The next big thing

‘No, I’m just rounding up the supplications. I have finished the  prayer.’ I replied, looking at him.‘Well then supplicate no more, your candidate has won.’ He announced  walking into the room.‘I’m sure you don’t mean that Tahir, you are just pulling my legs.’ I responded.‘And why should I do that especially after knowing how much […]

‘No, I’m just rounding up the supplications. I have finished the  prayer.’ I replied, looking at him.
‘Well then supplicate no more, your candidate has won.’ He announced  walking into the room.
‘I’m sure you don’t mean that Tahir, you are just pulling my legs.’ I responded.
‘And why should I do that especially after knowing how much this  election means to you?’ he asked, sitting on my bedroom chair.
‘But when I came in to pray, five more states were being awaited. How  could everything have happened so fast?’ I insisted.
‘Well four of those five states had come in, and the votes showed your  candidate leading by over two million votes and having the necessary  percentage in more than the required 24 states of the federation.
 Anyway the most important thing is that the incumbent president has  already conceded defeat in a phone call to his opponent.’ He declared.
‘What, did you say he conceded defeat? Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah,’ I said jumping up with joy to hug him.
‘Wow, your candidate must mean so much to you Bint. The last time you  gave me such an affectionate hug was when I bought you a new car,  three years ago.’ Tahir observed, returning my embrace.
‘Sorry I haven’t been too affectionate these days, hubby dear, but  please quit calling the president-elect my candidate, he is your  candidate too, you told me that you voted for him.’ I protested.
‘Yes I did but I didn’t go round telling the world he was the best  candidate because he has only a wife and no mistresses.’ He teased.
‘But that isn’t true Tahir, you know that I campaigned for him due to  other factors too.’ I countered, sitting on the edge of my bed. ‘Maybe  the one-wife, no girl-friends thing is top on the list. But you  remember the script I was quoting from also said he had no foreign  bank account and I later found out no Abuja mansion. Now an ascetic  like that is after my heart any day because he will not be greedy  about anything. He is not after wealth and comfort, so he will not  steal public funds and will not allow others to do so.’ I said.
‘Let’s hope so, it usually takes a very keen leader to keep his  lieutenants in check. If he is distracted by other factors, he might  not notice when they will have a field day with the public treasury.’ Tahir opined.
‘Oh don’t be a Devil’s Advocate darling. We are not talking about a  novice here, someone who hasn’t been there before. The president-elect  had been a head of state, he had seen it all. Yes, returning after  thirty years will be challenging, especially since our institutions  and structures have been vandalized through corruption and ineptitude,  but do not expect him to be consumed by that. He will rise against it  as well as be on the alert in case any of his lieutenants is treading  that path.’ I defended.
‘Oh Bint, you have so much faith in him it’s simply admirable.
 Suddenly I wish I was in his place so that you and other people’s  wives will all have this unflinching support for me.’ He joked.
‘If you were in his place’ I said, rising from the bedside to sit in  front of him on the carpeted floor of the room ‘I will do more than  just have faith in you. I will stand by you and dedicate my life to  your service, through thick and thin.’ I pledged.
‘And then launch some First Lady project to compete with my  priorities, right?’ he teased.
‘No, that won’t be a priority with me if you were to become the  president today. Top on your agenda should be to end the insecurity in  the country. Nothing can ever be achieved until Nigerians are safe and  secure once more. So security is number 1. Number two and closely  related to that, is to find the missing school girls. Even if the  bombing and killing ends, the fate of the kidnapped Chibok girls will  always be a matter of great concern to the rest of us, so finding them  must be considered our second priority. Thirdly and again related to  the first two is rehabilitating the millions displaced by the  insurgency. These people must be taken back home and be provided with  the accommodation and source of livelihood they lost during that  bloody war.
Once these national emergencies are taken care of, the next big thing  is to select the very best people in your cabinet. By now the new  National assembly is already in place. Get the members to screen and  confirm your dream team of people with proven integrity, a known track  record of morality, and real hands-on experience in public or private  service. Give them suitable portfolios, in other words, put square  pegs in square holes and supervise them with due diligence. You can  share the supervisory role with your vice-president so that nothing  will escape the two of you.
 Then you must make a sector by sector analysis to determine which ones  need the most urgent intervention. Is it education, power, health,  agriculture or environment? And on the basis of that determine the  government’s next priorities.’ I concluded.
‘Amazing, so you have thought about it all haven’t you? A pity you are  not the new first lady, you would have charted a great course for the  president.’ He commended, smiling.
‘Believe me, nothing I said is not in the minds of all concerned  Nigerians. So for all you know, before the day is over tomorrow, his  facebook, twitter and instagram accounts will all be full with  suggestions from his country-men on how to govern them. This is  digital age remember, there are many ways to reach people without  having to live with them.’ I said.
‘Yes but the president-elect does not belong to the digital age, do  not expect him to find the time for all that internet stuff.’ Tahir  cautioned.
‘Who said that? Let me remind you that the man is a politician first  and a septuagenarian second. He has all these accounts and had made  good use of them to reach our youths. Only the day before the  election, LB showed me his Instagram account. He has over 12 thousand  followers. That is a digital age campaign for you. Age is no longer a  barrier to anything you wish to achieve, especially if it’s for the  good of the society.’ I added.
‘Yes, you are right. Anyway I wish to go and see the final  announcement of the result now. I hate to miss such historic moments.’
Tahir said, rising up from the chair.
‘And I love to see such historic moments, especially since the  outgoing guys have promised to be around for 60 years. Now that they  are leaving after only 16 years, we should be there to see the formal  announcement.’ I concurred, rising from the carpet to hold his hand.
 Together we walked to his sitting room to hear the results.