What Manner Of Change Is APC Chanting?
By Shaka Momodu
As I sit down to write this piece, I cannot but be amused by the change
chorus around me. Even though I sense some genuine desire to have things
go in a different direction, I get this sneaky feeling that a vast
majority of Nigerians are being duped by some smart and clever businessmen
masquerading as progressive democrats and agents of change. They sensed
resentment and keyed in with the change slogan which seems to have caught
on like a wildfire in the harmattan. But when you ask those clamouring for
change; change to what? They just stare blankly at you unsure of how to
answer. And when the answer eventually comes, it's a disappointment, “we
just want change.” That is the first inkling you get that some of our
choristers of change hardly understand the issues at stake.
Now, are these promoters of change really agents of change? Are they
really the democrats they profess to be? The evidence around me suggests
otherwise. I think they are part of the problems Nigerians need change
from. The values and virtues of democracy which they profess and claim
allegiance are observed more in breach by these people who claim to be the
long awaited messiahs destined to liberate our countrymen from the bondage
of corrupt managers of public wealth.
They remind us every day of the rot in the system – corruption at the
centre, growing unemployment, insecurity in the land, irregular power
supply etc. Of course, these are facts that cannot be disputed. But what
they fail to tell us is that they have been part and parcel of the rot and
share in the responsibility and blame for the situation in the country
today. They fail to remind us that they are among the greatest
beneficiaries of the weak institutions that have made the country a
wobbling giant. They fail to tell Nigerians that they have become richer
and more prosperous on account of their holding public offices in this
democracy. They want change not to serve the people but to serve their own
interests and those of their cronies. They just want more money to
increase their vast wealth to further their private benefits at the
expense of public good. But they have found a strap line that resonates
well with the people to anchor their quest for power, but no one is
guiltier of practices detrimental to public good than these so-called
agents of change. Their daily conduct is a mockery of their progressive
hymn; the solemnity of their pledges to liberate the people is hollow,
impiety and deceptive.
Now, let's take a look for a moment at the promoters of change. Former
Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu at the Redemption Rally organised by the
then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Akure to mobilise support for the
party's candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, in the last Ondo governorship
election openly boasted how he funded Olusegun Mimiko's election with
millions of pounds. He said: “Mimiko claimed that I did not spend money
when he had problems with his mandate; this is not true. It is a lie. He
came to me and begged for support, rolling on the ground.
“He collected money from me. I spent millions of pounds sterling but he
betrayed me. It was Yemi Osinbajo who travelled to Israel and other
countries to arrange the experts that helped him prosecute the case.
Mimiko has called me a godfather, yes, I am a positive godfather and even,
godfatherism is biblical and that is why Christians refer to God as their
Father. I play godfatherism in the South-west for the good of our people.
My godfatherism is for progress and mentoring. I have brought development
to Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Lagos, Edo and Ogun States and the people are better
for it.”
Now, were the millions of pounds sterling earnings from entrepreneurship
or money made from holding public office? We hear of his vast wealth
spanning real estate, media, construction, hospitality etc. It is this
same man that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the “Navigator” of APC,
referred to in his book, My Watch, as “having the worst case of
corruption”. Till this moment, there has been no reaction from Tinubu.
Recall how he railroaded his wife into the Senate to replace a man who was
far more experienced in legislative activities. Today, his wife merely
sits in the Senate warming the seat, hardly making any meaningful
contribution on the floor of debate. Lest we forget, his sister-in-law was
also planted in the Lagos State House of Assembly. His son-in-law is also
in the House of Representatives. This is the height of nepotism.
But nothing underscores Tinubu's pretentious claim to the principles of
democracy than his arbitrary appointment of his daughter, Sade, as the
Iyaloja of Market Women and Traders in Lagos following the demise of his
mother, Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, who held the position. A true and
progressive democrat would have thrown the position open to elective
contest. But that was not to be as he simply pronounced his 40-year-old
daughter at the time, who is not even a trader, the President General of
Market Women and Traders in Lagos, practically decreeing it a hereditary
position. There is a saying that, “you can't like the fruits of a tree and
hate the tree.” A true democrat must not only preach it but practise it in
all its manifestations.
Imagine if it was President Goodluck Jonathan that appointed his daughter
as President of Market Women and Traders, all hell would have broken loose
in the country. APC and those fraudulent human rights activists would have
been shouting to high heavens in condemnation; lawyers – hundreds of SANs
would have been jostling to represent the traders in court free of charge
to challenge the imposition. But Tinubu did it against all known sense of
decency and not a whimper from these hypocritical sets of people who by
their own choosing lay claim to being the custodians of public good. From
the pro-democracy activists to the constitutional lawyers who see two
similar impunities with double vision and twin morality to the godfather
goaded to continue to dupe the conscience of the people, there is no
difference between their sins.
Governor Babatunde Fashola is on a swing after being initially at odds
with his godfather's preference to succeed him. He seems to have accepted
the reality of his own near-zero political value and has embraced the man
he initially kicked against. He fought his godfather through proxies,
culminating in an open contest where he was roundly beaten. The old fox
taught his godson a very bitter lesson on how not to challenge a
benefactor. When the primaries were held, the distance between the
godfather's preference and godson's were miles apart.
How can one explain that after eight years in office and with well over N4
trillion in revenue expended, pipe borne water is still a scarce resource
in Lagos? An estimated 90 per cent of Lagosians have no access to this
vital necessity of life. Nearly every household today self-provides this
essential resource by sinking a borehole. Recall here that the situation
wasn't this bad before Fashola's rise to power. Even if the situation was
bad, the governor's record on this score is a miserable failure.
Under Fashola, instead of more people having access to pipe borne water,
what we are seeing is a rapid decline of access to this necessity of life.
Many public schools have no roofs, toilets, tables, and chairs as students
sit on worn-out tyres to take lectures in classrooms that have neither
windows nor doors. This is the state of some public schools especially the
primary schools in Fashola's Lagos. The state of most roads in the state
is nothing to write home about. Just visit a place like Ikorodu or Iyani
Ipaja and you will understand what I mean. The health sector has
deteriorated to the level of “mere consulting clinics,” i.e. if you see a
doctor to consult. If you think I am lying, visit any of the public health
facilities in Lagos and tell me if any, I repeat if any, befits our
so-called “centre of excellence”.
I am also curious to know the policies Fashola initiated to help the
unable become able and as such help lift more people out of the poverty
index. Affordable housing is still a pipe dream in this mega-city state.
What has he done to ease the challenges faced by the people in this
regard? This is the man now at the forefront of change campaign. The man
who could not change the dilapidated infrastructure in public schools,
health sector or provide pipe borne water for Lagosians after nearly eight
years in office as governor is the one telling Nigerians that help is
coming from Buhari. Former Governor Lateef Jakande's temporary school
structures litter the state, almost 32 years after he left office.
Lagosians should ask him, if he truly shares in their pains and identifies
with their problems as he claims to be, then why are his children not
attending public schools or using public health facilities like ordinary
people?
Perhaps, more than anything else, Fashola's hypocrisy played out last
week, finally revealing the internal contradictions in their message of
change.
When I read the statement made by the governor urging Lagosians not to
vote for an old man, Jimi Agbaje (57), I chuckled, unsure of what he
meant. Hear him: “You know what you have to do, open your eyes clearly.
When I took this job, I was 44, I was counting the white hair on my head.
Today, at 52, I am counting the black hair on my head. Akinwunmi Ambode is
younger than me; you need youthfulness to do this job. That man (referring
to Jimi Agbaje) is already 60; he cannot cope with this job. If you call
him at night he may not take your call.”
The same Fashola, who feels Agbaje whom he claims, is 60 but whose actual
age is said to be 57 is too old to govern Lagos, has been campaigning
vigorously for Muhammadu Buhari (72) to be elected to govern Nigeria.
Now hear him defend his position on Buhari: “Some people are challenging
me that if I say Agbaje is too old to govern Lagos, what about Buhari who
is older? My response is this: We all agree that we have problem of
insecurity in the country. Between Jonathan and Buhari who is the most
experienced to tackle security issue? We all know Buhari is an experienced
security expert. Then on corruption issue, who is the most credible among
them? It is only Buhari. He has ruled Nigeria before and headed several
positions without record of corruption and mismanagement.”
Did he really mean what he said about age? If he did then something is
wrong somewhere. In one breadth, he approbates in another he reprobates.
If a 57 or 60-year-old is too old to govern Lagos, which is less complex
and a microcosm of Nigeria, why should it be okay for a 72-year-old man to
be the president of Nigeria with all its multiplicity of problems? Will
Buhari, who is steep in medieval times, pick Fashola's call at night? Does
Buhari have the vigour, stamina and mental alertness to govern a modern
country with all its ethno-religious complexities and developmental
challenges? The hypocrisy of these people surprises me to no end.
After nearly eight years in office, Governor Aliyu Magatakada Wamakko's
Sokoto State is still on the list of the 10 poorest states in Nigeria.
This is according to the recent Oxford Poverty and Human Development
Initiative (OPHI) 2014 report which revealed Nigeria's poorest states. A
man who failed to change the fortunes of Sokoto people for the better is
on the bandwagon of APC's change. His state is listed number four on the
poverty index.
Look at Governor Rotimi Amaechi's behaviour in Rivers State. What is
ennobling about it that one can sincerely recommend as model to the youths
to emulate? A progressive democrat who is so intolerant of opposition that
he won't even allow the use of the state's stadium for a campaign rally a
few days after he used the same facility to flag off his party's campaign.
Is this the change they talk about?
The truth is that Nigerians are not included within the pale of their
glorious progressive dividends. Their posturing matched against the
reality of their stewardship only reveals the immeasurable distance
between them and the people whose interests they claim to be fighting for.
They have amassed a rich inheritance for their own children, while
condemning our children to hewers of wood and drawers of water. This is a
generation of self-seekers whose motivation is primitive wealth
accumulation. They must be challenged, interrogated and held to account
for their public conduct lest the people are misled again by their new
clamour disingenuously disguised as “change.”
According to Theodore Roosevelt, “The foundation-stone of national life
is, and ever must be, the high individual character of the average
citizen.” This is specially so for leaders and custodians of public trust.
But what we have seen here is a succession of bad leaders who have
profited from the misery of the people. And there you have it.
Shaka Momodu is a columnist for Thisday Newspapers.
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