2022: Nigeria Has Wobbled Enough, It Is Time To Wake Up, Showunmi Charges Political Leaders

 

Chief Segun Showunmi

ABEOKUTA - A frontline politician and leader of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Chief Segun Showunmi has called on Nigerian political leaders to brace up and tackle the multifaceted challenges threatening the peaceful existence of the country to reclaim her position as Giant of Africa.

Showunmi, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration said political gladiators must give powers and authority to the constituents components of Nigeria as a way of unleashing the hidden potential of the country and engender peace, progress, and prosperity.

In his New Year message made available to THE ENCOUNTER NEWS on Friday, the outspoken political analyst fumed at what he termed as undue arrogance of some state governors allegedly stealing resources accrued to their states without anything to show for it, saying if Nigeria must be decisive in her fight against corruption, the governors must not be spared.

He noted that, if Nigeria must confront the rising security threat, state governments must be allowed to have their police.

He said the centralized policing where state governors as the Chief Security Officers must run to Abuja for approval before they can tackle any security threat is inappropriate and unacceptable.

"The year 2022 will be demanding on us as it is a year leading to the election year 2023, and as it is expected the national space will be more politically energized with its attendant consequences. Bearing this in mind, moderation and civility must characterize our activities. I, therefore, call on all security agencies across the length and breadth of our country to be more observant and responsive to any potential breach of the peace. 

"Politicians must be made to conform to the dignity of democracy which in my opinion is a contest of ideas aimed at service to humanity. 

"We must soberly accept that our present arrangement is inappropriate for the security challenges we are confronted with which has not abated for so long. Only fools will refuse to change when change is all the needed effort to stem the orgy of violence and criminality that has characterized our nation. We cannot refuse to embrace multilayered policing if we mean to confront this ugly situation. States are mature enough to be allowed to have their police, the fear of abuse pans away in the face of our security challenges. It is brainless and lazy to think we cannot fathom how to do this even with the present governance structure that we presently have. 

"We must be decisive in our fight against corruption and I believe the best place to start is with the managers of our subnational economies a.k.a The Governors. I cringe watching these set of people stride across our country in boastfulness and undue arrogance, many of who are just stealing their states blind with little or nothing to show for the huge resources that accrue to the state. All around you observe that the present effort at fighting corruption is way too selective and damn too lackadaisical making one wonder if we are serious at all. A good place to start is to begin to profile and go after governors in the penultimate years as a way to slow down the graft we all are witnesses to, that way we will hold them to a better account of their stewardship. We cannot continue to stumble on the same stone. 

"Many conversations have occurred as to how do we live within the shared national boundary, Nigeria. Some have captured it under the popular term restructuring, which to their mind, a round table will be needed to take in the views of all ethnic nationalities. Much thought given to the idea has left me with a settled opinion that, yes, we must give more powers and authority to the constituents components of our country, as it will unleash our potential as a rainbow nation and it will engender peace, progress, and prosperity. We have wobbled enough, it’s time to stand up and walk like the Giant of Africa that we are meant to be."

Speaking on the Electoral Reform, Showunmi advised that, voters must be allowed to participate in the selection process of choosing the party's flag bearer, calling on President Muhammadu and the National Assembly to assent the electoral bill.

According to him, the present situation where a handful of Governors constitute themselves into bullies of the candidate selection process cannot truly be democratic.

"Democracy as an ideal is not stagnant, as such, a people practicing democracy must never shy away from improving the accessibility of the people to the decision-making process. In a democracy, without an improved electoral process, we would be impeding the entire idea. In our case, we must liberalize the candidate selection process for that’s where the choices available to the people start from. The present arrangements where a handful of Governors constitute themselves into bullies of the candidate selection process cannot truly be democratic. 

"A system must be put in place where dues-paying members of the political parties will have a say in who their flag bearers are, will to my mind be more democratic as it will encourage a larger number of our citizens to get involved in the democratic process at party levels, knowing that they have a stake in who is chosen to represent them. 

"There is no overstating that the transmission of results needs less human interference and electronic transfer of results right from the polling unit straight to the national collation centers is progress. We have observed continuously over the years that results are tampered with and outcomes changed as a direct consequence of how we handle the will of the people once they have cast their votes. There is nothing to be gained if the status quo is maintained save for bickering, endless litigations, and most ashamedly the disenfranchisement of democracy, for what is the point in a flawed process that throwaway the will of the people."