Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been traversing the
\nlength and breadth of Nigeria talking about \u201cchange\u201d in the leadership of
\nthe nation. They talk glibly about the need for change in how things are
\ndone. It is their right to so do. In fact, it is good to talk about
\n\u201cchange\u201d because \u201cchange\u201d is good. Even if you do not talk about
\n\u201cchange\u201d, it will present itself in both particular and general
\ncircumstances. After all, the truism is that the only thing that is
\npermanent in life is change.
\nSo, when I see them talking so passionately about \u201cchange\u201d, which they
\nclaim is their motto, I consider them as being rather unimaginative. I
\ndismiss them as boringly flogging something that is not new. Do not get
\nme wrong; I know that the message of \u201cchange\u201d is a meaningful message,
\nespecially when it is being passed on by credible change agents. But what
\nrankles about the messengers of APC\u2019s \u201cchange\u201d is their hypocrisy, which
\nthey have tried to clothe with the integrity of the godly.
\nAnd because they present a picture that is false, this then causes so much
\nnoise in APC leaders\u2019 communication process that substantially detracts
\nfrom the credibility of the message itself. I am always inclined to see
\nthe message from the prism of the persona and antecedents of the
\nindividual APC leader rendering the \u201cchange\u201d mantra. It would be
\nworthwhile to remind many of them of their history and deny them of their
\nunconscionable and farcical claim to probity.
\nWhen many of these APC leaders\u2014former governors, incumbent governors,
\nlegislators, etc.\u2014mount the soapbox to pontificate about their desire to
\nbring about \u201cchange\u201d, I always wonder what exactly they are talking about.
\nWhat arrant nonsense! What shambolic dissimulation! Do they take Nigerians
\nfor idiotic and undiscerning folks? The sensibilities of Nigerians have
\nbeen insulted and assaulted over and again through the shenanigans of
\nthese questionable characters who masquerade as patron-saints on the
\nshifty political terrain.
\nI hope they would attempt some kind of self-interrogation, question their
\nown sincerity; and, indeed, put their individualities on the scale of
\nintegrity to assess what they are really worth. What exactly is their
\nworth? Are they really better than their counterparts in the Peoples
\nDemocratic Party (PDP), whose motto is \u201cPower to the People?\u201d and whose
\ncharacter and politics the APC leaders wilfully denigrate and demonize?
\nIs it not self-serving deceit to attempt, as the APC leaders have been
\ndoing, to portray the PDP and its government at the centre as incapable of
\ntransforming the nation?
\nI hasten to posit here that the APC and its leaders, which discerning and
\nrational Nigerians know, cannot play Caesar\u2019s wife in the intriguing game
\nof duplicitous politics and electoral manipulations, nor can many of them
\nin public offices and those who had held public offices before now, come
\nto equity because they do not have clean hands. Yet, with voices that
\nseem to pack a whole lot of strength in them, these stocks have tended to
\noverwhelm everyone with their unsolicited message of \u201cchange.\u201d Their
\npropaganda machinery is in overdrive!
\nIt is unfortunate that these politicians engage in political sophistry
\nthat seems to be sitting pretty well with some of their sadly misguided
\nfollowers. They exert themselves to force down the throats of
\nwell-meaning Nigerians their salad of lies, half-truths and
\nmisinformation. Simply because they want to dislodge the present occupant
\nof the nation\u2019s presidential seat, they have stopped at nothing to pursue
\nparty lines and subterfuge. They have resorted to propagating outlandish
\nclaims against officialdom.
\nNothing good or beneficial, as long as it proceeds from the bosom of the
\nsitting president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, or from his bag of goodies,
\nmatters to them. They act true-to-type, haranguing every transformative
\ngesture. They excel in pillorying every good action of government without
\ngiving credit where and when it is due.
\nThis strategy by the self-acclaimed agents of \u201cchange\u201d does no credit to
\nthem. Rather, it denies them the credibility that anybody could have
\nascribed to their self-imposed task of trying to expose the underbelly of
\nthe PDP\u2019s ruling Federal Government. How can they appear or sound
\ncredible when the only elections in which they emerge victorious are
\ntransparent while the ones won by the PDP are rigged?
\nIt is the triumph of one-man-one-vote when they win, but electoral charade
\nwhen they lose. In pre-election activities, it is in apple-pie order for
\na godfather in Lagos to select and\/or impose candidates for elective
\noffices, but a charade in PDP if anything close to that or exactly that
\nhappens. In post-election era, judicial victory for them is victory for
\ndemocracy while judicial victory for the PDP is procured. 3D”EN-GB”
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\nThere is nothing to convince doubters that the APC is itself ready for
\n\u201cchange\u201d, not to talk of its ability to bequeath \u201cchange\u201d to the people.
\nBut politicians are incurable optimists. They can promise to provide
\nheaven on earth, just as the APC is promising \u201cchange.\u201d They will promise
\nto build bridges where there are no rivers. So, I ask once more, what
\nmanner of \u201cchange\u201d can come from a group of people whose antecedents are
\nwell known to many Nigerians?
\nThere was an APC leader who, for eight years, privatized one of the
\nsouthwest states; and, today, he is collecting royalty from those he
\nhelped into governorship positions in the zone. He is still very
\ninfluential in the APC, which is promising \u201cchange.\u201d Again, the question
\narises, what manner of \u201cchange\u201d can come from such an APC leader.
\nEven some of them who run their respective states are no good examples:
\nthere is too much chicanery. Deception and systematic plundering of the
\npeople\u2019s commonwealth have become \u201cdirective principles of state policy.\u201d
\nAnd, sadly, they continue to perpetrate the perfidy while presenting
\nthemselves as puritans. Is this not the lot of the APC, whose ranks have
\nbeen swollen, in recent times, by some PDP politicians, whose personal
\npolitical history is entangled in questionable circumstances?
\nAsk the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and their rumps
\nwould be exposed; and, indeed, the alleged malfeasances of some of them
\nhave already become public knowledge. The attempt by the APC leaders to
\nwax sanctimonious is, therefore, laughable. I deny the politician in them
\nthe claim to saintliness; they cannot bring about \u201cchange\u201d even in the
\ncontext that they have promised it for they cannot give what they do not
\nhave. This is the parody of their reality.
\nOjeifo contributed this piece from Abuja via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been traversing the length and breadth of Nigeria talking about \u201cchange\u201d in the leadership of the nation. They talk glibly about the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n