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11 November 2010 By Saka Raji Audu As the 2011
presidential election gets near, with the spring up of
the various presidential aspirants in the country, the
era of tribalism and primordial sentiment are
beginning to give way to nationalism, patriotism and
meritocracy. This time around, the southern people
seem to be saying that only detribalised and patriotic
candidate will get their node. This is because
Obasanjo who comes from their side neglected them
until the late Umoru Yar'adua of blessed memory came
to power in 2007. The
southerners took the establishment of the
Niger Delta Ministry
and amnesty granted to the restive militant youth in
the region as cases in point. The people from the
south noted with dismay that since Dr. Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan assumed the office of the president after the
demise of his boss, the late Yar'adua, he has been
indulging in cat and dog style of leadership, in which
almost all the relief granted to them by the late
president have either seized to exist or lip service
is being paid to them. In addition to
these, it is now the belief of the south that Mr.
President Jonathan has done more harm than good to
Nigeria and
Nigerians
in all its ramifications. The people noted with
nostalgia that while governor
Ibrahim Shekarau has been busy in
his state of Kano, maintaining peaceful cohabitation
among the different ethnic group in the state, Mr.
Jonathan is busy doing the contrary to Nigerians by
creating instability and heating the polity with
zoning and no zoning issue. It is
generally observed with dismay that the short stay of
Jonathan as president of the country has renewed
regional rift between the south and the north while
the country suffers in miasma of hopelessness and
fears of bombing and ill-feelings among the good
people of Nigeria.
The Daily Tribune of 4th
November 2010 reports authoritatively that "both the
presidency and the
ruling party are worried about
the chances of the PDP in the South-South zone, as
each of the states in the zone is embroiled in one
problem or the other ahead of the 2011 elections." The south
might have also vowed not to vote IBB whom the region
described as having frustrated their wishes and
aspirations through the annulment of June 12, 1993
presidential election rated as the most credible, free
and fair election in Nigeria. The Nigerian people are
equally not happy with the era of Obasanjo/Atiku
government that exposed themselves of various
corrupt practices
during their ill-fated crisis of superiority. This is
why perhaps the Ribadu presidential aspiration will
also suffer serious setback due to his selective
justice and his deliberate failure to prosecute high
ranking persons as Obasanjo who carted away the
sixteen billion naira earmarked for power sector
during the Obasanjo administration. The South and
indeed the entire Nigerian people may also develop
Buhari phobia due to some of his statements, both in
the past and present, coupled with what some political
observers would refer to his intolerance of freedom of
speech by caging Journalists through the decree 4 of
1984. Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai's recent comment against
Buhari's past would have added another feather to
Buhari phobia phenomena in the current politics of
Nigeria. According to El-Rufai, in the Republic
Report of New York, he reminded General
Buhari that "he has remained perpetually unelectable
because his record as military head of state, and
afterwards, is a warning that many Nigerians have
wisely heeded. His insensitivity to Nigeria's
diversity and his parochial focus are already
well-known. In 1984, Buhari allowed 53 suitcases
belonging to his ADC's father to enter Nigeria
unchecked at a time the country was exchanging old
currency for new. Against all canons of legal
decency, he used retroactive laws to execute three
young men for drug-peddling after they were convicted
by a
military tribunal and not regular
courts of law. Buhari was so high handed that he gave
himself and his officials' immunity even from truthful
reporting. That obnoxious Decree 4, against which
truth was no defence, was used to jail journalists and
attempt to cow the media as a whole. That tyrannical
legislation shows the essence of his intolerance." It is not
quite long ago that Jonathan warned Gusau that he
could also hit him too. In addition to this internal
political bickering, the general feelings of Nigerians
are that they are tired of leadership from military
extraction. As a result of the ugly past in the hands
of the military administration, they are no longer
willing to tolerate those who have had experience in
military leadership, considering the way the former
President Obasanjo presided over his eight years
civilian administration. This means that aspirants
like IBB, Buhari and Gusau will be having it difficult
to scale through their present political aspirations.
It is therefore, not by coincident that the Alhaji
Adamu
Ciroma PDP northern consensus
group is already eyeing the former
Vice
President of Nigeria, Alhaji
Abubakar Atiku. If after the PDP
primary election, IBB, Jonathan, Bukola and Gusau are
edged out, it is likely that the final contest of
presidential election will be among the northerners
namely Atiku (PDP), Shekarau (ANPP), Ribadu (ACN) and
Buhari (CPC). General Buhari
in the Daily Trust of October 27, 2010 urged
Nigerians not to vote for parties lacking internal
democracy. Incidentally, the concept of internal
democracy implies that people should be given the
chance to have a say without any form of coercion or
hijack. Unfortunately, apart from Buhari, nobody else
is yet to have a say in the presidential aspiration of
the CPC. It means that Buhari will be ready to accept
his party's defeat in the presidential election based
on this admonishment. Consequently, in the Saturday
Tribune of 6th November, it is reported
that "the ambition of former Vice President
Atiku Abubakar
to contest the 2011 presidential election appears to
be getting some negative mention in the international
security circles, following indications the
United States security
services have placed him under
close watch. Information at the disposal of the
Saturday Tribune indicated that the United States
security outfits in conjunction with operatives in the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the M15 of the United
Kingdom are working on certain information relating to
Atiku." We can see
from the ongoing situation that among the top
presidential aspirants for the 2011 election, all but
Malam (Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau have much obstacles to
cross and we should not pretend against these
obstacles just because of some people's desperation to
'install' the aspirants by hook and crook. In order to
create a new Nigeria devoid of unwholesome practices,
it is pertinent to ensure that credibility of
candidate plays prominent role in people's minds in
choosing among the aspirants. This is why the people
of the south are willing to team up behind Malam (Dr)
Ibrahim Shekarau, Sardaunan Kano to elect him as the
next President of the country. Indeed, Shekarau is the
only focused and detribalised presidential aspirant
that has always worked for the interest of Nigeria and
Nigerians. Other prominent aspirants as IBB, Atiku,
Jonathan, Saraki, Buhari, Ribadu, etc have an axe to
grand against one another and the only way the country
can move forward is for all Nigerians, irrespective of
geo-political zones to jettison these so called big
time presidential aspirants for the only man of the
moment who have no grudges against any body in the
person of Malam (Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau. He is one
strong man that can quickly fix Nigeria and in view of
his tremendous solid achievements for the people of
Kano. These are the main reasons why the southern
people and indeed, Nigerians will vote for Shekarau as
their next President after the 2011 Presidential
election. Saka Raji
Audu writes from
Kano
and can be reached on his email:
sakaraj@yahoo.com |
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