A new week, a new problem
he Daily Times of Nigeria Gabriel Osu
Another day, another problem. A new week, another new problem. That’s the up and down, on and off system, in which Nigerians have been living for the past few months. The major fear and obstacle that has been ticking along with their heartbeat is the April Polls, which is staring us in the face. It is a required constitutional duty, which must be performed, but the very mention of the polls is pumping up pressures and injecting fears into the system of the masses.
On the one hand, there are daily admonitions, calling on the parents to steer off their children from violence. The aspirants themselves condemn violence and killings in their silent moments of reflection and during their campaign stints.
The clerics have added their voices pleading that the elections should be executed without violence. The fear of the masses is that these pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears. The country continues to roll downhill like a vehicle without an effective braking system.
The more we all pay lip service pretending we want a smooth and peaceful election, the more the papers report fresh acts of gangsterism, arson and killings. Let’s take it from the basics, opponents posters are defaced or ripped off. And surprisingly some supposedly responsible office holders take responsibility for such reckless acts by claiming that the poles on which the posters were pasted belong to the government. Where do we go from the poster war, when as a nation we cannot tolerate the posters of opponents.
More threatening news. Arms and ammunition are discovered daily along our borders. The only event which warrants the importation of arms is the impending elections. It is now clear that the politicians are determined to fight the election beyond the ballot boxes. For them it is a do or die battle and they are prepared to sacrifice all and destroy everything around in order to become political office holders. The Inspector-General of Police continues to assure the people that his Force is ready to enforce order during the election. But his words do not match his actions.
Put simply, the Police looks helpless, ineffective and ill-equipped. Here is a Force that has not been able to unravel political murders committed under their very nose. This is a Force that does not have its ears to the ground, it only jumps to alert after the act has been committed. Promises are given that the killers would be “fished out soon”. But the people now know that nothing serious follows such promises.
Time blurs the promises and the atrocities wear away until we are rudely awaken to the reality of our insecurity by the killing of another political personality. We have suggested that what the nation needs now is divine intervention, since all our utterances and actions point to an April mayhem. Apart from the self-made political imbroglios, other impediments and dangerous signs are gradually enveloping us.
Take the fuel monster which we thought had been conquered months ago. It has suddenly resurfaced in our midst and those in charge do not appear to have “medicine” to ward it off. On its first menacing reappearance, the NNPC big men calmed our nerves. They told all fuel users that Nigeria had enough of the stuff in store. They said there was no cause to worry. The scarcity and rowdiness subsided. There was a sigh of relief and the NNPC men were justified. We thought they knew their onions. Before we had time to laugh over our ugly experience, fuel scarcity was back with us and this time around, it looks as if it is here to stay.
Gradually, Nigerians have grown not to trust the many utterances of those who lead them. For instance, while NNPC was beating its chest that we have sufficient fuel in the country, the President had a different view. He admitted there was shortage of fuel in the country. He however attributed the shortage to the handiwork of his enemies. The message was echoed the campaign podiums and we went back to business as usual.
Today, it is a different tune we are hearing. The fuel problem we are now told should be attributed to the United States, Iraq and Venezuela. But some of our more discerning citizens are wondering why there is no shortage of fuel in the US, Iraq and Venezuela. So our fate is now tied to the happenings in foreign lands; the only consolation being the assurance that the fuel situation will normalize before the election. This is a clear message to the masses to adjust to more sufferings, higher cost of transportation and general difficulties imposed on them by inefficient and insensitive leadership.
Finally, the threat of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), to start another round of strike over increased pay, is scheduled for April this year. Those who know the NLC do not think the threat is an April Fool joke. The students, parents and the public are so used to the ASUU strike that no one is talking about it again. At this point in time, only divine intervention can see us through all these social and political diversions and distractions.
Rev. Fr. Osu, Director, Social Communications, Lagos Archdiocese.