Atiku’s freedoms and right to keep losing!

Former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Vice-President Atiku defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his determination to be President. Trying his best to rubbish this ambition Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said that the APC will not lose sleep over Atiku’s defection, referring to him as a “serial contestant”.  The Governor’s claim that Atiku […]

Former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Vice-President Atiku defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in his determination to be President. Trying his best to rubbish this ambition Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai said that the APC will not lose sleep over Atiku’s defection, referring to him as a “serial contestant”. 

The Governor’s claim that Atiku has never been, and will never be, a threat to President Buhari brings, back memories of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s (GEJ) electoral fiasco. Back then Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, said “most of the candidates of the opposition are serial failures. Atiku has tried twice, he has failed; Buhari has done it four times, he has failed…. We are not worried at all. We are absolutely unperturbed because the president is going to contest against serial losers”. 

Okupe mistakenly thought that derogating political opponents and calling them serial losers was a brilliant strategy. How wrong he was. After the most monumental electoral failure in Nigerian history the brash SSA followed his principal GEJ into political oblivion with his tail between his legs. In the coming months, there will be much talk of 2019 being the end for Atiku’s Presidential aspirations. In reality, his prospects appear to have ended long ago, but this should by no means deter him from contesting. There is an abundance of examples of political failures who later succeeded. 

Perhaps the greatest example of persistence in face of adversity is US President Abraham Lincoln. Born into poverty, he faced defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown. He could have quit many times – but he didn’t. He never gave up and instead became one of the greatest presidents in American history whose life is often used to inspire others to overcome life’s difficulties. He proved that dreams don’t have an expiry date and that whenever you fail you must just take a deep breath and start again! 

The value of refusing to be deterred by failure is illustrated with the following witty analogy. A man stood at the corner of a street whispering into the ear of every beautiful lady who walked pass him. Time after time he would receive a dirty slap, but he persisted. After a while an onlooker asked, “What are you whispering in all these women’s’ ears for you to deserve all these slaps?” The man replied, “I say to them, can I have a kiss?”. The amazed onlooker said, “No wonder they slap you”.  The man grinned and replied “Yes, but inside all the slaps I always get a kiss from one or two!” The moral of the story is that best way of getting what you want is to try over and over. Failure occurs every day, in school, jobs, housework, and within families. While others may think failures should fling their hands in the air and walk away, in all walks of life there are countless examples of failures who later succeeded simply because they refused to give up. 

For example, author J.K. Rowling was once a failure. In her own words she had “failed on an epic scale”. Her exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, she was jobless, a single parent, and surviving in virtual poverty. She became a millionaire when she published her Harry Potter books. Legendary Apple computers guru Steve Jobs lost his job and started off a company in a garage. Years later his company was worth $2 billion and had over 4000 employees. Jobs later said “getting fired from my job was the best thing that could have ever happened to me,”. 

Billionaire Bill Gates was a Harvard dropout who co-owned a business called Traf-O-Data, which failed. However, his passion for computer programming eventually made him into the pioneer of famous software company Microsoft and the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 31. In his own words: “It’s fine to celebrate success but it’s more important to heed the lessons of failure.” Albert Einstein the pioneer of the theory of general relativity and winner of the noble Prize in Physics in 1921 is associated with intelligence and synonymous with genius. Yet he could not speak fluently until the age of nine, was expelled from school for his rebellious nature, and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. He believed that “success is failure in progress.” 

Legendary basketball player Michael Jordan said “I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career, I’ve lost almost 300 games, and I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, that is why I succeed.”  Steven Speilberg is a household name regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. This genius behind the movies Jaws and E.T had poor grades in high school, and was rejected from the University of Southern California three times. He says “Perseverance and acceptance of failure is the key to success”. To date, Spielberg has directed 51 films and has been awarded three Oscars. Coming out of failure stronger and more determined was the key to all their success. 

Governor El-Rufai and others who criticise Atiku’s ambitions must realize that speaking about issues without thinking them through and deeply reflecting upon them is one of the biggest faults in Nigerian politicians. Whenever they are faced with a situation which they don’t like, they throw insults rather than engage in superior argument. They seem not to understand that derogating opponents doesn’t remedy the situation. Even though El-Rufai’s observations may be true, they were not well-worded.  The truth is that the more Atiku is abused by his former lackeys, the more likely the abuse will backfire and his popularity will soar. Politics is a game of winners and losers. Democracy is about leaving the choice to the electorate. Atiku is free to continue losing for as long as he likes.