To-those-nigerians-who-have-sold-their-rights-to-good-governance-be-warned
September 7, 2020 | News
TO THOSE NIGERIANS WHO HAVE SOLD THEIR RIGHTS TO GOOD GOVERNANCE – BE WARNED
It is sad how corruption has been accepted by some Nigerians as a way of life in Nigeria. With the way the PDP Presidential Primary happened on October 6th – 7th 2018, where it was alleged that Presidential aspirants dished out different amounts of US Dollars to buy votes of delegates, the most important question we are to ask is: “Who are the people who collected these Dollars from the PDP Presidential aspirants like Atiku, etc., at the venue of the said PDP Presidential Primary election in Port-Harcourt? Of course, they are Nigerians and not foreigners.
All the delegates at that PDP Presidential Primary are Nigerians. The same Nigerians who will be accusing Nigerian political leaders of corruption tomorrow because vote buying was visible in the primaries. It is even alleged that the least money paid to PDP delegates in the Delta State Primaries by all the aspirants was N100,000. While a minimum of N1.5m was collected by each delegate right from the Governorship Primaries down to the House of Assembly PDP Primaries. Again, the question is, if they have accepted these offers, then it means they have sold their rights to expect any element of good governance from their political leaders. That means, they do not have the moral right to demand for good governance, or to complain of bad governance and underdevelopments in their State and Communities.
This is hinged on the fact that no reasonable Presidential, Governorship, Senatorial or House of Representative, State House of Assembly PDP candidate will spend thousands of US Dollars and Millions of Naira to buy delegates’ votes, that is with the intention of running a ‘credible government’. These aspiring PDP political leaders of various political portfolios are only “making huge investments with their vote buying, with the ‘only’ intention to reap the same investments in triple or quadruple-folds if they eventually get to that seat”. So, those delegates, and any other persons who partook and were involved one way or the other in this “corruption fiesta during all the different Parties’ Primaries” across the country in the last few weeks, should be warned that by their singular act of compromise, they have mortgaged their rights and the rights of future generations to demand for good governance from the country’s political leaders.
However, they should be reminded that they are the real enemies of the progress of this nation called Nigeria, and posterity will always remember them for their evil acts. Life has a way of making us pay (one way or the other) for every ill-advised and ill-conceived action we have committed against the people in our place of service. So, these PDP delegates, as well as those of other political parties that compromised their integrity and have encouraged this ‘vote buying’ endemic, should be reminded and warned that they will ‘answer all’ the wrong doings they have all committed against their various States and the country in general, at the appropriate time.
These enemies of the nation, should not complain of ‘bad governance’ because they should not forget that the money used by the politicians in their vote buying, will be recovered from the public treasury. What even baffles us is how the elites in the society are usually excited and praising these politicians and everything they do just to get in government, then within few months, they will start complaining of bad governance, underdevelopment and all of that. The Delta State delegates in all the Delta State’s PDP Primaries were said to have collected money from all their political aspirants. Some of them even boasted about it by saying that it is part of their national cake, and they will opt for the highest bidders. These delegates collected money from all the PDP political aspirants that were going for the same seat of Office. The delegates saw the situation as a money-making event, especially for some of them who will not get to see the politicians again immediately after elections. And the next time they will see the politicians will be during when the next elections is around the corner.
It is really a political tragedy to see how this ‘vote buying’, which we can say started with the PDP in 1999, has been spread all over the country and has now becomes a normal occurrence in our election process. In particular, the PDP in Delta State and their machinations have made sure that we do not experience “free and fair election in Delta State right from 1999 till date”. They should be reminded that all the monies they have collected from these political aspirants will be stolen in hundred-folds when the politicians eventually supposedly win in the elections. This is simply because they ‘bought their seats’ through the process of “cash and carry”.
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, in one of his quotes said: “Only in Nigeria will THIEVES be regrouping to loot again and the youths, whose future will be stolen will be celebrating…” While this is true, but it is not only the youths, even the elites, academicians and the well-educated elders, who ought to be calling the youths to order, are part of those who are celebrating public thieves in the political domain.
Like we have said before now, if the election primaries were like this across the country, we can only imagine the atrocities they will commit during the secondary elections proper just to win at all cost. But we are glad that these things are happening now in the open, for all Nigerians to see and decide for themselves who is fit to lead the country come 2019. We only pray that these enemies of the nation, will allow us experience a free and fair election in 2019 to a large extent.
Zik Gbemre, JP.
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes as if Those Were Our Causes
It is sad how corruption has been accepted by some Nigerians as a way of life in Nigeria. With the way the PDP Presidential Primary happened on October 6th – 7th 2018, where it was alleged that Presidential aspirants dished out different amounts of US Dollars to buy votes of delegates, the most important question we are to ask is: “Who are the people who collected these Dollars from the PDP Presidential aspirants like Atiku, etc., at the venue of the said PDP Presidential Primary election in Port-Harcourt? Of course, they are Nigerians and not foreigners.
All the delegates at that PDP Presidential Primary are Nigerians. The same Nigerians who will be accusing Nigerian political leaders of corruption tomorrow because vote buying was visible in the primaries. It is even alleged that the least money paid to PDP delegates in the Delta State Primaries by all the aspirants was N100,000. While a minimum of N1.5m was collected by each delegate right from the Governorship Primaries down to the House of Assembly PDP Primaries. Again, the question is, if they have accepted these offers, then it means they have sold their rights to expect any element of good governance from their political leaders. That means, they do not have the moral right to demand for good governance, or to complain of bad governance and underdevelopments in their State and Communities.
This is hinged on the fact that no reasonable Presidential, Governorship, Senatorial or House of Representative, State House of Assembly PDP candidate will spend thousands of US Dollars and Millions of Naira to buy delegates’ votes, that is with the intention of running a ‘credible government’. These aspiring PDP political leaders of various political portfolios are only “making huge investments with their vote buying, with the ‘only’ intention to reap the same investments in triple or quadruple-folds if they eventually get to that seat”. So, those delegates, and any other persons who partook and were involved one way or the other in this “corruption fiesta during all the different Parties’ Primaries” across the country in the last few weeks, should be warned that by their singular act of compromise, they have mortgaged their rights and the rights of future generations to demand for good governance from the country’s political leaders.
However, they should be reminded that they are the real enemies of the progress of this nation called Nigeria, and posterity will always remember them for their evil acts. Life has a way of making us pay (one way or the other) for every ill-advised and ill-conceived action we have committed against the people in our place of service. So, these PDP delegates, as well as those of other political parties that compromised their integrity and have encouraged this ‘vote buying’ endemic, should be reminded and warned that they will ‘answer all’ the wrong doings they have all committed against their various States and the country in general, at the appropriate time.
These enemies of the nation, should not complain of ‘bad governance’ because they should not forget that the money used by the politicians in their vote buying, will be recovered from the public treasury. What even baffles us is how the elites in the society are usually excited and praising these politicians and everything they do just to get in government, then within few months, they will start complaining of bad governance, underdevelopment and all of that. The Delta State delegates in all the Delta State’s PDP Primaries were said to have collected money from all their political aspirants. Some of them even boasted about it by saying that it is part of their national cake, and they will opt for the highest bidders. These delegates collected money from all the PDP political aspirants that were going for the same seat of Office. The delegates saw the situation as a money-making event, especially for some of them who will not get to see the politicians again immediately after elections. And the next time they will see the politicians will be during when the next elections is around the corner.
It is really a political tragedy to see how this ‘vote buying’, which we can say started with the PDP in 1999, has been spread all over the country and has now becomes a normal occurrence in our election process. In particular, the PDP in Delta State and their machinations have made sure that we do not experience “free and fair election in Delta State right from 1999 till date”. They should be reminded that all the monies they have collected from these political aspirants will be stolen in hundred-folds when the politicians eventually supposedly win in the elections. This is simply because they ‘bought their seats’ through the process of “cash and carry”.
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, in one of his quotes said: “Only in Nigeria will THIEVES be regrouping to loot again and the youths, whose future will be stolen will be celebrating…” While this is true, but it is not only the youths, even the elites, academicians and the well-educated elders, who ought to be calling the youths to order, are part of those who are celebrating public thieves in the political domain.
Like we have said before now, if the election primaries were like this across the country, we can only imagine the atrocities they will commit during the secondary elections proper just to win at all cost. But we are glad that these things are happening now in the open, for all Nigerians to see and decide for themselves who is fit to lead the country come 2019. We only pray that these enemies of the nation, will allow us experience a free and fair election in 2019 to a large extent.
Zik Gbemre, JP.
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes as if Those Were Our Causes