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The 29th of May 2015 is finally here and Nigeria is set to switch presidents once again. It has been a long road since the campaigns began but we made it despite the caustic rivalries, mudslinging and ghastly prediction that our country would not survive this very year - well, 2015 is not yet over so we need to be careful not to make a prophet of the former US Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell.
Now that we have arrived, there is a new fever in the air. It is the hopes and dreams of Nigerians knocking at history's door with the subtle jitters of what may but might never be. I hope the former is the case.
Call it Handover fever or Buhari fever, the atmosphere within our borders is rife with expectation and Nigeria is truly at a decisive point in her career as a nation. We are at point at which we can decide to turn from our past of excuses and failures to build bridges to a new life of successes and smiles or a point at which we can decide to remain in the squalor and bitterness of endless end times and unspeakable repression. Yes, the 29th of May is finally here and the Broom of Change has swept the wheels from the Umbrella of Transformation; the All Progressives Congress (APC) shall now control the music to which the Nigerian masquerades must dance.
Now that we have arrived, there is a new fever in the air. It is the hopes and dreams of Nigerians knocking at history's door with the subtle jitters of what may but might never be. I hope the former is the case.
Call it Handover fever or Buhari fever, the atmosphere within our borders is rife with expectation and Nigeria is truly at a decisive point in her career as a nation. We are at point at which we can decide to turn from our past of excuses and failures to build bridges to a new life of successes and smiles or a point at which we can decide to remain in the squalor and bitterness of endless end times and unspeakable repression. Yes, the 29th of May is finally here and the Broom of Change has swept the wheels from the Umbrella of Transformation; the All Progressives Congress (APC) shall now control the music to which the Nigerian masquerades must dance.
Every successful swearing in is an opportunity for a new beginning and we have had many opportunities to do things anew. Looking at our story of " May 29th’s " we can see the image of Notre Histoire Présidentielle, and it has gone like this:
The anchor man of the last era, General Abdulsalam Abubakar kicked things off by ending military rule and handing over to President Olusegun Obasanjo, the first civilian Commander in Chief in 1999. Obj, as Obasanjo is popularly known, handed over to Umaru Musa Yar Adua after two terms and a failed third term bid. President Yar Adua who some would say Obasanjo personally handpicked came into office with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as his Vice, a man who would later succeed him after his untimely departure. President Jonathan - the South-South man - indeed succeeded Umaru after the latter's demise and handed over to himself for an official Goodluck first term.
Now, after magnanimously conceding defeat in this fifteenth year after the dawn of the millennium, GEJ, as Jonathan is popularly known, is handing over to General Muhammadu Buhari #SaiBuhari who has come a long way from ANPP through CPC through ACN to APC - four political parties! So Buhari is the 4th president of the new Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) just as Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America (USA) - don’t worry, we will soon get to double digits. This is a summary of our past new beginnings.
The anchor man of the last era, General Abdulsalam Abubakar kicked things off by ending military rule and handing over to President Olusegun Obasanjo, the first civilian Commander in Chief in 1999. Obj, as Obasanjo is popularly known, handed over to Umaru Musa Yar Adua after two terms and a failed third term bid. President Yar Adua who some would say Obasanjo personally handpicked came into office with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as his Vice, a man who would later succeed him after his untimely departure. President Jonathan - the South-South man - indeed succeeded Umaru after the latter's demise and handed over to himself for an official Goodluck first term.
Now, after magnanimously conceding defeat in this fifteenth year after the dawn of the millennium, GEJ, as Jonathan is popularly known, is handing over to General Muhammadu Buhari #SaiBuhari who has come a long way from ANPP through CPC through ACN to APC - four political parties! So Buhari is the 4th president of the new Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) just as Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America (USA) - don’t worry, we will soon get to double digits. This is a summary of our past new beginnings.
Again, alongside the fever of hopes and dreams in our air, there is another fever, this time of a more malicious nature, stewing in our nation’s pot. This other fever, worse than malaria and more distasteful than the agbo (local herbs) used to cure the disease, is fear. The story of how the number one position in the nation was wrestled from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the story of ‘Nigeria Decides’ and the plethora of messages that followed that close call can be summarised in the letter ‘Dear President Buhari’, these are no longer new stories.
Since the completion of the election saga, all eyes have been fixed on the day that Buhari was set to take over office. The weeks between these two days - election and handover - have seen a rather tensed polity. The last minute reshuffling of government appointees notably the Inspector General (IG) of Police and the Managing Director (MD) of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the recent crippling fuel scarcity made many believe that it would rain on the General's parade. I am here to tell you, my fellow Nigerians, to have no fear; the handover will march on!
Nigeria has decided, like it or not, and the decision placed victory at the feet of the retired General - mind you, once he is sworn in he requests that the title General be dropped from his name. So irrespective of the candidate we supported before the final ballots were counted, we must know now that the die has long since been cast and that we have only one president who we must all rally round and support for the greater good of the nation.
Since the completion of the election saga, all eyes have been fixed on the day that Buhari was set to take over office. The weeks between these two days - election and handover - have seen a rather tensed polity. The last minute reshuffling of government appointees notably the Inspector General (IG) of Police and the Managing Director (MD) of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the recent crippling fuel scarcity made many believe that it would rain on the General's parade. I am here to tell you, my fellow Nigerians, to have no fear; the handover will march on!
Nigeria has decided, like it or not, and the decision placed victory at the feet of the retired General - mind you, once he is sworn in he requests that the title General be dropped from his name. So irrespective of the candidate we supported before the final ballots were counted, we must know now that the die has long since been cast and that we have only one president who we must all rally round and support for the greater good of the nation.
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Being the fourth president of a free republic is a difficult task, especially when that republic is riding along the edge of a cliff, ready to fall off at the slightest touch. This is the task Buhari has opted for: to steer Nigeria away from the brink of destruction, from corruption and decay towards the hope of a better tomorrow. He may not take us to that final destination but setting us on the right tracks would be good enough.
His is not an enviable task but I sure as hell hope he succeeds - pardon my French. Buhari’s greatest asset is uncertainty, largely because General Muhammadu won this election on his own merits. Despite the help he may have received from several quarters, he has no godfathers whose feet and other body parts he must kiss, he is a free man - politically speaking.
The actions of free men are unpredictable, hence the uncertainty. This uncertainty is causing insecurity for ‘work one, chop two’ individuals reflecting as underground panic visible only to the astute eye. I hear, from the grape vine, that some government offices and establishments have started ‘repainting’ and ‘refurbishing’ to account for some previously unaccountable expenditure. The fear of Buhari is truly the beginning of wisdom.
His is not an enviable task but I sure as hell hope he succeeds - pardon my French. Buhari’s greatest asset is uncertainty, largely because General Muhammadu won this election on his own merits. Despite the help he may have received from several quarters, he has no godfathers whose feet and other body parts he must kiss, he is a free man - politically speaking.
The actions of free men are unpredictable, hence the uncertainty. This uncertainty is causing insecurity for ‘work one, chop two’ individuals reflecting as underground panic visible only to the astute eye. I hear, from the grape vine, that some government offices and establishments have started ‘repainting’ and ‘refurbishing’ to account for some previously unaccountable expenditure. The fear of Buhari is truly the beginning of wisdom.
As Buhari takes over, we bid Johnny and Madame Patience Goodbye and wish them a happy retired life in Bayelsa. Although I believe President Jonathan was wanting in some sectors, I am not one of those who believe the man failed. You see, he was fighting an uphill battle with mutiny in his ranks but despite it all, there are several battles he can call his own. Sometimes I wonder, what would have happened had President Jonathan won?
Did he really have a fair chance of winning in peace? We will never know but what we know for sure is that his legacy of the 'phone call' saved Nigeria from what could have been an unsavoury nightmare. Some people are quick to call for war, fire and brimstone - we no go gree mentality - but most of these people have no idea what proper war is. If you really want to know, do not go searching for war pictures on google or even go watching old news clips, go rather and ask anyone - most likely Igbo and over 50 - who lived in the battlefield of the Nigerian Civil War of their experiences. Hear the bitterness in their voices, listen to the dark roads they had to travel, listen to their stories of bullets dropping siblings in view of their very eyes, listen to some tell you how their mothers and sisters were harassed and fathers lined up and shot. Ask them, if you have the courage, of how they watched their mother's baby go from breast feeding to starving. NO, these people do not know what war is. It is surely not a game where you can hit reset, surely not Call of Duty or Battle Field on Xbox One or PS4, so we must never take President Jonathan’s phone call for granted.
Did he really have a fair chance of winning in peace? We will never know but what we know for sure is that his legacy of the 'phone call' saved Nigeria from what could have been an unsavoury nightmare. Some people are quick to call for war, fire and brimstone - we no go gree mentality - but most of these people have no idea what proper war is. If you really want to know, do not go searching for war pictures on google or even go watching old news clips, go rather and ask anyone - most likely Igbo and over 50 - who lived in the battlefield of the Nigerian Civil War of their experiences. Hear the bitterness in their voices, listen to the dark roads they had to travel, listen to their stories of bullets dropping siblings in view of their very eyes, listen to some tell you how their mothers and sisters were harassed and fathers lined up and shot. Ask them, if you have the courage, of how they watched their mother's baby go from breast feeding to starving. NO, these people do not know what war is. It is surely not a game where you can hit reset, surely not Call of Duty or Battle Field on Xbox One or PS4, so we must never take President Jonathan’s phone call for granted.
As I look above my head tonight, it is a half-moon, not normally the type under which we tell tales but the events of today are a piece of history that must be told even under the darkest of nights:
The APC has without a doubt, done well by bringing Nigeria to this vista and I must remind them that Nigeria is an African country through and through and whoever controls the beat of the drums truly controls the rhythm of the people. So I bid APC, play well so we may dance - they can even throw in a bit of Shoki, ahhh….*covers left eye*.
Change is here!
The APC has without a doubt, done well by bringing Nigeria to this vista and I must remind them that Nigeria is an African country through and through and whoever controls the beat of the drums truly controls the rhythm of the people. So I bid APC, play well so we may dance - they can even throw in a bit of Shoki, ahhh….*covers left eye*.
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The handover fever is at its peak but don't sweat it, we will survive!
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