Opinion
Opinion: Nigeria Will Not Survive the 2019 Presidential Election, By Femi Aribisala
What we witnessed in the recently concluded election was the death knell of democracy in Nigeria.
For those of us who had hoped against hope, the 2019 presidential election has proved to be the last straw. We are now convinced that Nigeria is a hopeless case. This country is not just a major disappointment; it is decidedly firmly on the trajectory of a future break up.
Today, the silence in the Nigerian political space is deafening. Just look back to 2015 and before, when there was vibrant debate about almost everything under the sun. But now it is “siddon look.” We just had an election that was no election and more like selection. It was even more a mini civil-war, characterised by killings, voter suppression and intimidation, ballot-snatching and falsification of results.
There was even a case where the electoral umpire claimed he was made to declare a false result at gunpoint. But in spite of the bogus outcome of the elections, nobody is fighting anymore. Nobody is burning tyres today or demonstrating in the streets. Instead, people are watching and waiting to see what will happen. Surely, this cannot be the end of the matter.
Phyrric Victory
The so-called victors are jubilant, reading the eerie silence as mission accomplished. However, the omen is bleak and dire. It is always better when people express their feelings freely. That way, you know exactly where they stand. But when everything is bottled up as it is now, then you know we are in for trouble. Sooner, rather than later, the dam will burst.
Only those who have been bought, or political sycophants looking for scraps of the stolen pie, are talking. They are giving back-slaps and high-fives to the phyrric victors. Meanwhile, wisdom and reason have concluded that Nigeria is a lost cause. No point waiting for another farce in 2023. Now is the time for all good people to leave the country; either physically or psychologically.
It is now clear that those who believe they have a future have no part in this failed and discredited state called Nigeria. To your tents, O Israel!
Those who make peaceful change impossible, make forcible change inevitable. But that is not to suggest military intervention is the answer. We have already done that and got the t-shirt. All the military did, in all their years in power, was to drag Nigeria through the mud. There is no point putting any hope in them again, after all, it is the same military men who hijacked the democratic system simply by taking off their uniforms and putting on agbadas.
Things Fall Apart
Seeing the template established in this fraudulent 2019 election, the inevitable conclusion, at least to me, is that this Nigeria cannot survive. The message of the 2019 election is that Nigeria is doomed to disintegration. Things have fallen apart and the centre cannot hold.
The message is that the powers-that-be are determined that we must be satisfied willy-nilly with incompetence. They say we must put up with economic failure. They insist our new status as the poverty capital of the world is to be commended. They tell us returning Nigeria to major debt status is next-level achievement. They tell us to celebrate abject failure as glorious success.
If you were to believe the lie, our leaders have resuscitated the naira. They have nullified power blackouts. They have removed the petroleum subsidy. They have reduced the pump price of petrol. They have created millions and millions of new jobs. Our hospitals are no longer consulting clinics. Life and property is now secure in Nigeria. Our agricultural sector has been suitably revamped.
So a new panoply of ambitious political mavericks came out, talking up public policy, debating the issues, offering new ideas for the renewal of the national mandate. Among these were Kingsley Moghalu, Oby Ezekwesili, Tope Fasua, Fela Durotoye and Omoyele Sowore. I shared their delusion in thinking the Nigerian political system was amenable to change.
Our leaders have achieved self-sufficiency in food production in Nigeria. They have killed corruption in the land. They have rebuilt our roads and bridges. They have defeated Boko Haram and rescued the Chibok girls. They have restored the reputation of Nigeria in the comity of nations. As a result of these glorious achievements, the current government not only won re-election, it did so with a resoundingly bigger majority than before.
Dashed Hopes
All this makes 2019 a major watershed in Nigerian political history. For some reason, hopes were rekindled during the campaigns; only to be dashed ruthlessly. The times are so bad, our situation so worrisome, that many presidential hopefuls came out of the woodwork. It was time to rescue Nigeria. It was time to change the dismal trajectory of the nation’s history.
Surely, even the blind can see that we cannot go on like this. Surely, these crop of current Nigerian leadership will be thrown out by a despondent electorate. It was time for a new page; a new departure. What we needed was our very own Mercutio proclaiming a plague on both the houses of our delinquent political establishment of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
So a new panoply of ambitious political mavericks came out, talking up public policy, debating the issues, offering new ideas for the renewal of the national mandate. Among these were Kingsley Moghalu, Oby Ezekwesili, Tope Fasua, Fela Durotoye and Omoyele Sowore. I shared their delusion in thinking the Nigerian political system was amenable to change. I believed with them that we are all fed up with the status quo.
So they formed new parties, toured the country, pumped flesh, marshalled new agendas; only to meet their Waterloo at the discredited polls. They obtained, or were awarded, an insignificant fraction of the millions of fabricated votes. So completely were they crushed that there is even talk now of making it difficult, if not impossible, for other parties to contest in future elections apart from the tweedledee and tweedledum of the APC and the PDP.
Failed Nigeria
The message of our Caesars in Abuja is without ambiguity: there is no room for change in the politics of Nigeria. Under no legal circumstances will those who have ceased power by deception and subterfuge willingly relinquish it for the sake of some nebulous construct called democracy. To hell with power to the people, they insist in one accord. Power belongs to the professional politicians in Nigeria, and forever so shall it be.
The Nigerian electorate itself is no better inclined. God says in the scriptures about the Israel of old: “The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and my people love to have it so.” (Jeremiah 5:31).
The 2019 elections show that a substantial number of Nigerians, especially in the North, are convinced this failed country called Nigeria is the best that Nigeria can be. Indeed, if the verdict of the doctored polls were to be believed, then most Nigerians are very much in love with this malignant Nigeria.
They love a Nigeria that is poverty-stricken, where our leaders are thieves, armed-robbers and pen-robbers, where beggars and vagabonds roam the streets, where the illiterate and the uneducated are the champions of public policy, where human life is worthless and people are massacred in numbers every day. Nigerians, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adore a Nigeria where truth has fallen in the streets and justice is an orphan.
Death-knell of Democracy
Never again. If there is anything to be learnt from the experience of the failed new idealists who ran for president in mushrooming parties this time around and lost their shirts, it is that Nigerian politics is a complete waste of time. The electorate has apparently never believed in the polls. They know their votes will not count. They know the only time politicians have any regard for them is during election campaigns.
The system has been rigged so that every election in Nigeria will now be determined by those who have filled the voting register with underage voters. So doing, your chances of being elected to high office are excellent if you are an incompetent, a crook, or a thief to boot. Otherwise, you don’t stand a chance.
So, if they can get a small bag of rice or garri from the charlatans running for office, or maybe even just N1,000 for their thumbprint, that will do just fine. If you can give them even more, so they can attack polling booths in opposition strongholds and make away with the ballot boxes, they are ready. If you can give them lunch, so they can incite a riot, so an election being lost is declared inconclusive, they will do it. Thereby, the victor becomes the vanquished.
As a result, we will not see the idealism of 2019 come 2023, should this misnomer we call Nigeria still exist by then. The newcomers are once bitten, twice shy. Even now, by the time we came to the gubernatorial elections, after the farce of the presidential, Nigerians had lost all interest in democracy. Most people did not even bother to come out to vote again.
Of course, this did not prevent states like Kaduna from recording more fabricated votes in the gubernatorial election than even Kano did fictitiously in the presidential election. In short, what we witnessed in the recently concluded election was the death knell of democracy in Nigeria.
So what is the answer?
Goodbye Nigeria
More and more people are going to vote with their feet. The industrious and the enterprising are going to seek greener pastures elsewhere, having concluded that Nigeria is a lost cause. They will go to Canada, to Australia, to those countries where merit is rewarded and excellence is the watchword. The smart ones who stay behind will start insisting on the dismemberment of this bogus contraption called Nigeria.
What the 2019 election tells me, in no uncertain terms, is that the future of Nigeria lies in the breakup of Nigeria. It is not what I want. It is not what I desire. But it is there in the cards.
I have written on several occassions that Nigeria should remain united. I said again and again that Nigeria cannot do without the Igbo. I have shouted in the wilderness that Nigeria cannot do without the North. But I have now reached the conclusion that, under the present circumstances, the breakup of Nigeria is inevitable. It is just a matter of time.
This is not a prediction: it is a warning. It is a call to arms. It comes from the realisation that the Nigerian political system has now been programmed so that every election will now be decided by those whose votes can be bought with 30 pieces of silver.
The system has been rigged so that every election in Nigeria will now be determined by those who have filled the voting register with underage voters. So doing, your chances of being elected to high office are excellent if you are an incompetent, a crook, or a thief to boot. Otherwise, you don’t stand a chance.
I congratulate all those who won infamous victories in the just concluded elections. But “send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Destiny Friends,
We are all familiar with the Law of karma, which implies that every action has consequences, or that whatever a person does comes back to them. It’s also known as the law of cause and effect, which means for any action, there’s usually a corresponding consequence.
This has a close resemblance to a foremost scientist, Isaac Newton’s theory, the Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, which states that “whatever goes up must come down”.
The principle and ideology behind these laws and principles are centered on the principle of life that stays, the way you lay your bed that’s the way you will lay on it. The question we need to ask ourselves is what seeds are we sowing? It’s instructive to note that nobody plants an orange seed and reaps a mango fruit, nor can a watermelon seed produce a pineapple fruit.
The principle of sowing and reaping is sacrosanct. It is whatever one sows that they will reap. This principle is universal. When you sow a seed, you might not get the result immediately, but you will get it in due time by and by.
As a man, when you treat your spouse with love and affection, you will surely get a reciprocal from her, and as a woman there’s the tendency to reciprocate a support from a partner, especially when he is down. These are laws that work with conscience and heart of gratitude of the recipient. No doubt, common sense entails one does the needful.
As a business owner, when you invest in your company and staff, you are bound to reap the fruits in due time. As a parent, when you invest in your children’s good home training and quality education, you’ll be glad for the foundation you laid at your old age.
As a progressive mind, when you invest in reading books, building sustainable relationships, networking, learning skills and adding value to your life, updating and upgrading your life via personal development, you are bound to reap the fruits of your labour.
The challenge most people have is that they haven’t taken time to learn, nor have they taken time to sow the seeds that will create opportunity for them. Some people are just comfortable with begging or looking for parasitic opportunities where they haven’t invested time and resources. Some people are even entitled to someone’s work just because they are friends, family or have a form of relationship. This shouldn’t be the case. As human beings, it’s important for one to be intentional and strategic. Nobody likes to be “used”, rather people like to give value to their time and money.
It is important to note that any seed one sows today, will produce the fruit they will either eat or need tomorrow. In my personal development journey, I was a little bit confused on how I wanted to execute my vision. Because I lacked the right mentors to strategically guide and inspire me, I began to live my life based on experience with no set plan.
In some cases I failed, and in some cases I was able to make an impact. However, one thing is certain, I was moving in the direction I needed by being at the right events and meeting the right people. In the course of time, I began to see myself gaining clarity about my interest. Overtime, I had mentors who were instrumental in guiding and strategically positioning me in the right direction.
When I look back in retrospect, I can only give God the glory because the little works and skills I invested in my life have gradually begun to pay back. The moral here is that I sowed the seeds I am reaping today. It took a while, but it finally came through. This experience has shown me one can get to any height in life, in addition to getting recognition when one is consistent, intentional and passionate about a cause.
Whether you are a boxer, teacher, singer, athlete, journalist, lawyer, coach, writer or minister of the gospel, please do it diligently, and if what you are doing is your purpose in life, the universe has a way of conspiring with you to get to the top.
When people say someone is lucky, blessed, privileged, smart, highly connected to a mentor, or resource person, they are just crafting words of art to describe or qualify their point just to convey a message. This is because though all these words might play a role, if one has not taken a time to do the work, the required opportunity will not pop out and even if they pop out, and one is not destined for the opportunity, the corresponding blessings will not come.
The question we need to ask ourselves is what are we doing with our lives? What seeds are we sowing for the blessings and opportunities we are hoping to get. In my native belief in law, there’s a latin maxim that says “Nemo dat quod non habet” which translates to ‘you can’t give what you don’t have’. This is the reality of many people. They want money, but don’t want to work. They want opportunities but don’t want to intern or serve in probono capacity. They want favours just because they are related or have a kind of relationship with someone, and therefore, automatically believe it will rub off on them without them giving substantiated reasons why they need support. These sets of people believe wealth is sexually transmitted.
I can go on and on, but as a sage will say, a word is enough for the wise.
In conclusion, as you journey through life, always remember that whatever you sow has a way of coming back to you, if not today, in your old age, or transmuted to your children. Just like when you assist your boss in saving money, tomorrow when you have a company, your employees will pay you back without you knowing it’s the deed you invested many years ago. As a single man or lady, when you derive joy in sleeping with married women or men, just know that you will get a corresponding visit in due time.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
As human beings, our desires and needs can be insatiable. This is because when one task is accomplished, there’s always the tendency to set our minds for another immediate goal. Even when we get our basic needs, we usually have the urge to get another need. There’s nothing wrong with that however, because it’s only unambitious and docile minds, that would like to dwell in their comfort zones.
In the journey of life, everyone desires prosperity, though not knowing that prosperity is actually a human heritage because everyone is born to win. Prosperity however, doesn’t only mean financial breakthrough, but can also refer to health, academia, family, business, and personal improvement. To prosper in any of these areas, one must understand the basics and the necessary appurtenances that come with similar positions.
Let’s take a minute to explain how these factors play a role in creating prosperity. For instance, to have great health, one doesn’t need to spend more; simple personal hygiene like exercise, good rest, good food, good fruits and more, play a great role. When one engages in all these, they will discover their mental and physical well-being will be in good shape. The same principle is applicable to a student who has done the needful in studying the foundational elements of his major; he stands a better chance of getting a good grade.
If the same principle is applied in personal businesses through creation of excellent product or service, one will never lack clients again. In business, customers love good delivery. When your work is good, people will naturally flow towards you.
The family is not an exception. To build a family, the foundation is very important. The same principle is applicable in our personal and professional lives. When one is intentional in building good values and character, it has a way of robbing off the person in their personal and professional lives.
The symbolic nature of this analysis is that for any great establishment, one must be consistent in building it. It takes a process for someone to be successful. So, whether you are building a brand in business, academic, health, or personal development, every single step one takes is very important in the development or success of that project. When you accumulate all the steps, it has a holistic prospect of making one’s brand unique.
Just to share a practical example of how excellence works – Imagine having an opportunity to meet a legend, who can be a president of a country, Chief Executive Officer of a reputable organization, a Governor of a state, a celebrity of high esteem or even a resource person of interest and you begin to request for money instead of asking questions in order to learn more from them, you might lose them. An intentional being can take time to study the person by building a strong relationship via communication, volunteering for the person, reading the work of the person or even by giving them gifts; all these are proactive actionable steps of creating prosperity, which speak volumes about the person.
Most times, when we want money, wealth, opportunities and prosperity, and we think they are far from us, but the simple truth is that they are within us if only we are able to look deep inside ourselves critically. For instance, if you have a business you are engaged in, no matter how little it is, and is diligent in serving your clients with excellent customer service relationships, it has a potential of scaling up, especially when you deliver excellent service.
Did you know one can build excellence by building the relationship in terms of value with the resource persons? It is the positive work one does that will attract global favours and opportunities. The favour and opportunity will not come one day, but I strongly believe it will come, especially when one is working on purpose.
The mistake most people make in life is that they give up too easily either because the desired returns they are expecting are yet to arrive, or they are not passionate, or vision oriented enough about the cause.
Let me share a practical experience. During my formative years in the USA, then I was still working as a security officer, one of my mentors asked me, ‘Henry, what would you want to do with your life in the near future?’ He advised me to take my time to think about the question before answering it. While I was reflecting on the question, he said, what is one thing you know you can do in life, and you know you won’t fail? I said, I want to be a youth advocate.
He said, you have said this quite a few times, but you need to be engaged in meaningful work before your advocacy work will be appreciated. He further asked me, what’s your passion? I said inspiring youths. He looked at me and said, I know you love youth work, but how do you intend to do this? What will you be teaching them? I said, I will be inspiring them. He looked at me and smiled. It was at this moment; I realized I had much work to do. He finally said to me, before you can inspire anyone, you must have inspired yourself by distinguishing yourself in a particular work which will be compelling to the youths because your work will come with commensurate experience and stories.
Looking back in retrospect, I can definitely relate to what my mentor was saying. Why am I sharing this? Excellence does not come in one day. It takes a process. Over a period of about 15 years, I have directly or indirectly been involved in youth advocacy, and this work has really distinguished and announced me in many quarters. My most recent award was from the White House with President Biden’s signature on it.
Now, you see that one’s work, backed by excellence can create prosperity.
According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, prosperity does not create excellence. Rather, the reverse is what holds true. Excellence creates prosperity. Therefore, from today, start the process of discovering your own personal excellence; your own best path to fulfillment. Then, every day, walk that path.”
The moral of this quote above is that money will not make you prosperous. It is your work that will attract money and prosperity for you, when they are good. Isn’t it true that nobody patronizes a bad product? No customer or client gives tips on a bad service. No good teacher rewards a lazy student, and no great company promotes a lackadaisical staff to an enviable height. Again, have you seen that it is one’s work which is backed by excellence that creates prosperity.
In conclusion, if you desire prosperity or want would like to receive awards and recognition, discover what makes you unique, create your own path and serve humanity by solving problems in an excellent way. Trust me, if you diligently do this, you will understand the meaning of the best form of doing business is personal referral.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Happy New Year and compliments of the season!
It’s always a thing of joy to see a new day, new week, new month, new year, new decade, and a new century. The occasion really calls for celebration. At the beginning of each year, we all desire to have new blessings, new opportunities, new successes, new health and more. The big question we need to ask ourselves is how one can we attract these opportunities, and blessings attached.
I will try to be practical in my thoughts and opinions. To attract blessings into one’s life is not difficult, in fact, it is one of the easiest things to do. This is because it costs less to be healthy, and it costs more to be unhealthy. It sounds confusing right? Okay, let me explain a little, to stay healthy, one can take fruits, exercise, do a yearly checkup, sleep, meditate, think positive amidst other activities. Literally looking at it, it might appear expensive and hard to accomplish but imagine the cost it will take to visit the hospital to undergo a medical procedure just because you neglected your health.
It’s instructive to note that the human body system doesn’t ordinarily break down, it takes a little bit of process which accumulates. Imagine if one has taken time to do exercise, eat healthy, and rest, most of the illnesses we suffer will drastically reduce.
So, as already stated, to attract opportunities and blessings into one’s life is not difficult; it’s just a matter of attitude. Like I always say, you’ll get what you want faster when you help other people to achieve what they want. To attract these opportunities is not rocket science, all we need to do is to apply the right attitude.
We are just three days into the year 2025, many of us have made resolutions of what we will do and what we will stop to be productive. Do you know the fastest way to attract blessings into your life is to have a good attitude? Attitude is a currency. Net worth is a currency. Relationship is a currency. Impact is a currency. For one to tap into these currencies one needs to have a good attitude. It’s your attitude that will make people to either like or despise you.
If you don’t have a good attitude, you won’t attract the opportunity that will bless you. Let me share a little secret that has worked for me over the years. I am a very intentional person. Most times, I pay it forward without knowing. I have since discovered that when one pays it forward by helping someone in need, the blessings are usually humongous. For instance, sometimes, just because I want someone to utter a form of prayer or goodwill like it will be well with you; God bless you, you will not lack; may God provide for you and your family, I will intentionally give them money or a kind of support.
Sometimes, I may make a purchase and decide to tell the seller to keep the change if I see the seller is struggling or it will put smiles on the face of the person. This is a skill I have mastered over time. It’s not really easy I must say, but it has over time, worked for me.
So, to attract the blessings of 2025 and beyond, consider offering yourself as a life of service to people in need. Don’t do it with a vested interest. There are many people in need in our society. Find time to see how you can support people financially, academically, spiritually, emotionally and otherwise. Trust me, if you can carry out this assignment diligently, the opportunities and blessings that will come upon you will have a ripple effect.
Again, to attract opportunities and blessings into your life, consider having a mentor with a positive influence, connect with successful people, attend workshops, read voraciously, especially on areas of interest so you can gain expertise, and acquire general knowledge; practice gratitude by showing appreciation and kindness, and most importantly, pray and acknowledge the role of God as a higher power, depending on the faith and belief you practice.
In conclusion, life is generally about you, but not necessarily about you, it’s also about others. When you focus on yourself, your rewards might be less compared to when you focus on others. So, consider having a disposition of love, genuine affection, kindness, support and appreciation mixed with gratitude, and see how life will smile at you. Trust me, the universe will conspire to support you.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
