Reach him via tayobarrister@gmail.com