IT’S ABOUT THE PEOPLE OR ISN'T IT?

The problem with Nigeria is that we do not follow through or keep a story going for long. I am going to use Delta state as an example of what I mean. When a news item breaks, everyone is outraged and then within a week, another one breaks and we completely abandon the previous one, all our questions still unanswered, we just move on.  This works well for our leaders as I can picture a novice amongst them panicking at the break of an outrageous occurrence concerning him/her and the old hands saying to him/her, "Calm down, it will blow over in a week or two." It usually does; no answers, just swept under the carpet and forgotten.

The Nigerian media is excellent at exposing corruption but are also paid off to kill off the stories. They have learnt, over the years to use this method to enrich themselves. They are no longer the conscience of the people but the people’s sell-out. The exception to this are the online media like the Saharareporters but they are handicapped because their target audience are people who are only excited by the news of the moment and who do not understand the power that an individual can have in the way they disseminate information. They pass on these news as gossips or leave comments such as "Yes oo", “ lol”, ”Na wah oh”, ”Oh God save us!”, ”God will surely punish them”. Resignation! Consequently, we cannot rely on them to stay on a story to a logical conclusion as they are eager to hear and pass on the next one even though they have neither proffered a solution nor heard of any improvement regarding the previous issues. 

We as citizens do not yet understand how powerful, interest and pressure groups can be as many of us form or join these groups with the sole purpose of being settled by those who hold the knife to the national cake. No wonder many of us who hold out are termed as a hungry lot. Many think we are speaking up because we want to be noticed, approached and settled; not for our genuine desire for lasting change that is beneficial for all.

My big question is, “Where are those Deltans who were elected to the Delta State House of Assembly (DSHA) but not under the PDP? Why have we not been hearing from them? Is it because they have been suckered in by the PDP administration to the point that we can no longer differentiate them from those in PDP? Have their mouths been stuffed with so many goodies that they have been silenced for good? 

It is widely believed that Chief Great Ogboru should be the one occupying the State house at Asaba. Although he has not been able to prove this through the courts because of the corruption that has eaten deep into our judicial system ONE THING IS CERTAIN, HE WAS DECLARED SECOND IN THE RACE FOR THE GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION IN DELTA STATE. Chief Ogboru, to the best of my knowledge had lived in the UK and is surely aware of the way the opposition can shape things in a democratic society. Britain is not like Nigeria in so many ways and I understand that. Why has Chief Ogboru not taken up the mantle of the opposition leadership? Why has he not formed a shadow cabinet that would sit in council and speak/act on behalf of the people of Delta state? I believe whole-heartedly that anyone would be better than Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan but why has Chief Ogboru not taken up his role as the leader of the opposition in Delta State seriously? Why has he not shown Deltans that he is on their side, that he appreciates their support? Why has he not shown Deltans that he is different and would have done better if he was given the chance by those who dictate who wins or loses? All he needed to do was appoint those he would have appointed as commissioners, to his shadow cabinet and take it from there. Other states would have followed and Nigeria might just be a notch better for it and Chief Ogboru would get the credit for the trend. I am not being naive here; this is a harmless but very potent position that has remained vacant and begging for occupation, not just in Delta State but nationwide and at the Federal level. YOU'LL NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU TRY.

If we had a Shadow Minister/Commissioner for Education for instance, s/he would issue press releases regarding issues arising from the Federal/State Ministry of Education. S/he would be our eye and be on such cases making sure we are informed of progress made. S/he would follow a case to its logical conclusions on behalf of the ordinary people. If the government also know that they have a strong opposition that keeps an eagle eye on what they are doing, that is tended towards the people, that would correctly inform the people, it might make just a little difference to the way they do things or misinform us and our people would be better off for it after all, all we are working towards is for our people to get a better lease of life and this would have made Chief Great Ogboru and others like him all around the nation, the most powerful people in the nation. This role has been left entirely to those commonly known as the the INTERNET WARRIORS or HUNGRY NIGERIANS, depending on who you ask. 


Some would opine that we practise a presidential system of government that has no provisions for a Shadow cabinet but I would disagree because the American Presidential system has a very vocal, robust and proactive opposition. The opposition in America does not go to sleep nor become one with the ruling government after the election, they take on the role of a shadow cabinet, keeping an eagle eye on the government to see that the people get what they deserve. In fact the American opposition even goes as far as ensuring that some people-orientated bills do not pass because they want to bring down the ruling government, this is not my idea of constructive opposition. I would advocate for an opposition that truly has the interest of the people at the centre of their actions and not one that wants to score political points and aims at making sure the government in power fails. This is because when two elephants fight, the grass suffers and I am mostly concerned about the 'Grass'.

The opposition does not also have to be critical all the time. They can criticise the way the State governments do things, proffer  solutions or suggest alternatives and can actually praise them when they start achieving good results. The role of the opposition is not to make sure that the government fails, their role is to see that the government is held accountable to their actions and words on behalf of the people. The opposition can play a very crucial role of putting in the necessary checks and balances while supporting the government WHEN THEY EARN OR DESERVE IT. The opposition should be people of unquestionable character who would not compromise their loyalty to the people by soiling their fingers and can actually work side by side, with the government for the BENEFIT OF THE GENERALITY OF OUR PEOPLE. 


It’s about the people or isn’t it?

Comments

  1. You are right. We are yet to understand the power of strategic,uncompromising pressure groups in Nigeria. I can relate to the press sell out because I worked in a media house and I saw how pressmen turn hired praise-singers because they were not well paid by their establishments.
    My trouble is that a large fraction of Nigerians are not enlightened and honest enough to organize functional pressure groups.

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