Opinion: Nigeria’s problems cannot be solved by just voting Buhari

by Abiola Adebanjo

The President-elect will need us very much in his quest to sanitise Nigeria if we truly desire a CHANGED Nigeria. We know some cannot wait to see him fail already, but we must do all we can to sustain this victory for the nation.

The sheer promise of ‘change’ was enough for some Nigerians to pitch their tent with the All Progressives Congress for the March 28 presidential election. For some, it was the towering virtues of General Muhammadu Buhari, the President-elect. Such people told us ‘even if he presents a NEPA bill, I will vote for him’, and I just realised that for them right now if Mr. Buhari sneezes or coughs they believe it is for the betterment of Nigeria. Obviously not many Nigerians command this much trust from the people.

Yet for others still, it is the person of the Vice President-elect, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a cleric. Most Nigerians were incontrovertibly convinced Nigeria needed the duo more than they needed Nigeria. For the former, ordinarily his age means he should be retired, but the future of his people is still bleak and he believes he can turn things around. The latter who apart from being a Senior Advocate of Nigeria is a Professor of law and former Attorney General has all he needs; but the quest for a better society has always been on his mind. Apparently, the times were tough and it needed such staunch men to turn the tide.

Knowing full well that politics without principles has taken root in Nigeria, ‘we the people’ voted the president-elect as our next president. We voted him against an opposition that had tried everything to pull him down with several propaganda. We were aware of the fact that the president-elect is an old man and a mere mortal and not a magician but still deemed it fit to elect him, apparently because we were tired of the status quo. Our votes of March was just the first part of what we need to do to make Nigeria better, a lot more still needs to be done.

For a government to thrive anywhere in the world, the executive needs to work diligently and harmoniously with the legislature particularly. We know that in our case the legislature here has for long behaved as if they were above the law. It is a fact that individuals and even the Nigeria Bar Association have sued the National Assembly, at different times over their outrageous earnings. All things being equal, we will be having an APC-dominated assembly in the 8th National Assembly and we cannot expect a different brand of legislators because they all are from Nigeria and not foreigners. Some of them are returning lawmakers or former governors all used to grand affluence and they would behave like their predecessors unless and until we demand otherwise.

The President-elect will need us very much in his quest to sanitise Nigeria if we truly desire a CHANGED Nigeria. We know some cannot wait to see him fail already, but we must do all we can to sustain this victory for the nation. When the leadership does its part in this quest, we all will know when to come in and act in the interest of Nigeria. The change we crave is not coming on a platter of gold. Having the president-elect is only appointing the driver, we all have to give the driver the necessary support in our own little way. Andreas Lubitz sent the Germanwings plane into descent in the Alps because no one could stop him. They would have stopped him from flying the plane, but they could not. We can stop our elected officials if we want to. It may take us demonstrating, organising a sit-out, occupying the governor’s or chairman’s office. It may require civil disobedience at the house of assembly to demand accountability, but certainly a lot depends on us and only us can help the President-elect achieve his dreams for Nigeria. I was part of the few people who attended the demonstration tagged #OurNass in September 2013. Those of us at the Lagos State House of Assembly were less than 30. Though our presence was felt, it was not as much as we wanted. The number 30 shows indifference of Nigerians to their own issues. This was a period when university students were on strike and ought to be at the forefront of the protest. Obviously a lot more needs to be done by Nigerians if they want better lives beyond voting on election day.

Lee Kuan Yew and Nelson Mandela, to mention a few, all achieved what they achieved because they had the followers who believed in them and were willing to listen to them. The President-elect already told us he wont be ‘ruling’ us but ‘governing’ us, and it behoves on us to cooperate and do our own little bits here and there because this victory was hard earned. We did not vote for the president-elect to enrich himself, we voted him to enrich us and that would not come to pass by being inactive and indolent. We must ask even the president-elect himself questions as occasion demands. This is a democracy and we must be democratic.

We know that having a strong individual is not all we need, we need strong institutions and especially accountability for our actions and inactions. Most of us can trust the duo of Messrs Buhari and Osinbajo, but we cannot trust our lawmakers in the same way. They need to be regularly stimulated and kept on their toes. It is imperative that with the historic change of a ruling government, we also should start making our legislators feel the heat, by making them truly represent us. The constitutional provisions for recalling legislators will be needed for this. When a legislator sees that he faces impending removal, he will certainly retrace his steps.

No President has had meaningful achievements without the support of the people he governs. No matter the good intentions of a brilliant and well-meaning president, if dubious, corrupt, and fugitive lawmakers are the best he can parade, then he will soon be like them or at least be outwitted by them. I think this victory is the chance we need to rewrite the history of Nigeria and condemn to the past once and for all the known trend of financial indiscipline and maladministration.

I reiterate my conviction that we would need to organise demonstrations, sit-outs, and engage in civil disobedience to get our demands. Freedom is never given to the oppressed, but won by them if they need it. For us to have successful campaigns or demonstrations as such we need to have a coordinating centre, a control centre, where activities can be organised and controlled. We have been shortchanged since 1999, our March votes should not be for nothing. Getting the most out of our March votes begins with you.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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