15092022

20 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
Interrogating Fashola’s take on 2023 elections
WHEN we tapped Mr. Babatunde Fash
ola, Minister of Works and Housing
to be the Guest Speaker at the 2022 TheNiche
Lecture, there was disquiet in some quarters.
The theme of the lecture, “2023 elections
and the future of Nigeria’s democracy,” didn’t
help matters. Some expected guests, particularly
members of the opposition political parties,
who had earlier promised to grace the
occasion, stayed away.
I had a discussion with one of them who
accused us of mischief. He alleged that we
were trying to give the All Progressives Congress,
APC, and its presidential candidate, Asiwaju
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a head start on the
2023 elections by saddling Fashola with that
responsibility.
I know where those who held that position
were coming from. Fashola is not just a minister
in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet,
he is on the front row. Besides, many see
him as one of the APC ideologues, a poster
boy of the Buhari administration, and as
former governor of Lagos State, who directly
succeeded Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate;
it was a risk inviting him.
But I was also confident that in his intellectual
offering as the guest speaker, patriotism
will trump partisanship and the big picture,
which is the future of the country’s democracy,
will be brought to bear on the discourse.
I dare say, I was vindicated. Mounting the
rostrum, Fashola declared from the get-go:
“The theme chosen by Acclaim Communications
Ltd for this year’s annual lecture, which
is “2023 ELECTIONS AND THE FUTURE
OF NIGERIA’S DEMOCRACY” was perhaps
too tempting for me to resist, and the invitation,
issued since April 20, 2022, was more
than timely, which is not easy to say these days
for some speaking events.
“Given that we are 20 days to the formal
commencement of campaigns for the 2023
general elections, this year’s lecture coming
170 days to the first of the elections in February
2023 provides
a potential
platform
for many possibilities.
“However, I
have elected
not to be partisan,
and instead
chosen to
be even-handed.
I believe this
is the challenge,
albeit
self-imposed
In a society where
the leadership has
deliberately
weaponised poverty
and illiteracy, the
issues Fashola raised
present a chicken
and egg dilemma;
nevertheless, they
are germane
questions
that the theme of the lecture now presents.”
He kept to his word so much so that even
when he was talking about the dividends of
democracy, he didn’t limit it to the Buhari era
but started from 1999.
“While there is a lot of work still to be done,
it is proper at this point to also highlight the
successes our democracy has delivered because
the democratic experience since 1999
came at great cost,” he intoned.”
One of such dividends is the fact that: “Our
democracy delivered access to telephone service
for many Nigerians,” a signature achievement
of the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency.
But despite his deliberate attempt not to
pander to partisan interests, the audience
were agitated. The complaints were two-fold.
While some accused the minister of being
clever by half for explaining away the failures
of the Buhari-led APC administration,
others accused him of tactically blaming Nigerians,
the very victims of bad governance.
To such people, Fashola should have been
courageous enough to call a spade a spade
rather than providing an alibi for Buhari’s
failures.
One of the guests pointedly said she was
disappointed. “This is not the Fashola that
was Lagos State governor. He has changed.”
Many who came for the lecture saw it as an
opportunity to speak truth to power, which
explains why when we called for a feedback
from the audience, almost everybody wanted
to talk.
Of course, that was not going to be possible
because of the limitations imposed on the
event by time. So, when we limited the number
of people that were going to make comments,
some were offended and accused us of
shielding the minister.
A guest sent me a WhatsApp message afterwards
which seemed to capture the mood of
many.
“Congrats on a successful outing! The only
drawback is that the people were not allowed
to speak out. It was a high table affair. By
tactically caging us, Fashola was allowed to
put the Nigerian people on the defensive and
get away with it, whereas the Nigerian problem
is, squarely, that of reckless politicians
and government, or, leadership, as Chinua
Achebe would put it. That is why APC promised
us heaven on earth but delivered hell.”
To say that Nigerians are angry and exasperated
at their parlous lot is an understatement.
But that is where 2023 elections come
to the rescue. It should not be about hurling
insults and abuses but taking informed and
deliberate civic action that will lead to the
desired change. That is the beauty of democracy.
It affords the people the chance to
change the status-quo by electing new leaders.
Fashola said that much. In raising the question
of “how can democracy, especially the
2023 elections, make our lives better and our
country greater,” he gave an unambiguous
riposte: “The kind of people we elect will determine
the quality of policies, budgets, programmes
and projects that are designed and
delivered to us.”
Fashola’s assertion that “democracy is simply
concerned about the popular participation
in choosing a leader or set of leaders”
and “does not guarantee that the leader or
those leaders will deliver or indeed are able
to deliver on what we want”, is correct. What
makes the difference is the diligence and willpower
of the people to make the right electoral
call. Where issues of religion, ethnicity and
other fault lines are allowed to trump competence,
then the mistake of 2015 will be made
again and the people will have themselves to
blame.
In recruiting leaders next year, Fashola emphasized
that the issues must revolve around,
“What really is it that we expect from those
we elect and what do they promise to do before
we vote, and what have they done for
us?”
He further queried: “Did we vote for, or did
we collect tricycles, sewing machines, generators
etc. from them? If we did, can we legitimately
expect that the budget from which
these things were procured will also provide
healthcare, drugs and diagnostic equipment
in our health facilities?
“If they have sponsored weddings for our
families, financed the burial of our dear departed
ones or paid school fees for a whole
community, do we understand that these
things or some of them are funded by the budget
from which we also expect good schools,
good roads and other public infrastructure
and services upon which our prosperity depends
collectively?”
In a society where the leadership has deliberately
weaponized poverty and illiteracy, the
issues Fashola raised present a chicken and
egg dilemma. Nevertheless, they are germane
questions.
Never mind the rhetoric of winning elections
without exaggerating our problems or
disrobing our country before the global community,
because truth be told, Nigerians are
in dire straits.
It also goes without saying that there is a
distinction between Nigerian government
and Nigeria. Disrobing the Buhari administration
is not the same thing as disrobing Nigeria.
After all, APC as an opposition party
did worse to President Goodluck Jonathan in
2014/2015.
That said, it takes a lot of courage for a
high state official to resist the temptation of
playing partisan politics with the opportunity
TheNiche lecture presented. For his patriotic
reflex and steadfastness in upholding the
tenets of democracy, Fashola deserves applause.
Writing Tips (4)
*Want Effective
Introductions? Then Do
This…
Continued from last week
THIS week we will
illustrate how
using the three-part
strategy of hooking your
readers, narrowing
down the information
you share with them,
and stating your thesis
statement works in
writing an effective
introduction for your
essay.
We will begin with
choosing a title for our
essay, say, ‘The High
Cost of Living in
Nigeria’. The beginning
part of our introduction
can be in the form of an
anecdote, a quote, a
shocking fact, statistics,
an imagined scenario,
etc.
An anecdote:
Growing up in the early
'80s, I remember how great life was and
how my father would give my mother just
five Naira to buy what she needed to make
soup and buy garri for the swallow. My
mother would not only make a big pot of
soup but also have some coins as balance
from the five Naira. Fast-forward to 30
years later, living in Nigeria is a totally
different experience filled with hardships
and a devaluing of the Naira….
A shocking fact: The Naira has further
depreciated in value when compared
against the dollar. It is now a whopping
N750 to one dollar! Businesses are on the
rampage with increments on their
products, given the presumed inability to
restock as a result of the further drop in
Naira value…
Statistics:
Recent studies
have revealed
that whereas
23% of
Nigerians live
above the
a v e r a g e
income level,
the remaining
77% struggle to
put food on
their table on a
daily basis, and
this gap
between the
rich and the
The beginning
part of our
introduction can
be in the form of
an anecdote, a
quote, a
shocking fact,
statistics, an
imagined
scenario, etc
poor continues
to widen at an alarming rate….
An Imagined Scenario: Picture yourself
in a Nigeria where basic amenities are in
full supply; food and drinks are available
in abundant supply and are easily
affordable; electric power supply is ever
present; corruption among the leaders is
practically non-existent; schooling is free
for all students, and teachers are paid their
salaries in full; and roads are well built,
warranting no traffic hold-ups….
The above illustrations highlight how
you can use any of the strategies to create
an interest-arousing introduction. After
arousing the interest of your reader, be sure
to quickly create the background required
by showing why the write-up is relevant for
their use and then go on to precisely state
your take/argument on the issue – in one
sentence (your thesis statement). To further
illustrate this, consider the middle and end
part of the introductory paragraph that
follows from the anecdote:
Middle (background information):
People are groaning over the hardships
occasioned by the upward rise in the cost
of living in Nigeria. As a result of this, a
large number of people consider leaving
the country for greener pastures as the only
way out.
End (thesis statement): This essay
buttresses the point that several factors
combine to make Nigeria a difficult place
to live in, but it also shows what Nigerians
can do to improve their lot in life despite
the difficulties.
The complete introduction thus:
Growing up in the early '80s, I remember
how great life was and how my father
would give my mother just five Naira to
buy what she needed to make soup and buy
garri for the swallow. My mother would
not only make a big pot of soup but also
have some coins as balance from the five
Naira. Fast-forward to 30 years later,
living in Nigeria is a totally different
experience filled with hardships and a
devaluing of the Naira. People are
groaning over the hardships occasioned by
the upward rise in the cost of living in
Nigeria. As a result of this, a large number
of people consider leaving the country for
greener pastures as the only way out. This
essay buttresses the point that several
factors combine to make Nigeria a difficult
place to live in, but it also shows what
Nigerians can do to improve their lot in
life despite the difficulties.
Yay! What do you think of our
introduction so beautifully written out,
using all of the strategies we have
highlighted in this article? Does the
introduction have the potential to get a
reader hooked and get them reading to the
end? Your guess is as good as mine!
So begin to practice with varied
introduction styles and see your writing
achieve its goals for you.
Feel free to share your thoughts and ask
your questions.
Concluded
*Dr. Oji is a Senior Lecturer of English
at the Institute of Humanities, Pan-
Atlantic University, Lagos