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PDP is also a curse to Nigeria
By Sam Egburonu
It
is, as they claimed, the biggest political party in Africa, but it has proved
to be a curse to my fatherland, Nigeria. I am talking about the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, (PDP).
Although
I knew all along that the party has turned out to be a curse to us and to the
people who first nurtured it, I was not the first to put that fact in prints.
No! Rather, it was the Anambra State Leaders of Thought, who after deliberating
on the Anambra crisis discovered that PDP has become a curse to their state.
To be
candid, I do not blame them for passing such a hard verdict on a party, which
produced Governor Chris Ngige and Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju’s governments.
These were governments nobody from the state will ever forget in a hurry. It
was the PDP government that nurtured and celebrated Sir Emeka Offor Vs Dr.
Mbadinuju’s show of might, which ultimately made the state ungovernable
as promised by the baron. It was PDP government that gave birth to the
government of the Bakasi Boys, which redefined the concept of vigilante service
in Anambra State, and transformed the oil merchant, Sir Offor, to an emperor of
some sort.
It was
the PDP government that conceived and gave birth to this unfortunate marriage
of Chief Chris Ngige and Chief Chris Uba, not forgetting their attached
executive kidnappers and arsonists who made celebrated outings twice when they
held rallies at Government House Awka, first to announce Ngige’s state
-of-the-art resignation and more recently, to torch a few properties merely
aimed at sending vital signals to Ngige and his supporters.
Given the
experience of the people of Anambra State, it is understandable why they
pronounced the emergence of PDP in their state as a curse. We only need to
imagine how long it will take the state to recover from sorrow arising from
uncountable number of lives already lost in the two PDP governments in the
state to understand their pains. We also need to calculate how long it will
take the poor state to overcome the shock of losing a whopping N30b, being the
value of damages sustained from that willful destruction of state government
properties by those political actors, later identified by the police as thugs.
As I considered
the outburst of Anambra State Leaders of Thought, I allowed myself to take a
wider look at the performance of the party nation wide. Today, I regret that
mental exercise because it has not been helpful to my total well being as an
individual, because I discovered that the party is also a curse to Nigeria and
to Nigerians. This, as you will expect, has worsened my sad temperament. To
say the party has also been a curse to Nigeria is in fact to state the obvious
in a most diplomatic language because the shattering effect of the policies of
this government on most of us is worse than the effect of some curses.
I doubt
if there is any Nigerian today, except those in power or those at the corridors
of power, who is not currently regretting the fate that befell this nation in
1999 when PDP first rigged itself to power.
In case
you are one of the few that still has no reason to regret the emergence of PDP
government, it may be necessary to advise you to take a walk to Agege railway
crossing in Lagos State.
Last
week, I visited this busy part of Lagos and as you would expect, I came face to
face with hunger, abject poverty, (the type Mr. President has never seen) and
unheard-of neglect of Nigerian citizens. Unfortunately for me, I made that
harrowing visit, few hours after covering an event at the Presidential Suite of
Eko Le Meridien Hotel at Victoria Island, Lagos. It was difficult to believe
these two places were parts of the same city, the same country.
At
the Eko Le Meridien, I was almost ashamed of my old model Mitsubishi, Gallant
car, (if you have seen the car recently, you will certainly not blame me), but
in Agege, I was scared those hungry beggars, who surrounded my car like a hoard
of bees, could hold me responsible for their grave situations. Nigeria indeed,
is a paradox of contradictions, and if as I am won’t to maintain, PDP
government and party have become a curse to the country, and to most of us, it
is true that the party may actually be a blessing to a few of you, who always
sustain Mr. President’s argument that certain reforms, which have stopped
us from directly enjoying from our excess crude oil revenues, are for our good.
After
that Agege Railway stations visit this week, I am still so much annoyed that I
am unable to capture the odour oozing out from the body or clothings of those
beggars. I am also unable to paint the picture of their fragile looks. I would
have loved to capture those grave details so that you too can appreciate what
this PDP has made of our brothers and sisters.
These inadequacies
notwithstanding, all I can say about them, is that if any of them dies this
moment, non of us should bother to do a post mortem, because the cause of death
should be only too obvious us. In fact, if not that hunger is a slow killer, it
would have been proper to expect at least two deaths per day at that
beggar’s colony alone. At the national level, the picture of poverty in
the land, is, to say the least, more horrible than any known prose writer can
capture in a page.
But I am
ashamed to realise that at a time I cannot satisfactorily capture our pains, I
can easily recall the colour of the interior of the lift that took me to the
presidential suite in Eko. I can still remember that brownish mahogany table,
magnificently lighted by uncountable bulbs hanging stylishly from the huge
chandelier. Of course, I cannot forget the water falls, the air conditioners.
Except that I do not intend to bore you here, I would have described in
details, the various jeeps and limousines packed beside my old gallant near the
Art Gallery.
All
through my writing career, I have always exhibited better descriptive ability
when I am challenged to capture bitter memories. But for reasons unknown to me,
perhaps because I was too angry that day, I failed to take a closer look at
those Agege beggars. It was hard to look straight into their eyes; because of I
felt that our government has failed them. But in a country where a few
privileged people can afford to live in brightly lit five star hotels, why
should the mass majority of us be subjected to so many sufferings and so much
want?
In a
country where virtually all the citizens are groaning under increasing prices
of everything, including fuel and Kerosene, why should our leaders’
reaction only be to compile and publish mischievous comparative analysis of
fuel prices in Africa? Reacting to this in a recent interview, founder of
African Refugees Foundation (AREFF) and former Nigerian Ambassador to Ethiopia,
Chief Olusegun Olusola said, “there are many people in our various homes who
really feel abused and impoverished as a result of high price of fuel. I am a
pensioner and I feel outraged by the amount of money I now have to spend in
filling my car to go from here to Iperu”.
Viewed
side by side with the comments of our leaders, some of who do not even know the
price of Kerosene, it is obvious that our leaders have failed us, and being so
removed from us, they also do not know much we are being abused by their
policies and attitudes. If senior and successful citizens like Chief Olusola
can own up to so much abuse and suffering under this government, do you need to
ask the beggars, the less privileged and the youths whether or not PDP is a
curse to us?
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