AN ASSESSMENT THAT WILL DECIDE NIGERIA

I have done a deep assessment of all the major presidential candidates and this are
my candid views:

Buhari-Bakare:

A team of conservative hardliners, they both them represent honesty and draw out
respect from the populace. A victory for them in the presidential elections will be as
a result of the people deciding for them rather than a dependence on godfathers,
incumbency or money -bags.

A win for them will more than likely bring back power to the people and lead to the
creation of the Nigerian dream where the heights to which people can reach is
dependent not on their social class and connections but rather on the strength of
their reputation.

There is a great chance that this ticket will restore the core Nigerian values of hard
work, discipline and fairness and cut down the now towering oaks of corruption,
malfeasance and disregard for the rule of law and respect for life. It will bring about
the change Nigeria deserves which only a bloody revolution, that will purge the
nation of the corrupt and enforce the right way of living upon the people, would do.
It is the ticket that will save the country from its current downward spiral into self-
destruction.

Two probes have been conducted on Buhari and none could indict him. He refused
receiving salary as PTF boss on the basis that he was already on state pension as a
result of being an ex-president. Such honesty and simplicity is what Nigeria-
wracked as it is today by greed, self-aggrandizement and selfishness -needs to
stave off the future devastation that awaits her if she continues down this path.

GEJ-SAMBO

He is known as the good luck, given his meteoric rise to power .I initially was taken
in by his humility and he elicited my sympathy as a result of the gang-up against
him by the elite. But the course of time has revealed that he is quite shallow
minded than he initially revealed .When early in his presidency someone close to
the seat of power described him as a moron I disapproved of that statement
strongly. Recent happenings though and a thorough evaluation of his presidency
has however given positive affirmation to that insiders’ statement.

He received over 3 trillion dollars in foreign reserves. Now that amount is less than
2 billion dollars even though we are in an unprecedented oil price boom and our
reserves are supposed to be in surplus as a result. Where did all the money go to? If
it went to roads, why then is the ibadan-lagos and benin-lagos expressways still as
they are, riddled with potholes and serving as the graves for many Nigerians? Why
is that hospitals have been on strike for the better part of this year and that our
schools and universities have failed to see remarkable change? Insecurity is
pervasive and he has ushered us to a new evil -bombs, which his feeble statements
have failed to stop from detonating in different parts of the country.

Why is that for a man who has been president for over 9 months that during his s
elf debate, he could only speak in general terms about how he intends to solve
Nigeria's problems rather than as one who is actually in charge of the economy,
with facts and figures as Obasanjo had while he was president.

Why would he rather be interviewed by a mediocre entertainer whose proclaimed

values have created the most obscene socialization of foul language as for instance
the ''koko'' , ''no long thing'' than be present to debate with other key contenders
on critical issues affecting the nation.

He has spent millions arranging for entertainers and nollywooders-those creators of

the other life to which Nigerians retreat to as they attempt to escape harsh reality -
to speak for him, rather than organizing and interacting with the people he claims
to govern through town hall meetings. He gives a playful approach to a country that
deserves serious attention and governs like a gambler over a country that is at a
stage where it can afford few mistakes.

Even if he was as good as he portrays, he has become presidential candidate of the

PDP today by using and dumping good people such as Nwodo and by forging
alliances with dubious characters such that even if he were to decide to tow the
path that favors the people, the select group to which he is sworn would remind him
of his allegiances.

He has revealed overall that he is very crafty and that he cannot be trusted. There
is a chance though that he might just be playing to get power so that once fully
entrenched he will shed off his alliance baggage to the enemies of the state and set
himself up to clean up Nigeria. Giving him the benefit of doubt on this basis is risky
as he may or may not once firmly in power do the will of the people.

So why take the risk and if wrong throw Nigeria down the path to destruction in the
hands of a man with an antecedent of confusion. A vote for him is a vote for the
status quo unless of cause if he is just playing up appearances.

Ribadu-Adeola:

The only real claim of this ticket for attention is the massive infrastructure window
dressing by their party in Lagos state. Asides this one must also acknowledge that a
lot of brain capital has been expended by their party into the process of governance
in Lagos state.

Yet one cannot but acknowledge that if the party's policies were to be extended all
over Nigeria through this ticket were it to win the presidential elections that they
would only serve to create new elite in the place of that of the PDP.

The ousted Mubarak of Egypt brought economic growth to Egypt by privatization,

massive infrastructure works and booming tourism. Yet he was removed. Why?
Because his was an elitist government that siphoned off money from the state
through contracts and from the people through taxes to his cronies in the guise of
building roads and promoting private initiative. In truth though, most people
remained poor, the working class could not afford inflation and the basics because
the government took away subsidies and allowed the free economy. A vote for this
ticket is a vote for this scenario.

Their party is an alter-pdp although they have been able to mask their evils by
riding the anti-pdp sentiment of the people and by disguising their thievery via
infrastructure contracts. The fact though that a lot politicians can leave the PDP
and find peace in the ACN shows that both parties share similar party cultures and
only differ in their approach to power sharing. Whatever the case, both are anti
people but the PDP more so because they add to this an utter disregard for the lives
and values of the people they claim to govern.

If you want good roads and functioning railways all over the country, vote this
ticket. However if what you want is a change in the national culture of corruption,
selfishness, rotation of power and position among the elite, cronyism, inequality
then please do not vote this ticket, rather vote the CPC, vote Buhari-Bakare in order
to entrench the right values that will eventually lead to the Nigeria of our dreams.
Infrastructure does not make a great nation, rather its values do and this is what
the CPC ticket offers.

The policies of the party of this duo have made Lagos about the most expensive
place in Nigeria to live in. It has also made Lagos a place where the masses live in
morbid fear of their government. It has made Lagos into a police state with
government everywhere. It has also replaced one core Nigerian value i.e.
humaneness with one driven by money, money and more money. The person is no
more seen as a human he is just a statistic that adds or removes from the state's
generated revenue.

Shekarau-Oyegun:

The NN24 debate showed off this man as been very knowledgeable. If at this time
what we required was a knowledgeable man then we could vote him. However what
we need is a man that can restore discipline to the national psyche and move the
people to the path of good. This Shekarau cannot do.

He has a very limited support base restricted to Kano and among core ANPP
loyalists. He holds no real chance to garnering enough votes and the very fact that
he is in the race may be as a result of a possible arrangement with the PDP to split
votes in the North that might have gone entirely to Buhari. For the CPC his presence
in the game is the spoiler and his running benefits only the PDP.

Others:

Pat Utomi has withdrawn from the race. There is a chance that he might have
been threatened out of contesting rather than as he claimed to give a chance to the
progressives to battle the PDP. His withdrawing serves no real value to any of the
remaining so-called progressive parties in the contest and it has failed to elicit a
coalition of the progressives as he claimed. Therefore his withdrawing may be due
to factors beyond his statement as well as beyond what we can see.

Momodu of Ovation magazine fame. His campaign for whatever it is worth is a

huge joke. No need belaboring for analysis. He might be positioning himself for
political relevance and a ministerial appointment in the near future may serve as
reward for his current feeble efforts.

In Addition

The refusal of Buhari, Ribadu and Shekarau to attend the debate in which Jonathan
was present smacked of emotional immaturity. That platform was very down to
earth as it gave GEJ the chance to address the populace to the last man. How many
Nigerians have access to cable or to NN24 and television? However almost all
Nigerians have access to radio and this is where GEJ was very strategic. The other
candidates allowed their desire for revenge becloud their strategic view and this
made them fail to see the opportunity presented by that platform.

Conclusion

In conclusion I recommend that all Nigerians think deeply as they cast their votes
and to avoid sentiment in deciding their president in this general elections.

For young Nigerians this elections are critical because we would not have a chance
to redefine the destiny of our country until four years and by then there is a chance
that a wrong choice in this period may lead to a country whose destiny might have
been so irredeemably wrecked for democracy to restore and in addition one whose
life would be in contention for by different war lords in different parts of the country.

We are at the crossroads. There can be no fence seating. A vote for the wrong
person will send us irredeemably down to chaos and a vote for the right person will
restore us to the so-called good old days when the good of your name and your
natural abilities determined how successful you could become.

Adebayo Alonge

(The author is a social development analyst)