Ambition is the grand enemy of tact. It is eternal adversary to all peace. The strategists of the President understands these immutable truths in theory and from experience, the conspicuous reason why they are never fatigued or battle weary.
Science teaches that when expectations are high and results are low; men tends to rebel. Similarly, when the python gets caught in the knot of its deadly curl, it becomes food for the hyena and joke for the millipede.
The above illustrations captured the web of rebellion and the media trial that greeted the President after his expensive comedy on the youths. It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say the President and his handlers have suffered the brute end of criticism over failed promises and the perception of their administration as retrogressive.
Like a boat out of the blues, in a smart political reconciliation and comeback; the President’s think thank drove him to the mysterious overland by solving two major strategic 2019 political mathematics. It includes : the signing of “Not Too Young To Run Bill” aimed at appealing to the already fired up Nigerian youths and the belated posthumous honour on the late philanthropist; M. K. O Abiola designed to pacify the southwest electorates. The award is also a well thought out script marshaled to embarrass and humiliate two leading political kingmakers(military gladiators) who are ex-Heads of State but are unrepentantly opposed to his re-election.
One wonders, why such patriotism as honouring M. K. O Abiola and his co-travelers could not be fair, balanced and equitably dispensed. I traveled from shock to disbelief to watch as some southeast presidential and APC heavyweights became cold in the face of brazen marginalisation and alienation of the footprints of Professor Humphrey Nwosu in the just concluded award. It is touching and so unfair that a man who supervised the freest, fairest and most transparent election in the history of Nigeria could not be honoured with his lieutenants predictably because of his tribal inclination. This glaring tribal discrimination is becoming a norm of the present administration even when it is crystal clear that one of the actors honoured, abandoned the struggle after he was given appointment subsequently.
Democracy cannot thrive without politics no doubt, but such intrigues should always obey the principle of federal character to engender fairness and trust in the system. This humbling experience is a big slap on the southeast bigwigs at the presidency and has been documented by history.
The healing process of Nigeria’s democracy can only start when the train of thought which gives energy to the enmity of the civil war via political leadership is dumped and buried. The greatest befitting memorial that can be given to the June 12, 1993 comrades is to etch our democracy in gold by ensuring free, fair and transparent elections in our system especially in 2019.
The new leadership template should ensure the recruitment of men and women from their antecedents who will strengthen the security of lives and property in a heterogeneous and multilingual state like Nigeria. The template should eliminate rigging, money politics and corruption from our political lexicon in order to throw up competent candidates. The political system should be made less attractive materially to discourage dubious characters from taking on leadership positions because of its benefits and encourage participation of selfless patriots.
The Nigeria’s democracy ought to be competing with developed nations in terms of micro and macro economic developments given the array of cerebral minds she is peopled with.
In the spirit of sportsmanship, congratulations to the families of the honoured but such award going forward should be made to reflect the collective soul of our democracy irrespective of ethnic and religious romance.