What If Nigerian Leaders Refuse To Learn In 2021?

By UbongAbasi Ise

There are two political parties I know of: first is the political power class, and the other is the class of political subjects.

I know of the two ethnic groups in Nigeria too: they are the haves, and the have-nots.

In a broader spectrum, the political power class cum the haves are rich, while the political subjects or the have-nots are poor.

The rich are few and powerful, while the poor are the majority but weak. This automatically defines the character of this inter-class struggle. It is when the members of the powerful political class competes against each other’s political interests that they would come down to cynically manipulate the inclinations of the majority poor to their advantage, dividing them into warring camps in the name of political parties while stirring in them the consciousness of ethnic nationalism.

Some majority poor would believe they are APC and Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani, Kanuri or whatsoever.

The other camp would also suppose they are PDP, Igbo, Ijaw, Ibibio-Annang-Efik and whatever ethnic appellation they deem fit. The foregoing does not rule out intra-ethnic partisan struggles for the interests of political overlords. But the poor majority would still fight themselves wherever they meet, while their masters from the other class would extend handshakes whenever their paths crossed.

After elections however, everyone returns to their own class by default: the members of the political power class would be seen consorting together, playing and teasing themselves at social gathering as if they had no history of enmity, their subjects cum followers at the lower rung of the social class would apparently left to mingle with their ilk. This explains that APC, PDP, and the likes are mere abstractions that only enable upper political class to manipulate the system and share power amongst themselves.

The point here is that there is a line of demarcation between this infinitesimal few of the population that eats on the table and the subjected majority that squats on the floor in waits for the crumbs.

The two classes in politics are not difficult to distinguish: members of the power class are unaffected by East-West road, Calabar-Itu road, Owerri-Enugu-Lokoja route and other death traps called federal roads because they fly on air to and fro any part of the country, while their subjected counterparts are forever be condemned to be complaining about the deplorable conditions of these dangerous Golgothas of death. The children of the power-class-political-party/ethnic group would either study abroad or be enrolled in the best of private schools in the country while that of their subjects wallow in the rotten system of public education. Unemployment does not worry the children of the power class because juicy jobs of choice are awaiting them anytime they are ready to work. It is the children of the lower class that pray and fast for job opportunities many years after pulling through the hell of the public educational system.

Every day political subjects complain of epileptic power supply or outright blackout. But this situation can't panic the power class because they can afford the cost of electricity no matter the condition of economy. In fact those of the political power class are neighbours living in the highbrow parts of our cities where there are good road networks, constant electricity and better infrastructures. This powerful group would waste no time in embarking on medical tourism in Asia, Europe, and America even at the slightest feeling of headache while the downtrodden come face to face with the dearth of public health facilities.

It is also the common people that suffer the worst hit of insurgency and insecurity in the country while their political overlords and their families stay safe and protected.

Looking at year 2020, major crises mostly centered on mass protest against the system that appeared to suppress the survival of the masses. The #Endsars movement was not totally against police brutality, but was a brisk reaction against bad governance, official insensitivity, and by extension, the conspiracy of the power class against the led. It would be recalled how total lockdown that was imposed to contain Covid-19 pandemic made survival difficult for the poor Nigerian majority, even when they were aware that over N31 billion of taxpayers’ money had already been expended especially on palliatives; most received nothing. Members of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), the freemasonry of the power class, hoarded those relief materials, throwing their subjects into cruel starvation. But the EndSARS offered opportunity for the have-nots to break into the warehouses and loot the hoarded food materials in order to satiate their hunger. The mass raid became a trend, replicated in Lagos, Abuja, Kogi, Kwara, Osun, Plateau, Taraba, etc. The political overlords in Akwa Ibom held fast to their own share and were reportedly distributed to their relatives and girlfriends as Christmas gifts in December 2020. Hence, there was nothing for the commoners.

There are a lot of lessons for Nigerian leaders to take from 2020. It was a year typified by upheaval of the common people against the excesses of those in authority. In Mali for instance, we had seen how President Boubacar Keita’s attempt to shape the parliament to his own advantage backfired leading to protracted protests which eventually caused his resignation, detention and military takeover of government. Poor handling of George Floyd anti-police brutality protests by President Donald Trump of the United States fueled mass contempt against his government and he was voted out in November 3, 2020 presidential elections. Could he believe that? In Nigeria, the EndSARS protests called for President Buhari’s resignation over insecurity. Indeed, 2020 was quite a year. Who knows if year 2020 was just harbingering greater reactions that might spring in 2021 against bad governance that is only benefitting the power class?

Therefore it is time for the majority of the common people to come out from the veil of partisan politics to ask this power class of good roads, electricity, quality education, clean water, employment, improved economy, and ultimately, accountability.

For how long would the power class continue to use the old trick of profuse promises that are mere abracadabra devised only to cast spell on the majority thus gobbling up their sense of reasoning? Until the power class begins to demonstrate their confidence in the system by sending their wards to our public schools, treat themselves at government-owned hospitals, travel by road to any part of the country and depends on DISCOs for power supply, every promise of better days would still remain a matter of bluffing.

For comment, please send SMS only to 08189914608 | Email: ubongabasiise@gmail.com

>Click here to read more news

> Judicial Panel On Police Brutality: Man Reveals How Akpabio Pulled Off His Teeth With Pliers

> 1,000 Teachers Recruitment: Sacked 5,000 Remind AKSG Case Pending In Court

>Nsie Community Killings: Mother Of Slain Undergraduate Recounts Ordeal In Police Hands