Politicians in power always think that they are more powerful than the people. History has shown time and time again that the people’s power does not wake up easily, but when it wakes, the politicians in power will pay the price. The Arab Spring is a clear example. I do not want to go too far in History, but Senegal is a very recent experience in our history books.
Professor Pat Utomi said that if the Nigerian Government are planning to rig the election in 2027 that the people should rise and take their country back. A lot of people did not agree with him, but some wise people pointed out that the exercise of people’s power, in most cases, is not preplanned.
I went into History to see how this people’s power works. It is always against a corrupt Government like the one we have today in Nigeria. Whenever you speak against this APC-led government, they would label you an obidient, or now it is OK-movement (Obi/Kwankwaso). I do not have a problem with labelling, but the culpable ignorance the people in Government are claiming in the face of the present hardship and danger is shocking and alarming.
Look at the rate of kidnapping and banditry in the country. The level of terror is at all time high and the government are not worried but lying every day they have opportunity to speak. The recent kidnapping of the young Nigerians going for NYSC service was a clear misrepresentation of facts. The government said that the family and the government did not pay a ransom to get the hostages released, but a mother whose son was among the kidnapped said she paid more than six million.
How can you trust such a government? Because the trust deficit is quantum. From the day the government stepped into power, it has been one deceit after another. We were told that the subsidy is gone, but the government continued to pay the subsidy, calling it all sorts of names. The recent name is fuel capping at one thousand three hundred and fifty naira (1,350).
The big confusion is saying that only NNPC fuel stations would sell at that price (1,350). Not only that, they would sell only to the transporters. Nigeria has more than 27,000 fuel stations; NNPC fuel stations are only 900, not even up to 10% of the whole. On the other hand, after the announcement, the fuel price jumped from 1,500 to 1,900. The NNPC stations do not sell now, because there was a big lie that the government talked about cost management compared to what NNPC management was told. The people are watching and waiting patiently for the 2027 Election to see what will become of their votes.
There are three major presidential candidates on the ballot for the 2027 Election. One is campaigning almost every day, the other is not campaigning but from time to time has a conference or town hall meeting where he would counter what the ruling government has said but the third one, which is the ruling party (the incumbent president) is not campaigning at all.
He went out of the country when the ban on campaigning was lifted and overstayed his working leave, according to the spokespersons. He came back and went straight to his home in Lagos and said he needs to watch a TV documentary before going back to Abuja. He has since gone back to Abuja, but the volcanic eruption going on between the two strong opponents in his government is a thing to watch. One of his political adopted sons, Minister of Federal Capital Territory who formed Rainbow coalition, is on coalition cause with another political son who is a sitting governor on his party, Senator Hope Uzodimma; and they are at daggers drawn.
The people whose future is being tossed about are watching keenly to see what the two gladiators are planning to do with their votes in the 2027 Presidential Election. The time we are going through now is very interesting. The politicians in power think that everything revolves around them, and the people are just onlookers. They are in for a big surprise because the people’s power is not what you can predict. The president of Nepal was asleep when the people’s power rose to take what belongs to them.
Many people who have never used jacuzzi to take shower were seen swimming and showering in the presidential jacuzzi. Many people were eating and drinking inside the presidential palace. The president woke up to the sound of the people’s cries and ran away. The president of the Philippines was promised safety in Hawaii (exile) when the people’s power rose.
France may not offer that space when the time comes. Nigeria should be very careful not to take the people for granted. They are at the breaking point; I think that the only hope holding back the Nigerian People is the 2027 Election, but if the election is rigged, manipulated, or cancelled, to us, the president’s language is “Everything is fair.”
Finally, all those people who refused to campaign but decided to lie every day against Mr. Peter Obi, should remember that history has a date with reckoning. Now, I am very happy and thankful that a party like APC was formed, and we know the true color of some people who could have hidden themselves under the fake titles: comrade, honorable, professor, and so on. Look at what is trending in Nigeria today, where professors are helping people to rig an election.
Where the so-called comrades are dining with the ruling class to marginalize the people they are supposed to be standing for, where the so-called honorable members are not capable of accounting for the money they collected from the federal government in the name of constituency funds. I did not know that Mathematics is this hard until I heard the governor of Edo State trying to pronounce the total budget amount of his state. The problem is not to calculate but to pronounce what was calculated. It was an embarrassment of seismic proportions.
Now I heard he said he will give the APC president two point five million votes. I have been wondering why he has been calling this number always; maybe, who knows, if that is the only number he can pronounce correctly since Edo People have never crossed six hundred thousand votes. Anyways, thanks to APC for bringing out the true colours of so many political figures in Nigeria hiding under the political titles of Honorables and comrades. All those people should be ready to answer for their true names because the people’s power is coming very soon.
Rev Fr Gerald Nwafor writes from California, USA.
