by Jude Egbas

It was sad to read young Nigerians prattle on social media about Buhari’s health at a time of grave insecurity and a sinking economy. No, we have to raise the bar.

In the last couple of weeks, our moral compass and value system has sunk to the lowest depths imaginable on the politics front. I was ashamed for us. Ashamed for who and what we’ve become. This would have had the founders turning in their graves.

Led by the garrulous Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose and the cast of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hirelings and vassals on social media, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) who is the presidential standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was badgered with a death wish. It was a denouement of months of negative politicking championed by the ruling party. And it was painful and pitiful to watch all at once.

Buhari has been tagged as an Islamic fundamentalist. When that didn’t stick, they said he couldn’t even deliver a public address to save his life. As that theory became disproved, they said he never saw the four walls of a school. When that was proven to be a mish-mash of mendacity, they said he was ill and shouldn’t be allowed to see a Doctor like everyone else because he was running for President. When that story-line appeared to wane, they said he was flown to London in an ambulance and couldn’t stand on his feet without being propped. And then, they wondered why the erstwhile General hadn’t been seen in public while in the UK and said he was critically ill or dead or both. And when the “dead man” walked through the walls of Chatham House to deliver a speech that still resonates for its sheer brilliance and sound-bites, they first wondered if that was him, hired “unkempt” persons to protest outside of Chatham House against a ‘ghost’ and questioned why he even had to go to Chatham House in the first place as if going to London these days has become such a cardinal sin.

Buhari has been the butt of jokes for rearing cattle and for being an austere ascetic deserving of a fatwa.

We have to do better as we campaign for our respective candidates in the weeks leading to the general elections. You see, I have never been a fan of negative politicking. Supporters on both sides of the political divide have to do better than focus on Buhari’s inability to speak English and Jonathan’s rambling public sessions. For Pete’s sake, what this country requires is a leader who doesn’t even have to say a word but who leads with some conviction. A performer. We have to sway our pre-election tittle-tattle to national security, the economy, jobs, healthcare, power and infrastructure. We short-change ourselves when we fail to grill the candidates campaigning at all tiers for political office on the issues and deign to focus on what they wear or how they sleep with their spouses.

On a personal level, it was embarrassing to see younger Nigerians fall for the same old politicking that has brought this nation to its knees–the same brand of politics that isn’t guaranteed to add a megawatt of electricity to the grid, make our deplorable road surfaces better or improve our employment numbers. It was sad to read young Nigerians prattle on social media about Buhari’s health at a time of grave insecurity and a sinking economy. No, we have to raise the bar. I would rather Buhari, when he does return from London, is pelted with questions and more questions on his plans for when he becomes President. I would rather President Jonathan is handed a similar dose.

Young Nigerians have to resist the urge to play by the PDP and APC’s political playbook and elevate the discourse ahead of voting day. We have to set the agenda. We have to ignore the Fayoses of our sad political life and strive to be better because we are better.

The politicians would be back on the stomp grounds in March after a hiatus occasioned by the postponement of the polls. I expect that younger Nigerians on social media and on the streets wouldn’t be asking them if they have the balls to get their wives laid or if they have seen their Doctors or eaten kilishi in the last six months. I expect that younger Nigerians would help steer the conversation towards the issues and embrace the Charles Soludos whose essays on the economy have been joys to read.

May we all return to the trenches with our brains intact this time.
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Jude Egbas tweets from @egbas

 

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