FEATURE ARTICLE

Friday, May 19, 2023
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Arizona, USA
NIGERIA'S FAMISHED ROAD TO 1994 KIGALI: WHY TINUBU SHOULD URGENTLY RE-ROUTE OUR JOURNEY

Tinubu

"To be a functional and successful leader in any society, you must understand the terrains and the collective psychology of the people you intend to lead." �Yahaya Balogun.

t's disheartening to see Nigerians fighting among themselves while facing the looming threat of a genocidal experience akin to 1994 Rwanda. The incoming President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, needs to take on the responsibility of healing the nation and lead with a deep understanding of the people and their challenges. Nigeria is in a state of crisis, with problems in the political, economic, and religious spheres. It's time for a knowledgeable and compassionate leader to step up and guide the nation toward recovery.

It would be disingenuous for anyone to pretend that the replica horror experiences from the genocidal war that lasted for three months in Rwanda in 1994 are not here in Nigeria. So how does a nation cope with daily horror and trauma from needless pains, frustration, discouragement, and hopelessness that arise from the failures of leadership and followership?

The pertinent questions are: why are we who we are as a people in Nigeria? Why do citizens make themselves obediently available to be used as political pawns by opportunistic politicians and religious entrepreneurial leaders? Why do we obediently beatify (I didn't say BATify) ourselves without paying close attention to our collective religious hypocrisy, ethnic chauvinism, needless sufferings, and amoral and joyful inequities? These are some of the daunting questions begging for answers we may need more time to get. But, unfortunately, the catatonic state of our leaders and followers' irresponsibility has been the bane of resolving our many problems�and the bane of our blame game and shared guilt continue unresolved.

With a guesstimate and traumatized psyche, Nigeria has exterminated thousands of its boisterous citizens in the last two decades. Ruefully, from General Sani Abacha and evil genius Ibrahim Babangida's June 12 annulment and uprising to General Olusegun Obasanjo's Odi village massacre in Niger Delta on November 20, 1999, from the mismanagement of Boko Haram's extremism under Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan to Buhari's upsurge and glorification of political and religious bandits, the needless killings of Nigerian citizens in hundreds of thousands continue unabated.

Meanwhile, Nigerian stakeholders have always pretended with false nicety and religiosity to perpetuate injustice, ethnic and religious division, amoral politics, and other social maleficence to polarize the poor and blissful ignorant masses. The leadership has weaponized the nuances of ethnicity and religion to traffic hate and division among the blissful unsuspecting citizens. People are 'arising' with naivety to print and electronic media's junk journalism and mercantilism.

The unsuspecting citizens have yet to come to terms with the evil machinations of their political and religious leaders. As a result, instead of merging and uniting to build a solid and formidable nation, Nigeria is sliding further and further into the abyss of religion, blissful hopelessness, and ignorance. How we ignorantly asphyxiate our mental health and well-being calls for concern. The daunting task ahead of Tinubu is gargantuan. Still, the antecedents of this all-inclusive technocrat and a leader with gifted insults may give him the leverage to make history and break the jinx of hopeless and irresponsible leadership in Nigeria.

The incoming government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu will need the genuineness of heart and divine intervention to redraw the roadmap of Nigeria�the hopelessness and polarization of the disingenuous and disgruntled citizenry. As much as our many problems are intractable and mundane, they are not unsolvable or insurmountable. All we need in Nigeria is our intense collective action to reinvent and rediscover Nigeria.

Last, Nigeria needs a determined, envisioned, and all-inclusive functional leader to ensure adherence to the rule of law. Most Nigerians gave Bola Ahmed Tinubu their mandate because of the above leadership skills and characteristics he possesses. Every clog or naughty clobber from the saboteur citizens waiting to disrupt or negatively affect the renewed hope and people-oriented agenda of the incoming Mr. President must be arrested and constitutionally brought to book immediately. The saboteur citizens and the consequences of their actions will deter other potential saboteur citizens under the leadership of Tinubu's incoming administration. With every sense of optimism and action, renewed hope may be possible in Nigeria.

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