Searching for the soul of Nigeria (Opinion)

By Kehinde Aderemi

With just few days to its presidential election, Nigeria is at the peak of the historic moment.

That’s truly a moment of searching for the soul of this nation. It is a fact that any nation that loses its soul loses everything.

Nigeria’s greatest goal is to occupy its pride of place as the giant of Africa and also one of the leading countries worldwide.

But the challenges bedeviling this country since its independence in 1960 is that of leadership.

Nigeria has truly come a long way. Unfortunately, our country has not been so lucky to have a leader that is very determined to change the narratives and bring about the real change and transformation that this country needs at every point of its political trajectory.

Our heroes past and the founding fathers of this great nation tried their best. They were determined and courageous in their struggle to take the country to the Promised Land, but somewhere along the line, there was mutual distrust among them. The journey that was supposed to be a journey of progress and complete redemption, turned out to be very tortuous with no sense of direction.

During the long years of our political experiments, there had been great opportunity for our leaders to retrace their steps and redirect the destiny of this nation. But each time we made an attempt to go away from our past and face the reality of our nationhood, many of the leaders in privileged position usually hindered the growth and the much needed progress.

A good example of this was the opportunity that presented itself to us through the June 12, 1993 election. It was an opportunity for us to reclaim the lost glory of this nation. The June 12, 1993 annulled election was truly a defining moment for Nigeria and Nigerians.

Never in the history of this nation had we had a situation where Nigerians would vote for a party’s presidential candidate without a prominent consideration of his tribe or religious affiliations. The June 12 annulled elections did the magic and the electorate came out en mass. They performed their civic responsibility when they cast their votes for the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, who was the 14th Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland. Even the most powerful North delivered their mandate for Abiola, who was seen by the majority as the soul of generosity.

But the joy of that eventful day ended in our very eyes with the unexpected annulment and the entire process became a mirage. Some of the leading figures that deprived the nation of the success of the 1993 elections are already in their graves today.

A few of the characters that also conspired against Nigerians to thwart the people’s hope  are still alive, but fate had taught them the lessons of life in the hard way and they have been boxed in the corners of their room either by  old age or prolonged ailments that have rendered them irrelevant at this point in time.

It is like history is about to repeat itself. A few days to general election, some self-willed, remorseless leaders and powerful individuals in the country are still singing the song of war against the Nigerian electorate. As if they don’t learn from history, they are bent on disrupting the election by their plot to subordinate the rest of us to their selfish and narrow interest.

Let me also remind those with the conviction that history is a vicious cycle that they need not be worried about the recent chain of events in our country. They have forgotten so soon the crises that engulfed the nation resulting from the June 12, 1993 election.

They need to be reminded that it was fate that naturally ended the infamous military junta of the late Sani Abacha. That was how we started all over again with another shot at the new democratic dispensation.

The power brokers thought of the injustice meted out to the mass of the people, particularly the people of the South West region, and later championed a new democratic experiment that began in 1999.

In 1999, we also had a brilliant opportunity to search for the soul of this nation and restore the glory of our dear country. But the 1999 experience was mired with the greatest challenges. Many of the characters that fought the military to a standstill during the Abacha era didn’t trust the military.

It was also an irony of fate that many of those that had benefited from this democracy today were nowhere to be found during the dark era of the military. The progenitors of the struggle for Nigeria’s democracy then believed erroneously that the nascent democracy was an idea that was meant to fail because it was an idea of an unprepared military Head of state to vacate the office at all costs.

Events of the last 23 years had proved that democracy all over the world is evolving. Democracy like every other journey in life is a gradual process of discovery and rediscovery.

Election years are great moments in the history of every nation. This is the year that provides better opportunities for the electorate to change the course of history. It also  gives them the opportunity to make better choice.

As far as I am concerned, I think this is surely a defining moment in the history of our nation. We had it in 1993, we had in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and now the 2023 election is just a few days away. The election is very key to the unity and progress of this nation. It is a better way of seeking better solution to the various problems confronting the nation.

Nigerian-born songwriter, singer and poet, Segun Akinlolu, popularly known as Beautiful Nubia, was apt in one of his songs when he said let us continue to tell them to desist from acts that are capable of destroying humanity. When Beautiful Nubia produced the song, he was in the spirit as he warned that there’s certainly a day of reckoning.

The day of reckoning is here once again. February 25 is the day of reckoning when candidates of the various political parties will stand before the Nigerian electorate to seek their votes. This is the best opportunity for us to seek the service of the best of all the candidates that will lead us for the next four years. The attention of the global community is now on the country’s elections.

Honestly, it is a bit difficult to look forward to a general election with the present situation in the country. But it is also interesting that the election is holding despite the harsh economic situation across the country.

Nigerians as stakeholders should work towards the success of the elections. They should be ready to elect a leader that has Nigerians interest at heart. Our ability to choose our leaders through elections is more powerful than any of the forces that had hindered the progress of this great nation since the past years.

We must know also that our lives are the results of our choices. To blame or accuse other people or the environment or other extrinsic factors is to choose to empower those things to control us.

In conclusion, we are on the march again, looking for the president of this country. However, while we keep searching for the soul of Nigeria, we are also searching for a leader that is ready to serve us with the spirit of love, honesty, transparency, fear or God, and above all a detribalised leader that will save Nigeria from its present situation.

.Kehinde Aderemi writes from Lagos