“Let all bitterness and wrath/And anger and clamour/And evil speaking be put away from you,/With all malice./And be ye kind to one and another,/Tender-hearted, forgiving one another, Even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you”.
-Ephesians 4:31 and 32
To say it point blank as it is, millions of hungry and angry Nigerians expect every politician aspiring to any enviable post to tell us in clear terms how he/she wants to pull most of us from the deep pit of socio-economic and political mess we currently find ourselves enmeshed in. That will do us a world of good rather than chasing the nebulous shadows of tactless brick-bats, muck-raking, puerile propaganda and smear campaigns, all for political gains.
From the ever-spiraling, self-inflicted insecurity challenge, high unemployment rate, deplorable healthcare and education services delivery to the unarguably worst food crisis in a decade(according to OXFAM Report) Nigerians have never had it so terribly bad. One would therefore, expect political candidates to provide credible, practicable and pragmatic solutions to the challenges, as listed and not distractions of any kind.
That brings to mind the recent unfortunate comment made by the much-respected Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All progressives Congress (APC) at the grand rally for the re-election of APC candidate, Adegboyega Oyetola in Osun state. Apparently referring to the Labour party, he said that: “They said some are in Labour, they will labour till they die. God will not make you labourers”. Much more was expected of him than he stated, being an elder statesman; the national leader of the ruling APC and one who has sacrificed much for the survival of democracy in the nation-state, Nigeria.
If he wants to win the presidency, come 2023 he should be ready to build bridges across the great divides that currently stare us all in the face. He should for instance, take note of the backlash of responses to his statement.
For instance, @Maybeks tweeted: ““Tinubu said people will labour till they die. A careless and insulting comment to political opponent(s). Tweeting for the record, because dead or alive, Tinubu will be trolled for this comment in future. When it happens, nobody should ask if people don’t have elders in their families.” That is just one out of the many unprintable ones literally smoking with anger and hatred!
We are in the 21st century Nigeria, for God’s sake and the political leaders are expected to be the beacon-bearers of hope to show us the way forward out of the long-winding, dark tunnel of mass misery, preventable poverty, ignorance and dire insecurity we are battling with.
On the part of Peter Obi, he said: “I listened to our chairman when he said that somebody said ‘they can labour till death’. When they show you hatred, Labour Party will show them love. There is dignity in labour.” That was a heart-warming and mature response, isn’t it? That reminds one of the Biblical injunctions on the power and use of the human tongue.
In Proverbs 18:21 the Holy Bible succinctly states that: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.” It goes further to reveal to us all that though the tongue remains one of the smallest organs of the body it nonetheless has the capacity to set an entire nation on fire! But as yours truly warned some seven years ago via an essay titled: ‘2015 and tongues of fury’ it was as if the signs on Nigeria’s political horizon for an imminent break-up of the country are not ominous enough. Back then, some supporters of particular presidential candidates did not help matters by their tongues, threatening fire and brimstone.
Throwing caution and modicum to the wind they stoked the fires of disunity, called press conferences to rabble-rouse as if they have been the hitherto unseen hands that dictate the destiny of the entire nation-state. They vowed that should their geo-political zone not produce the next president all hell will be let loose!
One of such sad drama was that between Professor Ango Abdullahi of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) versus Asari Dokubo of the Coalition for Militant Action of the Niger-Delta. The other was Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State pitched against the then President Goodluck Jonathan’s foot soldiers. Yet another duel was the Dr. Bamanga Tukur-led People Democratic Party(PDP) versus the Abubakar Baraje splinter group of the new PDP.
Thrown in the mix then was Chief Edwin Clark accusing former President Olusegun Obasanjo of starting the fire, by nudging on Alhaji Sule Lamido of Jigawa state and Amaechi for a presidential ticket of Africa’s acclaimed largest ruling party. That was then, but this is now!
As we edge closer to the 2023 general elections by the day we all should exhibit extreme caution in words and action. With the two main political parties, the APC and PDP having long-standing political bigwigs such as Ahmed Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar squared up against each other as their party‘s presidential candidates, respectively, the emergence of Peter Obi as the presidential flag- bearer of the Labour party should make the race for the plum post of the presidency more exciting and engaging.
What matters most, for the ordinary Nigerian, at this trying time is to find out who, amongst these candidates has the vision, character, commitment, courage, clout and honesty of purpose to identify our most troubling challenges and find lasting solutions to them. Anything short of that is unacceptable.
The reason is obvious. That ordinary Nigerian wants to go to sleep with his two eyes closed and wake up to a day he can truly call his own. He wants to be able to afford the basic necessities of life, including food security, sound health care delivery, good education, pay his rent and provide for all members of his family without wallowing in debt and penury.
It has therefore, become an imperative on the candidates to wear the voters’ tattered shoes; feel their pains and find solutions to them. This is not the time for insults and innuendoes. No!
The implications of throwing brick-bats are grave for Nigerians, not only for the entire country but also for the fledgling democracy for which some patriots had to sacrifice their precious lives. Worrisome too is the notion that such uncouth and unsavoury words they bandy about will earn them the votes.
Firstly, they assume ab nitio that the collective wishes of Nigerians at the polls would amount to nothing, come 2023. Also, they are unwittingly telling Nigerians that the APC must produce the next president, come rain or sunshine. The third and most painful aspect of the political crises that have engulfed the party and indeed the nation is that it has rubbed the country of quality delivery of services, similar to what transpired with the PDP in 2015.
If political party candidates are not cautioned by INEC to focus on their parties’ manifestoes instead of mud-slinging we may be bedeviled with the worst case scenario of unmitigated electoral violence. This, the country may not survive.
As yours truly stated on February 12,2014 with the comment:” Ballot and Blood? Never Again!”: “Nigerians do not need bombs and bullets but dividends of democracy. We have suffered long enough and not a single citizen should be killed to pave way for any politician to get into position of authority.” Our politicians should therefore, stop turning themselves into our greatest enemies, all because of transient power.
– Baje is a public commentator and analyst
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