Continuity of Change This change we want is not domiciled with either Jonathan or Buhari becoming the next President. It is very clear that most Nigerians do not really know what change is. More attention as we are focusing on the presidency must go to the grass roots. We must mobilize to reject imposition and corrupt and never-ready to do good leaders at all political levels. Imagine a scenario where 170 million people boarded a ship, neither the captain nor the people knew where they were going while they were already at the middle of the ocean! The change we want in Nigeria is not like changing your cloth when it is dirty; it is not like changing your car when it is old; it is not like changing your course in the university; it is not like changing a wife or husband. It is a change that has to be clearly spelt out, explained to the people and monitored. It is a change that must be participatory. It is a change that must not allow despondency. It is a change that may not just happen overnight or in a few years. The roots have decayed, and we may need re-planting. It is not a change for fibrous or adventitious root but a change whose tap root will be firmly deep and not take us back to painful old times. We must not ascribe our shortcomings or misfortunes to imaginary forces. Whoever is appointed as a leader must be fully aware of the enormity of the task. It is not a seat for pursuing personal gains. It is primarily a service to God who has made him selected by whatever means as a trial. It is indeed high time we allowed reason prevails and cast ridiculous sentiments into the dustbin. The core issues in the nation are just too pressing than to be debating whether an unborn child will survive or not. If change must truly come, it must start with a comprehensive orientation that it is possible and achievable. It must continue with individuals getting ready to make sacrifices. Going to the polls in the current dispensation with its instruments remains a necessity and a choice between two evils. The structure has never given the electorates their real choice. It is a glorified imposition. The path to a genuine voting is long and rough. But we can get there if only we know what we want and understand our predicament. Our leaders are only unnecessarily greedy and deliberately punishing the common man. The resources are enough for us to share; for them to steal as they have been doing and for us to enjoy basic needs of life. If that is done, it will then be a case between them and God as regards their theft. Since the trees have fallen on trees and the edifices have crumbled, we need to thread with caution to raise or reconstruct accordingly. Decades of corruption cannot be changed overnight. That will be a dream in shambles. The system is already corruption incarnate. It cannot be changed so easily. The laws have been made to secure corruption and make the ordinary people suffer. You can imagine the millions the lawmakers take home monthly which your Parents may not even get in a whole year! How do you change that when the changers are the culprits? You can imagine how your parents toil to serve the same government who pay them peanut or even do not pay them for months! How do you redress that? You can imagine what resources they enjoy and how parents suffer or pay for it. You can imagine what food, house and cars they enjoy and what your parents use. The system has been designed with corruption glue. So, where do you start the dismembering? Consequently, corruption has become an epidemic which affects every individual differently. It is beginning to become a heritage in virtually every sector. Then, who will throw the first stone? I agree there must be change. I believe too that the leadership is the driver of the train of change. But I strongly believe individuals have greater roles to play. These imposed leaders cannot kill all of us. Even if they do, then they will govern themselves and their families. Our words are our bullets and our actions are the trigger. It must shoot all corruptions. Unfortunately, holy houses should have been the last resort to guide people on what to do, this too has been corrupted. The schools have lost control as values, if at all they exist, are taught by those who are its antitheses. The homes have fallen apart. Parents have left their duties undone. The social media networks have taken over the homes, teaching immorality, arrogance and corruption. We must know that euphoria of change does not make it happen. Our change is in us and not in anybody. This change we clamour for is beyond an individual. One tree, on a normal ground, cannot make a forest. We must think beyond now and the election. Short-term change is what most want – good roads, affordability of food, etc. These and many more are physical changes that could be easily damaged. The fact that human life is time-bound is a restriction to genuine continuous performance. The change we need should be long term. It must outlive any mortal or party. It must be constant and consistent. It must be progressive and not retrogressive. It must be holistic and not chauvinistic. All our current parties lack the true change ideology. The pioneers are self-driven by personal gains as records are showing. Their cross carpeting unravel their frolics. Spending millions on campaign and rigging expose their damn extravagances and callousness. Going to any length to enter unwholesome accord shows their satanic desperation. Their attacks on personalities and not on solid plan for the people unfold the emptiness of their manifestoes. For a lasting change, we must focus on proper children training. Buhari and Jonathan came from some homes. Their actions or inactions prove their mettle. All the people who counsel or campaign for them came from homes. Saying the day is dark when the sun is intense shows their home training, and they can benefit less, the person they install as a leader. It is political installation. The cables and fittings are outdated. Shortcuts will not last. But that is what we tend to want! Our homes are the foundations of lasting change. It is there we build the nation. It is there we mould the minds. It is there we produce our presidents and governors. A well brought up child will ever be the pride of the nation. If our homes are not changed, no change can change anything. Our forefathers were disciplinarians. They were good leaders without resources. Role of women is indispensible in any meaningful change. This they play at home and in schools. But the western civilization has made us believed that what a man can do, a woman can even do better. The result is what we witness today. Sociologists are now beginning to ask women to return home! Written by: Adeniyi O.Z. (PhD)
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 07:51:49 +0000
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