Oh Nigerians, we seem to have omitted 2026 in nearly all our national discussions. We appear to have absolutely overlooked the dear Year 2026 in nearly all our political and sundry discussions; and that she is a whole, full-blooded, totally complete and divinely-ordained year standing just ahead of us as a country. From nearly all indications, there seems to be a total blackout of 2026 who must surely take her turn and run her full course before we eventually arrive at that magical Year 2027 – Nigeria’s year of the jackal!
“The Day of the Jackal” is one of the movies we thoroughly enjoyed. Of course, we only came to see it years after it was released in 1973, but the theme, the plot, the messages, the intrigues, the drama, the suspense, the conspiracy and the thrill etc. still remain the same. The story, in perhaps the simplest of terms is that: Some people who didn’t like the president wanted to remove him from office by all means necessary and possible. That film was based on the novel of the same title by the legendary English thriller writer, Frederick Forsyth. For me, the Day of the Jackal is atop the list of other compelling books by Forsyth, including his enthralling The Devil’s Alternative and engrossing The Odessa File and the others.
In the reckoning of those Nigerians in the political class, 2027 is the year some of them are plotting how to reap enough votes with which they can remove the incumbent president from office. Almost everything being done right now in that class and by their associates and acolytes, is geared towards 2027. The year just ahead, which is 2026 isn’t in the reckoning of most of them. Check every available social media platform. Check all the posts made by those foolish Nigerians who elected to be used as cannon fodder to fuel division in the country. Check the discussions among emotional attackers of fellow citizens. The pattern is the same among the Nigerians recruited into this class. For anything at all, denigrate the person, his tribe and his religion. Also disparage fellow Nigerians by using all means necessary, and which are available to you to put them, their tribe, their religion and their ethnicity down. This is currently one of the most attractive ventures among some Nigerians, and the social media is actively and effectively fuelling the fire. They are kindling all these preparatory to 2027.
And, at the moment, everything appears to be working so very well for the puppeteers and all their numerous pawns. They have either chosen to overlook the big picture or they do not care what becomes of Nigeria after 2027. The puppets are just puppets and are simply obeying the tugging at the strings. The Yoruba call such patsy people Alaimokan. Through the activities of these lackeys, we have now generated enough groundswell of political ill will for ourselves, our tribes, our states our geo-political zones and ultimately our country. The beneficiaries of this trend have their focus on 2027 as if there would be no 2026 before 2027. Thereafter, there would be frantic attempts to undo what had been done and which the All Progressives Congress (APC) amplified intensely from 2015 with the importunate unfortunate advent of General Muhammadu Buhari.
One of the sad realities of this ongoing frenetic chase of 2027 and its spoils is the total blindness to 2026 and its imports. The fact that we have chosen to blind out the coming year in our fine political calculations is quite reminiscent of the biblical Foolish Rich Man. Jesus told the parable of the foolish rich man as recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke chapter 12: 16 – 21. The people in the rat race for political power, together with those helping them in their rapacious quest have forgotten that tearing down their barns to accommodate larger harvest, instead of sharing with the poor, is a foolish venture that would not augur well in the end. The immediate allure may appear irresistible, but what about the long run? What about the Divine?
It was obvious that 2027 was the main focus when politicians in Benue State and APC sycophants, on Wednesday, made a celebration of that condolence visit of President Tinubu to the state. All the Benue politicians, including the state governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, are currently looking over the humanitarian crisis in their hands. Their faces are carried up, and have sustained them up there above and beyond the battered, blood-soaked grounds of Benue State. Why? It is all because of 2027. Because Fr Alia wants to remain the governor of Benue State, he has chosen to dine with the devil. He and the other political stakeholders are almost not thinking about what would become of the state in 2026 from now, and we are still one and a half years away from 2027. Well, this is purely about the politicians and the political elite of Benue State.
We can significantly spare the traditional rulers in the state as represented by the Tor Tiv, Professor James Ayatse, who tugged at emotions with his questions and overall address at the presidential visit. The state’s religious leaders too could be spared, because they are also among the victims considering that a number of Catholic priests had been murdered in Benue State. But the politicians are the ones spitting fire, and who are also prodding the crisis and fuelling the crisis. It is the politicians who had been accused of profiting from the killings, because they are wetting the grounds for 2027. Otherwise, who is the president asking to reconcile – who was the president asking Governor Alia to reconcile with? Is it the politicians or the terrorists? Or could it be that the president was not conscious of what request he was placing before Governor Alia? Those adverts and decorations that were done preparatory to the visit as well as the cheering children make it more performative than was necessary.
Now that it appears that we have struck 2026 out of our nationalistic thoughts, can we at least slow it down a little, catch our breath and spread our activities across the breadth of our national activities? Nigeria needs every time she can get. Indeed, we are utterly running behind schedule on many fronts except in parochial politics and polemics. For instance, in 2026, Nigeria would have known where it stands in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Where are we in this discourse? Again, we are running way behind schedule on many fronts, and this is not good enough for our coming days and for our coming years as a nation. The overlooked 2026 is also part of it.
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