THE IMMINENT CHANGE WE HOPE FOR ...The President rose to relevance by providence on the wings of the nobles, political bigwigs and kingmakers, until 2011, when the people cried up his reputation being more like them and made him the prince, president. But rather through his strength of will to lean towards the people for strength, he leaned more towards the nobles. And clearly, the goals of the nobles and the people are forever different; one is self-driven and the other survival-driven. Hence, leaning towards one side would mean cutting off the hopes of the other; thus the ills of the president among the people crawled in unbeknown to him. The people may be willing to forgive the person of the president, not the party, but the concern is that the nobles are still the confidant of the president; so how will the end result be different from what it has been when the components of the political chemical equation on one side has not changed in any way? Hope for change, as it is working for Buhari today, was what worked for President Jonathan in 2011; a repetitive reflection of a dire need of Nigerians – change, solution, relief, peace, comfort etc. Though unknown and untried, people yet hoped against all hopes trusting the unknown that he may just be the salvaging Messiah of a troubled nation. His patience, still of worthy commendation and though now somehow leaking, won people; and as if Buhari was never an aspirant in 2011, the towering song of the nation was let’s have a try of a fresh air. President Jonathan’s privileged season was perfectly ripe. People were hoping for change but it seemed the President was hoping for power. And there was a shift at the nexus. And here is another lesson of life: when people support you, they expecting something in return; just like the maxim, to whom much is given, from same much is expected. However seemingly foolish the people might look, whatever encomiums showered on you, it’s still a business deal. Votes are given either ignorantly, greedily or purposefully, and change is expected. Vote is assumed paid in exchange for solution. Don’t ever be drowned by praises that you ever forget or neglect or downplay the expectation of those praising you. Seemed the President couldn’t quickly grasp the business aspect of the deal or the fact that nothing really goes for nothing – not even from praise-singers. And that is life! Life doesn’t always guarantee another chance to make a fresh first impression. Once some first chances are lost, second chances on certain dealings, that is, if ever given again, don’t often offer as rich privileges, assurances, and opportunities as the first. I am persuaded of this. Hence, one of the greatest lessons of life that every man must learn is to prepare to be found worthy whenever opportunities come knocking; and should it suddenly happen upon you ill-prepared, let it be one of your foremost compelling goals to grow worthy of it as quickly as ever possible. President Jonathan has been in government since the dawn of the Nigerian newest republic. And ordinarily, many lessons ought to have been internalized for such a future as today. Many of us need to learn from this because strong as we may have been criticizing from the sidewalk of government, I doubt, going by the way many of us treat our families and other citizens and run or serve our various organizations, I doubt if we might have been any better than President Jonathan should we have had his chance. But that’s by the way. Three errors are causing the president so much loss today: blending with the system he is meant to clean up, giving in to the human greed for power which disallowed him from stepping on toes of people he probably had calculated he would need for reelection, and drinking counsel from sycophants. These three have been the nails piercing the chances of the president daily on the journey to power again. Good cannot ride on the wings of evil to arrive at its well-intended end. Al Capone was a mafia long ago in the US; he was dangerous but generous too. While in prison, Napoleon Hill visited on several occasions and tried to find out why he did all he had done. “Necessity” was Capone’s response. And he also said, “People are only talking about the bad, what about the good I did too?” The bad drowned the good. Napoleon Hill was trying to point out that necessity must never throw integrity off board. The President I guess compromised and joined the system. He was voted in to stand out and be different. I know that it is not possible that a leader, whether the most foolish or laziest, rules for four years without embarking on certain projects. But though the president did some things that should speak for him, sadly, the priority of those undone swallowed up the done secondary ones. Blending with the system rather than cleaning it swallowed up the President’s good deeds which have been largely proclaimed few though. Now, the reason for using Al Capone’s story is never to liken the President to him, they are worlds apart in personality and character, but rather to learn that necessity should never compel anyone to compromise core values and that joining the crude will only earn a man crude reputation. Bad cannot be eventually used for good because it is already stained. The greed for power, to lead is active in a larger percentage of human being. Everybody wants to lead everybody. From the church and mosque prayers to organizational confessions and to individual declarations you would discover that anyone born of woman loves power. And it is not a sin until the means through which it is sought is found inhuman or unfriendly. This singular crude means to attain and retain power is what polluted the prodigy of Machiavelli. But really, life is not about competition but contribution. It is not about leading, it is more about impacting. How the love of power grows is funny; many a mild soul the thirst for power turns wild. And to be served rather than to serve has often been the motivation of most power seekers. Silence is deadly; it allows evil to grow more. Nothing perverts justice as silence; and silence is often a byproduct of a gift already gotten or hoped for. For the reelection ambition, the calculation of the President tends to make him very cautious of rocking the boats or stirring the dirty pools of many in government. He couldn’t step on certain toes because he probably has calculated the support he could get from them during election. But this turns out to be a crippling calculation. When Late President Ya’Adua was sick, the word, ‘cabal’ became common. In the present time, Governor Danbaba Suntai is also been stage-managed to continue as governor by some cabals. Those called cabals politically are semantically referred to as ‘sycophants.’ They are, in thoroughly broken grammar, political parasites. They feed on people in power and would do anything to keep their host connected to the source of nutrient so that syphoning can continue with ease for them. Most political loyalists who are always seen to be fiercely defending their bosses are simply defending their own source of livelihood. The President has drunk from the counsel of sycophants more than any other Nigerian President. I continue to wonder where the many groups and millions of signatures which endorsed the president earlier are right now. They were so many then but now so few that nothing is heard of them anymore. I strongly believe, and am convincingly persuaded, that election, in any position, is one of the easiest things to win. It needs no pretense or lies at all. Just be true. And change, change simply means doing the right thing that should be done at the right time. Change is a culmination of doing many right things. It is usually the combined result of doing many right things that brings about change. ...Curled from my uncles archive.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 06:35:34 +0000
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