GEJ is the current President of Nigeria so all bucks stop on him. I never supported him as a Presidential candidate in this last election because I was not convinced on his leadership skills, he had no manifestos, above all his party PDP has failed and continue to fail Nigeria. I however supported him to replace President Yar’dua when he was incapacitated and eventual death. I did this because the Nigerian constitution warranted and guaranteed this and I supported the constitution, as it is supreme.
It did not matter to me if the PDP presidential candidate were a Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa/Fulani; I would not have wasted my votes on any PDP candidates in 2011 even if he were Jesus the Christ (PDP members themselves often proudly say in Nigeria, ”even if Jesus comes now we would not let him succeed in Nigeria”). However he is our President now and he must lead efficiently not cowardly as he is doing.
I have very good reasons for my decision not to support PDP last year, I am from Osun state of Nigeria from Omisore senatorial constituency and my in-law was the chairman of my local government, (he is not my only in law in PDP), all these people including former Governor Oyinlola are all PDP members and they all destroyed my cradle, state and country but all became very rich in the process. I am an independent thinking person; I am not a card-carrying member of any party and no affiliations to any party.
Before the last election, I looked at other political parties and their manifestoes and decided to canvass and campaign for the ACN as they offer the best solutions to my state and Nigeria at large. This sort of thoughts occurred through out the southwest of Nigeria and resulted in demise of PDP in the region. How I wish the rest of the country voted for a progressive change!
I am a Christian but I support a Muslim new governor of my state who by the way he is doing great, he is also not from my area of the state as PDP Oyinlola who destroyed my state for 7 years. I also campaigned for ACN candidates Ribadu/Adeola at national level even though Ribadu is of Hausa/Fulani extraction and both are Muslims, my decision was based on the best pair for the country as I said I knew regardless of GEJ gentleman-ness he had no vision for the country and his PDP has consistently failed us for 12 years. However, I still want him to do well in Nigeria because if Nigeria does well all of us do well.
You see my brother we are all Nigerians, we should not keep thinking of section, religion and ethnicity as these will keep us down as a nation. This is in fact what few ruling elites want; they want us to be divided so that they can perpetrate themselves in power. It should not matter if one is an Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Ijaw, Ogoni, Ibiobios, Tivs, etc., let us begin to support and go for the best person for the job. Look at our civil service and now the private sectors in Nigeria; most workers are not there on merits but through nepotism, favoritisms, and connections all to the country's detriment.
There are many capable job candidates in Nigeria who have good education but lack connection hence no job whilst people with ordinary 3rd class degrees and passes are making the decisions that affect us all. Take for example, I am aware of a person with 3rd class degree in Yoruba language who got a job as a bank manager because his father has a big bank balance in that bank whilst a candidate with first class degree in banking & finance was rejected, no wonder the guy with Yoruba degree failed woefully in his performance and was engaging in other fraudulent acts in the bank, the bank daren't sack him because of his godfather!! All these people hold the country hostage as they think the country belongs to them, haba!!
1993 elections that were annulled by IBB could have been the first time in Nigerian history when the whole Nigerians voted for who they perceived to be the best Presidential candidate. If IBB did not annul these elections, I honestly believe Nigeria would have moved on from regional politics that keep us behind since independence.
My brother, what is the essence of me supporting a Yoruba man as a president who would bring the country down than someone else from other tribe who would make the country great? My brother, We owe our children, grand & great grand children the good legacies so we must support any Nigerian who will make Nigeria attain her highest heights otherwise we would have failed as a people.
GEJ needs to reject anyone or any group who want to thwart his legacies, he must come out of his shell fearlessly / tirelessly and face this issue of Boko Haram head on, mere claiming of the presence of bad people in his government is not good enough, he must not think of any tribe or ethnic group he may upset, he must remember he is the commander in Chief and the security of all Nigerians rest on him.
He needs to hire the capable,uncorruptible hands, un-hire those he thinks are not up to the tasks. What he is scared of? Death? He should be ready to die as a hero than to live as a coward. There are many capable Nigerians in all our diverse ethnic groups who he can appoint, he should not be too political/partisan and therefore forced to pick the ingrates/ embecelles / mediocre in order to settle his god - fathers, if he needs to reach beyond his party so bid. Is he afraid of a second term? I thought he claims he is not interested in a 2nd term, what then? He should forget how he gets to this position, destiny or whatever? He is there now and he should serve Nigerians well so that when his term finishes he can be a proud Ijaw Nigerian who served his country well.
He must remember that he is now a president of all Nigerians who happens to be a PDP man from an Ijaw ethnic group of one Nigeria. If he thinks there are some questionable people (Boko-Haram / Cabals) in his cabinet, government, civil service, he should expose them and bring them to justice now and the Nigerians would hail him for it, doing nothing and just talking that he knows them make him look weak and will create more problems for him and his legacies.
I have a dream of a Nigeria where all men/women are created equal, where decisions will be based on individual merits not on tribes, religion, connections and bank balance, this type of Nigeria will allow all of us to live and prosper in Nigeria and build our country rather than sharing it and afford us to leave great legacies for our children, grand and great grand children.
May God grant our leaders the wisdoms and health to lead!!!
This was a response to a GEJ supporter who blames the Northern elites for the actions of Boko-haram.
Dr. Kola
Educated in Nigeria, UK & USA
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