By BASHIR ADEFAKA
“Doing it this way will make an equally quality choosing for a level playing ground with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). With a free, fair and credible election that I believe the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is capable of conducting, therefore, any candidate from either the PDP or APC that wins will become the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that we will all submit to, unequivocally, with unalloyed loyalty.”
Last night, I mean the night of Saturday May 28, 2022, Nigeria’s most vibrant opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) finally settled for a man, who is believed in most parts of the country to be ‘Customer Daadaa Ni’ as its Presidential Candidate. That is the septuagenarian it believes will fly its flag in the coming general elections of 2023 leaving out younger persons, who have the freshness of bones and energetic capacity such (since it was an open contest for both North and South) as very articulate, humble and versatile Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR (I do not know of any other except Nyesom Wike), and if winning election was paramount to the party.
But, alas! The dream for such fresh, energetic blood died. Former Vice President and three-time Presidential Candidate under different political parties, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, GCON, emerged. That is acceptable to us as the will of God. It is fine, also. He is experienced and has gone round enough to be the man of the people except that there is fear at certain corner that an Atiku Presidency will be easily manipulated by the West, mostly United States of America and United Kingdom, which will be bad luck to a country that has barely liberated itself from the grip of those colonialists, who refuse to let go of the Africa’s most populous country after over 61 years of Independence. This is where a winning challenge will ambush the Wazirin Adamawa. To me, alone, I love Atiku and will respect and support him, if destiny makes him the legitimately democratic President of Nigeria come 2023. But that challenge of returning our hard earned nationhood to the twin-finger of the West stands on the way for him. To be controlled by the West means to be back to the dark age for Nigeria.
Just as the PDP has already taken its flight with Atiku, a Fulani and Muslim from the North, an All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, equally a Fulani and Muslim from the North, has just taxied to a point on the runway waiting for clearance to take off, but with who among the candidates? In taking this decision, APC should not forget the warning Tambuwal gave to PDP about necessity of winning election in 2023 as what must be factored into who the candidate must be. I am not sure if that advice has been heeded with Atiku but, to me, choosing the leadership, considered to be next to God in any country, is not decided by man but by Almighty Allah. The only responsibility that is of man is to allow free, fair and credible process for the will of God to be done on earth, failure to let that happen is punishment.
It is the unthinkable opportunity that Allah has given to man to partake in the leadership installation process, which is not compulsory anyway. If God wills, he will give a nation a leader without anyone taking part in the election or selection (call it imposition) process. Only Allah chooses a leader and whoever emerges as from the 2023 general elections becomes the new Leader that is chosen by Allah and I will lower my wings, at my own level, for him to fly to rule well and succeed like I have done for President Muhammadu Buhari in the last seven years and will continue to do for him until he finishes his beautiful civillian administration on May 29, 2023.
What is key is that, now that the aircraft of the APC has taxied to a point on the runway awaiting clearance to take off, the think-tank should consider the key factors to be equally placed on the same pace with PDP so that, in choosing who becomes the President among the major contenders, no Nigerian, Northerner or Southerner, will be blamed for failure of the other. Quite great, PDP has come up with one great candidate that is well vast in his grasp of presidential business in one of world’s most complex nations, Nigeria. The question is, does APC have a candidate as worthy enough to equate the personality forwarded by PDP? This is a question the stakeholders should resolve within themselves ahead of their primary elections, which will happen in no distant time from now, so that no Nigerian will be deserving of any blame from either of the political groups or personalities.
This piece does not any longer have to x-ray aspirants of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because that level has passed. The party still amidst the process of being x-rayed is APC and the piece is here to offer some advice. Since the leadership is yet to zone the position to any region thereby leaving it open to “Anyone Can Contest”, APC currently has a long list of 25 aspirants including those from North and South. In the South, usually, it is subdivided into South West, South East and South South but in the eyes of Nigeria’s structuralism, candidates eligible to contest are either North or South. That is key factor number one to consider.
On the list, there is a number of aspirants from South West namely Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, GCON, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Senator Ajayi Borroffice, Dimeji Bankole, and Pastor Tunde Bakare, the man who said God had since told him that he will be the next President of Nigeria. Others from the South namely (South South); Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Prof. Benedict Ayade, Mr. Tein Jack-Rich, Chief Ikeobasi Molukwu and Chief Timipre Sylva; (South East); Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Rochas Okorocha, Engr. Dave Umahi, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, Senator Ken Nnamani, Mrs. Uju Kennedy Ohanenye, Pastor Nicholas Felix Nwagbo. The four aspirants from the North are; Senate President Ahmed Lawan, Barrister Yahaya Bello, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Badaru and Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima.
Looking at the 25 candidates among who have been listed above and considering the behaviour that the South East political elites have put up with their full support for terrorist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its sister-in-crime group of Eastern Security Network (ESN), the probability that any candidate (even of PDP) would acceptably emerge from South East is zero. Not even a Rochas Okorocha can be trusted because, under him as Governor of Imo State, over 400 Northerners including innocent men, women and children, running away from insecurity of Boko Haram thinking they had a safe haven in the Okoracha’s part of the country, had their hope dashed as they were arrested, tagged that same Boko Haram they were running from and were even made to drink their urine. To add salt to the injury, Okorocha asked every Northerner in Imo State to obtain an Identity Card to live in the Nigerian state he was in charge as governor. If not for threat by some Northern leaders that if anything happened to those innocent Northerners, no Igbo will be able to leave Kano, who knew what would have been done to those people? This is payback for that unpatriotic action and so, despite his charity, Okorocha is going to be left to himself.
Still on the South East, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu is a fantastic person considering his brilliancy and contribution to nation’s growth and development as Minister of Science and Technology under the Buhari’s administration. His section of the country currently is not safe to be trusted with a very sensitive power thrust like the Presidency of Nigeria. This is a fact. And more so, picking a presidential candidate from South East will be number one reason for APC to fail because, an average Igbo elite, who can support terrorist group as criminally constituted as IPOB under the disguise that they are doing that to get the Presidency of a country, will always vote for PDP and Atiku, even against any Igbo man. They did it against Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. They will do it any time, any day, again. Well, it is not wrong for me to say that those who, for the seven years of a Northerner in office (2015-2022), have caused public disturbances in effort to make the country ungovernable for him and giving that as excuse emanating for quest for getting Presidency, if the Presidency is handed to them, they will mess the country up. This is not hate speech but reality. APC should note.
Now, the chess is between the South South and the South West. Surprisingly, Mr. Tein Jack-Rich of Rivers would have made a good President. Anyway, the man who earned the seldom given Northern Emirate traditional title of Dan Amana at defensively ease, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi comes to mind. By the title of Dan Amana (meaning: The Trustworthy), one is likely going to say that for one to have been so trusted by the part that has the bulk of the voting power to decide presidential win, Amaechi is more a possible person from the South South. But there is no one that is picked, who will not do well as President of Nigeria, Senator God’swill Akpabio, even Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who recently in an address he gave in Bayelsa made me feel like a refined Ph.D. holder has come around. The important thing will only be for them to hold the militants in the Niger Delta Area, who not only destroy oil installations, sabotage the refineries but do oil theft, under control. The South South is far better because, it never happened that a bulk of elites would support their wrongdoing elements against any part of the country or to take arms against the country once they are not deprived their rights as Nigerians. What is important to my fellow Niger Deltans is to have them live good life even if oil drilling is done till eternity in the host communities.
Now, the South West here we come. There is no candidate picked from South West that, like Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who is not well fitted into the position to rule Nigeria. Although the candidate of choice remains with President Muhammadu Buhari and between him and his Lord alone, that choice must definitely not come from the North. This is the assurance I have gotten from many lovers of United Nigeria of Hausa-Fulani extractions.
Recall one of those personalities from the North once granted an interview sometimes in the past (I may not be able to quote him precisely) saying, “We are not selfish in the North. We want power to shift to the South come 2023 because we cannot be it all the times, although by 2023 South will have done it for 16 years against North 14 years. But Yoruba should unite and present a candidate. You cannot say of all the people in that South West region, there is no single person that can rule Nigeria. You cannot say that. If it is Tinubu you do not want, find another person.” But, he said, “to tell us that you have no other person and that it is only Tinubu or nothing, then, we cannot reject, if eventually there is nobody in that part of the country who can step into the place. There must be no power vacuum. But seriously, let the South West come forward with one person,” he said and this is the position of an average Northerner although some of them, especially some PDP loyalists, want Tinubu.
Before I round off at this point, what APC should not do is to jump out of all of these options in the South and go to the North. Much as many Southerners are keenly attachment with the North, especially the Hausa-Fulani tribes, they are saying that it will be difficult for them to sell a Northern candidate anywhere in the South West now, knowing who the Yoruba are when it comes to tribal sentiment. It is not as if the votes to make Hausa-Fulani persistently President of Nigeria are not there. They have the votes. But the morality in consideration is to do the southward shift in the spirit of continued unity and peace of Nigeria with a view to collectively waging heavy bombardments against insecurity. That Nigeria may be great again.
This is important for those that think for APC now to see because, if this ruling party will dare to pick a Northern candidate in hope that it is only by doing that an Atiku can be defeated, they may be making a mistake. With a permanent bundle of Muhammadu Buhari’s 12 million votes from the North, intact, any Presidential Candidate from especially South West this time will be capable of handing the victory to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023 because, apart from South East, where the popular vote will continue to go to PDP especially Atiku candidacy, a people who claim they want power shift to the South is reason they have turned their region to war zone. As for South West, for any Afenifere believer to convince the world, even the United Nations, United States of America and the United Kingdom that they always cry to when the North rules, it will be difficult to tell why they failed to vote for the Southerner when the APC gave them the opportunity to do so.
Let the APC think-tank think as they are about to make a difficult decision. What will happen if APC fails to choose from South West and go for Northerner, which is not a bad idea, is that the South West will pull out of the party and pick any party. They will not win Federal but will return to their place as regional party people like they did against Olusegun Obasanjo that time using the Alliance for Democracy (AD) or the country boils. Regrettably to say that nothing will happen if South East does not get it. They cannot do more than they are currently doing. The South South will always be with South West because, both South South and South West are largely bonded by customs and traditions: the Edo and Delta have things in common with Yoruba from Itsekiri, Ijaw, Benin and most part of Edo sides. Same as Niger Delta, Ondo State, in South West, is largely part of the people of South South and this will play major role to make the two geo-political zone accept a Yoruba candidate, if that is the choice that eventually comes through.
Doing it this way will make an equally quality choosing for a level playing ground with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). With a free, fair and credible election that I believe the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is capable of conducting, therefore, any candidate from either the PDP or APC that wins will become the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that we will all submit to, unequivocally, with unalloyed loyalty.
A stitch in time saves nine!
*WAKE UP is opinion article column of Lagos based Journalist and publisher, Prince Bashir Adefaka. Meet him via his email: omope72@gmail.com
