All the talk in the political arena, right now, is about the elections in 2027, two years away: how Tinubu is going to win a 2nd term in office or how a coalition fronting Peter Obi or Atiku is going to unseat him.
2027 is still a good two years away, and what the President was supposedly elected to do in his first term, he hasn’t even scratched the surface of it, apart from indulging in the usual blame-game on his predecessor, complaining about lack of funds and presiding over party-in-fighting. And just like Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned, he still manages to go on long foreign holidays, oblivious to what is going on in the country.
Politicians in Nigeria seem to forget, very quickly, why they were voted into office in the first place: they are there to serve the needs of the people, not to enrich themselves, legally or illegally, not to make a name for themselves and certainly not to ignore the needs – and security – of the people who voted them into power.
The average politician is of “…anywhere belle face…”, which is to say, for Me, Me and Myself: no morals, no principles and no integrity. They jump ship quite often and ‘if Lagbaja is paying, then I’m joining his party’ which will explain the mass exodus of governors, senators and other politicians decamping to the ruling APC party, risking the nation fast becoming a one-party state.
As we’ve seen from history, one-party states don’t work: they only promote corruption, inefficiency and cronyism. The old USSR collapsed for the simple reason that the party fat cats were more concerned about maintaining their bourgeoisie lifestyles than looking after their people: they forgot what they were there for.
The same is happening in Nigeria now.
How much does a ‘congo’ of rice or garri cost? Or a tray of eggs? How much does it cost to fill up your car tank, if you can? Or how much is your electricity bill, even though you didn’t get any power? And what about security? What’s to say you won’t be robbed, kidnapped or killed tomorrow when you are out and about? This and a multitude of other problems are what is happening on the streets of Nigeria daily. Of course, the high and mighty and politicians live in their high-walled private estates with fresh food flown in from abroad weekly, armed guards to watch over them and oblivious to what’s going on around them.
There has been no improvement in the situation, and things are only getting worse. Sadly, the only thing on your average politician’s mind is how he/she is going to get re/elected in 2027 by crooked or by hook, and they have a slew of PR experts and marketing gurus to come up with new campaign slogans and a basketful of promises they’ll never fulfil. In a sane climate, if a politician is doing the job he was elected to do to the people’s satisfaction, in the first place, he wouldn’t have to worry about re-election: the people would vote him in willingly.
When you’re employed by a company, for instance, you’ll be subject to weekly, monthly or quarterly assessments by your immediate superior. You are expected to hit certain targets, and if your performance falls below what is expected of you, you’ll be fired! Why can’t the same rule apply to our politicians? If you don’t do what we expect from you, you are out at the next election. Performance is the key word here, and this is how it should be. But come the next election and the starving, belittled, abused, unemployed, sick and endangered people will still vote for the incumbent President despite the fact he’s done nothing proactively to turn things around in his first term, as his predecessor did nothing and as his predecessor did nothing…should I continue to go backwards in time? People seem to have a very short memory until the hardship kicks in.
The Chinese say “..a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step..”, Nigeria’s problems, as gargantuan as they are, can only end when politicians put their selfish interests aside and make a conscious effort to start changing things, a step at a time. Start with tackling the high cost of living. Remember, a hungry man is an angry man. Try by making the basic things in life, such as food, fuel and electricity, affordable: empty promises don’t fill a hungry man’s stomach, they only fuel dissent.
And the people have themselves to blame, too. Why vote for a person who’s going to do nothing for four years and vote him in again?
It’s a beggar’s belief.
So why are all the politicians fretting about themselves, stabbing each other in the back in an attempt to get re-elected, I simply ask ‘na 2027 we go chop?’(-if only it were possible!). Very soon, the slogan ‘ebi pa wa o’(we are hungry) will become the new national anthem, hopefully forcing politicians to forget their obsession with the 2027 elections and do something….perhaps!
Ogunlowo can be reached at archangel641@gmail.com
