14 Aug 2009 |
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It is true that the world is inherently a very dangerous place, and that things that are now very good can go bad very quickly. Looking at the Niger Delta, and the many religious riots that have taken place in our country and appreciating where the country had once been, where millions had died in the Nigeria-Biafra war only about 32 years ago I have come to realize that it could happen again. As a little boy in 1967/68 I’ve stood at the water front in my village, where many were massacred. I have also seen in 1990 where hundreds were slaughtered in Bauchi. In recent times, I have read about killings in Jos, Bauchi, and Maiduguri where hundreds have been killed for no fault of theirs. I have watched on the internet the extra-judicial killings and I know they could be happening again and again. I look at our politicians carpet crossing from one party to the other in the name of smart politics and deceit, treating the voters as nonentities, stealing and enriching themselves from public purse while enslaving the masses. And then I look around at our pretensions and our beliefs — that we are somehow learning the ropes of democracy — and I am reminded that it is the quality of leaders, the courage of a people, the ability to solve problems that enables us to continue for one more year, and then one more year, until our children and our grandchildren have had this freedom, this safety, this health and this prosperity. The gap between our visions for our country, our prosperity, our freedoms and all of those things is the quality of our leaders, the courage of our people, the willingness to face facts and the willingness to work for solutions — solutions to energy, solutions to the environment, solutions to the economy, solutions to education and solutions to national security. We have real challenges, we have a wonderful country. We need to keep it, and to keep it we’re going to have to learn these kinds of lessons. And I do hope we learn from history. We should struggle to remake ourselves and challenge each other in the spirit of eternal forgiveness, in the awareness that none of us knows for sure what happiness truly is, but each of us knows the imperative to keep searching just like the villagers in the Niger Delta or the women and children of Boko Haram. Ordinary Nigerians keep searching for simple happiness while our politicians thrive in extravagance. We should know that Government is a verb: the collective effort of well-intentioned individuals. I used to think that government is a noun. I was taught in civics by my teachers who drew neat charts with arrows depicting three co-equal branches that together enforce the rights and responsibilities of every Nigerian citizen. When the cry for civilian rule was so much and the military handed over hurriedly we all thought it will be a great relief. However, I have continued to see the old men who were telling us the future belongs to us when I was in secondary school on our television networks. They have exhibited that they are a power-hungry aristocrats – the overbearing parents of a disobedient nation. They have pretended to churn out policies with the people in mind. I have learned in my sojourn in the United Kingdom through my academic studies that game theory confirmed that policy is the calculated result of competing interests. This is what our so called politicians have kept us showing us. Elections bring out the best and worst of life in government. Those who aspire to serve the people think about how they can solve problems. They therefore prepare to do this by using talents that are available and provided through the educational system. In the developed countries like America and the United Kingdom, behind every politician, there is a team of eager, well-educated, dedicated staffers who listen to constituents, research important issues, and work together to craft responsive, effective policy. But can we say the same for our democracy and our politicians? One would have thought that our politicians will work towards providing social structures in earnest through appropriate policies. This however appear to be a lip service. We hear about what they intend to do during campaign speeches. And thereafter every thing dies down until another election is near. Many of the politicians do not even visit their constituencies. Most members of the constituencies do not know the names of their elected representatives. There is abundant power in social structures to transform the lives of Nigerians. I remember a sermon based on a text of the Gospel of St. Matthew: “Who so ever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And who so ever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” Can our politicians be our servants? I have always been thrilled with the teachings of William James, the core of whose philosophy was that the essence of good is simply to satisfy demand. And since all desires or demands cannot be satisfied at the same time, our guiding principle should be to satisfy as many demands as we can. This is what we expect from our politicians. It is true that by all odds, the most effective instrumentality to carry out ideals of civilization is politics. Through politics we can help remove the artificial barriers that prevent little people from rising in the world. For we know that big people generally take care of themselves and, for that matter, so can little people. But the little people need help in removing barriers before them: barriers of education, barriers of discrimination, and barriers of health handicaps. But in the words of Longfellow like Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Sir Ahmadu Bello Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime, And departing leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time. I hope our current politicians will work for solutions to leave footprints on the sands of time.
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