BUHARI’S ONE TERM AGENDA: ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS IN NIGERIA.

I wonder why many Nigerians are surprised at the promise of the president not to run a second term.  What did they really expect of him? If the APC ever planned to field him again, it is a certain loss at the polls.

The VP, Prof. Osinbajo will also do well not to make any attempt at a second shot at the post because he will not get it. His occupying the seat today sadly is not by his own merit in that former governors, Fashola and Amaechi were better experienced and qualified and could be given a second consideration in future but definitely not Osinbajo. Unpleasant as it may seem, it’s just the way it is.

Sen. Bola Tinubu is on a collision course with former VP, Alh. Atiku Abubakar and the differences between them will cost the coalition dearly if they are not pulled out at the earliest.  This will in the end give the PDP the upper hand and make heroes of people like Sen. Ike Ekweremadu.

Saddest of it all is that APC may never have the opportunity to rule Nigeria again after this time out.

It is true that the coalition comprises of strange bedfellows but in Nigerian local markets, they have ways of defining and demarcating their allocated spaces with minimum rancor.

The above picture is the work of the old brigade who has refused to let go of the jugular of this sleeping giant named Nigeria. Like serpents, they have ways of crawling into the system while the bonafide operators sleep and cause the system to fail.

This is the perfect time for young Nigerians to once again put aside the sad reality that it is ‘not yet Uhuru’ and begin to arrange a formidable political party of young Nigerian politicians.

GOD bless Nigeria.

FOLLOWING THE INAUGURATION AT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

The inauguration of Senator Bukola Saraki as the president of the Senate on the 9^th of June, 2015 was shocking to Nigerians. People patiently awaited a decent explanation of what transpired that saw the election of Saraki in the manner that he was elected. It did not seat well with many Nigerians but with an open mind, we waited in the hope that an enlightened analyst would be able to put to words the reason why it happened the way it did.

In the typical arrogance of the average West African, several senators ‘grabbed the mic’ and threw words at Nigerians and as far as they were concerned they had provided enough reason to the electorate and that was that. The glee with which they flung words at Nigerians again showed that they had gotten what they wanted from the electorate and whatever did not tally with their personal aspirations was considered to ‘not worth their time.’

In an article published in ‘This Day’ of 13^th June 2015, Dele Momodu tried to explain in simple terms and in clear language that the people could comprehend, I did not under that the PDP group that joined forces with APC had not been duly considered or compensated for the risk they took in confronting the leaders of PDP. Until then, I was looking at Saraki as one of those who defected to  APC late in the day, I did not look at it from the angle of Saraki uniting with the other 5 PDP governors who delivered their states to APC .  Until then, I believed that it was the people who made their choice and not their governors that made them vote out Dr. Jonathan. Until then, I did not see things from the perspective of people claiming that Senator Bola Tinubu was imposing candidates of his choice to be appointed, selected or elected into various offices. I did not and I still do not see the possibility of Tinubu being able to laud his will over that of the APC as a corporate entity or the President Muhammadu Buhari.

I am firmly convinced that the earliest politicians in Nigeria who failed to approach equity with clean hands in that under their huge agbadas and babarigas, they were armed with:

·       1. Dubious intentions towards one another

·       2. Tribalism

with which they erected a faulty foundation for democracy in Nigeria and on the bad foundation, we continue to hope that our style of politics will work in favour of Nigeria.

The coalition formed by CPC, ACN, PDP, APGA, ANPP, etc which birthed APC was another chance presented to Nigeria on a platter of gold under the aegis of Tinubu to work with frameworks in building structures but again, the old brigade with their stale mentality crept in once again and have thrown a spanner in the works. Like the proverbial sower who sowed his good seeds and went home only for the enemy to come in at night to sow tares among the good seeds; Nigerians must wait until the thorns can be clearly identified before weeding them out of the system.

In the course of achieving his personal ambition, Saraki has succeeded in providing the platform for PDP to have a much stronger foothold in the Senate and sadly, this has greatly exposed ACN. And to a large extent this will have its impact on the administratio of Buhari. Now Saraki is no longer a member of the PDP but he will no longer be trusted in the ruling party so where does he truly belong? Strangely, the deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu while speaking at his constituency in Enugu jubilantly informed his people that he is willing to work with the ruling party if the members so desire but that he is also fully ready for a fight if that is what they prefer.  Furthermore, he told his people that PDP will come back to the centre stage in 2019. While the ruling party see nothing wrong with the present arrangements, other politicians are warming up to capitalize on the rancor among them.

Tinubu’s immense contribution to the success of the coalition does not make him free of corruption; for every case he has anywhere, he will have to answer for his actions in due season so people should stop using his name as an excuse to work against the interest of the coalition. The issue at hand is the need for Nigerians to begin to work with frameworks and not shift the post to suit anybody’s whims.

GOD bless Nigeria.