French Proverb (translated): “When a horse smells it’s stable it’s very difficult to stop him”. With the latest rapprochement of all well-meaning people in Nigeria, the CPC party led by General Muhammadu Buhari is in alliance and possible merger talks with other progressive coalition partners in order to give true meaning to democratic governance within the Nigerian polity. Quoting the party National Publicity Secretary “It is our considered opinion that it would be rather preemptive to speculate at this time what the choice of these coalition partners shall be. However, what is unmistakably true is that, as the Almighty God grants the enablement, General Muhammadu Buhari shall continue to actively participate in the politics under the Nigerian nation-space”
French Proverb (translated): “When a horse smells it’s stable it’s very difficult to stop him”. With the latest rapprochement of all well-meaning people in Nigeria, the CPC party led by General Muhammadu Buhari is in alliance and possible merger talks with other progressive coalition partners in order to give true meaning to democratic governance within the Nigerian polity. Quoting the party National Publicity Secretary “It is our considered opinion that it would be rather preemptive to speculate at this time what the choice of these coalition partners shall be. However, what is unmistakably true is that, as the Almighty God grants the enablement, General Muhammadu Buhari shall continue to actively participate in the politics under the Nigerian nation-space”
Since the announcement hit the airwave over the weekend the entire political space has been jolted from their slumber because General Muhammadu Buhari after the last Presidential election decided not to participate in the murky water of Nigerian politics again. It is almost a year now that he made that statement. But, the Nigerian nation has been tottering as a result of the besmirched reputation of an inept, dishonest and egregiously incompetent political leadership; therefore the party’s leadership has brought to bear immense pressure on General Muhammadu Buhari to rescind his earlier stance on Nigeria’s tempestuous politics.
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His decision of participating again in Nigerian politics is reverberating and causing jitters in many camps or groups. The beer parlour gossips, pedestrian talks and online gist’s now are “wetin de man dey find again”,”e no dey tire dem...na for dere dem go die”, some are wondering if the office is his inheritance that he wants to re-posses it by fire by force or maybe he forgot something there he wants to retrieve. Well for the information of all skeptics, it’s his inalienable right as a private citizen of the country to aspire for any office from Councillorship to Presidential position whoever has a problem with his aspiration should declare in earnest and meet him at the soap box.
i) Optimism
Judging from the myriad attacks, salvos and reactions elicited from the announcement, it’s crystal clear to all discerning mind that General Muhammadu Buhari is a threat to vested interests who will rather destroy the corporate entity called Nigeria and the rejection from them and their agents or proxies its only due to his avowed incorruptibility stance. In Nigeria he is the real breath of FRESH AIR, what we have been inhaling for the past 13 years of PDP is PUTRID SMELL. Some of his staunchest critics actually refer to him as a serial loser because he lost 3 Presidential elections in a row in 2003 to General Olusegun Obasanjo,2007 to President Umaru Yar’Adua, the 2 elections were brazenly rigged and heavily manipulated and the latest defeat in 2011 election to President Goodluck Jonathan was scientifically rigged also. Well for the benefit of all and to situate the argument in proper perspectives, not very far from us in Senegal, one optimist leader contested and lost serially for 22 years until he eventually triumphed.
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Abdoulaye Wade is a Senegalese politician who was President of Senegal from 2000 to 2012. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and has led the party since it was founded in 1974. A long-time opposition leader, he ran for President four times, beginning in 1978, before he was elected in 2000. He won re-election in 2007 with a majority in the first round, but in 2012 he was defeated in a controversial bid for a third term. The import of the whole message here is to inform and educate both the critics and the skeptics in Nigeria that if you are optimistic and a firm believer in your strength you can always present yourself for the electorates until the democratic institution and political system will mature to a point whereby an effective leader will emerge to sanitise the system and usher in a leadership which will counter the leadership deficit pervading the land.
ii) Age And Experience:
When people run out of excuses and ideas on how to stop General Muhammadu Buhari, the convenient excuse employed is that age is not on his side. By 2015 he will be 73 years old. There are many old men in leadership positions in Africa and examples abound; President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is 88 year old being in power since 1980, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa is 70 years old and will surely be reelected in the next election. President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola is also 70 year old and still going strong. The recently ousted (March 2012 election) former Senegalese President President Abdoulaye Wade will be 86 year old in May. The list is endless and the inference that I can glean from all the examples listed above will be that they are all effective leaders and the much needed experience in handling statecraft comes with maturity. Moreover General Muhammadu Buhari has a previous experience from the time he ruled as a Military Ruler plus his military strict and disciplined background.
iii) Strengths and Abilities:
General Muhammadu Buhari is a trained military officer with requisite experience in strategic thinking and disciplined background. It will be out of place to compare a man with stern military background with the pretenders in power in Nigeria today who lacks the discipline to steer the ship of the country. The whole media is awashed with the latest information from the incumbent during breakfast prayer meeting at the Presidential Lodge and quoting “"By God's grace, this government will not fail. I know Nigeria will change, I always make my supplications to God that in selecting me as the President of this country, the Vice President, the Governors, members of the National Assembly, the Ministers, we are not the best material, but God knows why he choose us and we pray he should use us to change this country,”. I don’t know what to make of the statement credited to the Number One citizen of Nigeria but if he is sure they are not competent and not the best material available for the job then they don’t need the electorates to vote for them again, the Nigerian democracy today should be called “Godocracy”(coined by some friends online) one thing is certain though General Muhammadu Buhari is prepared always and was effective as a 41 year old man when he became the Military Head of State in 1983.
As a former Military ruler his policies yielded tangible dividends in terms of public discipline, curbing corruption, lowering inflation, enhancing workforce and improving productivity all because of his strict military background. It is on record also that General Muhammadu Buhari is the only politician in Nigeria today running on an anti-corruption platform and pledged to remove immunity protections from government officials which will stem the ugly trend of unbridled corruption, profligacy, looting and wanton wastages by elected public officials. If we make so much noise in the country about the malfeasance in the public sector, it’s in our best interest to allow the only man who volunteered to clean the “Augean stable” to assume leadership devoid of any sentiments.
In conclusion, if we decide to allow sentiments and stupid excuses to reject Genral Muhammadu Buhari an avowed anti-corruption leader, am eagerly waiting for another “messiah” which we all seems to be waiting for but we should all realize that Presidential Aspiration is not by wishful thinking its only for prepared minds and we will not drag anyone out of their bedroom to contest for Presidency(message to proponents of young, educated and intelligent leader). We should be mindful of one other fact that the usurpers who held us in bondage and pillaging our commonwealth and resources are perfecting their strategy day by day, they rule with deceit and they understand the entire citizens better than we know ourselves. The message of Pastor Tunde Bakare should be ringing loud and clear in our ears at all times “It Takes Idiots To Be Ruled by Fools”
Femi Ogunsanwo is a Social Commentator and Political Analyst
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