OKOTIE’S CALL FOR POLITICAL REFORMS
Koffi Batse Komla argues that Nigeria needs a new paradigm to move it forward
The widely published letter of Rev. Chris Okotie to the chairmen of the two main political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) provide some food for thought. As expected several social media and mainline media commentators are feasting on it with divergent opinions on his proposal to be adopted by the two parties as the consensus candidate for the 2019 presidential election. What is paramount is whether the far-reaching reforms he has proposed in his idea of an Interim National Government of Reconciliation and Reconstruction would be accepted by the political class.
The present political system cannot and will never transform or develop Nigeria, regardless of who is in power. To engender any meaningful change we must first change the system wholesale. The present generation of politicians cannot change Nigeria because they are beneficiaries of its structural deficiencies that enable corruption, inefficiency, and injustice and governance failure to thrive. This is where I agree with Okotie that we need a new man in the saddle.
President Buhari’s place in history is fully assured even if his tenure ends now because he, at least, made a bold attempt to make a change within the ambit of the subsisting legal and political framework of our institutions. No leader can however succeed even under the so-called restructuring being advocated by the ruling elite. Like someone has said, what we need is a revolution, not a resolution. We need dramatic change, led by uncommon folks with uncommon vision and capacity for uncommon action to move Nigeria forward. It is not an easy task, but it can be done to save Nigeria.
We must act fast to save our nation. Like Okotie rightly observed: “We have become polarised by ethnicity; we have become balkanised by religious fundamentalism. We have become fractured by political insensitivity and leadership disability. The advent of the Boko Haram insurgents and the ubiquitous Fulani herdsmen phenomenon have further exacerbated social insecurity and cast nebulous clouds over the viability of our union. The concentric arrangements of the WAZOBIA alliances have been a disaster; engendering the marginalisation of the smaller ethnic units, thus, perforating the canopy of the Federalism under whose aegis we co-exist.
“The dream of a great Nigeria which flowered at Independence, the yearnings and aspirations of the people and the Nigerian brotherhood whose ensign dominated the political horizon at independence have all been consigned to oblivion. The worrisome symptoms indicative of the restiveness signaling the preamble to the Civil War of the past have re-emerged in more definite configuration and now form a circadian rhythm which must be addressed immediately. We must act now to avert the manifestation of the great inevitable. “Times like these require the recruitment of patriotic gladiators who must now take up the gauntlet to defend the Nigerian dream. I believe we are conditioned by our circumstances to rise to the occasion of our reality”. For me, this statement is not right on point and I think concerns every Nigeria regardless of ethnic, religious or political affiliations. Nigeria is our country and we duty bound to rescue it. If Nigeria breaks down we all go down with it and by virtue of our goal strategic leadership of the ECOWAS sub – region in terms of geography, resource – endowments, we’d drag down the entire West Africa. God forbid!
Rev Okotie’s intervention, after a long silence, should be seen in the context of a “patriotic gladiator” who is out to redeem our beleaguered nation. It goes beyond partisan politics. We must quench the fire that is coming out of the incendiary comments of centrifugal and centripetal forces that are bent on blowing Nigeria apart. Every peace - loving citizen of the great country would agree with the pastor politician. Finally, Nigeria truly needs a new paradigm to move this nation forward. This is not a time for finger – pointing. We need a man with a new spirit and a new heart to lead us to a new Nigeria. And I like the way Rev. Okotie captured it: “I am fully persuaded that Nigeria needs a man who is credible, dependable and trustworthy. A God-fearing man who is embroidered with compassion and love for country. A man who will be readily accepted as a symbol of national unity, who can bring genuine reconciliation and guarantee peace and tranquillity in our nation. A man who is completely insulated from the variegated conflicts that mark the antecedents of our major political actors. A man who can apply the principles of malice towards none and charity for all; who can invoke a Pan-Nigerian philosophy that rejects the partisan provincialism of finger pointing at this time when Nigeria is threatened by existential adversaries. A man with the requisite intellectual capacity and moral perpendicularity. I believe that the benevolent grace of God has telescoped these virtues into my person, to prepare me for such a time as this”.