Opinion
Wanted – a President for Nigeria
By Nnanna Ochereome
It is strange that a section of the political class in Nigeria cannot find in their ranks a suitably qualified, intelligent and competent citizen to give their presidential ticket to confront President Goodluck Jonathan at the polls in the next nine days.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) party has a galaxy of stars in all fields of endeavor in their party from all parts of the country. The APC is no longer just a gang-up of Arewa North and Bola Tinubu’s followers from the South West.
The presence of state Governors including Rochas Okorocha of Imo; Adams Oshiomhole of Edo; Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers; Chris Ngige – the former governor of Anambra, and as well as the hordes of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decampees helped to give the APC a national appeal.
Even though the Arewa and Yoruba Muslims are still the major stakeholders in the Party, the regional, ethnic and religious coloration that disconcerted many watchers at the outset has been largely doused. The APC had an ample opportunity to present a candidate with impeccable record and quality to give Jonathan a run for his money. Even if they wanted a northern presidential candidate, they had Rabiu Kwankwaso, the ebullient, performing Governor of Kano; Atiku Abubakar who comes with great exposure, experience and national appeal, or even the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Waziri Tambuwal – a proven leader.
The Party decided, at the prompting of Bola Tinubu, to settle for retired General Muhammadu Buhari, a man who governed this country 30 years ago and had nothing to show for it except sorrow, tears and blood.
As soon as they settled on Buhari, they commenced with a sophisticated process of cleaning up his image – to the point where some of us who lived through his 20-month regime could no longer recognize him. Suddenly, posters of Buhari in a suit started springing up all over Lagos and beyond. I had never seen Buhari in suit before. He was always dressed in two types of attire: either his military uniform or his native babanriga. It was all an effort to make Buhari look like what he never was and never will be. It is a total hoodwink of the young people and voters born after 1985.
Today, the challenges before Nigeria are three-fold:
– the first is national unity,
– the second is diversification of the economy, and
– the third is national security.
