September 10, 2016, is epochal in
the history of the great Edo State. It is a date when life beckons on the
people to embark on a game-changing and life-amending venture; a time when the
people are called out by the Benevolent, the God of second chance, to right the
wrong they elevated to a position of authority and immense responsibility eight
years ago. That day is the day when Edo people will finally extricate
themselves from the shackles of a searing chain fresh from the hissing fires of
a renowned blacksmith and etched in the back of the people with a heart that
chooses to be deliberately unmindful of the people’s sufferings.
That APC, by the virtue of their
worsening abysmal performances everywhere they go, both at the federal and state
levels, has since grown into that monstrous party not fitting to replace itself
in any election in the name of continuity, is no longer news. What is news is
that they still have the temerity to present themselves for election after all
they have done to Nigeria just within one year! Nobody, not even the good people
of Edo State would want a continuity of suffering, of human degradation,
infrastructural decay, ethnic discrimination and general underdevelopment.
These are some of the ‘natural’
traits of the All Progressives Congress which are well known not only to
Nigerians but also to the whole world. In other climes, where service to the
people is a priority and the elevation of their standard of living is government’s
main focus, the party would not be going about insulting the sensibilities of
Nigerians by wildly gyrating with so much brazenness as we saw the president’s
delegation do in APC’s grand rally in Edo recently.
It is only a government without
shame for its widely acknowledged failures and a party without human sympathy
for the mega-sufferings it has visited on the people that would embark on such
a banal celebration of the destruction of a people and their nation without
restraint in so short a time.
Since APC took charge of
governance, the people can barely live and hardly survive. The hunger in the
land is real and the frustration palpable. Nigeria, right under the nose of
President Buhari and his gyrators, has slid into its worst recession in
history. Millions have lost their jobs as companies after companies, both local
and international, keep closing shops due to the economic hardship. Yet, the
price of foodstuff keeps rising while the naira has been adjudged the worst
performing currency in the whole wide world after Suriname and Venezuela. What
a story!
This is after all the grandiose
promises of turning the moon into sunlight for Nigerians and creating a state
of Eldorado and Utopia for them. However, the Nigerian state has since become
the legendary Hobbesian State where life is not only nasty and short but also
brutish under the watch of APC. With the free rein of death in the hands of
terrorist Fulani herdsmen all over the country, the extra-judicial murders and
endless incarceration of citizens even against court orders by state agents,
the descent of Nigeria into the Hobbesian state of anomie is confirmed.
A nation that, just over a year
ago, used to be the pride of Africa and the bride of investors competitively
courted by the discerning international business community has suddenly become
a sorry state of its recent past glory.
Rather than deliver on its
campaign promises, the All Progressives Congress has spent its entire life in
government delivering excuses to the people to the extent that even the party’s
core supporters and followers have since abandoned it to its lonely fate.
Now to get the votes of Edo
people, the APC train has revived its old machinery of mendacity, revved its
engine of casuistry and embarked on its familiar campaign of sophistry wrapped
in oratorical sophistication. Like they did at the federal level, they are
promising the people heaven on earth. A party that cannot achieve any of its
myriad of promises, not even one, at the federal level despite the vast and
enormous resources at its disposal cannot achieve anything in a state known for
its peace, industry and rich culture.
The people of Edo must not fall
for the antics of the antiques, beautiful outside but full of deceit inside.
With the benefit of hindsight, Nigerians have come to conclude, and rightly so,
that they made a huge mistake by handing something as weighty as their destiny
to Buhari and his battery of APC disciples. The regret is loud and resounding,
from Abuja to Katsina, from Imo to Ondo, from Plateau to Enugu, from Kano to
Osun, the story is the same.
The days of ignorance will be
forgiven, but will Edo people make the same mistake Nigeria made on March 28,
2015, the day they purportedly voted APC into power out of ignorance? Doing so
now that the party’s gross incompetence and deceit are well documented would amount
to committing an error of unpardonable consequences.
It is the utmost desire of
Nigerians to take their destiny back in their own hands, retrace their steps
and start correcting the mistake that APC has been. There is no other divinely
set opportunity for such rectification other than the Edo governorship
election. Whether Nigerians have learnt their lessons or not will be determined
by the people of Edo on Saturday.
A “change” that has brought
nothing but chains to the people deserves to be changed urgently. Pastor Osagie
Ize-Iyamu is the one on whose shoulders Providence has placed the unenviable
but noble task of rescuing the good people of Edo. With his SIMPLE agenda, and
the huge support he has enjoyed among all Edolites and Nigerians, he is
obviously the people’s saving choice!
jrndukwe@yahoo.co.uk;
Twitter: @Stjudendukwe; Facebook: Jude Chijioke Ndukwe
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