By Richard Odusanya
SIR: Democracy has been defined as the government of the people, for the people, by the people”. This classic definition assumes that people would vote to make their choice; winners would be elected and subsequently accepted by the people. This definition was however before the age of populism, commercial politics or politi-preneurship, a period when gullible social media influencers were not active participants in the political scene.
Trumpism, Bolsonarism and Obidientism were not part of the consideration then and people were not involuntarily gullible and easily controlled by a tool like the social media.
Interestingly, we are now in the age of that new reality. Political conflagrations which easily take their roots in social media as exemplified by what happened in the USA two years ago and currently happening in Brazil are on the ascent. These two unfortunate incidents should be a warning to us in Nigeria as we approach our own elections from next month. In Brazil, the dramatic scenes saw thousands of protesters, some clad in yellow Brazilian football shirts and waving flags, overrun police and ransack the heart of the Brazilian state.
The 2022/3 Brazilian election protests began shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 general election’s second round on October 30, 2022 in which Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected president. Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, frequently referred to in the media as Bolsonaristas, alleging election fraud, began blocking roads and highways in the country. The rioting came a week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was sworn-in. Bolsonaro enjoys a fervent base of supporters, many of whom are armed extremists, hailing from the military, police and militias analogous to the Proud Boys in the United States.
In Brazil, it was long expected that if Bolsonaro were to lose at the polls, there would be an imminent risk that Brazil would experience something similar to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol; or worse. As president, Bolsonaro has used the highest office to aggressively stoke disinformation, in the same manner as US ex-President Trump did with his fanatical supporters. Back home in Nigeria, there are now fears that the message of Obasanjo and his co-travellers, through his latest letter, and behind the scene activities, could lead to similar outcomes in Nigeria in the February/March elections.
The global community and men of good conscience should not fold their arms and allow the ongoing situation in Brazil to enact itself in a country as fragile and delicate as Nigeria. Our beloved country Nigeria does not have such strong institutions like those in Brazil or in the western world. Obasanjo is certainly not the moral compass to navigate us through this probable potential storm.
Initiators of such attacks on democracy are usually conflicted as we have read in documents of their track records. They have a sense of “better than all” and always wanting to rewrite or erase historical accounts. It is baffling that a person like Obasanjo who supervised a “business as usual” administration, heading arguably the worst corrupt government that laid the foundation of where we are today as a nation, now wants to be our future political compass. Lest we forget and to remind Nigerians especially the youths whose future is at stake that Obasanjo regime was characterised by rampant unforgettable and invidious politically motivated assassinations; sale of many of our critical assets leading to the misery of this present generation of Nigerian youths; squandering of our resources on frivolous things and plunder as exemplified by the $16 billion wasted on power (electricity) and many other fraudulent activities that resulted in where we are today; and finally, unprecedented election rigging and falsification results.
“A stitch in time saves nine”; so goes the saying. The youths must research and ask questions. If properly done, they would realise that all the political potentates of Nigeria today have contributed directly or indirectly to their misery; and so they must not succumb to their sweet talks and claims. Realising this would lead them into taking the right decision regarding violence or propensity towards anarchy. Nigeria must not burn.