2023: Urging Fellow Nigerians To Eschew Primordial Sentiments, And Vote For Credible Leaders

There is no denying the fact that since the All Progressives Congress (APC) became Nigeria’s ruling party under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari that not a few Nigerians have been affected by a combination of loss of jobs, pay cuts, high inflation, and high medical expenses coupled with senseless killings of innocent citizens by the burgeoning population of miscreants. Given the foregoing graphic scenario, there is no denying the fact that there is a serious need, particularly as elections that would usher in new leaders beckon in the months of February and March 2023 to vote bad leaders out of their undeserved political offices.

It is not an exaggeration to say that since the ongoing leadership dispensation commenced almost 8 years ago, that there seem to be deliberate and conscious efforts toward governance that are aimed at bettering the lives of the political class and their relatives as well as their praise-singing supporters to the detriment of other Nigerians that lacked the undeserved privilege of knowing those at the corridors of power. The “dividends” of democracy as they use to boast of appear to be reflecting on them while they keep reiterating the constraint of being fiscally advantaged. Any talk of addressing the issues confronting the people is skipped and never quite addressed.

At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “Will the next government, after Buhari’s exit, be any different?” The answer to the foregoing question cannot be farfetched as it is only possible if we all (the electorates) resolve toeschew primordial sentiments that cut across, tribe, party and religion, and vote for the right candidates come the forthcoming general and presidential elections.

At this juncture, it is not ill-motivated to recall in this context that the National Social Investments Programmes(NSIP) that was established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2016 to tackle poverty and hunger across the country has from all ramifications not impacting the people.

Against the foregoing backdrop, little wonder the leadership of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in December 2022 filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over “the failure to thoroughly, effectively and transparently investigate spending on all social safety nets and poverty alleviation programmes and projects executed by NSIPbetween 2015 and 2022.”

I must confess that as a Journalist that there is no passing day I was not worried about the state of the economy so much that I am always obsessed with looking out for media mentions about governance in Nigeria. This I am wont to obsessively do, in my spare time, watch TV in the newsroom, explore social media platforms, visit online newspapers as well as go through diverse traditional newspapers which are no doubt constant reminders of issues related to “governance,” across the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

To bluntly put it, not a few Nigerians are unhappy with the state of governance in the country, and this is no doubt very understandable as distrust runs high amid fiscal pressures unprecedentedly mounting, so much so that service delivery in most cases does not reach a large demographic segment of the population in the country.

Be that as it may, the barometer of public opinion in the country suggests that the incumbent president has done his best, or better still reached his tether end. Be that as it may, there are agitations from a wide spectrum of the population across the country as gathered from media reports that his overall performance so far still leaves much to be desired.

Without any scintilla of hyperbole, the gap in governance that crept in, just a few months after former President Goodluck Jonathan left office in 2015 is by each passing day widening, thereby leaving the impression that the ongoing administration under the leadership of Buhari has been unable to engender the “Change” it promised. Without a doubt, this ostensive retrogressive trend in governance, no doubt, has raised concern and called for voting out APC from being the ruling party, come the presidential and general elections that are scheduled to hold in February and March 2023. It is high time leaders that understand the potential impact of governance on the country’s progress are voted into power; that is, leaders that are citizenly capable to meet the people’s expectations in the country when given the opportunity.

One of such leaders, Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), no doubt, has the trump card that is needed to take the country to the next level when given the opportunity to become president, and consequently when voted for by the people of Nigeria; irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious affiliationsduring the oncoming presidential election on February 25. The reason for being a popular choice of the people cannot be pooh-poohed as he has the trump card that is needed to take the country to the next level. Tostraightforwardly put it, Obi’s candidature is beyond primordial sentiments.

Listening to the conversations on the streets and at social gatherings, it is clear that with less than a month to the next general elections, the majority of Nigerians are disillusioned with the poor leadership they have been witnessing, and subjected to, especially the corrupt leaders.

So, why are Nigerians so hell-bent on trusting ‘political hyenas to watch over meat’? Has Nigeria suffered such great moral degradation that the values of honesty, integrity and decency that should bind us as a society no longer matter to the majority of the citizens? Could it be due to the tribal politics, or the disinformation and propaganda that runs rife throughout the campaign and electioneering period? Is it that our institutions-such as The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is mandated to among others help in sieving persons seeking elective positions have failed us? Perhaps voters’ decisions are fueled by the uncontrolled use of money during elections that alter public choice process, producing leaders of dubious integrity.