My Choice of Candidates in 2019 Presidential Election

They are looking like a Party and President on a suicide mission.

They keep making mistakes after mistakes, and blunders after blunders.

There was no better time to rescue itself from the kamikaze slide than
during the mass funeral in Benue State two days ago. What should have
been a special occasion for national rebirth and reformation was
frittered away by the sheer arrogance of the ruling class. What should
have been a day of national mourning was treated with such
recalcitrance, and possible disdain. It is difficult not to see or feel
that this government is a victim of some witchcraft and hypnotism. 

A government that rode into power on the supersonic jet of goodwill of
the people is barely struggling to survive a swim in the gutter of
ill-wind. It is more like it has embarked on a predictable slide down a
giant abyss, as by its very demeanour and offhanded posture it insults
and belittles those very same people that it relied upon for the much
vaunted change it promised but has found difficult to deliver. In many,
albeit different ways, we seem to have gone back to the arrant impunity
of the Jonathan era. What exactly is wrong? Anyway.

Pardon my digression, but the recent devastating and sad events in Benue
State in which some herdsmen went berserk and attacked innocent
indigenes of that State deserves condemnation of these terrorists by
every Nigerian. I join others in offering my condolences to the families
of all those who died in the unfortunate incidents. May the souls of
the departed rest in peace. I commiserate with those injured and
affected by the dastardly rampage. The time has come for President
Buhari to act swiftly and decisively to curb this menace which has the
potential to tear our country apart, despite the strenuous and
vociferous protestations by the President about our unity being
non-negotiable.

Now to the matter at hand. A few people suggested last week that I was
working for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, probably because of our recent
meeting and also partly because he is the main candidate who has
declared his interest, and that is why I wrote that memo to President
Muhammadu Buhari. Let me say with all the emphasis at my command that
I’m not working for anybody. I’m too independent to be used by anybody.
The time has not come for me to jump into the game. I have my eyes on a
few bright guys of Nigeria but what if they don’t get the ticket? And
what happens if we have Buhari and Atiku as frontrunners in the next
election?

You may wish to know who between the two I will support. When I’m faced
with such option, I will not shy away from declaring my position
publicly. I’m not the kind that would hide my support. When Chief Olu
Falae contested against Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, I supported Falae, as a
matter of personal principle. He did not have cash to throw around and I
even spent my meagre income to travel to Vienna to try and persuade
that cerebral gentleman, of blessed memories, Dr Rilwan Lukman, who was
the kingpin at OPEC headquarters in Austria, to run as Falae’s
Vice-President. Though the arrangement fell through, I still returned
home to support Falae. Only one person can win at a time.

I never supported any PDP candidate in their sixteen years in power
though I admired a few of their action-packed Governors. The last
election that catapulted them out of power finally convinced me that
behaviourally and ideologically, the difference between APC and PDP was
between six and half dozen. There was no way APC would have emerged
triumphantly without the epic support of the PDP dissenters. Anyone can
say whatever they like today, I was an eye-witness, and active
participant, in the making of that spellbinding, suspense movie.
Amaechi, Saraki, Kwankwaso, Atiku, Wamako, Tambuwal, and others from the
PDP made so much difference when they added their weight to those of
the godfathers from the other Parties that formed the APC conglomerate.

My decision to support APC, though never a member of the Party till this
day, was primarily to get rid of the PDP fiefdom that was stylishly
manifesting and bourgeoning into a veritable catastrophe for the
country. Two, to stop the profligacy that had characterised the
government of the day. I have met some key actors who said President
Goodluck Jonathan was never a corrupt man personally but he lacked the
strong will to challenge his thieving acolytes. That was the major
weakness that guillotined his regime. 

Most reluctantly for some of us, Buhari became an option and a stopgap.
Anyone who followed my support for President Buhari would have seen how I
regularly referred to him as the Mandela option. I didn’t expect him to
become a permanent feature. I’ve always believed that anyone above the
age of 65 is a high-risk option, and I said this about Buhari during our
Presidential race in 2011.

However, since the last Presidential election was a straight fight
between Jonathan and Buhari, the choice was totally limited. Many of
those who supported Buhari also considered his anti-corruption
credentials though, in retrospect, I believe we downplayed his
anti-democratic records and proclivity. I still have no doubt that he’s
one of the most honest Nigerians alive today, although like Jonathan he
seems to be surrounded by people in respect of who that is difficult to
say.

It is likely that age, as well as the reality and practicality of how he
attained power, have jointly humbled and mellowed his almost
sacramental vows against corruption. It would be tantamount to
monumental hypocrisy and superlative ingratitude to bite the fingers
that fed one in our hour of acute need. It has become critically obvious
that what has confronted Buhari in power was never what he anticipated
or bargained for. This is why I advised him last week to bow out with
whatever honour he has left, instead of squandering everything away. If
he stubbornly contests the next election, he would be forced to
compromise and capitulate on a number of things. He would have no choice
than to play the erstwhile PDP card, by opening the vaults of the
Central Bank of Nigeria to political vultures who are not known to be
patient or merciful in respect of primordial interests. That was my
honest and candid appeal to Baba out of genuine concern for his future
and legacy. Let us, at least, continue to dream that we have one
selfless and incorruptible leader in Nigeria.

The truth, is that my preference would be for younger candidates in both
major Parties and my criteria would be as follows. The candidate must
be well educated. Nigeria has produced more than enough graduates from
every part of the country for us to be continuously and endlessly led by
near-illiterates. The candidate should have managed people and
resources, whether in a private or public capacity or both. The
candidate is expected to be seriously exposed to modern trends. Ability
to communicate well would be appreciated since he would have to interact
with world leaders. I want a Nigerian candidate and not a sectional
leader. Anyone who cannot feel at home in any part of Nigeria is not fit
to lead our otherwise great nation. Anyone still relying on zoning,
quota and Federal character to become anything in Nigeria is certainly
an enemy of progress. We must consider the brightest people from every
part. There are enough people in Nigeria who fit this bill. We can’t
simply say that we cannot find one such person. Our search should in
reality be moving on to finding the very best of the best. 

Once we find our Leader and his deputy then we should not care too much
about engaging others, including foreigners, who are the best at
infrastructure and facility building of the type we so desire and need.
Dubai is not solely managed by Emirati citizens. The UK allows
foreigners to manage critical sectors, including the economy, a good
example being the Bank of England (their Central Bank) headed by a
Canadian, Mark Joseph Carney.

I will not totally disqualify exceptional elders who have distinguished
themselves under most of my above criteria lest I fall victim of the
same bigotry I’ve been preaching against. Some elders are more
reasonable, less corrupt, more business-savvy, more exposed to
international standards, more efficient, less cantankerous, more
focussed, and more visionary than our so-called youths. We have since
come full cycle by trying sinners and saints but we have not yet
succeeded in having great and big thinkers. We cannot, and must not,
continue to delude ourselves that we can find saints from anywhere to
lead us. 

What we need, as a matter of urgency and desperation are competent
performers from wherever we can seek and find them. By now, we should be
tired of exchanging the baton of backwardness and mediocrity every four
years. Like joke, like joke, nothing spectacular has happened to us for
decades now while smaller countries across Africa are marching forward
confidently and admirably. Our own leaders seem to be very comfortable
in our squalid, desolate and unsavoury conditions. No qualms. No
urgency. No new ideas to copy, borrow or buy. We are permanently
stagnant and sanguine about our perpetual state of inertia.

The next election should be a turning point. We can no longer afford to
play politics of ethnicity, money and religion. I reiterate that we must
search frantically, extensively and productively for the best. The
world would leave us very far behind at the rate we are going. We are
already desperately behind and trying to play catch up. We do not need
to lose more ground. I’m appealing to everyone who loves Nigeria to
free Nigeria from the bondage of oppression, suppression, ethnic
jingoism, religious fanaticism, terrorism, Satanism, and all forms of
retrogression. 

2019 cannot, and should not, be business as usual. It should be our year
of true liberation and independence. Yes. The time has come to assemble
our proven performers in a government of national unity. Nigeria cannot
be handed over, or handled anymore by professional politicians who have
no other business or job they do, and who merely see their stay in
government as an opportunity for self-aggrandisement, and unashamed and
unabashed looting of our collective wealth. Rather we want Nigerian
leaders who are committed and passionate about their country.

Our chosen leaders must be willing to sacrifice their all to ensure and
enhance the comfort of their fellow citizens by providing the simple
basics of life. Nigerians have never been a demanding people. We
merely want education for our children, decent wages for our hard
labour, good health care, electricity, water, food, security and above
all peace. For now, every single one of these matters evade and elude us
notwithstanding our vote for change! 

The President and his Vice President must provide evidence of what they
have done and accomplished in their lives. Merit, productivity, passion
and vison must be our watchword. Irrelevant considerations, like
religion, ethnicity or even gender, have no place in this equation.

May Nigeria be victorious.