I see the New Nigeria

When one man cooks for the people, they finish the food. But let the people cook for one man and he is consumed by the food.
Yes! One man will never be greater than we, the people.

That is where we are. One man is using the most imprudent ones in society to upset the progress of the majority of the people. Is it possible? Try as he may, he has sold his joy for money and his integrity for a morsel of bread.

All I can think of now is Nigeria. I see the videos, audio, and photos of vagabonds being used as rags that will soon be discarded. I see someone who was said to be a professor being arrested because some illiterate has used her as a tool for election falsification. I see rogues being flogged openly on the streets because they were made tools to disorganize the elections.

I see the worst Independent National Electoral Commission administration wasting our time on protocols, addressing the observers, and clapping for themselves, while in their little minds, they owlishly believe they have fooled everyone.
How myopic! I thought we had a president who said he wanted to leave a legacy of a free and fair election. But NAY! I saw dissidents burning the nation as they destroyed ballot papers.

I saw mediocre insulting the electorates and boldly suppressing them at the polling booths. I thought there was the promise of electronic balloting, yet I saw paper, pen, and correction fluid used by digital illiterates who did not qualify to be electoral officers. I saw a youth corps member who confessed to tampering with polling results. And others being whipped and beaten for not joining in the fraud.

What didn’t my eyes see as I kept awake on election night? I saw children, in fact, toddlers voting and flaunting their voter’s cards on camera. While a police officer was quick to diagnose them with some form of growth defect. Yet they did not list them as individuals with disabilities.

Yes, I saw a nation’s show of shame. I saw all because, in these days of technology, you see everything. I saw policemen stealing ballot boxes and spreading the sacred mandates of our people on the streets as they were paid to ensure that certain people did not vote.

I saw a sister beaten, battered, and bandaged and she got up and resiliently returned and voted for change. Our people do not give up. That gives me HOPE.
Right at this corner, I saw enthusiastic Nigerians guard their votes as a mother protects her infant child. They waited amidst adversities to ensure that their votes were counted.

I heard the tumultuous applause of a united community of people who were sure that the movement has yielded the expected result. There were shouts of victory from coast to coast.

I heard the announcement that changed the mood, “results are not authentic unless announced by INEC,” those who promised us a free and fair election. Just as the skeptics did predict, there were technical hitches. That’s what they said.

It is a democracy. No one believes them anymore. In spite of their announcements, I saw citizens doing the right thing; taking photos of unit results and posting them on every portal. I saw concerned youth saving the hurt and protecting their neighbors.

I saw youth; Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, Nupe, Tiv, and so on, banding together to achieve the same goal. My love for our native land was renewed when I saw young men and women under the rain, still waiting for the electoral officers to start for the day.

It was like a resurgence of the Nigeria of my youth, where hope was instilled and we worked together to be our sisters’ keepers. I saw a Nigeria that I have not seen in twenty-five years. One with the strength of brotherhood as the adage would say, “Igwe bu ike. There is strength in numbers.”

What I saw and still see gives me hope. I saw protesters peacefully banding together to resist the stealers of their mandate and seize the capitol no matter the cost. They were full of vigor. I saw another End SARS looming. The Revolution that will showcase the real Nigeria.

I saw the most respectful and loyal youth anywhere in the world. For when the worst was feared, I saw them recede like a torrent, as soon as their principal called for a peaceful approach. So, let the legal process begin. The sooner the better because youth cannot wait.

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I saw them apply reason and teach the thieves the one lesson they will take to their graves. You may be old but age is not a prerequisite for wisdom. God is. They listened and will not give room for tyrants to attack our hard-earned struggle.

I saw our youth return to their place in the cloud and leave the rubble for those who rob. I respect today’s youth for this peace and calm. They are reshaping our history. I applaud the leadership of the movement for the hope they exude. This tranquility alone tells us that together, you are able to lead Nigeria out of the present mess.

Indeed, a new Nigeria is possible!

-By Ngozi Martin-Oguike

3/3/23