Some have alluded to the contemporary American scenario with 70-year-oldies in the presidency to justify their desperate hold on political power. I won't hold back from debating this mischaracterisation.
Firstly, does Nigeria have 246 years of independence, development, and progress like America, to have the luxury of entertaining a Trump and Biden in their 70s? How do you square up a 246-year-old country with a 61-year-old? This is a ridiculous comparison. Give me a break! Do you believe that the restlessness and fatigue of this generation of Nigerians can be sustained for another 10, 5 or fewer years without consequences and blow back on the nationhood?
Secondly, what has been the American outcome with such oldies at the helm of affairs? Can Nigeria honestly afford the level and sophistication of America's ongoing 'palava'? Sorry, the answer is no. Indeed, America is now the actual proof that the twenty-first-century oldies, in an information age, are no good for the presidency. They don't do too well with the pressure and stress, power and pain of executive presidential democracy. Period. I always advise African leaders, please don't copy western nations without knowing their history, capability and how they got there, nor try to apply their political and economic enterprise directly to the African context. It doesn't work that way. When Australia (in the 19th century) and America (in the 17th century) went through the kind of corruption that Nigeria/Africa is experiencing today, it was called Kakistocracy: governance by the "worst"; most corrupt, inept, and incompetent leaders. How did they move from there to here? Did they use oldies to jump-start their journey to greater probity and prosperity? That should be the study Nigerian leaders should engage. Not leaders sitting there lazily and referencing America to justify their era of Kakistocracy. Their arrogant and exaggerated view of Nigeria and themselves as leaders are some of the reasons why they make such untenable and pathetic comparisons.
It is worthwhile at this stage to pause and be clear with the sum of my proposition. Here's the truth. Nigeria's nascent democracy and fragile institutions will eventually and totally collapse at the continued behest of the current generation of old brigades. Why is that? One critical reason is that they are unfamiliar and unused to ethical leadership, values education, and digital management. Have Nigerians forgotten so soon: "I wish I became head of state when I was a governor, just a few years as a young man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can do" (Daily Trust, 20/6/2015). Absolutely correct. That is why Nigeria is still where it is. At least, I like this man for telling the truth on this matter. Yes, a truth never to be forgotten. Nations that don't learn from history end up repeating the negative side of history.
Make no mistake, Nigerians love their 70- and 80-year-olds. That’s for sure, provided the oldies are at home with their grandkids and telling them stories about the good old days. On that one, Nigerian grandparents are real fun to be with. (As a kid, I spent school holidays with my grandpa at Idah, and I know it. Great memories and I honour his memory). Their septuagenarian or octogenarian age is the good jolly days they should be enjoying with their grandkids. Dozing off intermittently but pretending they are awake (kids love this!). Adjusting their glasses and writing their final books … and their Nunc Dimittis; not running around with bags of money to buy votes, competing with their children's mates, and overpowering them in the antics of kleptomania. What a shame. These buffooneries of 'demoncracy' must end. Are they visionaries looking to implement a new vision for Nigeria? I don't think so. They are looking to implement the good old days (of corruption and nepotism) and perpetuate their relevance in this day and age. They grew up learning politics in a continuing age of corruption. That's all they know about how to win. Bags of money to go round. Nothing new to offer. Even when Nigerians mistook them to be patriots, statesmen and women, these old brigades still missed their time to quit while their ovation was loudest. The new generation of Nigerians is now sick and tired, and tired and sick of the mass of corruption. They are now saying enough is enough!
As I put my ears to the ground, I hear many Nigerian voices growing louder. It's not a cry of sorrow and anguish. It's a cry of hope and anticipation, saying with a loud voice: the new generation of Nigerians can't wait for their polity to be liberated from Nairanisation. Nor can they wait to be Obinated thru' Obinomics. They can't wait any longer to be inspired and uplifted thru' the Obi-nocracy of their commonwealth. I take my place with this new generation of Nigerians: So, dear young Nigerians. You have told the world that you are being Obi-dient. We hear you. In this paper, I am using my scholarly skills to contribute to casting your vision. I have even joined you to expand on your colloqual Obinated vocabulary, and I am enjoying it like I know you do! Have fun with the polity, and be focused and determined to get your PVC to vote out the old political brigades. Like many other middle-aged and seniors who have your back, I have my pen and paper ready to cheer you up and write you up. To you belongs the greatness of the future, and it starts NOW with your PVC. Get one and have your power with you ready for the D-day.
I even hear such voices from other Nigerians across the country: north, south, east, and west. It is a roaring sound becoming so brutally exponential that we now hear it even in the diasporas. It's the mixed sound of the voices of the young and the old. It’s here in Australia. I hear it from American and European friends. It's reverberating across the globe. They are voices so loud and frenzied by the day that I now fear that, as Americans were uplifted suddenly and at once in the audacity of hope by Obama, Nigerians may soon have their day in the court of destiny: the ultimate Obi-literation of the opportunists and kleptocrats who have held Nigeria and Nigerians hostage to the bondage of corruption these two and half decades!