Nigerian Obituary Directed By The Undertakers Buhari, Saraki, APC And PDP -By Churchill Okonkwo

Churchill Okonkwo

In November 1996, a group of activist used an underground Students’ Liberation Movement to circulate an article “UNN Obituary” to coincide with the burial plans for late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe by the authorities of University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN). The living and learning conditions were so bad that we felt that rather than waste fund in an elaborate burial ceremony for Zik, the authorities should rather announce the obituary of UNN. Our obituary announcement was remarkable and ironic because the UNN is today a ghost of itself with the symbolic bubbling Zik’s Flats, now completely dilapidated and abandoned.

Today, Nigerians are watching the obituary announcement of the country, in slow motion as written by the undertakers Buhari, Saraki, APC and PDP. The wooing of one of the most dangerously corrupt politicians in Nigeria, Bukola Saraki (apologies Supreme Court) by President Buhari, the APC and PDP, concurrently and with a promise of “heaven and earth” and complete surrender is an Obituary for Nigeria. It is a confirmation that the apparatus of the Nigerian democracy is not only dysfunctional, but dead. The APC and PDP are writing the Obituary of Nigeria with their toes on a scrap paper.

If Saraki as expected defects to the PDP and they win the 2019 presidential election, Nigeria is finished. If on the other hand Buhari and the APC mortgage the heart of Nigeria to Saraki and his gang to win the 2019 election, Nigeria is finished. Even if Saraki defects to PDP and APC still win the 2019 election, Nigeria is still finished. The fact that President Buhari, our anti-corruption “champion” is wooing a rotten Saraki to help him win an election is an indication that our obituary is inevitable.

When we announced the obituary of UNN to the university community in 1996, our main concern was not that UNN was dying, but rather, the fact that Lions and Lionesses were being fed with grass instead of raw meat and they appeared grateful. As I announce the obituary of Nigeria today, my worry is not that APC or PDP have sunk Nigeria but the fact that my generation, knowingly and unknowingly is proudly helping the undertakers deliver the carcass of Nigeria to the shallow grave, somewhere in the Middle Belt.

Over the years, the Nigerian political system has forced us to be passive consumers in politics. We are now, regrettably, so accustomed to poor governance, abuse of political office, corruption, disregard for the rule of law, and so on that, all we do is indulge in a lethargic analysis of political events on social media. The random anger that is visibly accumulating in so many forms and sectors of Nigeria today can be therapeutic, but there is a limitation to practical political gains from that, if any, without political action.

Are you angry that these undertakers are writing our obituary, even before our death? If you are angry, what have you done after watching the two major political parties fight over one of the most dangerously corrupt politicians, Bukola Saraki? Did you just weep? Did you give up and surrender your country to the vultures that are bent on attracting every rotten egg in to win elections at all cost? Or, did you say hell no to the undertakers and join the fight to “take it back”?

It is disheartening to watch my generation partake in directing the Nigerian Obituary. If we are not backing Atiku, we are disparaging the bold attempt of some Nigerians that believe that our country can be rescued from the stranglehold of PDP and APC. It is unfortunate that the ears of many Nigerians cannot receive the supersonic sound of restoration calling on believers to arise. My generation is waking up every morning, borrowing or using their hard-earned Naira to buy data; diving into social media platforms and once their obituary is not trending, they join the undertakers in preparing the burial ground for Nigeria.

George Jean, an American writer once wrote that a life spent in constant labor is a life wasted. He added that it is only a fool that will regard a flattering obituary notice as ample reward. Are you wasting your life in constant labor justifying why PDP is the Noah that will build the solid ark that will save Nigeria from sinking? Are you comfortable watching Mr. President, caressing the neck of the rotten pebble at the bank of the Kwara River to win the 2019 elections? The APC and the PDP are preparing our burial mat. And only a fool will read his trending obituary announcement (death by suicide) with pleasure.

Here is a sample of our obituary as directed by Buhari, Saraki, APC, PDP; “another 73 people killed in Benue”; “another scandal rocks the Senate”; “missing $3.2 Billion uncovered in NNPC”; “Tinubu has Lagos State in his back pocket”; “another strike looming”; “another mansion and bank account with millions of dollar belonging to Patience Jonathan uncovered”; “roads metamorphosed to gully erosion sites kills dozens every week”; “Nigerian Police and SARS irredeemable”; “Boko Haram on rampage again”; “Atiku to fight corruption if elected”; “Bukola Saraki for President in 2019”.

If a snake fails to show its venom, little kids will use it in tying firewood. The only reason why the kids in APC and PDP are writing our obituaries even as we defy all the odds to survive in this cubicle called Nigeria is that, like a snake, we have failed to show our venom. We have failed to join the clarion call to “take it back”. Putting an end to the announcement of the obituary of Nigeria, our obituary, by the political class in APC and PDP is inevitable. The question for my generation is why are we not doing that today?
It is the deity that people worship that kills them. We can stop the undertakers if only we can stop worshiping Buhari, Saraki, Atiku, Obasanjo, Tinubu, IBB and these deities that are killing us and using our blood to write our obituary across the battered Nigerian landscape.

Whatever happens, whether we succeed in taking it back in 2019 or not, one thing is certain, the terrifying struggle to rescue Nigeria has just begun. If the yam used in sacrifice does not die prematurely, it will eventually germinate. “Take it back” movement will not die. It is a grassroots movement that will surely germinate. Join the struggle to take it back. Impossible is nothing.

Together, we can.

You can email Churchill at Churchill.okonkwo@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @churchillnnobi