It gives me great joy and satisfaction that many Nigerians are increasingly becoming politically conscious. Current trends in the Nigerian polity especially as it relates to the expression of interests and opinions and the ferocity of same gives me hope that Nigerian leaders may not have it easy emasculating the will and expectations of ordinary Nigerians.
The race for the Presidency of Nigeria in this year 2015 is not one that can easily be predicted given the incumbency of President Goodluck Jonathan, the seeming popularity of General Mohammadu Buhari and the perhaps unprecedented level of interest by all Nigerians.
It would be putting it mildly to say that majority of Nigerians are unimpressed and disappointed at the leadership of President Jonathan. I am too. Nigeria is indeed experiencing perilous and turbulent times to such an extent that for many APC sympathizers, even though they see the party as a choice between a rock and a hard place, whatever change is available is acceptable. This is a dangerous gamble that calls for extreme circumspection. No matter how discouraged we feel about President Jonathan’s inability to solve the myriad of problems that plague Nigeria especially the terror of Boko Haram, Nigerians must be alert to resist this mindset caused by the traumatic experiences we have been compelled to cope with to such an extent that our memories and judgments are impaired to think that a Buhari-led presidency surrounded by some “hawks” whose records of service in the past are not in any way inspiring, would be a better alternative to usher in the much touted change.
After fifteen years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria, I am ashamed to call our democratic practice nascent. While the Nigerian brand of democratic practice may not be the hallmark of democracy as it is practiced in the West, we are definitely on the path to strengthening our democratic culture. The ghosts of military rule still lurk in the shadows. The delinquency of our politicians does not help matters. The only ray of hope is the increasing political consciousness, awareness and participation of ordinary Nigerians.
Buhari’s antecedents and persona represent everything that is antithetical to democratic practice, not just at this time, but to the very foundation of our democracy. Firstly, Buhari represents the military institution which cannot be exonerated from the mess that Nigeria is today by virtue of its dominance of political power. Secondly, Nigeria does not need another President with antecedents of suppressing the opinions and civil participation of Nigerians, and the Press. In a democracy, citizens are persuaded by sound reasoning expressed in valid arguments and regulated by the rule of law and not by the brow-beating that was the hallmark of the Buhari/Idiagbon regime. Thirdly, Nigeria deserves an intelligent, articulate and mentally alert President with the capacity to understand and analyze issues critically; one with clarity of mind to know where his certificates are and not one that “assumes” that they were with military authorities. I have watched his campaign rallies and I am not convinced that the change we need is someone who throws about catch phrases without any lucid explanation of supposed solutions to our problems.
Is it not an insult to our collective intelligence that the APC candidate has shunned a political debate that would have afforded Nigerians the opportunity to assess their candidates to determine their suitability for the offices they seek on the spurious excuse that the organizers would be biased against their presidential candidate? If Buhari enjoys such widespread popularity as the party makes it seem, why not allow Nigerians to be the judge? If it turns out that the organizers were indeed obviously biased, would it not have been to his advantage as the situation would have won him more sympathy? Or are some people trying to shield Buhari from facing Nigerians because they are afraid he would fumble thereby exposing his alleged intellectual hollowness and physical frailty?
Will Nigerians be hoodwinked in the name of change to hand power over to those strongly suspected of complicity in the insurgency that threatens the very existence of our nation? The death of Nigerians in their thousands from the terror of Boko Haram tugs at our national conscience. The psyche of the average Nigerian is so traumatized from these experiences that we want to administer a pre-conceived and pre-manufactured antidote as medication to an ailment which root cause probably originates from the same agent. Can we entrust our secular state and democracy to a Buhari who has openly advocated for the implementation of Sharia law all over Nigeria; someone so consumed by religious bigotry that he ordered his Muslim brothers and sisters not to vote for Christians?
Most people may think this is a Christian versus Muslim affair; but traditional religionists, humanists, atheists, pagans, etc will not be spared either. The separation of religion from the State is one that would definitely be critical to Nigeria remaining as one national entity.
The leadership of the APC as presently constituted, comes across as a special interest group that if allowed to control power at the centre, will metamorphose into a rebranded, smaller but even more powerful cabal that will raise the present level of corruption that we all scream about to an unprecedented new height. I shudder to imagine the main driver of a Buhari-for-president and others that we know who have so far been lucky to escape answering for their crimes, gaining access to power at the centre! If the argument is that Buhari is “Mr Integrity”, which is the only credential he flaunts but which I very much doubt given what we now know about his running of PTF, and his yet unresolved certificate issue, how effective would be just one Saint among a multitude of sinners?
While the foundation of our democracy is still faulty and terribly wobbling, Nigerians must continue to strive to balance our democracy on a scale of sound reasoning and internationally established norms of rule of law, freedom of worship, freedom of expression, equality, fairness, justice, accountability, transparency. All these, not sentiments or hate campaigns, are the ingredients that will make our democracy enduring and withstand the test of time and by implication, deliver the goods to Nigerians.
Toks Ero blogs at www.toksero.org