Last Thursday the federal government, obviously terrified by the burden of expectations upon it, launched what’s a form of psychological propaganda. It’s a social orientation campaign named “Change Begins With Me”. Introducing the campaign, the President said, “Our citizens must realize that the change they want to see begins with them.” And then, “Before you ask ‘where is the change they promised us’, you must first ask how far have I changed my ways ‘what have I done to be part of the change for the greater good of society’.”
This is an audacious attempt to alter the definition of “change” the APC proposed when it approached us in selling its beautiful ideas of changing Nigeria.
The governing party’s idea of change have been widely archived, it’s impossible to convince the people that the change they promised isn’t creating three million jobs yearly, providing free meals for public primary school public, offering N5000 stipends to the unemployed youths, adopting Social Welfare Programmes to cater for the poor, free maternal and children healthcare services, amongst other beautiful visions.
This is why the definition of provided by the President is a contradiction of what the APC us, that it would lead the way to our redemptions. The change promised Nigerians is intended to be institutional, not this grand campaign for exceptional individualism. The problem, as I’ve repeated said, is not the person, not the Nigerian. It’s the institution. Institutions aren’t made by people, they are made by rules, rules hard to bend.
Have you ever paused to ponder why Nigerians beat traffic lights in Abuja but obey traffic rules in London? It’s because the UK institutions are strong. So, the change we anticipate must begin with institutions changing people. Telling some people that change begins with them is like telling a robber to stop stealing. No, you’ve to build a strong Police to change him. Citizens are often only as good and as incorruptible as the country wants them to be, through its institutions.
Even God didn’t get His creations to worship Him with words alone. He revealed penalty for refusing to change to His ways.
The penalty is blazing Hell hereafter. An expatriate friend, an Australian, beats traffic lights in Abuja, and he actually once described it as fun. He’ll never try it in his country.Why? It’s not patriotism. Words like “change begins with me” will never stop people from obeying traffic rules. To achieve this, you need surveillance cameras and strong penalising institutions. Wait, why do you think Americans are afraid of evading tax? It’s the horror of having to deal with IRS. It’s not patriotism. Who’s afraid of FIRS? Definitely not the Nigerian big man who’s sure of his ability to make phone calls and get any case against him dropped! So change should begin with the President addressing institutional lapses like the employment scams at CBN and FIRS, and apologising to the nation for condoning nepotism.
So, “Change Begins With Me” may only further give the President more excuses to skip electoral promises, that he fails to deliver as promised because the citizens didn’t change. Our President may go down in history as just another politician if he does not stick to the dream he promised to get elected, and apologise or explain where necessary. He’s to lead and inspire a generation by giving them a functional nation to strive to change their realities. Change begins with having stable power supply, equipped and upgraded hospitals, developed road infrastructure, rehabilitated schools, countered nepotism, defeated crony capitalism…
Yes, you don’t need a witchdoctor to understand that the change promised by the APC means overturning our social conditions.
Our people are hungry, forex is unstable, businesses are collapsing, and instead of changing their conditions, the government is shamelessly telling them that change begins with them. What the hungry citizens need isn’t an inspiration, what they need is a favourable economy to stay alive. To say #ChangeBeginsWithMe when inflation is on autopilot is an understating of the nation’s reality, it’s a state-authorised insult. Change means an improvement in our social conditions, and we will never let the President CHANGE the CHANGE!
Some serial praise-singers of the government, in a bid to endorse the campaign, said portray its critics as ignorant, revealing their amusing misconception of Civics. The wrote that Nigerians have a sense of entitlement. They missed that Nigerians are not requesting effective change from the President. They are demanding it as he promised. Because it’s their right, not a privilege.
Nigerians are waiting for the President to have them conditioned into what he wants them to become though his policies and actions. He’s access to public treasury and administrative machinery to shape the destiny of this nation. That the government is resorting to psychological propaganda to hoodwink Nigerians into embracing a contradiction of its promises to change realities of the people, is dispiriting. But change begins with an action, with the President not abdicating his responsibility to champion it. May God save us from.
