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DREAMS DELIVERED
We are the leaders we looked up to when we were 12. We are the children of
the civil war who vowed to revamp Nigeria when we grew up. We said we
would stay away from corruption and corruptible practices; we would love one
another irrespective of tribal origin.. We are school children of
the 70s that lined the streets of our home town, in my case Benin City, to
welcome Yakubu Gowon. We believed in the dream of a prosperous one Nigeria with
equal access to good education for everyone. We are the young men of the 80s
who saw the excesses and incompetence of Shehu Shagari, Umaru Dikko and his
cohorts. We said Nigeria deserved competent leadership devoid of
ostentatious waste of national resources. We said we would not be
manipulated by the constant psychopathic sycophancy from the general
populace. We are the young men and women of the 90s that saw the graft and
direct looting of the treasury by Abacha and his inner circle. We promised
NEVER AGAIN. The question now is: Are we the dreams we dreamt about?
Have we become part of the problem by our actions, inaction or simple
acquiescence?
Under the United States form of government, on ascension to power of any
president, at intervals of time, the performance of the president is measured
against his stated objectives and goals. Whether it is talking about the
bailout of insolvent banks, financial reform, health reform, the people want to
know how far along the president is moving. Nigeria cannot be an
exception. Goodluck Jonathan has promised dependable electricity
supply. Jonathan cannot be given a free pass. He must be held to
task. How well is he doing compared to his stated objectives at the
beginning of his presidency?
NIGERIA OF OUR DREAMS
I dream of a Nigeria where military coups are forever banished. I dream
of a Nigeria where our economy is diversified and we are not entirely dependent
on oil for foreign exchange.
Over the years, as I travel around the world, as I meet Nigerians, I see a
yearning, a deep wounded yearning for an economic emancipation of all Nigerians;
a deep weary yearning for a government that actually governs; a deep painful
yearning for schools that actually teach, for safe roads you can travel on, for
electricity supply you can depend on. I feel a tenacious yearning for peace,
unity and prosperity of the whole nation; a yearning for all the ethnic groups
to come together and see each other as one. I dream of a day when these
yearnings will come true. Do you hear me?
BABANGIDA, RAY EKPU AND INTIMIDATION
Autocratic regimes, whether military or otherwise, operate mostly
on fear and intimidation. They do not have widely accepted rationale
for government. The little people are bullied into submission.
Democracy on the other hand exists based on the consent of the
governed. In Nigeria the bullying has to stop. Those
who are insisting on rotation within the PDP would like us to believe that
Nigeria will disintegrate if their unconstitutional arrangement is not
upheld. Nonsense!! What will save Nigeria is free and fair
elections, transparency in government, dedication to put the interests of
the common man first and above individual political and financial
ambitions.
It is public that Ibrahim Babangida
wants to run for president again. Fine, he has every right as a
citizen to run. But analyze this: the looting of a nation
by the military and elected officials, the squandering of the people's wealth, the near breakdown of national institutions, the epileptic nature of our power supply, the dilapidated state of our roads, the directionless youths, the kidnapping of country's political
machinery by a cabal. Babangida has been in the thick of it There
are still unanswered questions surrounding Dele Giwa's murder by parcel
bomb which happened while IBB was in power.
It will be an act of cowardice if Goodluck Jonathan does not run for
the presidency in 2011.
Ray Ekpu and Dele Giwa always wrote about a paradigm shift. I
never really knew what they met. But today, in Nigerian's governance, yes
there has been a paradigm shift, a new order, if you like. Military
coups and autocratic hegemony always consisted of seizing the means of
communication by force, mainly Radio Nigeria and the TV broadcasting
stations. It was easy. My friends, this is a new day. The internet
has led to the democratization of the means of communications. Military
coup planners and aspiring dictators be forewarned, Nigeria and Nigerians
of today, have the tools at their disposal to organize, mobilize, and
protect the budding democracy.
Nigeria at a Crossroads
To say Nigeria is a blessed country is to state the obvious. To say
there is scarcity and hunger in the midst of abundance is equally
true. Abundant natural resources, abundant oil but scarce
petrol. The delivery of the resources has been hijacked by a
band of cabals who do not have the best interest of Nigeria at heart.
There is a mad rush for self-enrichment through state apparatus.
That explains the decaying infrastructure, the bad roads, the death-trap
that is the Lagos-Benin expressway; that explains the fraud at the polls;
that explains the conspiracy at the PDP for a rotational presidency when
we should be asking for the best whoever the best is.
If there is such agreement of rotational presidency within the
PDP, let that be their agreement. It cannot be binding on the rest
of us. We want the best man for the job. We want someone with
enough personality to maintain national cohesion, bringing the Nigerian
disparate ethnic parts together. If PDP's mission is to maintain a
stranglehold on Nigeria's political and economic life, then every effort
has to be made to untie that stranglehold. New viable, alternative parties
have to be supported or created. If Babangida wants to run, let him
run. The question is: What substantive contribution did he make the
last time he ran the country?
NEW!!
The notion that Goodluck Jonathan should not run for the presidency in 2011
is vexing, just as the decision to ban the national football team from international
games for two years was misdirected. I am glad that Jonathan reversed
himself on that. The Niger-Delta has carried the country on its back by way of
oil for the past 50 years. To even suggest that a son of the region should not
run for the presidency on his own right, for whatever reason, is ludicrous and
unacceptable. Let the polls decide who should be the next president.
The issues for
Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria
There is no doubt that President Jonathan has good intentions, but good
intentions are not good enough. We want results. There has to
be a massive mobilization of the Nigerian populace to achieve the
objective. This is a crisis situation, and the response should be in a
magnitude that a crisis deserves. Jonathan will have to use every
available air wave to drive his message home. His
administration is going to have to contend with a mentality that says it
is okay to tamper with the electric meter. It is not okay. Jonathan will
have to reverse the pervasive idea that electricity should be free.
No, it cannot be free. You use it, you pay for it.
The magnitude of problems facing Nigeria demands a magna
response. Can Goodluck Jonathan deliver? Read Nigeria under Goodluck
Jonathan in Era of Discontent
Good Government In Nigeria
In the final analysis, government is about creating opportunities to the
people to fulfill themselves; it's about creating an environment for the
citizens to live up to their fullest potentials and contribute to
society. Government is about creating jobs. As Goodluck Jonathan
assumes the office of acting president, he should be cognizant of the fact that Nigerians,
especially the young, look for more educational opportunities, job
opportunities, and need a government that supports and encourages small
business. Good luck to you.
Jonathan's first task, in my opinion is to re-affirm once again, by words and deeds, our
belief in the democratic system, articulate a new path forward for Africa's most
populous nation, in effect, establish a vision for the country. Where does
he want to take Nigeria? There is a new crop of Nigerians, a new breed of
leaders, yearning and looking forward to transparency in our national
affairs.
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