Nigeria and the 2023 dilemma
Shettima, as APC Vice Presidential Candidate’s unveiling PHOTO: Facebook/officialasiwajubat
We are officially in the election season. Things are not the way they should be and I am happy that Nigerians know it and they are showing it. What happened in Edo State played itself out again in Osun on Saturday. The woeful performance of the All Progressive Congress cannot but reflect upon its outings during elections. The situation of things in Nigeria is getting tougher and tougher every single day. Inflation is at its highest, there is no electricity supply and the cost of maintaining generators is draining everyone. Companies are shutting down, the universities are under lock and key, insecurity is worse than we have ever known and it takes prayers to travel on our roads. People are losing their jobs and those employed are either not being paid or their take home package is not sufficient to address the soaring inflationary trend.
The galloping exchange rate of the major foreign currencies has continued to hurt the Nigerian economy and the government itself has resorted to borrowing. Everyone is affected one way or the other and this is part of why the ruling APC lost the Osun election. People are tired of stories and propaganda over very serious national issues. Why is the government unable to stand up to the terrorists, the bandits, the kidnappers, the cultists, the armed robbers and the other criminals generally? These are some of the issues that will shape the 2023 general elections.
The Candidates
Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the flagbearer of the ruling APC has always had baggage, even from his stint as the governor of Lagos State, concerning his true age, his origin, his educational qualifications, his health and even his wealth. The expectation was that a man in such troubled waters would walk circumspectly in order not to step upon the landmines of Nigerian politics. But alas, Tinubu decided to dare Nigerians in one of the areas that affect them most. He wanted to revive the Hope 93 scenario of late Chief MKO Abiola, by fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a secular environment like Nigeria. There is no better way to incur the wrath of voters than to arrogantly dare them. Underlying the Muslim-Muslim ticket is the impression unwittingly created that others do not matter. How can a candidate aspiring to be the President of Nigeria not be mindful of the sensitive nature of religion and its role in our national life? Although this is proving to be Tinubu’s albatross, there are other serious issues about his life ambition.
In 2015, Tinubu sold Buhari to Nigerians as the messiah that was needed to turn things around. Tinubu was everyday mouthing fiscal federalism, state police, restructuring and such other empty slogans meant to woo the people to vote for his candidate. Tinubu could not implement these promises thereafter other than to remain in Lagos with the illegal title of national leader of the APC.
Tinubu’s choice in 2015 has driven Nigeria to the very brink not ever thought possible. Buhari has divided us more than ever before and he has also pauperized our people beyond tolerance. He is the perfect example of how not to raise a leader. Without apologizing for misleading the people, Tinubu himself has now joined the race to succeed his candidate. The APC itself as an entity has not helped Tinubu and it is most unfortunate. The impression that the APC has given to Nigerians is that the party can win the presidential election without the people. Perhaps that is the reason for the Osun State shocker. No one should be allowed to assert with such unbridled arrogance that there is a hold on power, unless there is a hidden agenda to win elections through other means beyond the open ballot.
It is rather too early for Tinubu to have been caged, captured and hijacked by the APC cabal, the latter which has presented Tinubu as a weakling. Tinubu has suddenly lost his voice since his emergence. It was Governor Abdullahi Ganduje that announced to Nigerians that Tinubu had accepted to pair with a Muslim vice presidential candidate and it took Tinubu a visit to Buhari in Katsina to be able to unveil his choice. The proverb goes that what you would not eat as a rich man you would not bother to even sniff at it as a poor man. If this is the sign of what is to come for the Tinubu presidency, then we should better forget it as we cannot afford another eight years of leadership by proxy. The impression has already been created that Tinubu is not acceptable to the Northern Muslims or else they would not have insisted on one of their own. The APC will do well to discard the toga of being a Muslim party by spreading its major offices to accommodate all interests.
Beyond religion however, there is nothing to cheer in the Tinubu/Shettima ticket. The leading billionaires in the world today have no political relationship with the governments of their countries and they have no contractual arrangement to suck their national treasuries. Once the wealth of anyone is tied to the government, then such a person should not seek to be in control of political power. Let Tinubu retire and continue with his revenue management strategies for the various governments that have been patronizing him. He cannot seek to hold economic and political power all at once. Since Tinubu is already in the race however, it is advisable for him to pick his vice presidential candidate from another faith, in order to balance the equation and give a sense of belonging to others.
To be continued tomorrow
Adegboruwa is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
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