Wednesday, 22 May 2013
New Dawn By Hannatu Musawa
Hannatu Musawa
Columnist:
Hannatu Musawa February 6, 2013 was a magnificent day for Nigeria. As the sun rose over the eventful day, Nigerians all over the world celebrated the thrashing our Super Eagles gave Mali’s Les Aigles to reach the final of the African Cup of Nations in South Africa. But prosperity was not done with us, for as the jubilations rang out, news that several of our most significant opposition political parties, including the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change, and the All Progressive Grand Alliance had merged to form one party gave cause for much more celebration. As the news of the newly formed All Progressive Congress trickled in, the social networks went crazy. Nigerians young and old; far and wide expressed their delight at the possibility of this new coalition party. Opposition victories have been hard to come by in the last decade and this new coalition not only gives the vast majority of worn-out Nigerians a tremendous sense of achievement, it gives millions of people new hope that their cause was right and new determination that change will finally show its face in Nigeria.
For many of us, this week has been a time to be proud; a time for reflection on the possibility of a new dawn, a time where our country has the chance to sow the seed of success in overcoming the great turmoil that our electoral and political process has thus far represented. Now, as Nigerians look towards 2015, it is beginning to look like we may be standing at the beginning of a new chapter in our history; one that will hopefully be defined by a prosperous democracy incontrovertibly built upon the will of the people.
Nigerians have really been put through the ringer. Apart from dealing with the dearth of security, employment, health care, education, striving to provide for our families and rising crime to name a few, we have been lumbered with a political leadership that is solely focused on personal interests rather than on solving our widespread problems. And even though there are over one million and ninety nine thousand things that Nigerians would ideally like to see done differently, the one general consensus of what people want right now seems to be a change of government.
A very smart man known as Albert Einstein once described insanity as ‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’ It would be difficult not to agree with him. If having the same party in power since 1999 translates into a reality where we still have no stable electricity, no unity, no security, no peace, no job opportunities, no development and hardly anything good, then how on earth can anyone expect a different result in terms of the way the country is governed if the same party keeps hoisting itself into power? It would naturally follow that in order for our life to change from the nightmare we are living, into a more structured dream, we must change; the country must change and government must change. And for the first time in a very long time, a vehicle with the ability to translate that nightmare into a dream and then into reality is being presented to Nigerians. That vehicle is this newly formed united merger.
However, now that the first leg of the task has been achieved, this marks the point at which the real work needs to be done. To consolidate the exceptional success that the merger represents, the APC must now pass the crucial test without allowing the demons of the past to re-emerge. The demons which defy stepping up to the challenge of putting personal interest aside in order for the party to operate in the interest of all the people of this nation. The party must set the objective of making Nigeria a place liveable for the right of the many. The coalition must work in partnership with each other to create a dynamic, broad and competitive platform for progressives, for minorities, for women, for children, for the poor and for every interest. The party must be fashioned as an entity that seeks to restore trust in Nigerian politics, cleanse Nigerian politics and decentralizes it so that people can once again have hope that politics can be about the service to the public.
The APC should be a party entrenched with solid ideals; the ideals of integrity, impartiality, unity, honesty and development. And it should also be a party equipped with the valour to welcome new ideas required to make those standards a reality for Nigerians; a party of practical process in pursuit of a gallant cause and the solemn obligation to act accountably, transparently, and impartially. These should be at the core of APC’s intention for Nigeria.
True democracy has never been a concrete box that isolates the political leadership from the people. And if it’s true democracy we are interested in, then the party leadership must embrace that fact. Leaders of APC have the obligation to use their positions of power to earn the people’s trust because that is what will primarily impact the public’s confidence in the party. As the governors and leaders of the opposition gathered in front of the residence of the Lagos State Governor to announce the merger, they must know all too well the enormous responsibility that they have undertaken and the great trust that the Nigerian people may be willing to place in them. More than anyone, the leaders of the APC know well the change that Nigeria desperately needs. They know that this country is anxious to step away from its past, desperate to get those things done that need doing for the future.
No less important, the parties that have come together to form the APC must each individually get their acts together. The ongoing internal wrangling and court cases that litter the corridors of most of the opposition parties have to stop with immediate effect. If the APC is to have a chance of success and have a chance of being inclusive and nonpartisan in its internal decision making, then the different entities that form it must find a way of letting bygones be bygones, cooperating and actively seeking consensus through compromise and dialogue. Each of these parties is responsible for cooperating fully with the ideal and unity necessary to establish and promote the APC.
Let me state a simple truth: public faith in the political process is extremely low. Many people are still pessimistic, especially given the fact that a number of the strong players in the new coalition were once part of past governments. Part of the APC’s challenge is to earn the trust of the people by avoiding political trickery, standing up to the PDP, abstaining from inflammatory behavior, working together and convincing the public that the party really is ready to be the fresh new change Nigeria needs despite some of the personalities that make up the party.
If managed well, the APC has the ability to bring Nigeria together once again, to unite people as one nation in which our hopes for Nigeria corresponds with a sense of consideration, decorum and responsibility. Let us be hopeful and optimistic about this chance. One can only shape the opposition and make it what they need it to be when they participate in the process.
As Nigeria prepares to embark on this new chapter in its political life, one element of change seems to rise above all others in terms of importance: specifically the need for our politicians to show love for Nigeria. Love for Nigeria means putting public interests above personal interests. It means doing everything possible to keep partisan politics fair and clean. Love for Nigeria is not about the words that politicians speak but about their actions. It’s about putting nation building above everything else. Leaders of APC must display their love for Nigeria.
With 2015 approaching, we have a chance to start a new chapter, to put aside individual and party interests, to insist on accountability from the political class. More than anything, we should all accept individual responsibility for making this happen because only individual Nigerians putting Nigeria’s interests first can build the just, democratic society that will make present and future generations of Nigerians justifiably proud. As this new dawn breaks, the APC is giving Nigerians a platform to do just that.
February 6, 2013 truly was a magnificent day for Nigeria and as we keep our eye on the making sure the APC does right by us, let us also keep our fingers crossed for the success of our Eagles in the African Cup of Nations.
Hannatu Musawa
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HANNATU U HEAR
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 17, 2013 - 01:16.
There are fears that medical doctors and other health workers may soon begin to flee the northern part of the country for fear of insecurity.
The situation may engender epidemics such as Malaria, Cholera, Meningitis, Polio and others if the hospitals and health centres are deserted by health workers. This follows last week’s killing of nine polio vaccinators in Nasarawa and Taurani local government areas of Kano State and the murder of three North Korean doctors in Potiskum, Yobe State, Saturday PUNCH has learnt. Recently, a consultant physician was killed by gunmen at the gate of Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. Already, there is palpable fear and apprehension among health workers in the region as many of them are said to have concluded arrangements to leave the North in droves and relocate to the South-South and South-West, where their security could be guaranteed.
T
well done
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 14, 2013 - 11:31.
dear hannatu.. although i find it difficult to read your articles in their entirety because theyre a bit too long to keep me focused.... i must applaud you for returning to your beautiful hijab. fantastic choice. May Allah put more baraka in your life ameen
those are some big choppers!!!
Submitted by NDi465 (not verified) on February 11, 2013 - 22:40.
GODDAMN!!! hanatu...those are some big choppers. white, but BIG. my dentist saya they are horse teeth. a deadly weapon for sure.
IDOT DERI MUMU
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 11, 2013 - 01:42.
DERI, Your problem is BUHARI YOUR CONSCIOUS WILL JUDGE U BEFORE GOD WITH BUHARI.MUMU, WHEN WILL YOU WRITE A SENTENCE WITHOUT MENTIONING BUHARI OR BOKO HARAM.PLS. BE WISE AND FREE YOUR URSELF FROM MYOPIC REASONING
APC; panacea for Nigeria problems?
Submitted by Kassim (not verified) on February 10, 2013 - 20:21.
Dear Hannnatu:
I wish I could applaud the formation of APC as loudly as other Nigerians have done since the announcement was made. It's probably a good start, however, individuals that formed the party are the same politicians who have actively participated in the affairs of past and present system. How many of them can honestly claim they are clean? Nearly five months in Nigeria last year, traveled to many states to see developments or otherwise and I almost cried. Sadly, pessimism should not be our option. Let's be hopeful that members of APC will act reasonably to put their individual aspirations and ego aside to pursue a common goal for the good of Nigeria. Finally, thank you for the hijab.
New Dawn
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 10, 2013 - 15:43.
APC Mai Karaurawa or Amoured Personnel Carrier,we need APC to free our country from PDP.
Corrected
Submitted by Anonymous1 (not verified) on February 10, 2013 - 11:59.
I concur on Hannatu's insight. The present good for nothing monsters in government (corrupt politicians) sinking the nation's economic ship will drown in the course of the people recovering their national vessel and only the ship will be spared in the inferno. Nigerians of good character will anchor permanently at their political base and the winds or currents (Nigeria corrupt politicians) cannot make a drift after all, I mean not even for a second.
According to Martin Luther King Jr. Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last.
Brighter days are coming soon.
New dawn?
Submitted by tatiana petin (not verified) on February 10, 2013 - 05:16.
Mrs. Hanney, true this be your new dawn? Apparently, you guys and gals have never been used to making critical decisions-in the good old north? Pity a hapless Boko who keeps crying over spilled milk! There are other more important issues that should worth Hanney's input, yet she keeps on fooling herslf. You are just a yeye Boko of no use in this new world- a triple yeye joker who'll never come to grasp the reality.
(Prof. Ago has stated that you guys up north could survive without assistance from the south. Make that your next article, Mrs. Hanney!)
Hannatu speak up on d 9 women yr fulani brothers killed
Submitted by DERI (not verified) on February 10, 2013 - 01:11.
@Hannatu where were your fulani thoughts when 9 health workers were killed in the North? i have STATED severally here that unless jonah fires dasuki, he will not be able to solve the many secuirty problems affecting the north-Sadly while thousands are being killed in the fulani north daily-hannatuu is here dancing around national issues for buhari-let her be bold enough to discuss boko haram for once-or ask buhari to talk about them-she would be dead the next day-if she is a human being with all her senses intact-then there is need for her to spare a thought for those that boko haram sent to their early graves in d fulani north! But me thinks she is just one of those hired thugs out to deceive and lure us into thinking like buhari-meanwhile we all know she is the head of the female arm of boko haram--D north has sworn never to take pat in the polio vaccination exercise-cause they yearn for more beggars-kuturus-why not there is awuf oil money 4 dem
Idiot...Who told you "many" Nigerians were happy wit Merger?
Submitted by akpos1 (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 21:07.
When Buhari, IBB, abdulsblam, abacha & others were in power what did you write?
Let Hannatu Musawa & the renowned Asssociate Professor of Arithmetic - Leonard Shilgba come out & show us one singly article they wrote to critique the policies & bad governane by Musa Yaradua when he was alive. Idiots. ....It is bcos the owner of the wealth - a SS&SE son now occupies the seat of power that all of you become emergency social critics. Nonsense.
The SS&SE has its very strong plans of secession. You from the poor & vampire North as well as the cowardly and double standard West, need not to be consulted. We will just move on and guard our resources with the heaiest artillery and defence systems money can buy. Simple as ABC.
Long live MEND
Long live Biafra
Long live the United Rep of the SS&SE
....all because of my sweet sweet SS&SE oil. Idiots
Submitted by akpos1 (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 20:54.
Hannatu! Hannatu!! Hanntuu!!! Na how many times I call you so? Make you take time oh. This is your last warning!Na who tell you say Nigeria is a country? Who? When it is 257 as Jamb cut off for pple from d South in those days, it was 172 for people frm d North in all North Universities including ABU. When 99% of sports people all come from one part of continent Nigeria & hardly any frm d North, When you cannot worship freely witout been bombed in the Northern countries of Nigeria, When Just 3 publications is enough to make you a professor in the North but over 21 in reputable Journals is mandatory for the Southern countries of Nigeria. Wud you still call this a country? When volunteers on Polio vacination are killed bcos it is Southern idea. Wud you still say it is a country? Lasly, when my SS&SE sweet oil & gas dries up, would you still say 'One Nigeria"? Would you? Poor North & West shud get lost. Idiots...Long live MEND, Long live Biafra, Long live the United Rep of the SS&SE
Hannuta, Is this really your
Submitted by Naija East Coast...Uh Yesoo (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 19:23.
Hannuta, Is this really your “new dawn”? Gimme a freaking break!
You mean like putting old wine in a new bottle is the new dawn? Like forty is the new twenty? Like just new name same old ingredients? Like today’s soup menu, same as yesterday’s soup menu. Get real Hannatu. Nigerians are not that shallow as you think. You can fake your orgasm but you can’t fake your love for a scrambled “one Nigeria”. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, go ahead and call me a genuine he goat.
Thankz @ Yemi, thank you very much. There is no fake bone in your body. ALL REAL, sister.
EVIL OF SHARA SYSTEM IN THE NORTH.
Submitted by TJohnson (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 18:25.
I WISH HANNATU WILL BE WRITING ABOUT THESE WOMEN HEALTH WORKERS THAT WERE MURDERED IN THE NORTH INSTEAD OF THIS FANTASY ABOUT 2015. I WILL REPEAT IT THAT NORTHERN NIGERIA IS A MESS, THANKS TO THEIR SO CALLED LEADERS SELFISHNESS. I WILL SAY IT AGAIN THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SHARIA LAW IN THE NORTH IS THE SINGULAR ACT THAT DESTROYED WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN MODERN NIGERIA. AND THE COWARDLINESS OF OBASANJO NOT BOLDLY CONFRONTING THIS EVIL WHEN FIRST RAISED IS WHAT BROUGHT US HERE TODAY. FIRSTLY SHARIA LAW DESTROYED OUR SECULAR CONSTITUTION ,AND SECONDLY IT BEGOT US THE EVIL BOKO HARAM. WHEN SHARIA WAS ALLOWED TO STAND, IT EXPOSES THE GAPING HOLE IN OUR SYSTEM, A SYSTEM WHERE ANYONE CAN DO THEIR OWN THING, DEPENDING OF WHAT TRIBE THE PERSON BELONGS TO.
HAJIA HANNATU AND PIPE DREAMS
Submitted by osita DIOKA (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 15:33.
First of all APGA and Ndigbo will have nothing to do with that coalition because they will most definitely not allow an Igbo as Presidential candidate,at least not as long as Gen Buhari and Tinubu prevail so it would be fair to count us out.
Rochas Okorocha is on his own,he was raised in the north and is not a hard-core Igbo leader,he is an ambitious young man who probably believes he can gain politically by selling-out.He went to that meeting without due consultation with his party leadership.
The bottom-line is simple,Ndigbo will no more settle for a second place in any new coalition.
Buhari has not been the best friend of the SE and Tinubu is relatively unknown,these are very strange bed-fellows so we must know what they have in stock for us before any agreement can be reached
New Dawn My Foot, Ms. Hannatu
Submitted by Udam Ochiaghandigbo (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 15:17.
As soon as I read the title of this piece, I did not even bother to read the body of the article because I already new where Ms. Hannatu was going. Ms. Hannatu, the APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) is grounded from the start. The make up of your dream party is composed of MOSLEMS and can be appropriately called The Moslem Islamist Party! Checkout the big wigs--Buhari, El-Rufai, Tinubu, Fashola, Aregbesola, Mohammed, Babangida Aliyu, Momodu Sherrif, Yerima, etc. They are all mostly Hausa/fool-ani moslems. So, wait until the fat lady sings before your day is dawn.
I concur on Hannatu's
Submitted by Anonymous1 (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 14:48.
I concur on Hannatu's insight. The present good for nothing monsters in government(corrupt politicians) sinking the nation's economic ship will drown in the course of the people recovering their national vessel and only the ship will be spared in the inferno. Nigerians of good character will anchor permanently at their political base and the winds or currents (Nigeria corrupt politicians) cannot make a drift after all, I mean not even for a second.
According to Martin Luther King Jr. Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last.
Brighter days are coming soon.
New Dawn?
Submitted by sultanofsokoto on February 9, 2013 - 14:29.
Photoshop Hannatu holding on to anything that might keep Naija one. Hannatu you have started soliciting for job. Forget the new dawn under the same rouge constitution and political system we have in Naija. No ma´am anything short of a SNC will be delaying the inevitable and what that is we all know. All those conmen are just clowning and deceiving themselves. The real thing is coming just wait and see.
are you serious???...what a joker!!!
Submitted by eba for morning and lovin' it !! (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 13:57.
so formation of a opposing coalition political party and winning in soccer is a new dawn? here is one for you.
...not all the king's men could put humpty dumpty together again...
how about that? even crazy glue cannot do it am afraid. same set of thieves ganging against the bigger thief. no change at the core, just surficial...superficial change. the core is still rotten. these sets of rulers have to die in the wilderness and a new set with moral tenets cultivated before we experience a new dawn.
Nothing's changed
Submitted by Yemi (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 09:57.
Your article is well carved like the PR job for the new APC party. On the surface the new APC looks like the real deal however, let any of the members stand up and tell us how he got his or her wealth. The new APC is of the old brigade. Nothing new. A new dawn is when ordinary members of the public from all over the nation, come together and form a movement through passion with the detribalised objectives of saving NIGERIA and start a revolution that will oust these current set of politicians. Let them feel the pains of going to hospitals without medicine, schools without teachers, etc. A new dawn will come to Nigeria when corrupt politicians are given real swift justice. When former government ministers, current and retired officials are made to account for their ill gotten wealth, fame and influence. Where the corrupt politicians and their family members are forever banned from government posts. My dear Hannatu, this is not a new dawn but DUSK.
Very good talk oooo. I buy
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 07:10.
Very good talk oooo. I buy all what youve said. Thank you.
Joker... Hahaaa sp.. What??!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 06:56.
Joker... Hahaaa sp.. What??!!
contd
Submitted by A Real New Dawn (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 05:14.
We are in the internet age, the age of high speed communication, global expansion on an ever smaller grid. The age of molecular biology, bioinformatics, studying and testing drugs on computer models without using or needing to use guinea pigs.
Dear, times and things have changed. Either join and campaign with the YOUTH soon, or retire with the old and worn out.
SovereignNationalParty.com [SNP] and more interesting mergers are about to hit you. Dynamic, smart youth with ideas and decency.
It's a new dawn like you said, no longer the never ending dark winter stormy night.
God bless Nigeria. Get ready for amazing new things and advancement, At Last!
Really, are we so stagnant as a people?
Submitted by Who Are We Fooling? (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 05:12.
Dear Hannatu,
Who are we fooling? this so-called merger, each of those parties are they not the parties who put forth representatives that are governors in all our states? Are the states any better than the federation?
Are we Nigerians really short of ideas and real redirections for change?
Is this the best we have?
Well, dear, you need to know the movement taking place within our teeming youth populations. A giant has awoken, in another 3 months, this so called merger and the PDP will be what hey should long have been- a withering stalk of a long expired tree.
The youth have organized political movements, a pioneer of these is the SNP [SovereignNationalParty.com] Peoples youth party. Tell your old generation friends to go sit down in their mansions and chew tobacco and Kola.
APC WILL SUCCEED ONLY IF
Submitted by Musa (not verified) on February 9, 2013 - 04:18.
Hannatu my dear sister, APC will only succeed if we the Northerner will see other tribes in Nigeria as Nigerians. It will only succeed if we bury our ego and dictator tendency and allow another tribe to be elected on that platform as the next president of Nigeria. That is the painful truth.The reason is that for the 30 years or more of our presidency slot, Nigerians and most especially the average northerner did not benefit much from the money. Few people in government, call them opportunists stole the money for themselves and their families. Today, the North has crumbled with killings and hatred have been planted in the hearts of other Nigerians.Only if we allow this to happen, then APC is already an instrument to unseat the monster call PDP!
