Buhari, Atiku can go to the moon; Nigerians just want a country that works!
Opinion By Editor…
It is only four months before Nigerians know in whose hands the wheel of the country would be for another four years. Expectations haven’t changed.
The roller-coaster that has begun to surround the forthcoming February 2019 poll is already threatening to overshadow the real issues facing the nation since she fully regained her freedom from military shackles almost 20 years ago.
As is customary in Nigerian politics, election periods are filled with needless propaganda, rather than what methods are actually viable. Fake, empty promises are never far from the lips of would-be office holders, and the general populace has sadly been positioned to keep falling for the bait.
President Buhari has failed to impress, and Atiku Abubakar is promising heaven and earth. Then, there are the outsiders who, to be fair, also think they have answers to all the problems plaguing the faltering African giant. Nigeria cries for a saviour.
Then, there are the youths, who occupy the largest percentage of the country’s population but constantly demonstrating they couldn’t care less what their leaders do in office. Not that one would really blame them, with Nigeria shamelessly reveling in a decayed structure and desecrated value system.
It is another season when supporters of respective presidential candidates hail them as messiah, while finding faults in other opponents. In the coming months, there will be promises of provision of never-seen-before roads, Jesus Christ-type security, unrivaled electricity supply, world class health system, pocket-friendly economy, and many more.
Yet, with all of the promises that will soon begin to fly around, the future of the common man looks grim, except there is a calculated and drastic departure from the old ways of doing things by our politicians. Call it pessimism, but the promises being made regarding the forthcoming general elections have been made in years past, and we come full circle.
The reality check remains that there are over a hundred million Nigerians who are not afforded the luxury of putting any type of food in their stomachs, and citizens can’t afford to be gullible for a millionth time. There is not a better time to demand for accountability from politicians aiming to lead almost 200 million people.
What should be made known, is that, regardless of the mud-slinging that is bound to characterise the election period, Nigerians want no more than the basic things that would make life less hard for them – just as they’ve been asking since 1999.
The mother who cries to bed because her child died due to lack of affordable, efficient healthcare; the child who will no longer call daddy and mummy because they both died in an accident after bumping their car into a bad section of the road; the artisan whose business is stagnant because electricity supply is poor and can’t afford to send his children to school; and the retiree who lost his daughter because he couldn’t afford her hospital bills as he hasn’t been paid his pension, only cry for just one common thing – a country that cares enough about their plights.
Buhari, Atiku, Duke, Ezekwesili, Durotoye, Sowore can go to the moon with their promises, Nigerians just want a country that works!
