[dropcap]E[/dropcap]very twenty years there is a seismic change in the form and system of government that we operate in Nigeria and a new and different set of leaders emerge and rise to power.
Please ponder on this carefully and read my words again. I am not talking about the rise to power of a new set of leaders alone but also the establishment of a completely NEW SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT which had not been in place for much, if any, of the previous twenty years.
Only the wise and discerning can comprehend and appreciate the profound implications of this strange and inexplicable twenty year cycle for the future of our country.
It all started after the 1959 elections which paved the way for and ushered in independence, democracy, the end of British colonial rule and the rising to power of a new set of leaders a year later when Sir Tafawa Balewa was sworn in as Prime Minister.
20 years later, after a series of bloody military coups, a brutal civil war and many years of military rule a seismic change occurred and a new system of government with different leaders was ushered in in 1979 when President Shehu Shagari was elected President.
20 years later in 1999, after a series of military coups and brutal military governments coupled with all manner of conflict, tension, division and strife yet another seismic change occurred and a new system of government with a different set of rulers was ushered in when President Olusegun Obasanjo was elected President.
2019 will represent the end of the next 20 year cycle and, if history is anything to go by, we must prepare ourselves for yet another seismic change and the ushering in of a new system of government with a new and different set of rulers.
I do not know how this will happen, what will cause it, what type of system will be ushered in or who the new set of leaders that will rise to power will be but something will give sometime next year and that seismic change WILL occur. Of that I have no doubt.
Until then let us continue to have faith in our Lord and let us watch and pray. He alone rules in the affairs of men and forges the destiny of nations. Happy Independence day Nigeria”.
Femi Fani-Kayode is a lawyer, a Nigerian politician, an evangelical christian, an essayist, a poet and he was the Special Assistant (Public Affairs) to President Olusegun Obasanjo from July 2003 until June 2006. He was the minister of culture and tourism of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from June 22nd to Nov 7th 2006 and as the minister of Aviation from Nov 7th 2006 to May 29th 2007. He runs a syndicated column on The Trent. He tweets from@realFFK.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
