WHENEVER he speaks, people listen. So, the man needs no introduction. Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye’s take on the elections billed for 2023 is scary. Scary because of the way he put it. The General Overseer (GO) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) said God had not told him yet whether the elections would hold. He emphasised the word ‘yet’ before mischief makers would seize the space and say Daddy GO, as he is popularly known, has predicted that the elections would Adeboye was not saying anything new. Some Nigerians from different walks of life had expressed similar sentiments at one time or the other. They have not stopped expressing that fear. Although there is a caveat to Adeboye’s position on the issue, others have spoken with certainty that the elections would not hold, citing the prevailing economic hardship, social disharmony and insecurity.
These are plausible reasons which could hinder the conduct of the elections. Long before now, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) too raised the alarm that insecurity could jeopardise the elections. The electoral umpire spoke in the wake of the destruction of its facilities and sensitive election materials in some parts of the country, especially the Southeast . Those expressing doubts over the conduct of the elections cannot be blamed. The portents are not good, contrary to the picture that the government is painting.
The government may have given security its best shot, as it is wont to say, but it appears that its best is not good enough. It seemed the government came to power, underestimating the security problem. Insecurity is not tackled by mere words of mouth. It is addressed by employing tact, strategy, equipment and well trained personnel. Security is key to the social harmony of a country and where it is missing, there cannot be peace, progress and unity. When all these ingredients are not there, elections cannot hold. Who can talk of elections in an atmosphere of fear, death and destruction?
Adeboye is not a politician, as he rightly pointed out. The public knows him as a pastor, a calling in which he has excelled. He spoke out of concern for what he has been seeing and which all of us are seeing, except those who want to bury their heads in the sand like ostrich. Despite all the fears over 2023, many cannot wait for the elections to come and go. Ask them why, they will reply without batting an eyelid that the present administration has not delivered on its promises.
If possible, they even want the government to leave now. But why are many afraid for 2023? It is mainly because of insecurity. Forget the rising food prices, the spiralling cost of cooking gas, diesel, kerosine, aviation fuel and petrol and the abject proverty in the land, it is insecurity that is gnawing at the back of people’s minds.
The government promised to take 100 million people out of poverty. With the situation of things today, it is rather driving millions into poverty. There is, therefore, nothing to cheer about the report that India has taken over from Nigeria as the world’s poverty capital. Reason: India has a population of 1.38 billion, as at 2020, which is over six times that of Nigeria, which is put at 210.87 million as at 2021.
The government brandishes its record in roads development and modernisation of the rail system.
These gains are being eroded by insecurity. The rail, the air and the road are no longer safe. Look at what happened on the Abuja-Kaduna rail route on March 28. More than one week after the incident, many are still unaccounted for. The most worrisome of it all is that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) does not know the actual number of passengers on board the ill-fated train. People look at things like this and thunder: “you are talking of 2023; which 2023?”.
Those who think elections will hold in 2023 and those with contrary view agree on one thing though – the present administration must go and “the sooner it leaves, the better”. 2023 is eight months from now. The elections will hold in nine, 10 months time. Between now and the hand over of government on May 29, 2023, we have close to 12 months. It is still a long way to go before the dawn of a new government. What will happen between now and 2023 is in the hands of God? Will there be elections in 2023? I believe that the elections will hold. I am an incurable optimist when it comes to Nigeria. We have survived bad times before and these harsh times too shall come to pass right before our eyes.
To those anxious over 2023, Nigeria has never seen worst times than this. This is why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is gloating over what it calls the misgovernance of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which wrested power from it in 2015. Indeed, people are benumbed by what they have seen under the APC government. They invested high hopes in the party, believing that it would show PDP how to run a country. Sadly, the joke today is on APC rather than PDP. Be that as it may, Nigerians should not lose hope. Our destiny lies in our hands.
Must our choices be limited to either APC or PDP? We should look beyond them if our country must come out of the cocoon to which it has been consigned by these two parties in the last 24 years. We deserve something better than APC and PDP. So, our aim in 2023 should be to vote in a party that can turn the fortunes of the country around. We have been stuck in one place for 24 years because we limited ourselves to choosing between six and half a dozen. What is the difference?
The butcher in Bucha
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has got more than what he bargained for in Ukraine. When his country launched what he called a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine on February 24, it was meant to be a short and sharp invasion. More than a month after, his army has not succeeded in taking over Ukraine. They are winning in the air, but losing on the land. His soldiers have been bombing apartment buildings, schools and hospitals, killing children and the elderly and maiming many others, but the Ukrainian army has stood firm on the ground.
The most bestial act of the invasion happened in a town called Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, where the butcher went on a killing spree. The world is revolted by the pictures of the massacre so far released. Our people can now see what a massacre or genocide really is. Bodies littered the streets of Bucha. Some were headless and limbless. It was a gory sight to behold. These war crimes should not go unpunished. Otherwise, another, worse than Putin may rise again. If Putin could attempt to set the global community on the path of another world war despite what happened to Adolf Hitler, who caused World War 11, then a good example must be made of him to deter his ilk.