by Audu Maikori

I have been reading up on some staunch PMB supporters recanting and apologizing for supporting Buhari. I recall during the elections last year, people called me all sorts of names and labelled me anti-patriotic because of my post about why I would support Jonathan in 2015. For those who have forgotten here’s the link.

But I am not here to gloat or say “I told you so”. I am here to ask, how do we go forward? I am here to say that we all make mistakes and many of those people that called me names couldn’t discern what some of us did and as such they made genuine mistakes.

For others, it was always about selfish interests and not about Nigeria, or just religious or ethnic support of him and other elected officials without thinking about the most important thing- us the governed.

Politics affects everything and to a large extent, I have always felt that politics is too serious to leave in the hands of “mere” politicians. Our leaders cannot rule us; this is just because all they have is popularity with no proven record of past achievement whether in the public and /or the private sector.

Our next leaders cannot just be money bags who made money from public office and then replanted that money into the hands of a hungry constituency to gain a seat in the Senate or House of Assembly.

Our next leaders cannot have jumped ship back and forth political parties and yet be effective as our true representatives – as they will keep shifting positions about key issues just like they had also disloyally changed political parties at a whim; “Action speaks louder than campaign promises”.

Our next leaders cannot be qualified for an appointment because they are relatives, friends or former SA’s to the person in power- because 9 times out of 10, they never achieve anything as they are only yes men to the incumbents who brought them there.

Our next leaders must prove that they walk the walk and we must scrutinize them thoroughly, because our failure to do this in the past led us through an unnecessary wilderness journey. This includes Senators, Governors, etc.

A country that was hailed as the fastest economy less than two years ago, is in deep recession which will last at least another five years according to some renowned economists, and still there seems to be no clear economic direction.

Nigerians are suffering, the government lacks vision and the international community has totally lost confidence in our country. That is why the Naira will continue to slide down to even N500:$1, if we are not careful because ultimately, the exchange rate of a country is affected by the confidence the market has in the economic leadership and direction of a country.

For example, after Brexit, the British Pound lost significant value for the first time in decades – why? Because there was a loss in confidence about the future of The UK and it’s leadership post-Brexit.

I wish I had been wrong about PMB and I still maintain that as a man, he is a great figure and has values that I personally admire but we should learn the critical lessons from the past that sometimes, good intentions ( like GEJ, PMB) are simply not enough.

The bright lights in this administration in my opinion are Gov. Ambode, Gov. Willie Obiano and Nasir El-Rufai and that is because they seem to have a clear vision for their constituents and even though some have made so very myopic political moves, they are on course.

So as we watch out for 2019, we must do the right thing and scrutinize our aspiring leaders at all levels to ensure (as far as is possible) they have the capacity, the temperament and the vision to lead our people to the Promised Land.

Starting from the local government areas to the office of the President, because they hold the key to the success or failure of a people. That’s why they are so special and we must be careful in the measures and processes by which we decide to decide.

Finally, it’s not enough to regret or gloat about PMB, as both serve no purpose. We need to play our part to help the President (and yes like it or not he is our President) to lead better and do our part to help fix Nigeria. It’s only the foolish and the wicked that will be happy at another man’s failure, which conversely and directly is our collective failure.

Arise oh compatriots, Nigeria’s (not PMB, Not GEJ, Not APC, and Not PDP) call, obey………?????????? ????????????.