The presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) have commenced campaigns to woo voters for the February poll. (I will do my best to make sure that nigeria will not go bake to her vomit says by uche henry) Nigerians are daily inundated with promises of what they will do if elected into office. No doubt, Jonathan has an edge over Buhari taking into due cognizance that he has been there for the past six years and has something on the ground to show. This is unlike Buhari who has been a military ruler for about two years. Buhari’s major attributes include his military background, war against indiscipline and anti-corruption crusade. In this campaign season, get ready to hear sweet words from politicians who climb on promises to get to power. In this season, politicians will build castles in the air, tar all the roads in Nigeria within one month, create millions of jobs overnight, build bridges and defeat insurgency in weeks. Now is the period when politicians would tell the voters what they want to hear, whether such promises are realistic or not. Therefore, let voters beware of unrealistic promises. So far, so good, the PDP and APC are busy entertaining Nigerians with what they can offer. APC is talking tough and claims to have the magic wand to solve all our problems overnight giving breathtaking deadlines. Buhari’s major campaign thesis revolves around three things, fight corruption, stop Boko Haram and create jobs. He vowed to stop the insurgency in two months, create millions of jobs and end corruption. This is indeed the kind of speech Nigerians would like to hear at this period. They are attention-grabbing. But before you fall for them, pause a moment and ask the retired infantry general, how he would achieve the noble objectives. There is a huge difference between saying something and doing it. This is not the first time we are passing through this phase and at the end, we were not better off. Over time, we have been victims of promises not fulfilled. Buhari should tell Nigerians how he would achieve his campaign promises. It is not enough to offer a long can-do-list, tell us how they can be achieved. He should tell Nigerians what he can do differently at 72 that GEJ is not doing. Nigerians are not persuaded enough that Buhari can achieve his tall order campaign promises. His agenda is to capture power and then decide on what to do with it later. We are tired of that pattern of rulership. This country, indeed, belongs to all of us. No one man can lay claim to having the formula to salvage it alone. Every Musa, Emeka, Ade, Okon, Ikulu, Goje, Odion and Rukewe should have a stake in the project Nigeria. Nigeria has passed the stage where one ethnic group or a gang-up of two ethnic groups will hold the nation to ransom or decide the political future by threatening to capture power by force or else form a parallel government or the blood of monkey and baboon will soak together or the country made ungovernable. Nigeria has equally passed the stage of voting for a sectional leader. Election campaign should go beyond threats and concentrate on what a candidate can offer Nigerians if elected. Now that Jonathan, Buhari and other presidential candidates have signed pact for peaceful polls, let their supporters abide by it. The PDP is coming to the poll from point of advantage. It is already in power and has some laudable achievements to its credit. President Goodluck Jonathan administration is anchored on transformation agenda. Jonathan is gradually transforming Nigeria without indulging in publicity. Our airports before Jonathan and now are not the same. Those using the airports in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu can see lots of transformations. The opposition has harped so much on corruption as if GEJ overlooked it. In fact, fighting corruption is not about indiscriminate arrest of people and throwing them in jail. It is not about showing on television one captured corrupt person. Corruption cannot be fought that way. There must be institutional framework that can put corruption in check. The Federal Government has through the introduction of Biometric Identification System of staff in ministries, departments and agencies saved the nation billions of naira that would have gone down the drain. Many states have adopted the model in checking ghost workers and other financial malfeasance in their accounting systems. Corruption in the pension system was unearthed and those involved arrested and prosecuted. The laws against corruption should be strengthened. Who says GEJ is not fighting corruption? Since GEJ emerged as President, he has waged a relentless battle against the Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country. Although the war is ongoing and has not been won, government has demonstrated its intention to end the insecurity. Jonathan has adopted many approaches and I strongly believe that since he has been with the problem for six years, he is in a good position to end it if reelected. Experience of other countries on terrorism has shown that it is not a war that can be stopped in two months. It goes beyond that if we can realistically appraise the situation. Politicians should not catch-in on insurgency as a vote-winning mantra. Let us be careful during the campaigns that we do not promise impossibilities. The transportation sector has been transformed. Lots of SURE-P buses are all over Nigerian roads, thereby creating jobs. YouWIN programme has made some youths employers of labour. The transformation in the agricultural sector is uncommon. Cassava production has been tremendously boosted. We have cassava bread. We have all kinds of edibles made from cassava. The nation’s capacity for local rice production is on the increase. There is abundance of all Nigerian staples. The standard of living has tremendously improved. The Nollywood and music industries are thriving. Our films and music rank among the best in the continent and fare better globally. Our films and music have provided lots of jobs to Nigerians. Under GEJ, the media is thriving. No media house has been closed and no journalist has been clamped into detention or killed. President Jonathan has not interfered with individual and press freedoms. Nigerians do not need a despot, a rigid person to solve some of our challenges. No nation solves all its problems in four years or six years. Nigerians should be patient with their leaders for government thrives well on continuity.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 05:57:27 +0000
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