Nigeria the largest economy in Africa, the largest
concentration of Black people on earth is on the march again looking for
its President. In less than two months from now Nigerians will go to
the polls to elect a President of its choice. It is also a time to
decide whether Nigeria will remain one as a nation or a fulfilment of
the American prophecy that the country might break up by 2015. I
pray that the country will not break up and I pray the country remains
more united, stronger and prosperous. But there are issues that must be
tackled for a successful and violence free election in the country.
Let
me first of all leave no one in doubt as to where I stand on the
forthcoming Presidential election in the country. I am not a card
carrying member of any political party but I wish that President
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan and
the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] win the election in the interest of
peace, progress, unity of Nigeria and anything that will truncate that
dream will never get my support.
Agreed President
Jonathan is not a perfect human being, no man is perfect after all, only
God is perfect. Agreed also that politics is struggle for power but I
don’t agree that we have to
tell lies and deceive the people because we want to take power from the
incumbent. Let us for the purpose of this discussion reduce the struggle
for the Presidency of Nigeria to Goodluck Jonathan and General
Muhammadu Buhari compare both of them and allow Nigerians to make a
choice in the interest of one Nigeria and future of their children and
generations yet unborn.
Let me remind President
Jonathan what gave him the Presidency in 2011 and see whether he can
still use that factor to claim the Presidency this time around. First
the Presidency in the first place was made possible by God, first and
foremost, because if President Umaru Yar’Adua had not died he wouldn’t
have smelt that position.
Secondly, he won the
Presidency because of the poor campaign strategies of the North. The
North believed that they owned Nigeria, have the population and that
only they can determine who becomes the President of the country, no
other group matters. In fact one Sheikh Gumi once said that over his
dead body will a Christian win the Presidency of Nigeria. So people
voted for Jonathan to prove them wrong.
Thirdly,
Nigerians wanted to fight a cabal that have sworn to keep Nigeria in
their pocket for ever, Nigerians voted to liberate itself from this
cabal. Nigeria voted for fresh breath.
But the question
is, has anything changed since then? The answer is no. The truth is
that those who voted for Jonathan in 2011 have nothing to show for it
five years after. Roads in the South East and South South are still the
worst in the country, even the National Publicity Secretary of the
ruling PDP Olisa Metuh was quoted to have said sometime in November that
Federal Roads in the South East are still the worst in
the country. Even though we have a Christian as the President more
Christians have been killed in the country than ever before in the
history of the country with no punishment meted out to the murderers and
no compensation for Christians
for the loss of their lives and properties. Has President Jonathan been
able to fight the cabal? The answer is no. In fact, they have become
more vicious and deadly and even more powerful. President Jonathan has
not told Nigerians why nobody was punished for the post-election
violence of 2011, where over 800 innocent Nigerians including youth
corps members were killed. President
Jonathan has not told Nigerians why he sacked Professor Barth Nnaji,
his former Minister of Power, in whose tenure, for the first time in
Nigeria, we noticed some improvement in power stability for over a month
before he was sacked by the cabal that were not comfortable with power stability in the country. The
President has not told Nigerians why Abba Moro is still in his cabinet.
Abba Moro, Nigeria’s minister of Internal Affairs was busy fighting the
former Comptroller-General of Immigration Mrs Roseline Uzoma over
some appointment of Igbo immigration officers. That little distraction
was what the marauders from Libya and Mali needed and they entered the
country with sophisticated weapons and mercenaries from Gadafi’s Libya,
which are now being utilized by Boko Haram. If Nigeria is a serious
country the Minister should have been sacked by now, but he has a
powerful cabal behind him that may help generate vote for Jonathan.
The President should know that the sentiments used to give him the position in 2011 may not work for him this time around.
But
despite all these, is General Muhammadu Buhari a credible alternative?
My answer is no. How I wish the PDP had brought out a better candidate
to replace Jonathan. I have nothing against Northern President and how I
wish the North or APC provided a better alternative. But unfortunately I will still pray that Goodluck Jonathan wins the Presidency than allow Muhammadu Buhari win.
Those who are managing Buhari have not convinced me why Buhari is a
better alternative to lead the country. The only marketing strategy the
media marketers are using to sell Buhari to Nigerians is that he will
fight corruption and that he is the only Nigerian that is not corrupt. I
am aware that when Buhari was a Federal Commissioner of Petroleum and
Chairman of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] the sum of
$2.8 billion was missing from the NNPC account. In fact, a former Nigeria Television Authority[NTA] reporter Theodora Ifudu was sacked for reporting the story. As a former
Military Head of State General Buhari changed Nigeria’s currency and
stopped the importation of naira into the country for change. His
Personal Assistant at that time came in with 53 suit cases with orders from
above that he should not be searched. The officer in charge of Nigeria
Customs at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos then was Atiku Abubakar
who insisted on searching the suitcases and discovered huge sums of
money inside, Atiku was subsequently sacked from the customs. As a
military Head of state, General Buhari’s government arrested some
politicians in the country and sent them to prison. He left the then
President Alhaji Shehu Shagari a
northerner and muslim untouched while he went ahead to arrest and jail
the Vice President Alex Ekweme a southerner and Christian. We have
certainly seen some development in the country in the last five years of
Jonathan’s administration. We have seen roads being built and
rehabilitated, seen remodelling of the airports, railways working again,
seaports working against, we’ve seen more investments in power sector,
petroleum sector, telecommunication sector, education sector, health,
politics, etc.
The
big question is, what does Nigeria need now? Nigerians are not
interested in what the government does for the country, what Nigerians
need now is what has individuals benefited from the country and this is
what will decide the fate of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the next
presidential election. The advice I will give to Jonathan is that he
should continue the projects
being executed across the country, he should as a matter of urgency do
something to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians. He should bring
out all the money in the foreign reserve, $40 billion or thereabouts.
There is no point keeping the money for Nigeria that might not exist
after the 2015 elections. Declare free education at all levels, declare
free health for all, bring
down the price of fuel in the country to about twenty naira per litre,
settle traditional rulers and opinion leaders, religious leaders, civil
society groups, the media, the military, everybody.
Take
care of people in the National Assembly buy them over, take care of all
the governors, buy them over. In politics there is no permanent friend
what is permanent is interest. Find out from the governors like Comrade
Adams Oshiomhole who were your friends why they are suddenly against
you. At the last media parley in Benin the previous week Governor
Oshiomhole was asked why he will not support a South South President
like himself and he said a brother who failed to act like a brother
should be treated like an enemy. He said President Jonathan a President
from the South South refused
to give him money from ecological funds to take care of his people, but
the President only gave ecological funds to Northern governors. Why
will the President not give Oshiomhole what he wants? Jonathan needs
Oshiomhole to deliver Edo vote more than he needs Tony Anenih. These are
issues the President must tackle and not rely on the luck of 2011.
The biggest problem facing the president’s re-election bid is the issue of Boko Haram. I was a child still growing up in 1984 during the apartheid regime when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said we should use juju to defeat apartheid. Just recently during the inauguration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in office, leader
of APC Bola Ahmed Tinubu was reported to have told the people to use
juju to defend their votes. I know the Yorubas believe so much in juju,
how juju has helped him so far in politics today I do not know but I
know Bola Tinubu is the most beautiful bride in today’s politics. I
think we should consider using juju to bring back the missing Chibok
girls and even end Boko Haram. I know the Ijaws also have an idol called
Egbesu shrine, please consult him or her if he is not on leave.
On
the election proper the President should be serious to win the election
or withdraw from the race. He should not allow the post-election
killings take place again. From every indication, there will be crisis
before, during and after the election so he should prepare for it. Statements coming out from the opposition party leaders is not encouraging. General Buhari has talked of Monkey and Baboon soaking
in blood, Bola Tinubu has talked of Use of juju, Rotimi Amaechi has
talked of orange revolution. Amaechi has said if the 2015 election is
rigged the APC will take to the streets and form an alternative
government. The President should not rely on the security agencies alone
to enforce law and order, we are dealing with opposition that is
desperate for power. He should be thinking of mobilizing the OPC,
Bakassi Boys, Niger Delta Ex-Militants and even hunters to save the
country.
I want to remind the media that they have a
responsibility to save the country. In the second Republic Chief Obafemi
Awlowo was the leader of opposition in the country. He did not see
anything good in Shagari’s government as he opposed and criticized every
move made by the government then. When the Buhari and his gang struck
in 1983 they used some of the attacks made by Chief Obafemi Awolowo as
reasons for the coup. Then one week after the coup the military went to
Awolowo’s house in Apapa, Lagos ransacked everywhere beat up his
personal staff and family members. The next morning Awolowo not only
condemned Buhari’s coup but added that the worst democracy was better
than the best military regime. A word is enough for the wise.
•Egunyanga, a public affairs analyst, is a true believer in one Nigeria.
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