Time To Stop The Politics of “ANYHOWISM”

By Effiong Nyong
Politics, like every human endeavor, evolves or grows if you like. Some people might prefer to say that there is time for everything. Refusing to positively evolve could bring about costly and disastrous results. Since the arrival of the 4th Republic in 1999, Nigeria has continued to go about in circles of underdevelopment, as a result of people grabbing power and doing things “anyhow,” not minding the outcomes as long as it serves their selfish, greedy, and primitive interests.
That is why someone who begged to eat a few years ago would stand in public and declare that, “What money cannot buy, more money can buy” with public funds. That is why our elections have become ultra expensive, as the operative word is money.
We do things anyhow such that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2023 election could announce to the world that it was going to release election results using technology, having engaged the BVAS and IREV, only for the same body to resort to manual collation and declaration of results, without remorse, with the excuse that its systems witnessed glitches.
And there has been no repercussions for failure to uphold its word and honour, no audits to show how INEC spent over ₦300 billion, only to blame a glitch. The spirit of ANYHOWISM has to be checked and removed from our systems if Nigeria is to move forward.
To do things anyhow is to adhere to the principle of “Grab it, Snatch it and Run with it” this must stop. This is not about any political party, but about all of us Nigerians those who perpetrate the act and the rest of us who watch them do it without stopping them.
That is why imposition of people by political parties has continued, godfatherism thrives through this evil, and procedures and processes are sidelined because some people must have their way. They create parallel structures to cause confusion, just because they wish to have their way otherwise the table must crash.
They are experts that lack expertise of proper conduct, the ones that engage thugs and cultists. They look meek and religious but are evil inside and are responsible for the backwardness in our country. That is how some people brought about Boko Haram and banditry in Nigeria.
Since the abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014, the destruction is countless. Today, the once beautiful country has become a nightmare; the once enjoyable road travel has become hell, and one’s life is on the line anytime you embark on a road trip.
ANYHOWISM is the reason why an individual, for whatever reason, would stop an airplane on the tarmac or fight crew members for asking her to switch off her phone for flight safety. Or hold up a flight because of uncertainties over luggage, not minding the effects. And in response, the airline, due to this same spirit of ANYHOWISM, will dehumanize one passenger and take her to prison, while the other is asked to apologize and sin no more.
These attitudes take a cue from the way our lives are directed from the towers of politics.
In Nigeria, our political parties have no ideologies, they do anyhow. That is why one person can belong to three political parties in three years. That is why someone can be elected on a platform, with promises and votes from the people, based on certain messaging, only for the same fellow to defect to another party even one against whom they contested the election and nothing happens. It is seen as normal, irrespective of what the law says, for in Nigeria, some people are above the law.
It is for this same reason that someone, who has nothing to offer himself, will wake up and canvas that the Sultan of Sokoto and the Ooni of Ife should occupy a special status amongst traditional rulers in the country. He probably was a truant in class or didn’t study history, to know that the Obong of Calabar was already trading and doing business with Europeans even before the British came, long before Othman Dan Fodio left Futa Jallon for Nigeria. The height of lackadaisical thinking.
There are no exceptions to the negative effects of ANYHOWISM. In Cross River State, we lost the Bakassi Peninsula, lost 76 oil wells and littoral status, have no good road entry into the state, non-functionality of the Calabar port, and only one junior minister in the largest federal cabinet in the country’s history all due to things being done anyhow.
Yet we have political representation at all levels, and you ask: why is it so? My answers are simple we prefer loyalty to merit and capacity. Our state’s representatives are selected through sentiments. The retrogression we are witnessing stems from the inability of our leaders to tolerate people who have a mind of their own. They would rather recycle old outdated errand men and women.
With the back and forth drama and utterances coming from the 76 oil wells issue, it is clear that there were transactions no one is mentioning. Or is it that everyone in the government of Cross River State at the time couldn’t think? If they did, what action did they take? Of course, they did not care because of the principle of ANYHOWISM and surprisingly, a good number of those individuals are still seeking political power. Ask them what they want to do that they were not able to do when they had the opportunity.
For things to change for the better, Nigerians especially those from Cross River State must reject doing things anyhow or giving power to anyhow persons who see only themselves and would do anything, subvert any system, as long as they have their way.
But great shockers await them, because 2027 will be different. The people will no longer be taken for granted. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) provides us with the opportunity to change things.
Procedures and processes must be adhered to. ANYHOWISM, which eroded our rights to good governance, will not be allowed to consume us. This is our chance. Cross River State can become a model state we once were we have abundant natural and human resources to deploy and deliver, and we shall protect them.
“We have no Garlands for ANYHOWISM.”
Effiong Nyong is a former gubernatorial candidate of the ADC in Cross Rivers State.