The game will start in a jiffy. The alignment and re-alignment of political structures will be more intensed and deliberate in the coming months.
Decamping will soon be at its crescendo. It is a fact, no need for any prophetic declaration. Vision isn’t needed here, it is a circle in our political culture and it is bound to happen again.
It happened in 2021 a build up to 2023, it would happen again in 2025, building up to 2027 when the whole drama of political campaigns, promises that may never happen, lies, defamation, violence, vote buying, ballot boxes snatching and running with them would plateau. No prophet needs to tell one such.
Remembering 2021 and how it climaxed in 2023 with the charades, the barefaced rigging, the conscription and manufacturing of fake men of God, the strange lexical inclusion of “Bala blue, bu la ba” into our political dictionary, the compromise of institutions, making integrity, competence, values, laws and constitutional sustainability a public joke. One wonders If there would be any need for a change of baton in 2027, however one tries.
Two years all most gone since that charade and electoral manipulation and gansterism happened. Within this period a lot has happened, removal of fuel subsidy, free fall of naira against dollar, high price of food stuff and every other things that have changed negatively and positively too.
Though not all roses, still not all thorns, gains and losses, pains and pleasure, pit and party, death and alive, drought and abundance, power and weakness. The list is endless, chronicling one man’s meat another’s poison, ones sweet another’s bland, ones luck another’s disaster, ones promotion another’s demotion, ones engagement another’s disengagement.
The truth ,though bitter is, there will be no time a political party in power would be the darling of all however effective and productive it is. There must always be the disenchanted and displeased masses, whose interest and political linings are not taken care of.
Interest, the core of politics isn’t steady. It rises and falls. It swells and slims, it becomes sweet at some point and bitter at another point. Nobody has it all at every tenure or political dispensation. As it favours others, the unfavored kick, throwing pebbles and spanners in the wheel no matter how progressive the administraion is. This interest isn’t selfless.
It is always selfish, seeking nothing for public benefits, always for their private pockets even when the ship is sinking, hailing and fake flattery would always rend the air once their interest is protected. That is politics!
From 2023 when the wound and gushing of blood from such a mindless electoral rape was still fresh till now, Tinubu has gained more followers. He has equally lost members too. Some who criticised him, threw stinking mud at him during and after election are today signing songs of solidarity for him. That is politics.
Come 2027, considering what he has done and what he has not done, his strategy of dangling bannas and carrot to those of Stomach infrastructural political block and how hungrily they are jumping at such things, would there be need for change of baton?
Would the Obi movement that swept with tsunamic momentum the 2023 election replicate same in 2027? Or would they all be captives under the political armpit of the ruling party for greed and selfish interest before 2027?
Tinubu’ administration has actually dealt with every sector. Even the religious sector was not spared. No new year prophecy and declaration on what the year would look like as it has been their tradition.
Tinubu’ Pains have sealed their mouth and their prophetic auction dried.
He has made everything very unpredictable and the resistance depth of the masses weakened. They have been pushed to the wall, their strength broken into weak shreds, sucked out, mere looking and wishing for God’s mercy, the masses have resorted to.
To those who said that Nigerians didn’t vote for Tinubu, they are obviously committing the fallacy of selective generalisation.
Nigerians voted for him, the truth is, the percentage of Nigerians that voted for him is far lower than the percentage of Nigerians that didn’t vote for him. But then, such numbers both those that voted for or against him are still a weak representation of the total number of eligible Nigerians who though registered but didn’t vote either by not collecting their voter’s cards, were not allowed to vote or decided out of personal decision to stay away.
The truth is, no President in the history of Nigeria democratic elections has been elected by 40% of the total number of eligible Nigerians. So, one can say statistically that 1/4 of eligible Nigerians have been voting. Would such votes under fair and square election represent the true choice of Nigerians? There would always be a big chunk of Nigerian whose choices for a President wouldn’t be represented. So, how fair would the elections be when they eventually happen? Think about it.
I ask again, 2027, would there be a change of baton? Or would all the opposition voices be muffled and gagged with political cookies before then?
Would Tinubu be able to make his former years of certificate forgery saga, election rigging, etc. diminish into his latter years of possible good policies and dividends of democracy?
Jarlath Uche Opara
Jarlathuche@gmail.com
