Give me CHANGE!!!

On Monday the 26th September, the 1st presidential debate between the two major US candidates in the 2016 elections held and it was said to be the most watched US presidential debate of all time. People  all over the world tuned in to watch, and the reactions to the debate were as diverse as the viewers who tuned in to watch.

I didn't watch the debate live, but I spent some time watching, reading and listening to many commentators react to what was said or not said by the candidates.

In a nutshell, though the debate was entertaining, it fell short of expectations especially in the area of addressing key issues both on the national and global scale. The republican candidate Donald Trump spoke a lot of words but said little of import; while the democratic candidate glowed, not because she was any better, but because she didn't have a strong opposition to test her mettle.

One of the commentators on CNN, reacting to the debate had this to say. "Trump's attraction is that he has served up an offering of change to the Americans, but we need to be careful about the change that is on offer because not all change is good. Change can be positive or negative. We need to validate what type of change is being offered". 

Wise words indeed, words that a lot of Nigerians wished they had heard before they also voted for change and in doing so signed up the country for recession. 

Don't get me wrong, change is good. I may not be a fan but I have also come to understand that the only thing constant in life is change. However as much as we encourage one and all to embrace positive change, we must use the same vehemence to oppose negative change. 

So applying this to Nigeria, positive change is voting in and supporting a government who promised to tackle corruption and to focus on infrastructural development. On the other hand, negative change is supporting a government whose policies have reversed the growth of the economy. Negative change is when same government launches a 'Change begins with me' campaign for the populace while doing nothing themselves to actually show that 'Change begins with me'.

Negative change is having an electoral body put in place by a newly elected government that is incapable of conducting conclusive elections. Negative change is having new polio cases in Nigeria at the cusp of the country been declared polio free after no new cases for over two years. Negative change is when there is no change in the cost of running politicians (sorry government) while workers go unpaid because there is little or nothing left after the politicians have been paid.

Negative change is when your president has visited over 26 countries in less than a year since being sworn in under the guise of looted funds recovery only to come at the end of it all to declare that the country is broke. 

These are just a few live examples of what negative change looks like. 

So when next you hear change, be wise and ask what sort of change is being referred to. And if perchance you are not satisfied, please run in the opposite direction as fast as your legs can carry you. 

Enough said.

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What has Jeremiah got to do with Nigeria?

A few days ago, a friend called my attention to an article written on President Buhari's performance in office so far. The writer of the article minced no words in calling out Buhari for his lopsided appointments, inept policies and general disconnect with the suffering of the masses. 

Of course comments received were numerous, but what struck me as funny was that the writer was berated by some for coming out so strongly on such a national issue because of his 'position', lest he be accused of heating up the polity. In summary he was not allowed to have or divulge a position on the state of the nation because of his 'position'.

Meditating on the prophecy of Jeremiah  today, I saw a lot of similarities.

Why do I say so?

For those who are familiar with the prophets, Jeremiah could be considered as one of the unfortunate ones and I will explain why.

Jeremiah was called by God, before he was even born, to be a prophet; but he started his prophetic ministry as a teenager. The summary of his message to the people of Judah at the time was that if they did not repent of their evil ways, their towns will be plundered and everything destroyed. Not even their previous temple will be spared. And after the destruction, those who are left will be taken into exile to work as slaves. Imagine yourself as the bearer of this message; unfortunately the lot fell to the teenager Jeremiah. And he was not sent to his fellow senior prophets which perhaps may have been easier for him. God sent him to give this message to the elders and rulers of the people. 

Of course no one believed him. He was too young to be a prophet, and how dare he utter such calamitous words about the chosen ones of God and of Jerusalem, the city of God? For daring to do this, Jeremiah was oppressed and punished by the people and the elders several times. In fact, he was treated as a pariah. 

Jeremiah was not indifferent to this maltreatment because several times he would complain to God, even accusing him of deceiving and seducing him into proclaiming messages of doom. But he also accepted he had no choice; if he did not proclaim the message, it will burn up from deep within him until it came out.

So what has Jeremiah got to do with Nigeria?

Everything.

Perhaps we are in similar times as the people of Judah. Our country is racked with suffering, poverty, corruption, greed, tribalism, racism, religious intolerance, terrorism; everything that can go wrong seems to be going wrong with our country. We all see it, we all know it.

However while some people are choosing to speak up about it, others have chosen to be deaf, dumb, blind and mute and as if that is not bad enough, want others to act the same. But whether we like it or not, we all know the truth because it is written in our hearts and it gives us only two choices - speak up and let it out no matter what the message is, or keep it in until it consumes you like a burning fire. 

And when we speak up there are benefits - the truth is told, errors can be rebuked, faults can be corrected and instructions can be given that can set things right.

In the end, it always works out best.

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More on APC

So a couple of things I've seen over the past few days I would like to comment on. First was a comment on a post asking GMB's supporters to donate towards his campaign. One lady's opinion was that whoever is interested in donating just needs to pass through the Lekki toll gate; after all a fraction of the money paid will go to Tinubu, who is GMB's backer & Osinbajo's godfather. Thinking about it, I realized she's not too far off. Quite frankly I think a good many people will not feel inclined to donate to GMB because the general feeling is that Tinubu has amassed more than enough to sponsor the campaign. The flip side to that is the more Tinubu donates, the more GMB is beholden to him and he will have no choice but to pay back, only this time by collecting federal contracts.

Then I watched a debate clip between Jimi Agbaje & Akin Ambode. Both candidates were asked what they would do about the toll collection at Lekki and the arrangement with AlphaBeta. Of course Agbaje said he will do away with both. But what was more interesting was Ambode's response. On the toll gate he said the tolls will remain because it is a key source of revenue for Lagos state and at that I became confused. When the tolls were put in place, Fashola said it was because the road was built using private sector funds and needed to be paid for. Which is fine, I don't have a problem with that. But if the road has been fully paid off (and none of the candidates said anything to the contrary), why has the toll collection not stopped? Or is APC's plan to continue to use that as a source of revenue, not necessarily for Lagos, but for Tinubu to have limitless funds for his insatiable political ambitions?

And then on AlphaBeta, Ambode said the company will remain a consultant to Lagos state because of the terms of the contract. If Lagos state should try to end the relationship, they will be dragged to court for breach of contract and the payout will be huge. I know a thing or two about contract management and this sounds to me like an evergreen contract that never expires. Such contracts only favour one party, the supplier. So basically Ambode told us that Lagosians have been bound to Tinubu in a never ending contract where he collects all our money in the form of taxes and keeps a percentage. This is just too much. With every passing day I am more convinced that Tinubu is a deadweight the APC is carrying which they need to get rid off and fast. That is the only way they will have a better proposition than PDP.

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APC and the clamour for CHANGE

If APC thinks that the clamour for change is only at the federal level, then I think they are being hypocritical. Do they think we don't need change at the state level? Take Lagos for instance; for how long are we going to be bed-fellows with Tinubu? Our present governor was hand picked by him, same as the current candidate. Even the APC vice-presidential candidate was chosen by him (I hear Osibanjo is a director of alpha-beta, the company owned by Tinubu and responsible for collection of taxes in Lagos state). His wife Oluremi Tinubu has 'represented' Lagos central senatorial district for three terms now if am not mistaken. Unfortunately the only time we see or hear from her is during elections, when her glossy election posters cover every available space on the island promising 'prosperity' for all. Is that what we need? Prosperity or a candidate that is our voice in the legislature? I think we have had enough of Tinubu; he should gracefully take a bow for the work he has done so far and allow the polity to run without saturating the whole place with his family members and cohorts who continue to serve his personal interests first rather than that of the people. The hypocrisy needs to stop; there is no difference between distributing recharge cards with the picture of Remi Tinubu and the bags of rice distributed by PDP with Jonathan's face on it. According to my colleague, the clamor for change is not a mantra, it is a movement. APC has the momentum now but if they are not careful, even they will be swept away into oblivion by the force of the Change movement.

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