OSINBAJO CHANGED MY MIND If I were to vote during the coming presidential election, I would go for Osinbajo. Okay, I know what this actually means is that I would vote Buhari. Really, I may not be voting in this election not because I do not want to participate in it. The main reason is that I have been told by the powers that be in my office that I will be deployed outside Lagos to cover the coming elections. Back to Osinbajo and Buhari. My friends knew that while I did not support Jonathan because of the ineptitude of his government in many ramifications, I also did not believe in Buhari. One reason why I did not support Buhari was that his much touted integrity to my mind was dubious. I still do not believe he is corruption free. But I concede that politics, particularly the brand practised in Nigeria, is hardly for saints. The chief reason why I did not support Buhari and indeed the All Progressives Congress for the presidential election was that the opposition party only resorted to abusing and berating the non-performing Jonathan-led government without unequivocal and articulate presentations of what alternatives they offered and how they wanted to go about it. I was miffed that APC chose Buhari as their candidate when there were more intellectually savvy people like Adams Oshiomole and Aminu Tambuwal. I thought Buhari had nothing much to offer. I knew that Buhari had some huge following in the north but I wanted him to back someone else and influence his fans to support the person. I was disappointed in the APC and I did not mince words in letting whoever cared to listen, know. But now I shift ground a little. Osinbajo as Buharis deputy might just be the magic wand the APC government will wield. I read his interview with the Punch newspaper, watched part of his interview with the Channels Television and listened to him directly at a programme organised by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association. Osinbajo who became a professor at the age of 33, has shown that he understands the issues. He looks like a man that knows what , raped, bleeding and grieving Mother Nigeria must do to surmount her too many problems. I have a feeling that Buhari will listen to this man and give him critical roles to perform in his government, if he succeeds at the polls. Now, I am satisfied that the APC campaign is livelier. Issues are being trashed at its rallies. But Jonathans campaign seems very insipid. The president seems to be comfortable with telling lies and half-truths and hurling insults at his most formidable opponent. An example was when he said that Buhari could not remember his phone number. What balderdash! Another thing which I have realised is that the Buhari of this era is more popular than the one of 2011. Nigerians are so disgruntled and disenchanted with GEJs failure that they are willing to give Buhari a chance. Those who wanted Buhari politically crucified, now put him on a donkey and chant political hosanahs for him. For me, I think is not really easy to predict who wins. Buhari is more popular, no doubt but the Peoples Democratic Party still has a strong political structure. And the party also has the high capacity to win by crook, if it is minded to do so. So I say, it is too close to call. Having said all this, there is still something I fear. If APC wins, I fear that there will be a clash of interests. APC is an amalgamation of people with different ideologies and interests who only come together for the purpose of chasing away GEJ from Aso Rock. What would happen when the interests of Bourdillon begin to clash with that of Daura? How will the APC cope when there is a conflict of interests between the Turakin Adamwa and Strongman of Rivers State? Well, time will tell.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:32:49 +0000
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