GEJ AND GMB: What Legacies May Record

From the wisdom chapter of the Holy Bible, we are told that, although man reserves the right from God to will and to plan, it is often the mandate of heaven which prevails. This has been clearly brought to the minds and consciousness of Nigerians as a result of the 2015 presidential election's outcome.

Without shying away from the truth or trying to color facts, the result of the just concluded presidential election left even enigmas shocked: while some who believed that APC posed a greater danger sulked at the seeming silence of heaven, those who boasted in the "power of the incumbency" cowered in shame as the power of change shook them into a new change.

Politics is a business for mature souls. The challenge often experienced in political circles the world over, especially in Africa, is as a result of immature souls leaning on the pride of their flesh to impose on other (most times, more mature) souls their carnal abilities. That tells why most of them go to the length of committing murder and causing societal instability to prove their carnal point and ability to suppress will. Some often tend to forget that, until life ends, politics runs as in a cycle; garbage in, garbage out. In other words, the only thing which marks an indelible imprint in the sands of time for any politician is his ability to forsake other luring and enticing promises of the now and shooting for what may, in the history of time, abide. Clear ignorance alone makes some of them curse and chant for war if they feel denied, either way, the 'opportunity' to rule or lead others. And one wonders when imposing oneself on others became a 'noble' task.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan may have gotten a glimpse of the rewards of history, I dare say - far clearer than his contemporaries and mates and, as a result, has left an indelible imprint in the history of Nigeria; albeit to his favour. That the "power of incumbency" became inferior to the "will of the people" has only been made possible now is to GEJ's credit. Leaders have hitherto emerged in Nigeria but only this time, in GEJ, has a leader with such impunity and veto powers submitted himself to the will of the people, the fate of political correctness and to the mandate of God for the now. Granted, Nigerians have reserved reasons to opt for yet another political change, however it took only a leader, tough on uniting the nation and soft on the will of the people, to have looked beyond the pomp and pageantry of political utopia towards the impacts and legacies of leadership history.

President Goodluck Jonathan has shown himself a man with a changed soul; a man leaving the country's highest political seat with a conscience equating and even, to a greater level, dwarfing his woes and weaknesses. So, if the yearning of true elders and leaders of Nigeria is to be birthed, successive government has a tip-toe of a duty to the people to build upon the political legacies inherited from the outgoing humble man.

What legacies may record? It's been the witness of many that GMB is a good man. For people of my age and experience, that leaves to be yet experienced. However, the will of of the citizens has been almost unanimous with the mandate of God in his emergence as the president this time round.

My concerns: now that electoral challenges have been somewhat nipped, would it please our incoming president to take a personal decision to will out a change in the nation's electric power supply shame? What legacies may abound? Will our new president enforce a policy on agriculture which will ensure that food within the country becomes as cheap and affordable as today's salts? What legacies may record? What should we speak of the true identity of every Nigerian: will it be a herculean task to electronically document the population of Nigerians? Without an accurate population count, most leadership calculations will often miss their targets.

Everything around is a source of education; how will this incoming leadership harness our environment and the benefits of the global village to help in the education of our children and indeed every citizen desirous of maximizing their inputs to the society by maximizing their knowledge of the human society?

Personally, I believe more in a soul that is more alive than in a politician who is more political in his approach. This is because true leadership sets sail from within the soul; only a soul who is truly alive to the truth of his society can carry out any meaningful political undertaking.

It is my wish and, I believe, the wish of all Nigerians to see a nation where power outages will become a thing of the past, a country where education will no longer be exclusively exclusive, where the communication gap between the citizens and the rest of the world will be brigaded by a mass focus on the internet availability and affordability, and where people will pamper their lives instead of trying to destroy them by trying to destroy others. Without genuine steps of love towards nation healing, I'm afraid, the cries for personalization can only grow louder and, at a point, collide as a bomb in the sky and rain on the indifferent and carefree so-called citizens of the so-called "Giant." It costs far less to prevent, protect and maintain than to heal and cure.

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Articles by Ikechukwu Enyiagu