One of the side
attractions of the run-up to the last circle of Nigeria’s elections was Onyeka
Onwenu singing on TV: “Run, Goodluck run, Destiny calls…’”
I saw the video again recently alongside those of
other cultural ‘titans’ who used their ethos to campaign for candidate Goodluck
Jonathan. Yinka Davies and others, in a separate video also played on the luck
mantra saying once elected, Goodluck would better Nigeria.
It’s interesting how much the good luck myth
played on Nigerians’ superstitious minds. The ‘I voted Goodluck not Jonathan’
crowd must have learnt by now that the name is not necessarily a charm.
Looking back now at all the tomfoolery, one can
actually throw one’s head back and bellow some laughs at the ironies of our
national life. What was funniest, to me, was Onwenu’s “Run, Goodluck, run”
mantra which she flogged over and over. It actually brought memories of the
Daniel Kanu-led Youths Earnestly Ask for Abacha’s two million-man march in
1998!
Thanks to the ‘Elegant Stallion’, however, “Run,
Goodluck, run” has taken on newer and varied meanings, a year after the office
was safely won (sic). Depending on who you are, what part of Nigeria you are,
and the context you are speaking, ‘Run, Goodluck run’ now means different
things. The past one year has imbued this phrase with assorted latent and
political meanings that it is no longer simple to tell the President to run.
If you are an ‘Elder’ in the Niger Delta and you
have come this far in life by being a political jobber and your relevance is
determined by how much manipulation you can properly execute, ‘Run, Goodluck
run’ denotes that Jonathan should throw his word out of the window and run for
the Presidency at whatever costs to Nigeria.
If you are based in northern Nigeria and speaking
from the bomber’s point of view, ‘Run, Goodluck run’ signifies ‘Run for your
life!’
If other Nigerians who want to see changes in the
polity say ‘Run, Goodluck run’, they, probably, suggest he should activate his
dormant batteries, stop vowing left, right and, centre and, actually do one
thing to justify his more than two years as the president of Nigeria.
At the time Onwenu was urging Jonathan to run
because of destiny, he was campaigning all over the country and making promises
left, right and, centre. In virtually every state of the federation he visited,
he uttered grandiose promises. Now, politicians all over the world are known
for saying they would achieve in a year what cannot be done in a century but
Jonathan could go down in history as the President who made the most
unrealistic promises with a straight face!
He promised the proverbial pie in the sky and
even swore to add Tomato ketchup to it. At that point, it didn’t require much
circumspection to tell that the man would not achieve anything. It’s like the
man in the Yoruba proverb whose Babalawo instructed to sacrifice a bush rat to
his head but insisted he would do with a whole ram instead. You can always tell
how the story ends.
Jonathan travelled the length and breadth of
Nigeria pandering to people and culture. If he arrived in a state like Enugu
where they have coal, he promised mining. If he went to a place where
agriculture was the mainstay, he promised irrigation. He went on and on like
that in every part of Nigeria with promises that neither gauged feasibility nor
regarded timeline. I can bet he might not even remember all those lofty promises
anymore.
The thing is, what will save Nigeria from its
present ruinous state is not mere talk. It is about having a comprehensive
development plan– akin to the Marshall Plan — which will pull Nigeria out of
its self-inflicted morass to a certain level where states and local governments
would have some measure of independence to function. It is not about sitting in
Abuja and dishing out money monthly but about a restructuring of the country
entirely.
It will take a higher level of hard work and
dedication for Nigeria to kick-start it all. To me, Jonathan appears not to
possess the requisite skills to do just this. Some may argue that he has three
more years but he seems to me like somebody who’ll manage the status quo, tread
the path of least resistance, serve his time and retire with a healthy pension.
Tuesday, May 29, was a year since he ran to Aso
Rock and the 12 months had been filled with waste: of lives, resources,
opportunities, potential and of course, time.
My sadness is palpable, and this is the way I see
the waste currently annihilating us: those that gave Jonathan instruction and
the prodding to run need to give him a counter order. They need to tell him to
stop running on one spot and examine the ground beneath his feet which is about
to give way.
Apart from a critical study of the Marshall Plan
and other such policy thrusts that pushed regions and countries out of the
poverty mire, Jonathan should sit down and write an end-to-end implementation
of one or two things he can achieve to set Nigeria on the right path.
Giving an overly long Democracy Day speech is not
the way to go. The one he read on his inauguration has yet to deliver results
to the nation. And all those marginal improvements are not going to help
Nigeria! Fiscal deficit improved by 0.05 per cent? Recurrent expenditure
reduced by three per cent? Or toadying up to womenfolk that 30 per cent of the
impossible target of 370,000 jobs for youths per year is reserved for them? Or
cassava bread?
Sincerely, we are tired of empty talks. If it is
only electricity, the Power Sector Road map; or corruption — the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission — that he picks, he should try achieving just those
instead of more wild promises. He doesn’t need to build a university or an
airport in every state as he promised because, frankly, such tasks are beyond a
man who is neither a David nor a Goliath. This is no longer a matter of luck or
living up to your destiny or name. It is hard work and if his promises are
overwhelming even him, he should just pick fruits within his reach. Just one
tangible thing will do for now. One thing at a time!
BY ABIMBOLA ADELAKUN
