DEAR POLITICIAN: WHAT ARE YOU NEGLECTING? 2

NEGLECT THE PEOPLE,
EMBRACE THE BACKERS.

“When I took office,
Liberia began to recover
from years of neglect”
~ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
24th President of Liberia
2006 to 2018
First elected female Head of State in Africa.

Talk about “Anything a man can do, a woman can do better”

Can our politicians say this in all sincerity? Almost twenty years of unbroken democratic rule, major roads in the Country are largely in a state of disrepair and are deathtraps as every household continue to be an LGA unto itself, providing its own Power, Water and Security.

To add insult to injury, the Party that came with the Change Mantra expended their energy, time and resources on blaming the previous administration, so much so that they forgot to equip the Clinic in the Villa, forcing the Number one citizen to against his long held integrity seek medical vacation outside the Country. And no thanks to GEJ all the funds meant for Fumigation of the Villa were diverted allowing rats to infest the Presidents office.

Don’t let us be distracted from the neglect that we are discussing, for indeed we are in this together.

Politicians largely neglect the people that elected them into office because of the long held believe that our electoral process is a mere jamboree and that election results are decided even before the event takes place. The elite too ascribe to this notion as political pundits are quick to point out the slim chances a candidate has to succeed in any election if he or she lacks the support of powerful backers. (It does not matter if the Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has performed well, if he lacks the support of the National leader of the party, he will not get a second term – whatever happened to one man, one vote?)
They echo the importance of a support from OBJ, IBB etc to the detriment of their own campaign for Citizens to collect their PVC’s as that is their power to effect change. Wherein is the power if one veto vote of an OBJ, a Tinubu, is equal to a Million votes or more?

I have written before on the need for Politicians to respect the electorate EVEN IF, they were rigged into office as like the office they occupy, nothing last for ever. One day in the nearest future the votes of the people will count. Why not prepare for that day now by pretending their votes do count?

As bad as the neglect of the people is, it’s diverse implications for the success or failure of the Politician is much more obvious when the politician neglects this crucial element. Next.

We are here to bridge the gap.