Fellow Nigerians, let me say
exciting times are here again. You may ask what is so exciting about this
period with our myriad of problems? Please, allow me to put it this way.
Politicians are like students while the voters are their teachers.
Every now
and then the chickens come home to roost and politicians are forced to test
their popularity and performance.
The examiners are the voters who have waited
patiently for this time to come so that they can pass or fail their
representatives as they deem fit. Sometimes the electorate get things right.
Oftentimes they get it wrong, as we’ve seen on many occasions. What is
important is that it is payback time, for good or for bad.
There is no time for any long
preamble today. The nitty-gritty of this epistle is dictated by two major
events that occurred almost simultaneously during the week, signalling the
beginning of the 2019 Presidential race. First, was the open and frontal
declaration of Ekiti State Governor, Dr Peter Ayodele Fayose, a man
of immense courage. Second, was the release of the electoral timetable by the
electoral umpire, INEC. Prior speculations about who’s running or not will
soon be affirmed or refuted. The time has finally come for the masquerades to
come out of the groves and dance in the marketplace.
Love him or hate him, Governor
Fayose’s declaration is bound to kick-start the electoral jamboree and give
impetus to others who have been rather squeamish or “squirmish” about throwing
their hats into the ring. Also, I love the fact that the ruling government can
no longer afford to be complacent. We now have an aspirant, who for whatever he
is worth will definitely keep the APC on its toes. The controversy has already
started because Fayose is the quintessential hype-man. If he does not court
publicity, propaganda would always trail him. He is a master of the game who
understands that a bully only respects a bully. The ruling government may
pretend that he is no threat, but they understand the adage that “a leper
may not be able to squeeze milk but he definitely knows how to spill it…” Let
no one dismiss Fayose. Remember the way some of us swore Donald Trump will
never defeat Hillary Clinton in many lifetimes to come.
It would be a big shame if APC
fails to see the urgent need to reposition and repackage itself as quickly as
possible. My ideas may seem a bit radical and far-fetched but they remain my kobo
advise to President Buhari and his team. If I were President Buhari, I will
start grooming a successor right now. By the time he finishes his first term in
2019, he would have attained the age of 76, or thereabout. By then, he should
be thankful to God for preserving his life after a rigorous battle with some
near-fatal ailments. At that age and stage, Nigeria deserves some fresh leader,
in body, mind and soul.
The world has moved beyond the
type of leadership we are currently saddled with. Buhari was a choice for a
special reason and purpose. He has served and fulfilled that righteousness. I
believe, with all due respect, that he should set Nigeria on the path to higher
glory by getting his succession plan right. Many of his predecessors were too pre-occupied
with self-adulation that they forgot the future. By the time the future
inevitably arrived, it was too late to turn the hands of the clock backwards.
President Buhari still has over
one year to prepare for the epic journey ahead.. It is certain and obvious that
he would be tempted like all mortals to cling to power, and as a matter of
right anyway, but may God grant him the uncommon wisdom and that spirit of
selflessness to be able to resist the allure of office and power. The APC has a
lot to gain from his sacrifice and he would have placed himself on a higher
pedestal in global reckoning. He has many able disciples who can carry his
legacy to a much higher level. The world would remember him as a leader who
came at a time of serious crisis and averted the cataclysmic collapse of
Nigeria, laid a solid foundation and handed over to competent builders and
performers.
In other to avoid an acrimonious
transition, the President should invite some interested and influential members
of his party and allow its politburo to vote or decide amongst themselves the
shape of the new government they wish to form. Their decision is more likely to
be binding on the party in general. President Buhari owes it to Nigeria to kill
the ethnic and religious tension in our country. He’s always been viewed as a
religious bigot and ethnic jingoist but he can redeem himself gracefully by
championing new causes, breaking down walls of superstition as well as
exterminating those primordial sentiments that have bedevilled our country and
sent us several centuries backward. Buhari should help in combing every part of
Nigeria and beyond for the best brains and talents that God has kindly endeared
and endowed us with. He should realise that nothing could be as fortunate as
being handed a second chance on a platter of gold as has happened to him. He
has nothing more to gain but plenty to lose.
I would not be shocked or
surprised if those currently enjoying the spoils of power dismiss my appeal to
our dear beloved President as arrant nonsense. However, the truth is that
Nigeria is in crisis and critical mode, deserving the most accomplished
surgeons the country has, to excise the cancers and tumours ravaging her. We
can no longer continue to wobble and fumble at the present snail speed. Time
does not wait for anyone. And it will certainly not wait for Nigeria. APC
parades many fantastic leaders but they are not able to blossom and glow in
full bloom because of the overpowering aura of President Buhari. That power can
be put to better use by helping APC to remain intact without experiencing the
type of implosion that sentenced PDP to its shallow grave.
I will like to see APC retain the
support and loyalty of Atiku Abubakar (who I believe should act like a true
father of the party rather than desperately trying to return to power 12 years
after he retired as Vice President) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu (who should continue
in his now acclaimed role of kingmaker). These two titans of the party should
support President Buhari in harnessing the talents and strengths of the Vice
President, Yemi Osinbajo, Bukola Saraki, Dogara Yakubu, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Nasir
El Rufai, Aminu Tambuwal, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Rochas Okorocha, Rotimi
Amaechi, Olorunnimbe Mamora, and several others who may be hovering in the
wings with the hopes of becoming President or Vice President in the not too
distant future. If these great assets are not well-managed and encouraged to
sacrifice their personal ambitions and interests for the sake of Nigeria,
history might just repeat itself because a house divided against itself will
not stand.
Such a similar situation was
mismanaged by former President Goodluck Jonathan who inadvertently lost the
election the day he allowed some key members of PDP, to saunter away to join a
new coalition called APC. With the benefit of hindsight, I am sure Jonathan
would have eaten humble pie and stopped those aggrieved party members, by fire
by force. Unfortunately, he was goaded and egged on by sycophants who probably
boasted that Atiku, Saraki, Amaechi, and company were easily dispensable. They
were dead wrong. Their exit led to the tsunami that swept away the Jonathan
government.
My prediction is that if Buhari
decides to stubbornly pursue his own personal ambition and agenda by not making
the necessary sacrifice at this crucial moment, he may be swamped and consumed
by the lava of the volcanic eruption that would definitely hit his party in a
most devastating manner. Truth be told, Buhari would not have even picked the
ticket of APC in the last primary election but for the herculean task
and audacious effort of Tinubu, Amaechi, Saraki and others who
performed the miracle of turning water into wine.
Believe me, nobody wins election
in Nigeria based on sainthood or clean records. Elections require the ability
to raise cash, tonnes and tonnes of it. In case he is oblivious to what
transpired in the last election, the President should ask his campaign team
what it cost to oil that blistering operation that catapulted the “invincible”
Jonathan out of power. Who donated what and how were APC agents funded
nationwide? It is not going to be that simple this time around. Most of those
who fell for the change mantra have since changed from billionaires and
millionaires to paupers. Many supported Buhari hoping they would not be hounded
but permitted to henceforth do business the proper way. They were unprepared
for the fury unleashed against them which has ensured they’ve not been able to
do business, clean or dirty. They are just licking their wounds with equanimity
and hoping that this nightmare shall soon pass away. Undoubtedly the Nigerian
economy has suffered as a result. The main beneficiaries have been shady
multinationals who continue to steal us blind whilst claiming to support a
failing corruption crusade.
Therefore, APC has to urgently
re-strategize by picking one of its trusted and tested younger personages, hoping
that he may reignite the much-needed passion in Nigerian youths, the business
community and all those who feel short-changed and brutalised by the Buhari
government. If APC lacks the courage to rejig its modus operandi, it may be
forced to swallow its own phlegm sooner than later…
I will soon offer an analysis on
what PDP needs to do to bounce back and beat the APC. My advice to all those
who think PDP is dead and buried is that they should perish the thought because
Lazarus may still rise. As a matter of fact, PDP is not dead. It is merely a
sleeping and snoring giant. We may yet be in for a rude awakening on all
counts!
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I thought this man think twice I dont know he talk from his anus.
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