On Criminality and Absurdity of Political Campaign in Nigeria, By Musa Sulaiman Muhammad
POLITICS DIGEST – When confronted and challenged by his political consultant, Axe, on whether he can do it or not, the former president of the United States of America, Barrack Obama, narrated as thus: Axe told me after one meeting “the process can be exhilarating, but it’s misery. The whole thing is so crazy, so undignified and brutal, that you have to be a little PATHOLOGICAL to do what it takes to win. And I just don’t know if you have got that hunger in you.” –A Promised Land
Axe said, and I quote to make an emphasis, that “…you have to be a little PATHOLOGICAL TO DO what it takes to win.” Yes, I believe Axe, because it seems to be pathological – what our politicians are doing just to win elections. It’s absurd, to put it mildly.
It’s that season of heightened political campaigns – a year preceding Nigeria’s general election. It’s that time in which money will flood from streams of our to-be leaders. That time in which people – young, old, mad, and people of high calibre will be declared missing. Some will be sacrificed in rituals, some will be abducted to let someone be and some will be eliminated from the face of this earth because they seem to be standing on someone’s path to success in the polls. It’s just vanity upon vanity.
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The above statement might be dismissed merely as a myth if not for President Muhammadu Buhari’s response to a question about his favorite successor during media chat some weeks ago that he will not mention the name of his favorite successor for he may be eliminated. Wow! Is that a presidential attestation of what we have grown up to believe about politics – a dirty game?
I am not a doomsayer but I firmly believe from next month to March of next year, the statistics for crimes and criminal activity will be heightening because the politicians are going to empower the criminals with weapons, hard drugs and money to do more crimes. As the time closes, we are going to miss some of our friends and brothers because we have different political beliefs from them in the forthcoming election. A brother will stab his brother to death just to make him like his political paymaster. A father will disown his child to ensure he didn’t bring shame to his family by backing his political opponent. A do-or-die politics will be practiced and a conundrum for the next twelve months.
With all these, I have good news for those that wish to listen. You can campaign for your favorite candidate and champion your cause but you should never smear any relationship because of politicians, don’t lose any sleep because someone loses an election, or play with your precious life to make someone win an election, for those who are decreed to be our leaders are meant to be by Almighty Allah, ours is to follow His decree, whether we like it or not. Don’t try to fight what God Has Decreed; you will never succeed. Know this and know peace.
As we start to witness another season of political juggernauts, may the season be crime-free, and may God Almighty give us good and competent leaders to steer our affairs for the next four years. Amin.
Musa Sulaiman Muhammad writes from Zaria and reachable via [email protected].
