ABOUT five years ago, one of the prominent politicians on the Plateau in his usual habit went to one of these social joints in the heart of the city of Jos, the Plateau State capital and ordered for himself a full plate of goat-head pepper soup. In fact, he was routinely used to doing so without asking anyone close-by to kindly join him until that fateful day when he was confronted by this young man who has been monitoring his selfish disposition.
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After consuming his palatable goat-head pepper soup all by himself, he asked the woman to prepare another two plates which he proudly disclosed in the presence of all that it was for his dogs at home. Immediately after he uttered this request to the pepper soup vendor, a friend of mine at the extreme end of the eatery was tempted to response which he eventually did.
“Haba Oga, are you not ashamed of yourself knowing too well that there are people in your constituency who don’t have anything to eat for the day and here you are proudly saying in public that this goat-head pepper soup should be prepared for your dogs at home? What kind and type of a heartless leader are you to the extent that you utter such statements in public without any shame?” My friend further challenged him.
After returning to his senses and obviously recognizing his grievous mistake, the politician immediately left the eatery for only God knows where. Surprisingly, after his tenure expired some years later, this same politician became a sorry sight to behold in public. This time rather than buying goat head pepper soup for this dogs; the politician became so broke to the extent that he was selling his personal cloths to survive the harsh economic realities which had befallen him.
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As pathetic as the situation of this man eventually became; it represents the character of most of our politicians each time they get elected into any position of authority in the state. A few years ago, I had a friend whom we worked together for a very long time and I had tremendous respect for him.
Along the line however, he was nominated into a political office and that was when our relationship began to suffer an agonizing setback. I couldn’t just believe my ears when my friend eventually summoned the courage to notify me that due to his obligations in the office, I should not be calling him but rather text him each time I wanted to get in touch with him for any reason.
This was a very close friend and a mentor to me and we had way back come a long way together. In fact, even when the entire world was against him, I remained glued to him. When he had no job, I was there for him and always pray for a way out of the predicament.
As faithful as God is and has remained so, my friend got a way out of the situation and when he was appointed to occupy one of the most sensitive public offices in the state, we all became happy for him. Eventually however, I was left with no other option than to delete his contact from my phone considering the fact that each time I thought of calling him, my heart skips a beat.
At first, I thought that I was the only victim of my friend’s unbecoming attitude but after sharing my experience with a few others, they also confirmed that after he got the appointment, he suddenly changed his manners to many of his contemporaries and others who hitherto had great respect for him.
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As God would have it, my friend’s tenure expired after the All Progressives Congress, APC, defeated the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at the 2015 general elections. Today, my friend hardly comes out of his house to interact with his contemporaries. He feels so ashamed to relate with some of us he left behind thinking that he may not come back down the ladder to meet us.
Over the years, I have come to comprehend the fact that most Plateau politicians and appointed officeholders change for the worst in terms of their anticipated public relations and or sustenance of their relationships with their long time friends. Each election period, you see them endlessly begging the electorate to vote them into office at any cost.
During election period, many of them lose sleep trekking and visiting each and every home within our community ensuring that nobody loses their sight and or portrays them in bad light. Unfortunately, the vulnerability of the citizens of this country and disposition to the antics of the political class has not helped us in this country.
This development has unfortunately enhanced the maggi, salt and wrapper politics to flourish at the detriment of the wishes and aspirations of the citizens of this country. Knowing too well that the poverty level in this country is beyond human comprehension, the political class believes that it is economically empowered to continue to subjugate and oppress the common man.
Most times, our electorates ask questions as to what prevents our elected politicians from coming back home to their constituencies and interact with them after they emerge winners during respective polls in this country? Why is it that these politicians only feel that the electorates are relevant only perhaps during election periods?
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In most cases these electorates who are the victims of this political maneuverings and gimmicks seems comfortable remaining on the back seat not thinking for once that it is high time that the common man in this country begins to liberate himself from this anomaly. That is the more reason why the political class has continued to take the common man for granted.
As we anxiously anticipate the 2019 general elections we all must come to the realization of the fact that this ill-treatment of the citizens by the political class must be stopped. The common man in this great nation of ours should not be subjected to this inhuman treatment even when in the actual sense; they are a shareholders in this democratic dispensation.
On the whole this tradition of master servant relationship between these elected politicians of ours and us must be a thing of the past. In this regard, anyone who is not prepared to accept this reality of life should as well be shown the way out.
This cannot however be achieved if the electorate continue to chicken out of their expected responsibilities of jealously guarding this democracy with the whole of their hearts and at any cost necessary. We must let our politicians know that the era of being manipulated to jeopardize our interest for the benefit of a few is gone with the wind.
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