23rd February, 2011
Politics is a dirty game in Nigeria. It has been adjudged so because in Nigeria, politics- electioneering campaign, voting and all the process involved are marred by thuggery, violence, corruption sharp practices and ruled by Machiavellian principle.
Most of the time, I have resisted the temptation to delve into political discussion except when it concerns national development. However, it is a known fact that politics is pivotal to development because all other issues (social, economic, cultural) directly or indirectly draw their breath from it. I do not believe in parties because parties do not guarantee good leadership, more so in Nigeria where politicians do not align with parties because they have congruence with their ideologies. Equally, the ideological divide among the parties is blurred. Here, politics is a marriage of convenience. It is not surprising that when politicians do not get the ticket of their party they run to other parties where they can buy the ticket.
It is the kind of people in the party that make the difference. Therefore, I believe in voting individuals and not parties. That is why I support and advocate independent candidacy.
At this level of our democracy, votes should be cast based on individual merit and not along party lines. Party politics has not gotten us anywhere and so we need proactive leaders who can turn things around for us in Nigeria. What we need right now are results, even if it is from a bunch of ‘rascals’.
I was irked by the foul utterance of our dear president, Goodluck calling some group of people, to be precise, the Action Congress of Nigeria ‘rascals’. In the civilised world, the president needs to apologise to them because it is denigrating. Remember Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of Britain apologised to a woman just because he called her a ‘bigot’.
It is a shame for our dear President to have chosen this very word or whatever it represents. I thought we now know better how to do our electioneering campaign because we have eggheads piloting our affairs and we expect that this 2011 campaign should be done in a more civilised manner by addressing issues of national concern, real issues of how to get Nigeria out of the woods, of how to give Nigerians 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply, of how to rehabilitate and build our roads, of how to make Nigeria safe for Nigerians and foreigners alike, of how to raise the standard of living of the masses, how to make Nigeria to be one of the developed countries of the world, and not name calling and mudslinging.
I must comment here Mr. President, many of us have decided to vote for you not because of your political, ethnic or religious inclination, but because of how you patiently handled the ordeal of ethnic politics precipitated by a cabal when the late President was ill. You handled the situation with maturity and with every sense of decency. We saw you as a lamb. Besides, we thought you represent the new tradition of due process, rule of law, selflessness and all that.
Nevertheless, as they say, evil communication corrupts good manners. It seems the president is staying too close to Baba OBJ. However, if it were possible to ‘capture’ Lagos by words of mouth or by wishful thinking, Baba OBJ would have done it with the electioneering campaign of ‘Tsunami’ and ‘do or die’ of 2003 and 2007 respectively because he was more vociferous.
For your ears only, there is no vacancy in Lagos State Government House. You do not change a winning team. Besides, a bird in the hand is worth millions in the bush. Fashola is a patriot, tested, trusted, reliable, focused- Bright, Rewarding, Future. Fashola represents the new order, a symbol of new Nigeria.
‘Action speaks louder than word’. PDP and their representatives have not given us any reason to entrust this all-important state or the nation to them.
They have not added value sufficient enough to lift the nation from where they met it 12 years ago. What we have witnessed is rot, retrogression-our Human Development Index (HDI) says it all.
If the ‘rascals’-‘villains’, ‘reprobates’, ‘cowards’, ‘scoundrels’ could record such monumental progress in Lagos State and other states, then let us have ‘rascals’ at the centre and Nigeria would be better for it.
•Grace (PhD), wrote from Lagos.