The day of reckoning is at hand. But as I punch these dark keyboards, my mind keeps spinning even darker scenarios about the coming general elections. Will it be Febuhari 14 or Failbuhari 14? What will happen afterwards? Will the menacing dark clouds created by my mind envelop the country? So many questions are rearing the heads, all ugly. But one thing that isn’t confusing is the fact that these elections are probably the most polarizing in the history of this nation.
I am a child of the beautiful 80s, but I have gulped so much pages of history to know that February 14 is not just a date. It is a threshold into a new vista; one that can either be a pathway to the renewal of hope in the Nigerian project, patriotism, development and togetherness. Perhaps, it might just lead us into that yawning abyss of ethnic and religious strife, and ultimately, to perdition. I did not become pessimistic overnight. I am truly an incurable optimist. But in my optimism, I can recognize and pick out the macabre drumbeats of war.
Every day, I read comments of Nigerians youths on online forums. And they are dark, polarizing, bitter and mostly speak of a bleak future for the country. Politicians, either from the dark alleys of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or from the ignoble den of the All Progressives Congress (APC), are all out to destroy the collective futures of the Nigerian youths – youths who are themselves the future of the country. How the they fail to see the maze of destruction already constructed by the self-serving big men is beyond me.
Oh! That may be a product of being half-baked students. And whose fault is that? The Nigerian youth is only a tool of destruction in the hands of politicians. His intellect and creative ingenuity belong to the dustbin of history. They need him to use his brawn and raw energy to cause mayhem. The more wars he fights and wins for his paymaster, the more valuable he becomes. Soon enough, the paymaster will collect the cutlass from him and give him some automatic guns.
The paymaster will be all smiles insofar he does not kill any of his children. But when the chips are down, who carries the can? More inimical to the wellbeing of Nigeria’s future than the activities of the physical violators is the rise of e-warriors: the paid laptop boys whose only job description is to move from one online forum to another, spreading gospels of falsehood, propaganda, ethnic bigotry and bitter religious sentiments. No political party, tribe or religion is spared on the battlefield where e-warlords swing their textual sabres, swords and cutlasses.
On these online battlefields, the major casualties are truth, unity and the future of Nigeria. After February 14 and 28, the winners will celebrate in their vain mansions (most likely without their foot soldiers) while the losers will ‘boil bloody’ and head to court. Or perhaps, they may let loose their agents of death. But the really loss resides in the fact that we will not be able to ‘recoup’ the hateful lies and propagandas already spread. The embers of ethnic and religious mistrust will glow and morph into a conflagration. The seed of discord has already been planted. It will germinate into a more dastardly seedling of mutual distrust and hatred. And in a future soon to come upon us, that seedling would have become a menacing giant tree with its dark shades blocking out the residual love left in our veins. Then, it may be welcome to REAL WAR. Unfortunately, the average Nigerian politician does not think about the future other than his own and his family’s. Nigeria’s future hardly figures in his scheming.
The irony is that the elections will start on February 14, a day internationally recognized as a day of love. Will the politicians show love to Nigeria and rein in their selfishness and useless rehearsed mantra of dubious altruism? Will they bury their rhetoric of hatred, lies and propaganda in the hollow holes of their throats? Will they keep their dogs of war on short, tight leash?
Time will tell. Here I am again, wondering as I decide to end this piece; will the keyboards change into some bright colours? Probably not. Maybe these elections will have even darker consequences than I thought.
But I believe God is a Nigerian.