THAT MALARIA DREAM OF INTERIM NATIONAL GOVERNMENT, By Solomon Idachaba

By Solomon Idachaba

The preposterous proposition for an Interim National Government currently championed by some individuals and groups is indicative of an underlying illness perhaps being suffered by those calling for it.  There is definitely no doubt that such persons are nothing but desperate and pathetic miscreants trying to grasp at straws as a last bid to achieve the demented ambition of clinching power. Like drowning men, the illusions of installing a caretaker government is indeed their only hope of satisfying wicked, selfish and inglorious interests. Nothing justifies these senseless calls for Interim government in Nigeria considering that a seamless democratic form of Government has been practiced in the past two decades. 

In fact, the country has just successfully conducted its seasonal elections from which a new government was duly elected and will be sworn in on 29th May, 2023. Not only that, the current security atmosphere has remained relatively peaceful and normalcy has returned with citizens going about their daily activities. Only naysayers are grandstanding.

 So on what grounds are the despicable agitations for an interim national Government? On what basis should it be formed? Is Nigeria in a crisis situation? Are we in any emergency or chaotic circumstances? Is the Nation bedevilled with violence or experiencing general sense of instability? The answer is NO! It is crystal clear that these psychotic agitators of a government that could threaten the country’s existence are acutely diseased by Malaria and its accompanying symptoms of a high fever thereby blindsiding their thought processes. Otherwise, those calling for it, would have understood its meaning. Nigeria has bid bye even to the circumstances that once warranted it.  Its justification is clearly non-existent in our statutes. 

Since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, the tradition of transition from one government to another has been steady and ceremonial every May 29. Curiously, these unwarranted palpitations for interim government started prior to the 2023 general elections apparently by those who have calculated their chances of winning the elections and were certain of a resounding defeat. 

When out of the blues, the likes of Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) in the last quarter of 2022, called for an Interim Government after the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, what came to mind was that the 93-year-old “elder statesman” was daydreaming.

For Babalola and his other unstated cohorts, the sentiments upon which an ING is premised or perceived cannot even hold water. All the illogical reasons are old fashioned. To push their agenda forward, after the general election and following their abysmal failure to win, which of course, was in tune with their earlier predictions of failing at the polls, they collaborated with subversive groups and dubious interests, thus, the recent growing pressure to install an interim government. Once again, I ask, on what grounds? 

One thing that is clear is that those beating the drums for Interim National Government are hell bent on truncating our cherished democracy and eroding the gains and growth achieved as a country in the last 24 years. These Malaria stricken persons calling for such, must understand that this ill-advised option is not a silver bullet solution to Nigeria's problems. approach to address them. An interim government will not in any way solve our underlying problems. But alas, these enemies of Nigeria, its peace, stability and progress are ignorant.

The so called clamour for an interim government is definitely a ploy by political elites, failed politicians and agents of destabilisation to gain power. It is not an exaggeration that these persons are not interested in addressing the problems facing the country but rather in securing political and economic influence in addition to other personal gains. But these fruitless efforts are nothing but a lost cause. Nigerians have spoken through the ballots and elected their next President that will take over the mantle of leadership come 29th May. No amount of threats, mischief or propaganda will stop or prevent this peaceful transition. 

Contrary to the lies and falsehood being circulated by fake news merchants, President Buhari has strongly assured that he would indeed hand over power to the newly elected President. Those peddling fake news and spreading baseless conspiracy theories around the inevitable transmission of power on democracy day are only beating a dead horse. Their ploy will never come to fruition; only disgraceful defeats await them. The Country’s electoral umpire has advised those aggrieved by the outcome of the 2023 general elections to seek legal redress. And they are doing so.

It beats rationality that they would want to be on the street and in the courts. Let them choose one. If they choose the streets and recalcitrance, let them be treated as dissidents and outlaws. But if they are in the courts, let them be served justice. During the waiting time, let us all be patient, law abiding  and of good behaviour. Those Malaria afflicted peddlers of an inconceivable and futile interim government should take full dose of their drugs and be healed. 

Idachaba, writes from Makurdi, Benue State