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30 November 2010 By Abdullahi Bichi Yusuf
At last, the product of
Adamu Ciroma cooking pot for PDP has
been unveiled. The result was announced on Monday 22nd
November, 2010 that after thorough assignment, the
former Vice President
Atiku
Abubakar emerged as the Northern PDP
consensus candidate. The implication of this result on
the remaining aspirants who could not get the nod from
the Adamu Ciroma Committee is enormous. First, that
Atiku Abubakar is better than IBB, Gusau and Bukola.
Secondly, that none of these aspirants was allowed to
test his acceptance through the known process of
democracy. Thirdly, that all the resources pulled out
by individual aspirants to get accepted are all in
vain. Four, that due process of democracy has been
suppressed for mere arrangement in the name of
consensus. There are many other serious implications
bothering on the way and manner northern PDP elders
went about their consensus candidate.
With the recent selection
of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the Pdp northern consensus
candidate and the readiness of IBB, Gusau and Saraki
to support him towards getting the Pdp ticket for
April 9 Presidential election, the stage is now set
for a big thug of war between the supporters of the
northern consensus agitators represented by Atiku and
the group of the incumbent President Jonathan who
believes that zoning is no longer viable and
therefore, any body can contest. The desperations
between these two groups to outsmart one another will
definitely undermine the much talked about free, fair
and credible election, especially within the internal
politics of the so called the largest political party
in Africa.
Unfortunately, apart from
the
political power game,
none of Atiku and Jonathan can make appreciable
progress and development for the country because these
two people have presided over the affairs of this
country without meaningful record of achievement. As a
matter of fact, it is not going to make any difference
whether Atiku or Jonathan takes the Pdp ticket. The
truth of the matter is that this country has suffered
a lot in the hand of Pdp since 1999 when it came to
power. With the kind of candidate Pdp is likely to
produce for the April 2011 presidential election, it
shows that Pdp as a political party is not ready to
amend towards achieving the desired progress for the
country.
Indeed, both Jonathan and
Atiku groups have skeletons in their cupboards. They
are like characters of Chume and Amope in the drama
book of
Wole Soyinka
entitled "The trial of Brother Jero."Some of us have
not forgotten the story of Jero Metamorphosis. Chume
is a bicycle repairer and Amope is a fish seller.
Chume wants to buy fish from Amope on credit with the
hope not to pay at all and Amope is ready to sell her
fish to Chume on credit but at an exorbitant cost. The
two characters have concealed wicked intentions
against one another and without the knowledge of the
other. So, the sponsors of Atiku and Jonathan, though
from the same political party would like to have a
pond of fresh against whoever emerges victorious at
the end of the party primaries.
The good people of
Nigeria
should know that the cup of Pdp is filled up and
cannot take Nigeria to the Promised Land. They must
therefore rise against installing any of the two Pdp
presidential aspirants as the country's next leader.
If the sponsors of Atiku want a northern leader in the
next political dispensation to continue where the late
Umoru Yaradu'a stopped, we have better credible
northern person who has also offered himself for the
services of the country than Atiku. If Jonathan
sponsors are against zoning because they want to
continue, they should know that there is an aspirant
outside their party who possess better leadership
quality and does not bother about zoning but how to
move the country forward in terms of socio-economic
and political development. This is why we must all
begin to consider the election and massive support of
Malam (Dr)
Ibrahim Shekarau, Sardaunan Kano as the
next
President of Nigeria. Shekarau happens
to be the only presidential aspirant standing against
tribalism, sectionalism and nepotism. Though he has no
money to display as other aspirants are doing, but he
has the political will to make Nigeria great again.
Shekarau is the only Presidential aspirant that has no
axe to grind with any interest, individually and
collectively too.
As a detribalized man of
God, Shekarau easily forgives and forgets whatever
wrong one does to him. But can we say this of Atiku,
Jonathan, Buhari and Ribadu? Atiku and Jonathan are
already enmeshed with zoning palaver, indicating that
they are tribal and sectional champions. Buhari and
Ribadu are already wounded lions that are also ready
to take their pond of fresh when opportunity permits.
So, if the good people of Nigeria want unity, peace
and advancement of Nigeria, they must go for that man
of distinctive quality, a man whose sincere record of
achievements stands tall among the presidential
aspirants.
As a result of Malam
Ibrahim Shekarau's outstanding quality against the
other presidential aspirants as Alhaji Atiku Abubakar,
Goodluck Jonathan,
Nuhu
Ribadu,
Muhammadu Buhari, etc, there have been
some subtle attempts to undermine him whenever the
issue of presidential aspirants comes to play. First,
it was rumoured that Shekarau was no longer vying for
the presidency. The rumour was immediately debunked
and 54 members of ANPP at the national assembly later
bought Shekarau's presidential nomination form for
him, which indicated that he is still in the race. The
recent bizarre one was the so called opinions of
Nigerians conducted by NOI polls Limited published on
page 28 and 29 November in the Daily Trust of 24th
November, 2010, courtesy of ANAP FOUNDATION. The
sponsored and tilted opinion research does not include
a leading presidential aspirant under
All
Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, Malam (Dr)
Ibrahim Shekarau. This deliberate bias and so called
research opinion poll does not in any way reflect the
correct opinions of Nigeria but that of the sponsors
and their agents. An opinion research that worth its
sort must not seek to be fraudulent biased and
exclusively for the highest bidder as the one
conducted by NOI polls Limited. If not, why was the
name of a leading presidential aspirant like Malam
(Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau not included in the opinion
polls of Nigerians? This, in addition to the
consistent inconsistencies in the result of the polls,
makes the research apolitical and should be thrown to
the dogs.
The result of the Adamu
Ciroma search for northern Pdp consensus candidate
indicates that Atiku had 4 votes among the nine votes
cast. The big riddle is that how can nine people
decide for the millions of northern people? This is
why the result of Adamu Ciroma led NPLF should be
taken as a joke carried too far. Is it not true that
Atiku spent eight years in government without
initiating single road construction in his
Adamawa State?
How come he emerged the so called northern consensus
candidate of Ppd? In view of this, Nigerians should
take it as a challenge that must be rectified. If
Atiku is lucky to still make it in the Pdp primary, he
should wait for mother of all defeat in the general
elections. One is however glad that Adamu Ciroma
committee was able to consciously or unconsciously
avoid retired military men in politic by not selecting
any of IBB and Gusau. This is why CPC should try to
follow this noble footprint for our nascent democracy
to survive. The destiny of this country is in the
hands of the good people of Nigeria. They should make
or mar and as a mark of avoiding had they known, let
them cast their precious votes for MALAM (DR) IBRAHIM
SHEKARAU, Sardaunan Kano because he is the genuine
consensus candidate of Nigerians.
Abdullahi Bichi Yusuf
writes from Bichi,
Kano
State.
abdullahibichiyusuf@yahoo.com |
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