"Restructuring" - The Next Unfortunate Word in the English Dictionary

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rior to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria –  during those uncivilized political campaigns which degenerated to verbal attacks that almost tore up the polity – a word from the English Dictionary became synonymous with hopefulness and development. This word was “Change” – the slogan of the progressive party (APC) that prided the “infallible” General as its presidential flag bearer.  “Change” became the song of hope in the morning and the chant of fairness at night. Today, that word has been raped. Although there was change obviously – like the fall in the purchasing power of our currency, and the consequential hike in the prices of commodities, more than 200% – it happened to be in direct consonance to the expectations of the people. In Nigeria at present, the word “change” bears the same absurdity and offensiveness as “fuck you”. If you want to make a gathering of people laugh or angry (depending on their default state) you can just mention the word “change” to achieve your set goal. “Change” is definitely fading away like the word “power” (1999-2015). But “power” lived longer than “change”; it spanned over a decade.

As the 2019 general elections come closer, politicians – in their craftiness – have searched through the English Dictionary to bring out yet a new word for their political campaigns. This innocent word is “restructuring”; it will be offered for sacrifice on the altar of 2019 general elections. After 2019, “restructuring” will lose its romance, and if it’s possible then to cast a poll of the most unpopular word in Nigeria, it will top the list, as the word “change” is currently doing.

Contenders for 2019 general elections have turned their eyes to “restructuring” because it is the new yearning of a sizable portion of the population. They had yearned for “change” before 2015; not the kind of change currently in place in which a minimum wage, earned by a sizable portion of the population, is not even enough to purchase a bag of rice. They yearned for positive change – like the stabilization of the economy. But now they have been disappointed; now they are frustrated. This frustration is propelling them to clamour for “restructuring” in the form of True Federalism, and again politicians have seen this as a bait to pull votes in 2019. They might succeed as they did with “change” in 2015, but “restructuring” will be condemned in the gallows thereafter.

With a repetitive vilification of words in the English Dictionary by Nigerian politicians once in every four years, I am hopeful that one day the god of vocabularies would rise up in fury to smite them, in order to save his works from being ridiculed by these denizens of hell.

Ohikhuare Isuku,
sIbadan, Nigeria.
Twitter: @ohikhuare_isuku