Perhaps, President Muhammadu Buhari was figuratively right when he declared that members of the opposition lost the elections because they were ‘too confident’. That comment from the President has been met with widespread opprobrium, but a deeper look at it will reveal that it is not too far from the truth.
The members of the opposition, particularly the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party were quite confident before the elections. They underestimated the man called Bola Tinubu and overrated Nigeria’s abysmal electoral system. Despite obvious signs that an ‘Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) whose Chairman and National Commissioners are appointed by the President were never going to be ‘independent’, the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government was able to hoodwink them into believing that the Presidential election was going to be free and fair.
Surprisingly, following Tinubu’s ‘organised’ victory at the elections, some elements in these opposition parties are presently selling themselves another dud check. They are presently blazing their loudspeakers, projecting that Tinubu will never be sworn in as President on the 29th of May. How delusional can people get?
The truth remains that the election was marred by widespread ballot fraud, violence, intimidation, failed logistics, omission of the logos of some political parties in the ballot papers, sabotage, and an apparent deliberate disregard by INEC of its own rules and guidelines for the conduct of the election. Most egregious and suspicious was that INEC neglected or rather refused to upload the results from polling units through BVAS [Bimodal voter accreditation system] online and in real-time to its server which was meant to be accessed real-time by Nigerians. Except for the beneficiaries of the obvious electoral brigandage, the rest of Nigerians are outraged. But the truth remains that it would have been surprising if this was not the outcome.
Read Also: I Have Delivered My ‘Change Agenda’ To Nigerians – Buhari
Just as initially warned, INEC has managed to deliver what many Nigerians have come to describe as a ‘sham.’ Ironically, prior to the elections, all careful analysis pointed to this endpoint. Any deep-thinking Nigerian with common sense knew that there was no way the elections were going to be free. As a result, we opined that the elections should be boycotted, and a holistic national conversation that will trigger restructuring should be pursued. Armed with patriotic zeal clothed in hidden ignorance, Nigerians ignored these concerns and went on to participate in the so-called elections.
One of the most perplexing realities about the elections is how Nigerians ended up expecting President Buhari to supervise a free and fair electoral contest when every action he has ever undertaken since he gained power reeks of incompetence and ineptitude. His history with failure did not stop Nigerians from investing their hopes in a rather futile venture and the rest they say is history.
Sadly, that odious mistake has not taught Nigerians any meaningful lessons. Just as it were before the elections, emotions are currently running high. Rather than resort to being strategic, quite a lot of Nigerians have once again, invested their aspirations in their emotions. The outcome of the elections left quite a number of Nigerians feeling depressed. Others were feeling thoroughly beaten. Till this point, some are raring with anger. These emotions are not unexpected. However, the solution to these painful circumstances is not a total reliance on the same emotions that brought them in the first place.
One of the most uncomfortable truths many Nigerians do not want to hear at the moment is that Tinubu will not be removed by any court in Nigeria. In pursuit of unrealistic expectations, many Nigerians have refused to understand that institutions don’t work in Nigeria because the structure is flawed. Currently, they are building up their hopes that the Appeal and Supreme Courts will nullify Tinubu’s election results when it’s clear to them that the President of a dysfunctional Nigeria can remove any judge whenever and however he deems fit. Expecting the Tribunal or Supreme Court to nullify Tinubu’s victory only shows that Nigerians have refused to learn lessons.
Make no mistake about it, emotion is a critical aspect of warfare, and so is strategy. However, those who run their engines only on emotions without strategy are always bound to fail. In the last elections, many Nigerians sold themselves to their emotions without superior strategies. These are uncomfortable truths but someone has to say them no matter how discomforting they may sound.
Going forward, Nigerians must rid themselves of fanatical false expectations and adjust themselves to reality. Tinubu will be sworn in as President of Nigeria on the 29th of May if something seismically dramatic does not happen before then. He will be President and he and his goons will run the affairs of Nigeria. This is the reality Nigerians must acquaint themselves with. Adjusting to this reality no matter how painful it may seem will help anyone who is desirous of making an impact the leverage to plan better with a higher chance of success.
It is no longer news that Tinubu was a bag man for drug traffickers in the US in the 1990s for which he reportedly forfeited $460,000 to the country’s Internal Revenue Service. The stories of the various allegations of corruption and state (Lagos)capture that Tinubu has been notorious for are no longer big-hits. The issues surrounding the schools he purportedly attended and certificates he obtained; his parentage; and, the Muslim- Muslim ticket with which he ran to become President will only form part of legitimacy issues that will clog his government, but the truth is that they are not going to block his pathway to Aso Rock. This is something Nigerians must adjust to and work with. The delusions must end if things must get better.
Rather than continue to invest their emotions in an illusory miracle, Nigerians will be doing themselves so much favour if they seize the opportunity, visibility, and voice they now have to intensify calls to have Nigeria restructured under a new constitution. No Messiah will ever salvage Nigeria if any of these two things are not carried out.
If Nigerians truly want a permanent reset of Nigeria, their best bet is to immediately devote themselves to demanding that Nigeria should be restructured. Rather than staging needless protests at courtrooms, they should be converging at the national assembly to demand restructuring. They should be blocking all the airports in the country to demand that a national conversation be converged where Nigeria will be negotiated and agreed on.
They should demand that Nigeria be overhauled. Abuja should be decentralised and Lagos should be unbundled. Government must be moved closer to the people and the people closer to the government. Reduction in the cost of governance must be prioritised and economic growth and healthy competition should ☆be the driving force.
If Nigerians are serious about saving Nigeria, then now is the right time to show it by making the right demands and doing it so vigorously. Only a fool makes the same kind of effort at every turn yet expects a different outcome.
