Why Nigerians need to make the right choice

When military coups occur, only a handful of uniformed men sit in a room to decide who becomes Head of State. But even in the worst democracy, there is the need to show the participation of the citizenry in choosing their leaders. This provides an avenue for self-corrective mechanisms that often do not exist in […]

When military coups occur, only a handful of uniformed men sit in a room to decide who becomes Head of State. But even in the worst democracy, there is the need to show the participation of the citizenry in choosing their leaders. This provides an avenue for self-corrective mechanisms that often do not exist in dictatorships. The need for public support to survive elections ultimately forces civilian regimes to allow these corrective mechanisms to function freely, which in turn brings an end to rigged elections, abuse of the rule of law and bad governance.
Born in 1942 and only 18 years of age at Nigeria’s independence, Muhammadu Buhari was no different from the other idealistic young men and women influenced by the post-Second World War political currents. To expect him not to be would be to expect adolescents today not to be influenced by Twitter, Hashtags and Facebook. But in my opinion, some of them came out of that era wiser, more tolerant and even more patriotic. They truly made the transition from romantic military revolutionaries to democrats. I became fully convinced of this when I invited General Buhari to help us campaign in a bye-election for the Gamawa State House of Assembly seat in Bauchi State in 2009. Buhari had campaigned for Isa Yuguda to become the ANPP Governor of Bauchi State, visiting all 20 Local Government Areas – including some significant towns in districts. But two years on, Yuguda decided to cross over to the PDP and had his deputy Garba Gadi impeached and removed from office. He replaced him with the Speaker of the State House of Assembly who was the member from Gamawa, seemingly as a reward for a job well done. The vacancy meant that there was going to be a bye-election in which the PDP with a sitting Governor and deputy from the constituency was sure of winning.
In such a mid-term election for an obscure position representing a rural constituency, General Buhari who had lost a presidential election for a second time need not have obliged my invitation, but he did, for the simple reason that he believed in the basic tenets of fair play and the possibility of transforming Nigeria into a just society. Before Buhari’s arrival, the DPO had informed me that the podium we had erected in Gamawa where he would address a mammoth crowd was illegal and we had to pull it down. I decided to go above him and discuss the matter with the Bauchi State Commissioner of Police but met with an even more hostile response.
After Buhari’s arrival, we forged ahead unconvinced of the illegality of the activity, bearing in mind Isa Yuguda had held a similar campaign rally in Gamawa three days earlier. With the festivities concluded and before setting out for another town Gololo, we took the General to the Local Government Guest House for refreshments and brief use of its facilities. To my surprise, the Local Government Chairman (who had been campaigning with Buhari and I two years earlier for the ANPP) had given specific instructions we were not to be given access to the Guest House, before skipping town. However, the workers could not bring themselves to deny General Buhari, a former Head of State (and to a lesser extent myself, a serving federal legislator) access. What was more embarrassing, when General Buhari asked to use the toilet, we found that it had been deliberately locked and were informed that the LGA Chairman had left with the keys.
Some of those in our company insisted on breaking the toilet door but were prevailed upon by a stern-faced Buhari who said it was not necessary. The thought that raced through my mind in those moments was that this man, as a former leader of our country, had the choice of not subjecting himself to any of this humiliation and indignation. He left the comfort of his Kaduna abode to be denied the use of a fetid toilet with no running water in backwater Gamawa, simply because he believed in the right for us to vote for our representatives in government no matter how lowly. 2009 was not an election year and he was not running for President. He rooted for the underdog because he felt voters had been betrayed. On that day, I developed a new sense of respect for the man beyond any office he may have held and saw the milk of human kindness in him beneath the stoic exterior.
General Buhari has served Nigeria more out of uniform than when he wore it for the simple reason that he has strengthened our democratic system. He has tirelessly contested for President three times and thereafter subjected himself to our dubious court system- perhaps sometimes knowing the high probability of an unfavourable outcome. By doing so, he has tested our system over and again and exposed its inherent flaws, leaving a rich literature of legal proceedings for posterity, so that future generations will not make the same mistakes. In doing so, he has gained more supporters and admirers like me who are cautious of promoting a cult of personality for any living being. But he is once again contesting for President at a time when most Nigerians have woken up to the fact that we desperately need to establish the fact that we can change our leaders through the ballot box when they fail to deliver. The question we have to ask ourselves before March 28 is, would Goodluck Jonathan have run and lost three times, gone to election tribunal three times and visited Gamawa (or dusty Gololo for that matter) to campaign for the PDP in a non-election year?
Tuggar wrote in from Abuja