THIS is the dawn of a new era. It is a time that every Nigerian should celebrate, whether they supported President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) or President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari and the in-coming ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).Congratulations to all of us. This election has produced a winner, Buhari; and a hero, Jonathan.

THE story filtered out by late evening on Tuesday evening this week. President Goodluck Jonathan had placed a call to General Muhammadu Buhari, to congratulate him, as victor in what might be the most bitterly fought elections in recent Nigerian history. That statesman-like gesture carried very powerful symbols for Nigeria’s democracy and the fate of our country.

We have all heard, time and time again that Nigerians are bad, greedy, selfish people, people who stand for nothing and believe in nothing. We’ve all heard the saying “black man, black heart”, a testimony to our self-loathing, inherited from our colonial past.

AS I write this about 2pm on the 28th day of March 2015, millions of Nigerians across the country have been out for several hours participating in the process of electing political office holders in an election that has been described by many as perhaps the most keenly contested in the years since Nigeria attained independence.

AS you read this, I am certain that the winner of the presidential election of Saturday, 28th March 2015, is known, either officially or from all reasonable indicators. I am also sure that the election lived up to its billing as the most closely contested in the history of Nigeria, with the presidential election of June 12th June 1993 coming a close second.

“….The committee observed that its previous decisions needed time for their effects to fully permeate the economy and therefore “all eleven members unanimously” voted to maintain the current position!! The above is a summary of the conclusion reached by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at its latest meeting held between 23-24th March, 2015. Incidentally, the MPC has the critical statutory responsibility for advising the CBN on an appropriate strategy for managing the supply of money at the optimal level that would progressively grow the economy.

“Presently, we are into skills acquisition programmes where I train women in bead-making, hat-making, ankara shoes and bags, twine bags, shoes, tailoring, hairdressing etc. We organise talk shows where we talk to women on the importance of skills, why it is necessary for every woman to have at least one skill that she can always fall back on. I really look forward to expanding my business, to have a training centre where people can come in any time for training and you just pay a token. We try to make our training affordable,” she said.

The Lord sent word that I should wait on him for three days; he had something important to tell me. On the third day, he said to me:
“Femi, there are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. Everybody you are ever going to meet will come from one of these two kingdoms. It is your responsibility to determine which kingdom the people you meet are from. If the person is from the kingdom of your father, you must determine why I want you to meet him.”

By now, it is becoming clear which way the political climate will be for the next five years. Whatever the decision, I pray that there will be calm and acceptance. We hold in our hands the power to shape Nigeria, no matter what our opinions and political affiliation is, we have to strive whatever the majority decision to contribute to nation building.

With the ongoing elections, Nigerians are facing one of the toughest challenges in their quest for consolidation and sustenance of the modest political gains achieved since civilian rule was reintroduced in 1999. In other words, form March 28, they would engage in a peaceful and orderly selection of political office holders that would manage the country’s affairs at various levels from May 29 until 2019. Expectedly, the electioneering campaigns, especially the presidential, have been particularly fierce, brutal and bruising.