Nigeria-2023: Stripping the presidential hopefuls, by Prof. MK Othman
Deep Thoughts with Othman
On one of my trips to the USA after the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria, I met a flamboyant Nigerian on transit. As we were struggling to introduce ourselves, he fished out his business card and tossed it to me. I carefully studied the card and observed a spectacular expression, written boldly “Former Presidential Aspirant in Nigeria”. I looked at the man’s face again, his name and could not place his political weightiness or relevance in Nigeria’s party politics. I was disappointedly flabbergasted at the extent some Nigerians could go to promote their image deceitfully. What the hell is “former Presidential Aspirant in Nigeria”? I concluded that the man was a huge joke and that was why he was flamboyantly dressed to advertise his Africanness. That encounter made me deeply reflect on the kind of anxiety associated with the 2015 presidential elections, which brought all sorts of people aspiring to occupy Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
The state of the nation in the period from 2013 to 2015 was almost a replica of June 12th, 1993, after the annulation of Abiola’s presidential election and thereafter. The country was drifting into an abyss of the chaotic situation making some of us lose hope in the nation’s survival. Miraculously, the nation has always survived. Fast-forwarding, a similar scenario is being played today with fierce and daunting challenges, which are shaking the foundation of the nation. Today, we are at the point of democratically changing the leadership, come 2023, yet the same pattern of people aspiring to be president emerges. Already, over 30 aspirants have openly declared their interest in contesting the coveted position of Presidency and may be classified as jokers, serious-minded and hesitant classes. Somehow, the jokers are systematically being eliminated with the leading political party, APC asking for a wolfing sum of 100 million Naira as a nomination fee, even if, one desires to be a joker “presidential aspirant”. This has serious repercussions, which I will discuss later.
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Surprisingly, the aspirants in the hesitant class have always made it to power. President Aliyu Shehu Shagari of blessed memory was in this class. He initially wanted to be a Senator of the second republic but was dragged to contest for the presidency and made it. He completed his first tenure and started the second term but was toppled by the military junta. Alhaji Umaru Musa Yaradua was another hesitant candidate, his highest ambition after his 2-term tenure as Katsina state governor was to represent his state at the senate in Abuja but was forced-fed with the presidential candidature under the platform of the PDP. He made it to Aso Rock Presidential Villa. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was in a similar quagmire when he was pushed to contest the presidency against “his will”.
Remember the question he posed to the delegation of high calibre people that request him to contest the 1999 presidential election, he said “how many presidents do you want to make out of me?”. The rest is history as the sweetness of power made his staunch supporters at the national assembly assiduously worked to remove the tenure limit or at least insert a “third term” for the president in the constitution. Dr Goodluck Jonathan was yet another hesitant candidate. His ambition was to become the governor of his state after loyally serving his state, Bayelsa as deputy governor. Fate made him vice president and promoted him to the position of the president when the then President Alhaji Umaru Yardua of blessed memory died in active service.
As for the serious-minded presidential aspirants, the only one that made it is the current president, Muhammadu Buhari after three different strenuous contests over 12 years period with dear consequences. In the current contest, there are few serious-minded aspirants and there seem to be no one or groups willing to shop for the hesitant candidate. I have two major worries about the aspirants and their platforms.
On the platforms, in Nigeria, we claim to operate a multi-party system but in practice, we operate a 2-party system, – PDP and APC. The difference between APC and PDP is the difference between PDP and APC, and it is the difference between six and half of a dozen. So, the only difference is their names. The parties are ideologically empty with no developmental focus, vision, and national aspiration. If they have, they are not known even by their card-carrying members and the parties are only used as platforms for contesting and winning positions. They are avenues for the livelihood of partisan politicians.
As for the 30 or so aspirants, each is keenly working to become the flagbearer of one of the two parties by hook or crook. None of them has articulated a transparent blueprint on how to address the multiple daredevil challenges constraining Nigerian development by threatening disintegration, war, and squalor. The current level of decadence, uncertainty, the threat of balkanization, and arms proliferation has gradually and steadily made the Nigerian project sink into the abyss of poverty, hopelessness, insecurity, and deprivation. From Abuja, the Federal Capital down to the smallest village, people are scared of looming and devastating insecurity on a daily. How do we secure Nigeria? How do we generate massive employment and increase the productivity of over 150 million people in Nigeria? Critical sectors like health, education, security, and economy are collapsing and how do we stop the rot and reverse the situation for a more prosperous and better Nigeria? As far as we can see the aspirants have not created hopes for a better tomorrow. They come from the same group of politicians who created the calamitous situation we are in today.
We must shine our eyes and choose a good leader with the capability of taking the country out of the woods. Our next president’s children should attend public primary, secondary schools, and universities here in Nigeria. He and his family should not fly out of the country for health challenges, and the same situation should apply to governors, ministers, and members of the National Assembly. This way, we will be forced to equip our schools and hospitals to international standards. We will permanently bid ASUU strike bye. Our next president should invest 20% of his government’s annual budget in education, 10% in agriculture, 10% in health, and 20% in infrastructural development. May God bless Nigeria.
Prof Othman writes from NAERLS, ABU Zaria and can be reached via email: mkothman@gmail.com.
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