If you don’t like who’s in there, vote ’em out
That’s what Election Day is all about
The biggest gun we’ve got
Is called ‘the ballot box’
So if you don’t like who’s in there, vote ’em out.
– Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson, an American country musician, will be 90 next April. He has done Nigerians the great favour of telling them what to do on February 25. To “vote ’em out” will surely be a pleasant birthday gift to him. And that is a duty that Nigerians owe themselves and their future. It is also a responsible citizen’s action. Therefore, there will be no need to further lament about the excruciating poverty and hopelessness that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has brought upon Nigerians. There will be no more gain debating if Muhammadu Buhari, who Bola Tinubu publicly confessed to having brought out from his political retirement home, and made President, delivered on his electoral promises or not. The most important thing at this time is the hope that February 25 offers Nigerians to sing the nunc dimitis and eternally close the chapter on APC, a political party whose presidential candidate loathes boasting of its achievements.
It is actually worrisome to the discerning mind that despite Buhari’s consistent claim to have delivered on his electoral promises, the Presidential Campaign Council of his party, including its national executive council members, detests mentioning those achievements in their campaigns as they tour Nigeria begging for another opportunity to further destroy the country, mess with its diversity and spread more poverty. Many know, and understand, that the APC candidate is battling his best to distance himself and his campaign from Buhari’s achievements so as to be seen as being different. That effort falls flat on its face because previous claims to being the ‘national leader’ of the party and, by implication, one of the architects of its policies and programmes, cannot be blighted by recent pontifications about Buhari’s failures.
The thing here is this. Nigerians have bonded together and managed their diversity very well, irrespective of the mutual suspicion that attends their politics since time began. However, in less than four years of being in power, the APC shredded that unity and turned Nigerians against themselves with high-level insecurity and mindless bloodletting. While all these happened, the APC national leader watched with sealed lips. He refused to condemn even the dastardly killing of the daughter of a man he calls leader. His silence disappointed many of his supporters. It also forced many others who hitherto liked his courage to begin to look elsewhere for succour.
The fact is that the APC candidate had paid his dues for Nigeria. He has impacted its politics. He has been kind to many of his friends. But the presidency of a country is no reward for philanthropy. Besides, images from his recent campaign tour of the South West, where he was shown being physically supported to stand firm on the campaign truck, and his consistent gaffes and slips, indicate that he no longer has the mental and physical capacity to undertake the assignment he is asking for. The optics clearly show that the APC standard-bearer has become too weak to be burdened with the presidency of any country. The task of rebuilding Nigeria, from the ashes of a disunited and dysfunctional entity, deserves an experienced leader who is mentally and physically strong to understand and relate very well with the country’s diversity.
Nigeria deserves someone who has the capacity to unify her people and galvanise them to positive national action. It deserves someone like Atiku Abubakar who understands the innate meanings of the words of Nigeria’s erstwhile national anthem, which says “Though tribes and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand.”
With Atiku, Nigerians have a new promise –a promise of a country where truth and justice shall reign and no man is oppressed for his being. These are the irreducible minimum that the majority of Nigerians look forward to as they step out to vote APC out on February 25. This gives Nigerians hope for a better future that is managed so professionally that square pegs will no longer be forced into round holes. Atiku, like him or not, has been around and is deeply knowledgeable not only about Nigeria but also about what government needs to, and must, do to kickstart the country’s economic recovery.
No doubt, a new broom sweeps fine, but an old one knows all the corners. It knows how best to sweep out stubborn dirt. This is the meaning of experience. Experience is vital in managing diversity. It is also very important in managing resources as well as in recruiting, or head-hunting vital hands to help drive the ship of statecraft. Atiku’s focus on opening up the economy through the engagement of the private sector in the management of national assets is a promise that is certain to grow the economy at a faster pace. This assurance comes from the understanding that private investors are driven by profit and as such seek to grow their investments using the best human resources available. This is the best way to resolve the issue of nepotism in recruitment into government-owned businesses.
Atiku does not see restructuring as another campaign promise. It is something he believes in. He talks about it everywhere he goes. He has even written about it and discusses it at every forum. So, for him, restructuring is not another cliché. To have written a book about it means he is very passionate about its capacity to help unbundle the Nigerian economy. His mindset about restructuring is that he will restructure the economy, restructure the polity, and restructure security. These will have multiplier effects on everything about the growth of Nigeria.
Also, the prospect of unbundling the Nigeria Police to create state police structures excites people who are progress-minded. This prospect offers a lot more to Nigeria. Beyond helping to tame the monster of insecurity, it will also create job opportunities. The ancillary jobs that will develop from this are huge. For instance, with state police structures, private security companies will professionalise and have more to do. I am looking at the opportunities that abound with a restructured polity.
Facts that must not be glossed over: Atiku, as Nigeria’s leader, will not bring the country as low as APC has successfully done. Though the days ahead do not promise to be bliss, they, however, give assurances that once the right steps are taken, as promised by Atiku, the right results will yield well for the country. It means that “lazy youths” will have reasons to renew their faith in their country. It means also that those “lazy youths” won’t live expecting to be fed only yam, cassava and corn. It also means that their future will be more promising as their contract with the state will be more rewarding that they will not need to face the sort of pains that came from the forceful suppression of their October 2020 protests. The first step, however, is to heed Willie Nelson’s unsolicited advice and “vote ’em out.”