“The greatest lesson in life is to know that sometimes even fools are right”
Winston Churchill
Perhaps the phrase might sound too simplistic, and the conclusion might seem more or less spontaneous but the unfolding events in Nigeria are only conspiring to prove me right.
Indeed, Nigeria is a country that is literally crumbling one step forward and three steps backward. Nigerian is a state whose conscience disappears into a thin air, or it is on “leave” (to borrow Adamu Adamu’s phrase). Put simply, Nigeria is a country without conscience. Or does it really have one? Definitely no, and here is why:
In Nigeria thievery, illegal possession of wealth, armed and pen robbery, stubborn looting of public funds, squander mania, corruption, political opportunism and Godfatherism/motherism has become the order of the day. In Nigeria any attempt to remove corruption will be fought by those who have historically benefitted from those arrangements. Criminal family enterprises and business oligarchs will not willingly allow their influences to be diluted something which will almost certainly overstretch the mechanism of the government to maintain control. This is the reality very hard to ignore.
Security is not only a constitutional requirement but also a necessary infrastructure for the development of a modern economy. In Nigeria insecurity persists and it becomes the norm. Injustice and evil practices which naturally be vehemently resisted in civilized and healthy societies where sanity of consciences prevails do not seem to worry Nigerians anymore. Sure enough, rather than condemning corrupt political opportunists we celebrate, dignify and glorify their evil practices with deep complacency, contentment and self gratification. In other words, Nigeria is a country where anything goes and jungle justice reigns since criminality is no longer despised by people’s collective conscience.
Past week, Good luck Ebele Jonathan was unanimously endorsed by his party at all levels; the Board of Trustees (BOT), the Governors’ Forum and the national executive council (NEC). Of course, this selfish, deceitful, shortsighted and inconsiderate decision made by some unscrupulous bad eggs of our society is a disgrace not only to Nigeria but to the world and humanity at large.
It is incredibly unfortunate that this decision was made at a time Nigeria was passing through one of its deadliest moments since its post civil war era. Remarkably though, the decision was made barely 24 hours after gunmen stormed Federal College of Education (FCE) in Kano killing and injuring scores of individuals. And the president is yet to visit the scene of the carnage. In the United States, the mother of the democracy, this could have been impeachable offence that could drag the president down. Only in a street called Nigeria a president will make away with it.
Over the last 24 months thousands of people have been killed, thousands have been maimed and thousands have been displaced unlike any other in Nigerian history. Needless to say, Good luck Jonathan’s tenure is characterized with tribal and religious conflict, endemic corruption at all levels of government, poor national planning, uneven development, abject poverty, social and moral disorder, rampant criminality, violent insurgency and terminal week governance.
These factors provide an environment that could portend imminent collapse and failure. And for this reason now, Nigeria is fragmenting and sliding gradually but systematically into a multipartite civil war. It might not be exaggeration to conclude that Good luck’s tenure remains the deadliest era Nigerians have ever known.
Indeed it is distressingly insulting to endorse GEJ at a time when Nigeria is facing highest level of insecurity, genocide, massive internal displacement of people, biggest refugee crisis; enormous destruction of property and means of livelihood, highest proliferation of illegal weapons in the hands of militia and criminals, ethnic and religious crisis, corruption, financial scandal and Impunity unlike any other we have ever seen. Remember, the monumental scandal of $9.3 million dollars involving Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and Federal Government has not yet settled down. Therefore, to take all this issues for granted and endorse GEJ for yet another 4 years is an insult to Nigerian people and humanity.
It is a wake-up call to all Northern Youths, Northern elders, religious and political leaders, lawyers, social activists, academicians, traditional leaders, business men and women to unite themselves and say NO to this mother of all evil.
Certainly, to suggest that GEJ is the best choice for Nigerians in 2015, is to bet the lives of Millions in a reckless gamble and this is the risk we must not take.
Ibrahim Ilyasu, is human right activist, Islamic cleric, leader and entrepreneur. He is a PhD candidate specializing in Islamic law, gender justice and modern Quranic exegesis, in the International Islamic University Malaysia. He is currently a part time lecturer in the same university. He could be reached at abunauwas2012@gmail.com, or https://www.facebook.com/ibrahim.ilyasu and https://twitter.com/IbrahimIlyasuAd
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