Let me start with this borrowed story:
A British lieutenant general, Sir Fredrick Stanley Maude, was tasked to conquer Baghdad in 1917.
Upon arrival in Iraq, he came across a shepherd and his herd in a field. He asked his translator to offer a shilling to the shepherd and ask him to slaughter his dog.
A dog is a very important companion to a shepherd.
It warns him of impending danger and guards the herd against wolves and thieves. But at that time, one could buy half a herd with a shilling.
The shepherd agreed to the deal, grabbed his dog and slaughtered it at the feet of the general.
General Maude said to the shepherd, “I will give you an additional shilling to skin the dog!”
The shepherd took the shilling and skinned the dog.
Then the general offered him a third shilling to cut the dog into quarters. The shepherd took the shilling and chopped the dog.
Then the shepherd himself told the general that, for a fourth shilling, he would eat the dog.
To which the general answered:
“I wanted to learn about your values in this country, and I discovered that you slaughtered, skinned and chopped your most trusted friend and companion for three shillings! You were even ready to eat it for an additional shilling!! That’s all I needed to learn about your country!!!”
Then he addressed his soldiers:
“As long as this kind of mentality prevails in this country and you can buy anyone, don’t fear anything. And no one!”
Sounds so familiar, doesn’t it? Was General Maude addressing his soldiers or Nigerians?
Just last week, I watched a video clip that was shot somewhere in the East. I know because they were speaking the Igbo language. It was a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) setting because the chief actor donned a PDP vest.
People were trooping out of a hall and the man was handing them a can of malt and N400 each; some even got N200. I also noticed his ‘magnanimity’ because he did not only give the N400 to nursing mothers, with their babies but also kindly gave an extra N200 to the babies.
It made me think that the con artists have started investing early, by purchasing the conscience of even future generations. Now the mothers would tell their babies how PDP gave them money when they were babies and admonish them never to be ungrateful to the umbrella party or any party for that matter.
The stage is set for the country to elect a new crop of political leaders in 2023. The political actors are gallivanting all over the places with the same gimmick they sold to the people last four years as they are wont in this every four-year ritual.
Nigerians must know that they are all the same, whether they are ‘Jagabandist, Aticulated or Obidient’; that is their way.
It is self-evident that the 2023 race belongs to the trio of Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC). They may differ somewhat in their antecedents and pedigree and their capacity to deliver on the people’s expectations.
The trio is formidable, has been politically active since the return of democracy in 1999. One has been a Vice-President for eight years; another a two-term governor while yet another has not also been a two-term governor but a senator as well.
It is up to the electorate to sieve the chaff from the wheat and vote for the one who is energetic, foresighted, proven and tested to free this country from the shackles of its present-day woes.
Interestingly, they make almost similar promises, which means that they know what ails the country. So, it becomes easy for the electorate to decide who, among the contenders, could be trusted to deliver on the promises.
So, beyond political grandstanding, the records of these men are in full public glare. What did they do before, while in office, good or bad? What would they do differently now? Obviously, over all these years, the country has got rotten, so much so that it requires different prescriptions and, so, they have the verve and tenacity to rescue the country from the atrocious errors of the recent past?
Like the Iraqi shepherd, are Nigerians ready to deal with and kill our dog; sell our votes?
Do we know that that small plastic card from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is our most trusted companion and shields us from harm? When we collect General Maude’s one shilling, in this case, the politician’s pittance, and sell our vote, how long will that last us? It cannot tide us through four long years of privation and we will have forfeited our right to demand accountability from these marauding politicians, having paid us off upfront.
I really don’t have a problem with politicians. They are buccaneers, who have not made any pretence of their identity. However, I have angst against the electorate who aids them. There can never be a successful robber without receivers of stolen goods. Politicians are the audacious robbers but we are the naïve receivers of the stolen goods. Have you not seen the informants arrested daily for aiding terrorists and bandits, even among security personnel?
Foolish people, blinded by the lure of filthy lucre, never thought that they could become victims of their own villainy, if not them directly, then their loved ones.
The Iraqi shepherd was even ready to eat the dog for an extra shilling. Aw!
But we do the dirty work for politicians too. We kill or get killed for them. We snatch or stuff ballot boxes for them. They hide their children in cozy abodes beyond our shores but we are stuck in our famished land raped sore by these conscienceless undertakers. When we are ill, we are taken to mortuary-like clinics while still alive but they fly abroad to be taken care of in world-class hospitals built by others. They grow fat on our crude and sell us the dummy of nonexistent fuel subsidy.
Have you considered the nonsense of oil theft? How’s that possible if not mere semantics to cover their leaking rut?
We have recently been inundated by revelations about how our oil is stolen. There is nothing new about these ‘revelations’. What seems new is that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (they have limited its thievery now, I suppose), NNPC, had suddenly begun producing Mungo Parks, discovering age-long tunnels through which ‘stolen’ oil is ferried out.
Tell that to the marines. I hate to hear that Nigerian crude is stolen. It is just not possible. It is, perhaps, stolen officially, not the common thief thing.
It is good though that the kleptomaniacs are already jittery; this ‘catch’ on parade and burning of a vessel is laughable. Why burn the vessel and hurt the environment instead confiscating and putting it to national use anyway? The authorities always knew what to do but refused because they are complicit and thief no dey catch imself nah. Rogues in power!
The country is bleeding and in dire need of a leader.These political and economic bandits are not in the bush but sitting pretty inside mansions built with blood money. While the people die, they get richer, tossing a few coins to the forlorn folk out of the country till they have been plundered and confiscated, and laugh at us to scorn as we scramble for the same.
The bag belongs to us. We must shun their tokenism and recover that bag that is rightly ours. This is the time!
They have stripped this country bare and it is desperately in need of someone that can cover its nakedness before the world. It is time we blocked undertakers from accessing Aso Rock. It is time we opened our eyes wide to make next year’s election exceptional. It is time we made the much-desired change happen with open conscience and honour. It is time we took back our country from the jackals and protected her with the last drop of our blood like a mother hen does her chicks.
Friends, it’s time to vote your choice but remember, vote wisely. Our mumu don do nah!!!