The moment of decision
This is the reason why some of us would continue to heckle and hound the system until it delivers to us a country we can truly call home. Plus, we have the capacity to arrive there in that Promised Land. It has been enthralling to watch the slide since the first democratic elections in post-independence […]
This is the reason why some of us would continue to heckle and hound the system until it delivers to us a country we can truly call home. Plus, we have the capacity to arrive there in that Promised Land. It has been enthralling to watch the slide since the first democratic elections in post-independence Nigeria in 1979 through years of military interregnum to the present state of our nation. I personally believe it is time to stand up and have the courage of our convictions.
Having watched events leading up to these elections, it is clear to me that there are left, only three principal candidates worthy of any mention at the presidential level; the rest being either wishful wannabes or lofty clowns with tall wishes. The basic candidates are President Goodluck Jonathan, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu and General Muhammadu Buhari in random order. Two of the men are tested and the verdict is there for all to see.
Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan has run on luck for a long race to the level of burnout. I campaigned for this candidate when he was vice-president and it seemed all the odds and the political establishments were against getting him his lawful due. When there is a double ticket, and the main holder is incapacitated, it stands to constitution and to reason that the vice is given the baton. This works in politics as it works for track and field. Luck or not, President Jonathan deserves his current position and his inability to deliver is a good lesson for all aspirants to ensure that they pick capable hands as running mates because the future is never ours to decide.
Ever since his coronation on the doctrine of necessity, Dr. Jonathan has acted like a carpenter being given the job of a welder. Under their joint watch as former university dons, both Yar’adua and Jonathan watched idly and insouciantly by while federal universities embarked on the longest strike in the history of our country. They offered no solutions; but for me the first act of double-speak came when the Vice President went to Kaduna assuring a paralysed industrial city that electric power, a sine qua non for industrial revitalisation would be revived in 2010. While receiving applause for that promise, there were, in the budget already forwarded to the National Assembly, unprecedented budgetary provisions to buy and fuel generators for the Presidential Villa. Since then, power has moved from being a mirage to a state of umbra. Jonathan went to Jos at the beginning of the internecine skirmishes there promising it would end, when he returned there to campaign, he didn’t even pretend to know that lives were still being lost. A committee he helped set up delivered solutions, but Jonathan has left it to gather dust and harmattan haze on his table.
In his home region of the Niger-Delta, a plan to stop the brigandage there has remained unimplemented. When bombs went off on Independence Day, a moment to rally a grieving nation, Jonathan was excusing those who claimed to have done it even before he had been briefed either of casualty or findings. His promise to stem the tide of kidnapping with a special squad remains unfulfilled just to mention a few gaffes. A president is assessed on his words as well as his performance; our president has failed in both. He does not deserve my vote.
Nuhu Ribadu has age on his side, a tested police officer, lawyer and later anti-graft crusader. For standing for truth, he lost an illustrious career in the force and had to go on exile to save his own life. The truth cannot be hidden that Ribadu’s lady justice is not blind but selective and that that selectivity helped install the monster called the PDP in many spheres of our human endeavour. Ribadu owes the nation an apology and a book detailing how his organisation, the EFCC helped Obasanjo actualise his treason against democracy and the survival of Nigeria. When he has done that, Ribadu would need to go into politics from a lower level and prove he can manage his anger and be a nationalist. With his age, he can still fulfil his dream – for now, there are more questions about the suitability of this candidate than his touted assets.
True, Buhari’s credentials as a democrat may be suspect, but so was Obasanjo’s. A man’s character is assessed by what he says, what he does and what he is known for. As one philosopher say if we know what you stand for, then we can guess what you are likely to genuflect or prostrate for. From the time he was petroleum minister through his stint as a no-nonsense dictator to his chairmanship of the PTF, one thing stands true for Buhari, and that is his integrity. That is attested for even by his worst foes. In all these years, nobody has unearthed a scandal on Buhari.
Popular among the hoi-polloi who have not been tainted by the establishment, he does not speak diplomatese – his words come strong, convincing and sure. He’d rather die for what he believes in than eat his words to be popular. He is sold out on Nigeria. Even Obasanjo, the grandfather of corruption paid glowing tributes to Buhari’s integrity. Buhari’s enemies peddle wicked and incredulous lies about him, but they can never accuse him of graft. That is already more than anyone can say of his two closest rivals.
Our country like a sore is festered and swarming with the cancerous worms of corruption in all spheres and brigandage on the part of government. Its resources are being amassed and siphoned with impunity and those who campaign against Buhari today have skeletons and rotted corpses in their cupboards. Our country can never pull out of the bog with these charlatans running the show. Our prisons are filled with people arrested and jailed for wandering and petty theft while the sharks of corruption are eating up the little fishes and bloating. This country needs a man his words and action and by God as a Christian, I would give him my vote and encourage anyone who wants Nigeria to survive to do the same. I hope we see the light and that he carries the day. Any which way, I remain an unrepentant patriot and the struggle continues.