In his classic, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way”.
Indeed, at the moment, no such equivocation can be made regarding Nigeria. These are plainly difficult and dangerous times, with nothing in between. I fail to see hope, and I despair greatly, and so should you. Over the last four years, we have seen a ruling class collectively exhibit an unprecedented level of cluelessness in addressing a sputtering economy. The economy contracted in 2015 and 2016, and grew by a meagre 0.8 percent in 2017 and 1.9 percent in 2018.
We have seen a dictator increasingly bare his fangs and reverse democratic gains by sacking the Chief Justice of the federation. We have also seen his cronies unabashedly trample on basic democratic norms. For instance, in the run up to the election, the self-styled emperor of Lagos State-a career politician-confidently said that he is richer than Osun State. And as if to empirically back up his claims, on the day of the presidential election, bullion vans were pictured in his Bourdillon residence, ostensibly dishing out cash, buying loyalty, and making nonsense of the electoral process.
In saner climes, not only would there be a near universal expression of disgust at the statement and his action, it would certainly have instigated a criminal investigation. Yet, both went without as much as a whimper from anyone, or any institution-even the opposition carried on as if this were a non-issue. Of course, that is not surprising; after all, the opposition bled the country white in 16 years as the ruling party, and took corruption to an obscene level. I suspect that this particular fact is partly why the APC feels emboldened and almost defiant in the way its party lieutenants have been conducting themselves. They seem to be operating with the logic that because the PDP failed miserably, Nigerians must be content with their glaring incompetence. But Nigeria deserves better. It deserves better than a political class that governs unconcerned about the complete trivialisation of the human life in many parts of the country, that politicises the ethnic cleansing being conducted by the Fulani herdsmen, and continues to allow the Bokoharam insurgency constitute an existential threat to the country. In a country of 190 million people, Nigeria certainly deserves better than the two dim-witted presidential candidates fielded by the major political parties.
Another 4 years?
I do not have much hope for the next four years. Failure and incompetence have certainly been rewarded with a fresh mandate. A mandate to further institutionalise and consolidate Nigeria’s ignoble position as the poverty capital of the world should fill anyone with dread. But in all honesty, what was the alternative to Buhari? Atiku Abubakar? Bloody no! Between 1960 and 2012, Nigeria lost more than US $400billion to corruption and US $32billion under Jonathan’s administration according to several international agencies, including the DFID. Yet, in a recent interview, Atiku offered a ludicrous explanation for the allegations of corruption that have always dogged him. According to him, he is not corrupt because he has not been indicted or charged. Frankly, that explanation is not only laughable, but insulting to our collective intelligence. It is akin to a thief insisting that he is not a thief because he is yet to be caught.
Atiku Abubakar must now realise he has nothing to offer. No one has flip-flopped as much he has over the last decade in his bid to realise his ambition of becoming president. That he and the PDP have lost to an ailing president and his much beleaguered party that had both become deeply unpopular proves this in no uncertain terms. Having said that, I have been impressed by Atiku’s tenacity, especially his attempt to cast himself as a bridge between the old and the young — remaining clearly unconcerned about the optics of such a claim from a 72 year old grandfather.
And the PDP? Its electoral future lies in its ability to successful shed the toga of corruption. In these dangerous times, painful as it is to say, the PDP might be Nigeria’s best hope. I would like to see it gradually build up its credibility and become an effective opposition in the intervening period. But then again, Nigerians are notoriously great at forgiving impossible sins. It may indeed be that by the next election the PDP’s litanies of sins would have been all forgiven, and nothing would have changed!
Bola Adediran
Dr Adediran is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of the West of England, Bristol. He writes via [email protected] and tweets at @bholarinwa.
