Hopefully the powers that be will allow the much anticipated elections to hold on March 28 and April 11. Of course, the real elections will be the presidential, because all the powers in the land reside in the Presidency as presently ordered by our wobbled military-imposed Constitution.

It is the President of Nigeria who decides who becomes the Governor of the Central Bank. It is the President that appoints all the military chiefs. It is the President who chooses the Inspector General of Police. It is the President who decides the appointment to the seat of the Chief of the DSS. It is the President who appoints the Comptroller General of the Immigration Services as well as the Head of Nigeria Customs Service.

Almost every arm of the federal powers is in the hands and firm control of whoever takes the Presidency. And this is why the position of the President is the most critical factor in the determination of the fortunes and misfortunes of the country. It is a position that cannot be left in the hands of a nincompoop or somebody who does not understand the language and proper definition and use of power.

The 2015 elections are very different from all other elections that have been held in this country. It is the elections that will decide whether a political party should be allowed to continue to dominate the political space of the country after 16 years of unbroken grip.

The 2015 elections are meant to pass judgment on the performance of the government at the centre for the last 16 years and deliver verdict on whether those 16 years have been a blessing or a calamitous curse.

The elections holding on March 28 are not particularly about the leading candidates and contenders to the presidential seat. The elections are not necessarily about whether Jonathan has shown gross incompetence or whether he has failed to show his thesis as proof of the credibility of his doctoral degree. The elections are also not about whether Buhari jailed the whole world when he was head of a military government or whether the man Buhari has a running battle with those who wanted proof of his West African School Certificate. The elections have nothing to do with the PDP Chairman, the APC Chairman or the national leaders of the two most prominent parties.

The issues at stake bother on the bad government Nigerians have been subjected to by the PDP-led government at Abuja. In every aspect of government, Nigeria has been in gross decline in the last sixteen years. Electricity supply has been the worst advertisement for the PDP’s 16 years in office.

Unemployment which can be directly linked with lack of power has been on the rise since 16 years ago. Today Nigeria has well over 65%unemployment figure, the highest of any oil-producing country in the world.

The Nigerian youths in their teeming millions are disillusioned, helpless and near-hopeless because the certificates and degrees awarded to them after their studies are as worthless as used toilet paper.

Insecurity, another big by-product of mass unemployment has reached the highest and worst level ever since Nigeria became a country in 1914. All the maladies and woes that were never seen on our land have now descended on our country in droves. Ritual killings, kidnapping for ransom, mindless murders, bombing, maiming and heartless fraud have become the order of the day.

The PDP-led government at Abuja had enthroned corruption as its queen. Never in the history of Nigeria has there been as much looting as has been witnessed these past 16 years. And in the last six years of a non-existent government and leadership in Abuja, the gates to the national treasury were left wide open. Billions and trillions of naira are reported stolen, missing or misappropriated on regular basis. Huge sums of money meant to provide basic infrastructure for the economic development of the country end up in private pockets.

The elections therefore are not about whether somebody has a fine face or has an ugly wife. All pedestrian arguments have nothing to do with the elections holding this season. The elections are about rescuing Nigeria from total collapse. We want Nigeria to be diverted from the path that is about leading us to Rwanda, to Somalia, to Doe’s Liberia and to Afghanistan.

Nigeria wants a leader that will restore hope and confidence to the 180-million strong suffering masses majority of whom are groaning below poverty line.

The PDP at the centre is tired and has lost focus. The party has reduced governance to a child’s play and has brought the country down to its knees. And because of the obvious lack of exposure by its leadership, Nigeria has been ruled along very narrow parochial line where ethnicity, village ties, religious affiliation and nauseating bottom power dictate who gets what.

It should be pointed out however that neither the PDP nor the APC is made of all devils or all saints. The two political associations have in their midst brilliant and capable Nigerians that can rescue this country. But while APC has brought forth its first eleven, the PDP is weighted down by the worst elements in its fold and thus continues to attract the worst reaction from the masses of Nigerians.

Abuja under the PDP has made itself the worst specimen of what good governance is all about. The longer the PDP stays in power in Abuja, the longer Nigeria continues to suffer depression, deprivation and oppression. Abuja is currently in the heartless grip of self-seeking blood thirsty cabal, and Nigeria needs to be rescued from this gluttonous lot before it can breathe fresh air.

Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has done his best. However his best is not adequate even for a local government leadership. And to make matter worse, Jonathan was encumbered by a terrible political culture which characteristically stifles even the best intentions. And because Jonathan was never able to free himself from the shackles of the political vultures that hold him by the jugular even if he spends 30 years in Abuja he can only be more beclouded and confused as the cabal had made him these past six years.

Nigeria must be rescued. The task to rescue Nigeria can only be performed by Nigerians themselves and it is March 28 that makes that task conclusive.

Nigerians must be resolute. Nigerians must be decisive. And all those wearing the uniforms purchased with public money must and should remember that at the end of the day anarchy is no respecter of uniforms. Any one in doubt should go and ask the soldiers and police men and women who served under Saddam and Ghaddafi and what has now become of them!!!

•Chief Tola Adeniyi (shown in photo) is a former Managing Director of Daily Times of Nigeria. He can be reached via chiefadetolaadeniyi@yahoo.ca

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