THE AUDACITY OF HOPE: NIGERIA PERSPECTIVE
THE
AUDACITY OF HOPE: NIGERIA PERSPECTIVE
To many political
activist and non-activist, 2015 is seen as a decisive year for Nigeria’s
political, economic and social existence. Given the fact that a national
election, which seems to have generated a lot of tension as it is being fought
around religious and ethnic lines has been successfully completed contrary to
the expectation of many and coupled with a sharp and continuous fall of the
price of crude oil in the international market, the declining dollar reserves
with its attendant currency devaluation and the activities of the Boko Haram
group in the troubled North –east states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, there are
definitely ominous signs in the country’s firmament. Therefore, this article
believes that there is no other time than now, for serious introspection by the
country’s leadership on urgent solutions to the challenges ahead.
But just like the Novel
“The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama, on thoughts about reclaiming the
American dream (analyzed by Colleen Thoburn).
He utilizes all three strategies—ethos, logos, and pathos—in order to accurately portray his thoughts and intentions regarding the United States and its policies before he was elected as president of United State of America. Obama uses his ethnicity as a kind of unspoken metaphor for his political approach. Here is a man, the message is intended to convey, who is white and black, liberal and conservative, foreign and American, a man above party ideology and the petty bickering of partisan politics. In one of the chapters the President Obama discusses the importance of ethnic and racial equality (The Nigeria President GEJ in the same contrast states that “no one’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian”), specifically with a story about a newly hired batch of Google employees. His argument was that out of the 50 new people inaugurated into Google’s repertoire, a large majority of them were Asian or Eastern European and there were no black or Latino employees. Which brings into the picture the procedure of employment under Nigeria settings. Moving along through chapter five, Obama also discusses the economy; he describes the current economic state that America is experiencing, which also puts Nigeria in the same paradigm. In a very short time, Barack Obama has made himself into a figure of national interest, curiosity and some undefined hope.
He utilizes all three strategies—ethos, logos, and pathos—in order to accurately portray his thoughts and intentions regarding the United States and its policies before he was elected as president of United State of America. Obama uses his ethnicity as a kind of unspoken metaphor for his political approach. Here is a man, the message is intended to convey, who is white and black, liberal and conservative, foreign and American, a man above party ideology and the petty bickering of partisan politics. In one of the chapters the President Obama discusses the importance of ethnic and racial equality (The Nigeria President GEJ in the same contrast states that “no one’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian”), specifically with a story about a newly hired batch of Google employees. His argument was that out of the 50 new people inaugurated into Google’s repertoire, a large majority of them were Asian or Eastern European and there were no black or Latino employees. Which brings into the picture the procedure of employment under Nigeria settings. Moving along through chapter five, Obama also discusses the economy; he describes the current economic state that America is experiencing, which also puts Nigeria in the same paradigm. In a very short time, Barack Obama has made himself into a figure of national interest, curiosity and some undefined hope.
Hence considering the
wide celebration (within and outside Nigeria) that greeted the final outcome of
the March 28, 2015 Presidential Election when it was announced that Buhari of
the All Progressive Congress (APC) had won the incumbent
President Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), one
would realize that Nigerians and many concerned stakeholders outside the
country had really wanted a Change from the current
government. It was as if Nigerians united to vote out the current
administration of President Jonathan. And from the look of things, many
Nigerians believe that there is hope that Nigeria will be on the path of
progress and real development. With such over-the-roof-top high expectations
from Nigerians, the President-Elect seriously has a lot on his table to grapple
with soon after he takes over power in May 2015.
As rightly noted by
former President of Ghana, H. E. Jerry Rawlings, on the outcome of Nigeria’s
Presidential election recently, and we quote: “Nigerians have taken the
lead in the rejection of corruption. The election result is a
manifestation of the people’s resolve to confront corruption, dishonesty and
exploitation. This is a clear message to the new leadership. A bold step has
been taken towards a new Nigeria and the incoming leader cannot be unaware of
what is expected of him. Nigerians did not vote for just anyone. They voted for
a man whose integrity is extremely high. Nigeria is tired of corruption and the
choice of this leader is a clear indication of where she wants to go. I hope
General Buhari will put together a team whose understanding of the power of the
people recognizes and respects the will of the people. General Buhari owes it
to his people and to Black Africans, the restoration of our pride and the black
man’s dignity. The image of President Jonathan, a Nigerian Head of State
climbing up the stairs to go and complain about Boko Haram to a French
President is an image I hope I will not see again.” To this end,
(according to Zik Gbemre) we would like to rightly advise the President-Elect
Buhari to tighten-up his belt as he prepares to take over from Jonathan; by
starting to do things differently to satisfy the yearnings and expectations of
Nigerians who have voted him in. According to Zik Gbemre, like every other
fresh tenure that gives another ground of opportunities for our leaders to make
a difference, Nigerians in their “optimistic spirit” we believe, will
give President-Elect Buhari the benefit of the doubt, by believing and trusting
that ‘all the promises’ he has made during his campaign and expected inaugural
speech, will become realities to the Nigerian citizenry at the end of his four
years reign in government and outlive him reign. It is obvious that
the expectations are very high and Nigerians are seriously praying that this
time around, the country’s economy and the standard of living of the average
Nigerian would drastically improve. So, we believe Nigerians would appreciate “less
talk and more actions” by the President-Elect. We know that the
problems facing the nation are quite overwhelming, but the new government
should take it one by one and address these pressing issues.
We have had past
government give their own analysis on what is said to be the ultimate solution
to Nigeria problems during their individual press interviews on their
manifestoes; they made varying promises on how they will transform the whole
sectors and make life better for an average Nigerian; but at the end some of
the manifestoes are left undone and those considered to be in work-in-progress
at a point dies a natural death. It is very disheartening to note the way our
public office holders use, embezzle and waste public funds in the name of doing
‘government work’; while the people they are supposed to serve
are left to wallow in abject poverty and they will be no prosecution; in some
cases where they are being prosecuted the verdict will be inconclusive thereby
proving how corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation.
Also According to Zik
Gbemre in one of editorial, The Nigerian political circle has become an arena
where every dick and harry are seen to be doing whatever that is necessary to
find their way there, so as to position themselves for another round of
embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds for their selfish insatiable
wants. Public office is no longer seen as a channel through which one
should ‘serve’ the people; it is now seen as a ‘beautiful window’ of
opportunity to become rich overnight, almost insane level of wealth. This
has been the major reason why most politicians seek for political office. But,
we just earnestly pray that this will change in this new dispensation under
Buhari. There is need for us to make government positions/public
offices “unattractive”, so that politicians who are interested in one public
office of the other, will go into public service to ‘serve’ and not to amass
public funds. We are very much aware that some of these things are
part of the recommendations in the Confab Report, which include making our
lawmakers at both the National and State levels to be on ‘Part-Time’ basis.
However
after the March 28, 2015 Presidential Election
when it was announced that Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC)
had won the incumbent President Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Nigerians has been saying their mind on what they expect from the in-coming
government; there is no doubt that Nigerian hope is so high with varying
expectation most especially in the area of corruption and looting of public
funds which people believes so high that the President elect (Gen Buhari) will
tackle with great enthusiasm.
After all has been said
and done, our major thrust and concern here is the need for the new administration
led by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari that will sworn-in come May 29, 2015, to live up to the expectation
of Nigerian. Let the generality of the Nigerian citizenry have
a taste of that ‘Nigerian dream’ within the next four years
and after wards. Nigeria cannot afford to continue to be dubbed a
country that is so rich, yet so poor in every sense of the word. There
should be a balance. Things have to change this time around. Let the right
things be done, this we urge. Therefore write your own comment, opinion,
suggestion and expectation below let the world continue to hear your voice.
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