The Nigeria of our Dream is one that merits hard-work and reputation beforereligionorethnicity, anything short of that is only an auxiliary when merit ties.Putting that into perspective, A Muslim diplomat is by all indices fit for designation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia likewise a Christian to Italy. Just and purposeful leadership is what we desire as a people not who becomes what but rather who the cap fits. Nigeria of our dream is what we look forward to getting from the Progressive Movement.
The Biggest problem Nigeria faced after independence was that of ethnic divide. This disastrous sectionalism led to the killings of our heroespastwho fought for our independence consequentupon which led to the civil war of whichwe are still grappled with the harsh aftermath.To weaken the evils of ethonocentrism successive administrations at the centre created avenues of national unity and cohesion with the likes Unity Colleges, National Sports festivals, NYSC and so on.
The return of democracy in 1999 came with its own negativities; tribe, religion, state of origin and evensocial status becomes a criteria for seeking/nomination into elective positions. Nigeria has never more divided than it is today with people throwing stones at one anotheron every issuefor no other reason than falling across divides as earlier mentioned. Sad as it may seem, we now appreciate our differences more than what binds us together. We do not see ourselves as Nigerians before we answering Lagosian or Bakane (Kano man). Any criticism be it constructive or destructive on Mr. A is because he is from Tribe X. Words can not be fair on how these phenomena has eaten deepinto our national fabric.
Religious leadersin ideal and responsible societiesare expected to be our moral and spiritual guide but unfortunatelyreverse is the case in our country today, Pastors and Imams are now on the billionaire list. They work more to protect their personal interests than work to propagate that which the good Lord enjoins.
The Nigeria of MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe candidature is at best described as fairy tale to the average Nigerian of today. Malam Nasir El-rufai(APC Interim Deputy National Secretary ) and peoplewith similar views as hisshould ponder upon why APC is clamoring for “A New Nigeria”. The Nigeria of 2010 till date is very much religious sensitive. In as much as I believe (share their view) it doesn’t matter where a candidate comes from, his faith or ethnic background, I equally believe majority of the voters will deny APC their votes on the grounds of the so called Muslim/Muslim tickethence there is the need to strike a balancebetween geopolitical zones, tribe and religion of Presidential candidate/Running mate. After all, democracy is a game of numbers and APC cannot not risk loosing a single vote to that.
APC has an upper hand in 2015 as this (Jonathanian) government has proven it’s incompetence in all aspect of leadership. Empty promises and developmental retardation is all over the country. The only thing that is working at its peak is looting of public fund that is moving from billions of naira to billions of dollars. The government is imposing hardship on already suffering Nigerians, water supply is not improving, electricity is at its worst output and fuel is not available even with the partial removal of the subsidy which we don’t benefit from.
A few of us may not have priority to religion, region or tribe in choosing a good leader but that is not the case in the minds of the larger populationhence the need for APC to play the game to the tune of the arena!
Abdulkadir S. Abdulkadir writes from Bauchi Nigeria. For this and more, follow me on tweeter @abdul003 or www.abdulsabdul.wordpress.com
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