In 2015, a seismic political tide washed over a country that was beginning to question why the drought of bad governance had hit it so badly. When the floods finally receded, the Peoples Democratic Party which had held power for sixteen uninterrupted years, gleefully boasting at some point that six would become sixteen and then sixty, suddenly found itself in the wilderness of political darkness. To compound its woes, ghostly fingers groped at it and raked at its back. The All Progressives Congress (APC)quickly replaced it as the party in power.
The APC did not only gain grounds in the presidency, it reaped bountiful harvest in various other offices around the country. However, its time in office has been as short as it has been long.
The transience of power has since seen four years become seven and seven about to become eight. However, to say that the last seven years under the APC have not been Nigeria`s longest years would be to sidestep the truth.
Many Nigerians are at their wits end. Insecurity and poverty in the country continue to prove exasperating. Damningly, the disconnect Nigerians feel from those who govern them has never been so pronounced.
So, it can only be prudent that now that Nigeria has again entered into that season when all manner of persons parade themselves before Nigerians as prophets who have the solution to its problems, the parrots and pretenders must be seen for who they are.
Even if Nigerians have not learnt anything since 2015, they should at least have learnt to use their tongue to count their teeth. That it took sixteen whole years to dislodge the PDP from power in 2015 came as a surprise given that complaints dogged the party over the direction of the country under it long before it was sacked.
If Nigerians have groaned non-stop in the last seven years under the APC, it is because it has continued to perform far below the expectations it caused to soar among Nigerians when it first came to power in 2015 and upon its return in 2019.
It begs the question of the provenance of the excitement gripping some people about the candidates that have so far emerged under various political parties that have offered the electorate nothing good in the past.
At this juncture of Nigeria`s political journey, Nigerians should know that save for one or two rare exceptions, their politicians are all the same. When they get into power, they feed into the same trough that seems to have something intoxicating. It is only often a question of little time before the system takes its pound of flesh from those who thought the leopard could change its spots.
To avoid another four- year round of heartrending wailing which can well become eight years over national problems, Nigerians must thoroughly interrogate those who now want their votes. Premature excitement as currently sweeping some states over candidates who seem saints is at best unhelpful.
The Nigerian experience of politicians is how sour a honey moon can quickly turn. Nigerian politicians sweep into office on he back of popular votes and Nigerians usually so generous with the benefit of doubt give them time to bed in and roll out what they have for the people. In many cases, Nigerians have waited to no avail until their patience usually so abundant expired with bitterness and resentment taking over.
Those who get into public offices know this. Within their first year or two in office, they bait those who elected them with all manner of supposedly people-oriented policies. They do this for as long as it takes them to bed in. Once they properly find their feet, they grow hard of hearing and their hitherto welcoming demeanor becomes inexplicably inscrutable.
Nigeria`s democracy as imperfect as it is presents Nigerians with a semblance of power during elections. It would pay to use this power wisely.]
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
