Political Fanaticism – What Nigerians Must Do

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Editor’s note: Even after the March 28 and April 11, 2015 general elections, most followers of various politicians are taking it personally to always defend their “clients” wherever arguments against them arise. This is most notably manifested via the social media channels. , , in his opinion article writes about the rising consciousness of the generality of Nigerians on issues concerning the nation. He does so by also reminding all and sundry that the most important thing is the betterment of the nation through good government, whether or not one is for or against the other.
We have for so long dwelt on the numerous problems that we think were once solved by our leaders. We have since 1960 trusted our leaders to solve such problems like national development, unemployment, corruption, insecurity, ethnicity, rights violation, and many other problems plaguing people. We give our leaders so much responsibility and we expect far too much from them.
Worst of all, we do so little or nothing as part of our bargain in solving our collective problems. Due to this nonchalance which still exists, these problems are still with us. In fact, in the recent past, Nigerians chose to expel erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan through the ballot for his apparent failure to deliver a “breath of fresh air” targeted at providing permanent solution to the problems as promised. That action signified a renewed hope that power does not belong to the people only in the United States of America, but also here, in Nigeria.

The rising consciousness of Nigerians

It is now over one hundred days since President Mohammadu Buhari took over the leadership of Nigeria. While many Nigerians have started expressing displeasure over the new administration’s “non-performance” or the “slow pace” at which it has been going, others are of the view that the President should be allowed more time. This too is commendable, it shows the people are beginning to rise up and hold their leaders to account for every one minute spent in office.
By every means possible, the rising consciousness must be sustained as it is in the right direction. Our leaders need our support and our criticisms alike. President Buhari should be criticized as much as he is supported. Let nobody make any mistake about this, we are all Nigerians. If government delivers, it is to everybody’s benefit and well-being and to achieve that, we will all maintain our own fronts.
Our support must be born out of a clear conviction that the action, policy or programme of the government is geared towards a better Nigeria. Our criticism too must be based on the fact that such action, programme or policy of the government is not in the best interest of the nation at large. We must be fair both in our support or criticism.

The spirit of fanaticism in the eyes of politics

The rising trend in which people who support the President and those who criticize him are always in a war of words is squarely anti progress. My point is that the mass of Nigerians who are the direct benefactors of hardship and unwarranted sufferings handed down to them by inept leaders over the years have yet to clearly define who is for or against them.
It is a fact worth mentioning that no Nigerian leader is poor. No Nigerian leader knows exactly what it means to stay without electricity. No Nigerian leader understands insecurity. But that is the everyday experience of ordinary Nigerians. From the foregoing therefore, a case of conspiracy against the people of Nigeria can easily be established.
Our leaders by every definition are affluent, elitist and “non-Nigerian”. The implication of this is that the ordinary Nigerians live in a different Nigeria from the Nigeria where our leaders live in. The two aspects of Nigeria as painted above are bounded only by situational circumstance there are two different worlds within the same wall.
One way Nigerians will participate in the process of changing the country is by realizing the fact that we the people of Nigeria are all in the same problem together. Therefore, there is no reason to fight with each other or abuse each other over any politician no matter how dear he or she is to us.
If you support and sing the praise of Mr president, I believe your interest is to motivate him to succeed, similarly, if another criticizes the president it is just obvious that such is targeted at making the president sit up and perform better and ultimately succeed. There is therefore no gainsaying the fact that the two divides are on the same page, the same people, the same aim which is for the government to succeed. We must be firm in our resolution to making Nigeria work better for us.

What every Nigerian should know

We have almost made it a permanent abode to continue to support or criticize leaders and abuse each other when we disagree, that is what we have been doing. With the birth of the new consciousness, we should advance to accepting the fact that we all are actually on the same page.
This is about Nigerians rallying around each other to determine the trajectory the country goes at any material time. Politicians cannot ensure development and security, in truth. No politician is worth the stress. No leader can even go beyond inspiring us to actually become patriotic.
Ultimately we are the ones who will rise up to build our nation. We must be united in our quest for a better stake in the affairs of governance and the general order of our society. Consider for instance, a situation where we have hungry people in the southern and northern parts of Nigeria. In the two broad parts of the country, insecurity is persistent in the forms of insurgency and kidnapping. Do you see that though the rate of our problems may vary by region and individually, we are the same people?
Thus, it means that we must stand up once again and keep standing to ensure that Nigeria is on the right direction to delivering abundance and goodness to all the people. If you have to shout, please do. If you have to talk then do so; if you have to praise, it is good and if you have to criticize, it is good too. But let us not forget that the aim is for our government to rise up to the occasion of delivering good government.
Ebuka Onyekwelu is a political scientist. He is a public affairs analyst and activist with concerted interest in Africa’s crisis of development and leadership.
The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Naij.com.
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