IN SIX WEEKS’ TIME!

We would today, Saturday February 14, have elected a new president, and would have started generating the momentum to escort the president-elect in a great trek to Eagle Square, to reach it by May 29. Alas! They connived, wa makaru, and postponed the inevitable by six weeks. But wa makaral Lah!Just a couple of weeks […]

We would today, Saturday February 14, have elected a new president, and would have started generating the momentum to escort the president-elect in a great trek to Eagle Square, to reach it by May 29. Alas! They connived, wa makaru, and postponed the inevitable by six weeks. But wa makaral Lah!
Just a couple of weeks ago, on this very page, we restated the saying that in politics a week is a long time and that, particularly in Nigerian politics, even a day is a very long time. All of a sudden, we are not now talking of one week, but a whopping six weeks while they ostensibly go back to the drawing board! Anything can happen in six weeks, anything. But wal Lahu Khairul makirin!
The reason for the postponement sounds lofty and cogent enough – a ‘final’ onslaught on our pestering insurgency to ensure the security of, you guessed it, the elections (not the citizens)! It is promised to be a massive six-week operation to really resolve this problem, and operation that could not be done in six years past. However, we agree, accept, wait. In fact we pray to the Almighty to make this six-week operation successful. But then the dilemma: if it doesn’t succeed, would they ask for a further six weeks? And if does succeed, are they NOT telling us we have been taken for six-year ride – a year for every week?
But we pray the operation succeeds. We also pray and hope we shall witness the surrender of the insurgents towards the end of March. And it may well happen now that there is a Six Weeks’ Coalition in place, a Coalition bringing together the serious neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic (the CCN Coalition?) to fight our blighters for us and on behalf of us. Now, if CCN agrees to work with Nigeria, the Six Weeks’ Operation would then become a CCNN Coalition, Nigerian adding another N. But we already know where we stand as it is – Cameroon has just liberated our Gamboru and Niger Republic, of all neighbours, is making us look naked in the military marketplace. Serves us right?!
Therefore, by all implications, these are a crucial six weeks as we head towards the new election date and ‘victory’ on the battlefront. We shall be looking at the theatre of war with one eye, while watching the theatre of politics with the other. Our hope is that we hope that CCN know that they can be taken for a ride; as we all have been. So we give them Six Weeks. No more.
Whatever the situation and the agreement within CCN, we now proceed to offer the following pieces of advice to these ‘emancipators’, CCN, pieces of advice the Nigerian Government, the last N, did not take all these years:
BE LIKE THE GEESE; ORGANISED, FOCUSED:
“When you see geese heading south for the winter, flying in a ‘V’ formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a ‘V’ formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily, because they are travelling on the thrust of one another. When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have the sense of a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are heading the same way we are…” SO STAY IN FORMATION!
BE LIKE THE ANT; INTELLIGENT, PURPOSEFUL:
“The intelligence of the Ant is bewildering. When they carry seeds to their homes, they break them so that they do not sprout. If the seed is of the type that sprouts when split, they split it into four pieces. If the seeds are moistened or get wet and the ants fear they may spoil, they take them out to dry in the sun and then return them. This is why you sometimes find a lot of broken seeds outside an ant home, and if you return a little while later you wouldn’t find one seed. Yet another aspect of their intelligence is that they do not build a nest except on high ground in order to protect themselves from being drowned by running water, so you wouldn’t find an ant nest at the bottom of a valley, rather you would find it always above the water level.” SO STAY SHARP!
FAILURE OF ONE MAY LEAD TO FAILURE OF ALL:
“Once there was a king who ordered his workers to dig a pond. Once the pond was dug, the king announced to his people that one person from each household must bring a glass of milk during the night and pour it into the pond. He wanted the pond to be full of milk by the morning, he said. After receiving the order, everyone went home. But one man thought that since everyone was going to bring milk, he could just as well hide a glass of water and pour inside the pond. And since it was dark at night, no one would notice. So he quickly went and poured a glass of water into the pond. In the morning, the king came to visit the pond. To his surprise, the pond was only filled with water! What happened was that everyone was thinking exactly like the other man: ‘I don’t have to put the milk, someone else would do it.’” SO SUCCEED TOGETHER!
NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST:
“A man was parked in front of the mall waiting for his wife to get off from work. Coming his way from across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum. From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. ‘I hope he doesn’t ask me for money,’ the man thought. He didn’t. He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn’t look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he spoke. ‘That’s a very pretty car,’ he said to the first man. He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. The man said, ‘Thanks.’ The expected plea for money never came. As the silence between the two men widened, something inside the first man said, ‘Ask him if he needs any help.’ He was sure that the ‘bum’ would say ‘Yes.’ So he asked, ‘Do you need any help?’ The other man answered in three simple but profound words that the first man shall never forget. He expected nothing but an outstretched grimy hand, but the ‘bum’ spoke the three words that shook the first man: ‘Don’t we all?’” SO HELP US GOD!
Yes, we need help during these Six Weeks. But let the CCN Coalition know that the Nigerian ruling party may want to use them to BUY TIME, but the Nigerian people want a genuinely more secure country. CCN should not fall for any games and gimmicks. Six Weeks and that’s it!
And we are still at HasbunalLahu wa ni’imal Wakeel! (Allah is Sufficient for us and He is the Best Disposer of affairs).