The 2023 campaign season has begun in earnest after the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in line with its time table, gave political parties the green light. Our politicians who neither visit their constituencies nor fulfill their promises have turned to or become regular visitors to communities with another brand of concocted lies and pipe dream promises.
It is sad to note that our two decades of democracy has failed to transform the lives of Nigerians in appreciable ways. Our politicians have failed to provide even basic infrastructure development such as feeder roads, schools and hospitals for the people. As our democracy grows, so also the bar of leadership recruitment becomes low. In the advent of democracy in 1999, those who held sway did their best for the country.
For instance, the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration had delivered dividends of democracy to Nigerians. To his credit, Obasanjo carried out reforms in the telecommunication sector which birthed the GSM. There is no gainsaying the fact that the GSM has created millions of jobs for Nigerians. It is also on record that through his efforts, Obasanjo secured Paris’s Club debt relief. At the end of his tenure, he left a debt-free country with a resilient economy.
However, the qualities of Nigerian democracy started to drop or depreciate after Obasanjo handed over power to late Umaru Musa Yaradua in 2007. Yar’adua came with his seven points agenda which will put the country on the pedestal of growth and development.
Unfortunately, he was unable to implement them due to terminal illness which resulted to his death. His successor, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, allowed corruption to fester and flourish under his watch. The Diezani and Dasuki gates are sad reminders of the high cases of corruption that dogged the government.
With corruption and insecurity deteriorating or getting worse under the Jonathan administration, in 2015, Nigerians elected President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC. The Buhari administration promised to address corruption, insecurity and fix the country’s battered economy. The high expectations or hope that greeted the Buhari administration when it came on board suddenly evaporated.
With less than five months to go, many Nigerians have expressed dissatisfaction with the administration’s performance. They felt it has performed below expectations. With allegations of corruption in the management of subsidy, poverty, kidnapping, banditry, inflation and mountains of public debts, the government has indeed failed woefully.
During the recent Kadinvest business summit organised by Kaduna state ministry of commerce and industry, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sunusi Lamido Sunusi, warned Nigerians to be wary of any presidential candidate who says Nigeria will be easy for him to rule in 2023.
The former Kano emir’s statements could not be unconnected with the country’s worsening economy. The prevailing massive oil theft has robbed the country of billions of naira daily. Now, government has to borrow to fund infrastructural development and even pay salaries.
Instead of promising heaven and earth, those who want to lead us in 2023, and need our votes, should tell us how they are going to address insecurity, poverty, inflation and unhealthy economy. Nigerians are wise and more politically conscious than before. Nigerians will not entertain or tolerate any excuses or blame game by incoming government. What they need is democracy dividends.
Ibrahim Mustapha,
Pambegua, Kaduna state
08169056963.
