INTERESTING READ: The real opposition that can unseat Jonathan in 2015

For the first time  in the history of Nigeria, a "viable-looking" opposition has emerged to checkmate the ruling party. But it is very clear that the actions of members of this opposition (APC), could either end up selling the ruling party (PDP), headed by President Goodluck Jonathan, back to the people or succeed in unseating the party which many Nigerians blame for denying them the dividends of a 16 years old uninterrupted democracy in a 54-year-old nation.

The interesting article below looks at he quality of that opposition promising the much needed change.

 

Where is the Opposition that would change Nigeria?

By Obinna Edeh

They say opportunity comes, but once; if this is true, then that once has come for the opposition parties in Nigeria. One can confidently say, that there is no better time for an opposition party to thrive than now. There is no better time to champion for change, galvanize popular support and change the political equation of Nigeria than now. For the past 16 years of democracy, this is arguably the best opportunity presented to opposition parties to take over the reins of power, but this is if and only if they would cash in on the opportunity presented by the ineptitude and inadequacies of the present government of Nigeria.

The question remains…where is the opposition? It just about four months to election and yet, the opposition parties have not yet cataloged the various failed promises of the present government and interpreted it to the Nigerian people. It is four months to election and yet the opposition has not began to give the sitting government a run for their money. By now, it is expected that the  opposition would have began a sustained process of selling themselves to the people of Nigeria by selling to Nigerians the failures of the present government. 

In the time that President Yar’dua was elected in 2007, Nigerians voted for the ruling party mainly because it was the equitable thing to do (as power was supposed to move to the North) and again, due to the modest achievements of President Obasanjo. The government at that time succeeded to maintain relative peace in the country. The government had got the Paris club and other international creditors to write off most of the huge debt profile of Nigeria and revolutionized the communication sector. Obasanjo also showed some commitment to the fight against corruption as we saw cases of corrupt officials even  top officials of the ruling party sent to jail for corruption. Therefore, it was easy for President Obasanjo to sell Yar’dua to Nigerians.


In spite of the flawed electoral process that brought in Yar’dua, we saw a president with the heart and mind to advance the course of development in Nigeria. Yar’dua  hit the ground running. Again, in spite of his frail health, the President offered effective leadership to Nigeria and Nigerians. Even without any  external assistance, President Yar’dua ended the criminality and insurgency  in  the Niger Delta region. He exhibited great honesty in handling the crisis that most of the militants trusted him and laid down their arms. The president inaugurated an amnesty programme that began the process of rehabilitating the militants, an agency  which unfortunately the government of today has turned  into one of the most corrupt sectors of government.  It is also on record that President Yar’dua started the most comprehensive electoral reforms in Nigeria appointing men and women of integrity to man the process. The honesty of the president and his belief in a new Nigeria was contagious that most of those who were reluctant to join his administration were convinced beyond doubt that the president was ready to move Nigeria forward even if he had to move alone.

Therefore, It was expected that at the death of President Yar’dua in 2010 , the new president would immediately continue in that stead. Many Nigerians especially those who battled the so-called cabal expected  the new president to continue and improve in the light of his deceased boss. This expectation informed the huge support extended to President Jonathan at the beginning of his administration. Nigerians trusted him as  many felt that the Joshua who would take us to the promised land has arrived.

 But alas! This huge support was thrown to the dogs and truncated by a government that began a deliberate process of reversing  the successes of the previous administration. First, we were alarmed to see a government that offered a presidential pardon to men convicted of corruption in Nigeria.  These are men who dare not  travel to certain parts of the world because they are wanted for corruption in several countries. We have also seen a government who without any thoughtfulness increased the pump price of petrol at a festive period when people were not prepared for such act. Many Nigerians were stranded in their country homes as many could not afford to fuel their vehicles and return to their base. As mentioned earlier, the Niger Delta amnesty scheme has become a cash-cow where billions of petro-dollars are milked from the government without any account rendered to anyone. The Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) has become a parastatal of  government, ever ready to dust up petitions once the person falls out of favor with the government.  It took massive national uproar for the president to relieve the former aviation minister of her office even when there were mounting and incontrovertible evidence of massive corruption in her office.

Yet, such national uproar has not moved the president to at least investigate the minister of petroleum resources whom many believe enjoy maximum protection from the president. Nigerians have seen cases where the petroleum minister have consistently defied summons from the national assembly and have used presidential and judicial covers to advance the heist going on in both the Nigerian Petroleum Corporation and in the Petroleum ministry. It is in this same administration that the president ensured the continued suspension of a former president of the court of appeal even when the National Judicial Council called for his reinstatement until he retired from service. In this government, Nigerians have seen that it was possible for the governor of the Central Bank (an autonomous institution) to be removed by the president without any input from the National Assembly. Nigerians have been treated to a theater of the absurd in the course of this administration.

We have seen certain businessmen pointed as offering bribes to politicians flying on the same jet with top officials of government and attending luncheons organized by the government. Morality and decency have been thrown to the dogs in the present day Nigeria as impunity as become one of the directive principles of State policy.

But again, where is the opposition? Where is the opposition that would table all these and several other acts of impunity of the current administration, translate them to local dialects and explain it to the people of Nigeria? Where is the opposition that would engage the current government on an intellectual level and ask them to show Nigerians their achievements in the health, education or even in the tourism sector? The government continues to insist that the deplorable security situation in the North of the country predates the current administration.  Even if we agree that this is true, for how long shall Nigerians be treated to the same story? A government that found it very difficult to get the security agencies to work harmoniously is not one that should have the confidence of Nigerians to tackle insurgency. For the first time since after the civil war, there has been sustained bloodletting and the killing of many innocent persons in the north-east by both the terrorists and the security agents. Some innocent school girls have been in captivity for months and the government does not seem to have any clue on their rescue. It actually took the intervention of a teenager from Pakistan to get the President of Nigeria to meet with the families of the abducted young women. This is sad. And this is what the opposition must tell Nigerians.

There is no better time to change the course of Nigeria than now. The opposition must rise above partisan politics and tell Nigerians what they intend to do differently and stop the downward slope of the country. In 2007-2008 when President Obama was running for the White House, he clearly tabled the failures of the Bush administration and informed Americans that any vote for the Republicans is a vote for the continuation of impunity and destruction of the time-held values of the United States. He galvanized Americans on the altar of change and made it imperative that America cannot survive another 4 years of Republican recklessness. Obama was clear and pungent in his approach. He was honest and natural to Americans explaining to them that the only remedy to the economic crisis and other failures of the then administration was a complete change. Americans listened to him and fought for change. 

But in Nigeria the story is different. Even when the breath of fresh air promised Nigerians have left many gasping for breath, yet we don’t have an opposition that is ready to deploy political skills and galvanize Nigerians on the imperatives of change. Regrettably, even the states ruled by opposition governors have seen greater impunity than ever imagined. The judiciary in Rivers State has been under lock for months. The legislature sits in the bedroom of the governor, ditto for the legislature in Edo state. The governor of Imo State is an entertainment guru and enjoys the razzmatazz of a media blitz. The people of Lagos have continued to moan the unfair and unequal tax regime imposed on them by their governor. Many have complained that the immediate past governor of the state is richer than the state. This was the same person that installed his daughter to succeed his mother as the head of all markets in Lagos state. Clearly, the antecedents and report card of this opposition don’t show that they can really bring in anything new to the table. In fact, one could say that the opposition is just another version of the ruling party.

It is therefore imperative for Nigerians to realize that posterity does not always bring nations to such crossroads where change is possible. There are very dire reasons why all Nigerians who believe in the rule of law and good governance must come out and become an opposition, not just to the ruling party but oppose even the other version of the ruling party called APC. There is intense need to for a third arm to emerge; this time not with a craze for power but an aversion for avarice.  There is need for the intellectuals, the clergy, the workers and everyone who has dreamt of a new Nigeria to rise up, and not vote political party (because they have failed us) but look for individuals who has shown track record in leadership. Nigerians must not continue to hold on to ‘good luck’ as the only qualification for presidency. For the past four years, we have seen that it takes more than mere luck to rule a nation.

Furthermore, this suggestion is not limited to the presidency. It could also start in local governments and at the state level. For instance, voters in Enugu state must be told that the reason the former deputy governor was impeached was because he kept poultry farm in the government house. Voters in Kano must be told that the former CBN governor was removed because he exposed a massive heist in government. Voters in Imo state must be told that a substantial part of their state-wide budget goes to satisfy the gargantuan media taste of their governor. Voters in Abia must be told to go to Aba and weep at  the state of that industrial city before voting for the candidate of the current governor.

Plateau must ask the outgoing governor why the state remains the least industrialized among her peers. The voters in Rivers must not be swayed or persuaded by the grandstanding of the governor. They must be told what happened to the Monorail project and why no institution of state government is working to the optimum in spite of the very huge allocation and revenue profile of the state. Voters in Jigawa should have Lamido explain to them the circumstances surrounding the arrest of his children with huge sums of foreign currency at the airport.  Voters in Lagos should look around to see if the huge tax collected by the government and the allocation of the state has been used to better the lives of the people.

The opinion here is that a new opposition must emerge in Nigeria. But it would not be an opposition to government or to a person. It is an opposition to impunity, opposition to corruption gross human rights abuse and lack of vision by the government. There is intense need for leaders to emerge in the universities, in the churches, in hamlets, villages, in families. There is need to an increase in political awareness, for critical questions to be asked and answered.  It is regrettable that Nigerians have not begun to understand the criticality of the situation. Nigerian is like the proverbial pupil who scored 31st in class but mischievously deleted the ‘3’ and rebased her score to 1st; ;  this is shameful!!!!.

This deception must not continue. It is an insult to the personality of Nigerians to have thugs takes the reins of power after offering rice and beans to ignorant and illiterate voters. Teachers and lecturers in universities must begin to call the attention of their students to this malaise. Pastors and Imams should for once cease to hobnob with corrupt leaders and speak truth to power. Nigeria must wake up.

This coma is enough. All those up to 60 years of age, would agree that this was not the Nigeria of their youth. The youth must also know that this is not the Nigeria of their dreams. It is true that change is gradual, but to even get to destination, the vehicle must be moving and moving in the right direction. Nigeria needs a driver who knows the route to greatness. We have tried the inexperienced ones long enough, and the experienced and passionate must begin now to form an accord that would lead to the eventual taking over of the reins of power in all tiers. The time to start is now; but the question still remains…..where is that opposition that would change Nigeria?

    Obinna Edeh
    obinnajedeh@gmail.com