A joke of an opposition

By Femi Fani-Kayode

Now that we know who all the presidential candidates are, permit me to say the following.

President Tinubu will not only win the 2027 presidential election fair and square, but he will win it hands down.

The following words come to mind when I consider the opposition and those who seek to challenge him: weak, divided, insipid, deluded, vain, mendacious, intellectually bankrupt, morally challenged, manifestly dishonest, and lacking in gravitas and integrity.

They present no credible threat and offer no serious challenge.

They are like the Biblical Tower of Babel: a vexatious and cantankerous brood of venomous vipers, strange bedfellows, inexplicable paradoxes, irreconcilable contradictions, ill-bred and unlettered fools, specious liars, misguided souls, power-lusting degenerates, accursed malefactors, and a loud and unbearable cacophony of delusion and confusion all rolled into one, all speaking different languages and moving in different directions.

Theirs is the noise of the marketplace: loud, empty, vacuous, insignificant, irrelevant and, more often than not, crude and obscene. They are more of a comedy show than an opposition.

Lost in their own sorry fables and fanciful tales, they attract pity and ridicule rather than respect and admiration. As Shakespeare’s Macbeth said, theirs is “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.

Failure, shame, defeat, decimation, humiliation and contempt stare them in the face, and catastrophe is their portion.

Their anger, hate, bitterness, insults, desperation, blindness, wild allegations, baseless assertions, insincerity of purpose, and sinister and increasingly desperate attempts to divide our people, destabilise our government, terrorise and traumatise our citizenry, and destroy our nation have set them on a path of self-annihilation and the road to eternal damnation. I feel sorry for them.

Permit me to add the following. Peter Obi, the IPOB candidate, may do well in the South-East, but he will not fare well elsewhere and, therefore, there is little point in wasting more than a couple of sentences on him in this contribution.

His candidacy is like a car with a knocked engine. It is doomed from the start, regardless of his joint candidacy with Rabiu Kwankwaso, who I fear has destroyed his hitherto outstanding political career by betraying his heritage and aligning with a man like Peter.

Many have said that Atiku Abubakar will sweep the North.

I have lived in the North for the last 23 years, and I assure you that they are wrong.

There is no doubt that the Wazirin Adamawa once had a hold on certain parts of the region, but things have changed over the last few years.

After so many failed attempts to become President, and his constant betrayal of those who brought him to political relevance, such as President Obasanjo, and those who welcomed him into their ranks with open arms and gave him a platform when he was on the ropes, such as President Buhari and President Tinubu, he has lost credibility, relevance and steam.

Worst of all is the fact that ever since 2007, when he left office as Vice President, he has dedicated his life to ensuring that power remains in the North and has contested virtually every election, either at the primary or party level, to stop the South from enjoying power.

Thankfully, the North now has a new set of leaders who have acquitted themselves well, who give meaning to the word loyalty, and who have proved to the world that their region has not only come of age but has also overtaken much of the rest of the country in terms of development and first-class leadership.

Names like Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, Governor Uba Sani, Governor Dauda Lawal, Governor Mai Mala Buni and others stand out.

These leaders will clip Atiku’s wings and prove to the world that Arewa has a plethora of seasoned and disciplined leaders who, unlike Waziri, are ready to put the interest of the nation before self.

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• Chief Femi Fani-Kayode is Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa, a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, a former Minister of Aviation, a former Senior Special Assistant and Spokesman to President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Sadaukin Shinkafi, the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, the Otunba of Joga Orile, the Aare Ajagunla of Otun Ekiti and a legal practitioner.