‘The new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and its aptly titled “Renewed Hope” mantra presents us with a unique opportunity to create the Nigeria of our dreams – a prosperous, peaceful, and inclusive Nigeria where every one of her citizens has equal opportunities. A new Nigeria where each individual has the right to control their own life and to share in the opportunities, enjoyment, challenges, and responsibilities of everyday living, wherever they may choose to live within our geographic boundary’
IN taking inventory of the last eight years under President Muhammadu Buhari and the ignoble events that played out during the last election in many parts of the country, I feel compelled to focus on just one important area of our existence, the unity of the country. I am doing this because I always feel very much at home in Kano, Kebbi or Abakaliki despite my Christian creed and Yoruba ethnic background.
When the news broke in April 2007 that Senator Grace Folasade Bent became the Senator representing Adamawa South Senatorial district of Adamawa State, I was ecstatic! I was full of hope for Nigeria and, praises for the good, enlightened people of Adamawa State. I concluded that somebody had finally broken the mould and the people of Adamawa State had set the pace in creating the Nigeria of our dreams. It was a day that millions of Nigerians had been praying for. A day when the Nigeria of our dreams would become real! A day when a courageous, politically sagacious and new breed Nigeria politician, born in Kaduna to Yoruba parents, married to a God-fearing retired Army Officer from Adamawa, would be voted for, overwhelmingly, by the people of Adamawa to represent them in the Senate!
Senator Grace Bent, therefore, represents the best of our political yearnings! What an achievement and what a feat! We are all yearning for the Nigeria of our dreams where a young Ibo man who has made Kaduna or Ibadan his home can contest an election to represent his Kaduna or Ibadan constituency. A Nigeria where you wouldn’t have to go back to the village where your grandfather was born and where you’ve never lived or even fraternised with the people and its culture, just because you want to join the political fray.
Fast track to 2023 and we have seen an evaporation of that glimmer of hope that Senator Grace Bent gave us in 2007 of what is possible. The eight years of the Buhari administration not only fractured the unity of the country, it aggravated the ever-fragile ethnic tension that the Senator’s electoral success had largely addressed. To salvage Nigeria, religion and ethnicity should not have anything to do with the choices we make as a people. This should be based purely on merit, policy, competence, experience, and above all, proven integrity. Senator Grace Bent is loved by her people in Adamawa, where her husband comes from, and where she’s made her home. I recall asking a young lady from Adamawa if she’d heard of Senator Grace Bent. Her eyes lit up as she said enthusiastically, “of course, that’s Goggo” – a Fulani title of Big Aunty of Adamawa.
Unfortunately, all that is almost forgotten as Nigeria gained the notoriety of rising to become the poverty capital of the world, under the Buhari administration.
For a country to be labelled the poverty capital of the world is to say the country is chronically diseased and the battle to free it from this hold should be total and unsentimental. All arrows in our quiver should be deployed and religion and ethnicity should not come into the equation when deciding who can contribute to the renewal of our almost lost hope. Poverty leads to the acute weaponisation of religion and ethnicity to further some narrow, parochial interests. It manifests itself in unbridled self-centredness and narcissism. Merit and competence are slaughtered on the altar of religious and ethnic fraternities. Unfortunately, research has also shown that there is a direct correlation between poverty and epistemological ignorance. It is therefore relatively easy to whip up undeveloped emotions and then rationality goes begging.
Recent events in the UK profoundly highlight the contrasting fortunes of the tragedy of poverty and the liberating effect of sovereign affluence. To put things into context, 85% of the UK population is White, with 80% of this being White British. Just 2.5% of the British population are Indians and 3.3% are Black Ethnic groups. In the same vein, the UK being a Christian country with 60% of the population claiming to be Christians and 25% without any religion, Hindus represent 1.5% of the population, Muslims 4.8%, and Buddhists, just 0.4%. Isn’t it intriguing to Nigerians that the Prime Minister of Britain today is Indian and a Hindu? That is the ideal we want for Nigeria. A country where it does not matter where your grandparents come from or which religion you practice.
This is what the emergence of Senator Grace Bent and the enlightened, large-hearted people of Adamawa symbolise. She recorded many firsts with this noble feat and political adventure as the first female Senator from Adamawa State; the first female Senator from the North-East geo-political zone; and most importantly, the first female Senator based on marital affiliation.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan recognised this unique bridge builder and national treasure he conferred on her the national honour of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
The new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and its aptly titled “Renewed Hope” mantra presents us with a unique opportunity to create the Nigeria of our dreams – a prosperous, peaceful, and inclusive Nigeria where every one of her citizens has equal opportunities. A new Nigeria where each individual has the right to control their own life and to share in the opportunities, enjoyment, challenges, and responsibilities of everyday living, wherever they may choose to live within our geographic boundary.
The President has started on a very strong, positive footing and one can sense the green shoots of recovery in the horizon. As I salute the courage of Senator Grace Folasade Bent for daring to break the glass ceilings on many fronts, I pray the good Lord will continue to protect and guide our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
*Olukiran, social commentator, political analyst and solar developer, who writes from London, can be reached on [email protected]
