Land of hope darkened by hovering clouds of hopelessness, fear, despair and insecurity. Land of riches where its massive manpower idle the better part of their lives in silent workshops of gloom, all because there is no energy to fire and power their engines and their labours into productivity. Land of promise, still waiting for the promise.
I am talking about you. You the tailor, the hairdresser, the barber, the pepper-grinder, the blacksmith, the panel-beater, the mechanic, the artisan, the craftsman, the cold-room-frozen-fish seller.
All of you entrepreneurs, big and small. You want to work, but there is no electric energy to propel the work of your hands into profit. Oh, Nigeria! Nigeria, my country. ‘Tis of thee I weep. ‘Tis of thee I write. ‘Tis of thee I think. ‘Tis of thee I sing. ‘Tis of thee I pray to God Almighty for Nigeria to change for the better. When we reach the crossroads and we don’t know which way to go, we have to look up and seek your face, Jehovah our God and Creator. In the words of David, the psalmist, we have to look up “unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”
We are a country built on the foundation of prayers. In mosques, we pray. In churches, we pray. In shrines, we pray. We have come so far as a country on the wings of prayers. Yet, we still need more and more prayers for Nigeria. Like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti of blessed memory, the Nigerian pop star Wizkid captures our sad story and our prayerful lifestyle in his song Ojuelegba. He sings: “In Ojuelegba, my people dey there, my people suffer, them dey pray for blessing… for better living…
Only prayers can do it…Baba God, my prayers will be answered… praise my mum…every day she is praying…”
The elections are coming and we need truckloads of prayers. Prayers to choose the right leadership. More than any other time in history, Nigerians need prayers and spiritual guidance to make the right choice at this political crossroads. Never in history have we had any election that appears so competitive. Too close to call, as the Americans would say. Too close to call in the sense that anything can happen between the reigning champion President Goodluck Jonathan and the ex-champion General Mohammadu Buhari, the phoenix constantly rising from the ashes of defeat at the polls and waxing stronger and stronger.
The Buhari we see in the ring today is not the old Buhari we used to know. This is a reborn Buhari looming larger than life this time around.
Anyone who underrates him does so at his own peril: “Beware the ides of Febuhari.”
As you can see, “Febuhari” is a pun, a play on words which is the mark of tabloid journalism which I have practised all my life. The ides of February is a wake-up call for all of us and for all the prophets and soothsayers in our land making all kinds of contradictory prophecies about who will win and who will not. The whole thing reminds me of my secondary school days in Ijebu Jesha Grammar School where I played the role of Julius Caesar in that Shakespearean tragedy of the day same name. I was in Sixth Form. I remember the soothsayer warning Caesar to “beware the ides of March” and a confident Caesar replying cynically: “The ides of March are come.” It ended tragically for Caesar but in our case, there would be no such foreboding. By the grace of God, we would have a peaceful election, a free and fair election and a winner would emerge without any violence and bloodshed. Who that winner will be, I don’t know. I really do not know. I wish I knew. Like Banquo asked the three witches in another Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth, how I wish I “can look into the seeds of time” and predict who will become the next President of Nigeria. This is one fight that reminds me of another impending fight between the unbeaten World Champion Floyd Mayweather versus the bionic fighting machine Manny Pacquiao whom I adore. Even though Pacquiao has tasted defeat not once, not twice, he is one fighter who will offer Mayweather the toughest challenge of his undefeated reign. This is one helluva fight the world is waiting for. Let’s apply it to our situation. On the home front, the usually quiet, reticent gentleman Goodluck Jonathan, in defence of his title has sud­denly transformed into an angry, aggressive “Smoking Joe,” shooting his mouth off, fighting with his ex-trainer and mentor, calling him a motor park tout, weaving and bobbing in the boxing gym, practising and perfecting his left hook—his secret weapon against the “Daura Giant” whom he has defeated before and believes history can repeat itself any time.
On his part, the Daura Giant, mouthing a mantra of change, propelled by a new wave of massive support is training hard and overworking himself for the battle ahead. To him, beating Jonathan this time around, is a sacred task that must be done. It’s now or never. He knows it is not easy unseating an incumbent, but he is undeterred. He believes the time has come for the wind of change to blow in his favour. He waves his magic broom for good luck over President Goodluck.
At the end of the day, it’s all about trust. As a voter, who do you trust between the two leaders? If they were bank managers, who will you trust with your money? If they were pilots, who will you trust to fly you safely to your destination? If they were security men, who between the two will you entrust with the security of your home? If your country were to be fighting a war, who will you choose to lead? If corruption is the scourge afflicting Nigeria, who do you think can tame it best?
Those are some of the questions that should influence our choice of who should lead Nigeria in the next four years in this battle of titans.
Let’s remove sentiments. Let’s be rational for the sake of our unborn generation. Let’s vote for our future and not our stomach.
When asked to predict who will win, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, the master of the game said something I find interesting: “My prediction has not got to that level. But what I am sure about is this election would not be as it used to be. Our democracy is getting more mature and people have better and deeper awareness of the game. So, this time, there would be a tougher contest and I must say in all elections.
What we would see will be different from those of 2003, 2007 and 2011.” I agree with Gen. Ibrahim Babangida that this election will not be business as usual. That is the way it should be. Elections should be competitive. No candidate should feel that winning an election is a walk in the park. Not at all. Instead, winning should be akin to a walk in the perilous Sambisa Forest where those lovely Chibok girls were taken away from us by Boko Haram terrorists and who have not returned home since. That should be one of the defining issues of this election and election anywhere in the civilized world of today.
Ironically, the presidential election falls on Valentine Day, a day of love, but there will be no love lost between those jostling for political power. For us the voters, the ides of February is the day of love. Let us all vote in the name of love. Love for Nigeria our country and our dear native land. Love that bonds and binds us as citizen of one indivisible country. Love rooted in the biblical injunction: Love thy neighbour as thyself. Love that flows smoothly like the River Niger emptying itself into the sea of our common destiny. Love that would not trouble nor injure. Love that transcends tribalism and barbarism. Love that linked David with Jonathan, the son of Saul. That is the love we pray for. Let there be that kind of love on and after February 14, the day the Lord would anoint the leader of His choice and we would rejoice in it.
Overall, Goodluck is a good man. And so is Buhari a good man too. In the light of this, all I can say is good luck President Jonathan and goodluck, General Buhari. May the better man win. May he win on ideas.
May he win on the ides of February. And whoever wins, may the peace of God and blessings unlimited be with Nigeria and the people of Nigeria. May a new door, a great door, an effective door open for this troubled country of ours, this land of hope, this land of riches, this land of promise still waiting for the promise.
http://www.opinions.ng/the-ides-of-febuhari/