Nigeria: Vision of the illusionaries and the 2019 battle

Reuters photo

By

Ogunniyi Abayomi

“The major concern of states is the acquisition of power, defined as man’s control over the mind and action of another man“- H.J Morgenthau

A few weeks ago, Nigerians saw the brouhaha in Ekiti State during its governorship election. Fayose‘s theatrics and controversial display exhibited the fallacy and unhindered affair we fail to tackle as a state, people, tribe and nation, ensuing our leaders treat its followers shabbily because we do not know our democratic rights and privileges that are withheld by our political officers.

The narrative of bribery by political parties to the electorate is an exposition of the rot and decay in our infused and enforced unitary system that we have come to believe was federalism by the deceit of building a democratic state. This disrespect to the rule of law and order was discarded, the shame was forgotten, the election was conducted and Fayemi emerged as governor in spite of the allegation of corrupt practices, an observation noted by international organizations and Amnesty International.

In 2015, transparency was a major phrase the ruling party emphasized while campaigning for its change agenda, which yielded no result. We have not seen any transformation, the violence and carnage revolving whereby it’s no longer the Boko Haram Sect attacking rather it’s the herdsmen invading our villages and clan, killing innocent people in the name of protecting their cows. Nobody was prosecuted or arrested, instead 30,000 policemen being deployed to Ekiti to terrorize and arrest the opposing electorate.

Controversy has been the activity of the day, the Dino Melaye drama unfolded. We have no choice but to enjoy this actor and major political figure who constantly remind us of our poor ability to think. The electorate are not represented well by its leaders yet we chase them to solve our problems. Their motive and our vision are not relatable yet we choose them to lead and disrupt the system. It’s rather sad and disheartening to see the events that occur between the major political parties, the defection of key members of All Progressive Congress to People’a Democratic Party envisaging events ahead of the 2019 election yet I ask what are the solutions they want to proffer to our problems?

Accommodating illusionary leaders rather than casting our vote for those who tackle reality has been a major problem of African society, we lust by their fake tidings and bribes, we do not see anything new irrespective of the false display by our political leaders. A question that arises is does the Nigeria leader understand the real demand of the people as emphasized by Barrack Obama during his stint as President of the United States of America; do they understand and visit their roots and people in their local government and proffer solutions to their challenges?

As we embark on another election, the question remains as to should an illusionary leader continue to rule over our affairs or do we keep discarding the ideas of our visionary leaders by not voting to coordinate our affairs?

Ogunniyi Abayomi

Ogunniyi Abayomi was born July 11, 1991 in the city of Lagos, where he resides. A poet and essayist whose works have been published in various journals.