by Adeleke Otunuga

Some caveat ab initio: I have no direct affiliation with any of the individuals whose names will appear in this write-up. Neither do I have any relationship with the parties they represent, or which represent them. I am therefore not an official mouthpiece for any of them. I am a Christian and I am also, proudly, Yoruba. But before you jump overboard into the shark-infested waters of ethnic rumpus, let me quickly add that I am unashamedly a Nigerian, and fiercely loyal to her. The opinions I represent here should be seen as products of painstaking analyses of our country’s states of affairs pre and post-1999 when we returned to democratic governance.

Those wishing Nigeria a breakup do not wish her peoples well. This is especially true when we consider that the reasons adduced for Nigeria’s breakup are not tenable. There are other multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural countries that have positively harnessed the opportunities of their diversity to national advantage.

In addition to the major ethnic groups within their territories, the countries of Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and the Peoples Republic of China officially have 53, 38, 38, and 56 minority ethnic groups respectively. With over 2000 ethnic groups and several official languages, India remains a resolutely united country trudging to greatness in a world trending towards multicultural and multilingual diversity.

I believe strongly that a prosperous and united Nigeria is in the best interest of the federating units. That the country’s socio-political, global, and economic fortunes have continued an unabated free-fall is not in question. Also not in question is the fact that corruption is the main moth largely responsible for the rot in our nation’s fabric.

All other problems – including religious terrorism and ethnic militancy – all feed off, and fester via, the carcinogen of corruption. Nigeria is in a critical stage of health; the much-needed surgeon – the messiah – must not have been part of the problem.

I judge by facts; not sentiments. So should you. I work with the proven and the established, not the hoped; albeit secularly. By sight and by history I adduce the real and the empirical. I do not subscribe to the idea of the blind phantasm. If you claim it you must either demonstrate it or prove it to be true. That is the simple foundational praxis of science. Historical facts are never censured by sentimental postulations and biases. Facts are facts irrespective of how they are told or interpreted.

The October 15, 2014 declaration to contest the 2015 presidential elections by General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) marks the beginning of an era, and not the end of it, of progressive politics in Nigeria. That GMB is the man to beat, given a free and fair presidential election exercise, is not in doubt. That GMB commands a towering political profile above and beyond those of his closest opponents is also a fact that even the fiercest of his opponents would readily agree to. GMB is either fanatically loved by his admirers, or fiercely hated by his traducers.

To his admirers, GMB stands tall because of his zero tolerance for corruption. GMB has his tent firmly pitched with the masses and the oppressed of society. His ascetic and austere lifestyle despite his erstwhile access to Nigeria’s treasury easily gives him away as one who will not only tackle the corruption head on but also break the monster’s neck in the process. Whoever defeats corruption in Nigeria will succeed in getting the country poised for development and greatness.

Those who oppose the presidential run of GMB fall into two main categories:

aThose who misunderstand and miff at his persona.

b)The filthy rich of Nigeria

To the first set of people, accusations against GMB include a perceived religious fanaticism. I have had to engage in discussions about these allegations with even close friends. When GMB was accused of sponsorship of Boko Haram, my response came in the form of a question. Given that GMB stands as the sole or main threat against Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s (GEJ) 2015 reelection bid, and given that GEJ as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has a sort of fascist-like control over the armed forces, don’t you think a proven Buhari-Boko Haram alliance will be a rare opportunity for GEJ to lock GMB away and throw the keys into the Atlantic Ocean, thereby removing the sole threat to his 2015 agenda?

GMB’s alleged role in Nigeria’s membership of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) is still another reason some vow to withdraw support for his presidential run. It matters little to such people that not one person has ever accused GMB as the man who, because of religious affiliation, robbed them of equal opportunities while he held several command positions either in his military or civilian career.

It matters little that no one has been able to prove GMB as giving support to adherents of one religion against others. Though GEJ controls the Police, SSS, and the military resulting in massive intelligence at his disposal, he has not been able to prove GMB’s so-called fundamentalist accusations. I am a Christian, and I am very fervent in my Christian beliefs. These beliefs define my Christianity, and sometimes run contrary to the beliefs of people of other faiths. Am I, then, a religious fundamentalist?

There are also those who oppose GMB’s presidential run on account of what they call his serial failures at the polls. To such people I offer the Abraham Lincoln example. While GMB only lost (lost, really?) the presidential elections 3 times, Abraham Lincoln lost elections 8 times and experienced business failure two times. Yet he was one of the most successful Presidents, and historically speaking by far one of the most popular US presidential figures. If you ask anyone, including non-Americans, to recollect names of five former US Presidents, Abraham Lincoln will be prominent on the list. Even Barack Obama, who won two presidential elections, was terribly defeated in his first attempt to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives.

To those who think GMB is too old to run for office, I also offer the Ronald Regan example. He was elected into office at age 73. Since, like GMB he had been in office before, his age and experience rather than be a problem proved an invaluable asset to America and Americans.

But GMB is not the only one with synonymous attributes with past US Presidents. Looking through history, I found a past US President whose history is synonymous with that of GEJ. Gerald Ford became the Vice President of the United States of America when in 1973 Spiro Agnew resigned as Vice President following charges of bribery, sleaze, and tax fraud. On August 9, 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned following the ‘Watergate’ scandal. ‘Watergate’ at that time referred to several illegal activities of the Nixon administration, including the use of FBI, CIA, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to harass opposition political figures. Once again, Gerald Ford became President by default.

The most striking aspect of the Ford-Jonathan ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn’ and ‘In-your-face; what-can-you-do’ official gaffe was when less than a month after becoming President, Gerald Ford announced the granting of a “full, free, and absolute” pardon to Nixon. The criminal cases of D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha, Major Al Mustapha, Chief Bode George, etc readily come to mind. And like Gerald Ford, the micro and macro outcomes of GEJ’s six years misadventure in Aso Rock is visible even to the short-sighted. Can Nigeria survive another four years of operational ineptitude and criminal desecration of the presidency?

It is necessary that we debunk some of the lies being peddled through the NTA and other Stock Exchange news media in Nigeria about the so-called PDP government’s achievements in Nigeria. These lies include credit for the so-called growing economy and victory over Ebola. After recalibration of economic figures, Nigeria was declared in 2013 as the biggest economy in Africa. The GEJ-led government, through the World Bank vassal Lord – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, took the credit of the outcomes. Nigeria as Africa’s biggest economy is not because, but in spite of, governmental activities that rather created and nurtured hostile business environments in Nigeria.

It is a fact that government overbearing and antagonistic policies are antithetical to the growth of small and medium scale businesses. Double/triple taxation in most cases, prevalent of highest inflation and unemployment figures in history, lack of enduring power supply, etc has translated directly into weaker or lack of purchasing power by the populace. The real heroes of recalibration are the dogged market men and women trudging on in spite of harsh environments, and their Diaspora sons and daughters who in 2012 alone (according to officially recorded figures) remitted funds into Nigeria in excess of $21 Billion. When you add other unofficially recorded remittances like physical courier of foreign currencies into Nigeria by travelers, importation of goods and wares into Nigeria the proceed from sale of which are channeled into projects (including the building of personal houses and set-up of businesses like farms), the remittances may well run into figures double the officially recorded rate. This is by far bigger than Nigeria’s yearly budget.

Though the ultimate hero of our victory over Ebola remains Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, Lagos – an APC state – deserves the accolade for Nigeria’s victory over Ebola. The Federal Government merely paid lip service to the struggle against the dreaded disease. Other than its usual fire shots, the FG’s efforts at taming Ebola was nothing but catastrophic.

Facts can easily be misinterpreted and misrepresented; but they are not mutable. More than any other time in our nation’s political history, religion and ethnicity may be deployed to full use in determining the next Commander-in-Chief. But in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians, young and yet unborn, we must allow reason to direct our ballots. Phantasmal sentiments played a huge role during the 2011 elections. The results of that sham glare us in the face today. Lesson: God will not do for us what He has equipped us with the capacity to do for ourselves.

 

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This article was posted with permission from Sahara Reporters