A NEW NIGERIA? I sat right in front of the television and watched the inauguration. I am actually not a ceremony person but this one fascinated me. Why? It is a transition. And all transitions are pregnant with possibilities. All inaugurals speak of new beginning and new directions. So I sat stonily and watched with a staccato beat of my heart in a cacophony of anxiety mixed with hope and expectations. I guess at this point in time, there is truly a communion of expectations across Nigeria. My heart beats in errant pace; I could also detect a sceptical intrusion. I just came in from the long fuel queue. And I wake up regularly from a sweat-drenched and fitful sleep...my fan had been on holiday! My University has also decreed a two-week break from academic business because Nigeria intruded in our normal service. And I ask: what good does a continually abbreviated semester bode for students whose future is already compromised? I am still gazing at the screen but my wondering mind projects its own visual imaginaries on the unfolding ceremony. What will come out of all this? The cameras panned the crowd and the compere intoned the names of the old guards Atiku Obasanjo Abubakar Mark Tinubu politicians the intellectuals the priests the imams the pastors the press the masses and on and on I'm not sure I could decipher the faces of the new Nigeria in the ecstatic crowd. But my gaze kept fastening on Buhari's face...well, not his face but his dark spectacles. Someone once said "no object is mysterious. The mystery is in your eyes." Is he going to look Nigeria straight in the eye? What was Buhari seeing behind the dark goggle? Is the goggle going to project a specific vision? Has his national adrenalin reached a critical energy mass that propels the optimal force of performance? And then he mounted the podium...tall and regal. Head above all; alternating between sterness, expressionlessness and brief smiles. "I, Muhammadu Buhari, do solemnly swear..." Nigeria needs solemnity at this national juncture. We really.need to disoense with business as usual! Nation building isn't ceremonial...the next four years will be tough. "We can fix our challenges..." Yes, we can! But who are the people to help us? What is going to be the shape of the Cabinet? Will politics again trump purpose and focus? Can we again afford sit-tight principalities and powers? What is the plan to unravel Boko Haram, electricity, medicare, education, public services, etc.? I sincerely felt like joining the ecstatic crowd waving the symbolic brooms and jogging round the Eagle Square. I sincerely felt like holding up my hands in supplication, like the woman caught on camera silently intoning a prayer as Buhari took the oath. It seems that the best I can do, for now, is not to rejoice. I will rather retreat into that communion of hope while I await the call to action from my Commander-in-Chief. We should await the circumference of our collective expectations. It's time to take the opportunities that we have. I wish us all a new Nigeria! Adeshina Afolayan |
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