Describing Nigerian and Imo state politics is engaging in a discussion of unfruitful bunch of selfish individuals. Little or no consideration is given to the voters who have formed formidable constituencies in the political setting of Nigeria in general and Imo State in particular. I do, in all humility, lay my blame on the voters who are the real custodians of power and should always hold their elected leaders accountable, yet for lack of knowledge; the voters have failed to perform. Most politicians have reduced the voters to folks that are fed crumb from the elected leaders’ table. Definitely, something is not right and with all due respect, my guess is that, we the voters are as guilty as charged for continuously voting incapable and rehashed politicians. Nigerian voters, politicians and political process perfectly match the analogy of lacking in the midst of abundance for the voters and stealing from the public treasury with official capacity for the politician. How fair is that?
Nigerian voter/leaders situation is like living in an ocean and complaining of thirst because the voters think it is better to get a drops of water on their tongue from a few whom they selected to distribute the water equitably. These leaders sealed their voters’ lips and drove them away from the ocean out of greed. When election time draws near, these so called leaders return to the voters, show them the ocean again; make promises of quenching their thirst by taking them on a drinking galore at the ocean. They slightly unseal the voters’ lips, deceitfully put a few drops of water on their tongue, with empty promises, the voters foolishly elect them and their cohorts who spit on the voters’ faces, seal the voters’ lips again and drive them farther away from the ocean in misery. As the poor voters are driven further away from the ocean, these leaders are busy building personal water pools for themselves from the ocean owned by all.
Imo politicians have engaged in half-baked philanthropy in an effort to deceive the voters. This deceitful act of the politicians every time the elections draw near is perpetuated to win the mind of Imolites who are dumped immediately the politicians are voted into office or given one appointment or the other. Simply put, the Imolites, like one of the cards of monopoly game’s direction, are told, “Go to jail and go to hell”. Imolites are further told, “Do not pass go and do not collect part of what rightfully belong to you.” Our lovely state is in mishap because a few of us have lost the sense of anything short of self enrichment from public wealth and we know who they are. Though, the entire process or approach is problematic, there is more problem in the Imolites inability to identify the right approach to hold these elected few accountable for their gross misconduct. Voting for competent and qualified candidates will surely pass the test as a resounding resolution.
The opening line of the 1999 constitution of our great nation, Nigeria states, “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” Logically, one can deduct that Nigeria is for the people and not for the mediocre politicians. Our politicians have turned to vampires and are fast sucking up the blood of Imolites. The citizens of Imo are left hungry for food, hanging on unemployment, helpless in poor quality of healthcare, hopeless for the future, hysteric for high cost of living and hovering on poor standard of education. Imolites should have reasons to be concerned in electing the right leaders who will sincerely pilot the state affairs or pay the price as they have continuously done. The general attitudes of voters in general have been that voting does not matter because ‘they’ (the people in power) have already decided who will win. There is an extraordinary challenge for Imo voters to make things right and we should live up to it by exercising our voting right and civic responsibility.
From the gospels account of Matthew, Mark and Luke of the Holy Bible, it is recorded that when the chief priests and scribes plotted how to kill Jesus, they feared the people. The chief priest and scribes were the political leaders of the Jesus dispensation. The Jewish political leaders of Jesus’ era were so powerful. They passed death sentences and hung people on the cross, but they feared the masses may have uproar if they had killed Jesus on the Passover week. Those leaders recognized the powerful characteristic of the people and feared the people’s power. They also understood clearly, the real principles of governance, accountability and respect for public opinion. The same power the chief priest and scribes of Jesus era feared resonates with Nigerian voters and Imolites today. The difference between the two powers is that today’s power is shown via the ballot paper versus uproar of Jesus’ era.
Uproar is seen as timid and unproductive and does not have a place in our democratic society. We wonderfully appreciate the return of power to the civilians by the military. It is important to note that voting or election is a more refined and civil process of holding power by the people because of the choices it offers the voters. In practical democracy, the politicians are continuously engaging their constituent members in positive and productive communication to find better ways of advancement. These politicians go to their voters in humility and passion. They offer competitive and intellectually sound solutions to their voters who weigh their ideas and approach to issues as they make their voting choices. That is the beauty of democracy but the billion naira question is, are we really practicing it when most of the Nigerian politicians offer only, rice, motorcycle, money, intimidation and thugs to the voters? I guess only time will tell.
I still hear the voices of my elementary three teacher and classmates singing over and over, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people”. As a pupil, it meant nothing more than memorization of a rhythm I needed to excel in my class examination. As I grew older and wiser and began application of knowledge and reasoning in my dealings and activities, democracy in Nigeria and Imo state got me searching for other meanings of the best system of government. No matter how I searched, I always end up with my simple elementary three definition; government of the people, by the people and for the people. Sadly, the so called NIGERIAN FACTOR, which is another days’ focus, has invaded the Nigerian democratic process to a laughing point. Corruption, greed, mediocrity, sycophancy, godfatherism, rigging, violence, bribery, arm twisting and imposition of self or cohorts by highest financial bidders have become order of Nigerian and Imo state political/democratic process.
Nigeria, being the giant of Africa, perhaps, in population, should follow the stride of leading nations and build our democracy on its core principles. Truly, we have government of the PEOPLE as evidenced by our government institutions in place. No doubt, we have these institutions’ affairs piloted by the PEOPLE or so called politicians. Sadly, the government of for the people by the people merging at both angles for the PEOPLE has become an illusion in Imo political scene. The people are isolated in the agenda of governance and the government has remained insensitive to the people’s issues. The machineries of government that are supposed to make things easier for the people, through dedicated and equitable dispensation of the democratic dividends, have become anti-people institutions which continuously create more problems than solutions and services for people.
The essence of democracy is for us, the people, to choose amongst us, the people, those who will distribute equitably the wealth that belong to us for our interest. It furthers its principle for us to hold those we elect to be our servants with pay and not looters of our economy. Why do our leaders within few months in the office steal from us wealth that is meant for our better life, keep it as their personal wealth and we sit without holding them accountable? One obvious reason is that we sell our right to them and are not bold enough to ask them to perform. Instead of holding them accountable, few of us turn to their praise singers. Voters have failed to realize that we are the majority and we should be heard loud and clear as we cast our votes. We must resist corrupt and incompetent politicians. They have fooled us enough and shown us wickedness. They have smiled to us, given us hope, false hope by the way, climbed on our back to the corridors of power and take a 360 degree turn to intimidate us and harass us with their thugs. They create hopelessness in our future and erase us from their agenda until few months prior to another election.
The government has lost touch with Imolites. Looking at the deplorable states of our roads, our failing standard of education, level of unemployment, poor healthcare, high cost of living, and lack of basic utilities, we the people of Imo state and Federal Republic of Nigeria deserve supernatural grace of God. The tenacity of Imolites has reached such threshold that they have lost interest in the political process in Imo and Nigeria. When voters buy into the notion that losing interest in the democratic right of voting is a solution to our bewitched electoral process, they are concurring to series of things that should not be. Fellow Imolites, doing nothing is not an option because it proffers no solution. Albeit, we are besieged with political scammers and fraudsters, we are equipped with the powerful weapon of our votes. A weapon stronger than however much or the little much the politicians use to buy our conscience lest we become the biblical Esau who sold his birthright for porridge.
The politicians know the vote is like a mace for the masses and that’s why they appease the voters during electoral period to garner their votes yet we think our votes do not count. As 2015 is fast approaching, voters should form a formidable front and say enough is enough to the unfounded trickery of the politicians. It is a new dawn with a new wave of sanity which has zero tolerance for impunity and mediocrity. We need to empower each other by engaging in meaningful political dialogue as we seek solutions to the problems of unemployment, poor quality of education, deplorable state of our existing infrastructures, poor cum inaccessible healthcare, low quantity of food production and high cost of living. We must assess the performances of the politicians in the past and present, evaluate their messages, investigate their background and ask them questions before we elect them. We are giving our mandate to the politicians to represent us therefore; they should be answerable to us. We need leaders who are transparent and ready to carry the voters along in their governance. We need leaders who will address the real issues of the citizens and make positive improvements on standard of living.
In conclusion, general election of 2015 seems like forever for those who are frustrated with the trend of governance and seems like tomorrow for those in power who wish to hold on forever. Whatever be the feeling, we the voters are the once being deprived of the democratic dividend. We need to wake up from our slumber and possess our possession. We must apply great wisdom in using our voting power to elect leaders of substance. We must elect leaders who are competent to execute quality governance that will carry us to the next level. Our judgment should be structured on the performances of the candidates in both private and public services. We must stand in unity and reject the fraudulent politicians who impose themselves on us and move away from their ploy of using little money to buy our votes with the sole goal of enriching themselves in office.
Nigeria, Imo state, the Local Government Areas as well as the wealth that abound in these tiers belongs to the citizens for the development and improvement of our standard of living. Neither Nigeria nor Imo state belongs to the corrupt politicians anymore. Their time is up. I wish a Merry Christmas and happy, prosperous New Year to great Imolites and Nigerians. Our state and nation shall live long.
