With days before the 2023 general elections is upon Nigeria like the pangs of childbirth, a tempest of reactions have continued to trash around the country, digging out even those who were hitherto comfortable in their holes and forcing them to say something.
In the fuel queues which stretch from Karu to Kotangora and the ATM queues which stretch from Akwanga to Argungu, Nigerians can see the vile imprints a darkened vision can live on a country, and more damningly, the tear incompetence can leave in its walls.
Nigeria is at a crossroads. After eight years during which the All Progressives Congress failed to keep every promise made to Nigerians, the party is at it again with a morbid determination to foist a new clan of hyenas on the country, whose greed appears unmatched.
A parade of illegalities and insensitivity has long assailed the sensibilities of Nigerians as a party which came to power in 2015 promising change has sowed the wind of confusion from which Nigerians are reaping the whirlwind of chaos.
The face Nigerians know is that of President Muhammadu Buhari and rightly so. He it was who in 2015 stood before the smoldering ruins of a country decimated by unbridled avarice of the PDP to promise that things would change in a sorely troubled country. Behind him fluttered the inauspicious flag of the APC while party stalwarts flashed satisfied smiles.
He got the nod for Aso Rock which was supposedly renewed in 2019 amidst widespread disillusionment and apathy. The rest is history. But there is hardly a single Nigerian who has not felt the piercing pinch of the incompetence oozing from the corridors of power. There may be exculpatory factors for a man who has led Nigeria over and over again. But until time supplies these, many Nigerians are firmly rooted in their unshakable conviction that a ruinous mistake was made in 2015.
The audacious redesign of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria had plunged the country into chaos. Attempts to phase out the old currency and bring in the new in an attempt to check rampant corruption, vote buying and other crimes have not gone down well with many. As the new notes have remained scarce, Nigerians have felt every last bead of sweat squeezed out from every last pore.
Yet, somehow, Nigerians have been managing to get by, summoning their battle-hardened fortitude to withstand difficult circumstances. While Nigerians have taken the policy in their stride, it appears some vested interests in the country which are bent on scuttling the 2023 general elections are finding it a bitter pill to swallow. They have grown increasingly frantic with each passing day.
Firstly, there was the suit instituted at the Supreme Court by the governments of Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara States which have since been joined by Abia, Lagos, Ekiti, Kano Ogun, Cross River, Ondo and Sokoto States. Edo and Bayelsa States have joined the suit to support the monetary policy.
The Supreme Court had issued an interim order suspending the policy for seven days and after the parties returned to court,the suit was further adjourned to February 22,2023.It was at this juncture that Abdullahi Ganduje, the Governor of Kano State, and Nasir El-Rufai, his Kaduna State Counterpart, launched scathing attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari and the new naira policy. While Nasir El-Rufai has asked residents of Kaduna to continue using the old notes, Umar Ganduje lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for ‘forgetting’ how he came to power.
There is obviously more to it than meets the eyes. In the eight years during which the All Progressives Congress has held the reins of power, both men have acquired notoriety for the wrong reasons. While Umar Ganduje brought up the now infamous ‘Babariga Bank’, El-Rufai served up costly clanger after costly clanger as Kaduna State burned with insecurity.
However, with the Supreme Court recently adjourning the case to February 22,not a few Nigerians are bemused by the outpouring of concern shown by the two governors over the inconveniences caused their people by the redesign.
More than a few Nigerians also suspect that there is more to it than sudden and suspect concern for how much exhaustion people live behind when they visit banks and return empty handed. In a country of politicians who wear their selective amnesia with great pride, Nigerians will do well to be suspicious of every move.
It is bizarre that both men who have cuddled up to President Buhari during most of his eight years in power are suddenly displaying animosity towards him over a policy that should not ordinarily affect them given their power and influence.
There have been suggestions that the amount of vitriol slipped into vinegar given to the President by both men has a lot to do with how the naira redesign will frustrate their plans for the 2023 election.
It brings into question the interests so called public officers serve in Nigeria. Who do the men supposedly elected into power by Nigerians work for? Themselves or Nigerians? At what point should Nigerians determine and conclude that their elected representatives no longer serve their interests? How much farther does Nigeria’s democracy have to travel before the constitutional tools which enable citizens to remove and replace errant and indolent public officers become freely and easily available?
It is inconceivable the character of some of the people that found their way into public office eight years ago when the APC stood on the ruins of the PDP to promise change to a battered and bruised country.
So many things in Nigeria in the past few months reflect the importance of the upcoming elections. Many of the political vermin hastily scurrying about have their tails up because they can sense discarded food. Nigerians must now know them and stop their ears at their poisonous words. They are enemies of the people. They have never meant well for Nigerians. They are only and suddenly all over the place mouthing concern for Nigerians because their chances of compromising the forthcoming elections are threatened by someone they feel should be in their debts.
Gratefully, Nigerians do not have short memories. Nigerians remember the infamous ‘Babariga bank’ and the opprobrium it whipped up in the ancient city of Kano and beyond. Nigerians also remember the utterly unwise words chosen over discretion and decision in Kaduna and unleashed to mock the dead and the grievously injured as marauding criminals turned communities upside down.
In this season of remembrance, Nigerians must not forget the bears who now come to them dressed as beavers.
The time to act is now and Nigerians must ensure that their votes are allowed to speak.
While they are at it, Nigerians must keep watch for the buccaneers who not so long ago sharpened their brazen words like blades on the backs of Nigerians. The balm they now pretend to bear because elections are around the corner can bring nothing but death.
Kene Obiezu
Twitter:@keneobiezu
