By Paul Onomuakpokpo
A tragic irony that has
imperiled our collective well-being and has indeed precipitated the nation’s current
political and economic ruination is the readiness of the citizens to brook
their leaders’ dereliction of duty while still wishing that they chart an
uncommon trajectory of national development.
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| *Aisha Buhari |
We watch our leaders
loot the treasury and appropriate our national resources as the extension of
their private estates. But let some years roll by, then we suffer
collective amnesia and we launch into a revisionism that
casts national villains in the mould of heroes to whom the
citizens are eternally obliged.
If the President
Muhammadu Buhari presidency fails to break itself from floundering and is
unable to positively impact the citizens, there would still be people who would
insist that he contributed immeasurably to national development. After
all, he detained many public thieves and recovered their loot. Already,
the citizens are being told that they should be patient because the so-called
dividends of democracy can only be brought to them after the current government
has cleared the unimaginable rot left by its predecessor.
Although the camp of the supporters of Buhari is thinning out having been
disillusioned by his ineptness, the citizens who are not amenable to this
delusion of waiting for good governance to manifest but insist on evident
performance are easily branded as enemies of the positive change that is
launching the country into prosperity.
And this is why our
shock at the lack of direction and the gaudiness of the lifestyles of our
leaders at a time there is so much suffering in the land is muted. The list of
the manifestations of the hardship is endless: Workers and pensioners
have not been paid salaries for months; those who can no longer endure are
taking their own lives and children can no longer go to school .Those who
are in school abroad who can no longer pay their fees because of the foreign
exchange crisis have turned into thieves, prostitutes and beggars. But amidst
this, the children of our leaders are schooling overseas. No wonder they do not
care that teachers are not paid at home and schools are being shut down. Are
these the people we expect to think about how they would improve our education?
