Though
I didn’t live in the era of slavery, colonialism or even military dictatorship,
yet I know they were and still remain the ugly pages in the scripts of our
national story. Whence brutality and maiming were rewards for truth; wealth and
glory a prize to the corrupt. Then, we were told, people ate but were not
satisfied, drank but were still thirsty. At that time I was told, treasuries
were heaped and spending was the problem. Trust was rare but hope was near.
Hope for something better, for people who’d be happier. Hope that at last our
beautiful ones would be born, and this time, they were to remain beautiful and
not pricked by the thorns of the past; of hurt and pains, of fears and shame. Whence
smiles would return to a people who have known only tears. This hope has been
the heritage shared by generations waiting to see the Promised Land. I used to
share in this hope. But now, I just wonder!
Is
this the Promised Land? A land that’s a litter bin of big, small and aspiring
dictators, where only the privileged lay upon the throne. Where politics takes
after the Roman colosseum, with the commoner raided and believers of true
democracy crushed. Perhaps the beautiful ones are still doing sit-ups in the
belly of time, but I know for sure that the powerful ones are born! They are
here. They’re the owners of Nigeria and they’re no longer hiding in the
shadows. They’re out in the sun, abducting our destiny and future; daring the
wounded to challenge. If you’re asking where they are? I don’t know. But I can
tell you where to look.
Go
to Lagos where you’ll find those who uproot and enthrone kings; to Kano where a
former governor retires into the senate while his son-in-law takes over the
baton; to Imo where one of them fights hard for his daughter’s husband to take
after him; to Yobe, where a senator who is a former governor is married to a
minister, that contested a seat in the House of Reps with her step-son and won.
If you aren’t satisfied, you may want to visit the sole aspirant of a party that
pulled 15.426millon votes in the last general elections but miraculously
acquired 14.8million votes in just concluded primaries. Is God not good? Who
dares challenge this lion from the tribe of Daura? Da emperor cum conqueror of
Nigeria. Da latest WAEC ambassador. The “messiah” who was, is and will be! And
when you think you’ve seen enough, you meet the Party that claims to promote
the Democracy of the People yet shut the people’s voice with money, both earned
and stolen. Some others borrow to fund projects and bless “new” indigenous
companies with the contracts; they pay in the morning and at night, their
phones buzz with credit alert as they lay down to count their blessings. Soon
we will beg them to help pay off national debts from their personal accounts.
An
ambush was set for democracy soon after the last lap of the military and we
allowed it to be captured once again by they who own everything. Those who are
richer than their states. Thus, from colonial times to the military and now to
democracy, the story has rejected change; instead it’s been covered with
thicker cloaks made of gold. Now, no one complains of being unsatisfied because
even the half, is absent. Instead of been part-thirsty, they are dying of
drought. Perhaps I’m not as far away from the past as I thought. We’re all so
close to it but still, we don’t get it. WE HAVE OPTIONS! We
need to abandon the ones they present to us. The choice between two
70-something year olds, whom we’ve tested and scored. I really wish to see an
end to the comparison between the evil past and the evil present. What I want
is to know what it means to be clean and free. 2019 surely is a birthing year,
but what do you want to see come out? The ones we’ve known all our years
through history books and experience or the ones who’ll bring our hopes to
light? Don’t you want some fresh air? Why not open the windows? Or don’t you
want to witness the birth of the beautiful ones?
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