Afe Babalola, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, founder and chancellor of Afe Babalola University, appears to be singing discordant tunes. In one breath, he extols the qualities of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, and tips him as the most qualified among the horde of presidential contenders who want to lead Nigeria at this time. Babalola describes Obi as “an untainted, young, educated man with ideas”. He holds that it is only those who are part of the old system that has brought Nigeria to where it is that will oppose Obi’s likely emergence as the President of Nigeria.
Babalola’s position is in line with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi for the presidency of Nigeria in 2023. Obasanjo, in his New Year letter to Nigerians, had taken time to explain why Peter Obi should be voted as the next President of Nigeria after the inglorious reign of President Muhammadu Buhari. Obasanjo said that, based on character, antecedent, knowledge, discipline and vitality that the candidates can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job, particularly looking at where the country is today, Peter Obi has an edge over the other contestants. Obasanjo also said that he is more inclined towards a Peter Obi presidency because he (Peter) is “a thread with needle attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost”.
Since Obasanjo released his endorsement letter, Nigerians of all persuasions have been weighing in on his intervention. A greater majority of commentators believe that his interjection is a patriotic one. They agree with Obasanjo that Obi is the best man for the job at this time. I am inclined to believe that Babalola’s open and positive assessment of Obi is in line with this received opinion about the Labour Party presidential candidate. It is his own way of contributing to the ongoing national discourse around Obi.
However, Babalola engaged in free style self-negation when he stated in another breath that the 2023 presidential election will not be won by the best candidate but by someone who has the fattest wad of cash to dispense with. For Babalola, it is not he who has the solution to the country’s problems or who has the physical and mental capacity for the job that will win. It is he who has the most money to spend that will carry the day. Babalola’s position is a contradiction in terms. You cannot vote for competence and at the same time be succumbing needlessly to the corroding influence of corrupt inducement.
Can Babalola’s volte face be a counter-narrative? Or is it no narrative at all? Babalola, an elder statesman, a man who has seen Nigeria through all its vicissitudes, cannot be caught in this wire mesh of doublespeak. Where does he stand on this national debate that promises to give birth to a new Nigeria? Can it be that hopelessness, that cankerworm that leads to defeatism, has taken the better part of him? It is only backward thinking that can lead to this bizarre conclusion.
But then, how did Babalola arrive at this obscene conclusion? Is he the conscience, mind and soul of the Nigerian voter? As a statesman, as someone who has seen the country flounder, as one who has witnessed fruitless efforts in the past to redirect the country, shouldn’t he be interested in what will make the country better and speak stridently in its defence? How could Babalola surrender to infamy? Obasanjo, once his friend and ally, had a reason. He spoke from the heart. He wore the badge of patriotism. Obasanjo’s position is that of a man who means well for his country. That is why the former President painfully took us through the path to self-rediscovery? My expectation was that Babalola would improve on Obasanjo’s intervention. I expected him to come up with heavier and more compelling arguments on why Nigerians should put their best foot forward in the forthcoming presidential election. Regrettably, Babalola came with no argument at all. He made the cheapest of statements. It is like the stuff you hear when an interlocutor is devoid of ideas. A man who has no ideas and no argument to advance will always tell you, I have said it; take it or leave it. He does not care about the corollary. He just sticks to his untenable position.
If a Nigerian of Babalola’s standing can sound this defeatist, what do we expect from the less exposed with their very limited capacity to resist the arm-twister called money politics? As an accomplished Nigerian, Babalola is in a position to preach against corruption in whatever form or shape it manifests itself. He should be a moral compass that should show the way for others to follow. But when the leader is seen to have given up, those that queued behind him can only clasp their hands in absolute surrender. I expect the likes of Babalola to chide nation-wreckers rather than capitulate to their assault on our collective sobriety. As a witness to how the deployment of illicit fund at elections has destroyed the nation’s fabric, his likes should reject and resist anything that points in that direction. As a matter of fact, people like him who have worked so hard for a better Nigeria should be happy that the country in which he has experienced hard days and hard times is about to free itself from the stranglehold that has held it down. Babalola should not be seen to be making statements that suggest that he is sneering at the impending new order. That notwithstanding, we take it that his vote for character and competence stands. That is what will bail him out in the court of public opinion.
Babalola may well appreciate the fact that it does not pay to jump from pillar to post. Unfortunately, that is what his position on the setting up of an interim national government amounts to. Babalola has been insisting that the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria should be jettisoned in place of the 1960/ 1963 Constitution. For this to come into place, Babalola does not support the idea of an election that will bring another President, because, according to him, any President elected under the present constitution will not succeed.
Babalola may have a point about the very many flaws of the 1999 Constitution. But the idea of an interim national government is utopia. It is not workable. I think that Babalola should stop confusing himself and the Nigerian electorate with avoidable somersaults.