Nigeria has always been a country hanging by a thread, balanced on a needle
and always on the edge. Nigerians for so long have wallowed in a state of
uncertainty and misery. Nigeria was well on a path to a suicidal self
destruction, we were in dire need of some kind of fairy tail romance before we
finally imploded to oblivion. Buhari in his second coming drove us madly in
love when he promised us 'CHANGE!'. The promise of change resonated with every
Nigerian. People from every state, city and village flocked en-masse and voted
for change. The divine message has been heard and Nigerians were finally ready
for a euphoric beginning with Buhari.
The biggest questions before 2015 were; where is our 20 billion dollars? Where
are the Chibok girls? When will Boko Haram be stopped? Etc. These question
were directed at Jonathan's government. By now, we must've already known the
answers to these questions. But the questions that we should all be asking
should not be directed to any government but to ourselves. Is Nigeria ready
for change?
Buhari's one year plus in office has unearthed a behemoth of sin from both
Jonathan's administration and every day Nigerians. Nigerians have proven to be
knuckle-headed, impatient, unreasonable and ignorant. The number one threat
facing Nigeria before Buhari took over was the security threat of Boko Haram.
We used to die by the thousands, millions of our countrymen were made homeless
and internally displaced. A simple task of going to the market, place of
worship or school became a daunting leap of faith from which one may not
return from. One cannot argue that the threat of Boko Haram is almost non
existent today. Boko haram can no longer wage war with weapons, they can only
wage war with words. The mighty Boko Haram has been reduced from making bombs
to making videos. If this isn't change, then what is? Is Nigeria really ready
for change?
Sadly, Nigeria is synonymous with corruption. In fact, Nigeria is
fantastically corrupt as David Cameron remarked to the queen of England. The
mother of all corruption was grandiose and nothing short of an abracadabra. It
came to be known as the biggest hoodwink in the history of Nigeria, twenty
billion dollars majestically disappeared from the treasury. The revelations
made by Sanusi and the questions that were eventually asked made Nigerians
yearn for change. Nigerians ever so eager for change demanded for a crusade
against all forms of corruption. As a result, Buhari gave them Dasuki's head
and set a strong tone against corruption. Many others guilty of corruption
were prosecuted one after the other. And now, Nigerians seem to be singing a
different song, they have accused Buhari of witch-hunting. Some went as far as
telling Buhari to bring back corruption. Things like this makes one wonder if
Nigeria is really ready for change?
Fast forward to 2016, Nigerians yet again impatiently demanded for the
approval of the 2016 budget. Buhari's slow progress with the approval of the
budget even earned him a nickname 'Baba Go Slow'. Reasons for the late
approval of the budget were also coined on very laughable Myths that claimed
the budget was either missing or stolen. The budget saga was taken to new
heights when the budget padding scandal came to life. We have learned from
Hon. Abdulmumin Jibril that the budget was initially padded with the knowledge
of the not-so Honorable Speaker Yakubu Dogara. Nigerians who were really ready
for change endorsed Abdulmumin just like they did Sanusi. If you connect all
the dots, you will discover that Buhari only delayed the approval of the 2016
budget because he sensed foul play from the House of Assembly. And yet
Nigerians were silent. Abdulmumin was suspended by his fraudulent colleague's
and Nigerians are still silent, perhaps 'budget padding' is truly not a word
as Dogara told Channels TV reporters. The only thing that Nigerians were
really loud about in recent times was Buhari's plagiarized speech. Is Nigeria
really ready for change?
Nigeria is an unfinished book of many chapters. I find it impossible to
discuss about all that needs to discussed in this intended short piece. This
piece is not written as an endorsement of Buhari but an endorsement of our
conscience as Nigerians. Our gallantly fought battle in 2015 earned us a
'Change' from the status quo; a status quo that endorsed corruption and
insecurity. There used to be a time in Nigeria not so long ago when people did
not have the luxury to worry about the economy, instead they worried about
their very lives. The second coming of Buhari is a divine one and a test from
God, we cannot allow saboteurs like Ben Murray Bruce etc to hijack our common
sense revolution. The Niger Delta Avengers, Biafra agitators, Fulani herdsmen,
wailing wailers and the House of Assembly are only making efforts to restart
the timer to our self destruction therefore making change even harder to
achieve. Eduardo Duterte has said ''All change is hard at first, messy in the
middle and so beautiful at the end.'' Nigerians really need to ponder on the
words of Duterte. We need to understand that change is a process, and never an
event. After all, change begins with you.
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