The road to genuine change

It was exclusively by God’s special mercy that the popular wish of Nigerians for the first time in sixteen years is truly reflected in election results. Nigerians are therefore duty-bound to do everything humanly possible to preserve the sanctity of this marvelous grace that peacefully swept the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) out of the country’s political stage.
Any deviation from the path of integrity, accountability, altruism and personal discipline will surely lead us to, once again, lose God’s grace. Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 8:53 that “Because Allah will never change the grace which He has bestowed on a people until they change what is in their (own) souls: and verily Allah is He who hears and knows (all things)”. The change from the old good days to the nightmarish times experienced under the PDP-led government with its worst period being the last six of its sixteen years rule was a consequence of the change in the quality of political leadership as well followership in the country. Nigerians, no doubt, sinned collectively and individually against fellow men and women as well as against God, their creator; abandoning the path of righteousness to answer the devil’s call to ruin.
Now Allah (SWT) has answered the prayer of patriotic Nigerians for a change in the political leadership of the country, the onus is on citizens to perfect and strengthen the change they asked for. General Buhari’s victory and indeed the victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the national assembly, governorship and state assembly elections is just the start of the journey on the road to genuine change. Nigerians including those who voted for or against APC must be prepared to make sacrifices to allow for the full accomplishment of the desired change. Foremost of these sacrifices is the need for Nigerians who have longed for this change to be perseveringly patient with the in-coming APC-led administration. This road would be rough and narrow at the onset but will gradually get smoother and wider as things take shape. Patience is foremost in the course of this journey because while it may be easy to destroy the order of things within a short period, re-building or reconstructing a destroyed system or structure requires more rigour and takes a longer time.
It is important for Nigerians to appreciate the quantum of the havoc wrecked by the out-going PDP government at all tiers of governance and in all facets of our national life. While some sectors are only managing to survive under critical circumstances, others have totally collapsed. Many Nigerians especially children and youths have had their fundamental rights converted by the PDP in to mere privileges. This explains the high expectations Nigerians have for the in-coming APC administration. The enormous task ahead of General Muhammadu Buhari can be likened to the job of a mechanical engineer that is asked to make a scrapped car that was abandoned for sixteen years road worthy again; yet, with limited material resources.
The railways, oil refineries, power sector, roads, health care delivery, and education are, for instance, all in shambles. A recent report shows that Nigeria has missed the 2015 target set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for achieving ‘Education for All’ (EFA). Nigeria, according to the Global Monitoring Report (GMR), could not meet even one out of the six global goals set to achieve EFA. The six goals established in The Dakar Framework for Action on EFA are: Goal 1: Expand early childhood care and education; Goal 2: Provide free and compulsory primary education for all; Goal 3: Promote learning and life skills for young people and adults; Goal 4: Increase adult literacy by 50 percent; Goal 5: Achieve gender parity by 2005, and gender equality by 2015; Goal 6: Improve the quality of education. There is so much to do in the education sector to put it back to shape.
Poverty and unemployment are two other critical socio-economic challenges bedeviling the greater percentage of Nigerians; most of them youths. Very many other issues including the general indiscipline among Nigerians, dirty environment, tax evasion, copyright violation, forgery, adulterated and fake drugs, shunting queues, etc; are all seeking redress. Insurgency and other crimes including kidnapping, armed robbery, and rape are also begging to be checked. I actually do not know how and from where the in-coming APC administration will begin the task of redeeming the country from its current predicaments. This is why those that will take oaths of office in the next few weeks as elected or appointed leaders deserve the prayers and moral support of Nigerians in order to mutually and fully attain the cherished change.
For this change to be meaningful, General Buhari-led administration must on assumption of duty allow the laws of the land to take its course with those responsible for the country’s current state of economic quandary. Unless those found guilty of brazenly looting public treasury are punished, potential criminals from among politicians and political office holders may not feel deterred. Similarly, the refusal to recover looted public funds would be considered by many to mean that the country never learnt any lessons from the tribulations suffered under PDP rule.
While we give gratitude to Allah (SWT) for stopping PDP from plunging Nigeria in to further economic and political quagmire, we seek His intervention once more to guide and protect those He recently chose to lead Nigeria out of its present woes. May Allah (SWT) continue to keep wicked people out of positions of leadership, amin.