FEMI ADEOTI COLUMN,
Help! The narrative is changing with the speed of light. Remember its waned ancestor? You can’t pretend to forget so soon.
“Renewed Hope” is taking every inch after the failed “Change” mantra. That was ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s baby. He couldn’t nurture it to fruition in all his eight sordid years.
He simply changed the “change.” He couldn’t move us up. So? He opted for the exact opposite, the contrary. He crashed us “from top to bottom.” And he did it diligently to the best of his ability.
Now, see where he landed us. We’re scared to the marrow. Our own Arab Spring is booting. The result of long pent-up angst against hunger. And there may be no stopping it. The earliest we realise this, the best for us all.
We can’t profess not to see what’s building up. We dare not feign ignorance either. It’s a fact, not fallacy. The indices are there. We better decode them correctly.
All the clues and indicators are in place. The circumstances are conducive, in perfect agreement. The drums are sounding louder and clearer. It’s overwhelming. What we dread the most is fast turning into stark reality.
The more you attempt to mock its existence, the more profound it becomes. We’ve got to face it squarely. It’s a matter of life and death. The earliest we come to terms with it, the best for us.
It didn’t start yesterday or today. But we can stop it before it goes out of hand tomorrow. That’s the only window generously open to us, at least for now. We must explore and exploit it before this option slips away.
We indeed had such golden opportunities in times past. We recklessly wasted them. Don’t be confused be convinced. We had several of those lifetime chances. And each time we squandered them like the prodigal children we are.
In fact, each past election placed this exceptional grace on our fragile laps. On a gold platter and for free! What did we do each of those times?
We ran wild and weird. We took on the toga of the spendthrift and profligate. We frittered away the rare chances. We turned our deaf ears far away from issues. We dwelt ridiculously on the ridiculous. We dissipated energy on the unimaginative.
Sentiment and its cousins ruled our space during electioneering. We became swayed easily. We forgot our plight and predicaments. We closed our warped minds to reason and reasoning.
We dug deep into our ugly, dirty and stinking archives. We picked on mundane issues: tribe and religion. In the process, we thoroughly messed ourselves up.
Tribe and religion is it! They kept improving by each election. They became more pronounced, more prominent. Sooner than expected, they will become the only twin agenda. I swear we’re getting there in no time from now. What a “lofty dream” come true.
That has been our sordid lot since 1999. Tribe and religion remain constant in all these. And so they will continue to be, again and again. That is the odd path we elected to tread.
Who did us in this manner? We’re our own undoing. We got it wrong, mixed-up from start to finish. Under our watch, we watched it nosedive unchecked.
The dubious politicians among us saw this. They cashed in on it heavily. And turned it to their greatest advantage, benefit and favour. The 2023 election was the climax, the ultimate, the zenith. All rolled into one.
Our genuine fear is that we may not have seen the worst yet. The signs are ominous. They are everywhere. The hunger, angst in the land!
It wasn’t like this before. We had sweet memories to fall back on. And they were numerous. They spanned through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s up to even the late 1980s. Those were the best of times. We had a country then.
Not anymore. Sad. We lost all that to the legion of greed, avarice, selfishness, wickedness, corruption, nepotism, favouritism, et al. The result: Endless uproar, hunger and angst.
Luckily for us, the hunger and anger know no bounds. They won’t recognise tribe, religion, colour or skin. Not the least political party. They are the levellers. And we’re extremely grateful to the powerful duo of hunger and anger.
Let the uproar continue. Don’t stop the angst. The more the merrier the better for us all. Our pretender-leaders have never been truthful. We’ve been deceived, cheated and debased. Many times over!
We blindly launched ourselves into this queer dispensation in 1999. It was a tragic error. So far, no near resemblance of a responsible and responsive government. It has been from worse to worst. And still going down!
They constantly throw crumbs at us. And watch us in the scramble of our lives. They deliberately choose this path for us. That would keep them perpetually in power. And passing power down to their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren.
We refuse to be deceived. It’s already happening. They know very well. Restructuring won’t tolerate this nonsense. The reason they distance themselves from it.
If they risk it, they will be roasted instantly. Stripped naked and empty. Let them continue pushing their evil day forward. There’s no way this won’t happen. Restructuring is their Waterloo. They will swim in it from eternity to eternity. Nothing will stop that from happening. That we can guarantee.
Governor Seyi Makinde took the bull by its horns. It’s one audacious step towards restructuring and true federalism. He courageously signed the Oyo State Electricity Regulatory Commission Bill into law:
“This law will enable Oyo State to generate, transmit and distribute electricity within the state. An amendment of the Constitution like this is what we mean when we advocate for fiscal federalism.”
Gbam! Makinde is at home with us. He’s convinced as we are: “Restructuring will hold the government accountable.” More of his ilk urgently needed. “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.” So says the Holy Book in Matthew 9:37.
The Federal Government is top-heavy. And this is outrageous and appalling. It’s spoilt with excessive powers it does not know how to utilise for maximum effect. It is equally aware of its superfluous luggage. It ought to shed all that. Instead, it prefers to flaunt it. That is fraudulent.
Our government as presently structured breeds arrogance and tyranny. It is make-believe. Its emptiness of good ideas is alarming and scandalous. Hard to find in any other climes but ours.
Every president has the tendency of becoming a monster. The potentialities are there. Very enormous and tempting. A weakling president will fall flat for it. And we have seen many of such characters in power.
The Federal Government has plentiful resources it doesn’t need. That’s why it squanders them to our painful detriment. In fact, some of these resources don’t belong to it in the first instance.
Restructuring will straighten that crooked structure out. It will strip government of the resources that do not belong to it. And allocate them to the appropriate tiers of government. We will soon get there.
Resentment against our structural defects is gaining momentum. And it is unprecedented. Even from unexpected quarters. The rich also cry. No more feigning ignorance.
We all know what’s good for us. The Emir of Kano bought into it wholeheartedly. It was a rare display of guts. Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero did just that to our delight on Monday. He spoke succinctly to the throne and our dreaded plight.
We were glad he was that courageous. Courtesy, Daily Sun:
“Your way and means is the surest way to tell the President the actual happenings in the country.” He told the President’s wife, Mrs. Remi Tinubu, who visited him.
He roared: “The situation has become more alarming and needs urgent attention.”
Tinubu’s right to reply. The old, odd, cracked singsong of assurance: “Despite what is going on, you just hold on. We mean well for this nation, bear with us. We assure Nigerians we are going to work to make sure the fortunes of this nation are better.”
Yesterday, the heat against the government festered. Arewa monarchs practically spat fire. They called to serious questions, Federal Government’s policies. Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, led the unavoidable onslaught.
They spoke in Kaduna, the heart of the North. And it was on their platform, Northern Traditional Council (NTC): “And let’s not take it for granted; people are quiet are quiet for a reason, because people have been talking to them.
“We have been talking to them, we have been trying to tell them things will be okay and they keep on believing. Things are not okay in Nigeria and of course, things are not okay in the North.
“To me, this government is a continuation of the former government; it is the same party. So, what really is the problem?” We too wonder aloud.
The social revolution is spreading like wildfire. Poverty is fast uniting us. It does not recognise tribe, religion and colour. And no power can cow that resolve. It’s the pointer we need to move forward. It should be used to achieve that. It may be our last chance.
Protesters may be taken for granted and mischievously tagged ruffians and the likes or even labelled “paperweights.” From drops of water an ocean may emerge and drown us all.
For our quandary, the viable way to go is restructuring. We have to come to favourable terms with the angst and uproar. That’s our stark reality.
This is a golden opportunity. That is what the outrage generously offers us. We can turn it around to our greatest advantage. Let’s give it an honest trial. It is worth it.
Pray! That Arab springs may not happen to us.
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