By Joe Iniodu
As the People’s Democratic Party’s boast to rule the country for 60-years collapsed to a conspiratorially manipulated election which produced President Muhammadu Buhari, the question on the lips of many Nigerians has been the intactness of our national faith in the country, Nigeria in the face of the dimming fervour of nationalism amongst the people.
Our national pledge initiated with the line “I pledge to Nigeria my country” is solemn and sombre. It is a compelling line that stirs the emotional value of one’s preference or love to his state or nation. Of course one would prefer the Nation beyond state as patriotism bears allegiance more to a nation as the nomenclature for which the people are more known. An American, Briton or French would prefer to be referred to with the name of the country than the local precinct of his birth within that country. Indeed, he or she derives great joy from such reference and upholds the pride of that nation with every fibre of his being.
Nigeria has remained a tottering nation taking one step forward and two steps backward. At the dawn of independence in 1960, our national dream was well articulated and encapsulated. Our forebears dreamt of a country that would not only be the largest black nation on earth but also a pride of Africa. They were patriotically zestful and committed to building a nation where all citizens would enjoy inalienable rights and basic freedom enshrined in many world charters. The inaugural speech of the Prime Minister, late Tafewa Balewa captured succinctly the milestones the nation envisioned.
The dream of a great nation looked plausible. With a less cumbersome centre and active federating units which were the regions, each region set its development pace according to its potential. Interestingly, the regions had active and vibrant economies. The groundnut pyramid in the North, the palm produce in the East and the cocoa in the West were the commodities that drove those economies. The commodities also provided the needed foreign exchange for the nation and helped in constructing an agrarian economy that developed into a national reputation. For instance, Malaysia which is the world’s leading country in palm produce today had its seedling from Nigeria and its personnel for the feat also trained in our country.
But the curse called oil interjected the economy like a ruinous new bride and the country had since not been the same again. Corruption was introduced at a reprehensible scale. Idleness and indolence became ways of life. Rent contractors gnawing and nibbling at national wealth grew into an influential tribe. Of course creative thinking amongst the people lost its pride of place as schemers and mediocre became success stories. Our national values collapsed irretrievably giving way to dashed hopes and dreams.
Well various governments have come with the mantra of redeeming the nation and setting it again on the path of moral rectitude and national prosperity. Each time they come, they initiate some populist approaches which of course often engender short-lived joy among the people. But the regime would always sooner than later take to old ways and graduate into ignobility that was the identifiable trait of others. Nigerians in such circumstance would watch helplessly as the hope for national redemption would peter out.
The dwindling fate of this great nation reminds us of an emotionally stirring song in the 90’s with the lyrical line “Where are the Prophets?” by one of our sons, late Peterside Otong. The nation is in dire need of these prophets. It is in dire need of harbingers of true change, not the change mantra for just wining elections. Buhari and APC promised change, but the change may just turn out to be outright stagnation. The fear that the nation may again slide into ignobility is daily becoming a stark possibility. Otherwise how does one explain the rising tide in Boko Haram insurgency, the apparent stagnation that seems to dog the machinery of governance at the federal level, the trading of tackles in the National Assembly and APC’s inability to rein in their members, a comatose economy that is yet to be given any visionary boost and a tepid leadership that seems to be bogged down by buccaneers with various vested interest.
What is today apparent is that APC constituted itself into n unholy alliance to wrest power from PDP without planning what to do with the power. And so it was just power for power sake and not power for the engendering of national redemption. Today the party is polarized at extremes with its big investors ruing over their investments. And until the leadership is freed from the encumbrances arrayed by these mercantilist politicians, the nation would not move forward in the direction of collective progress and national stability.
President Buhari may not have known that our national ethos had long been infected by rot of colossal scale. His advent into the leadership spectrum in the 80s when he was 40 was obviously a different kettle of fish. At then, decrees and fiats were at his disposal. His youthful exuberance also fired his patriotic zeal even to the point of absurdity. But all of that are past. Today he is a victim of political shenanigan by those whose pre-occupation is to manipulate the system and skew it to their advantage. And because they are adept in this machination, they would continue to dexterously run rings around him. If he is willing to learn fast, he would come to terms with the fact that not all those who pretend to share the stable with him as patriots and progressives are what they claim to be.
President Buhari has a responsibility to free himself from the stranglehold of these fly by night politicians knowing that Nigerians may have voted for him because his trait for which he is known exuded exemplary behaviour that can inspire change. It was not the change mantra that endeared the people to him, it was his personal character. His first outing which ended in 1985 cannot be said to have been glorious. He has a chance to rewrite that history in a way that would re-inspire our national faith and re-build a nation of our pride.