The illness of the former president Yar’adua with the concomitant lack of control at the federal level gave some unscrupulous elements a golden opportunity to opulently embezzle and rule arbitrarily while the then president was in a faraway country receiving medical treatment. Despite the fact that the Nigerian constitution is succinct about who calls the shot when the president is not in charge, the “members of the cabal” kept on running the nation like their father’s farm. It is in the midst of this chaotic situation that the CLOs and other notable Nigerians rose up not only to rescue power from the devilish cabal but to defend the constitution, hence the unalloyed support for the then Vice President Ebele Goodluck Jonathan, as the Acting President. Although the country had no experience on the workability of such part of it constitution, but the doggedness of Save Nigeria Group led by Pastor Tunde Bakare and other Nigerians, coupled with the support of the National Assembly to enthrone the constitution, hence, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was declared President in Acting capacity, as prescribed by the Constitution.
The concomitant of the above situation generated an overwhelming public sympathy for Goodluck Jonathan which helped him in no small way. It is a known fact that Jonathan has served as Vice Chairman, Chairman, Deputy Governor and Governor prior to this time but no one can bank on him based on any tangible achievement throughout his political career. In spite of this abysmal lack of performance, voters still went foolhardy to cast their votes for him regardless the bad antecedent of his party, PDP. We heard people saying “I voted for Jonathan, not PDP’. I had the opportunity of asking one of such devout of GEJ, “what are the qualities you saw in this man, Jonathan?” but to my surprise the guy could only say “I am casting my vote for him because the cabal wanted to cheat him”. I shook my head in utmost surprise and I asked myself, “What has befalling on Nigerians to the extent that we cannot differentiate between performance and public sympathy, between activity and productivity?” Note that not only that people foolhardily voted, but PDP also did their ritual of rigging.
A few weeks after GEJ was given a full mandate, Nigerians began to experience the worst days. Corruption rate was on the increase day by day and economy is at the lowest ebb. As if these are not enough, the security situation of the country deteriorated and it is difficult to know who is in charge- Boko Hara or Federal Government. To add salt to the injury, Mr. President came out to tell Nigerians to get use to bombings. I am sure both the FG and media guys have lost counting on the number of lives lost.
In the midst of this national mess, Mr. President demonstrates complete ineptitude and criminally weak. This is one of the reasons I always say on twitter that members of the administration should be charged to court after this tenure in 2015 for their failure to use everything at their disposal to stop killings and bombings, including declaring State of Emergency where necessary.
I am joining my ‘faith’ with other Nigerians that 2015 will witness not only the fall of GEJ but a complete collapse of the corrupt edifice called PDP. If we must be sincere with ourselves, ‘faith’ without work is dead and without result. In other words we must work out our salvation from PDP. One thing about Nigerians that is disturbing is that we love standing akimbo; hoping God will just come down from Heaven and bring change. Such change will remain a mirage and complete illusion.
Ordinarily, 2015 General Elections should not have been a bone of contention if not for the abysmal failure of Gej and his cohorts under the annoying umbrella called PDP. My fear for 2015 is not about PDP but the so called opposition parties. I am afraid of which of them is real. Just last month, a friend of mine came to me to seek advice on which political party to join in preparation for 2015, all I told him was to rule out PDP from political parties to join but I spent almost 30 minutes thinking over which political party to recommend.
It is very unfortunate that most of our opposition parties are terrible. They are set of opportunists hiding under the façade of activists and lovers of people. They are busybodies that are ready to criticize this government because they were sent out of PDP unceremoniously. They are wolves in sheep’s cloths. They are criticizing because of their political disadvantages at the moment. They are people of very bad antecedent but unfortunately because of the general problem of amnesia, Nigerians decided not to think about the skeleton in these guys’ cupboards. Most of them are waiting for favorable permutations. They are waiting for the wind and to take advantage. You will see them leading anti-government rallies. With their participation in such rallies, they are succeeding in ‘siphoning’ the love of people. How I wish Nigerians get back their thinking caps. I sincerely pity the future of this so called Giant of Africa.
My fear for 2015 when we are still in 2012 is more than apprehension. After 14 years of the rule of PDP what will happen should the same PDP win 2015 elections? What does the future hold for our children? Must PDP rule forever? Are we not tired of something here? “Na like dis we go dey dey”?
Don’t get me wrong, PDP is not the problem; after all, nobody is bearing that name. The problem of Nigeria is Nigerians. It is these same Nigerians that murdered NITEL and other government owned companies. These same bad Nigerians are in every nooks and crannies of our opposition parties. Even if we should pray and work to wrestle power from PDP come 2015, who will take over the power? The godfather Tinubu or who?
My fear concerning 2015 is in two categories. The first is who will take the mantle of leadership after the demise of PDP in 2015? Would they not be those former PDP members that were disgraced out of PDP and then joined opposition groups? Can these people do anything spectacular aside the cluelessness that PDP is currently advertising? And on the other side, my second fear is the greediness of our opposition parties to come together.
It is a known fact that PDP is corrupt but very strong because of the resources available to them. And commonsensically, to defeat such fortress one will need a concerted effort. Trust me, without a synergy among the opposition parties, defeating PDP will remain a day dream and illusion. Thank God that most of the opposition big figures have alluded to this fact, which necessitated the proposed Mega Party talks. As laudable as this coming together is, most opposition figures are much more interested in their share of the coming spoil. Sharing formulas and permutations will always scatter them. Then, where are we heading to?
Who will rescue Nigeria from these unscrupulous Nigerians?
God Bless Nigeria!
Olujide ‘Gbenga D
You can follow me on twitter: @golujide
