A facebook friend of mine Mimidoo Anne Kadev is angry that Jonathanians are boasting that after 30 years of governance, contract has been awarded to Julius Berger for the reconstruction of the Niger bridge. To them, awarding a contract is a big achievement and we are supposed to celebrate and give Jonathan another term for it. Well, I’m not surprised because it has been the practice in Nigeria to toss hope and nothing more at the people.
When sane nations read out their achievements, they are tangible and visible results that positively impact the lives of their citizens. China announced that among several other achievements, 3million new businesses were established by her citizens, in 2014. Here the president awards contracts that never get delivered, sets up committees that churn out all forms of paper colours, white, blue, pink, yellow, just to decorate the shelves of his office or for a strange purpose that is known only to the government. Since Jonathan launched the Bring Back the Book programme, I haven’t seen anything it has achieved. Maybe it has brought back the book for witches and wizards in Aso Rock and Otueke, I do not know. Yet he mentioned it as an achievement of his administration in his address at the inauguration of the World Book Capital in Port Harcourt in 2014.
It is standard government culture that they fed your father with hope until he got old and retired with nothing to show for his years of toil. Then they turned to you. You’re getting older everyday and all you get is doses of hope. “Government is set to award contract for…work will soon begin on…government moves to end…” Each time they make a promise, you believe and HOPE this time will be different. Keep hoping if that is what you choose to do with your life. There is enough “hope” to feed even 1000 docile generations, just prepare to pass the waiting-for-hope badge to your children when you are old. What they offer is false hope, one you can only trust at the risk of indefinite expectation and perpetual disappointment.
Where is the constant electricity they have promised us for decades? Jonathan vowed to solve our power troubles within four years if elected and declared that if he fails to achieve it within four years, he can’t achieve in eight. Yet today he has the guts to come asking for another four years after he failed eventually, not only in the promise to give us stable power, but in every other promise he made; every other hope he offered. They gave us hope when they announced on three different occasions that our 219 Chibok girls had been rescued, they gave us hope when they announced a cease fire had been reached with Boko Haram to end the violence in the North East and free our girls. It all turned out to be false hopes. Lies, lies and an endless run of lies and deliberate falsehood.
For me I reject their hope in its entirety. I do not need the “hope” Jonathan is offering in 2015! I will build my own hope by participating in the electoral process, fiercely advocating for the quality of leadership and service that I deserve afterwards and keeping a close watch over my mandate from 2015 onwards. This is the only hope I know.
