By Nwokedi Nworisara<\/p>\n
Two days ago, this author was confronted by some \u201cdie-hard supporters\u201d who
\nstill could not understand why\u00a0 he took a \u201cback seat\u201d in the present
\npolitical process. They could not understand his \u201csystem is not right\u201d
\nreasons since some of them strongly envision that \u201cthe time is now\u201d. Well
\nIf you are wondering what is amiss here this author once began the new
\nbreed,New Nigeria movement to get youths into position of power at the
\nhighest level through a presidential run in 1992. This author ,then
\nreferred to as the youngest Presidential Aspirant in the two parties SDP
\nand NRC,was only 29 years old when he took up the challenge and ran a
\nunique race that lasted over one year until the entire crop of aspirants
\nwere disqualified. The author had argued that he was as good ,even better
\nin the field than those who were his seniors and went ahead to prove it.To
\nprevent a reoccurrence of what was seen as a big political scare by the
\npowers that be the minimum age for aspiration for President was hurriedly
\nraised to 50. And for many years,no young man was allowed to aspire. Later
\non it was reduced to 40. With the \u201cnot too young to run\u201d,it has come back
\nto original 35.\u00a0 Jokingly,at a time during the debate,It was even
\nspeculated that those above 50 should be discouraged. But that is just how
\nfar the mania can go.<\/p>\n
To this end the following writings will serve as the 27th anniversary of an
\nevent that has awoken a generation to the injustice against the youth in
\nNigeria. That event was the first building block of the New Nigeria that
\nwill arise from the rubbles of present day political arrangement.<\/p>\n
Well,this authors reaction to make these writings would explain the vision
\nonce again so that present players can get their way straight.<\/p>\n
But first of all let us consider some seemingly innocuous events lately
\nwhich made these supporters approach me on the matter of political
\nparticipation at the highest level.
\nThree events in the political space will brighten our understanding of what
\nis happening and what will further happen to buttress my earlier point that
\ntrue leaders do not put themselves into a cul -de -sac from the outset of a
\npolitical process if indeed they are to be taken seriously in what they
\nprofess to achieve. First is the short Nigerian visit of Presidents of
\nBritain and Germany just days before the nomination process ends. These
\nleaders have come to receive signature on new deals. The other event was
\nthe distortion of candidate Moghalu\u2019s posters in Abuja. The next one of
\ncourse is the INECs confession that a party requested for unclaimed PVCs
\nwhile the masses are out there racing against time to collect their own
\nbefore the deadline.<\/p>\n
Now just before it becomes apparent to you,the leaders of the world have
\nagreed that Nigerians are in love with the present Political system going
\nby interest shown by the people over the position of President. No system
\nis perfect but what matters is it\u2019s internal support. Since this regime has
\nproved its point thatNigerians love the 1999 constitution it shows also
\nthat your president is set to return to power because your system has been
\nfurther narrowed in your very eyes to favour the incumbent. This time
\naround there is unlikely to be such an outside pressure as President
\nJonathan endured and which may have led to his seeming abdication.<\/p>\n
In case you still do not understand why Britain and Germany want signed
\ntheir bilateral Agreements,it is because they know the outcome and thank
\nyou very much people … also candidate Moghalu\u2019s \u201ctime is now\u201d has served
\nits purpose. Perhaps that is why it is being defaced.Now is the time for
\nreal politics to set in. By the way,do not ever think that this system is
\nset up to achieve your dreams that is -throw up what is good. But at best
\nthe worst will scale through. Even if an \u201cAngel\u201demerges through the eye of
\nthe needle it must have changed its shape to fit in. The world is set to
\nsee much unconventional strategies at play here but at the end you all have
\nalready voted! Your leaders have made the most serious blunder again,and
\nthis is despite my repeated warnings because you all accepted that what
\nNigeria needs is \u201cgood leaders\u201d not better system via restructuring of a
\npolity that has consistent thrown up bad leaders.<\/p>\n
It reminds me of a catchy scene in this epic movie starring Will Smith
\ntitled \u201cENEMY OF THE STATE\u201d. A former security operative is helping
\n\u201cSmith\u201dmake sense out of the numerous danger he has come upon because out
\nof innocence he mistakenly took possession of a highly wanted tape and was
\nnow regarded as enemy of the state. In hiding \u201cSmith\u201dwas warned not to make
\na call. But not understanding he would give away his location,made a call.
\nSoon his only hide out was besieged and the operative had no choice but to
\nblow up his expensive house. \u201cSmith\u201d was shocked at his decision and
\nenquired why. \u201cBecause you made a call\u201d was the simple answer.<\/p>\n
So Nigerians should not worry about the consequences of our political
\nnaivety when it begins to roll because \u201cwe made a call\u201d. Already the
\nconsequences are rolling. The international community sympathized with us
\nand gave us enough support to put things right. All the time the
\nLegislators were there only interested in their pockets leaving behind
\nthose incisive restructuring legislation that would have saved us from this
\nsituation. Now they have joined the race to fish out an angel in this
\ndarkness. In the first place angels are in heaven not on this earth. They
\ntoo think they would do better. It is the country that suffers for another
\nspan. All that energy wasted in proving that the incumbent is demonic the
\nsame that happened to the last incumbent would have been channeled by the
\nlegislature to answer just one salient question begging for answer in 40
\nyears: Is military rule over in Nigeria? Has the Nigerian civil war ended?
\nBut they thought that it does not concern them so they towed the line of
\nleast resistance while Nigerians suffered untold repression in their own
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
If military rule is over why is the military intelligence screening
\naspirants or what right do they have to decide for the civilian parties Who
\nis good or bad candidate? What criteria is used and who oversees it? So in
\nessence since 1979 the military has been taking the most important decision
\nin the political process and you call it civil rule? To disengage the
\nmilitary is the restructuring we are talking about. It is achieved when the
\nmilitary formally hands over power to the legislature from where Late Gen
\nIronsi received it.\u00a0 Then automatically all the no go areas of the
\nconstitution will be nullified. And that includes the screening role of the
\nmilitary which presently constitutes the key portion of our intelligent
\ncommunity. As soon as the suspended parts of the constitution is lifted
\nNigeria will be back to Regionalism of the 1963 constitution.\u00a0 But if you
\ncontinue to have legislatures with members thinking their job is to be
\npresident and presidential aspirants who are willing even to run against
\nthemselves,and the international community continues to be deceived as like
\nyou have just achieved,then we can continue this merry go round. But don\u2019t
\nbother yourself as to why this author is not running even when you think
\nthe time is now; do not deceive yourself that this system will throw up the
\ngood in us or that we would not arrive at the unexpected. I can only pray
\nthat we open our eyes next time around and stop condemning what we have
\nalready endorsed.But when the youths are driven to the wall…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Nwokedi Nworisara Two days ago, this author was confronted by some \u201cdie-hard supporters\u201d who still could not understand why\u00a0 he took a \u201cback seat\u201d in the present political process.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n