Fellow Nigerians, denying the current political atmosphere we are in can be likened to deny the existence of water whilst it rains. The common saying at the moment as related to making decisions whether major or minor is “after election.” It is as if our lives depend on it…did I hear you say yes? I agree with you our national lives depending on it more than anything else. Since the enthronement of democracy in 1999, this election represents the most significant and most important election to be held, not because we’ve not had one before, but because there has been no interest to an election like the one we are about to witness. Just like everything that will end up being phenomenal, this election at initial stage did not generate so much of interests within the fold of “common men”, it turned out to be something we ruminate about every second of our lives the moment the leading opposition party APC organized and conducted her presidential primary election.
This single moment is what to be called “The Turning Point”, several mini events characterized this convention, the one of note was the emotional letter written by General Muhammadu Buhari to the delegates, where he urged them to put Nigeria first and though he might not have dollars to roll out, but he will give his ALL to the project Nigeria. We should not forget that while this event was going on, the ruling party was busy with the coronation/endorsement of the incumbent president whom the party deemed it fit to only sell her presidential form to. The emergence of General Buhari as APC presidential candidate was not enough to throw PDP and her allies off the line but the emergence of an astute scholar as his running mate did the magic and still doing it. The political credibility of the ruling party is dwindling, they are seeing and exploring all possible options to reverse the course of nature, yes it is the course of nature after all “la a la to ro ke, ile lo n bo” i.e. everything that goes up is coming down, what I don’t want is the eventual death of PDP which will result in APC being the only Political Party with nationwide structures. Having a healthier opposition to tackle the incoming ruling party will be highly needed.
Several things have been said during the campaign, a lot are still going to be heard of. People with different opinions including our First Lady who in her opinionated way believes all we needed from her husband were Almajiri schools, perhaps she thought the making by the president (as she claimed), the likes of Onyeka Onwenu and other Nollywood stars that have chosen to be identified with the president is all we need. I will not bother you with the repugnant details of her campaign nor that of other PDP’s cohorts.
Over the course of his campaign, Buhari has been vilified, denigrated, abused, tried, accused and attacked with everything they can possibly think of. All these attacks are part of what makes up politics, but there must be decorum and the ruling party has failed in all sense of it. Our interest shouldn’t be on the loads of propaganda against the person of Buhari, but on the seemingly logical issues/questions that have been raised by the supposedly elite and common man on the street who believe in the re-election of PGEJ not because he has been induced but because he thinks it’s the right thing to do.
One of these issues is “Buhari claimed to be an anti-corruption champion, how come he surrounded himself with corrupt people like Amechi, Tinubu, Atiku etc. ” :- well, If you are a subscriber to Nigerian politics right from the independence, you will agree with me that never before have we had any true democrat including our so called founding fathers. Ours is a politics of ethnicity laden with emotion, politics of godfatherism laden with its accompanied expectation vis a viz favoritism. It’s unfortunate we do not have a system that totally supports the emergence of a true democrat in our society.
In view of the above, I agree with your assertion of Buhari being surrounded by these perceived “corrupt” politicians. If you look at the two leading contenders, they are both surrounded by these set of cohorts who derive pleasure in pillaging our collective resources but those of the president are convicted criminals. From Bode George (conviction reversed) to FFK to Alamieyeseigha to kashamu Buruju. If we are to judge the two candidates by whom they are surrounded with, honestly Buhari fares better than our president. Our president does not just know who to engage himself with. You have every right to support anybody, what I will not agree with you in, is trying to justify it based on the people around them. Therefore if we are to use this metric, Buhari stands taller than our outgoing president. As an optimist and a believer in meritocracy, I strongly believe GMB will prevail. To the point of anti-corruption crusade of GMB, every one of us including him I’m sure is aware of the fact that corruption has eaten so deep into our system, it is an endemic that will take strategic measure and total overhaul of our mind-set for it to be dealt with. Of all the measures to tackle corruption, indiscriminate arrest or vilifying of our past leaders is definitely not the best approach and neither will it solve the problem. So the issue of whether GMB will put his perceived corrupt cronies behind bar may not be feasible. But what I’m sure of, is that rooms will not be created for corruption to thrive just as what we are currently seeing, if you are involved in any malfeasance, you will not be pardon under GMB no matter who you are. Our government will be prudent and if there is anything that will help GMB achieve these feats, it’ll be his political will and moral standard which still mean a lot to us in this part of the world. My lack of support for Jonathan is beyond what I’m writing. It’s not because Buhari is the best we can have. It’s because we can’t continue with the way things are going. Things must change otherwise Nigeria may wake into a state of anarchy one day, any viable option that is different from this government of inept is highly welcome by me.
Let everybody be aware that a new Nigeria is possible, Just believe in it. Like a friend always say (Olusola Adegbite) Change is here, change has come and the revered General from Daura has our votes.
Mustapha Mukhtar Omotosho (MOM)
A Technopolitical Enthusiast.
ff @almustaphamo
