Everything that has a beginning has an ending too, so goes the wise saying. For every human specie completion of a calendar year cycle brings some air of accomplishment and fulfillment. There is the common saying: “When there is life, there is hope.” Whether the vilest of all human, scornfully laziest of all or tirelessly hardworking individual what keeps us going as humans is never the present most times but the hope that the future presents good tidings hence the reason the whole of humanity haven’t all be devoured by the suicidal choice.

However you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a change another wise man concluded so intelligent humans use the times like these especially a unique one such as exhaustion of a decade to take inventory of the past year, reminisce on what galvanized failures and successes then take stock, restrategise and veer into the future with new energy, lubricated with desire and zest to succeed, with the dogged mindset of achieving a particular goal, and braced up for inevitable challenges which might buoy away the newfound zest and bury the new year zeal in split seconds. Failure is never the end of the road but admitting you failed, forgiving yourself and then moving on with a mindset to rectifying the wrong is the ultimate solution to any man’s problem whenever a man still foolishly contends with this ultimate reality and passes the buck to his neighbours or foes being damned in failure is a consequential result.

This year 2019 was quite eventful for our country Nigeria! The beginning of the year witnessed the epic blood thirsty and divisive electioneering battle sadly our country is still befuddled with. It came with a lot of angst and apathy from Nigerians who didn’t turn up in large numbers at the polling units due to over militarisation of our polls and winner takes all mentality of the gladiators in our democracy. Less than 15 million Nigerians elected with about 100 million registered voters elected the incumbent General Muhammadu Buhari for a second term as president a rather very decrying democratisation process for the biggest African democracy. The election also remains as one of the most disputed in the history of the nation, barrels of petitions flooded our court rooms and likely every candidate who lost out at the polls had a hunch illegalities were perpetrated and sought the wheel of justice for redress. It was rollercoaster for some of these legal redresses some were big winner in the court room, being returned as valid elected candidates although they initially were losers, Zamfara State comes to mind , the incumbent governor was a spoil beneficiary, he lost out at the polls but became beneficial of the spoil stemming from impunity, lawlessness and strong man politics of the All Progressive Congress in that state. Others mandate were revalidated and others like Dino Melaye were hounded out of the glass house by the gavel of the court rooms.

The polls didn’t permit giving much attention to the economy, relatively inflation rate dropped less than 2% at the first quarter of the year, from the skyrocketing days of 2018 when the manhandling of the economy by the present administration was in its bolder days. Recurrent expenditure was higher due to massive financial implications electioneering cost us as a nation nothing is yet to be done in providing a more sustainable and durable database for electorate and ending the days of manual registration ahead of our polls. According to the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, budget implementation for the year 2019 was about 50 percent unavoidably the crux of deficit plagued budget was bored by capital expenditure which suffered the brunt of an election year, the exacerbating bad roads, increasing poverty rate, multi-dimensional poor health and lack of basic facilities Nigerians continue to suffer for increased in 2019 and with a voracious growing population the vicious circle continued. To cap it all we keep on borrowing to spend on recurrent expenditures at the expense of our sagging economic growth level and perplexing revenue mechanisms. Nigerians were made to pay for it, fund the spendthrift government with browbeating taxes on electronic banking and other means of fiscal regulations, hence its scarier resolve of the new tax man that he intends to raise N21 trillion from tax in 2020. A nation citizens must pay tax but Nigerians are not pampered with anything from there government to pay such, no power supply, bad road, inflation battered market are the bane.

The rule of law lost its essence this year! Thanks to the State Security Service and the commanders from above who are “respectable Nigerian cabals” – according to Garba Shehu, the presidential spokesman. The detention of Omoyele Sowore and refusal to release him on bail by the DSS made global headline and magnet attention. We lost it as a fledging nation where rule of law and orderliness was our democratisation goal. Save the intervention of the United States the Pontius Pilate handwashing display by Major General Buhari in releasing the duo of Omoyele Sowore and Sambo Dasuki the four years jailed illegally detained former National Security Adviser accused of humongous financial laundering won’t have been Christmas gift headlines.

Corruption which remains the hydra-headed monster to the nation’s progress didn’t receive too much encomiums globally, although the recent conviction of a serving Senator and former Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu who is also a chieftain of the Ruling All Progressives congress made the headline grabbing momentum, much is still to be achieved. The scourge of internet fraud and global arrest of Nigerian youngsters abroad was also the highlight on the improving scourge, xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa was the crux of international iniquities against Nigeria as a nation, the visit by our president many saw as beggarly haven’t really provoked reparations on damages occasioned by locals on Nigerians and other foreigners there but the question is? When will Nigerians start loving to return home of free volition?

2019 has outlived its days and 2020 is coming handy with new hope and warnings to either make it or be marred! Are our leaders thinking at all?

•Amos Isaac Tasheyon writes from Lagos.

Update news