2023 Elections and Its Consequences:
As you all are aware, September 28, 2022, is the official campaign start date for next year’s elections. It goes without saying that campaign rhetoric will be amped up with political parties working to sway the masses to their favor. Nigerians are fundamentally politically and culturally naïve. Nature, nurture, and politics continue to attempt to educate us, but we stubbornly refuse to heed the message. Every day, there are indications of who we are, but we doggedly refuse to listen, while projecting our utopian belief that all is well, and we live in a world where everyone understands the concept and meaning of true Emi Lokan. The Southeast for President movement has thought us a lot. But the truth of the matter is that Nigeria is made up of diverge people belonging to different tribes, religions, and cultures. The way we differ from other nations is that, while these other nations have come to recognize and acknowledge their differences and have collaboratively worked to find ways to harness the value of their diversity, we in Nigeria believe that divine intervention will descend on the minds of men and every other culture will know when it is the turn of the other tribes.
Back to 2023 election issues. This next election has informed us once again, that our country is a melting pot comprising of three major tribes. This upcoming presidential election bears this out, since it is an implied contest between the North, the Southwest, and the Southeast. Folks, it is not by accident that the leaders of these three major parties are from the three major tribes in Nigeria. This is once again, natures’ way of reminding us that we are different and will need to get together and figure out a way to better manage our affairs instead of always seeking who will be at the helm. Instead, each of the tribes continues to try through elections to assert their dominance over the other tribes - and with this approach, lasting peace will always elude us.
As we prepare for elections in February, it si not lost that all eyes are and will be on the presidency. While the entire nation is focused on the one top position, we inadvertently have all lost sight of other more important and impactful elections. Be reminded that February election is not only for the presidency, but other down ballot positions for the House and Senate at federal, state, and local levels are on the ballot as well. Nowhere on social media or mainstream press will you find activities of these down ballot but more important campaigns. If all Politics Is Local as they say, why are we so fixated in the presidency? Candidly, these local elections will have much larger impact on our lives than the presidency if we hold our elected officials to account – but often we do not. The reality is that those elected representatives are the ones charge with making sure the people who elected them in those position are well cared for and that their wishes are properly transmitted to the executive branch.
My sudden focus on the down ballot elections, was born out of the fact that we keep making the wrong choices whenever presented with choices and opportunities. We have immersed ourselves in the “Atikulate,” “Emi Lokan” and “Obi’dient” movements, while the actual destroyers of our lives are freely campaigning under the radar to return to their state and federal positions to continue pillaging and looting. Within the Southeast alone, most of our Senators and members of the House are former governors whose destructive actions and pillaging of their state coffers are well documented, still, we naively allow ourselves to be so blinded by our arrogant quest for the top seat that nothing else matters. In the Southeast alone, tell me how many members of the Senate or House who have had the opportunity to hold public office before that is not under one form of investigation or another by EFCC? In fact, their transition from former office holder or governors the house of senate is their way of seeking protection from prosecution. One would think that the Southeasterners would want to make sure that these former office holders under investigation of any kind, never get a chance to represent them until they clear their name with EFCC. But no! We want the top job when the real cancer eating up our resources are these heartless individuals who claim to represent us. Again, we so focus on that shinning object on the hill, that we are willing to neglect the root cause of why we are marginalized and sidelined with no amenities to speak of. This is so sad a commentary for a group that claims to be the smartest in the world!
My dear Igbo people, why should charity always begin outside for us? One of the most frustrating parts of being Igbo is that we do know what our challenges are, and most importantly how to fix them, but we stubbornly refuse to address that elephant in the room opting instead to continuously embark on senseless journeys to nowhere. Getting an Igbo presidency will not make our Southeast house and senate representatives suddenly decide to lower their bloated salaries and benefits. It will not make them suddenly abandon their houses in Abuja, build with taxpayer money, to come back to their constituents and feel the stupendously miserable lives that we live. As we dodge bullets from ESN, Unknown gunmen, Ebube Agu, and the military, you will not see or hear any representatives narrate how their stories of escaped. No, instead, they are content galivanting in the safety of a secure Abuja and occasionally will call on the federal government to help with insecurity issues. It almost makes one believe they purposefully like to country is chaos to hide their own ineptitude and brazen disregard for the welfare of the people they are elected to represent. But what do we do, continue to persevere, and complain instead of voting them all out.
My point here is very simple, since we have all put all our political capital in the Obi’dient movement basket, the least we should do is to make sure that we do not send any of these overpaid, and callous zealots back to Abuja to represent us. We must be mindful of these insatiable rouges and thieves who never cared if our region moved forward, but rather jump from party to party all to steer clear of the arms of the law. We are the Igbos, and it is about time we begin to live up to our claim of being smart – and if we cannot find the collective will get our house in order…then it is time for the Igbos to shut up and continue to be marginalized. The presidency will not solve the problem of voting looters back to Abuja next year.
Again, electioneering will begin in earnest on February 28, 2022, and I would like my people to stop being blinded by shinning objects. We must focus on those issues that will bring the best and lasting change to our lives than winning the presidency. Peter Obi becoming president will not stop these current elected officials from pillaging our share of the national cake. Candidly, if you believe that Peter Obi winning the presidency will change your life in any way, then get ready to be disappointed because the authority of the president does not extend that far. The people most likely to impact your life through enacting good laws and agitating for projects in our region are these buffoons we send to represent us year after year. Part of playing politics is understanding the game and how it is played. To date, the Igbos have not taken the time to learn or understand the game but continue to lead with our hearts and emotions in a game where strategic and outcome are the only numerators and denominators. This will get us nowhere.
So, as political campaigns begin in earnest this month, I would like Ndi Igbo to clearly focus on the people they elect to represent them at both the federal and state houses. If we sheepishly continue to elect these current ingrates of former officials who have nothing to show for their stewardship, then the joke is on us. Do not forget that “fool me once shame on you, but fool me twice (or multiple times), shame on me. Let us do the needful.
Comments