LAURETTA ONOCHIE

Many years ago, before the advent of Paracetamol, APC was the medicine for headache, stomachache and indeed, all aches and pains. Today Nigeria has a headache, a bellyache and all known and unknown aches and pains. The good news is that we know the cause of most of these aches. Diagnosis? Corruption and the poor leadership of the PDP! But it looks like the good old tablet,  APC is back in Nigeria; not in chemists and pharmacies, but as a political conglomeration that promises to heal Nigeria of many of her aches and pains, commonly known as PDP wahala. It is the ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC). Hear them, "We resolve to form a political party committed to the principles of internal democracy, focused on serious issues of concern to OUR PEOPLE, determined to bring corruption and insecurity to an end, determined to grow our economy and create jobs in their millions through education, housing, agriculture, industrial growth etc, and stop the increasing mood of despair and hop...

Child's play! Literarily, that's what the Nigerian leadership is. The sort of thoughts, mind sets and actions of this sham of a democratic government makes one cringe at the thought of being a Nigerian. How did we get to this pass? How did a nation of intelligent, educated, sophisticated and determined people end up having the dregs of their nation presiding over them? In case you think I am being too harsh, I'll quickly explain what I mean. You see, I grew up in Nigeria and lived there until a few years ago. I have since, as a teacher learnt that playground antics are the same or at least similar all over the world. Children engage in crude bargaining methods and mete out appropriate retaliatory sanctions when in their childish and selfish minds, their friends are out of line. It is not uncommon to hear children say, "You know I don't like John and you played with him, since the football is mine, you will therefore not join in my football game?." Man...

As the whole world was glued to their TV sets, watching as events unfolded in Egypt, the only thought on my mind was about my nation, Nigeria and her long-suffering but docile people. Somebody asked what was wrong with the Egyptians and my answer was that nothing was wrong with them. The Egyptians are a determined people who would not settle for less. They know where they are headed and they will stop at nothing to get there. They have a destination, their own brand of democracy and no obstinate Morsi would stand in their way. They have not cared, nor listened to those who opined that the obstinate Morsi was democratically elected. In their own thinking, if he fouled the terms of his mandate, the Egyptians were not going to keep their own part of the bargain. Simple. Would the world ever have the opportunity to see a re-enactment of the Egyptian saga in Nigeria? My candid opinion would be, "Never". And there are many reasons why I have hastily come to that conclusio...