A Nation without a President
Fagbemi Israel
The screaming headline in one of the dailies of Saturday, 23rd May, 2015, read ‘Worse Days Ahead.’ Worse days resulting from the lull in government and administration of our dear nation. Consequentially, this is beginning to take its toll on the people with all its concomitant misery.
It is no news to experience fuel scacity or hike in the pump-prices of petroleum products. What is news is the reverberating effect that this unpleasant situation has had on the toiling masses and the generality of Nigerians: those who voted and those who were overwhelmed by apathy; the Buharist and the Jonathanians and so on. No one is speared of this harrowing experience.
I was discomfited to know that the price of cooking gas had skyrocketed from #2,800 -gas plant rate- to over #7,000 and still rising. I understand one gas station in my neighbourhood – The 2nd Coming – located somewhere in Magodo has even shut down arising from overhead cost and the unavailability of diesel. PMS sells from #400-#500 to outright unavailability. The ripples of fuel scacity in the world’s 6th oil producing nation is fast spreading. Some radio stations stopped transmission at 6pm; ATM machines can’t dispense cash at various points and banks may soon return to manual operations if the situation lingers. Hospitals have all their windows flung open. Patients are agonising. Those on oxygen are in a precarious state as death knell may soon sound as patients may begin to die in quick succession. In all of this, the voice of NLC is nowhere to be heared despite the unabated untold hardship.
The last 102 hours have been hellish occasion by total blackout. More terrifying as water supply has ceased. No thanks to prolonged power failure. Power supply may not improve following the news of the drastic, all-time low power generation from a paltry 4,000mw to 1300mw.
NOW, here is the dilemma. It is taken for granted that transition from one democratic leader to another is four days from now. Should that create a lacuna in the administration of the country? The 1999 Constitution is culpable in this regard. The constitution is not foresighted enough to anticipate a Buhari defeating a Jonathan – a seating president in an election. Hence the unforseen vacuum.
In this instance, therefore, the Upper Legislative Chamber otherwise called – The Senate – should have the constitutional obligation to exercise authority and doing the business of governance, rather than let this interregnum give space for fifth columnist. What happens if Nigeria is attacked and its territorial integrity is compromised? The intervening time could create opportunity for military intervention and their apologists.
However, from every indication the country is without a president, no cabinet, no leadership, no direction, no sense of purpose and what have you. I can hardly endure these remaining four days that seem like eternity for the ineptitude of this government to come to an end and never to be remembered again, except to answer to corruption charges in the very foreseeable future.
Fagbemi Israel Gbadebo is a poet and social critic.