Exactly ten years ago, Nigeria voted out a good president, HE President Goodluck Eblele Jonathan (GEJ) and Elected a man who brought all manner of evil upon the country while being mute in times of trouble.
No man gets it all right and certainly not GEJ as we fondly called him. The security of the nation was in question because of the boko haram insurgency which was at its peak in those days but other than that the country was progressing in many other sectors including but not limited to the Education sector, the Health sector, Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, etc.
By various indices, Nigeria was in good hands. Efforts were being made to end the insecurity or reduce it to the barest minimum.
Then came the 2015 election with all the propaganda and vote buying that came with it.
The new political party did everything within their power and beyond to ensure that the masses didn't reinstate GEJ and even if the masses do, measures were also put in place to falsify results and ensure that he didn't remain in Aso rock.
The All Progressive Congress (APC) promised to work on the insecurity among many other false promises. They protested because Naira was trading at ₦150 per $ in the foreign exchange market. Among many other reasons.
Fast forward to a few years after they succeeded in winning the election and chasing GEJ out of power, things took a U-turn and the progressive nation knew no progress under the All Progressive Congress.
For a little bit of context,a bag of rice was sold for about ₦10,000 in 2015 but now it is sold for about ₦80,000. The Naira was trading at ₦190 per $ but now it has been devalued to about #1,600 per $. A litre of petrol cost about #87 but now about ₦900.
The minimum wage as at then was ₦18,000 which meant that a worker earning the minimum wage could buy a bag of rice and have some change but now that a bag of rice costs about ₦80K, the minimum wage is ₦70,000.
Even more sad is the fact that this minimum wage is not yet being implemented and people are still earning what they were earning about 5 years ago despite the inflation rate.
Safe to say that 10 years ago, Nigeria made a terrible mistake.
I chose to talk about this part of our history because at that time, I was already aware of the happenings around me and what good leadership looked like and was heartbroken to see things turn around drastically from good to worse.
Before GEJ we had President Umaru Musa Yar'adua who was a very active, visionary and intelligent man who sincerely wanted to move the country forward. GEJ was his vice president until his demise after a protracted illness.
Little wonder GEJ was able to bring progress. He had worked with a similar individual in Yar'adua.
In 2023, Nigerians had a chance to right the wrongs by electing HE Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Congress but chose to continue with the same All Progressive Congress that brings no progress. As a result, the country spiralled down further. Making the previous administration look good.
I hope that the masses wake up in the next election to see that this progressive political party doesn't want the progress of the country.
