Behold the New Messiah! – By Efe Wanogho
The seemingly fruitless and interminable wait for the end of the present scheme of things in the Nigerian geopolitical space, wherein mediocrity and corruption, as well as extreme disregard for the rights of the commoner, is at an end. The long awaited arrival of the Moses-like deliverer, in biblical terms; or the champions of freedom and responsibility in public office like the departed Gani Fawenhinmi, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Beko Ransome-Kuti, Martin Luther King Jr, Thomas Sankara, Kwame Nkrumah, to name a few of the finest breed of their kind; is finally upon us.
Going forward, Nigerians are to be freed from the menace of thieving and incompetent politicians and sundry office holders, as the much-sought-after torch bearer, is finally here. Alas, sanity is soon to returnto our public space. We can go to bed with two eyes closed, rest assured that the rampaging ravages of all manner of criminals; the self-centered greed-driven rule of opportunist and godfather-dependent cum rule-circumventing leaders, nay rulers; the debilitating adventures of ethnoreligious champions and their co-travelers who are involved in sectional intolerance and sheer bigotry; the self-inflicted reign of accidental – and I dare add, unprepared – public servants, apologies to Mallam Nasir El Rufai, is at the point of being permanently banished from our shores. The new Messiah would stand up to the many ills occasioned by having square pegs in round holes all across our public space. The common good, as opposed to the myopic and limited narrow and parochial interests of self-serving public servants, shall begin to be the guiding principle for the country.
The gains of the arrival of the Messiah must be trite knowledge and as such, self evident. The question that must be begging for an answer, now, in the mind of the reader; is: who is this new messiah? Who is this individual that has come to liberate us from the shackles of irresponsible governance? Look no further. The Messiah is you. The entirety of the good people of Nigeria, who are ready to make the necessary sacrifices for the growth and development of the country; collectively constitute the messiah. When treated individually, we only have a minute spark of the powers of this messiah. When we come together, united by an unprecedented zeal and patriotic fervour; we unleash the dormant powers – which absence, have propelled sheer criminality in the land – necessary to birth and berth the long elusive new order of citizen-centered governance.
In this new era, the post-Arab Spring dispensation, we cannot continue to wait for a Moses to lead us out of Egypt, as we are individually, the constituting parts of the Moses. We do not have to look very far for extraneous forces to rise in our defense. That age is no longer fashionable. In this new age, we must reach across to fellow compatriots across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, to stand up for change. We must dispel all politics of divide and rule. What should begin to count for us, is credibility and competence of anyone who must hold any public office. Issues of ethnic, regional, and religious affiliation, must begin to be relegated to the background.
Having located the long lost messiah, what is left for each of us is to stimulate and propel our collective readiness for change; for then, and only then, can we get to the Eldorado, where the citizen is king.
Are you ready?
If not you, who?
If not now, when?
The fact is: no one would, and should, do for you, what you ought to do for yourself.
The writer is on Twitter as @efewanogho.
Laus Deo!
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