Seventeen years back, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, assumed the leadership of this country with the shared hope of leading its people to the fountain of economic and social freedom, premised on political good.
Sixteen years down the path, the story leaves much to be desired, though, not out of a manageable reach for many citizens.
Today, the narrative has ‘changed’, as Nigeria now has a new government under a new mega political party — the All Progressives Congress, APC, having emerged the winner of a election against the ruling PDP in 2015.
Swinging into power through its change mantra, the APC was the toast of the nation, brandishing itself as the messiah of Nigeria’s many challenges dating back to the nation’s pre and post independence era but more pointedly, PDP’s.
Unfortunately, in its almost 12 months of governing Nigeria, the APC has refused to let go of the nation’s dark history, pinning its people down to it, reminding them of the past, only to sap them of today’s energy and tomorrow’s joy.
At the moment, economic activities are at standstill in Nigeria due to an unstimulated economy, owing to endless delays in the passage of the budget, just after an election year.
Nigerians are battling to stay alive without energy, either government or self produced. Power generation has reached an all time low nationwide, fuel prices have skyrocketed with many buying for as much as N500 per liter only after long hours of queue.
Due to the ailing socio-economic conditions of the country many businesses have gone under. Start-ups have been strangled, medium enterprises mutilated, and corporations compressed.
In all these, it is not uncommon to read and hear the APC engage in the blame game on issues of severe concern to the citizenry. From blaming vandals for the poor power supply, to recounting and plugging the days of PDP in power to the unbearable fuel situation in the country, the APC is fast becoming a league of blame pundits.
For a country at this juncture, I contend that the most distasteful thing to do by the leadership of this country (APC) is to constantly remind Nigerians of their history particularly under the PDP, without providing remedy to the situations at stake, rather, compounding it. This for me, is an unfit leadership trait — making endless allusion to the past which has nothing to be celebrated, although, with some lessons to be learnt which the APC has failed to recognize and glean from.
Disturbed by the endless complaints from the APC, one wonders if the APC ever assess the level of damage done by the erstwhile governance and possibly proffering solutions to same, just before raising the hopes of Nigerians?
While it is common knowledge that Nigeria’s challenges are deeply rooted and would require a great amount of space, time and resources, what is discomforting is the slow speed at which the APC-led government has moved the country off its brink of despair where the PDP left it to the center of inclusive development and hopefulness, which the APC promised during the campaign era.
Perhaps, the failure of the APC-led government to create and communicate a better future for Nigerians as well as deliver on electioneering promises, thus far, is a reflection of its unpreparedness to govern Nigeria. If the 2015 campaign is anything to go by, we should request APC’s economic roadmap and compare with the realities on ground, just so we find the missing dots and connect appropriately. Could we be locked in the prism of an unplanned, unscripted governance agenda?
It’s almost a year off its four year mandate, should the blame game continue, what will achievements will the APC flaunt, what future would it have created, what hope will it have delivered and what precept would it have charted?
Moving forward, the APC-led government should brace itself for the uneasy task of governance in Nigeria and take it head on, stopping the blame game. To continually hold on to the past yields no reward.
Yesterday is history, today hosts the events that will shape tomorrow.
The APC should not betray the trust and confidence reposed on it by the citizenry through their votes. This government has enjoyed citizens’ goodwill, an essential commodity in politics, losing might will just be to grave a disaster.
Nigeria’s present should not be directed from its dark past…The future is brighter than we can imagine.
TAYO ELEGBEDE JET is a communication strategist and freelance journalist