Picture Credits: www.esqlaw.com
I won’t talk about Prof Pat Utomi, because he seems already aligned with this position… being or not being is not do or die, he’s willing to work from any position to move Nigeria forward. He would willingly vice a Buhari, or take a Ribadu as vice… and that in my view is a true reflection of their experiences and how they can offer value. According to the holy books, he that is faithful in the business of managing financial resources (talents) is given charge over cities. The greatest pre-requisite to governance is financial and business mastery. Crisis becomes the order of the day when we calculate political office occupation as experience over demonstrated capacity to manage mammon. Those who take cities before they can manage personal wealth ultimately ruin cities. Don’t tell me your experience was former Governor, show us what you managed successfully before entering into the corridors of power. Even a fool knows how to spend N50 billion in a way that it will show… but then, our stomachs have craved for so long, that we now call bitter sweet!
Mallam Ribadu under “Asiwaju Congress of Nigeria” – some of these dailies are so creative. I love Ribadu, his work in the EFCC made it clear to the world, that we are all not as we are painted. It was a nationally visible role, and I would have thought that the next major assignment would have been as IG, but then, we know how it works around here. Ribadu has good followership among the elites, and if the votes were strictly out of Nigerian soil, no doubt Ribadu would have won. I don’t think anyone can take away from Ribadu his achievements within that EFCC chairman role. Most of his 25yrs as a police officer are not in public light, and there are a few here and there’s that don’t make him too saintly for the role – I have heard that we don’t need a saint, after all are we? Ribadu would get a big chance if Buhari was not running – come to think of it, the difference in their name is h and d, you can almost rearrange the letters to call the same names otherwise. I have seen the debates about the elder stepping down for the younger and supporting the younger, I think they are valid debates. I have also seen the debate of the other side. I think the answer should not be answered based on personal ambitions and a quest for “my turn”, I think it should be by “Thinking about Nigeria”.
So far, all I have seen play out, is ACN using Ribadu as it’s negotiation chip for Buhari to move to ACN as it’s aspirant. Well, I guess when a pawn reaches the line of the opponents kings, it can chose to become a queen – Let those that play chess understand 🙂
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu holds huge possibilities for a new generation in power, but is he not riding on a horse that has a mind and direction of it’s own? I like the hand he’s playing though, it’s a hand that will gather opposition support ultimately if the greed of men and their personal agenda don’t allow an alliance that has the muscle to tackle PDP, but who is thinking Nigeria? Then there is this argument that we have tried the old… in Obasanjo and are not significantly better for it (we have moved from 45% poverty to 75% poverty – the truth however is that the middle class got the better of it), let’s try someone younger. If young people support young people, young people will win – at least with population on our side. On the other hand, GEJ is also young people, and like it or not, the South South region have never had the opportunity to lead Nigeria despite producing the majority of it’s resources, and providence has provided them with one such opportunity. Let’s discount the fact that the current opportunity is being sown completely as a seed to get 4yrs, 7yrs or 8yrs (30fold, 60fold and 100fold). There is also the school of thought that we need an experience that India had in 1991, an elder state man with nothing to lose and a name to make. The thought that if a man has been in power as Governor, President, Chairman NNPC, PTF and Oil minister and can’t boast of much possessions, there shouldn’t be much else he’s looking for other than immortality.
When all the chips are down, may the options that will birth the New Nigeria be real and clear! I still believe in miracles, and nothing is too hard for God.
My prayer in all these regard, is that we would be a people that deserves the best type of leaders. Than we as a nation will humble ourselves, turn away from our wicked ways at the level of citizens and pray to the God of heaven. He says’s He’ll hear us, and heal our land! I also pray, that the fear of failure will not stop the opposition from advancing forward even if we are already late. May God help us to register, to select the best, to vote, to protect our votes and make them count.
In the final analysis, may the God that sets kings in place and deposes king, may he be our God. May the God of heaven rule and reign in the affairs of Nigeria. May the weeks ahead pass without bloodshed, and may the fresh and new Nigeria spring forth in our time. May we see the end of darkness, the end of abject poverty, the end of failed civil service and systems, the end of non inspirational leadership, the end of government by the rich that oppress the poor, the end of era corrupt generals. Let the kingdoms of this world, become the kingdom of our Lord and anointed. Amen!
