One interesting fact about today’s Nigeria is the level some of its politicians have reached in self-delusion and the subtle attempt to mislead the rest of us. The new buzzword is “change” and it is now being used to drive fear into those who insist it is a smokescreen. The word was first used before the 2015 polls, to create the illusion of a new paradise in Nigeria. The promoters of this misleading political gimmick hijacked the voices of the poor men and women, while preaching the gospel of Nigeria’s end coming closer – unless a new political party took control of power.
Despite this confusion, many Nigerians are gradually coming back to their senses. They have begun to ask the promoters of “change sharp-sharp” the daunting question: “where is the change you promised?”
They are asking, how come the naira came down to N266 to the dollar at some point? They have started asking, how come many of the electioneering campaign promises are turning into excuses? The unemployed graduates are asking questions about a certain N5, 000 monthly allowances that now appear to be a mirage. Before now, the promise that Nigerians would get to hear an open declaration of the assets of those at the top echelon of power, beginning with the President, has turned out to be something else. Indeed, it took extreme pressure on the new government for the president to make a controversial declaration of assets, which made millions of Nigerians skeptical about the sincerity of the promoters of change.
The next stage was for the promoters of change and their government to go after perceived enemies, as a form of venting their frustration caused by their inability to redeem the important promises they made out of campaign frenzy. Expectedly, the targets are all those who have consistently stood by the much-maligned PDP. First it was former Governor Sule Lamido, followed by Gabriel Suswam, Godswill Akpabio and Usman Dakingari. This was extended to former minister Abba Morro, months after Diezani Allison-Maduekwe suffered serial media attacks by the promoters of change. Now, Nigerians are coming face-to-face with real impunity.
It took few weeks for previous governments to get cabinet of ministers in place, but the promoters of change kept Nigerians guessing for nearly six months. The list of the ministerial nominees became a closely-guarded secret. Inventing excuses for the unwarranted delay, the promoters of change said the man had already got the best brains in the country and that was why it took so long. To the shock of many, the list was full of familiar faces. Millions of Nigerians described the much-awaited list as a great disappointment. This came after the first set of appointments, which consisted of 75 per cent Northerners! It is foolhardy to assume that the remaining 25% would ever balance the equation. Indeed, a few weeks ago, some eagle-eyed analysts drew the attention of Nigerians to the truism that majority of the new cabinet members belonged to selected Nigerian families. The analysts said the entire process of choosing ministerial nominees was, to say the least, patronizing.
The promoters of change now tell us that every good thing in the country was the result of a presidential ‘body language’. How ridiculous can it be, that they now see governance as credit-buying process? That is an issue for another day, but what worries me is the self-deceit of the new band of Nigerian politicians in power. All the bad people in Nigeria today are the PDP leaders and their loyalists, while the saints are all those who shout change. The promoters of ‘change’ now talk about themselves as if they fell down from the sky. They seem to have conveniently forgotten that the PDP was the ladder they used to climb to the top. They are now burning that ladder, which they used in climbing to the top. They seem to have forgotten that politics is a revolving door – it goes around and comes around. The APC is about a year old and all the bigwigs of the former PDP who exploited the fortunes of the party and created the rot, were those who decamped overnight.
Bottom-line is that the APC blame game in today’s Nigeria is the outcome of a clash of ambitions. That their selfish ambitions led to a split does not absolve the ‘change’ advocates of a bigger share in Nigeria’s multiple tragedies across all spheres: worsening insurgency, decline in the value of our naira; avoidable separatist tendencies like Biafra; alarming levels of poverty and hunger in the land. And I just wonder whether the shouts of ‘change’ before and after the 2015 general elections are worth it. Change my foot!
Yakasai wrote from Hotoro Quarters, Kano. bakano@hotmail.com. [myad]