Finally, change has come! We have an incumbent president, who allowed for an election to hold ‘freely’ and proceeded to concede defeat to the opposition. It was a first in our history and one that will set the tone for the development of our democracy. Not that he did not have the powers to at least tweak the results a bit to guarantee his return. All he needed to do was borrow a leaf from the (now acclaimed supporter of transparency and anti-corruption fighter) Olusegun Obasanjo–that vicious example of how to rig elections with impunity. But he did not. He noted that if he had won the election in whatever way, the nation would have plunged into deep crises, and as a true Nigeria, he allowed things be. That was the beginning of change: genuine change.
But the change that will follow after Jonathan leaves, will it be genuine change? This is where I am worried. Our future is now in the hands of people who have perfected ways of masking the truth and making others look like devils. At least under Jonathan, we knew what we were facing. The strategies of the new ‘agents of change’ are worrisome.
They will shout rigging when the presidential result for Enugu was announced, and claim the people have spoken when the results of Katsina and Kano were announced. Even when the Kano and Katsina margins were as ridiculously high as those of Rivers and Akwaibom, they claimed Rivers and Akwaibom were rigged, and Kano and Katsina, were reflections of true democracy. These are the people we are committing our future into their hands. A bunch of two-faced individuals.
They will tell you that Nyesom Wike rigged the elections to win Rivers during the governorship election, but never mention that the APC leader Chibuike Amaechi went with his entourage to threaten the DPO of Rumuepirikom Police Division with sack if she does not play ball. They will never tell you that Rivers people had lost faith in a governor whom since his defection to the APC has withheld money from government bodies and as such government affairs in the state had ground to a halt. They will never mention that under the same governor, only the executive arm of government functions. No, they will never mention that prior to Amaechi running to the media to say the governorship election in Rivers was a sham, he was at College of Arts and Science Rumuola, where he watched his Chief of Staff Tony Okocha supervise and participate in the destruction of ballot papers and ballot boxes all in a bid to ensure that elections were cancelled. This is what I am worried about. This strategy of creating a problem, then running to the media to claim to be the endangered sheep. For these ‘change agents’ whatever does not go according to their plan, is not the wish of the people. What Amaechi and his APC propagandists refuse to accept is that majority of Rivers people are tired of a governor who has completely abandoned them for over one year now. They too need a change, hence the support they have given to Nyesom Wike. But they will not say this. Changing to a PDP governor will not be ‘change’, it will be ‘chengi’.
Here is another one. Prior to the Presidential elections, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai had asserted through his twitter handle that before the end of the day, the Jonathan administration will release a fake Shekau (leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group),to score a cheap victory. The question now is; Mallam, where is the fake Shekau (since you obviously know the real one)?
I am weary and wary of these so called agents of change. All my hopes are now pinned on General Buhari using his famed strong and no-nonsense personality to call them all to order when he assumes office. But if General Buhari fails to do this, at least Rivers people will be consoled by the fact that we have a governor that will have our best interests at heart. That is our own ‘chengi’,and we may just be content with that.
