A NOTE OF CAUTION TO APC (1) By Dele Momodu. This is the reason many people have chosen to embrace APC warts and all. It is our collective responsibility to make the Party work whether we are registered members or not. I’m reasonably convinced that PDP is incapable of changing the way it is presently configured but APC still has a good chance of re-inventing itself (not least because it is a reconfigured Party and is therefore not overly burdened by the past) if the ubiquitous godfathers allow good counsel and common-sense prevail. So far, so good, the APC leaders are still presenting a public display of unity and camaraderie despite the volcanic tension within. The battle for supremacy is always a natural manifestation in the power game. I can say confidently that the reality APC must come to terms with is that it has moved from being a Limited Liability Company to a Public Limited Company and many terms of the former shareholder agreements and the Directors and officers are no longer applicable or tenable. In a PLC, the shareholding structure determines many things. For example, when UBA was bought by a smaller bank, Standard Trust Bank, the old Board of Directors could not hold on to the levers of control but bowed to the new wiz-kids led by Tony Elumelu. Such is life. Once ACN, CPC, New PDP, ANPP and others agreed to work together, the big guns in those Parties should have known that things have changed. I’m aware that it takes time to adjust to a new environment but in this case there is no time to waste. I will now teleport you to the future that awaits APC and Nigeria in the short and long run. What I forecast is a precarious situation which would have to be delicately balanced for the sake of our country. The first matter to be handled efficiently is that of picking a Presidential candidate for the Party. The strength of APC seems to be its greatest weakness. The Party is richly blessed with the most formidable aspirants in the race today as opposed to the PDP which has saddled itself with the sole-candidacy of President Jonathan and shut the doors against its brightest stars like Godswill Akpabio and Adamu Muazu. APC has in its top four: General Muhammadu Buhari, former Head of State; Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President; Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Minister of Defence and current Governor of Kano State; and Waziri Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker, Federal House of Representatives and latecomer to the Presidential race. There are other distinguished aspirants but let’s limit ourselves to those four for obvious reasons. I’m certain that Nigeria would benefit immensely from their wealth of experience. Let’s now attempt a characterisation of each of those four. We shall begin with General Buhari who’s breaking his own world record by contesting for the fourth time in rapid succession. No Nigerian currently has his cult-followership. He has ostensibly become an idol of sorts to many Nigerians old or young, an Icon to be emulated. He suffers three major setbacks. The first is on account of his age. If he gets the ticket, he would be running against a much younger PDP candidate, President Jonathan. Many have dismissed the age limitation as irrelevant by citing examples from other parts of the world even in this modern era. Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 and became President of the United States of America on January 20, 1981. He was on the knock of 70 and went on to rule for eight years. Hillary Clinton was born on October 26, 1947. By the time she runs her Presidential race, if she gets the Democratic ticket, in 2016, she would be close to 70. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana has just been picked as Presidential candidate by his party NPP to run for the third time in 2016. Nana was born on March 29, 1944 which means he’ll be 72 by the time he runs the race. The great Madiba Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 and became the President of an independent South Africa on May 10, 1994. He was close to 76 and he governed for one term of five years. So there is nothing new under the sun. The supporters of Buhari are saying it is better to have a responsible octogenarian as President than to have an incompetent, reckless and profligate youth in power. The second issue about Buhari is on religion. He’s perceived to be a Muslim fundamentalist, an allegation that has not been proven by his accusers till this day. He is a devout Muslim who would defend his faith like any Christian would defend his. Our President has been meandering from church to church and jetted to Israel several times on pilgrimage, yet no one has called him a Christian fundamentalist. Buhari has related well with Christians all his life. His first daughter was married to an Igbo man, a Christian. Both his drivers and cook were Christians. He allowed Christians to observe free days on Sundays and told Muslims they can’t be exempted from work on Fridays because there was no such mandate in the Koran. As Head of State, he even reduced the number of Muslims going on holy pilgrimage by half in order to find money for developing the nation. The third issue is psychological in nature: the fear factor. The Nigerian Mafioso is united in its pathological hatred and or trepidation for Buhari. Despite the fact that Buhari would have to govern under a different democratic climate, those folks are still scared to their pants about what Buhari’s government portends for members of the privilegentsia. As a matter of fact, this is the veritable source of all smear campaign and fear-mongering against Buhari. But APC has more than enough technocrats in and outside its fold to help Buhari do his job in a civilised manner. There is no doubt that PDP is hoping that APC would indulge in some fanciful experimentation by picking a candidate less formidable than Buhari.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 21:27:37 +0000
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