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By Bakko Yunusa
Politics of tribe, religion and region have done more harm to Nigerians especially from the year 1999 that the country, once again, returned to democracy. During elections, politicians would start to lobby and woo the electorates along religion, tribal and regional lines. They would begin to be coming to church and mosque unfortunately, they become demi-god when they get into office; they would abandon the electorates, the religion worship centres as well the traditional rulers. They only return to the electorates after the expiration of their tenure to canvass for another votes.
We continue to recycle these crop of leaders, majorly because of the aforementioned reasons – my tribe, my religion, and my region. Politicians have capitalized on these strategies to return to power over the years despite their abysmal performances. The latest and very disturbing scenario is vote buying. During elections, politicians send their allies to voting centres with huge amount of money, to woo and bribe electorates. Because these politicians have made the electorates so poor, majority of them (electorates) sell their votes for as low as N2,000, N5,000 and N10,000 respectively. In rural areas where the level of poverty is high, electorates even sell their votes as little as N500!
If one may ask, how could a reasonable person mortgage his/her future and that of his/her children for peanuts? If truth should be told, leaders alone can’t be held responsible for the current high rate of poverty and uncertainty in the land, due to bad governance; the electorates should also be held responsible. Our leadership recruitment process is too poor. We refuse to take time to scrutinize those that are vying for leadership positions. Majority of those our leaders have no good records; and all of us now face the consequences.
In FCT, the situation is the same – bad governance. Lawmaking is a serious business and ought to be a place for disciplined, competent and god-fearing personalities. In FCT, the indigenes have continued to protest one form of injustice or the other against Federal Government. The recent one was the demolition of Durumi 3 by FCDA authorities; which Amnesty International Nigeria, has promised to take over the issue, to find means the indigenes can get justice for the demolition of their houses. Over the years, the indigenes have continued to protests against the Federal Government over injustice but, it doesn’t make any impact because, our people both in the House of Representatives and in the senate, have not been able to push for legislative bills that would give the indigenes sense of belonging on their ancestral land. I even expected us to push the protest further to our representatives in National Assembly.
This was because, we voted for them as indigenes that would push for legislative bills that would create jobs for the youths and make the indigenes relevance and effective in FCT. The main reason why we have been having our own people in NASS for more than a decade without any impact, was because we kept voting for them because they are our people but lack the capacity to sponsor bills that would transform the lives of our people. If we have competent hands in the National Assembly over the years, maybe by now, the slot of FCT minister should have gotten the legal backup to be for the indigenes. All these are possible if the men that are representing us have the capacity to push for all that. Their staying in NASS over the years, have not impacted meaningfully on the lives of our people. They made a lot of money for themselves, family members, and the few around them. During elections, they share just 0.1% of the billions that they have made (the money which was ordinary meant to better the lives of the electorates, which usually diverted to their personal pockets).
They would now use just approximately 0.1% of that money to bribe the electorates during elections; and the electorates would return them to power. We can’t continue like this. It’s a big blunder to reward failure with promotion. We have tried our people (indigenes) over the years and it usually ends with abysmal performances thus, let’s try another hand that can make the difference. The power is actually in the hands of the electorates. If we vote in another crop of leaders and peradventure they don’t do well, after four years, we should vote them out. Political leadership is not traditional rites that one can grab it and remains there till death comes or he/she dethroned. Elections are conducted every four years in Nigeria to give opportunity to the electorates to vote in the candidate of their choice. But, because of tribalism, we the indigenes of the FCT have continued to suffer years of bad governance. 2023 provides another golden opportunity for us to do the needful by voting in fresh and competent man that is well-prepared for the job.
It was against this backdrop that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) senatorial candidate for FCT in 2023 polls, Mr. Olanrewaju Osho, has revealed what he called his “New Deal” for FCT indigenes and youths, if voted into office. The developmental expert, who has lived in Abuja for 25 years, who has never hide his love for the FCT, its indigenes as well as entire residents, believes that with his experience and someone who has travelled to many countries in the world in the course of developmental assignments, has all it takes to give the indigenes especially their youths what they have been yearning for.
Osho “New Deal” for the indigenes include but not limited to, aggressive job creation through mental thinking and necessary pushing for legislative support, making FCT a modern city that would attract foreign investment and tourism, creating a conducive environment for SMEs businesses to thrive, engaging the youths through skills acquisition; and creating conducive atmosphere for the youths to develop their skills in football and other sporting activities.
The University of Lagos (UniLag) Master Degree holder in Mass Communication said, “When the youths can’t get employment easily, they will succumb to temptations; just as the saying, idle hand is the devil’s workshop.”
“Sadly, there is no serious effort by the FCT bureaucrats to address the challenges of unemployment in FCT. If voted into office, as the senator representing FCT, I will champion the issue of gainful employment for the youths through the aggressive promotion of job creating opportunity in the Federal Capital Territory,” he added.
Wisdom demands that we should try fresh and better hand. What our people could not achieved over the years as lawmakers, Mr. Olanrewaju Osho, may be the messiah we have been looking for. Let us support and mobilize for him especially the youths. The indigenes, especially the youths should peep into his “New Deal” progamme and embrace it. This becomes imperative because, lamentation or complaint is not acceptable after 2023 polls.
Yunusa is an FCT indigene and editorial board member of Nigeria Project newspapers. He wrote in from Bwari, Abuja.
