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According to Jewish mythology, Elijah would come to restore things before the coming of the Messiah. And so, Jewish people have remained vigilant for the signs of the coming of their Messiah.
Thus, when the Jews noticed the activities of John the Baptist, they sent some priests and Levites to ask him, are you, Elijah? John replied, No. Are you the prophet, John said No. Then, who are you?
John responded, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord...” As John denied that he was Elijah, the Jewish wait for the coming of their messiah continued.
After that, Jesus emerged with signs that he might be Elijah or the messiah. When John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard of Jesus, he sent two disciples to ask Jesus, “Are You the One [Messiah] Who Is to Come, or Should We Look for Another?”
Jesus, in his usual manner of answering questions with illustrations or pure sarcasm, told the messengers to go and tell John what they saw, the blind see, the lame walk, etc. Jesus didn’t say he was or was not the Messiah.
As the Jews are waiting for their Messiah, so Nigerians (since the return of democracy in 1999) are waiting for their own messiah.
The difference between Jews and Nigerians in the wait for their respective messiahs is that Jews always inquire from a supposed messiah if he is, but Nigerians conclude a supposed messiah is.
By the way, “many Jews believe that when the Messiah comes, he will:
· Rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
· Bring about the end of all wars so everyone would live in peace.
· Unite all peoples regardless of differences like religion and culture…”
The above expectations of the Jewish messiah are exactly why Nigerians are searching for their own messiah.
· To rebuild Nigeria – economically and politically
· To bring about the end of Boko haram, bandits, herdsmen, and unknown gunmen, so that everyone will live in peace.
· To unite the peoples of Nigeria regardless of differences in tribe, religion, culture, etc.
Hence, most Nigerians accepted Buhari as the messiah who would make the required changes during the 2015 presidential election.
They believed in Buhari’s rhetoric rather than examining the content of his character. As for me, I believed Buhari had good intentions for Nigeria, but I also knew he lacked the competence to effect a change though his election mantra was ‘CHANGE’.
Clearly, President Buhari failed the expectations of a messiah. He would be remembered as the worst president in the history of Nigeria. But why did Buhari fail?
Apart from his incompetence, Buhari admitted that it was easier to effect changes as a military president than a president in a democracy.
For instance, to change any part of the Nigerian constitution, 2/3 of the National Assembly (Senate & House of reps), and 2/3 of the 36 states’ houses of assembly must vote in favour of the change.
The big challenge, therefore, is how to garner 2/3 of these institutions. This is the usual setback that faces a president who intends to bring a positive change.
Now that the messiah in Buhari failed to materialize, Nigeria’s search for a new messiah has commenced. And Nigerian youths have already found one. The new messiah is called Peter Obi.
As usual, the youths are not patient in examining whether this new Messiah can fulfil the expectations of a Nigerian messiah.
Is Peter Obi capable of rebuilding Nigeria, ending Boko haram, bandits, and unknown gunmen, and uniting the people of Nigeria?
The process of rebuilding Nigeria begins with the end of violence, religious intolerance, and tribalism.
If Peter Obi can achieve the messianic expectations, he has not told us how he would do so. How would he contain Boko haram in particular? Would he negotiate with them or bomb them into submission?
When President Jonathan bombed Boko haram, President Buhari accused him of killing northern/Muslim youths. Won’t another northern fundamentalist lay the same accusation on President Obi?
In addition, during his appearance at the Berekete family (Abuja) TV show, a confident woman asked Peter Obi, if you become the president of Nigeria, how would you force/compel state governors to pay salaries and gratuities? Peter Obi couldn’t answer that question.
In fact, none of the presidential aspirants (Atiku, Tinubu, etc) could answer that question. That is the problem Nigeria faces, and not who becomes the president of Nigeria. The state governors are the major problems of Nigeria.
The next set of hooligans holding Nigeria down is the members of the National Assembly. Peter Obi says he doesn’t give Shishi (money) to anyone to get things done.
By this stance, his administration had failed before it started. The National Assembly members depend heavily on Shishi before passing any law.
The state governors have a cartel (governors’ forum) where they make decisions that protect their interests despite their party affiliations. It is all about their interests and never about the interests of the people they govern.
Even President Obasanjo, with his intimidation against the National Assembly members, and threats of impeachment against the state governors, together with his mad dog called EFCC, was unable to tame them and have his way. In the end, he gave them Shishi to have things done.
Let me be clear, I am not against Peter Obi’s candidature. I am concerned that he may not have the political structure to make the required changes as the president of Nigeria. I don’t mean the structure to win the presidential election. I mean the structure to govern as a president.
President Peter Obi needs the Labour Party to form a 2/3 majority at the National Assembly, and 2/3 of the 36 states’ houses of assembly.
And this majority must be people of like minds, otherwise, he would be forced to give Shishi to get things done. Is the Labour Party capable of winning enough national assembly members to form the majority?
Nevertheless, Peter Obi has been going around Nigeria preaching in the manner of Elijah – “I am the voice of one crying out in [Nigeria], ‘make straight the way of [Nigeria]. He has been enumerating Nigeria’s problems, and he has yet to proffer solutions to them.
Today, the State of Israel is a functional country while still waiting for its Messiah. That means that Nigeria can function like Israel without a messiah. President Obasanjo once said, if you make Jesus the president of Nigeria people will still complain.
People will still complain because the fundamental problems of Nigeria can never be fixed by an individual president, but through collective effort.
That collective effort is by agreeing to restructure Nigeria. Restructuring gives comparative autonomy to the federating regions.
For example, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has 7 federating emirates, each with a certain degree of political and economic autonomy. While other emirates held on to their religious ideology, Dubai opened the emirates to the rich and the poor, as well as the talented, even prostitution and other vices are tolerated.
Moreover, citizens of other Arab countries who refused to liberalize their countries visit Dubai to consume alcohol and engage with prostitutes.
Today, Dubai is the most prosperous of the 7 emirates because the leadership recognized that capital, brain, and brawn make a prosperous country. The structure in UAE is what Nigeria requires.
For instance, if the government and the people of Kano decide to ban alcohol consumption, they will live with the financial consequences.
The other emirates don’t share the proceeds of alcohol consumption with Dubai unlike what is obtainable in Nigeria. Nigerian states who bear alcohol consumption want to share the VAT from the consumption of alcohol in other states.
Nevertheless, I wish Peter Obi success in his great adventure. However, the biblical Peter was not viewed as a messiah. Instead, Jesus said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church…) Matthew 16:18. In the end, the church of Jesus was built upon the teachings/writings of Apostle Paul. A man who never met Jesus.
As Nigerian youths have stated, thou art Peter, and upon this rock we will build a new Nigeria, hopefully, it will be as they wished and may history not repeat itself.
Let’s Restructure Nigeria now!
~liberate your mind
– doz ideas