When the history of Nigeria is written, April 2011 (411) may well be identified as the month of our rebirth following our independence in 1960.
When the history of Nigeria is written, April 2011 (411) may well be identified as the month of our rebirth following our independence in 1960.
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Last weekend, the first of our national elections was brought to a screeching cancellation as it was getting underway. Mercifully, it was the first in the series, leaving the nation with room for manoeuvre where, had it been the last, would have left no option but anarchy. That hiccup has had the effect of drawing attention to how overwhelmingly important this month is. These elections are too important to be left to politicians. Our ballots this month are now no less than a magical mirror for our nation to identify itself.
In these elections, you can see yourself, and you can see everyone else also. There is no place to hide, and there is no room to idle: you are either in it or you have proclaimed your own irrelevance.
In these elections, nobody lacks motivation: if you are happy with those who have driven your democracy bus since 1999, you must vote your gratitude; if you feel they are hypocrites who have driven the nation towards desperation, doubt and despair, you must drive them far away.
In these elections, everyone is a candidate: you are either running for something, or you are running from something. You are either cheering for someone, or you are cheering against someone. There can only be forward motion, but there is no middle lane in which to drive, and no side shelter in which to applaud your angels or upbraid the demons.
This April, everyone is a player and everyone is a referee. You can neither nominate someone to go to the field of play for you nor can you close your eyes and not insist the rules be obeyed.
In 411, the contests are more important than an election: they are a referendum on who we want to be; a contest of philosophies to determine whether the last 12 years will be the next 12, 50 or 100 years. These elections are an epochal war being fought not just to rebuild the future but also to refurbish the past; it is for all who came before us and for all who are to come.
In these elections, everyone is a bettor: you must bet your Nigeria against your opponent’s Nigeria. In this will of destinies, there is no middle nation: if your Nigeria is invalidated, it may get no other opportunity in your lifetime.
In these elections, there are observers but no bystanders: if you ignore the event, you surrender your future either to those you hold in contempt or those who hold you in contempt; if you accept the event, you must join your appropriate tug-of-war line and grab the rope.
In these elections, there are no prayer warriors, only warriors who, having completed their prayers, must grab the nearest cudgel and prepare to clear the temple.
The elections of 411 are therefore a critical test.
They are a history test about whether you have paid attention in the past 12 years, and how much. If you are proud of our infrastructure in the past 12 years; if you are happy with the water you drink and the electricity you enjoy; if you are pleased with the time students spend at home, the price of petroleum products, the menace of armed robbery and kidnapping, you must work to retain in office those who have made them possible. But if you are outraged by the insincerity of governance; by the people who mistake speeches for achievement and by the claims of those who cannot tell leadership from gamesmanship, it is your patriotic duty to intervene.
411 is also a geography test: have we reached the destination that was promised in 1999, or are we even heading in that direction at all?
The elections are a mathematics test. They will test whether you have paid attention to how much of Nigeria’s vast oil revenues have been spent on developing the nation and how much has been spent in buying new jets and cars and disbursing travel allowances; how much has been lavished in gifts and contracts to friends, families and colleagues; or appropriated by legislators, 419-ers and well-connected money-launderers.
These elections are a sociology examination: how well do you know your neighbor? Have you done your best to ensure that he or she is aware of the historic importance of this month? Have you made sure he or she is able to reach out to all relatives and friends to make sure they vote? Of yourself you must ask: have I made certain that each person on my contact list is voting?
These elections are an archeological enquiry: those convinced we are going in the right direction must dig up and flaunt the evidence. Those who are concerned the nation is in the graveyard must exhume the bodies with their votes.
These elections are a civics test, to determine how well you know the population of Nigerian businesses fleeing the country, and Nigerians drifting to hitherto obscure African countries in search of a better life.
In these elections, if those who have been in charge in the past 12 years won their positions in elections of which you were not ashamed, and have run governments based on service, transparency and accountability, you must keep them there; but if you know they rigged their way in and have betrayed both their own promises and your hopes, you must ensure they are not allowed another day to lie, cheat and steal.
If you can confidently say that if they named 50 Nigerians of character, one for each year of our independence, your candidate and his friends would not number among them, or that your candidate has never been implicated or indicted, you must step forward and support him or her. But if you look around and you feel your vision is being assaulted by the same liars lying the same lies, 411 is the opportunity for resounding vengeance.
If you are satisfied with the explanations they have given for 12 years as to why Nigeria has become poorer and more insecure, you must vote in the authors of this achievement; if not, you must shunt them aside.
In 411, if you are convinced that our schools, hospitals and roads are better than they were 12 years ago; if you have ready access to those facilities in Europe; if you think that Nigeria’s oil funds revenues are being used to uplift Nigerians, you must vote in defence of the status quo; but if you have had to endure death, despair and defeat, this is your time. If you believe the rule of law is not just a cliché today, you must defend it; but if you believe the nation’s greatest crooks have risen above the nation’s laws, 411 is the time to say so.
If you are content that Bali, Indonesia, will receive about 2.5 million tourists this year while no Nigerian city can attract 2,000; if you are happy over 70% of Nigerians live below the poverty line as opposed to Ghana’s 20%, you must keep in office the people who have achieved these milestones; if not, you must throw them into the streets.
If you are proud that Halliburton bribe-takers and high-level looters are protected in Nigeria; and proud that such dubious legends as James Ibori and Ahmed Sani Yerima, the pedophile former Zamfara Governor and champion of Sharia Law now number among our best known, you must vote to maintain the current system; if not, you must fight for a New Nigeria Order which values men of integrity. If you are happy your legislature is becoming a hiding place for top crooks looking for a huge pay day every day; if you are happy your nation’s highest honours are being conferred on its most shameless thieves, you must vote to keep this system; if not, you must work to upturn it.
In April 2011, no Nigerian is without something to say. Of greater significance, everyone is armed with the opportunity to say it. Let your voice be heard, Nigeria. Next month will be much too late.
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