Since independence from the colonialists, Nigerians have dedicated a lot of time and energy to assessing the performance of the central government rather than the appraisal of the effectiveness and helpfulness of the members of the opposition to the growth and development of the country. Now that everyone has unfettered access to microphone with which to openly challenge and criticize, even, the most profit engendering activities of the government, it has become exigent to put the actions of the opposition itself in clear perspective.

Opposition is not necessarily only for bringing the incumbent in the executive office to his knees because that may affect the smooth running of the country but about effective contributions to better-quality delivery of services to the people. Opposition should be directed to the improvement of statistical indicators of the country’s governance performances through alternative intellectual inputs and suggestions.

The engrossment of the official antagonists of government policies and activities for the past years seems to be centred on the activities of the occupants of the presidency rather than the government and its administration. This gives the impression that the intention of the opposition is focused on blackmail, mud-sling and harassment of the president rather than deep analysis of the situation in the country for the collective benefit and well-being of its masses.

Since the end of the First Republic, the convention that is gaining steam and energy seems to be such that as soon as a candidate is declared the winner, the opposition goes into combat before the winner settles down in office, thereby, overcharging and overheating the polity as if electioneering is the only reason for occupying positions in the country. Consequently, the government is not allowed to focus on its primary assignment by the ever restive adversaries.

In many parts of the world, opposition focus on how well the government of the day has been able to fulfill its promises and party manifesto to the electorates. They are constant watchers of the progress of the country and they take- on government on issues bothering on economy, human development, security and other issues of national importance that are necessary for the well-being and existence of the people.

The Nigerian opposition is gradually becoming an embodiment of confusion, caterers of dishes of disaffection, promoters of sectional hatred and ethnic disgruntlement, destroyers of bridges that bind religious and communal harmony and charter-boxes of words that are distant from common sense. Sometimes, members of this group talk as if they are as innocent as the pedestrian on governance and its structures.

The worst part of the whole process is that those members of the opposition who are contributors and harbingers of the woes of the country by virtue of being previous public office holders are the most outspoken who are re-energised to partake in public discourse on current administration because of the cognitive deficits and memory inadequacies of the masses.

Most politicians in Nigeria forget that they were groomed and nurtured with Nigerian milk and honey yet they use these opportunities provided to them by the country to place her in the negative perspective of the international community. They hurt Nigeria and de- values its contributions in the world arena. At certain level of life, self-censorship becomes essential for sustenance of the quality of leadership. In Nigeria, the opposition pours venom on his own country with such recklessness that centuries of erasure may nor remove the stain.

Imagine a female senator who had purely local issues with her colleges in one of the highest offices in the country running to the international forum to smear the image of the country by giving the impression that she was being oppressed because of her gender. Those who “carried placard” with her by running around to justify her recklessness are not street urchins but former public officers who should know better that no individual is above the law of the institution she represents. One of them is someone who was assigned to the portfolio of educating the youths of this country.

The unfortunate scenery, as seen on the television is that while the issue was under debate in the Senate, more elderly members, true to African tradition and culture. rallied round to pacify her but she blatantly rejected the overture because her focus is more on going to show the world her perceived dark side of her country.

There are many vocal members of the opposition who should hide their faces behind the blinds of their houses because in the first instance, they brought Nigeria into its current prostrate position.

There was in this country, a man who, during its tenure did not understand what it meant to devolve power to the federating units in the country. He failed to understand that peace and the much elusive tranquility in the South East and other zones of the region would be achievable when each of the federating units have more power to be able to run the affairs of their own people.

He presided over a Nigeria where hard earned income are dispensed to subsidy thereby wetting the appetite of those who suck the content of the pipes in which the national treasures are kept. For someone who ran the affairs of the country for over eleven years of her sixty-five years of independence, his contributions to the country’s cumulative success or failure cannot be minimal.

It was during his tenure as a military Head of State that the nation’s capital was moved to a virgin land where the entire treasury of the nation was emptied to build a new town that shows only in aesthetic but not in functional utility. Knowing who Nigerians are, the construction of a new town was bound to elicit corruption and place the purse of the nation in the danger zone.

To compound the problem, his tenure continued to encourage fuel subsidy which is the hallmark of thievery, profligacy and squander mania. Yet, this individual seems to be the loudest in the condemnation of those who have taken it as a responsibility
to pack the mess from the national floor.

By the time he left government, the country was already in economic jeopardy, security was at its lowest ebb due to the activities of the Boko Haram and outright banditry. This very horrible situation was the first challenge of President Yar’Adua when he took over the mantle of leadership.

In the penultimate week, a newspaper publication quoted Senator representing Kaduna Central Zone, Shehu Sani, concurring with the above position when he slammed both Mallam el-Rufai and Rotimi Amaechi by accusing the duo of lacking the credentials to criticise the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Calling them hypocrites, he argued as follows:

“They are the architects of the banditry, poverty, and hunger they now pretend to lament. During their tenure, they did nothing to solve these issues, and now they cry foul simply because they have been left out of the current government.”

We cannot, as a nation, continue to pat the opposition in the back and allow them to run unhindered on the same field that they padded with landmines. May be our intervention in redirecting and refueling the vehicle of antagonism of government activities will reshape the outcome of governance in this country. The argument that the current driver must continue to manage a vehicle left rickety by a previous driver is good but not when the man who deliberately or inadvertently damaged the vehicle is allowed to sit inside the same vehicle complaining unashamedly about its sordid condition.

The opposition should learn the job of opposition and stop pretending that unless they are in government the administration of the country cannot be efficient and effective. This ugly attitude of behaving as if the country is for election purposes alone and not good governance must stop because it is hurting Nigeria almost irretrievably.

While no one is advocating for the silence of the opposition, the voice of the antagonism must necessarily be the voice of reasons. The opposition must have a time table that must separate governance from office grabbing. To continue to treat Nigeria shabbily is like using the fat in her body to cook her flesh, In one word, it is callous to continue to boil the kid in its mother’s milk.

Ojikutu is a Professor of Statistics (Retired) University of Lagos.