A tale of two flights

Also published in Daily Trust

The persistently escalating and increasingly overwhelming Boko Haram terror in, particularly, north eastern Nigeria continues to cause massive and chaotic displacement of people across the region and forces many others to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, due to the growing worries and uncertainties over the future of the already fragile security situation in the country during and immediately after the next month’s general election, many Nigerian families are planning to temporarily relocate overseas for the duration of the election period, lest they be caught up in post-election violence, God forbid. In fact, many of them might have already temporarily relocated.

Regardless of whether these fears are unfounded or not, it is obvious that, unless government takes effective precautionary security measures towards, during and after the elections, and, of course, unless the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) maintains  the principles of fairness and the standards of professionalism in organizing, conducting and overseeing the elections, the growing tension that increasingly escalates into clashes between some members of the particularly main political parties could indeed escalate into widespread post-election violence.

Besides, the haunting memories of the gory 2011 post-election violence sustain the fear of the possibility of the eruption of similar crisis if utmost care is not taken. After all, there have already been some incidents of arson and destruction of properties belonging to some contending political parties or candidates in several states.

Moreover, against the backdrop of the growing desperation of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to its deepening unpopularity and its increasingly notorious federal government, on one hand, and the growing chances of the main opposition party, the All Progressives Party (APC) to wrestle power away from it, on the other, some desperate vested interests may probably try to massively rig the elections in their favour.

This is even though, by all indications, this time around, even the top politicians’ repeated warnings against resorting to violence to protest against real or perceived electoral rigging can’t deter their supporters from engaging in violence in the event of massive electoral fraud.

Anyway, though both the displaced north easterners and the voluntarily fleeing wealthy Nigerians are basically on escape mission, the reasons and the circumstances of their flights and indeed their destinations further underscore the unmistakable class disparity between them.

Obviously, the former have been driven out and dispersed by real terror in the process of which they probably lost some members of their families, their already meagre and subsistence livelihood and ended up languishing in the misery of absolute poverty and extreme despair.

Whereas, the latter are largely wealthy Nigerians who would simply leave the country at their convenience, even though, most, if not all, of them are responsible for the leadership failure and administrative mediocrity that created the crisis in the first place, or have at least contributed to its persistence.

Furthermore, while the former have been abandoned to wander in wilderness, the latter would simply move to, say, Europe, the United Arab Emirates, the United States or any other country they want, since many of them already have long stay multiple entry or residence visas of such countries and/or even the citizenships of some western countries, for that matter.

Yet, some of them may decide to not go that far and instead go to Ghana, for instance, which is currently the nearest preferred foreign destination for Nigerian elites. By the way, one Mr Moses Owaru, President of All Nigerian Community in Ghana, was recently reported to have attributed the current noticeable rise in the number of Nigerians moving to Ghana to the deteriorating security situation in the country and the growing fear over the future of the security situation during the upcoming general election in the country.

In any case, even those among them who have to remain in the country anyway, e.g. the candidates for various elective offices who obviously have to vote and also oversee their respective political campaigns, major political stakeholders and other individuals whose interests necessarily warrant their remaining in the country, and even though they, in most cases, enjoy adequate state-provided security, they may still send their immediate families abroad till the elections are over.

Interestingly enough, there is a growing trend among wealthy Nigerians, leading politicians, top civil servants and their associates to maintain a second home or, to put it more appropriately, a standby home in a foreign country.

Whatever happens, while the extremely poor and war-displaced north eastern Nigerians keep wondering when their plight would end and might have given up hope of returning home anytime soon, the self-exiled, wealthy and government-connected Nigerians who would, or have already, temporarily relocated abroad for fear of possible post-election violence would simply return home once the situation gets back to normal regardless of whether violence has actually occurred or not.

However, even if this scenario actually comes to pass during and/or after the forthcoming elections, it is hoped that the situation would no longer remain the same, because by all indications a new dawn of hope and positive change is already taking shape and would, God willing, soon arise on the  horizon.

Nigeria is indeed at a crossroads and the need for our collective resolve and action to change its direction, by voting for the right candidates, has never been more urgent. Though, obviously no patriotic and right-thinking Nigerian has any difficulty identifying the right candidate between the two main presidential candidates i.e. President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammmadu Buhari, yet, Nigerian electorate need to be guided by their conscience in the election process at all levels of government to ensure that the right candidates are elected regardless of their political party affiliations.