As for Me, My Household, Primordial Sentiment Has No Place in 2015 Elections

NELSON EKUJIMI
December 8, 2014 – The above quoted heading is a fact of life which applies to man in the conduct of his affairs, you cannot plant yam and harvest maize. It’s just not possible because whatsoever a man soweth, so shall he reap. In the course of one’s journey in life despite its shortness, one has come across some hard facts which one believes is too important and ought to be shared with other members of the society as part of one’s contribution to the literature on human affairs.

Lately, one has been disturbed by the quality of our public discourse which is in most cases not intellectually stimulating but primarily driven by primordial sentiments like ethnicity, religion, etc. One is afraid and worried that if we continue on this path, then we are on the road to self destruction and posterity will not forgive us for not making efforts to correct this anomaly.

One remembers growing up as a young man in the eighties with the vision of conquering the world, but today, all those dreams and vision have vanished due to misgovernance of our land by successive political rulers whether in military or civilian garb. Unfortunately, unlike in our time, the youths of today don’t seem to have dreams and visions which act as a motivating factor in life and they seem unbothered or can we ascribe their docility to resigning to fate? But be that as it may, one thing we cannot and should not contemplate is that we should give up, infact, that will be the greatest tragedy ever to be committed by any generation, if we consciously or otherwise, toe that inglorious path.

However, one would like to use his personal experience about some aspects of life to throw light on this discourse with a view to pointing out some of the reasons why we are, what we have become today in the comity of civilized people in the world, an embarrassment to put it mildly. Before now, one was involved in a line of business in which the guiding principle was merit, integrity and character. The modicum of success recorded by the business could be attributed to the above mentioned factors among others which stood it out where and when its competing rivals were closing shop. One recalled instances when sentiments attempted to rear its ugly head in the conduct of the business, but it took strong will, efforts and established management policy to resist and insist on merit and at the end of the day, it paid off handsomely which is what sustains businesses anywhere in the world.

Why is one saying all these? The reason is not far-fetched. One has seen situations in which people cordone evil or what is wrong simply because of their “interest” and at the end, they become victims. It was Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka who wrote the book “The man died” in him who keeps silent in the face of tyranny. Yes, truly these are perilous times in our country where absurdity has become the order of the day in our private and public life and people justify obscenities which query our humanity because they have bought into the inhuman and primordial sentiments of ethnicity, religion, etc.

One remembers the case of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who escaped death by whiskers when he was sentenced to death for a phantom coup by the regime of late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha, whose junta he supported to come on board initially as against the legitimate Presidency of late Bashorun MKO Abiola, which was obtained via the June 12 1993 Presidential elections all because he felt, his primary constituency, the military must not be disgraced out of power and because of alledged personal grudge against the then President Elect. The near escape from death by Chief Obasanjo was a big lesson for humanity that, if you support evil in any form and for any reason, some day, some time, the same evil will catch up with you and consume you, because what is bad is bad, there is no other name for it.

One recollects that the former Chief of Staff, Supreme headquarters and number two man in the regime of late Gen. Sani Abacha, Lt. Gen Oladipo Diya to whom “Oye san ju Ile lo” literally meaning that the throne is more important than the town when in actual fact, it should be the other way round, who despite all the efforts and support he gave to stabilize the Sani Abacha junta in the heat of the June 12, 1993 legitimate struggle, ended up in the belly of the tiger he helped to nurture as he was dismissed from the military alongside others after being convicted for mutiny.

One also recollects listening to Mr. Oladipo Diya statements on BBC radio service after his escape from the hangman’s noose following the death of General Sani Abacha in 1998, that when he was being tried by the General Victor Malu’s led panel for mutiny, he was chained hands and legs during his appearances before the panel. He stated that he raised objection to the humiliation and dehumanization treatment because according to him, he had not yet being convicted. He said, members of the panel just laughed and asked where he was or can he claim ignorance of the fact that such treatment is a recurring pattern in military circles?

He concluded by saying that the panel members asked him, what role he played as Chief of Staff and number 2 man in government, to curb human rights abuse of officers? That since he thought he was up there and too comfortable to be bothered about the abuse of the rights of junior officers, that the abuse has now caught up with him and it was too late in the day to cry over split milk, since he had the Golden opportunity to correct an institutional wrong but didn’t do it and that was a strong lesson of life for those who have ears only.

The narration of the cases of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Mr. Oladipo Diya is a sad reminder of what can happen to people or society when they cordone or support evil because it suits their primordial sentiments. Both men were only lucky to escape the hangman’s noose, because of what we might call divine intervention by God who wanted to use their experience to send a message to other mortals toeing same path to desist before it is too late. Some other people were not so lucky, as they were consumed by the evil they helped to perpetuate.

One as well recollects how Nigerians defied the Maradonic manipulations of the transition process by the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida and resolutely went to the polls, jettisoning primordial sentiments to vote for a Muslim Muslim candidature of late Chief MKO Abiola and Ambassador Babagana Kingibe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as against a Muslim Christian candidature of Alhaji Bashir Tofa and Dr. Sylvester Ugoh of the National Republican Convention (NRC) in the June 12 1993 Presidential elections but which unfortunately, was treasonably annulled by the ruling junta. The SDP flagbearer MKO Abiola defeated his NRC contender Bashir Tofa even in Tofa’s village in Kano State not because the people didn’t know that he was their son or didn’t like him, but due to the fact that they put aside sentiments in voting on merit and in the belief in late Chief MKO Abiola and his programmes, which represented hopes for a brighter tomorrow. Within hours as the results of the election were trickling in, pointing to an MKO Abiola victory, before the annulment, the Naira appreciated against the dollar, that is what merit does if it is the basis of issue and the rest like they say, is history.

But what prevails today? In recent times, we have seen our people denigrate to the level that they no longer base their discussion on issues but are rather drowning in the ocean of sentiments which is inimical to the peace, growth and development of any society. Today, our society is bedeviled by myriad of problems which didn’t start now, but which required the attention of a responsible and focused leadership which we are lacking because we all refuse to play our part at the appropriate time.
When we went to the polls in 2011 and a lot of the electorates were swimming in the tide of sentiments rather than focusing on issues, one tried to caution them against taking a course of action that they may live to regret for the next four years only if they are fortunate to be alive. They turned deaf ears and the result is where we are today in Nigeria, a land of lamentations of broken promises, where life is like the Thomas Hobbes, hypothetical state of nature where life is short, nasty and brutish.

Today, our youths unemployment ratio is frightening, our educational system, roads, health services, security, power, etc which are necessary to make life meaningful for the average living being are non functional and instead of focusing our attention on these issues in this age and time, some persons are still living the life of lies built on primordial sentiments which leads nowhere.

Despite spending trillions of naira in the last 15 years on electricity, power supply to our homes, offices and business continue to decline drastically and this is responsible for the alarming unemployment rate through non creation of new jobs as well as the death of existing ones or relocation to other African countries by the owners. Nationwide, security has become a national embarrassment as terrorists, kidnappers, armed robbers, ritualists, cultists, and all sorts of social vices perpetrators have never had it so good as government only exists in name leaving the society at the mercy of outlaws. Our roads, schools, railways, and other infrastructures have received facelift only in government sponsored advertisements unlike the stark reality which confronts us in our daily lives. We have in office today, a government which is notorious for buck passing, lawlessness, corruption, impunity and all that typifies irresponsibility and irresponsiveness of governance. One could go on and on, but time and space would not permit.

As we prepare to go to the polls next year, one only hopes and prays that Nigerians will realize that the politics of religion and ethnicity to whip up sentiments in order to woo voters will only lead us in one direction and that is increased frustrations, agony, sorrows, retrogressiveness and deaths in the society.
As the saying goes, what a man soweth, so shall he reap or to use another quote, as you make your bed, so will you lie on it. If we continue to submit to primordial sentiments in addressing issues that relates to governance which affects our existence, collectively we will all suffer for it and posterity will not forgive us for failing our generation and humanity. The only and appropriate way to save the Nigeria state today will begin if we are resolved to judge and cast our votes for aspirants and parties on the basis of character, honour, integrity and antecedents rather than using sentiments like religion and ethnicity as a yardstick.
As for me and my house, we have resolved that primordial sentiments like ethnicity, religion, etc will not have a place in our political considerations come 2015 general elections and beyond, what about you?
The time to start is now!
Thanks,

Nelson Ekujumi