Game On!

The game is on in earnest! It is difficult to hear one think above the din. Most Nigerians have pitched their tent with either APC or PDP. Of course the smaller parties will show up tangentially but they know they won’t produce the next Nigerian president. But watch out – they may nibble at the […]

The game is on in earnest! It is difficult to hear one think above the din. Most Nigerians have pitched their tent with either APC or PDP. Of course the smaller parties will show up tangentially but they know they won’t produce the next Nigerian president. But watch out – they may nibble at the votes in marginal states to deny either of the giants crucial percentages.

One of the most objectively perceptive reactions I received to my last piece, “Atiku Vs Buhari Showdown” came from my colleague, Nkem Ossai:

“Atiku may well be the opposition’s best chance of wresting power back from a blundering APC and its immobile flag bearer. But the parties’ choices on their own tell an interesting, even if terrifying, story.

“The nation of Nigeria has, by virtue of the choices made on its behalf by the two parties, yet again moved the goalpost for it to take serious charge of its destiny in line with both its potential and the imperative of a fluid global economic system. There is little daylight difference between Atiku and Buhari. The former is simply the latter with a smiley face and lots of cash-infused PR. Their joint and several claim to fame is their robust insistence on their entitlement to power and rulership (not leadership)!. They are both bereft of the depth and comfort in the policy arena that the country critically needs at this point.

“In essence, Nigeria has, for the umpteenth time, postponed its perennial expectation of a take-off moment – an inflection point for forward motion … A reversal of the expressed march to a place of discomfort can only begin with a clear articulation of a core philosophy for economic and social rebirth. There’s yet no sense of that ever coming into being under the two frontline gladiators now arrayed for battle.”

Neither Peter nor Paul, says Ossai. But our gladiators today, Chyke and Hadu, disagree. One favours PDP; the other, APC:

CHYKE: Thank God, PDP has chosen Atiku. You Buharists have been having hypertension since Atiku won the PDP primaries. You are finished! And the choice of Peter Obi as Vice-Presidential candidate was a masterstroke. Let February 2019 come quickly so that we can get rid of your incompetent government.

HADU: If Atiku is your best candidate, it shows how morally bankrupt your party is. How did he make his money? I don’t even want to mention his problem of alleged money laundering in the US. Your Peter Obi is no saint either. At the appropriate time we shall open his file. Anyway, PDP leaders in the Southeast have rejected him. In the spirit of PDP, everybody wants to be ‘settled’ or ‘carried along’.

CHYKE: You have nothing on Obi! And let me tell you, the 2019 elections will not be about who is able to excel in libel and defamation. It will be a national referendum on whether we want to continue with your incompetent and clannish government or we want to liberate the country and enthrone a truly national government committed to the greatest good of the greatest number of our people.

HADU: Greatest good? When I saw the lineup of PDP leaders on the stage with Atiku, it occurred to me that most of them still had one case or the other with EFCC and other security agencies. These are the same people who brought the country to its knees. Now they want to come back to destroy whatever is left.

CHYKE: On balance, PDP’s record is still better than that of APC. See the destruction you have brought on the nation in three years. You cannot even keep the country together. It is a shame that Nigeria was more united under PDP than now. Shame!

HADU: Where is your evidence? I can understand that you have not been allowed near the treasury for over three years. It must be stressful for those of you used to collecting millions of dollars directly from the central bank or the security chiefs. You ruined the country and Nigerians will not forget that in a hurry.

CHYKE: I’ll teach you some arithmetic. Atiku will comfortably win in the South-South and South-East and most of the middle belt. As Kwankwaso and Tambuwal are his coordinators in the Northwest, he will share Kano, Jigawa and Sokoto with Buhari. And if you consider his umbilical link with the PDM of late General Yar’Adua, you will know that he will make a credible showing in Katsina itself. Then, Atiku’s wife, Titi, is from the Southwest. I’m talking figures here, not sentiments.

HADU: None of those you have mentioned in the North can withstand Buhari’s charisma. Yes, Atiku may win in the Southeast and some states in the Northeast. The rest is fair game, even the South-South because Edo, Delta, Cross-River and Akwa-Ibom will be closely fought. Buhari will defeat Atiku and OBJ and all the other members of the PDP gang.

CHYKE: The only way he can win is by rigging. Imagine imposing a travel ban on so many prominent citizens, mostly members of the opposition, through Executive Order 6. This government is desperate!

HADU: Well, you can’t accuse anyone of bias or vendetta. Check the list, APC’s Orji Uzor Kalu is there.

CHYKE: So is the late Aliyu Akwe Doma. This government is so incompetent it can’t even vet a mere list. How can you ban a dead man from travelling?

HADU: There you go, People Deceiving People!

CHYKE: What of you, All Promises Cancelled!