By Mike Kebonkwu Esq
Nigeria is practically an absent category now and has to be brought back. But, getting the country back again is not going to be like a walk in the park after eight gruesome years of mental and physical stress to the limit, ending with the agonizing redesigning of the Naira policy and currency swap which is giving citizens migraine. This is made worse by rabid tribal exceptionalism displayed amongst dominant ethnic nationalities across the geo-political zones that prevented members of other tribes domiciled in their regions from casting their ballots. The Presidential election has come and gone and the battle has been lost and won; just as the entire elections have been concluded without much confidence on its integrity. Without prejudice to the right of some aggrieved candidates to contest the outcome and election results, it does not appear likely that the result will be any different; you don’t need to ask me why. The President-elect should be ready to do something to heal the wounds and sooth aching nerves especially, the ethnic drift. It was a bitterly fought campaign and election wherein the ruling party candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu snatched victory from the boiling cauldron in the midst of schism and conspiracy even from his own fractious party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Is he the one who shall bring back the state or shall we look for another?
The build up to the election showed a divided country on the old primordial fault lines of ethnicity and religion. The election further put a lie to the preamble of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic that we firmly and solemnly resolved to, “Live in unity and harmony as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign Nation under God…” This proved to be a bogus lie during the election when people from a particular ethnic nationality were prevented from voting because of fear that their votes my tilt victory to unexpected direction. There was no conscious appeal to the unity of the country even amongst the gladiators. One of the major contestants even told his audience and supporters that they did not need to vote for candidates from the other two major tribes and geo-political zones contesting against him.
Most analysts and critics tend to see our problems as a nation to be a product of an imperfect Constitution imposed by the military. I am not aware of any perfect document in the world, least of all, the Constitution of a country. The Constitution of Nigeria is not presented as a regimental order by the military as we tend to present it. The Constitution was drawn by chosen Nigerian wise men, legal experts and statesmen in their own right and there are ennobling provisions in the constitution which our political leaders have not had the good will to implement; so let us stop blaming the constitution for our failures.
Will democracy ever become about development and human beings in Nigeria?
The campaigns were not issue driven but more on tribe and religion; but it may not be correct to say that the outcome and result was based entirely on ethnicity and religion. There may have been a good mix of factors laced with anger and frustration of the youths who wanted to make a revolution. Periodic electoral circles do not change a country but conscious progressive policies aimed at re-enforcing our strength and higher human ideal does. The election may have been marred by the old malaise of credibility deficit of rigging and violence but whatever it was, we should be forward looking and put the ugly pictures of the elections behind us.
Howbeit, we seem poised not to want to live together as one country other than preferences of the economic benefits of scale. It was ugly to see citizens disenfranchised in parts of the country by hooligans and thugs and the pretentions of helplessness by the security agencies in reining in the touts. There was needless violence and death visited on perceived opposition candidates’ supporters. General Muhammadu Buhari has never shown conscious effort in bringing the country together being very divisive himself to even put the country on a pie chat according to the votes he got from the geo-political zones. He only carried the badge of an over-bloated ego of integrity which did not show in his eight years in office. He is living office with a more divided Nigeria than he inherited from former President Ebele Jonathan with the legacy of worst election ever in the annals of our history.
The incoming administration has a huge task ahead in restoring the confidence that everybody is an equal citizen of the country in every part of the country he or she domiciles. There will be increased ethnic tension which has been with us from the North, coming from activities of the bandits and insurgents. The agitation from the South East for self-determination from the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and unknown gunmen will not abate or relent, which we should ignore to our peril. Unemployment is not going to go away like a mirage and feeding people corn and cassava will not resolve the problem of hunger and poverty even in the rural communities where farmers cannot go to farm. Food production and harvest will be low because of activities of criminal elements and marauding itinerant herders and kidnappers.
The appeal to religion over political office as contest of size and superiority is an evil wind. What we have not observed is the fact that the average Nigerian politician uses religion as a façade Christian or Muslim and fetish members of other cults and deities sucking innocent blood. Our security agencies should begin to detach themselves from perceived partisanship and should be seen to act with patriotic neutrality to enjoy the confidence of citizens and the global community. People still look up to our security agencies as critical unifying agents and that image and perception should not be sacrificed on the altar of partisanship of any kind. They cannot afford to watch with docile indifference for criminal elements to reign supreme. Touts and hooligans should not be beatified for the reason of political patronage and convenience. The toxic ethnic and tribal stereotype should not be allowed to continue.
The President elect, Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu appears prepared for the office of the president of the Federal Republic because he has had his eyes on the plume and fixated on ruling Nigeria. He is not a religious fanatic. Whatever his template, his best bet is to try and stick to his knack for selecting the best of hands and competent technocrats to work with him across the geopolitical zones. I do not share the mentality of government of national unity as some people are wont to advocate; there was a general election in a democracy of party politics and not a coup d’état; so we should perish the call for government of national unity. It does not really matter the figure or percentage of the population that voted in the election. For those crying wolf, you cannot go into a competition divided and expect to be victorious against a more formidable opponent who came into the same competition with his forces intact. The usual judicial abracadabra does not stand a chance to tilt at the windmill. Importantly, we should begin to wean our body polity from tribalism and religion. We may have been bruised, our noses bloodied from serial betrayers, but from the ashes of this defeat from our dream of improved free, fair and credible electoral legacy we can grow a rich flower of love to build a new Nigeria!
The author is of Koyen-Hi Kebonkwu Chambers, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja and accessible via mikekebonkwu@yahoo.com
