A case for positive ‘change’

TO ‘make or become different’ is ‘change’, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Indian Edition).

This presupposes that the concept of change has an essentially neutral connotation. Consequently, I am therefore, compulsively, invited to interrogate both the substance and symbolism of the All Progressives Party’s (APC) ‘change’ mantra.

With the presidential election behind us, the party, without a shred of doubt, now has an obligation to qualify her genre of ‘change’.

The translation of party manifesto and electoral promises into measurable successes in policy formulation and implementation is patently the immediate task of the incoming government.

In this regard let me confess that I was sufficiently gratified when I ‘read’ the ‘words’ in the eyes of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, President-elect as he, in the company of his deputy, stepped forward to receive his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on April 1 at the Presidential Election Collation Centre, Abuja.

Those ‘words’ were simply unambiguous; they re-echoed the instructive submission of Lincoln Steffens: ‘I have seen the future and it works’. As an incurable optimist, I believe Nigeria’s future will work. But lest we give out premature trophies, the President-elect should be reminded that, as Walter Mosley said, ‘the future is … what you make of it’.

In his book, My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirate and Ruler of Dubai, had posited thus: “Our distinctive development experience in the UAE is a good example of what can be done when God blesses a country with an unselfish leadership that strives for the good of its people and not its own. Good leadership puts the interests of the community as a whole before those of any specific group.”

Let me restate that I never thought Gen. Buhari was a fantastic choice by the APC, for the fact that I honestly reckoned that his generation has had more than a fair share in the Nigerian enterprise and naturally ought to yield leadership to the young, my profound respect for his impeccable record in public service notwithstanding.

APC, in my view, could have chosen a much younger person from the array of stars in the north to fly its flag.

Silently, I had wished it would be able to persuade iconic elements like Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (Rtd.) to pick its presidential ticket since premium was, for good measure, placed on integrity. But all that is now in the past.

My subjective opinion did not count as APC made its most rewarding choice – as attested to by the outcome of the March 28 presidential elections. Sai Buhari!

For the love of our country and the collective interest of my generation, some genuine patriots did labour – albeit unsuccessfully – to rescue the Jonathan administration, but the army of mediocre elements around him insisted on lowering his government into an early grave! A good man (any day, any time) who suffered the pains and pangs of voluntary captivity in the hands of a clan of primitive gluttons and charlatans.

But you see, the buck stops at his table and he has a responsibility to take the blame for eternity. The president-elect should please take note!

I have always taken exception to the idea of change just for the sake of ‘change’. The literal superiority of ‘transformation’ over ‘change’ rests in the fact that the former acknowledges the weakness of a status quo and promises to make it better as against the latter which only pledges an alteration in the present state of affairs without necessarily stating the direction of the change so envisaged.

Take for instance, the ‘change’ my state, Abia, witnessed in 1999 with the return of democracy: Military to civil rule – on the face of it a desirable change, but the years that were to follow proved otherwise.

Like Jonathan, Abia had the misfortune of walking into the captivity of mediocrity and impunity, and the consequences have been quite dire. But unlike Jonathan, Abia rulers have been the carriers of the virus of mediocrity– not the other way round as in Jonathan’s case.

Abia is by far a better illustration of how deeply mediocrity can hurt. In the past 16 years, Abians have been victims of joint forces of poverty of character and gross ineptitude.

Abia took off with a governor who was a good portrait of both components in equal measure. When he was about leaving, he ensured an inferior variant of himself succeeded him, and today Abia has become a basket case. Change! The president-elect should kindly refrain from treading this path.

To be fair, I do not think that Kalu and Orji are necessarily bad people. On the contrary, I consider them to be ill-equipped for political leadership – this is without prejudice to the fact that they may well not be disasters in merchandise and civil service respectively.

Their mean educational qualification, opaque public record and character deficiency in my view are hardly essential elements of leadership. If anything, they are key ingredients of mediocrity – which in turn manifests incompetence, corruption and impunity.

The point here is that all of these variables are inter-related and do define the socio-economic condition of Abia and Abians since 1999.

Nigeria, under the incoming government, should not contemplate a replication of the Abia mishap.

Both Orjis lack competence and capacity to lead Abians and that explains why they could only rule with impunity. We have to be generous enough though to grant that they could not have given what they did not have.

We also need to understand why they dreaded having sane, robust minds around – preferring instead to surround themselves with thugs, hustlers and unemployable praise-singers, who cannot in their individual rights, earn a decent living.

Yet, it was change from PDP to PPA to APGA and then back to PDP. My point is that there is no greater corruption than an embrace of mediocrity; it breeds everything that undermines a people’s corporate interest.

Having ridden to power on the back of a generally acclaimed moral high horse, Buhari should in the light of the foregoing endeavour tread very carefully as he strikes a balance between party patronage and service delivery.

Meeting the expectations of Nigerians should be allowed to precede reward for party loyalists, in the enlightened corporate interest of APC.

Every worker sure deserves his/her wage; APC members should therefore be entitled to their due. That said, I wish to, most respectfully, pray the President-elect to avoid the pitfalls of the past by shunning every attraction in the direction of mediocrity. It stunts growth. It kills. However, strong the temptation is, please flee. When the chips are down, he will certainly have his cross to carry.

He may wish to ask President Jonathan: The party men that see one to power may also be the ones that will abandon them when the tide changes to join forces with adversaries and do irreparable damage to the ‘common heritage’.

As His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum argued, “good leadership puts the interests of the community as a whole before those of any specific group,” (APC and promoters of GMB’s candidacy inclusive).

As the President-elect gets ready for the task ahead, the justifiable yearning of the average Nigerian is to see him put his best foot forward.

Whatever it will take, he should please insist on round pegs for round holes, square pegs for square holes – regardless of creed, tribe, tongue, religion or party affiliation – lest the species of maggots that ravaged Abia as well as ruined the government of a fine gentleman, President Jonathan, creep into the new government.
•Akamadu is author, Voluntary Union: A Centenary Imperative