Season of distractions and other stories -By Emeka Madunagu

It’s the political season once again in Nigeria and we are being regaled with distractions from all sides. Serious and important national challenges have been swept aside while inanities and distractions now occupy prime space in national discourse.

Perhaps, you forgot that the courts and public hospitals have been shut for some months, owing to a strike by workers. Perhaps, news reports about the exploits of Boko Haram seem to be an irritating interruption because everyone is focused on the latest distraction from the political arena.

Yes, if it’s not about certificates, it’s about who has sons or daughters. Yes, if it’s not about who attended which school or sat in which examination, it’s about which of the two presidential candidates is pulling the bigger crowd.

It doesn’t matter whether majority of the people in the crowds have not had a decent meal in three days. No, the show must go on. Afterall, politicians are promising to make life more abundant (that term ehn!). So, they should as well wait out their hunger till the season of distractions ends and hopefully, they will get more than just a morsel to quench their hunger pangs. It’s the season of distractions when Nigerians can’t distinguish between fact and fiction. All manner of claims about ‘achievements’ are being thrown about on traditional and social media.

Infact, we are being reminded that some of our past presidents died in office and, wait for this, it had something to do with their being from a certain part of the country. Adolf Hitler’s propaganda errand boy, Joseph Goebbels, was infamously quoted as saying about the concept of “The Big Lie’: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie.

It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” Yes, since ‘the big lie’ about some former leaders dying in office because they were Northerners was propounded by an agent of state as a way to stifle the opposition, it can be reasonably suspected that it is a deliberate state policy to keep dishing out lies as a political strategy.

Otherwise, why would anyone conveniently overlook the fact that a former Nigerian head of state from another part of the country died in office? And to think that one of the people named in that odious advert was the boss of the current President smacks of a deliberate attempt to muddle up historical facts and mock the memory of a past leader. I wasn’t surprised when some days after that offensive advert that President Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy was stoned by some youths as he made his way towards the homestead of the family of his former boss, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The same thing happened in Bauchi yesterday.

While not endorsing the attacks on the presidential convoy, I expect Mr. President to denounce the sponsor of that advert so that people don’t begin to think that it was an indirect way of mocking his former boss. Politicians should also be mindful of their utterances and actions because they have the tendency to generate unintended consequences.

Elections should not be a do-or-die affair. All of us Nigerians have a duty to make sure that our nation does not fail. It will be a big shame if we allow personal ambitions and unbridled quest for power to push us into destroying our nation. I use the word ‘us’ deliberately because I see myself as a stakeholder in the political process. Another distraction has to do with who has the right to regulate the use of stadiums. Simply because one side controls the government of a particular state does not give it the absolute right to deny access to a public facility to its opponents.

It is even more alarming when you read reports that plans are being made to disrupt presidential rallies of opposing parties. I even read somewhere that Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, is planning to organise a rally on the same day fixed for the presidential rally of the All Progressives Congress in Ado-Ekiti. It’s the same way that the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State has alleged that Governor Rotimi Amaechi has declared that it can’t hold its presidential rally at Adokie Amaesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.

PDP has also alleged that Amaechi is planning to disrupt the rally. I see all of this as unnecessary grandstanding and a distraction from the real issues. All over the country, posters and billboards of candidates are being destroyed while violence is being actively employed as a tool of electioneering. In some places, deaths have been recorded as thugs strive to outdo one another to impress their principals.

Then, the long-drawn controversy over Buhari’s certificate is one of the most annoying distractions I have ever seen. Knowing fully well that Buhari was qualified to run in the presidential race, we still tolerated an unnecessary distraction of a debate over his non-submission of his secondary school certificate. Some of the people who championed the mantra that Buhari should be disqualified really disappointed me, like I believe they did millions of Nigerians.

A simple check at the institutions cited by Buhari would have saved us the annoying distraction of a certificate debate. It’s so shameful that we have elevated petty gossip to national discourse, such that people don’t bother to engage in research before coming out with a position on any national issue.

I would like to urge all Nigerians to closely scrutinise the manifestoes of all the candidates, from presidential to house of assembly, and find out which one really has the interest of the people at heart. Which of the candidates has a clear understanding of current national challenges and possesses an agenda to address them?

Which of the candidates can deliver real ‘democracy dividends’ (that funny term) to the people? We need to be more discerning in our choices so that we can turn things around in our country over the next four years.

No to postponement of elections

Speculations about alleged plans to postpone the February elections gained ground yesterday with the call by National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), that such had become necessary in view of the tardiness in the handling of Permanent Voter Cards by the Independent National Electoral Commission and insecurity in some parts of the country. This view, which was contained in Dasuki’s remarks at Chatham House, London has already elicited mixed reactions. It has added verve to allegations the there is an underground plot to postpone the elections.

However, I believe it is in the interest of the nation for the elections to proceed as scheduled. INEC had all of four years to prepare for the 2015 elections. So, it must do all it can to correct the anomalies in the PVC distribution. There is no use postponing the elections. We must build trust and confidence in our electoral system or else we will be talking of the same challenges by 2019.

Officer Mbu comes to Lagos

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the AIG incharge of Zone 7 Abuja, Mbu Joseph Mbu, had been transferred to Zone 2, to oversee Lagos and Ogun states.

Various reactions have trailed his transfer but one thing I want to believe is that Mbu will do everything to dispel the notion that it had political intentions. It is not a good idea for a senior officer to be described as the errand boy of the powers-that-be. There is always a day of reflection after all the power show is gone. Mbu’s ill-advised order for the arrest of a journalist with Africa Independent Television, Abuja, Amaechi Anakwe, should not repeat itself in Lagos. I believe he ought to have learnt his lessons from the negative reactions generated by that unnecessary action.

It will be in his own interest to continue to maintain a good relationship with the media, so that even after he leaves the Nigeria Police, he can walk into any media house and be warmly received. He needs to ask former Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, about his relationship with journalists, in service and in retirement.

He also needs to cultivate the image of a gentleman AIG, whose primary duty is to protect the citizens of the country. This includes those opposed to the government. His handling of the Bring Back Our Girls protests in Abuja and his brushes with Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, left a sour taste in the mouths of many Nigerians and he needs to avoid a repeat of such.

Uncleared pensions

I wish to appeal to our leaders at various levels to stop the ill-treatment of pensioners. It does not speak well of a nation when its retired workers cannot easily get their pensions.

It is a shame that after people had put in their productive years in the service of government that they cannot get their pensions. There is no state that cannot afford to pay pensioners. All that is required is thoughtful channeling of resources so that every segment of the society feels the impact of good governance. Even federal retirees have bitter complaints about unpaid pensions. This is a bad way to treat retired persons. I believe this should form part of the serious questions that Nigerians should ask their leaders and candidates.