General
Buhari is running as a presidential candidate for the 4th time in a
row. The only difference between his current effort and the three
previous ones is the fact that this time, he goes to the polls as a
clear favourite. Surely, there must be a reason why a man who, it looked
like, never had a chance in the last 12 years is now solidly placed to
win.
The reason? Two words: Goodluck Jonathan.
President
Jonathan said he deserved credit for the APC becoming what it is today.
The president is right, but he missed the irony in his own assertion. He
wants the world to believe the APC exists because his government
created an enabling environment for the opposition to thrive when, in
actual fact, the opposition rose on the hills of Jonathan’s
incompetence.
General Buhari has always been a phenomenon in the
North – he still is – but the same could not have been said of the South
until the run-up to the 2015 elections. Why is that? Because of the
same old gee, Goodluck Jonathan. Nigeria’s current president has failed
so many times many Nigerians are inclined to choose to vote for just
about any form of matter over him.
Where exactly has Jonathan failed and why his failures should not be overlooked?
The
president’s most telling failure is his inability to address the
insurgency in the North. For many years, the president’s disposition to
Boko Haram was: “they are killing themselves to make my government look
bad”. This position was echoed by the president’s men and allies.
The
belated response to the of 59 Buni Yadi boys in Yobe, the absurd delay
in even believing the Chibok girls were truly abducted until some 18
days later, the Kano rally dance that came 24 hours after the Nyanya
bomb blast, and several other shocking responses to Boko Haram’s
activities sold the president out as being indifferent to the pains of
Nigerians who live under the constant menace of terror.
Meanwhile,
General Buhari’s history as a no-nonsense leader proves he will not
approach Boko Haram with kid gloves or underrate the terror group, to
which President Jonathan has confessed.
Corruption and government accountability are major issues in this election, and understandably so.
A
November 2012 report says some N5 trillion was either misappropriated
or outright stolen under the Jonathan administration. At least N1
trillion was stolen under the guise of fuel subsidies, if the House of
Representatives’ report is correct. There is the $20 billion the
then-Central Bank governor and now Emir of Kano HRH Muhammed Sanusi II
said wasn’t remitted to the Federation Account. Two days ago, he was on
CNN’s Amanpour insisting the government’s explanation for that was not
satisfactory.
Another former CBN governor, Prof Charles Soludo,
insisted some N30 trillion has been lost due to the current
administration’s mismanagement. As these words get written, the
government has not issued a reasonable response to his charges. They
offered a lot of emotional tantrums through President Jonathan’s
campaign and the Ministry of Finance.
On this front, Buhari comes
out on top again because of his reputation of never being the one about
amassing wealth or using his privileged position to loot the country.
He is generally perceived as upright. His choice of Pastor Yemi Osinbajo
helped to cement that perception.
The third major deciding issue
for this election is the economy. The Nigerian economy is walking on
tightropes. The government likes to claim it has made Nigeria Africa’s
No.1 economy. The economy was rebased in 2014. All the government did
with the “rebasing” was to account for the inclusion of new sectors like
the entertainment industry and telecoms into the calculation of the
country’s GDP. This was accumulated over the previous 20 years or so,
but the government has sold this as one of its achievements. Pictures of
Cameroon were presented as completed road projects of this
administration, and an image of a housing estate in Lekki was used as
that of completed housing projects in the Northeast.
Four out of
every five Nigerian graduates are out of jobs. Extreme poverty is
unacceptably high, the naira is seeing worst trading days ever. Perhaps,
the greatest picture of that reality is Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest
man, losing $7b in November 2014 alone; since then, he has lost enough
money to make another person the 2nd richest on the continent. Nigeria’s
foreign reserves continue to take a plunge. Its debts, local and
foreign, continue to rise. It is all a mess out here.
This is what the elections are about. It is a direct
Yes/No referendum on president Jonathan. Not a few people voting for General Buhari will do so just to vote
against President Jonathan.
Voting
Buhari is the right thing if this really is about the future of
Nigeria. Of the two available options, President Jonathan is a failed
president. In a sane world, he would not even dream to be a candidate,
let alone become one.
General Buhari used to be a dictator. He
has since learnt democratic tenets having, without resorting to
violence, trusted the courts three times after losing previous
elections. It is obvious he is in this because he firmly believes he can
be the wise old man who sets Nigeria on the road to socio-political and
economic recovery.
General Buhari gets my vote. Easily. It is
the most logical decision. In a country where money and materialism hold
sway (including in the so-called religious houses), those who are able
to share dollars will certainly turn many heads. What will matter in the
end is how much Nigerians want
“change”. Another four years with Goodluck Jonathan would be a disaster for Nigeria. It is time for Buhari.
Mr. Omojuwa is a respected Nigerian social media expert and columnist
courtesy Naij.com
