Promise Adiele
Barring any divine intervention, and never ruling out the unpredictability of the cosmic regime, the 2027 general elections in Nigeria will be held. The inevitability is choking. Still, I reckon with two major mantras that presuppose the omnipotence of God in the affairs of men: “man proposes, God disposes” and its twin brother, “with God all things are possible”. As religious and highly spiritual people, Nigerians like to outsource their responsibilities to the supernatural realm, believing that God will suddenly become unrighteous to take up their responsibilities even if He has bestowed on them innate powers to carry out the responsibilities. Such an attitude stoops at the door of irresponsibility.
It is therefore nauseating to hear Nigerians complain of economic woes, insecurity, noxious government anti-people policies, inflation, high-level corruption, rascality in the corridors of power and dilapidated infrastructure, yet call upon God to intervene with the 2027 elections staring them in the face. God will not vote. He has given us the power to vote. Osun people did it. It is possible.
As if calling on God to take up their responsibilities is not enough, many Nigerians hold on to another mantra of defeated consciences “it is well”. When people say “it is well”, it is a subtle way of capitulating and accepting helplessness in the face of immediate challenges.
For context, “it is well” is a rehash of the events in the Biblical book of 2 Kings 4:26, when the Shunammite woman responded to a question by Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, if all was well with her family. The woman had responded, “it is well”. It underscored her helplessness in her immediate circumstance. A semblance of the phrase is “it is well with my soul” which is a refrain in a popular Christian hymn.
The author of the hymn, Horatio Spafford, wrote it after the tragic death of his four daughters in a shipwreck. It came on the heels of a serious financial setback. In response to these tragedies, he declared, “it is well with my soul”. Both the Shunammite woman and Horatio Spafford were helpless and broken when they made their declarations; therefore, it was apt under their given circumstances. Are Nigerians helpless going into the 2027 elections? Absolutely not!
On the 19th of August 2026, political campaigns commenced across the country towards the 2027 general elections. All the political gladiators rose to the challenge and rolled out one form of promise or another. It is the usual political ritual that precedes elections.
Some of the speeches by the politicians are insults couched in political jargon, trite expressions that have accumulated massive moss over the years. Since some politicians did not hold power, it is therefore difficult to judge them by all their promises before the 2023 elections. This leaves us with one option – to critically examine the promises made by the politicians in power and the extent to which these promises have been fulfilled.
It is the duty of responsible citizens to hold government at all levels accountable irrespective of religion, ethnicity and other nebulous considerations. They campaigned and asked Nigerians to vote for them based on some promises. After four years, Nigerians must hold the Presidency, Senators, House of Representatives members, Governors, House of Assembly members and even LGA heads accountable.
That is the true meaning of democracy. Doing otherwise or attacking those who do undermines the country’s democratic potential. It is tantamount to engaging the reverse gear to guaranteed collective perdition. Many politicians who won the 2023 elections are smarting up for a mandate renewal after frolicking in irresponsible behaviour and neglecting the electorate for four years.
Before listening to these politicians once again, every Nigerian must be wise and ask vital questions – what has this person done to deserve a second term? What have Mr President, the Senators, House of Representatives members, Governors, House of Assembly members, LGA heads done to deserve a second term?
Let us start with Mr President. He occupies a unique position that aggregates the interests of all Nigerians under one umbrella. Before the 2023 election, he specifically promised to provide uninterrupted electricity across the country. In an event that was captured on video, he urged Nigerians not to vote for him if he failed to provide constant electricity for everyone.
Alas, Mr President failed woefully to fulfil his promise. Instead of providing electricity for Nigerians as he promised, he removed his official residence, Aso Rock, from the national grid and spent a whopping 17 billion naira to install solar panels at the villa. Between providing electricity for Nigerians and constructing the Lagos-Calabar coastal road estimated at $13 billion, which is more important?
Funny enough, during the campaigns towards the 2023 elections, Mr President never promised Nigerians to build any Lagos-Calabar coastal road. So he failed to keep the promise he made and embraced a project he never mentioned to Nigerians. The campaigns are here again, be wise.
I remember watching Mr President make promises on different occasions that he would immediately curb insecurity in the country. In fact, during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Mr President advised him to resign due to the growing insecurity and abduction of the Chibok girls.
The statistics of kidnapping, abduction, death, burning, and general insecurity across the country in the last three years are staggering. More than any time in the history of this country, perhaps except during the civil war, Nigeria has suffocated beyond measure under the crushing weight of terrorism and banditry. The roads are not safe; the farms are not safe, and the cities are barely safe. Many Nigerians, including military officers, have lost their lives to terrorists and bandits. These military officers were murdered under gruesome circumstances.
The US had to intervene at some point, and that underscores our helplessness and the incompetence of the Commander-In-Chief. Another election campaign season is here, be wise.
During the campaigns towards the 2023 elections, Mr President promised to provide over 1 million jobs for the youths through the digital economy.
While there is no official figure indicating the number of jobs created or lost since then, SBM Intelligence records show that nearly 50% of Nigerian households suffered a major economic shock like job loss or business failure in the last three years. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that about 4.7 million Nigerians were classified as unemployed at the end of 2023, when the current administration came to power.
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) disclosed that at least 6,000 jobs were lost in Nigeria at the end of 2023 due to multinational companies exiting the country. More than 90% of Nigerians work in the informal sector, they do not have any clearly defined official employment with government oversight.
That is quite damning. The country has suffered brain drain more than ever before since 2023. Lecturers, medical doctors, tech experts, engineers, and other professionals exit the country regularly in search of greener pastures. The campaigns are here again, be wise.
In the last three years Nigerians have been regaled with tales of illusory economic reforms following the removal of oil subsidy. The attendant economic hardship in the country has been devastating.
However, the political class, those who identify with power at the centre, are insulated from the economic crucible while the masses stew in inflation, hardship, and starvation. The naira is almost useless against the dollar, yet Mr President was quite critical and vocal against Goodluck Jonathan when the naira was 250 to 1 US dollar. The purchasing power of the naira has weakened over time while salaries and wages have remained static.
From all indications, the promise of economic revival and the famed reform are inscrutable political rhetoric meant to hoodwink and mislead Nigerians. The economic prospects of the country diminish every day, and Nigerians grovel in different agonizing shapes and sizes while struggling to eke out a living. The campaigns are here, be wise.
Discussing Nigeria’s corruption index over the last three years would violate my sensibilities, and I am not about to do that. Embezzlement of public funds, cover-ups, appointment and re-appointment of corrupt persons to official positions including the just constituted presidential campaign council, and fake government agencies have caught Nigerians unawares.
Those with fat files in the EFCC but who identify with the government are given a soft landing. Following the conclusion of the 2023 elections and the roles played by the judges, the judiciary emerged as the most corrupt sector in Nigeria in that year.
From all available data, the current government does not have any existential or moral justification to ask Nigerians for votes in 2027. Nigerians must bestir, get some sense and not succumb to deceptive rhetoric to entrench incompetent human principalities in power. Nigerians must be encouraged by the events of the just-concluded Osun governorship election. It was done in Osun, it can be done across the country, even at the centre. To dislodge incompetence across power corridors in the country is a collective responsibility that must be carried out.
