The nation’s political scene never fails to tickle me and this is for many reasons. It lacks characterization yet predict­able. Keen observers can always be sure that certain acts would repeat themselves even though in worst dimensions. I’m not tired saying this: our political culture is very faulty. This perhaps explains why we always have ineffective leaders. The political scene is experiencing frenzy moments as candidates for offices steam roll their political machineries to pursue their ambitions. The presi­dency is receiving bigger atten­tion, and that is understandable. The Nigerian presidency is one of the most powerful institutions in the world. The battle would be between two old rivals: Jonathan and Buhari.

Today is dedicated to President Goodluck Jonathan whose deci­sion to run again was declared on November 11. Jonathan’s de­cision to re-contest was made a little too late and the reasons are quite understandable. The politi­cal atmosphere has been unduly very volatile and all manners of impediments had deliberately been raised hindering the achieve­ment of right social relations that would have been a booster for the expression of freewill and ambi­tions especially at strategic levels such as the presidency. President Jonathan has been the most mis­understood and vilified president by some elites for reasons that are not totally altruistic. The strate­gies employed have been such that the dignity of the office came under disrepute and many right thinking Nigerians are not happy over the development.

It is not that public office hold­ers should not be challenged or criticised, indeed remove chal­lenge and democracy will lose its soul. The crux of democracy is found in the plurality of dreams, aspirations, agitations and de­mands. What bothered me in the kind of challenges I have seen so far has to do with their nature. They are not about new visions and great endeavours designed to make the nation great, rather they are about narrow interest an­chored on individual ambitions, wicked designs, religious and trib­al considerations. For instance, I have heard of a secret agreement which limits Jonathan to serve one term and return power to God knows where. This disclosure has spurred me to ask the question on whose mandate did those who initiated this, embark on it? Was it a product of weird imagination or part of our crazy attitude to always embark on a flight of fan­tasy without sparing a thought for the consequences? This issue of agreement is not only repulsive to me, it is a sure recipe for disin­tegration, because embedded in it are the discriminating seeds of superior and inferior, of wielders of power and the supposed on-lookers who can only rise when tolerated to so do. Come to think of it, this nation began hearing of agreement over tenure after the killing of Abiola and the drafting of Obasanjo into power not as a legitimate right but a compensa­tory instrument; this is instructive.

The nation’s security situation has been bad, that we must admit. I don’t want to dabble into wheth­er it is sponsored or a product of our misrule. What intrigues me is the view that a serving president should not run because the na­tion has issues of unmet expecta­tions. My reply has always been to ask, what is election? Is not about stewardship and accom­panying verdict. When you a say a man should not run because he failed in some aspects of his as­signment, does that not presup­pose anti-democratic tendency? I must disclose that I have been traumatised by some of the vibes coming from some respectable citizens up north in recent times especially the possibility of vio­lence if the President wins again. Some weeks ago, a respected religious leader said Jonathan’s second term bid was capable of setting the nation ablaze and after reading that, I asked for what rea­sons: that Jonathan is no longer a Nigerian or is he so hated that not one Nigerian loves him? Can this be true?

Not long after the above, Major (Rtd) Mustapha Jokolo, former Emir of Gwandu added another ridiculous angle to it when he revealed that part of the reason some of them in the north hate the Vice President, Namadi Sambo in­clude the fact he wears the Niger- Delta attire. If this is not carrying the ridiculous to the abnormal level, I wonder what else is. The issue of religion or ethnicity did not start today. Many of the lop­sidedness we suffer today in our political structure are products of deliberate religious and tribal in­fluences; most past governments had their key supporters from the area of the helmsman and even as I scrutinise Jonathan’s admin­istration, I am at a loss whether it is a Niger-Delta administration as some allude or a northern government minus the president. Jonathan has tried to build a pan- Nigeria administration, it is yet to settle because a few power­ful citizens fear the development would spell their political doom. Of course changes come with casualties.

There is defect in our social relations which will take some time to solve given the way we embrace religion and tradition. Changes will not come except all of us resolve to do things dif­ferently. Building a nation is not a day’s task, otherwise a nation like America with over 200 hun­dred years of democratic practice would not experience turbulence in its race relations. Our approach should be to see every national as a Nigerian to be loved. Our operating module should be to give and take. It is true the north was shortchanged by the unex­pected demise of late President Umaru Musa Ya’Adua but that was accidental and if we take it a bit further it won’t be the first time a group is shoved aside from what is due to them. The killing of Balewa and Ironsi were essen­tially about shoving, just as the killing of Abiola was to deny the southerners and particularly the Yorubas the chance to rule Nige­ria. Even when the Yorubas were eventually compensated, it came at a cost to the Igbo whose son, Dr Alex Ekwueme, led the push that sent the military packing, built the PDP and was set to emerge the president in 1999 before the great conspiracy by a section of the civ­il population working with their military allies took place.

The nation overcame all these and has remained strong. Our na­tion as presently constituted is a great gift by God to us and to the entire Black world, so we must work hard to preserve it. And one of the ways of doing so is to recognize that the Niger-Delta has so much due them given the role they have played in our na­tion’s unity and economic well-being. I am surprised the north with whom they partnered in the past (during the civil war) are in the forefront of those who are trying to destroy their joy. If any region should be it, it is the south east, but that has been consigned to the dustbin by the knowledge that in the process of nation build­ing, many unpalatable things are bound to happen, and the way of getting over them is to show understanding, love and com­promise. If any section of our na­tion deserves understanding, it is the Niger-Delta. Placating them should not diminish demands for better Nigeria; we need collabora­tive efforts. Let Jonathan run and if he wins, so be it.

Source: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=97416