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
Dear Destiny Friends,
One of the fastest ways of making a headway in life is having the right attitude. A right attitude is priceless, and grants easy access to and from people. This is in clear contrast with a nasty attitude, which attracts distaste and repulsion.
Attitude permeates relationships with fellow human beings at work, school or public spaces. People can literally see our personalities, mindsets, behaviors through our attitudes.
As a Human Capacity coach, one of the qualities I look for in any person is attitude. When you show an attitude that portrays allegiance to money as opposed to learning, your potential of going far in life will be limited. You luterally show you don’t have the capacity to be loyal when the chips are down.
While exhibiting the right attitude, theee is the possibility of everyone not agreeing with you, however, it is advisable not to burn bridges because you never know when you will need them. You can only do this when you have the right attitude to life.
The right attitude is a currency just like relationships, network, social media and value though a lot of people fail ro realiae the fact. In my relationship with the high and mighty in society and men of influence and affluence, I have seen how they perceive and interpret certain acts. What ordinarily might not amount to anything from an uninformed mind might be the icing on the cake for the great man. For instance, if a resourceful person asks you to do a job, it will be wise to do it for free. Resist the temptation to ask for money.
That’s a great way of marketing yourself to the person involved. If they appreciate your work, you might be surprised to get a good opportunity that catapults you to unimaginable heights.
Also, if the great man asks you to do some work, instead of saying, this is an opportunity to make some cool cash, consider doing the work with the least cost just to make him a potential client. I recently met a young man online who is good with YouTube videos, I asked him if he could cut a video for me, the amount he called was on the high side.
Be advised, I know value has to be appreciated. What this young man didn’t know was that I was testing his attitude with the hope of working with him, but quite unfortunately he failed the test. I had to devise an alternative means to get it done for free.
This is why mentorship is very important. When you have good mentors, they will advise you to think and serve in the right manner. Most young people always operate from a lack mindset. They want to eat their cakes and have it. They fail to understand that there’s seed time and harvest time.
In my relationship with some of my mentors, I have bought nice perfumes, shoes, and luxury gifts to them in appreciation of their kind counsel. What’s important here is not necessarily the amount per se, but the mindset and attitude. Be advised, I didn’t ask for money. I had to show them via my mindset, I’m not a burden so they can feel comfortable relating with me.
As a matter of fact, one of my mentors once said to me, I give him more money than he gives him. When you juxtapose this with contemporary youths, most of them are merely concerned about what they can get as opposed to what they can learn.
It’s instructive to note that it is your attitude and not your aptitude that will determine your altitude. With the right attitude, people will see through your thought process and mindset. My late mother will always say, when someone is talking, look beyond their words and focus on what’s inside their heart/mind. It’s just like communication, your focus is not on what’s being said, but on what is not being said.
One a personal note, I have learnt to study the attitude and mindset of many of my mentors, elders, friends, mentees, and strangers and this helped me a lot to relate with them differently. When you know how people behave, it will be easy to work with them. Sometimes, some people wonder how I relate smoothly with people and get things done, it’s simply a matter of attitude. One of my mentors once said, a general doesn’t fight many wars at the same time, a wise general selects his battles. That’s having the right attitude and perspective to life.
To understand how attitude works. There was a young boy who behaved badly, and his grandfather, an elderly, wise pastor, attempted to counsel him. The Pastor said, it’s as if we have two lions inside of us. One is good and the other is bad, and they both demand our obedience to them. The boy responded, which one wins? The Pastor said, the one fed. What’s the moral here? In the journey of life, it is what we feed that grows. If you feed a lion, a lion will grow into a deadly beast. If you take care of a woman, she’s likely to act soft towards you all things being equal. In the same vein, when an evil desire demands to be fed, we must say no. This is true because what we feed ultimately controls us.
The interesting facts about this Pastor and young man are centered on perspectives. It is how you see life that life will unfold to you. When some people fail in life, while positive minds will see it as an experience in which they hope to learn something from it, negative people see it as failure which has limited them from moving to the next stage in life. Again, while some people experience pain differently, some others react negatively to pain and this in turn hurts them more.
In conclusion, I don’t know what your experience is, nor do I know what you are going through, but one thing I can guarantee you is that, when you have a great attitude, your disposition will surely change. You’ll go far in life when you have a nice attitude.
Today, I charge you to learn how to relate with people with the right mindset and see how your life will unfold for good. I will conclude with the words of Maya Angelou; “People may forget what you say, people may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel” The only way to make people feel good is by having the right attitude.
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,
When you truly study top performers in any field, what sets them apart is not their physical skill; it is how they control their minds – Stan Beecham
There’s no gainsaying the fact that everyone loves the good things of life. Every human being loves the best academic, relationship, sports, luxury, vacation, entertainment, professional/vocation, can offer. The same goes for tangible things including food, gift items, clothings, automotive, jewelleries and a whole lot more.
In the same vein, every individual wishes to be the beat in whatever they are involved in. This is because when you are the best in what you do, the world will definitely seek you out.
To understand how this principle works, imagine a patient who is sick and he’s told the only person who can heal him is his supposed enemy who is an expert in a particular field. If the patient wants to live, he has no option but to seek the services of the said doctor.
Again, imagine a coach who is intentional in winning a major competition, he has no option of going to the competition with the best team regardless of whether he likes a particular athlete or not. The same principle is applicable in a professional work environment; your boss may not necessarily like you, but provided you are good at what you do, your boss will retain you. As a matter of fact, it is easier for a boss to fire an employee he likes, but who is not good in what he does than an employee he hates, but who is good in what he does.
The moral of this assertion is that when you are good at what you do, you don’t need much advertisement, your work will surely speak for you.
To get clarity and more insight on how being the best version of yourself works, during the on-going United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) conference, I observed that most of the speakers in the side-events were subject matter experts in their field such as climate change, health, education, security, youth affairs, technology, social development goals among others.
When you have distinguished yourself, it will be easier for people to work with you. It doesn’t matter if you have a degree or not, provided you can show results, and can speak, the world will resonate with you.
In my self-discovery journey, I have realized that one’s profession is what they are trained to do like an attorney or doctor, but your vocation is what you are paid to do like skilled job or 9-5 – your ministry is your calling, that’s where you find your talent, passion and gift. To be the best version of yourself, one has to be intentional in working on their ministries, and that’s where they will be celebrated.
Did you know you can meet any resourceful person in the world just by working on your ministry or passion. To actualize this, you will need to adopt the pareto principle which says that 20% of the effort, or input, leads to 80% of the output. The goal of this principle is to recognize that most things in life are not distributed evenly.
The key to understanding the Pareto Principle is to identify that around 20% of one’s actions on the most productive tasks lead to the most success. This principle enables us to spot the few important things that are happening and ignore the mass of unimportant and mundae things. which are serving as distractions.
The Pareto Principle is very powerful and it is applicable in many areas of life, including in business, relationships, learning, and marketing.
To become the best version of oneself, one must endeavor to discover their purpose and have the courage to pursue it with hard work, and believe in the power of luck to actualize it. I say this because it is very true for one to do all they are supposed to do, and still miss the opportunity because they don’t have luck. So, one has to be strategic in positioning themselves for the right opportunity. When you work according to your purpose and gift, it’s very easy for people to see how extraordinary you are.
Being the best does not relate to academics alone, one can be the best parent, employee, friend/partner, teacher, student, leader, athlete, and many more.
The best don’t really come to you by way of words, but actions. One can be the best by knowing himself and what’s unique about him. As a matter of fact, knowing oneself is the foundation of being the best version of oneself. It’s so sad that many people don’t really take time to understand themselves and that’s why they find themselves in a cobweb situation sometimes.
When you know who you are, your strength, weaknesses, personalities and what’s unique about you, you will stand a better chance to make the right choice because you will have clarity. This clarity will enable you to unleash your potential when you fail. It will also assist you to network with the right people, maximize your time wisely, appreciate who you are, and meditate day and night.
Being the best doesn’t always come easy. One must put effort to learning and doing the needful to get the desired attention and traction. Also, one must endeavor to get a mentor, who will advise and constructively criticise where necessary.
In conclusion, to discover what’s best about oneself, one will need to meditate, seek the face of God, know what makes them happy, explore other areas of interest by serving and volunteering in different capacities. Once you discover the niche that makes you happy, please spend valuable time to develop it because the day you discover your gift and what’s unique about you, that’s the day you become a millionaire.
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 and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Whoever says that money is not good is probably not aware that money solves most, if not all of life’s challenges. Without equivocation, money is good. It facilitates a lot of work and smooths the process. Rich, wealthy, and informed people, who understand how money works, know very well; you can use money to buy time, the same way the poor use time to buy money.
We all desire money but unfortunately, we fail to understand the principles surrounding the making and spending of money. It surely has a secret like any other area of life; every business has a secret, every family has a secret, every individual has a secret, every industry has a secret, every marriage has a secret, every team has a secret, and even every secret has a secret of survival. And if one does not understand the secret of any industry, they will have a hard time navigating through the industry.
Couple of years ago, I wrote an article titled, The Relativity of Success. In that article, I stressed on the importance of balancing life and success. While some people might value money, other parties might value family, career, health or even time. However, most people erroneously think money is the yardstick for measuring success. Yes, money might be one of the yardsticks, but it’s not the ultimate yardstick.
The secret to attracting money is by having a value the world needs. Value is very broad and relative. What might be valuable to someone might not be valuable to another person. But when it comes to money, value is a currency. To acquire this currency, you must either have a service or product that solves a problem.
It’s only lazy people who think they can easily attract money without doing any form of work. Isn’t it true that there’s no free lunch anywhere. Even when lunch is supposedly free, somebody has paid for it. Even if you don’t have a product or service to offer, please endeavor to have a sustainable value, which may be network, access or a form of information which boosts your resourcefulness.
I strongly believe everyone has a form of value, and there’s no harm in asking the question ‘how can I be of help to you?’ Everyone likes a helping hand, even a perfectionist.
According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, an accomplished ghost writer, “the money you will ever need to fulfill your obligations has been kept somewhere for you. It’s in the pockets of the people around you. However, they will release the money to you only if you add value of some kind to their lives. You can do this by offering some services or selling some products. Since you now know where your money is kept, resolve today to discover what product you should sell or what service you should offer to access their funds, but remember, all you must be in accordance with God’s principle.
Further to Dr. Garnett’s assertion, the money we seek is in someone’s pocket. The only guaranteed way of getting the money is by appealing to their conscience on what works for them. Unless you want to rob them of their hard-earned money, you can do simple research on what they like. For instance, if the person likes jokes, you can consider making them laugh, if the person is a sapio-sexual being, consider investing in knowledge and putting up a programme of interest that can strike a conversation. If the person likes supporting “causes” consider the option of having a Non-For-Profit organization and explain to the person how your organization matches their interest. Nobody likes to invest in what they are not passionate about.
Let me share a personal experience with you. I derive interest in networking with resourceful people, and as much I have met the rich and might in the society. I initially felt that because we are friends, a part of their wealth will flow to me, but that’s far from the truth. When I began to add value to my life by publishing inspiring and educational articles, published my first book, incorporated my company, got interviewed in television, began to market to book, my company and brand, my resourceful friends began to take me serious by inviting me to their club meetings in addition to having high level business conversation with me.
The moral here is that while I was searching for money, there were certain people I wanted to meet, there were certain doors, and opportunities I was hoping to attain, but couldn’t get their endorsement because I’m yet to mature into the opportunity. But when I added so much value, not only did my mentors and resourceful people begin to take me seriously, they also began to relate with me as a contemporary associate.
This principle is applicable in every sphere of life. Whatever you want to do, whoever you would like to meet, and whatsoever you desire, you must endeavor to do some work. Nobody literally comes to you because you appear to be nice. In the grand scheme of things, values, principles, interest, and intentionality that bring people together.
In conclusion, if you desire an opportunity, money, network and many more, you must show relevance for people to take you seriously, and not only invite you to the table, but also offer you a seat.
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
