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Has “Joseph The Octopus” Endorsed Buhari? By Anthony Akinola The one picture you would hate to see in your dream is that of the very opponent of the team you are supporting clutching a massive trophy and jubilating all over the place! Not just once had one experienced a ‘nightmarish’ dream of this nature, and not just once had “Joseph the Octopus” proved to be revealing exactly what was about to happen. Of course it should not be interpreted as if one does not want Major-General Muhammadu Buhari to be the next president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but what the hell was he doing in my dream smiling so broadly as he acknowledged shouts of “congratulations” from a horde of adoring supporters? The man can hardly manage a smile in real life and neither is he the candidate one would ordinarily be rooting for. However, a warning would seem to have come from the unknown: “Do not bet your house against General Muhammadu Buhari becoming president in 2011 unless you are equally prepared to be homeless!” If a mere dream is to be believed, as it was in the case of that of Joseph in the Holy Bible, how do we explain the eventuality of it becoming a reality? It would appear from one’s understanding of contemporary Nigerian politics, that General Buhari of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) is the most credible candidate from the pack of opposition aspirants with the political muscle to snatch the presidency from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Such possibility would have been substantially helped by the discord within the ruling party – a discord of mouth-watering prospects for the opposition when presidential election takes place next year. General Buhari stands to benefit from this discord. Many need not be reminded that the rift within the PDP is caused by disagreements over the ‘zoning’ policy of the party. The death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on May 5th 2010, introduced confusion into a principle which, in all honesty, has been cardinal to the PDP since its formation in 1998. Key members of the party from the North, where the late Yar’Adua hailed from, believed, rightly or wrongly, that their region is entitled to present the candidate that could seek to serve out what could have been a second term for the deceased president. Their determination to seize this objective has resulted in the adoption of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, erstwhile Vice-President between 1999 and 2007, as their ‘consensus candidate' that would attempt to snatch the presidential candidacy of the PDP from incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in party primaries due this December. Emerging as beneficiary from the geo-political zone to which the PDP ceded its vice-presidential candidacy during the 2007 lection, the latter succeeded Yar’Adua as president in accordance with the dictates of the national constitution. The PDP primaries will be bitterly contested, with egos badly bruised. The very essence of a consensus candidate faces mockery if the party’s presidential candidacy went to Goodluck Jonathan. If, on the other hand, it went to Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, the North could be accused of having successfully “ganged up” against a southern candidate. Whichever way the presidential candidacy of the PDP went, one thing for sure is that the party’s fences have been severely damaged to the benefit of an opposition candidate of the stature of General Muhammadu Buhari. General Muhammadu Buhari enjoys such tremendous goodwill in the North that even if Alhaji Abubakar Atiku becomes the candidate of the PDP, the former will engage him competitively in that region. The South would be the battleground where Buhari could benefit from the ‘protest votes’ of disaffected PDP supporters. The South might once have been Buhari’s bete noire but things would appear to have been changing steadily for him over the years. He has been diluting the perception of being a religious bigot by actually soliciting the support of other religions to his cause. He is perceived not to be as corrupt as most Nigerian politicians and would appear to have tried to improve his democratic credentials by being seen to be supportive of the “June 12” sentiment. Even when he was rather clueless as military ruler between 1984 and 1985, the perception remains popular that he sought to instil discipline into a decadent polity. The Nigeria of today needs that discipline more urgently than ever before. Neither would Buhari have much to fear about the candidacy of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, even in a system where the ‘incumbent factor’ is synonym to the ‘election ragging factor’. Jonathan might not have done much to justify his ‘messiahship’ in the eyes of the neutral. He would appear to be seeking to be elected as president – not ‘re-elected’ – with not much to impress voters with. He made vociferous noise, particularly about his intention to improve the supply of electricity, but that would now appear to have become a manifesto in his electioneering campaign. He says electricity supply will improve in April; that, after the elections! There is no doubt that the candidacy of Jonathan has a blackmailing influence on all of us – many say he is the candidate of God, and many more warn that oil production could suffer if he is not elected president – but Buhari would be right there in the North reminding voters that the PDP is one political party that does not respect agreements. Jonathan’s support comes mainly from the South, but the not-so-good news for him is that anti-PDP sentiment in that constituency of his is at a much more resentful end than elsewhere. For the first time in the history of our nation there could be a transfer of presidential power from one political parry to another. From all indications, this would depend more on the determination of the so-called opposition parties than anything else. They would have to co-operate among themselves if they genuinely wish to wrestle the presidency from the PDP. Of course it is a mere dream that one has attempted to share with readers here, and one’s dream should not cause panic to those who have dissipated energy and emotions to selfish ambitions. Even the candidate of No Peoples Party could also have dreamt several times of presiding over executive meetings at Aso Rock!
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