The Holy Book claims that it is a dangerous thing for a human conscience to become seared. In such an occurrence, the conscience which is supposed to be an inbuilt moral-compass to help navigate between good and evil is compromised. When the human conscience is seared then all evil is tolerable and good is assaulted by unreasoning and that is what is currently playing out in Nigeria of today.
During the last circle of electioneering in Nigeria and within the intervening periods, a lot has happen and things are still happening. There is no doubt that the Muhammadu Buhari administration was passed a fractured nation reeling under sundry challenges, especially a downward economy and a culture of impunity. It is quite disheartening that we are back to the ear that once a person criticises or speaks truth to power, all manner of imputations are made about it.
These are interesting times to be in Nigeria and it is not interesting on account of anything spectacular but by the sheer magnitude of people living in desperation whilst a fraction are embedded in delusion on account of their position in the society. When people are living in despair and are dispirited; only hope is a necessary verdant but ironically nothing of such is in the horizon in Buhari’s Nigeria. Now, when we look to the future, it promises nothing inspiring and when hope is deferred then the essence of living is called to question.
Perhaps this is what informed Moremi Ojudu, a young Nigerian lady to take to the social media to vent her opinion about the direction of things in the country not too long ago. Embolden by the power of her convictions, she fired a public letter to President Muhammadu Buhari two days past, stating the obvious: “Nigerian have a weight of pains that they are grappling with”. Nigerians have slipped into a dangerous curve unable to adumbrate any sense or even hope for the future in the face of increasing pains and frustration.
The future though distant has taken a form deficient in imagination and that is permissible given the prevalence of anxieties, accusations and counter-accusations by the present government and the immediate past one over the handling of the country. There is still much politics in place of governance.
The letter is both profound and instructive for all Nigerians who are mindful of history. Only less than two years ago, the gale of promises made by then candidate Buhari is yet to be translated long after the election. Indeed, campaigns allow for poetic licence and candidates take advantage to made promises, mostly outlandish promises but ascendancy into office has exposed inadequate and uncritical appraisals.
Nigerians are over-loaded with over bearing burden. Harsh economic realities and spiralling cost of living has reduced the Nigerian economy into a recession. Recession is just a word says the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun but it has left Nigerians battered.
A fractured, divisive and poorly managed economy would essentially provoked sharp commentary and it is not unexpected for some to speak truth to power and that is simply what Moremi Ojudu has elected to do. Her public letter to President Muhammadu Buhari is a compelling and informed piece worth reading and I comment all to read it. Some commentators have left the kernel of her argument to attack her. What a pity for such petty minded individuals. They miss a fundamental lesson in how to engage citizenry in true partnership for national development.
If some people perceive that there is inertia in the land, the government owes it a duty to communicate to the people, if it is otherwise. Some people are sick and tired of the huge disappointment which the country has turned out to be over the years and to continue to live a lie is simply unacceptable to people with a living conscience. If the likes of Moremi are alarmed at the rookie year of President Muhammadu Buhari and the second is posting a similar result then it is within our fundamental right to make our fears public. No amount of intimidation and back peddling of the obvious truth can torpedo the truth. Nigerians are having a rough time and only a sensible balance and true reflection of the current position would make government do the needful.
As we continue to grapple with the reality of today’s Nigeria, the voice of the people demanding for an improvement must be heard. It must ring out loud and clear. It is within our right to capture this languid moment for prosperity and it is the responsibility of government to respond by alleviating our living condition.
We have reached a junction in our nation, when questioning public officers, regardless of their position over their stewardship, both whilst and out of office is a fundamental imperative. A culture of asking questions is the panacea to aloofness, impunity and feelings within government circles as an attempt to undermine them. For Muhammadu Buhari, it is question time. He made promises to us in the build-up to the last general elections, when would he deliver? How many has been fulfilled and how much time, shall we have to wait?
If government is serious about cleansing the Augean stable in our nation, we should be ready to accept truths wholesale and on the strength of them move our nation in the right direction and not by shouting inanities. Allegations are questions seeking answers and if government is sincere enough to admit that hardship stalks the land, then what is being done to alleviate the living conditions of Nigerians beyond mere platitudes. That is what we want to know and that is exactly what Moremi Ojudu wants to know.
Aside from addressing the concerns of Nigerians for good living, government should be mindful of the fury of history in the event of dashed hopes and promises. The hailers and wailers of President Buhari would not be anywhere near the judgement seat of history when posterity shall judge him.
Rotimi Opeyeoluwa wrote from Abuja.
