PAUSE AND RE-EXAMINE

PAUSE AND RE-EXAMINE.

Let's assume Buhari is a bad man and Jonathan is irresponsible. Let's assume Jonathan wins because some Christians who are afraid to die voted for him on the premise that both candidates are bad and there is no better alternative.  Let's imagine that Jonathan makes it to 2019, who will be that dream candidate then? On which party platform would he/she run? Would it be a new party formed and funded by these present day idealist and dreamers?

Would the PDP still be vulnerable as it is now? Would there not still be a clamor for a power shift to the north after 18 years out of 20 of southern rule because the PDP say so? Would the northerner not be Muslim? Ribadu would be on the cusp of turning 60 then; would it be Lamido, Babaginda Aliyu, Shekarau or IBB's son? Would the thing we greatly fear not end up hotter in our laps?

My people despise a people who practice a religion which is very similar to theirs in many respects; a religion with very blessed roots in the father of faith. My people fast and pray; like Jabez they pray for God to turn away their shame and bless them indeed.  Their pastors tell them to strive for excellence and never settle for less yet they doggedly queue behind a proven mediocre president because they fear the unknown. 

At times I wonder if my people are afraid of the North or of sharia.  When it is convenient, my people will say stuff like the north have a born to rule mentality and have had their sons spend more years than the South as head of state or president.  In other cases, they boast about their brethren in the north Central region who will no doubt join them to vote for their spiritual brother who will protect them from fundamentalists. They are quick to dismiss every northerner as primitive and a "senseless aboki" because they attended school and go to church.  It is easier to forget that Gowon who ruled for 9years is a Christian from the North-central state of Plateau and Babaginda who spent 8 years is a Muslim from Niger which is also a North-central state. We can also add the 11 months of Abdusalami Abubakar also a Niger state indigene into the mix and we would realize the “North” that is readily despised has really not ruled for that long.

Some people continue to absolve the ruling party and its prince of any blame in the escalation of Boko Haram. They go ahead and accuse Buhari and the northern elite of financing the terrorists. It is clear that many have never read nor have a clue about how fundamentalism metamorphosed from the 1970s through the subsequent decades and up till now. I can bet that these people do not know about how previous regimes have made attempts to crush these ideologies in the past due to the fact that they felt equally threatened by any kind of uprising. It is the level of force meted out by the Sani Abacha government that most likely led to the exacerbation of the Niger-Delta militancy. Karl Maier in his book “this house has fallen” described a somewhat friendly and long standing relationship between Sani Abacha and Ken Saro-Wiwa which became completely irrelevant when Abacha’s fists came crashing down on the Ogoni activists. Goodluck Jonathan cleared the present day Niger-Delta militants of any wrongdoing describing them as activists who fought and kidnapped for legitimate reasons.

Let us even assume that Buhari is directly or indirectly responsible for the insurgency in the Northeast zone of Nigeria. Is he also responsible for the incapacitation of the Nigerian military? Is he responsible for the dearth of sound intelligence on the activities of Boko Haram? Are these armed insurgents werewolves or vampires who move around under the cover of darkness? What relationship does the Nation have with those who control these drones and satellites that capture our towns after they have been razed to the ground by fire assuming that those pictures are genuine? Where exactly is the nerve center of Boko Haram? Where do they advance from and retreat to when they have done their evil? Are our men just holding the line or taking the initiative to the insurgents? Did Buhari put a gun to the temple of the heads of Bade and Olukolade when they made statements on rescuing the Chibok school girls and agreeing a ceasefire with Boko Haram? Why is it not clear to us who the exact people taking us for a ride are?

Some are still clamoring for Buhari's certificate and one fellow even suggested a lack of such document may suggest his disdain for education when he becomes president.  Buhari must abhor education so much that his wife holds several degrees and qualifications and even runs a thriving beauty business.  He must hate education so much; he had to select a very experienced professor of law as his running mate just to show the world that evidence.

What are we really scared of? Going to jail if and when we are caught stealing public funds or facing untold persecution and trials? It is high time we realized there is no room for our idealist candidate at the moment.  There isn't going to be a third horse and jockey to turn the tide in the Valentine’s Day race, there is no crude oil beneath the ground in your backyard. You have to choose between a serial falsehood peddler and established “waster” of resources and a Mandela-esque elder who has recited the same tune for 30 odd years.

He may be old and rickety but I'm certain he'd surround himself with the best available in the land and not sycophants who would cheer him on to an early grave.  That I'm glad to say is good enough for me; the thought that there'd be no first lady office to have Nollywood auditions greatly gladdens my heart as well as having only the state of one's residence on documents is proof to me that these guys mean serious business. Someone wants to extend “first-ladyship” up to local government level; I suppose his vision for women must be somewhere between perpetual baby factories and house helps. Why some women are unable to realize that doing away with the unconstitutional office of first ladies means total liberation for Nigerian women is beyond me. Women would be unhindered from aspiring for any office in the land as long as they are competent and qualified but the highly primitive and opportunistic ones do not see things that way.

If the major issue that is resolved from a 4year Buhari tenure is fear and mistrust; it'd be a good platform to forge ahead from.

Just some of my thoughts.

Joa

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