Sometimes, it
is doubtful if the character of our elite can engender meaningful development.
Their quest for survival makes the struggle for power too intense and absorbing
that it overshadows everything including development. When we think of
development, we are thinking of the objective interests of society. But,
because of the need for survival, most of us are in no position to think of the
objective interest of society. Most of us just confuse what sustains our
existence with public interest. The consequence is over politicization of
issues and errant sentiments.
Indeed, I have
always been accused of being unsparing in my criticisms of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), but what those who have formed such opinions failed to
understand is that as scholars, we have a huge responsibility to write in ways
that would elevate the country and make it better than it is. To educate, if
need be, praise and criticize in order to bring improvement into the society.
Such huge responsibility is not personal and may not be totally devoid of
partisanship.
Nigeria is in
a bad shape, hunger has taken over the land. Expectations of the people are not
being met. Nigeria is not yet the country of our dream, so there is always
something to talk or write about to make it better and keep our leaders on
their toes, knowing that they have a huge responsibility while not forgetting
that the expectation of about 180 million Nigerians is riding on them,
including those of the unborn generation. Thus, leadership is a huge
responsibility and it requires a whole lot of sacrifice which politicians,
who have the collective mandate of the people, must constantly be reminded of.
But back to
the Delta State. There’s no one in the State today that would say he has not
heard or read about the one murmuring or the other that have trailed the government.
If it was not about the local government staff salary, it would be about
pensioner complaining about non-inclusion in the bailout fund. My take is that
some of what the governor tries to do are misunderstood while a lot of reactions were equally due to “politics”, the way we play it in this part of the world.
Some of the
major problems we are confronted with in the country today are politicization
of issues. That has blinded us, such that we fail to appreciate the good
in others even when it is starring us in the face. Deltans should look beyond murmurings
and see the genuine attempts by Governor Okowa to salvage the State within the context of the economic recession in the country.
One thing is
clear, the governor is positively unconventional in his way of doing things,
maybe because the conventional has not been yielding the intended results. Despite
the continuously dwindling federal revenue in the country, Governor Okowa has
been able to marshal what it has to great advantage with maximum impact.
Comments
Post a Comment