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An Elegy For ‘Old Nigeria’ By Stanley Ibeku

June 25, 2015

Goodbye political tomfoolery
Goodbye economic prodigality
Goodbye social complicity
Goodbye civic despondency
Goodbye primeval cruelty!

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It is goodbye to an era of half truths, lies and deceits. It is goodbye to an era of propaganda and unnecessary sympathy. It is goodbye to an era of unrestrained impunity. It is goodbye to an era of recklessness in varying ways. It is goodbye to a nation of unready leaders. It is goodbye to a nation where persons hand-picked by self-appointed statesmen and godfathers are foisted on the people. Goodbye to a nation where persons who even without showing interest in serving the people have their ways to power bought by a fusion of greedy men who sees governance as entirely an avenue for advancing parochial interests. Goodbye to a nation where officials swore to assuage selfish considerations instead of put smiles on the faces of the people. We mourn a nation where mediocrities flourish. We mourn a nation in which the people suffer and still smile. We mourn a nation in which the people grumble and keep calm. We mourn a nation where the people were economically constricted, socially constipated and politically muffled. We mourn a nation where political buffoonery became the norm. We mourn a nation where those knowledgeable enough conceal economic facts and let the citizens flounder in pretense.

We despise a period marked by blood and bullets. We mourn in utter reminiscence days of bombings, kidnappings and other horrendous acts. We detest a situation in which women and children are forcefully taken, abused, dehumanized and even sold-off. We detest days in which men and young boys are induced to fight a cause they abhor. We mourn a period when men and women were slaughtered or amputated or left to writhe in pains. It is the end of an era where party and selfish considerations are put before national interest. It is the end of an era of political jobbers and merchandisers. We regret an era in which the greatest beneficiaries of the commonwealth are the greedy politicians, economic saboteurs, fraudsters and ‘connected’ businessmen. We ruin the days of gluttonous government contractors who conspire with rapacious officials to fleece our treasury. We detest an era in which kinsmen threaten to unleash terror on the land and nobody or authorized agency cautions them.

We detest a period where men whose performance fails below expectation are shepherded to the podium and given red carpet treatment by the very people whom they have shortchanged and impoverished. We detest days where leaders will not be afraid of ‘persecution’ after leaving office. We regret an era where political parties are conglomerates with the sole aim of trading commonwealth. We regret an era where political parties are assemblages of avaricious men and women interested only in our common patrimony. We regret days where a coterie of malignant conspirators share our commonwealth. We detest days in which party men are only concerned on how to share oil proceeds to party stalwarts and cronies. We despise government of ‘delegation by abdication’- apologies to Jide Oluwajuyitan. We despise days where politicians never showed passion for their job. We despise days in which political office holders are held ‘captive’ and only made to realize the rather inordinate targets of their captors. We despise days where officials sell their constituencies to their parties; serve their masters rather than Nigerians. It is goodbye to the days of vituperations and tantrums. We despise days where officials are illegally given the boot for blowing the whistle and asking for transparency. We despise the days where indicted individuals are offered pardon for selfish gains.

We mourn an era where criticisms are considered alien to governance. We mourn a nation where leaders instead stopping party men and their children from sabotaging the nation economically impose hardships on the people. We detest days where trillions are paid ‘ghosts’ in the guise of subsidies. We despise days where leaders classify their party men and their children as untouchables and are exempted from prosecution. We detest days where contracts awarded to phony and non-existent companies. We detest a nation where oil caused a distraction. We detest a nation where other areas of opportunities are left unexplored but rely only on oil.

We loathe days where talents are dissipated and dreams damned. We loathe days where empires are desecrated and resources depleted. We loathe days where insanity is celebrated and good judgment ditched. Goodbye to an era of flirtation with absurdity. We loathe days where opportunities are provided only to those who are ‘connected’ to men in power. We loathe days where competence is replaced with ineptitude. Never again shall we shield the ‘untouchables’. Never again shall we place our parochial interest before national interest. Never again shall we pamper and shield the corrupt, inept cabinet members. Never again shall we ‘protect’ party men who milk us dry while leaving the masses to wallow in penury. Never again shall we make party membership cards as requirements for benefiting from our common entitlement. Never again shall we play politics of exclusion. Never again shall we pursue ethnic and regional interests. Never again shall we devote half of the nation’s budget to the service of a small minority elected to serve the people. Never again shall we become a laughing stock in the international scene. Never again shall we grant wasteful and unfavourable waivers to importers. Never again shall the people sit and watch in hopelessness. Never again shall the elites of this nation keep mum while the rapacious few keep us in perpetual indigence. Goodbye to the old Nigeria where fools and buffoons flourish. Goodbye to the old Nigeria where civil societies sell their consciences to the highest bidders. Goodbye to the old Nigeria where purveyors of cheap gossips insult our sensibilities. Goodbye to the old Nigeria where majority of the people are caught in conspiracy of silence while our land is decimated. Let the bearers of new Nigeria join me in this refrain:

Goodbye political tomfoolery

Goodbye economic prodigality

Goodbye social complicity

Goodbye civic despondency

Goodbye primeval cruelty!

Stanley is a doctoral candidate at the Africa Regional Centre for Information

Science, University of Ibadan. Phone number- 08064884866.

Email: [email protected]

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Politics