From the wisdom chapter of the Holy Bible, we are told that, although man
reserves the right from God to will and to plan, it is often the mandate of
heaven which prevails. This has been clearly brought to the minds and
consciousness of Nigerians as a result of the 2015 presidential election’s
outcome. Without shying away from the truth or trying to color facts, the
result of the just concluded presidential election left even enigmas
shocked: while some who believed that APC posed a greater danger sulked at
the seeming silence of heaven, those who boasted in the “power of the
incumbency” cowered in shame as the power of change shook them into a new
change.
Politics is a business for mature souls. The challenge often experienced in
political circles the world over, especially in Africa, is as a result of
immature souls leaning on the pride of their flesh to impose on other (most
times, more mature) souls their carnal abilities. That tells why most of
them go to the length of committing murder and causing societal instability
to prove their carnal point and ability to suppress will. Some often tend
to forget that, until life ends, politics runs as in a cycle; garbage in,
garbage out. In other words, the only thing which marks an indelible
imprint in the sands of time for any politician is his ability to forsake
other luring and enticing promises of the now and shooting for what may, in
the history of time, abide. Clear ignorance alone makes some of them curse
and chant for war if they feel denied, either way, the ‘opportunity’ to
rule or lead others. And one wonders when imposing oneself on others became
a ‘noble’ task.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan may have gotten a glimpse of the rewards
of history, I dare say – far clearer than his contemporaries and mates and,
as a result, has left an indelible imprint in the history of Nigeria;
albeit to his favour. That the “power of incumbency” became inferior to the
“will of the people” has only been made possible now is to GEJ’s credit.
Leaders have hitherto emerged in Nigeria but only this time, in GEJ, has a
leader with such impunity and veto powers submitted himself to the will of
the people, the fate of political correctness and to the mandate of God for
the now. Granted, Nigerians have reserved reasons to opt for yet another
political change, however it took only a leader, tough on uniting the
nation and soft on the will of the people, to have looked beyond the pomp
and pageantry of political utopia towards the impacts and legacies of
leadership history. President Goodluck Jonathan has shown himself a man
with a changed soul; a man leaving the country’s highest political seat
with a conscience equating and even, to a greater level, dwarfing his woes
and weaknesses. So, if the yearning of true elders and leaders of Nigeria
is to be birthed, successive government has a tip-toe of a duty to the
people to build upon the political legacies inherited from the outgoing
humble man.
What legacies may record? It’s been the witness of many that GMB is a good
man. For people of my age and experience, that leaves to be yet
experienced. However, the will of of the citizens has been almost unanimous
with the mandate of God in his emergence as the president this time round.
My concerns: now that electoral challenges have been somewhat nipped, would
it please our incoming president to take a personal decision to will out a
change in the nation’s electric power supply shame? What legacies may
abound? Will our new president enforce a policy on agriculture which will
ensure that food within the country becomes as cheap and affordable as
today’s salts? What legacies may record? What should we speak of the true
identity of every Nigerian: will it be a herculean task to electronically
document the population of Nigerians? Without an accurate population count,
most leadership calculations will often miss their targets.
Everything around is a source of education; how will this incoming
leadership harness our environment and the benefits of the global village
to help in the education of our children and indeed every citizen desirous
of maximizing their inputs to the society by maximizing their knowledge of
the human society?
Personally, I believe more in a soul that is more alive than in a
politician who is more political in his approach. This is because true
leadership sets sail from within the soul; only a soul who is truly alive
to the truth of his society can carry out any meaningful political
undertaking. It is my wish and, I believe, the wish of all Nigerians to see
a nation where power outages will become a thing of the past, a country
where education will no longer be exclusively exclusive, where the
communication gap between the citizens and the rest of the world will be
brigaded by a mass focus on the internet availability and affordability,
and where people will pamper their lives instead of trying to destroy them
by trying to destroy others. Without genuine steps of love towards nation
healing, I’m afraid, the cries for personalization can only grow louder
and, at a point, collide as a bomb in the sky and rain on the indifferent
and carefree so-called citizens of the so-called “Giant.” It costs far less
to prevent, protect and maintain than to heal and cure.