1st April, 2015
As the election of General Muhammadu Buhari as president of Nigeria ushers in a new era of governance on 29 May, it is pertinent to advise the president-elect that the first task before him is to reconcile all Nigerians before setting about fixing the state of anomie that has plagued this nation for so long. Reconciliation is key because the electioneering campaign by candidates seeking elective posts and their supporters polarised all segments of the society along ethnic and religious lines.
It was so bad that the hate speeches made during the period of the election turned brother against brother, wife against husband, colleagues against colleagues in offices and business premises. In Lagos, for instance, a woman even stabbed her husband to death for voting for a candidate she did not support.
Buhari has to bring all Nigerians together and forgive all those who wished him dead. Already, those who antagonised him, such as the Governor of Ekiti Stsate, Ayo Fayose, have extended the olive branch to the president-elect. The congratulatory message by outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan to Buhari will go a long way in dousing the envisaged rage that would have been triggered by the defeated candidate’s supporters. It shows the spirit of sportsmanship of the outgoing president whose agent and former Niger Delta minister, Godsday Orubebe, almost scuttled the announcement of the remaining results of the presidential election on Tuesday in Abuja by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega with his ill-advised rants.
No sacrifice is too great to make in order to bring about this reconciliation because of the deep-rooted animosity engendered by vile electionerring rhetorics in the months and weeks preceding the general elections. We believe that this historic electoral victory that happend in our lifetime portends a positive beginning and reconciliation will go a very long way in bringing our diverse peoples together again.
Again, President Jonathan deserves all the praise for promptly sending a congratulatory message to Buhari. It has also gone a long way to reassure Nigerians and the international community that there won’t be bloodletting in the aftermath of the announcement of the result of the Presidential election as it happened in 2011 when over 700 Nigerians were killed after President Jonathan was declared winner of that election.
The victory of Buhari is a victory for all Nigerians irrespective of the political parties or tribe or religion they belong to. And this victory will be cemented if there is genuine reconciliation across all divides.