Where are we going? – by Rasheed Yusuf

Political watchers and analysts have been engaged in many theories and postulations over some few weeks now.

The major thing to ask ourselves as citizens of this country, Nigeria, is the fact that, where are we going? The happening in the land and most particularly on the political landscape is a call for concern. I will attempt to dwell in some areas because of their peculiarities and their effects on our polity as the 2019 general elections draw nearer by the day.

From today, the general election is about 180 days away, the polity has been over heated and many players have thrown decorum to the dustbin. All players in the game seem to have one thing in common, I MUST WIN. Politicians hardly campaign with the interest of the country called Nigeria at heart. The campaign slogan has remained our party, our candidate.

For proper analysis, let me make use of some few examples here: the Ekiti State gubernatorial election has come and gone, a winner has been declared by the government agency saddled with the responsibility of the conduct of the election, a certificate of return has been issued to the announced winner; but one thing that caught my attention is the comment on Television by a candidate in the election, he said and I quote “the election in Ekiti state was full of malpractices in the form of Ballot snatching, ballot stuffing, vote buying, I have filled a suit in court and my submission is that I should be declared the winner of the election”.

I asked myself, which of the elections is he suppose to be declared a winner? The election he confirmed was faced with lots of fraudulent practices or which one? Why should he be announced a winner of an election that was so “fraudulent”? This reminds me of the Biblical King Solomon and the two women.

Another scene I would want to cite is the drama at the National Assembly, the fight of who blinks first, is eating deep into our marrow, as a nation. If the fight and all the drama is about the nation, why is it difficult to come together to have an amicable resolution?

The most interesting thing in the whole issue is the fact that everyone involved is always trying to weed sentiments by currying the ordinary Nigerian, being referred to as the masses. Who is this man called the masses? What does he stand to benefit? Who defines his needs? What are his needs? What are his powers? Where does he derive his powers from? Does he know his power, if he has any? Who determines how far he can go?

I will be permitted to define that man, the masses, as an individual who does not exist in a nation called Nigeria. My submission is borne out of a conviction that he does not know himself, he does not know his right, he does not know where his right starts and ends, he does not think for himself, he allows himself to choose among the available individuals dictated by an external forces and he swallows what he is told and fights for someone who always refuse to acknowledge his existence beyond a limited time.

Vote Buying seems to have been added, suddenly, to our political dictionary, but the fact remains that vote buying or electoral inducements have always been part of our polity, principally because of the level of poverty prevalent in our society and nation. An average Nigerian is hungry and would “request’ to be paid to cast a vote. This has been a major factor responsible for our over- bloated expenses for elections in Nigeria.

Where are we going as a nation? Where are we going as citizens of this nation? Where are we going as politicians? Our collective destination has not been defined. This is my submission.