VALUE FOR LIFE: BY A VIOLENCE-FREE POLL

VALUE FOR LIFE

      The preparation of this book witness two polls: the 2007 and 2011 political elections of my country, Nigeria. The latter, just concluded, though with pockets of flaws in couple of places, revealed much improvement and positive change to the previous elections remembered and marked in national memory for their marred gross irregularities. The Independent National Electoral commission, INEC, the body responsible for conducting elections in Nigeria, this time, braced up an effort that did seriously minimize those anomalies that were the norms of previous polls. Nevertheless, the price was expensively paid in wanton destruction of properties and lost of innocent lives especially of youths, among who were members of the National Youth Service Corp, NYSC, engaged by INEC as ad-hoc staff at the polls.The pre and post elections violence triggered in supports for party’s candidates by party faithful waste no time and spared no weapon to transmute many harmless citizens and some of those innocent fresh graduate corpers into corpses. As painful as it was for families who paid these gory prices in the horrible death of a father, mother, spouse, brothers, sisters, son or daughter(s), the leaders with no itch wait to clinch the prize. That is their interest; and they act like no price was too much for the public to pay for them including having the lives of loved ones snatch off brutally. What a generation of leaders!

      About now this infernal experience is the scenario in some nations of the world that are caught up in pre and post political election violence. Lately, ripples of protest have been witness in most nations with many of it demanding the resignation of the president, prime ministers, or some leaders. Some of these protests have been seen to quickly degenerate from peaceful and result in the killings of thousands of protesters, indicating leaders’ reaction and response to the agitations of the led. How sad!

      These leaders shortsightedness could not let them see it coming. They didn’t realize that eagles, which also constitute the led, when ducked long enough can have their loyalty depleted and starts to negate the authority of royalty. Where this happens even in a democratic system, as we now see, the led are further reduced from being ducked to being dead. They are massacred!

       How many lives of the led should be laid down and what volume of blood of the innocent should be shed to put the current crop of overstayed national leaders into power, in power and off power? The answer encapsulates the growing statistics of ‘change martyrs’ in those nations engross in confrontations and conflicts, in the bit for change; Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Barren, Libya, Nigeria, you name them. Carefully and critically x-rayed all of it comes down to consequences of nations where most of her people’s potentials are being ducked and living life far less of who they are. A crucial obligation of any responsible government or administration is to see to it that a larger percent of the populace are groomed, empowered and licensed to soar in their various individual endeavours. Therein is their qualitative contribution to national developments and enduring loyalty.  

         ------------------------ Excerpts from chapter 6: STOP DUCKING THE EAGLES. ------------------------

STOP THE DUCKING!

                                                      CHAPTER THREE

          STOP THE DUCKING

“DON’T EXPECT A SOARING FEAT FROM A DUCKED EAGLE”

       

       Why the ducking? Why fuel the car to run for only 50 miles and pack up when it has an oil capacity to run for 500 miles at a stretch? Why celebrate him as the palace messenger when he could become the city magistrate? Why force her become an unfulfilled doctor when she could have become a celebrated beautician and fashion designer? He would have been a great musician by now had he not been forced into mechanical engineering. More souls would have been saved were he a clergy but they insist he would be better at journalism. She’s got the ability for the tenth grade though; they stopped her at the fourth. It was obvious he would last to the 11th round and clinch the championship; painfully they cheated him out at the 7th round. They were sure heading for the finals of the competition with the crop of talents and skills they exhibited; but they were tricked and fixed out at the knock outs.

       He sure won the title; they gave it to his opponent. She knew who she needed; they forced on her who they wanted for her. He knew what he could successfully and skillfully do; he was pushed into doing something else they want him to do for them. He’s got the right credentials and experience for the job; but they preferred a mediocre who will accept half the pay. If she went for the training she will return rendering greater service; but they wouldn’t let her because they prefer an unfit relative to enjoy the benefits attached. He’s got the ideas and skills to turn the organization around for the better though, he was laid off quickly for fear of loosing their position to him. If allowed to run for the election he will win by a landslide so he was hurriedly assassinated. She stands a better chance of picking up the award though; her name was excluded from the list of nominees. At another instance, they picked up the least of her work just to blur her chance of emerging a winner. His scores were high enough to get him the admission, but they denied him any. Her grades were okay to earn her a distinction though; it was leveled down to level her ego. So they felt.

       It is him who is got the message that can ignite a revival in the assembly though; he was framed up, placed on suspension and posted out. Though she is long overdue for a promotion, she is left at the background because she wouldn’t compromise to offer her boss what others gave. They were hired as finance staffs which of course they qualified, but they are put into persuasive corporate prostitution with targets to raise customer base by bringing in big wig depositors to the organization. He or she was sign on to the club and possess great skill, but left permanently on the bench for (ducking) reasons best known to the couch. She is certainly the best hand for the job, but her race, color, nationality or tribe is her undoing. His album would have sold several million copies but they refuse to promote it just to punish him for what they perceive as arrogance. It was sure going to be an award winning movie but they messed up the making for refusing to succumb to their terms. He promises to be a modern William Shakespeare, but piracy pierced his zeal, while delayed and denied royalty dried up his passion for literary creativity.

       On and on one can go listing these potential depleting practices employed to keep high potential individual down and ducked. They are divers and endless, and spare no sector of the society. It operates at the high places of life as it does the low. No level is free of its sting. From the home front to the social and corporate landscape, it reigns and of course ruins (the lives of its numerous victims), under its universally accepted name—“politics!” Every where is vulnerable, and that’s because of the wrong and poor perception of people we have. It is no doubt a global error. How unfortunate!

       This chapter looks at a few sample areas these “ducking the eagles” practices are most prevalent. 

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        Excerpt: STOP DUCKING THE EAGLES. Demand a copy today.