so yesterday i was having lunch with my friends when the question i have been dreading for a long time (no, not why i'm not yet married) was asked. as has been the rave of the past few weeks, the most popular topics around the water cooler and at lunch has been the popularity trending of the various candidates running for political office. for those of you who don't know, we have 3 major ones: goodluck jonathan - incumbent president and ruling party candidate, mohammed buhari - former military head of state and 3 time contender for the position under the democratic dispensation, and nuhu ribadu - a young inexperienced fellow who's claim to fame is the publicly celebrated work he did with the anti-graft agency the EFCC many years ago, before he became selective in his choice of prosecutions. historically in nigeria, once a candidate has been announced for the ruling party, all nigerians go to sleep on the clear and often correct assumption that the next president has automatically emerged. this gave informal credence to the general feeling that massive rigging always ensured that the richest party - the PDP - would win come what may.
shamefully, i aligned with this view until a few weeks ago when in an unprecedented move, all presidential candidates were invited to debate national issues. even more shamefully, i didn't watch the debates but it became immediately apparent after the debate that the best that nigeria has to offer in terms of leadership is clearly not any of the more popular candidates, but two significantly unknown individuals. a certain mr. shekarau and a certain pastor tunde bakare, men who suddenly rose to our consciousness as having a clear understanding of the needs of this country, even though i would be the last to say they know exactly how to solve it.
after the global deception that has become mr. barack obama - a man who promised paradise and gave chaff...a man that skilfully stired up racial sentiments (by appearing to ignore them until the last minute), in his bid for power to such ridiculous levels that it was borderline offensive. and in doing so, led the world to ignore the fact that the world's biggest super power was more complex than any amount of rhetorics could comprehend...than any single person irrespective of colour could even assume to understand without years of inside experience. made you all choose him and celebrate his ascendance into power as a validation of the black race, against the more commonse sense decision to elect hillary clinton with her wealth of experience and commitment to making fulfillable promises...all of which has landed him on the road to be the least achieving american president ever - after him, i am wary to be swayed by swift talking but inexperienced folk who fail to understand the delicate balance between a country still divided along religious and strong ethnic lines and are led by the roaring crowd and sycophantic chants to make endless promises that will only serve to make them appear inept should they assume leadership.
and so i was asked which of the candidates i would vote for...and here is my full disclosure. i did not register to vote. after all my rantings, threats and public shoving for young professionals to register to vote, i fell by the wayside and have lost my right to participate. i can give a million reasons, but that is not the essence of this post. i am writing to be honest and retain some of the credibility my readers have reposed in me. i apologize and just want to say that it does not diminish my passion for the electoral process or my view on youth participation in leadership choices. ultimately, i am grateful that in my lifetime, i have seen democracy, i am able to see people take sides with candidates and become passionate about a process that affects us all...i am able to criticize openly without fear and enjoy the ride. i do not take this liberty for granted and thank God for "little mercies" as these. i could easily have been born in libya or zimbabwe...and not even have internet access.
see y'all around peeps. plus i now wear glasses...i dare you laugh.
shamefully, i aligned with this view until a few weeks ago when in an unprecedented move, all presidential candidates were invited to debate national issues. even more shamefully, i didn't watch the debates but it became immediately apparent after the debate that the best that nigeria has to offer in terms of leadership is clearly not any of the more popular candidates, but two significantly unknown individuals. a certain mr. shekarau and a certain pastor tunde bakare, men who suddenly rose to our consciousness as having a clear understanding of the needs of this country, even though i would be the last to say they know exactly how to solve it.
after the global deception that has become mr. barack obama - a man who promised paradise and gave chaff...a man that skilfully stired up racial sentiments (by appearing to ignore them until the last minute), in his bid for power to such ridiculous levels that it was borderline offensive. and in doing so, led the world to ignore the fact that the world's biggest super power was more complex than any amount of rhetorics could comprehend...than any single person irrespective of colour could even assume to understand without years of inside experience. made you all choose him and celebrate his ascendance into power as a validation of the black race, against the more commonse sense decision to elect hillary clinton with her wealth of experience and commitment to making fulfillable promises...all of which has landed him on the road to be the least achieving american president ever - after him, i am wary to be swayed by swift talking but inexperienced folk who fail to understand the delicate balance between a country still divided along religious and strong ethnic lines and are led by the roaring crowd and sycophantic chants to make endless promises that will only serve to make them appear inept should they assume leadership.
and so i was asked which of the candidates i would vote for...and here is my full disclosure. i did not register to vote. after all my rantings, threats and public shoving for young professionals to register to vote, i fell by the wayside and have lost my right to participate. i can give a million reasons, but that is not the essence of this post. i am writing to be honest and retain some of the credibility my readers have reposed in me. i apologize and just want to say that it does not diminish my passion for the electoral process or my view on youth participation in leadership choices. ultimately, i am grateful that in my lifetime, i have seen democracy, i am able to see people take sides with candidates and become passionate about a process that affects us all...i am able to criticize openly without fear and enjoy the ride. i do not take this liberty for granted and thank God for "little mercies" as these. i could easily have been born in libya or zimbabwe...and not even have internet access.
see y'all around peeps. plus i now wear glasses...i dare you laugh.
Comments
So you didnt register? well, confession is good for the soul and 'no' I/we wont crucify you cause I am not sure I would have registered too though I would have made more noise than those who did.
I watched the 'What about us' debate and was quite disappointed by Ribadu. Momodu of course was a joke. Shekarau agreed, was interesting - like an articulate commenter on FB...but articulate maketh not a President. Leave my Potus ooo. That paragraph is the longest I have seen/read in a while......is it just Obama beef? lol.
p.s. ok let me go take a sip of water I feel thirsty from all this typing.
p.p.s I just got my voter's card to vote in the UK referendum come May 19th. Brought it home to me how far Jega's reality was from the real world....