Despite all of the tension in the buildup in Nigerian politics to the start of the year, the year 2019 ended on a somewhat tender note.
With the way the heat for the 2019 General Elections campaign season picked up about a year ago, it served to predict some of the surprising twists and turns which characterized the year 2019 in Nigerian history.
At the start of a new decade, after the re-introduction of American-styled democracy into Nigeria with the drama, gimmicks and surprises, it seems that the ghosts of the founding fathers continue to haunt our flailing democracy still.
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Interestingly, the year 2019 ended on a rather high note as political “prisoners,” Omoyele Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and Sambo Dasuki, former National Security Adviser (NSA), were released from detention on December 24, after a protracted battle to get them bailed. This was the most unprecedented u-turn in the recent history of President Muhammadu Buhari.
No one saw coming the release hurriedly ordered by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, until those two men were free. Presumably, left to General Muhammmadu Buhari (rtd.) and his retinue of advisers, those two rebels would never have seen the light of day anytime soon. But as the matter blew its lid off and Sowore’s illegal incarceration became a matter of international attention wherein key members of the U.S Congress had to write directly to the presidency demanding for Sowore’s release, Buhari was thus forced to surrender to pressure.
That little u-turn by Buhari is a sign that we Nigeria may be having a-2020 filled with inherently positive and surprising u-turns by the president; especially if Nigerians lobby international personalities to pressure him into abeyance.
The new immigration policy where holders of African passports can apply for Nigerian visa at the point of entry in airports is an example of such where the president will be changing direction on some previous rigid policies which have only made Nigeria poorer.
The president will also very likely join the new West African monetary currency zone named the ‘ECO’ and open up the Nigerian borders which has been closed on its West African neighbours front for months running now.
Internally, all of the political infighting rearing its ugly head from within the ranks of the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) will also most likely pick up pace as the Tinubu caucus finds out that he is being cunningly cut out by the Buhari clan from the political base he “single-handedly built from scratch” in 2013.
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Cross-carpeting – the political gymnastics which some politicians are famous for – will soon begin in earnest, in preparation for the election year in 2023. “Betrayals” will become rampant too, going forward, as desperate politicians and public servants will struggle to have their slice of the National Cake.
The possibilities are endless about what 2020 holds both for the nation and its citizens. One thing is certain, however, though the journey may be quite slow many years after independence and 20-plus years after the founding of the 4th Republic, Nigeria is evolving by the day whether the political elite or some of the so-called obstinate citizens like it or not.
Featured Image Source: The Guardian NG
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