Who's Worth Our Vote In 2015 Presidential Election?

"For some months now, the issue of the 2015
presidential election has become the cynosure of all
eyes. It is consistently making the headlines of our
national newspapers. Wherever two or more people
are now gathered 'in the name of Nigeria', know
that, right there in their midst, the imminent 2015
power tussle is the ineluctable bone of contention.
On October 15, 2014, the whole situation took a new
dimension when a regular dancer to this sad song
formally declared his intention to partake again in
the dance, the fourth time in a sequence. Since
then, the mass and social media have been
seriously buzzing than ever over this issue that has
indisputably become a controversial national topic.
In his opinion piece, Mr. Simult reminds us of a
" ludicrous but rather embarrassing stunt" executed
recently by the Special Assistant to the President on
New Media, Reno Omokri. It would be recalled that
on October 16, Mr. Omokri organized an opinion poll
on his blog, 'Build Up Nigeria', asking, 'If the
Nigerian Presidential election were held today, who
would you vote for between President Goodluck
Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari?' On
October 18, Premium Times reported that Buhari
was leading with a wide margin (with 6,411 votes,
or 69.87%, against Jonathan's 2,455 votes, or
26.75% of the votes cast, as 310 persons, or 3.38%
of the total voters, were undecided).
"The Presidency was purported to direct that the
poll should not be closed until the President had
garnered enough votes to lead," Mr. Simult
continues, "while serious efforts were being made to
reverse the situation. Such efforts might have
included reaching out to the stalwarts of the party
across the nation to vote and galvanize people to
vote for GEJ, and, if need be, vote more than once,
using different devices. Thus, it was not much of a
chagrin when the poll was immediately closed as
soon as the President got just enough votes to
marginally lead Buhari with less than one percent of
the total votes on October 19.
"Fellow Nigerians, if such drastic measures were
taken to thwart the will of the people in a common
opinion poll, what does 2015 presidential election
hold for us? It's a shame, such travesty of
democracy.
"Before the Buharists, or whatever they call
themselves, roll out drums and begin to dance
Skelewu, thinking they have got yet another fan, I
hasten to add that I refuse to be a party to their
'palm wine dance' either. I have always pontificated,
without apology, that the messiah (or someone
close to that) Nigeria needs is yet to come on
board . And yes, I can reiterate that anytime, looking
at the challenges presently bedevilling our nation,
for I am yet to comprehend the rationale behind
recycling the same set of leaders who have been
tried and found wanting.
"On October 3, 2014, a 29-year old young man,
Gabriel Wikström, was appointed Minister for Public
Health, Healthcare and Sports in Sweden. It is
exactly 50 years now since a young Nigerian was
last in such a position. Late Matthew Mbu, in 1953,
as a 23-year old man, was appointed as Nigeria's
Federal Minister for Labour and left the post in 1954.
Presently, the youngest minister in Jonathan's
cabinet, Dr. Nurudeen Muhammed, the Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs, is 38 years old, not even a
youth any longer. When shall we start bringing in
the young and vibrant into leadership positions in
Nigeria? When shall our youths become the
leaders of the said tomorrow?
"El-Rufai was making pungent points in relation to
the aforementioned in 2011 when he said, 'We must
put the future of the country at heart and give way
to a new generation of leadership.' He further
maintained his standpoint then by saying, 'I was 25
years old when Buhari and Babangida were Heads of
State, and I am now 50, and they still want to be
Head of State … President Babangida and General
Buhari should just disappear. They should give way
to a new set of people with new ideas.' It is quite a
pity, however, that El-Rufai, who uttered these noble
statements in 2011, and who I have great respect
for, has now eaten back his words three years after.
You see, it is always difficult to put one's foot down
and stand for the truth when one now dines and
wines at the table of another whom the truth must
hurt. God forbid that he should bite the hand that
now feeds him. The truth would rather be left
unsaid. I hear he is now contesting for Kaduna State
governorship. Good luck to him.
"Our leaders have turned us into a card game of
'pick two, hold on, continue'. We have hardly ever
had a say in the decisions that affect our lives. And
from the pointers I see, we may not yet have come
close to having that say. Especially if a common
opinion poll could still be so egregiously
manipulated. Unless a selfless, visionary and
pragmatic leader, who upholds justice without
minding whose ox is gored, comes on board, we
might as well continue to be perpetually entangled
in the chicanery of our leaders, present and past,
who keep playing us as mere cards. One plays, holds
on for the next to play, and another continues the
same vicious cycle.
"As for an opposition party, I doubt if we have one
yet. Not when it is the same set of power-drunk and
power-hungry politicians who are re-uniting to fulfill
a common goal of gratifying their individual avarice
to the detriment of the nation. So, come 2015
presidential election, if you must vote at all, vote
for the lesser of the evils, evils our leaders have
subtly disguised in clothes of many colours. Don't
ask me which is the lesser of the evils. I do not
know.
"May God open our eyes to see what we need to
know."

Posted By David Aniemeka