We can’t stubbornly continue like this. And get the much-desired results. Our governance is decaying. Our democracy is collapsing. Let’s save ourselves the unnecessary hassles.
The hailers of government are in more pain. Even far more than the acclaimed wailers. Wailers wail out openly. To pour out their pains. When they wail profusely, they feel relieved. They are better, healthier.
But not so with the hailers. They wail and bleed internally. And that’s extremely dangerous. They dare not wail out or complain. They must pretend their hailing is healing.
They must suppress their pain. And wear a false front. They are dying on the inside of themselves. Little by little but at full tilt! It is a compulsion. They must not express their frustrations. It’s their guiding rule. That’s how they elect to live their lives.
That won’t be the way of the wailers. They wail with genuine intention. They yell at the misdeeds of government. They speak truth to power. Confront them with the realities and actualities. They say it outright as they see it. Not as the powers that be want us to perceive it.
Abnormality has become our new normal. Our rulers are doing it differently for the wrong reasons. And far from the ways we knew it. That’s why they are enmeshed in errors, missteps. And dipping us deeper into the abysmal pit. That was not how their predecessors of old did theirs.
We oblige them that rare luxury at election. We give our support to them on a gold platter. We do the needful by electing you. Instead of reciprocating. What do we get in return?
Plenty: Hardship, suffering, gnashing of teeth, fear, uncertainty, pain, lamentations. And their cousins, uncles, nephews, et al. These are our strange dividends of the “democrazy” imposed on us.
We withdrew our support when we noticed deceit. It’s the only potent power we have for a living. You had it so cheap two years ago. It’s not so anymore. Do the needful. Endeavour to ease our pains. We’re not seeing that in sight right now.
Our rulers have abandoned the way our forefathers did theirs. They have shunned the paths of our founding fathers. In vain, they are laboriously charting their own crooked ways. They fumble, tumble, wobble and stumble all the way. They are mounting heavy burdens on us by the day.
It was not done like this in the past. The golden era was undoubtedly 1951 to 1959. The tripod of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (East), Chief Obafemi Awolowo (West) and Sir Ahmadu Bello (North) were the evergreen heroes. Even under the British colonialists, they sparkled and glittered. They excelled with exemplary leadership.
That instantly earned maximum support from their people. They never solicited it. The support flowed in naturally. Theirs was given. They were loved and admired unconditionally. Why? They did the needful.
No grandstanding. They internally abhorred arrogance. They loathed falsehood. Not once did they change the narratives. Nor did they ever shift the goalpost at the middle of the game.
They were honest, faithful to their parties’ manifestos. They didn’t lie to the electorate. They wouldn’t deceive them. They flocked together and weathered the storm. Thick or thin, they remained in one accord.
They would not roll out the unseen and the ridiculous as their discerned achievements. They allowed the people to score them. They dared not venture to do that themselves. They refused to be the examiners, the examined and scorers. All in one fell swoop.
Oh! How we remember with nostalgia those beautiful days of yore. Party discipline was the order of the day. And it ran in the veins of our founding fathers. Defection was detested like a pandemic. It was rarely contemplated.
Premiers, governors were real peoples’ servants. They were constantly put under interrogation. Grilled and scrutinised on their implementation of party manifestoes. Party members and supporters were kings. Feared and respected. Parties were under the firm control of their leaderships. And that worked wonders for them.
Party ideology was equivocal, key and paramount. Periodically, elected members were called to question. And rigorously drilled. They had to be kept on their toes. They were the eyes of their party. And must be up-and-doing. All the time.
Governors would not risk purchasing party nomination forms for their preferred candidates. That applied in all elections. The party as a body did that. It issued nomination papers to its worthy aspirants based on its guidelines. No individual would attempt it.
Not even the party chairman had that audacity. Candidates went there to represent the party, not themselves. And faithfully implement party manifestoes. The ticket was not theirs, but the party’s.
Candidates did not have programmes or manifestoes of their own. That would be an abomination. It used to be “our party manifestoes.” That was the popular cliché. And it stuck forever.
There were strong institutions. You could not recklessly saunter into a party today. And defect to another tomorrow. You must surrender everything that got you elected into that office. Without the party, you were nothing, useless, empty and lifeless. You were a non-entity, not an entity without your party!
The party was prioritised over and above the candidate. It was the party that was at stake during balloting. And not the individuals flying its flag. That checked the excessive excesses we are witnessing in shocking abundance today.
Unfortunately, that era is no more. Gone with the wild wind. Since 1999, things have changed for the worse. President and governors are the faces of their parties. In fact, the owners of their parties.
They can hijack the parties at will. Handpick their executives and candidates. Then coerce members to fall in or fall out. The choice is theirs.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo started it. He birthed a “unitary democracy” for us. Elected governors across all parties rushing to Abuja. They are in serious competition to outdo one another. They fall shamelessly upon themselves to take orders from the equally elected President. How do you explain that? A huge sham!
And come to the Second Republic. The progressives President Bola Tinubu claims he represents never treated us this badly. Shabby and shoddy! They didn’t campaign for support after election.
Samplers: Lateef Jakande, Lagos; Olabisi Onabanjo, Ogun; Bola Ige, old Oyo; Adekunle Ajasin, old Ondo and Ambrose Alli, old Bendel. The famous LOOBO states, all of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
They went to work from day one on October 1, 1979. And up till December 31, 1983, there was no stopping them. They worked their hearts out. The results were outstanding and spectacular thereafter. They didn’t waver, nor quiver.
We never heard them seeking support to do their jobs. None of them did that absurdity. They got overwhelming support at the ballot. And they turned the support into fortunes in their various states. The people were the better for it.
But not with this queer species of our leaders. They have become a heavy burden unto us. They turn the support given to them at the polls into misfortunes for us. We are being recklessly bruised and battered.
At every electioneering. You are always desperately at our mercy. You fake to be sober, begging for our votes. Though you are clear in your minds that our votes won’t count. After election, you change it for us. You swap roles. You turn to small, tin gods of various shapes. And we are at your mercy; just as you lord yourself over us.
So that when you build even a culvert with our money, you flaunt it. You expect us to hail you as performing miracles. If we fail to do that you become agitated. You label us haters and we are so treated. We sincerely wish they never happened to us. But they did. It’s for real.
Yet. They have the uncanny audacity to ask for our support to do their jobs. Is there no more shame in this eerie clime? Support to do what? What then happens to the mandate they vow to stand on? Wonders shall never end. It must not.
Until our rulers learn to do the right things differently. Until they go back to our before. Pick useful lessons from our golden past. And adhere strictly to honest ways of doing things. Graphically exemplified by our founding fathers. They can never ever get our support. We surely won’t afford them a luxurious second chance.
You don’t campaign for support after winning elections. That’s for electioneering. Our priceless and prized support is no longer for cheap-take. Now, work hard to earn it.
Get it right and straight. Let it sink and sit well with you. We are not doing this for any iota of hatred or hate. No. Far from it! It’s just the essential thing to do. Do the job you beg us for.
Give us purposeful leadership of the old. If you can convince us, then you’re home and dry with us one more time. So? Stop groping in the dark!
Restructuring is it! There is dire need to retrace our missteps. Yes. Urgent need to race back to our past. And it has to be with the speed of light. We have to retool our mind set and thought process.
Let’s boldly return to our sweet vomit. It’s no longer stinking. Our rulers should retrace their staggered steps. They should learn to drink from the fountain of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. We have it in surplus abundance.
They are in the books, in archives. Lavishly embedded in the parliamentary system of government. They can drink to their fill. Even to the brim. It’s easily accountable, extremely inexpensive. It’s good governance at its best. Unambiguous, plain and fair.
We did it before. Its simplicity is unmatched. Its clarity can’t be debated. That’s the easiest and fastest way to earn our support. Undiluted. Do this in honour of us. And our support is given in good measures, pressed and shaken together.
Restructuring is inevitable, urgent. It’s one viable option. We have wandered at the crossroads for this long. Let’s speedily run a worthy race back to our golden past.