By Godwin Etakibuebu
On the eve of Nigeria’s first Presidential election, which took place on August 11, 1979, the Military Head of State [as it were then] and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, General Olusegun Obasanjo, made a nationwide broadcast to the Nation, where he said, inter alia: “As Nigerians go to the poll tomorrow to elect their President, they should bear in mind that the most qualified candidate might not necessarily win”.
This statement quoted above became Obasanjo’s anthill for many years to come, as it was subjected to different interpretations, with majority coming to the conclusion that he [Obasanjo] had pre-qualified Shehu Shagari [deemed to be less politically and academically qualified compared to Obafemi Awolowo’s exposition] of the National Party of Nigeria [NPN]; who eventually won the election to the candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria [UPN], Obafemi Awolowo [which many believed was ‘first among equal’ within the comity of his co-politicians of that era].
Interpretation and evaluation of this statement is not the reason for today’s exercise but suffice to hang it, hidden away somewhere our hearts, as we shall come to it later.
It is actually less than four days to the February 16, 2019, presidential election. It is a day we have set aside, as dedicated, delegated and directed by the 1999 Nigerian Constitution; as amended, to decide on the choice of who rules over us as President for another four years. Yes, it is a ritual that we, expectedly, perform every four years. The elections are not only about the President alone. For example the National Assembly comes with the president on the same day while March 2, 2019, presents us with the choice of electing those that we want as Governors and Members of the States Houses of Assembly. But the most important of all these remains that for the office of the President.
Every Nigerian, subject to attainment of voting age; which is 18 years and above and in addition to the individuals having being registered as a voter with the Independent National Electoral Commission, and having obtained his/her Permanent Voter Card [PVC], is expected to participate in this civic responsibility of electing leaders into elective offices. It is one time that the voter exercises authority of a kingmaker over those seeking to be voted into position of political leadership. Or so it ought to be.
The time has come again; under this presidential system of government, which we started since 1979; when the first Presidential election held on August 11, 1979, for us to demonstrate that we are capable of securing our future and that of generations unborn by the choice we make with our PVC. The decision we are going to make this Saturday, as we go to the polls to cast our votes, is enormous.
It is larger than what most of us can ever appreciate. It goes beyond deciding something good for ourselves only. It entails collapsing the future of our children that are not of voting age, future generations of the unborn and most importantly the future of our country – Nigeria, into a place in a future blessed with glory, or tainted with gory.
This is the meaning of the assignment we are handling in three days’ time when we shall step out to elect a President. The choice we are going to make this Saturday would be subjecting, and holding all of us, ditto our future generations, mostly and pathetically, the unborn ones, vicariously responsible, with all the damning consequences, for uncountable years to come. In view of this, can we afford not making the best of decision with our PVC? The choice is yours as it is mine. May God and our refined consciences, help us in making the best decision for ourselves, our future generations and this Enterprise called Nigeria – Amen.
It is time for us to go back to evaluate General Olusegun Obasanjo’s broadcast, of August 10, 1979, when Nigerians went to the polls for election of their president, quoted boldly above.
If we were goaded [assuming] in 1979, to choose a least qualified as against the “most qualified” candidate [that is if we concede that it was what Obasanjo meant], must we repeat the same mistake today – a clear 40 years after? I think we should not because we should be wiser now after this much water that had passed under the bridge.
However, if the truth must be told; and we need the truth now more than ever before, circumstances that might had warranted and directed Obasanjo mind towards the choice of words and languages he used in that broadcast have not changed much. Politics; unfortunately, after 40 years of this infamous quote, remains more, yet, of primordial, primitive and mundane, both in nature and at campaign presentations.
The narratives of expressions at campaign electioneering, remain more, if not entirely, of character assassinations, fabrications of lies and presentations of same, animals-like acrobatics dances of absurdities plus oddities, boldfaced threat to lives without any constitutional constraints, massive stealing of the peoples’ common wealth; in all types of currencies that command world’s respect and many other foolish things that can gained expression of applaud in Nigeria only.
There is not much change [I would say no change at all because instead of progressing in the art of good governance, we have actually retrogressed almost into the abyss of annihilation] for this past 40 years. Our campaigns are not yet issue-based. Absolute kleptomania controls the wave amongst nearly all political office holders. Corruption, in all ramifications of human endeavours, remains a matter that is far from being dealt with. Nepotism; which is more than being mother to corruption, is threatening the fabrics of national unity and could “kill us as a people if we don’t kill it fast”.
Above all, the fraud of operating a disunited Unitary System of Government in a supposed Federal System of Government have left distinguished students of Political history with dilemma of what the meaning and definition of “Federal System of Government” really is. We now have a country that is more divided along tribal, ethnicity and religion lines than it ever been; courtesy of machineries of government. There are more maladies reigning and ruling over the Nigerian horizon today, if we actually want to be factual to each other, than they were 40 years ago.
We now have this onerous opportunity, offered by nature [nature hates vacuum] to remedy our mistakes of the past 100 years that this Enterprise going by the name Nigeria has been wobbling and fumbling, as we go into this election to decide our future. Ipso facto, the choice we are going to make; which could make or mar us as a people and Nigeria as country, is crucial. It is for the reason of this essential that l am redirecting General Olusegun Obasnjo broadcast of August 10, 1979 to read, not like this but exactly this:
AS NIGERIANS GO TO THE POLL ON SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2019, TO ELECT THEIR PRESIDENT, THEY SHOULD BEAR IN MIND THE GRIEVOUS CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR DECISION OF WHOM THEY SHALL ELECT AS PRESIDENT AND ALLOW THIS KNOWLEDGE GUILD THEM IN ELECTING THE BEST AND MOST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB, FOR THE SAKE OF THEMSELVES, UNBORN GENERATIONS AND NIGERIA.
So, help us, oh God!
Godwin Etakibuebu, a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.
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