I never thought there could be a day when Nigerians (like Americans who are divided almost evenly into Republican and Democratic Party supporters), will be divided nearly evenly into supporters of the All Progressives Congress, APC and People’s Democratic Party, PDP supporters evenly, enough to pursue relationships along that line, either positively or negatively.
Nigerians aren't new to divisions, in fact since independence and way before that, what has kept Nigerians divided had been religion and ethnicity, and anyone with an iota of discerning spirit knows that the wheel that grinds this country into motion is oiled by those aforementioned ills, and now we have added to that partisan politics. I make bold to say that at no time in Nigeria's history, have the divisive impact of politics been this well rooted, even though on the surface one could point to times in the past when lives were lost following General Elections such as the one we had in March. It is to the credit of former President Goodluck Jonathan that this country did not descend into chaos and war with his timely acceptance of defeat and congratulating then president-elect Muhammadu Buhari with millions of votes to be counted though it had become obvious where the votes will swing.
PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI
Elections are gone now and what was considered impossible in Nigeria's history happened, with the victory of an opposition party candidate over an incumbent, and though weeks have passed since that happened the "warring" factions have yet to climb out of their trenches. So we now have a situation where the President Buhari led government and supporters must prove that they can deliver on the promises they made during the campaigns, many of which appear to have now been abandoned (if the BODY LANGUAGE of the president and his handlers are anything to go), in form of denials and the heaping of the blame of such so called promises, on overzealous supporters, while the NEW opposition party, PDP and it's supporters and those who preferred not to vote Buhari pounce on that to play the "I Told You So" tape.
Now on the defensive, against the barrage of criticisms coming from the opposition over every action taken by the president, the presidency and his handlers and supporters have not failed to exploit every opportunity to proclaim the good done by the administration, while the opposition have managed to score some points in having the government acknowledge some of the criticisms, by promising to do better, especially as regards the lopsidedness of the appointments made by the president so far, to the eventual release of preliminary statement regarding the assets of the president and vice president publicly, while the full meat is being awaited once the Code Of Conduct Bureau concludes its investigations on the assets both have declared, for which both sides of the divide are celebrating as victories to their causes.
What the opposition is yet to wrap its head around is the talk of the president's "Body Language" been touted as responsible for any positive happening or the "changing atmosphere", even when nothing was invested in bringing about the "order", while the yet lingering "negatives" is thrown in the direction of the new opposition that had been in power for the past sixteen years. One reality that has come home to all though, is that the fight against CORRUPTION appears to have mellowed with all the hue and cry of expectations and fabrications, finger pointings and media lynching, even by people who should know better have begun to give way to pessimism on the one side, especially of the opposition and fading hope on the other as it begins to look as if change is resembling much of the same, as was with past governments where the anticorruption fight was simply mouthed, or the opposition (to the government, even within the same party) was targeted, including scapegoatism for which just about anybody could be victim.
It has become pertinent, that President Buhari though still riding high on the people's goodwill must not allow himself to be carried away by the praises of sycophants, nor allow himself to be wearied by criticisms, rather he must measure both sides in taking actions, propounding and executing policies that will deliver the dividend of democracy to the majority of the Nigerian populace, as wide as the reach of the federal government can allow.
'kovich
Nigerians aren't new to divisions, in fact since independence and way before that, what has kept Nigerians divided had been religion and ethnicity, and anyone with an iota of discerning spirit knows that the wheel that grinds this country into motion is oiled by those aforementioned ills, and now we have added to that partisan politics. I make bold to say that at no time in Nigeria's history, have the divisive impact of politics been this well rooted, even though on the surface one could point to times in the past when lives were lost following General Elections such as the one we had in March. It is to the credit of former President Goodluck Jonathan that this country did not descend into chaos and war with his timely acceptance of defeat and congratulating then president-elect Muhammadu Buhari with millions of votes to be counted though it had become obvious where the votes will swing.
Elections are gone now and what was considered impossible in Nigeria's history happened, with the victory of an opposition party candidate over an incumbent, and though weeks have passed since that happened the "warring" factions have yet to climb out of their trenches. So we now have a situation where the President Buhari led government and supporters must prove that they can deliver on the promises they made during the campaigns, many of which appear to have now been abandoned (if the BODY LANGUAGE of the president and his handlers are anything to go), in form of denials and the heaping of the blame of such so called promises, on overzealous supporters, while the NEW opposition party, PDP and it's supporters and those who preferred not to vote Buhari pounce on that to play the "I Told You So" tape.
Now on the defensive, against the barrage of criticisms coming from the opposition over every action taken by the president, the presidency and his handlers and supporters have not failed to exploit every opportunity to proclaim the good done by the administration, while the opposition have managed to score some points in having the government acknowledge some of the criticisms, by promising to do better, especially as regards the lopsidedness of the appointments made by the president so far, to the eventual release of preliminary statement regarding the assets of the president and vice president publicly, while the full meat is being awaited once the Code Of Conduct Bureau concludes its investigations on the assets both have declared, for which both sides of the divide are celebrating as victories to their causes.
What the opposition is yet to wrap its head around is the talk of the president's "Body Language" been touted as responsible for any positive happening or the "changing atmosphere", even when nothing was invested in bringing about the "order", while the yet lingering "negatives" is thrown in the direction of the new opposition that had been in power for the past sixteen years. One reality that has come home to all though, is that the fight against CORRUPTION appears to have mellowed with all the hue and cry of expectations and fabrications, finger pointings and media lynching, even by people who should know better have begun to give way to pessimism on the one side, especially of the opposition and fading hope on the other as it begins to look as if change is resembling much of the same, as was with past governments where the anticorruption fight was simply mouthed, or the opposition (to the government, even within the same party) was targeted, including scapegoatism for which just about anybody could be victim.
It has become pertinent, that President Buhari though still riding high on the people's goodwill must not allow himself to be carried away by the praises of sycophants, nor allow himself to be wearied by criticisms, rather he must measure both sides in taking actions, propounding and executing policies that will deliver the dividend of democracy to the majority of the Nigerian populace, as wide as the reach of the federal government can allow.
'kovich
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