“Bidding goodbye to the outgoing year [2023] is like shedding a skin. In 2024, let’s emerge stronger, wiser, and ready for new adventures.” — Anon.
Twenty-twenty-three in Nigeria was marked by transactional politics, where the highest bidder won. The elections were not about the people’s choice but about money. The government, security, judiciary, clergy, and civil society activists were all purchasable. The Political Musings this week will try to capture the main political events of 2023, where democracy was made a mockery.
In the coming 2024, we will be propelled by what we did well or failed to do well in 2023. The new year’s adventure will be centered around democracy, and we need to ensure that the electorate’s voice is heard.
The “market square” was the center of all the transactional deals in 2023, with one man in charge. He was the new market master, and he had the unique and attractive wares that everyone wanted but could not afford. He looked generous but also fearful, which attracted many people to him but kept the market miscreants at bay. However, he was undecided about what to do with his wares because the outgoing market master and his workers were uncooperative.
As the man was contemplating what to do with his goods, a revenue officer arrived and changed the currency used for buying, making it impossible for him to sell his wares. The market master supported the revenue officer, but the leaders of various market unions, led by Chairmen of two lines in the Northern part of the market, came to his aid and thwarted the revenue officer’s plan.
Although he had the market master’s support, the revenue officer stood his ground and hoped to eventually win the battle. However, the market master played the Artful Dodger and refused to stand up when he was needed. Little did they know that the market committees, including the guards, were interested in the goods they had seen with the man eyeing the market master’s seat.
When they went to the market court, it was not difficult to push the revenue officer and his rules aside. The market guards, who were already eyeing the attractive goods, quickly jumped in and started clearing the way for market master aspirants to pass through.
As the aspirant passed through the Northern part of the market, merchant hawkers from Kaduna, Kebbi, Zamfara, Plateau, and various other market chairmen joined in clearing the way. When the market master aspirant decided to give away his attractive goods, the market guards were already on alert to prevent a surge, and specialised security guards from outside the market were brought in to clear and frustrate any threats.
At this point, one Yakubu and his team of market regulators arrived and negotiated their benefits if they cleared the way for him to surpass every other dealer and hawker in the market and occupy the market master position. With the market security guards in and a special squad of security already hired, the deal with Yakubu was the clincher.
While many other buyers and sellers remained sceptical about the ambitious market master aspirant and his attractive largesse, suspicious of its source and resolved to prevent him, little did they know that they were busy beating the bush searching for the grass cutter that had escaped.
Having secured a good deal, the market trader became arrogant. He ignored the other traders and buyers, refusing to greet them or talk about his products. When the aggrieved traders waited to see how he would get through, he laughed them off, knowing what he had already negotiated. On the day of the market elections, the traders and buyers assembled against him.
However, the market wardens and other operatives, who were conniving with Yakubu’s team of regulators, refused to even hear their complaints or count their numbers. Instead, they sent fake numbers to pretend to be counting and hearing their grievances. While the counting and collation were still going on, Yakubu announced the next occupier of the market master position, aided by the guards. As the traders tried to confront the fake result announcers, the security guards displayed their weaponry to frighten and frustrate the traders. The panicked outgoing market master told the traders to go to court, which was also part of the larger conspiracy.
Despite knowing that he crooked his way into the position, the market master-elect never panicked. Instead, his arrogance increased because, to him, the worst hurdle had been crossed. As he took over the market master position, he tried to assert himself and get a solid foundation by changing all the market line co-chairmen to the head of market guards, replacing them with his loyalists. As the traders brought in more evidence to show how he had cheated his way into the position, he became more entrenched. He rolled out stringent measures, increasing market fares and stalls, making market business unattractive, which frustrated many traders and forced them out of the market. This obviously drives more people into poverty as a strategy to cow and bring them into submission. As the traders and buyers grumbled over these harsh measures, the market master and his team mused away, bringing in policies and programmes that would only enhance the fortunes of market shop owners and boost their bloated lifestyle. Rather than address the traders’ complaints, they instead chose to fortify the loyal market leaders and security operatives by increasing their allowances and promoting them.
As Nigeria bids farewell to 2023 and ushers in a new year, posterity will note that the most populous black nation conducted a unique election in 2023 that produced a unique winner, whose bio-data remains a mystery. This creates a problem for teachers in the country on what to teach the children about where their President comes from, his real age, his real name, the real schools he attended, and the real certificates he obtained. This year will never come again, but what happened in Nigeria during this period under review will linger for long.
May God grant us the grace to avoid our error in the outgoing year and the fortitude to bear it while we hope for a better, prosperous Nigeria in 2024. Adieu, 2023, the year of political transactional politics! God help us.