18th December, 2014
By Vincent Egwunyenga
Nigeria the largest economy in Africa, the largest concentration of Black people on earth is on the march again looking for its President. In less than two months from now Nigerians will go to the polls to elect a President of its choice. It is also a time to decide whether Nigeria will remain one as a nation or a fulfilment of the American prophecy that the country might break up by 2015. I pray that the country will not break up and I pray the country remains more united, stronger and prosperous. But there are issues that must be tackled for a successful and violence free election in the country.
Let me first of all leave no one in doubt as to where I stand on the forthcoming Presidential election in the country. I am not a card carrying member of any political party but I wish that President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] win the election in the interest of peace, progress, unity of Nigeria and anything that will truncate that dream will never get my support.
Agreed President Jonathan is not a perfect human being, no man is perfect after all, only God is perfect. Agreed also that politics is struggle for power but I don’t agree that we have to tell lies and deceive the people because we want to take power from the incumbent. Let us for the purpose of this discussion reduce the struggle for the Presidency of Nigeria to Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari compare both of them and allow Nigerians to make a choice in the interest of one Nigeria and future of their children and generations yet unborn.
Let me remind President Jonathan what gave him the Presidency in 2011 and see whether he can still use that factor to claim the Presidency this time around. First the Presidency in the first place was made possible by God, first and foremost, because if President Umaru Yar’Adua had not died he wouldn’t have smelt that position.
Secondly, he won the Presidency because of the poor campaign strategies of the North. The North believed that they owned Nigeria, have the population and that only they can determine who becomes the President of the country, no other group matters. In fact one Sheikh Gumi once said that over his dead body will a Christian win the Presidency of Nigeria. So people voted for Jonathan to prove them wrong.
Thirdly, Nigerians wanted to fight a cabal that have sworn to keep Nigeria in their pocket for ever, Nigerians voted to liberate itself from this cabal. Nigeria voted for fresh breath.
But the question is, has anything changed since then? The answer is no. The truth is that those who voted for Jonathan in 2011 have nothing to show for it five years after. Roads in the South East and South South are still the worst in the country, even the National Publicity Secretary of the ruling PDP Olisa Metuh was quoted to have said sometime in November that Federal Roads in the South East are still the worst in the country. Even though we have a Christian as the President more Christians have been killed in the country than ever before in the history of the country with no punishment meted out to the murderers and no compensation for Christians for the loss of their lives and properties. Has President Jonathan been able to fight the cabal? The answer is no. In fact, they have become more vicious and deadly and even more powerful. President Jonathan has not told Nigerians why nobody was punished for the post-election violence of 2011, where over 800 innocent Nigerians including youth corps members were killed. President Jonathan has not told Nigerians why he sacked Professor Barth Nnaji, his former Minister of Power, in whose tenure, for the first time in Nigeria, we noticed some improvement in power stability for over a month before he was sacked by the cabal that were not comfortable with power stability in the country. The President has not told Nigerians why Abba Moro is still in his cabinet. Abba Moro, Nigeria’s minister of Internal Affairs was busy fighting the former Comptroller-General of Immigration Mrs Roseline Uzoma over some appointment of Igbo immigration officers. That little distraction was what the marauders from Libya and Mali needed and they entered the country with sophisticated weapons and mercenaries from Gadafi’s Libya, which are now being utilized by Boko Haram. If Nigeria is a serious country the Minister should have been sacked by now, but he has a powerful cabal behind him that may help generate vote for Jonathan.
The President should know that the sentiments used to give him the position in 2011 may not work for him this time around.
But despite all these, is General Muhammadu Buhari a credible alternative? My answer is no. How I wish the PDP had brought out a better candidate to replace Jonathan. I have nothing against Northern President and how I wish the North or APC provided a better alternative. But unfortunately I will still pray that Goodluck Jonathan wins the Presidency than allow Muhammadu Buhari win. Those who are managing Buhari have not convinced me why Buhari is a better alternative to lead the country. The only marketing strategy the media marketers are using to sell Buhari to Nigerians is that he will fight corruption and that he is the only Nigerian that is not corrupt. I am aware that when Buhari was a Federal Commissioner of Petroleum and Chairman of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] the sum of $2.8 billion was missing from the NNPC account. In fact, a former Nigeria Television Authority[NTA] reporter Theodora Ifudu was sacked for reporting the story. As a former Military Head of State General Buhari changed Nigeria’s currency and stopped the importation of naira into the country for change. His Personal Assistant at that time came in with 53 suit cases with orders from above that he should not be searched. The officer in charge of Nigeria Customs at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos then was Atiku Abubakar who insisted on searching the suitcases and discovered huge sums of money inside, Atiku was subsequently sacked from the customs. As a military Head of state, General Buhari’s government arrested some politicians in the country and sent them to prison. He left the then President Alhaji Shehu Shagari a northerner and muslim untouched while he went ahead to arrest and jail the Vice President Alex Ekweme a southerner and Christian. We have certainly seen some development in the country in the last five years of Jonathan’s administration. We have seen roads being built and rehabilitated, seen remodelling of the airports, railways working again, seaports working against, we’ve seen more investments in power sector, petroleum sector, telecommunication sector, education sector, health, politics, etc.
The big question is, what does Nigeria need now? Nigerians are not interested in what the government does for the country, what Nigerians need now is what has individuals benefited from the country and this is what will decide the fate of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the next presidential election. The advice I will give to Jonathan is that he should continue the projects being executed across the country, he should as a matter of urgency do something to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians. He should bring out all the money in the foreign reserve, $40 billion or thereabouts. There is no point keeping the money for Nigeria that might not exist after the 2015 elections. Declare free education at all levels, declare free health for all, bring down the price of fuel in the country to about twenty naira per litre, settle traditional rulers and opinion leaders, religious leaders, civil society groups, the media, the military, everybody.
Take care of people in the National Assembly buy them over, take care of all the governors, buy them over. In politics there is no permanent friend what is permanent is interest. Find out from the governors like Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who were your friends why they are suddenly against you. At the last media parley in Benin the previous week Governor Oshiomhole was asked why he will not support a South South President like himself and he said a brother who failed to act like a brother should be treated like an enemy. He said President Jonathan a President from the South South refused to give him money from ecological funds to take care of his people, but the President only gave ecological funds to Northern governors. Why will the President not give Oshiomhole what he wants? Jonathan needs Oshiomhole to deliver Edo vote more than he needs Tony Anenih. These are issues the President must tackle and not rely on the luck of 2011.
The biggest problem facing the president’s re-election bid is the issue of Boko Haram. I was a child still growing up in 1984 during the apartheid regime when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo said we should use juju to defeat apartheid. Just recently during the inauguration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in office, leader of APC Bola Ahmed Tinubu was reported to have told the people to use juju to defend their votes. I know the Yorubas believe so much in juju, how juju has helped him so far in politics today I do not know but I know Bola Tinubu is the most beautiful bride in today’s politics. I think we should consider using juju to bring back the missing Chibok girls and even end Boko Haram. I know the Ijaws also have an idol called Egbesu shrine, please consult him or her if he is not on leave.
On the election proper the President should be serious to win the election or withdraw from the race. He should not allow the post-election killings take place again. From every indication, there will be crisis before, during and after the election so he should prepare for it. Statements coming out from the opposition party leaders is not encouraging. General Buhari has talked of Monkey and Baboon soaking in blood, Bola Tinubu has talked of Use of juju, Rotimi Amaechi has talked of orange revolution. Amaechi has said if the 2015 election is rigged the APC will take to the streets and form an alternative government. The President should not rely on the security agencies alone to enforce law and order, we are dealing with opposition that is desperate for power. He should be thinking of mobilizing the OPC, Bakassi Boys, Niger Delta Ex-Militants and even hunters to save the country.
I want to remind the media that they have a responsibility to save the country. In the second Republic Chief Obafemi Awlowo was the leader of opposition in the country. He did not see anything good in Shagari’s government as he opposed and criticized every move made by the government then. When the Buhari and his gang struck in 1983 they used some of the attacks made by Chief Obafemi Awolowo as reasons for the coup. Then one week after the coup the military went to Awolowo’s house in Apapa, Lagos ransacked everywhere beat up his personal staff and family members. The next morning Awolowo not only condemned Buhari’s coup but added that the worst democracy was better than the best military regime. A word is enough for the wise.
•Egunyanga, a public affairs analyst, is a true believer in one Nigeria.