When Kingsley Muoneke was a student at Ransome Kuti memorial Grammar School, I have the honour of meeting him in 2003, but being behind this mask now I must say either knowing him as my student or as a fellow of student at RKMGS I never doubted his intellectual abilities. this lecture he prepared for the 1st year Anniversary of RAOSA on JAN/09/2011. made its way to this blog with all pleasure. Please do note that Kingsley is also in the forefront of the RAOSA group on facebook which hold meetings regularly.
2011 ELECTIONS: THE YOUTHS, THE BALLOT, AND THE FUTURE
By Kingsley Muoneke.
Introduction:
It is my pleasure to take on this part of the lecture. I am deeply disturbed by the nonchalance of the youths towards the Nigerian state- our fatherland. The youths seem to have been sleeping for a long time now just like Rip Van Winkle who slept for a score years, and upon waking up, he discovered to his dismay that everything has changed that was surrounding him. He could not identify his friends anymore and his house he was not able to identify. He doubted all that he saw and was totally confused. So, it is my intention to wake-up the youths from their slumber before they wake up to the sad realization that Nigeria is no more. Then, you become a refugee in your fatherland, or in Benin Republic, or even in Togo.
My presentation, as indicated by the topic, is tripartite. The first part is on the youths, and this part takes a brief philosophical view of the African culture while reminding the youths that we cannot assign our reasoning to others. I, also, tried to unmask the many fallacies of those politicians who shortchange the youths and use us to achieve their evil agenda. In the second part, I looked at elections in Nigeria and proffered an answer that I think is the only solution to realizing free, fair and credible elections which will ultimately result in advancement of the country. As expected in the last part, I drew a projection into the future based on the present circumstances. I have to warn that, my presentation is rather conversational because of the nature of the subject and the composition of the audience. Making it technical and academic would have been appropriate had it been a political science class.
The youths seem brainwashed, battered, dazed and psychologically defeated to the extent that they are clueless and unconscious of their roles, their power and the society in which they habitate. Consciousness has to do with being fully aware of your actions as to not regret your actions when you carry them out. And, that means taking responsibility for your actions.
There are 2 classifications of consciousness, namely: the passive and the active.
You are in a passive consciousness when you accept without questioning the dictates of fellow human beings especially those of our elders that the African culture has traditionally mandated the younger ones to believe and obey even when an elder did not make sense. Though this mandate of obeying our elders is not at all a foolish mandate for in those archaic days, our elders were truly elders; they were strong embodiments of wisdom and the norms, the universe then was very microscopic that it was not very complex and materialistic as to prompt the fierce need for survival. But today, the average person has so many needs as a result of this now complex and materialistic world. The average parent will not only look out for his nuclear family, but also his extended family members and friends who come for succour. Couple this with the attendant inadequacy in the society, and you have enough temptation to make you kill your conscience when an opportunity comes to make money. Hence, the high chances of compromising eldership.
Also, it is very African especially in western Nigeria for very old parents to want to continue providing for their very old sons and daughters. It is from such africanistic instinct come the mandate given to the younger ones because it was believed that the older ones are there for the younger ones and that the younger ones cannot assume responsibility where the older ones are. You are in a passive consciousness as when you do not thoroughly question the rationality of other peoples` decisions. For instance, when you accept mindlessly to take up arms in order to snatch ballot boxes during elections, for cash reward.
Active consciousness is when you are fully aware of your surroundings and everything thereof. In this case, you think things through before making conclusions, and you are as well able to gauge other peoples` reaction. This means being fully alive. Here, you live in the society and the society lives in you. Examples of those who were and are actively conscious in their time include, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Professor Wole Soyinka, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare and many others. Looking at the life of these great men, you will discover that at some point in their life, they have been battered both physically and psychologically, but because they know that there is a level of consciousness that when one attains he becomes in charge of his own life. This level of consciousness which is active consciousness was first brought home to us by Jesus Christ, when he advised that we turn the other cheek to receive a second slap, because by doing so, you bring unbearable burden on your oppressor. That is the non-violent philosophy later developed by Mahatma Ghandi who also showed the same consciousness when he gained the best Independence for India in a rather peaceful fashion. He never took up arms or encouraged it in the quest for Indian`s Independence from the British. His weapon was selfless dialogue. Professor Wole Soyinka also showed the same consciousness when he said ‘the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny’. And, Martin Luther King whose personality continues to strike me showed the same consciousness when he spoke this truth that, ‘unearned suffering is redemptive’. This is a consciousness that makes everything around you to become awestruck; people respect and hold you in high esteem when you have it.
What is it that made these men burn with fire? Are they some kind of Homo sapiens with monopoly to wrought wonders in this world? Not at all! The truth remains that they engaged in serious meditation and observation through which they transcended into a realm where everything is revealed. In the face of life`s many challenges and temptation, they strived to listen to that good part in every human being that demands greatness from us. By listening, they set themselves free and their consciousness and curiosity waxed stronger thereby achieving greatness. When you have this consciousness, you become something like the 8th wonder of the world. The question then follows: how do you achieve active consciousness? This consciousness is not something you get by going to school and this is not to rule out formal education; it is not from being religious. You get it only by observation and meditation, and by self-education. When you are this conscious, nobody can deceive you; you easily detect the flimflam of politicians who come to you during elections to execute for them their evil agenda.
Three major ways through which the youths are deceived and pushed against their own will by the politicians are through: religion, tribalism and cash reward.
Talking about religion, I said in one of my articles on Facebook that, religions represent many roads to the same destination. What is religion? Religion is an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine. The divine means God. God means Allah, Allah means God. Reflecting on that definition of religion, which says, “an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine”, it then follows that we are not to have one way of worshipping or knowing God, because since it is something institutionalized by man or a personal system in response to man`s free will, but through directions and inspiration from God as man cannot attain perfection then it is subject to the expressions of many minds.
If a man starts a religion as the first person to do so, and a second man who is more learned and inspired comes after him, may be centuries later, to point out flaws in the first man`s concept of religion with reasons naturally appealing to the mind, is it not right to conclude that the second man`s proposal on that religion be accepted? Accepting it makes things easier because it becomes an improvement on the former, and in order to avoid the death of a religion it becomes imperative to institutionalize it with principles to guide its adherents. Where the second man`s corrections are rejected, as long as he is convinced of his concept, of course he will start his own religion to suit his life style and those of many others who accept his teachings and who will become his followers. This is the start of the many religions we have today as inspired both by God and the devil, and their difference is just a confirmation of the many different races in the world. Even the maxim, quot homines tot sententia meaning many minds, many views justifies this theory. This means that one man`s view cannot bind everybody except where everybody consciously accept to be bound by it, in which case we will have one religion.
So, let no person fool you that we have many gods proportional to the number of religions. We have one God and that God is Allah, and Allah is God. Whether a Christian or a Muslim, we come from the same source, and should not engage in that political north-south dichotomy which causes religious crisis in the North and civil unrest in the society. Not knowing this truth, our politicians easily bamboozle and enroll you in a useless Boko Haram group! Not knowing this truth, you call other peoples` religion inferior! Not knowing this truth, you continue with your parents` disrespectfulness of other tribes- allowing their tribal sentiments to be part of your life. It is because of the lack of understanding of these simple truths that our politicians buy the youths into religious crisis and tribal sentiments. It is because you lack these truths that you easily give up on life, and become readily available to make money not minding the means, some of which are to prostitute, wreck social havoc and help in election rigging. I have realized that, to succeed in life is common sense but before you can apply common sense you have to be conscious because common sense is not common.
When you accept cash reward to vote against your will, you make it impossible for a popular candidate to win, and by so doing you become an accomplice to those who enthrone bribe-giving candidates. And, when they get there, since it was not through a legitimate mandate of the people, their aim remains to recoup all the money spent on campaigns and bribery. As it is, they get back their money through the tax that you pay, and even if you are not a taxpayer, you share in the poverty, insecurity, squalor, police brutality, bad image of the country, unemployment, low selfhood, general social confusion and discomfort caused by this visionless, directionless and inept illegitimate candidate. Your kids too when they come around, they share in the disgrace of the parents and continue to wonder why Africa is backward; not knowing that our abysmal level of development today is simply a result of those of us who refused to do the right thing. It was Edmund Burke who said “the only thing required for evil to prevail in the land, is for good men to do nothing”. What then is the result? You become a prisoner who paid for his own handcuffs in the hands of the illegitimate candidates who upon tasting power refuses to give it up, and so, they seek to remain perpetually in office. Is this what you want for yourself, your future, and for your children? I ask you, is this what you want for our very elderly parents who languish under intense sun while queuing up with great humiliation in an attempt to get a paltry sum called pension that will give them tension even before they get home? Is this what you want for our fatherland- Nigeria? God forbid it!
Elections in Nigeria
We are now in election year. If you have been following up on the happenings in the country from the beginning of this administration, you will agree with me that this year`s elections seem programmed to fail. My question is: why is it that the present INEC chairman Prof Attahiru Jega, was appointed to that office in less than 2yrs to elections since it is common sense to consider that as a new person, he needs enough time to learn the terrain firsthand and put into consideration the many elections being challenged in the courts? Why was the former INEC chairman Professor Maurice Iwu not removed immediately upon the testimony made by the late President Musa Yaradua that his election into the office of president was marred with fraud and irregularities? And, in a space of 8months, we have seen the sack of 5governors- an incidence that confirms late Yaradua`s comment, which will even make INEC`s planning very horrible and Sisyphean. The 2010 Electoral Act even though it has been passed, is being challenged in the courts alongside the 1999 constitution. So, on what basis are the elections being organized? And, very embarrassing is the recent stealing of twenty of the Data Capture Machines for this year`s elections even though sixteen of them have been recovered. What a country! Signs are so much in the air that the election is being compromised even before it kicks off. Do I need to tell you of the PDP zoning issue that has further divided the country along the north-south fault line? What about the bombings that are just too rampant these days in our society? We are now like the proverbial crab that uses its eyes to watch over its head! And, recently, on Jan 3rd- just 3 days to the governorship re-run election in Delta state, INEC`s office in that state got razed by arsonists. Such issues as these and many others trail elections in Nigeria.
Since Independence, we have only had one election pronounced free, fair and credible- the 1993 presidential election won by late Chief MKO Abiola. That election was annulled or cancelled for this reason alone- the fear that the South, which was already far in development and civilization, will dominate the polity thereby slow development in the agrarian North. This fear has always been the deciding factor in elections in Nigeria, and it is this fear that became the basis for the controversial zoning formula in PDP. Thus, in order not to deprive any region of development and social advancement, it became mandatory to switch or zone the presidency in sequence irrespective of what election results are. Truly, this means elections have not been legitimately won since the return of civilian rule in 1999 because there is an agreement among the leadership class that no matter the outcome of an election the presidency has to be zoned. Why organize elections in the first place? But, why this fear? This fear has its root in the shaky foundation of this country.
In 1914, the British- our colonial masters forcefully amalgamated or joined in marriage the Northern and Southern Protectorates of Nigeria. That forceful marriage was because the northern part which was largely agrarian, without any viable means of economic livelihood such as sea port and dependent on the prosperous south whose revenue was used in administering the north then became a drain on the British Treasury. So, it became imperative as a matter of convenience and ease of administration for the British, since the British were more concerned of the profitability and economic viability of their venture (the colony), to join the north and the south without the consent of the people in total disregard of the compatibility of the two regions. The result of that marriage can be likened to some marriages where both the husband and the wife see themselves as superior- each taking advantage of each other and threatening to quit the union. And, of course, one person will quit the union just like British India in 1947 that was partitioned into the present-day Pakistan and India.
It is from this fear, which clearly reveals the failure of the marriage, come the bulk of our problems as a nation. In so far as this problem is not tackled from the root, our misery will continue. Having identified the problem militating against credible elections, what then is the solution? Some persons argue that the solution to our problem is to have the right leader. I think this is rather unrealistic and it is mere utopianism. How can the right leader emerge under the circumstances I have just mentioned? That is impossible except by the sheer act of God! We can only have ethnic champions in such circumstances. Those things that will give way for the right leader majorly- our public institutions and the people- are seriously lacking in the right quality, and completely comatose. Therefore to solve our problem, just like a bride and a groom, all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria must through adequate representation at a Sovereign National Conference agree to be wedded. This is the only solution if we must live together, because where people give conscious consent to something instead of withdrawing they make it work. Upon this strong foundation, rest the strong pillars of patriotism and spirited public institutions which will adequately form the system to check the abuses of both right and wrong leaders.
But the youths have very sacred roles to play in the transformation of societies. If you paid attention to my opening speech, at the tail end, I said “a mad man cannot help a fellow mad man”. By that, I mean, we must be better than our leaders if we must ever have the right to correct and criticize them. We must first transform ourselves positively through conscious actions before we can transform our society. The truth remains that, a society is a reflection of the people. So, when we transform ourselves positively never waiting for the transformation to start from the top, the result is a positive society- one that works. To achieve this, we must educate ourselves in order to increase our knowledgebase and make it wide and strong enough as to be able to tear down the strong walls of superstition, Inferiority Complex and fear. We must also not take part in election rigging and religious crisis even when cash is offered. We must not become a rented crowd for politicians. Consider that those politicians who send you out to the streets to kill fellow citizens, snatch ballot boxes, rig elections, and disturb the peace of the society, all have their children abroad studying in the best Universities and living comfortably. Yes, I understand that poverty is the cause of all these, but shouldn`t we once and for all put a stop to these dastardly acts and force that much needed change which will ultimately usher in the kind of economy that will make the acquisition of wealth easy, honourable and dignified? We must summon the courage, like our mates in Thailand who in April 2010, disrupted the affairs of their government and forced their leaders to flee.
The Future
On 25th of December 2009, our Christmas gift to the world- an attempt to bomb a US bound Detroit plane was presented by one youthful Admutallab. On 1st of October 2010, as we were celebrating our 50th birthday in the presence of world diplomats, some misguided persons still presented series of bombings as brithday gift to the nation. On 25th of December 2010 and on the eve of this New Year, we had series of rude awakening across the nation as bomb explosions rocked again. And, ever since, bombs are fast becoming available as we have witnessed in Jos, Abuja and Bayelsa. The most obvious proof that Nigeria is a failed state was when the President of our dear country was stolen out of our awareness for 5 months without anybody knowing his whereabouts. As these events unfolded, the world laughed at us, they mocked us, they labeled us unserious. Instead of listening to the wise counsel of a former Ambassador of US to Nigeria Mr John Campbell, who warned us of going adrift, our leaders in their usual style lambasted and discredited him. All these are the very features of a failed state- one that is at best directionless.
Again, I am convinced that, the underlying factor for all these happenings is the fact that Nigerians in their diversities have not agreed to be a nation. Chief Obafemi Awolowo called Nigeria a “geographical expression”; Professor Wole Soyinka called it the “expression of an alien will”, that is, not the will of Nigerians. All these go to show why Nigerians are ethnocentric- anybody who assumes leadership position is always concerned of his own ethnicity. So long as these things happen, the future remains bleak.
Our only hope, therefore, is to take our destinies in our hands. By this, I am not preaching a cut-throat philosophy. I am only insisting that we do the right thing. Let us consider that our future is tied with the future of this country, so when things go wrong the more then we are at best uncertain of our fate in this country. Running away to other countries is even more devastating. It has been said that there is no place like home. We should always think of what we can do for our country and not what our country will do for us. Thank you.
KINGSLEY MUONEKE.
email: degreecelsius@yahoo.com
