With the nomination of the flag-bearers of the two major contending political parties for next year’s pivotal presidential election, the phony war is over. The real political season has, well, truly commenced. In this connection, a significant observation has to be made. This is that all democrats must be profoundly grateful that despite all of its imperfections, democracy continues to endure in our country. This means that we must be perpetually on our guard against the destabilising and retrogressive forces perpetually trying to roll back the march of democracy and its entrenchment.
For our democracy to endure, the upcoming general elections must be used to consolidate the ethos of democracy and indeed celebrate our democracy’s coming of age. To do so, we must break the mould and set a vitally needed new template. This is necessary because, for far too long, we have indulged in shenanigans whereby the real issues are neglected or at best relegated to the background. This has been a self-serving device by sections of the political establishment to provide a diversion from the real issues. In this opportunistic manner, irrelevances such as contrived fault lines such as a purported North and South division and religious differences are played up. This has proved useful, acting as an opium to divert the populace from facing the real issues. The end result is that only a handful of people have benefitted from the so called ‘dividends of democracy’.
This is rather unfortunate, for the people deserve better. Fortunately, today, at a critical juncture for the nation, we have to discuss the real issues. These are: the state of the economy; the unacceptable level of corruption, which has held back our progress; the on-going security problems which is directed at the soul of the republic, as well as the profoundly disturbing inability to meet the United Nations rather minimalist Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Weaved together, all of this constitute the ‘Nigerian Paradox’ – a bizarre situation whereby the majority are impoverished even as the national coffers get fuller.
Ironically, the next elections will be contested against the backdrop of declining national income. The decline is structural; it is not temporary. The profound shift in the international terms of trade have to be addressed and accommodated. The contestants must be compelled to address the fundamental question, which is how to survive within drastically-reduced circumstances. For let it be clear, whoever wins the elections will have to face a brutal reality.
This is, therefore, not the time to trade blames. On the contrary, it is the time to bring forth well-costed and convincing solutions to what will be an enduring problem. In doing so, they will prepare the public to brace up for the tough times ahead. Let no mistake be made about it, now that the chickens have come home to roost, it’s going to be tough. After the election, whoever wins is going to have to take unpopular decisions. For this reason, it will be an act of gross deception not to prepare the people mentally for the hard reality ahead now. The task of the contestants is to show us they will navigate the ship of state through stormy weather, so that in the process, we can find, to quote the great soul artist, Otis Redding, “sunshine on a cloudy day”.
For the electorate too, there is also a warning. At this critical juncture, the difference between poverty and wealth will be decided by their votes. They had better, in their own interest, use it wisely. This cannot be the time for vote selling. It is, in this vein, also important to make an observation on the preparedness (or the lack of it perhaps) of the ‘opposition’.
By now, just a few weeks away to potentially game-changing elections, it is derisive to talk at this point of an opposition. We ought to be having a discourse instead on the quality or otherwise of the government-in-waiting. That we are not doing so portrays a drawback in our political development. By now, there ought to have been a widely disseminated alternative realistic programme waiting to be implemented. It’s about time we got one. In a few weeks’ time, the country has an opportunity to turn danger into opportunity as in the Chinese ideograph for crises. Our politicians, who have the most to lose, have a historic opportunity to do so.
