Election Eve: Reflection On The Nigeria Political Scoundrels!

By Dr. Hilary Evbayiro

Considering how Obasanjo carefully pushed and played Atiku to the curb in 2007, it is instructive to note, at this juncture, that Atiku was visibly on the driver seat as the VP to Obasanjo when the latter handed power to a dying Yar’Adua.   Why did that happen?  If Atiku was not considered a presidential material and good enough to rule Nigeria then, what makes him fit for the position now?  This just shows the extent to which Nigeria and its politics have degenerated. Why would the deadwoods in our society continue to recycle themselves in the Nigerian politics?  When are they going to allow the younger generation to rule the country? The same group of old people who were the masterminds or parts of the intrigue that brought Nigeria down have been and still continue to rule Nigeria.  

On Saturday, February 16, 2019, Nigerians will go to the polling stations to cast their votes, and whether their votes will count is of no concern at this point.  

Although a feeling of uncertainty about the outcome of the election is engulfing the air, there is something truly ebullient when people are allowed to exercise their franchise.  

It is exactly twenty years now that Nigerians went to the polls for the first time post-Abacha era.   That was after IBB had scuttled the results of the June 12 election of 1993, which paved the way for the satanic Abacha to impose himself upon and brutalized the psyche of the Nigerian people.      

For the election of 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo was pulled out of Abacha prison and made president.  The efforts of those responsible for that feat was not necessarily an act of altruism but a way to avert the disintegration of the Nigerian nation that was in the offing for some obvious reasons at the time.  

While the Hausas/Fulanis were trying frantically to keep Nigeria together because of the goodies from oil that they were getting, the Yoruba people were ready to create an Oduduwa Republic for themselves.   

This was so because they felt highly aggrieved by the June 12 episode that denied then the opportunity to produce a president.   At the same time, our people on the orient were seriously considering another crack at Biafra.  

While the other ethnic groups were making plans and preparation in the event of the collapse of Nigeria, Edo people remained docile and helpless. Our people did not know what to do, only to be mere spectators of the intrigues as things were unfolding.  

When Obasanjo was brought to rule Nigerian in 1999, everyone thought a good, fertile cow was coming out of “Uzebu” (for the benefit of the people).  Obasanjo ruled for eight years as a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  

At the completion of his second term in office, Obasanjo even tried to change the constitution to enable him remain in power, but Nigerians would not have anything to do with his devious attempt to remain in power for another term.  

After the unsuccessful attempt to anoint himself for a third term, the wily old fox handed power to a cadaverous Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and moved back home to his Ota Farm.  

Yar’Adua died after just three years (29 May 2007 – 5 May 2010) in office, an event that brought the disastrous Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan to power, which he lost to President Muhammadu Buhari in the general election of 2015.   

The PDP ruled Nigeria for sixteen years and had nothing to show for it. The most sad and inexplicable part of it all is that for the sixteen years the PDP was in control, Nigeria earned over $560 billion in oil revenue.  

For the avoidance of doubt, the $560 billion is a conservative estimate of what Nigeria actually took in between 1999, when Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar headed the PDP, and 2014 when Jonathan was subsequently at the helm of affairs in the country.  

Now the PDP wants to come back and rule Nigeria again by bringing Atiku back into the fray.  While every citizen has the right to contest in an election, it is a bit sad that the PDP could not find a suitable candidate to beat Buhari and had to settle for and recycle Atiku.  

What a sorry situation for the PDP!! Do they think Nigerians are this dumb and stupid? Recently, I happened to read a story in which Atiku, campaigning in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria, proclaimed that Buhari and his party cannot be trusted and that the “PDP would provide adequate security, jobs and turn around the economy….”  

What a convenient claim and way to try to swindle the people!  For Atiku to tag Buhari as untrustworthy is a rhetorical appeal to the sensuous and incogitant nature of some people in Nigeria because Atiku, as Vice President under Obasanjo, was one of the most corrupt persons in the country.  

It is common knowledge that he was connected in the indictment of the disgraced American congressman William Jefferson, who was released from prison in 2017 for corruption charges in which Atiku, the then VP of Nigeria, was implicated.  

In that case, Atiku was pointedly incriminated when Jefferson was caught on tape saying he was going to give Atiku the sum of $500,000 to help him secure some contracts in Nigerian on behalf of IGate and Mody. Have we forgotten so soon?

Rallying in Lagos recently in a last-ditch effort to sway the people before the election, Atiku charged Nigerians not to trust Buhari and APC, claiming that the PDP will provide heaven and earth, as though they did not have enough time to make Nigerians happy when they had the opportunity.  

Why should Atiku be claiming holier-than-thou now?  Has he forgotten that the PDP had sixteen good years to turn things around and put a smile in the face of the people?  

Did the PDP do that?  Absolutely not!  Instead, they chose to enrich themselves through corrupt means and practices at the expense of the Nigerian people.  Now, he wants to come back to rule Nigeria!  To do what? To rob the people blind again? 

Considering how Obasanjo carefully pushed and played Atiku to the curb in 2007, it is instructive to note, at this juncture, that Atiku was visibly on the driver seat as the VP to Obasanjo when the latter handed power to a dying Yar’Adua.   

Why did that happen?  If Atiku was not considered a presidential material and good enough to rule Nigeria then, what makes him fit for the position now?  This just shows the extent to which Nigeria and its politics have degenerated. 

Why would the deadwoods in our society continue to recycle themselves in the Nigerian politics?  When are they going to allow the younger generation to rule the country?  

The same group of old people who were the masterminds or parts of the intrigue that brought Nigeria down have been and still continue to rule Nigeria.  People like Buhari and Atiku should not even be conceiving the idea of showing themselves publicly, let alone campaigning to rule the country.  

Whether we clamour for APC, PDP, or any unpopular or unknown political parties, it is as certain as the sun shall rise and set that Nigerians will always get a raw deal from these so-called leaders and politicians, who are perfidiously and perversely personified. 

We used to say “Nigeria We Hail Thee.”  That was during the good old days when Nigeria was dubbed the giant of Africa.  The giant of Africa is no more; the giant of Africa has become the scum of Africa and the entire world.  

What happened to the giant one may perforce query?  It is undeniably true and incontestable that the giant has fallen mightily and disdainfully.  The question now is can and will the giant rise up?  

The giant will rise only when our leaders will begin to evince a sympathetic sense of purpose for the Nigerian nation.  The giant will rise only when our leaders and politicians will begin to think of Nigeria and less about themselves.  

The giant will rise only when the people of Nigeria will begin to know and understand that everything in life is not about money and wealth.  The giant will rise again only when our people will stop glorifying wealth without hard work and leadership without conscience.  

The giant will rise when Nigerian leaders, people, and youth will begin to live to the true meaning of the second stanza of the Nigerian national anthem that goes, “Oh God of creation, direct our noble cause – Guide our leaders right – Help our youth the truth to know – In love and honesty to grow – And living just and true – Great lofty heights attain – To build a nation where peace and justice – shall reign.”

May those who have the suffering of the masses at heart win on Saturday. May God help Nigeria.

I salute!D