GOODLUCK'S CHARM FINALLY RUNNING OUT

Goodluck charm finally running out?

SIR: His inability to stand tough on critical matters or cleverness to navigate the political waters is causing his vulnerability to drift to the shores. He has evidently extended the frontiers in the evolution of the nation’s political system. He may have taken the nation to the top of the mountain, his exasperation shows he does not have the wherewithal to cross it to the promise land. Corruption is endemic. Boko Haram is still raging. Regionalism is rearing to the fore, not to mention the baggage of the first lady.

He often states publicly that he supports wealth creation in response to his approach to the havoc of corruption. This may indicate his insensitivity. He may be suffering from bureaucratic hangover, the symptom of overexposure to corruption. He is like one wearing a fabric woven with smeared threads and for him to remove the dirt will strip him naked of power and close allies. He is in a crucial position to fight corruption with the same gravity the military is fighting Boko Haram. One can see the casualties of the war on insurrection sadly but political bandits are freely roaming the high places.

The genesis of the Boko Haram insurgency can hardly be divorced from the crisis in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Who can forget the famous statement by a PDP big wig about making the country ungovernable? He has been unable to reconcile with the North who feels aggrieved on the rotation of the presidency within the party. His ambition to be president requires the theoretical brilliance of Einstein to yield a political success. Meanwhile the country is bound by a burning desert fire that he cannot quell.

Glitzy mansions are springing up like mushrooms in the Niger Delta region and one doubt if they are being built by the inept Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC). Most Nigerians suspect that the source of the wealth is from oil theft. He takes the posture of Buddha and watches the scandal in a transcendental bliss. It is understandable that he is in a precarious position being a son of the region. Democracy demands the use of political process to balance the distribution of the nation’s natural resources.

His political flight may be finally drowned in the ocean by the excess luggage of the first lady. Unofficial opinion poll indicates that she is viewed by most Nigerians as a disgrace to the nation’s democracy. Michelle Obama can stand for a cause and make Americans proud but the nation’s first lady does not know the shortness of her intellectual sophistication. It is shameful that she fronts herself as the mother of the nation. The award to her as a global cybercrime champion is the crown of tokenism.

Events are unfolding in the polity that may put the piloting of the affairs of the nation on the fast track. The crumbling of PDP may be a blessing for the nation’s democracy. Nigerians appreciate the structural changes by the current administration. One cannot take for granted the sanity in the banking system for example. There is a euphoric shift in the political wind. The brewing of a Tambuwal/Fashola 2015 ticket will make a stormy campaign season. The siren is on. Let the bright lights shine for the people to see.



• Pius Okaneme

Umuoji, Anambra