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Still Searching? By Douglas Akunia
As the election campaign in Nigeria draws down to the final leg, every one has probably pretty much decided on whom to vote for or what party to go with. There are all kinds of endorsements from those with media access coming from all angles for their favored candidates.
Let me say at this point that I agree with the recent appeal court in Abuja that INEC has the right to disqualify candidates which I don’t think is contradictory to the federal high court ruling that INEC include vice president Atiku’s name as a candidate which I also agree with. It means that though INEC does have this right, it has to be fair and just and on sound legal footing which in the case of the vice president, they apparently did not prove.
In a more developed country like the United States, a president or governor that is perceived to be good gets to serve a second term to complete eight years. If perceived to be great, he serves three terms, legally of course, not the type Obasanjo tried to pull on us. Ok only Franklin Roosevelt served more than two terms in America, but third term here means that their appointed successor wins, usually their vice. If the president is not liked, a popular opposition nullifies the power of the incumbency. I know, we can’t even really use this in Nigeria, we are not that advanced yet. The power of incumbency in our case means the power to rig and manipulate the system for a second term or to install a successor. Any party that rigs, manipulates or buys votes is bankrupt of ideas and/ or is not popular enough to win on merits.
I really don’t care that the President, Olusegun Obasanjo anointed a successor, in the person of Umaru Yar’Adua to succeed him, that to me is PDP, his party’s business. When the president told Sen. Ben Obi that he would not return, that is his right. I considered it PDP business that he will not support his candidacy within their party to run. For me, no sympathy for Ararame in Imo state. Don’t like it? Join or form another party. It is a different matter when OBJ said that to governor Obi of Anambra state because they are neither in the same party nor in the same constituency.
What matters to me is, does Obasanjo and his party deserve this third term with Yar’Adua at the helm? With this, one needs to look at the Obasanjo and PDP’s eight-year record to see if they merit it. Is there a popular opposition out there to nullify that power of incumbency?
One would argue that the PDP from all indications is not that popular due really to their own making. The vice president in his campaign this week summed it up by calling the ruling PDP an “epitome of failure” and “corruption personified”. That, I am afraid is the perception of most Nigerians. He also said that when they came on board in 1999, the output of electricity was 3500 megawatts, but now it is less than 1000 megawatts. This is one of the areas where the government has failed because electricity is real and not perception. Also, with electricity, the economy will grow better, just like good roads and other infrastructures.
Now Obasanjo’s government was not a total failure, though his first term was. In his second term, he focused his energy on two things, eliminating the foreign debt which he was partly responsible for and supposedly fighting corruption. With those, foreign confidence and investors are back but not all across the country only to end up frustrated because of no electricity to run their business. The currency, naira is stabilized, the military is neutralized, though I don’t know if this is good or not. The economy is really relatively good.
However the leadership he offered in fighting corruption turned out to ‘do what I say and not what I do’. The president cannot swear that he and those around him have not been corrupt themselves. This corruption is the reason we have dilapidated infrastructure. In their first 6 years, this government supposedly spent $300million on roads but nothing to show for it. The same can be said of power generation and other areas. With oil price as high as it is and with the foreign debt mostly gone, how come we are still not seeing the dividend and there is still high inflation and low per capita income. Most people are worse of than they were eight years ago. The answer is corruption because there is so much money in the country. Ok we went from the second most corrupt country to sixth according to Buhari. An improvement but not enough to celebrate.
Now, who would I endorse or better, who do I support? People are having all kinds of inclinations, supporting different candidates for different reasons. Example, in Anambra gubernatorial race, some people are supporting the Mr. Andy Uba because he is from their area. They don’t care that he has a lot of baggage around his neck from being believed to be behind all the mayhem that befell the state since 2003 to the fact that he is being imposed on the state by the president, to lying about his person and achievements. He is spending a tremendous amount of money on this campaign, buying out local chiefs, giving out food stuff and motor cycles and cash, sponsoring sports events and even subsidizing fuel, all illegal and all this money is investment that would have to be recouped at the expense of the state. People are supporting and endorsing him. They say he will use his international connections, what international connections?
Same goes for the former governor, Chris Ngige. He has a lot of supporters never mind that in my opinion, his term was mediocre compared to say Donald Duke or even Muazu but an improvement from where the state had been and the work he did was for his survival because of the battle he was going through with his god fathers over the stolen mandate. Never mind that there is an allegation of corruption hanging around his neck too. If he wins fair and square this time, without the incentive will he still do the work? Some of his support is genuine though because of the work he did when he was there, or because he is from their area or because they know him and expect appointment or contract.
I use Anambra state because it is the hottest state as usually but the same thing is happening all across the country. Most people are supporting candidates because they are from their parts of the state or country as the case may be. They assume that at least their areas will see some development. That is exactly what Obasanjo has done for his home state and area towards the end of his term. There is nothing wrong with siding with a candidate from one’s area because that’s who they can identify with. It is done like everywhere in the world, but not if the candidate in no good. But if one uses this type of reasoning in choosing their leader, it becomes a vicious cycle. People will want to be leaders just for those selfish leaders, first me and my family then my home area. How then can they honestly criticize what Obasanjo has done? How then can they criticize the marginalizing of the South South and the South East and to some extent, parts of the North.
If you are still searching for a leader to vote for, please make a critical assessment of the candidates. These politicians are coming out to say, “I will manufacture jobs, I will end suffering, I will manufacture electricity, I will transform the place and make it New York city, I will do this and do that.” That is all rubbish, vague and empty without depth. One has to look at what the candidate really represents. Look at consistency and use one’s experience as a guide. Some say experience doesn’t matter, that is not true. It is the most important criterion. Corruption is the most important issue to me, followed by how best to make the life of the people better.
Just like in American presidential campaign, I will not support anyone that supported the Iraqi adventure, democrat or republican. That is because they are either imperialistic, not recognizing international norms and laws, arrogant and not knowing the limits of their power, or they are just naïve and ignorant of what is going on. They say let’s go, you go. Only to come out and say they were deceived. They in fact chose to ignore the overwhelming evidence that contradicted what they were being presented with. How can one support ‘regime change’ in a foreign country as if it is part of your domain without knowing the implication and consequence?
Same way I will not support anyone that supported the illegal and unconstitutional third term plan. That meant to me that they were either naïve and ignorant of the laws, or they were corrupt. They supported it for selfish reason. In either case, such people do not deserve my support.
Now take a look at the presidential candidates. There are about 20 of them that were cleared to run. I will only look at the main ones. This however is not a prediction of who will win.
First is the Vice president Atiku. He had enough integrity to voice opposition to policies he disagreed with. First was when the president wanted to increase fuel prices by reducing subsidy. The vice president then criticized the move and called the president insensitive to the poor people’s suffering. That also means that he would probably care about the suffering masses as opposed to the elites. He also viciously fought against the third term. On the other side, will he be an independent president or just a governor of the ‘empire’s province of Nigerian’, answerable to Caesar and/or queen Eliza? Also he has this perception of being corrupt, even outside of the official accusations. He and the president used $100m from the treasury to finance their campaign. Then there is the privatization, COJA games, and the recent indictments. Too much for me to support.
Then there is Orji Uzo Kalu. OUK is young and energetic and has also shown some guts. He also fought against the third term, which is a plus for me. However, his experience as the governor of Abia is not good. He was part and parcel of PDP. He also has this corruption thing around his neck. In fact he left PDP only because they will not make him president of the country which is just selfish and ambitious but his campaign has been empty and lack ideas. He seems rather desperate to be president. Like Atiku, who will he be answerable to and whose interest is he going to serve, Nigeria or foreign power? If you are from the South East and wants to follow emotions, don’t care about any of the above, then follow Ohaneze endorsement, he is probably your man but there are other more upright people in the race, Chief Ojukwu and Pat Utomi come to mind that I would rather support.
Talking about Utomi, he is also young and energetic. He has been called visionary and full of ideas. The educated class likes him because of his background. He seems to care about the suffering masses. Just like Thomas Jefferson, he has the advantage of having lived both abroad and at home, so he should know what Nigeria needs. But the problem is that he lacks experience. Supporting him is like taking a gamble. It is not known if he has what it takes to deliver on any of what he represents. I like Utomi because of his ideas but can he deliver without the clout and experience? From his job experience, he ran Volkswagen of Nigeria and it went under. If you want to take a chance, Utomi is your man. I wish he would have started as a governor like Oshiomhole in Edo state or as a senator first.
Without going into the question of his health, Umaru Yar’Adua from all reports is a good man, not corrupt like most politicians in Nigeria. He is also an academician, in fact from his experience as governor of his state, his focus seemed to be on education. Even though he seems to be a very independent minded person who cares about the masses, which is why he joined the PRP in the second republic as opposed to his family that went with the establishment, the NPN, but now he represents the establishment, the PDP. I am sorry, even though the PDP and OBJ has made the economy strong but the people are worse off. I don't want anybody that will continue Obj's policies and Obj should just go period. PDP has not been good for the ordinary man on the street and we need institutional change. The reclusive Yar’Adua didn’t even show up for his scheduled debate. Beside following Obj policies, what else does he stand for?
Then there is Gen. Buhari (Rtd.), a man whose experience includes being a former military head of state. From that experience, we can see what he is capable of. His regime represented discipline and anti corruption in the society at large. That is the kind of leadership that I think is needed. He is focused and disciplined. Most important to me is that his campaign has come to represent not only anti corruption, but also restructuring the country to a true federal structure. These are the two things the country needs the most if it is to move forward and he has the ability and the gravitas to deliver on them.
Buhari who has been described as ‘integrity personified’ has since 2003 led the opposition in the country to PDP’s corruption and elitism, making him an enemy of the elites and the corrupt. He has grass root support because the masses especially in the North like him. I believe he will be good for the masses.
His campaign was hampered by limited fund. His biggest blow though came from Wole Soyinka who picked out some of the things Buhari supposedly did as a military head of state, like showing favoritism to the Northerners. Before that he had the support of the Southwest, which seems to be evaporating as a result. Also some people have the notion that he is a ‘shariarist’. There is no evidence of this though. He is an unapologetic devout Muslim, to me that does not make him anti Christian. If he wins his government it seems will have every one represented on the decision table. His distracters have indicated that as a former military man, he will be dictatorial, he will not be so more than Obasanjo has been and this is a different system of government. Nigeria does in fact need a strong leader. If you care about corruption or any of these things that he represents, he is the man, otherwise look elsewhere.
Some one asked if I were the president, what would I do differently. Good question but very simple. I will lead by example for one, I will push for some good reasonable and enforceable laws and I will use my law enforcement officers to enforce them fairly and equitably. Luckily, the national assembly went along and created the ICPC and EFCC and others. The president should have used these tools more effectively instead of using them as personal power to combat and suppress opposition and perceived enemies. I would treat every region equitably and fairly so no one will be marginalized. I will have vision and focus to lead the country in a particular direction.
I would like to see the country restructured, we need a true federal structure which will allow everyone to organize the way they want to, to move ahead with their own police. I don't want a piece of cake but I want to be able to bake mine. I want a parliamentary system of government too with rotational president, so every region gets a constitutional chance, with an appointed prime minister to avoid mediocrity.
Which candidate is closest to these and will be capable of delivering them, honestly fight corruption, and bring the economic dividends and development to the people? That's who gets my support. I supported Ukiwe for his integrity and experience but he couldn't get any delegates for the PDP convention from any state, not even his home state even before Obj made his selection. May God help and guide us as we search for our new leaders because we get who deserve.
Douglas Akunia |