The 2019 general elections are around the corner. The electioneering
campaigns ahead of the poll are akin to every other Nigeria’s general election
in the time past. The political atmosphere is tensed with preponderance of political
arrangements tending to rejuvenate the hope of the Nigerian populace. Every
contender both at the national and state level promises to restore the nation
to the path of sustainable growth and resourceful manpower through their
cardinal plans. This track of patriotic anthems is being sung over the years
yet the country remains underdeveloped and unproductive in human and capital
resources. The shadow of greatness appears towards the election and disappears
immediately after.
As the strategy to either retain or capture political power in the 2019
general elections gains momentum, a plethora of usual theoretical inclinations
and promises are being made by the political aspirants. The Nigerian masses are
currently basking in the euphoria of value-driven master plans initiated by
these contenders. The candidates, particularly the presidential aspirants in
the 2019 general elections, have backed up their master plans with different
appealing political mantras. These mantras tend to renew the hope of Nigerian
masses. Aside the “hope 93,” the political agenda adopted by Late Chief MKO
Abiola in June 12, 1993 presidential election which was terminated by the
military government of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, numerous elected Nigerian
leaders have willingly betrayed the Nigerian masses with the mandates bestowed
on them. What is the Nigerians’ fate amidst the current atmosphere of hope
blowing around?
Taking a glimpse at the present state of the country before the advent
of 2019 political messiahs, it is sardonic to observe that while other nations
compete globally in terms of technological, medical and scientific
advancements, Nigeria with her numerical strength and natural endowment has
risen to a legendary and astronomical proportion in extreme poverty ranking. According
to Brookings Institution’s report, “Nigeria has already overtaken India as the
country with the largest number of extremely poor in early 2018. At the end of
May 2018, our trajectories suggest that Nigeria has about 87 million people in
extreme poverty, compared with India’s 73 million. What is more, extreme
poverty in Nigeria is growing by six people every minute, while poverty in
India continues to fall.”
Historical survey reveals that economic development and high quality
human capital enjoyed in the comity of nations were attained through selfless
and patriotic political leadership. In Nigeria, the government expenditures at
all levels are tools for personal aggrandizement at the detriment of public
advancement. Each of the 109 Nigerian senators receives N13.5 million as
monthly running cost, N7500 as monthly pay and over N200 million as
constituency allowance while each of the 360 lawmakers in the House of
Representatives receives N11.5 million monthly running cost aside other
allowances. The remuneration of former Nigerian heads of state, presidents,
vice presidents, etc, is outrageous in juxtaposition with other countries.
Clifford Ndujihe, an editor at Vanguard Newspaper posited in his investigative
report that the Federal Government of Nigeria spent N14.35 billion on the
up-keep of former presidents, vice- presidents and their families in the last
12 years. Another report by the same source reveals that over N37.367 billion
was expended on servicing 47 former governors from 21 of the nation’s states in
pension payments and provision of houses, staff and motor vehicles replaceable
between three and four years.
Corruption is a euphemism for quantifying the embezzlement of Nigeria’s
treasury by some selected individuals aside the institutionalized looting of
the national cake. Virtually every public sector is underfunded. The
unemployment rate is alarming. Many states’ workers are being owed salaries
while the retired ones are denied their pensions. What with the prevailing rate
of orchestrated killings by the Boko Haram, the deadly Fulani terrorists
masquerading as herdsmen and other sundry crimes like armed robbery, crude oil
theft, kidnappings despite the regular billions budgetary allocation to
security sector, and the monthly allowance budgeted for governors as security
votes.
It is evident that these funds are being siphoned by certain
individuals. The Nigerian security still lacks necessary equipment, incentives
and adequate manpower. In this light, are Nigeria’s political leaders patriotic
or self-centred? The great future which the Nigerian masses anticipate will
remain an illusion under self-centred political leadership.
The psychological state of the Nigerian masses is being toyed with. For
decades, the calibre of individuals who have been promising to build a virile
nation cum equitable system of administration has been regrouping and
resurfacing under different political platforms to capture political power yet
the country is drastically crippled. In this season of promises, it is pertinent
that Nigerians look beyond the crop of recycling politicians and scout for
political aspirants with pro-masses based antecedents. This decision would
solely determine the Nigerian masses’ fate after the 2019 general elections.
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