Now
that elections are over
By Oriaifoh Godwins
Now that the Presidential, National Assembly,
Governorship and House of Assembly elections are over, we should come together
and put behind us the disturbing, divisive hate campaigns and campaigns of
calumny that characterised the electioneering campaigns and now begin to think
of how we can move Nigeria to higher heights.
The election is historic in several respects as
President Goodluck Jonathan, for the sake of Nigeria’s unity, displayed a rare
spirit of statesmanship by conceding defeat early and thus saved Nigeria from
premeditated violence. By his action, God disgraced and disappointed those that
have been chanting songs of war. The mayhem and chaos that would have followed,
was successfully doused.
Yes, Nigeria is yet to get to its Eldorado on democratic
principles, but from the outcome of the 2015 elections, and how some political
gladiators have handled the outcome of the elections with maturity, we are now
a nation to be reckoned with amongst civilised societies.
Again, I will like to commend our new President,
General Muhammadu Buhari, when in his acceptance speech, he said:
“My love and
concern for this nation and what I desire for it extends to all, even to those
who do not like us or our politics. You are all my people and I shall treat
everyone of you as my own. I shall work for those who voted for me as well as
those who voted against me and even for those who did not vote at all. We all
live under one name as one nation: we are all Nigerians...”
Soon after he made his speech, a friend of mine, who
was hitherto a staunch Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, member was pleasantly
surprised at Buhari’s speech, he said; ‘I am beginning to like this man ooo...’ I
however, reminded him that, all the hard words that were flying around before
then, with respect to the persons of Buhari, was all political, and that, the
earlier action o
I strongly advise that we should stop allowing
ourselves to be made pawns in the hands of political opportunists. Every
Nigerian should know and understand that what binds us together is far greater
than what is threatening to divide us.
When they fought for the independence of this
country, I am sure our founding fathers, the likes of Anthony Enahoro, Tafawa
Balewa, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and a host of others, never
thought it will take us this long to get it right. Let us agree that, the
military interregnum slowed down the pace of growth of democracy in Nigeria, what
have we as individuals consciously done to stabilise the polity? Have we not
been sheepishly following people we call our leaders without us knowing that,
some of them are only interested in their selfish interests? That they are not
nationalistic, or patriotic; that they are only interested in using us, the
electorates to achieve their selfish inordinate ambitions. Why do we think they
continue to galvanise from one political party to another, especially when, for
whatever reason, they are not able to achieve their selfish ambition in the
party they are? Have we forgotten that, whatever they promised they are going
to do, to better our lives, when they eventually assume power, (that they brand
‘dividends of democracy’) is actually our rights? It is our common wealth, that
is, if they do them at all. A lot of persons have died in the past, supporting
a particular politician, but before you know it, the same politician that they
fought and died for, ends up in decamping to the same political party that they
fought for him against.
Now that election is over, we must continue to live as
brothers and sisters. We must continue to be our brother’s keepers.
To the shameless political prostitutes that are found
of jumping from one party to the other; and that defected from the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, to the All Progressives Party, APC, the same party that
you dumped today, will still be there tomorrow for you to defect to, after you
have finished making a mess of yourself in the party you just defected to.
However, the fact that political parties in Nigeria do
not have political ideologies makes it easy for these political opportunists to
defect at will. These people stand for nothing, but to satisfy their inordinate
greed and avarice. They are skilled at sweet talking and hoodwinking their
unsuspecting followers to see reasons why they should defect to another party;
and some, sheepishly follow them, but the time is coming when all these nonsense
will stop; when the electorates will say enough is enough. You can no longer
push us around like a zombie. Nigeria will sure get there someday.
"I strongly advise that we should stop allowing ourselves to be made pawns in the hands of political opportunists. Every Nigerian should know and understand that what binds us together is far greater than what is threatening to divide us"
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