Baba, now that you have finally settled in Aso Rock

Sentiments like this trickled into religious institutions. Many churches still told their members to vote Jonathan because you were reportedly a fanatic. My pastor, obviously your supporter, and one who knew he could influence his members, had to come out and say ‘I will not tell you who to vote. What I will tell you is, choose a candidate and GO OUT TO VOTE. WE MUST ALL EXERCISE OUR CIVIC RIGHTS’ and he remained mum until after the elections. It wasn’t until you won that he said he had voted for you. On the flip side, many Imams told Muslim faithful to ensure they voted you into office. I have a friend whose dad is a big Alhaji in Yola. One day, after his morning prayers, the Imam asked them to remember to go out to vote, in his word, ‘our own’. My friend’s father came out and openly chastised the Imam for using his religious point of influence to try to sway the worshipers. After his rant, he went home. Usually, people followed him to talk about politics and for others, to collect alms. To cut a long story short, they avoided him for a whole week before they begun to relate with him again. He was a huge supporter of yours; he just didn’t want religious leaders to use sentiments to sway voters. He knew that there were PDP, SDP, PDM and APC supporters who prayed in that mosque just as my pastor knew his members were not all supporters of APC. This is the same stance I want you to have.

I want you to ensure that by 2019, more people will vote based on the competence of individuals and not on whether the candidate is a Muslim/Christian, from the North/South/East/West or male/female. How can you do this? There are some simple ways.

Just like your election jingles, direct the press (Radio/TV/Print/Social Media) to play/show jingles/advertorials about peaceful coexistence, oneness and nationality on a daily basis. What a person hears continuously sticks to his mind. I have a very clear example on how effective this can be. Months before your election, I spoke to many people who said they would vote for you for President, Honorable Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed (Binani) for Senator representing Yola Central Zone (PDM), Nuhu Ribadu for governor (PDP) and APC for house members. This was something called ‘Dafa Dukka’ or ‘jollof’, implying mixing different varieties. This changed when a recorded message from you asked people to vote ‘APC SAK’ or quite literally ‘APC all the way’. This message was played on the radio stations in Yola as often as was possible and when election D-day came, many people were just punching APC because they didn’t want you to lose. I was told when the winner was called at one polling unit and it wasn’t Binani, the same voters were shocked that she had not won. In fact, it was said that many of the voters asked who the APC winner was because they had not known they were voting for him. In their minds, ‘APC SAK’ was what kept ringing and that is what they voted for. Use that example to get jingles and advertorials out there that can form the thought process of the general populace.

Employ competent people into your government, regardless of tribe, regional zone or religion. Competent people need not speak much; their work is more than enough voice. Let each person you employ be so good at his/her job that people do not care what his personal ideologies and beliefs are. Let me give you another example. Former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola was such an effective governor that I live all the way in Yola but have heard his exploits in Lagos. If he had come out for president, I’m sorry to say, most people who voted for you would not have voted for you. Another efficient governor is Governor Nasir ElRufai of Kaduna state. He has always said he is a Nigerian first, before he is Hausa. I hated him too but since he hit the tarmac running in Kaduna State, my hate has gradually ebbed away. I have promised myself that whenever there is a Fashola/ElRufai ticket for presidency, I will stand under the scorching sun/thunderous rain/blizzard (if we ever get it) to ensure I vote for them. And, to go a bit further, I will campaign for them like my life is dependent on it. They are Muslims and I do not share their faith, but I share their efficiency and that is all that matters to me.