By John Ola Mafo
“As you lay your bed, so you will lie on it” is a famous proverb worldwide, which tallies with the popular quote, “The government you elect is the government you deserve”, by Thomas Jefferson, the third President of America.
As it is for other nations of the world and their people, so it should for Nigeria and Nigerians.
The concept of the best President Nigeria needs derives from a number of historical factors. The description presupposes that for every nation at a particular point in time, there is often a standout or an anointed leader, who can best pilot the affairs of the people to achieve maximum results.
For Israel, while in bondage in Egypt, the anointed leader was Moses! When India needed a good head to deliver it from colonialism, Mahatma Gandhi, the inventor of non-violent resistance rose to the occasion! The same man later inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world!
The name Nelson Mandela will forever resonate from the annals of history for his sustained struggle against apartheid and colour-bar in South Africa. By the same token, the heroics of George Washington during the American revolution war continue to ring bells, just like the wartime gallantry of Winston Churchill can never be forgotten by the people of United Kingdom!
For our country, Nigeria, though we have our heroes past in their numbers, epitomised by the likes of Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello and Peter Enahoro, among others, none of them ever rose to the exalted position of Executive President or Head of State of the nation!
By a curious coincidence or accidents of history, it can be argued that Nigeria had never been lucky or careful enough to elect its best hand whenever the time comes for the National Leader and Chief Executive to emerge. At best, what we have been having could be described as leaders by proxy like Tafawa Balewa, who could not in anyway be described as part of the first eleven of our political leaders at independence, notwithstanding his humility and eloquence!
After the exit of Tafawa Balewa and the 13 years of military rule that followed, the next Nigerian democratic leader was Shehu Shagari, who could be described as a reluctant President! A teacher like Balewa, all that Shagari wanted to be was a Senator, before the power-brokers dragged him into the Presidential race of 1979, for which he was far from prepared! By comparison, he was rated far below any of the candidates of the other parties, including Nnamdi Azikiwe of NPP, Obafemi Awolowo of UPN, Aminu Kano of PRP and Waziri Ibrahim of GNPP.
The history of Nigeria’s search for a leader may not be complete without a reference to Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, another born-again democrat, who bestrode the nation’s political climate like a colossus! The embargo placed by IBB on certain categories of former office holders when he lifted the ban on politics in 1989 prevented Yar’ Adua from contesting the 1993 Presidential Election. He threw his weight behind the scion of his political lineage, Atiku Abubakar, who along with MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe emerged the three front-runners of the SDP primary at Jos. MKO eventually won the re-run primary election after an accord with the Yar’ Adua group, with the understanding that Atiku would be picked as Running Mate. After his emergence, MKO eventually picked Kingibe as Vice Presidential Candidate. He subsequently became the hero of that era, as the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election! He ended up a tragic hero, as a chain of actions and reactions culminated in his demise in questionable circumstances under the watch of the last military ruler of Nigeria, General Abdusalam Abubakar.
Yes, Atiku Abubakar missed the opportunity to run either as President or Vice President in 1993, but he made his mark as a new man on the block, effectively marking the beginning of his relationship with Nigeria’s Presidency. And when Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua passed on in 1997, Atiku Abubakar inherited his political empire which had transformed from PFN to PDM, which became a veritable power bloc within PDP from inception in 1998.
Still on the issue of the the types of Presidents produced so far by Nigeria, in the ongoing 4th Republic, following the still-born 3rd Republic, most of the Presidents produced so far are either products of accident, opportunity or circumstances. Certainly, the Nigerian Presidency and preparation for same could never have crossed the mind of Obasanjo while in prison as at 1998! As for Umar Musa Yar’ Adua, he was not even counted among the contenders until outgoing President Obasanjo drafted him into the race, a case of an opportuned or circumstantial President?
By comparison, the most typical case of an accidental President was that of Jonathan, who was first opportuned to become a Deputy Governor, from a civil service background as a Deputy Director, before becoming an accidental Governor, handpicked Vice President and accidental or circumstantial President!
The case of Mohammed Buhari is a bit complex being a combination of a number of factors. Considered a born-again democrat, away from the notorious image of a dictator, he was a perennial candidate (falling on the first, second and third attempts), who would most probably never have been President but for Nigerians’ curiosity about the “new” Buhari and the burning desire to change the PDP administration, which had been considered non-performing, due more to opposition propaganda and machinations than empirical facts on ground about performance. After almost eight years, most Nigerians appear convinced that substituting Goodluck Jonathan for Muhammed Buhari was like exchanging gold with “panda”!
Today, the alarum rings, as we move towards the 2023 Presidential Election, with the nation agog on permutations, on the move again, to elect the next President!
It is natural at this stage of our national experience for the topic of the best President Nigeria can have to surface. From historical background, among the pre and post independence politicians, who doubled as nationalists, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was considered the best Presidential material. Highly educated, patriotic, politically conscious and passionate about nation-building, Awo as he was fondly called, had the necessary background, experience and foresight to produce leadership for Nigeria in its early stage of development as a nation, but he was denied the opportunity repeatedly until he passed away to the great beyond in May, 1987.
Subsequently, in an article published by PM News on the 15th October, 2012, 15 years after the demise of Awo, another famous Nigerian, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu described him as “the best President Nigeria never had”!
Expatiating further on the declaration, the famous warlord said: “Many have wondered what I meant by this, but I believe the statement was clear. Nigeria would have benefitted from his Presidency because of his innate Presidential qualities”. He added that “Nigeria must continually regret that he never, for many reasons, had the opportunity to serve at Presidential level”
In a similar vein, according to a news report by Nigerian Tribune and other news outlets, Chief Folake Solanke, the First Female Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) described Awo as “The Best President Nigeria Didn’t Have”, adding that “people for reasons best known to them do not accept superiority nor recognise talent”. According to the report, the erudite scholar and legal luminary made the statement on the 19th of April, 2019, when she led the alumni of WNTV/WNBS, under the aegis of First in Africa Television Alumni Association to the Tribune House in Ibadan to honour the memory of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Interestingly today, in Nigeria, without fear or favour, the opinion expressed by Ojukwu, Solanke and others too numerous to recount has become a truism and an integral part of our national history.
Today, in 2022, Obafemi Awolowo is no more! We are faced with another big test of choosing a leader by election, with 18 Presidential Candidates competing for our votes! The big question is, will Nigerians be able to set aside all primordial factors and sentiments to elect the best available head for the job? Will history repeat itself by imposing another impostor or opportunist or an accidental or circumstantial President on the nation? Time will tell!
However, a cursory look at the leading Presidential Candidates will help in revealing whether there is any among them that can be considered the best President Nigeria needs now, who in the future could be described as another best President we ought to have had, in case he doesn’t get elected in 2023?
Towards February 25, 2023, the field was first narrowed to four personalities, namely, Atiku Abubakar of PDP, Bola Tinubu of APC, Peter Obi of LP and Ibrahim Kwankwaso of NNPP. But today, after further shuffling, the debate of whom the cap fits revolves around the first three, as Kwankwaso appears to have been counted out!
Peter Obi to all intents and purposes is a new comer to the Presidential race, who, without taking anything away from him, can be described as a lightweight, compared to the heavyweight status of Atiku and Tinubu. For him, this contest can serve as a learning process, an opportunity to introduce himself to Nigerians and be able to say at the end of the contest that, he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day!
Certainly, beyond social media hype and references to his 8 years service in Anambra State, with highly controversial performance indices, Nigerians hardly know enough about Peter Obi to trust him with the onerous responsibility and uphill task of governing the giant of Africa and largest black man democracy in the world! His case is also not helped by the status of his platform, which cannot boast of enduring political structures around the country. As at the last count, the LP had only 19 Senatorial Candidates out of available 109 in the Red Chamber for the 2023 General Elections! If the the composition and political levels of some characters in the LP Campaign Council is anything to go by, it would be impossible for Peter Obi and his party to provide competent personnel to man the numerous political positions in the ministries, departments and agencies of government in Nigeria.
The humble opinion and conclusion of this writer is that Peter Obi is work-in-progress, not yet a finished product for Aso Rock Villa.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not a stranger to Nigeria’s power game, boasting of the status of both a king and a kingmaker. By experience, age and exposure, BAT as he is known for a short has all it takes to be a Presidential Candidate of a big party. And his party, the APC has enough structures all over the federation and has been in power at the centre for close to 8 years now, thus personnel will not be a problem. These are on the positive side.
Now to the other side, starting with age factor. If all other things are equal, including geographical factor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, given his large heart, generosity, exposure and native intelligence, would have been a more attractive candidate, especially if he were at least 5 years, if not 10 below his present age. Talking about age, this writer is an apostle of advance age as an added advantage in national leadership. Nevertheless, when age is shrouded in mystery, in addition to origin and where the age is such that can affect physical fitness and ability to cope with the rigours of high office, age becomes an albatross! Unfortunately, this appears to be a burden on BAT and his promoters.
If a man cannot be ruled out of a Presidential race on the basis of controversies surrounding his birth and origin, just as most Nigerians would conclude that a state cannot deny someone that had served it over the years, including being Governor for 8 years, how do you convince Nigerians of the suitability of a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a multi-religious nation like Nigeria, with Federal Character as a national policy backed by statute! Whether BAT and the APC like it or not, that decision on same faith ticket is going to be a factor in the 2023 election! And it is a big question if a man, who can ignore the Federal Character policy, who could wave aside the loudly expressed opposition, from within and without, by Christians and non-Christians, to a Muslim-Muslim ticket, can ever be considered and elected as the man Nigeria needs now to preside over a country divided over so many factors, including religion!
A very major factor in the consideration of who becomes the next President of Nigeria is that of location or geography. Nigeria operates on six geo-political zones. In the last 23 years of the present dispensation, only three of the zones have produced the Presidents. The beneficiary zones are Southwest, which produced Olusegun Obasanjo, the Northwest, with Umar Musa Yar’ Adua and Muhammadu Buhari and the South South, the home of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. By this reality, out of 23 years, the Southwest had enjoyed 8 years of President Obasanjo, in addition to the close to 8 years of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. It goes without saying that three zones, the North East, North Central and South East are yet to produce a President for Nigeria. On that note, it is only fair that the next President should come from one of the three zones yet to taste Presidential power. With 16 years in the Villa for the Southwest, as President and Vice President, out of 23 years of the 4th Republic, any idea of 2023 being the turn of the Southwest or any Yoruba man is a slip of the tongue and a misplaced claim, contrary to equity, fair-play and good conscience!
Finally, on BAT, being a product and symbol of APC is a big albatross that cannot be wished or washed away, especially for a candidate who is known to have been instrumental to and who proudly claims responsibility for the emergence of the present leader of government business, whose administration had arguably set Nigeria back by many years! With the nation groaning under a worsened security situation, unmitigated/ undisguised corruption and critically deteriorating economic situation, the citizens can only be confused about the best alternative to APC, it should be a settled matter that APC is out and with it, BAT! Can a man so glaringly guilty of a monumental error of judgement over such a sensitive and crucial issue like the choice of a national leader, and who remained silent for 8 years without any visible attempt at correction or criticism in the face of critical national calamities now present himself as the best man Nigeria needs from 2023 going forward? The answer is capital NO!
Done with Obi and Tinubu, the focus is now on Atiku Abubakar. Named after his paternal grandfather, Atiku Abdulqadir, from Wurno Sokoto State, Atiku Abubakar was born in Jada, a village in present day Adamawa State. With his rural background and difficulties encountered in trying to secure Western education because of his father’s negative attitude to education, Atiku experienced early life struggles which puts him in a good stead to understand and associate with the plight of the less privileged.
There is a Yoruba proverb which says that a child that will be smart starts showing signs of smartness from infanthood. So it was for Atiku, who served as Interim Student Union President at the School of Hygiene, Kano, where he graduated with a Diploma in 1967.
His self discipline and rigid commitment to principles, must have come partly from his 20 years service with the Nigeria Customs Service, which he joined after bagging another Diploma, this time in Law, from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1969. He rose to the position of Deputy Comptroller General before his retirement in 1989.
For Atiku Abubakar, political experience started in the early 1980s, working behind the scenes for Bamanga Tukur, in his bid to become the Governor of the defunct Gongola State (now Adamawa and Taraba). He eventually met and teamed up with his mentor and political soul-mate, Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua, playing active roles in the formation of his first official political party, the People’s Front of Nigeria (PFN) in 1989. Since then, for Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri Adamawa, there was no looking back, having put his hand on the plough, dedicating his life to the struggle to provide better life for Nigerians.
Between 1993 and 2019, he had sought to serve as President of Nigeria, on five occasions, being imbibed with genuine spirit of service, inbuilt capacity, relevant experience and a passionate spirit to serve the people of this nation, whose plight and future prospects had dominated his thoughts and actions from the moment it dawned on him that he was born to serve the people!
In-between, he was elected Governor of Adamawa State, before being nominated and elected Vice President of Nigeria. Under his watch as Vice President, between 1999 and 2007, with him as Chairman of the National Economic Council, Nigeria’s economy grew steadily and progressively. His office oversaw the liberalisation of the economy which enhanced the enlarged participation of the private sector in the nation’s economy, with lots of capital inflow from within and outside the frontiers of the nation. It was to his credit in conjunction with his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, that Nigeria’s debt was discharged and the remnants written off, such that we got a clean bill of health from the Bretton Woods Institutions in year 2005, a remarkable achievement by all standard!
Atiku Abubakar is courageous, dedicated, capable, determined, focused, detribalised and passionate about the affairs of Nigeria. These are the qualities Nigeria needs in our next leader. A pan-Nigerian, the Waziri Adamawa has friends all over Nigeria, with his business interests cutting across the nation, just as his political associates spread nation-wide. Talking of a detribalised Nigerian, what further evidence do you need from a man, who in spite of opposition from his father, Garba Abubakar and other family members went ahead to marry a Yoruba lady, Titilayo Albert in 1971, a union that produced 4 children, who are partly Northerners, partly Southerners? As if that was not enough, his marriage with Jennifer Iwenjiora, from the South East was blessed with 3 children, who are half Fulani, half Igbo. He also has wives of Northern origin (Ladi Yakubu, Rukayatu Mustafa and Fatima Shettima), with children of their own, making his family a mini Nigeria!
The President Nigeria needs, going forward is not a saint, nor an angel, but a man, in flesh and blood, who in spite of human frailties, has enough qualities to rise above the crowd and his peers to provide the needed leadership! After all, Obafemi Awolowo, described as the Best President Nigeria Never had, was first and foremost a Yoruba man, before being a Nigerian.
It goes without saying that Atiku Abubakar had had the dream and vision to be President of Nigeria for not less than 3 decades and he had been working on this over the years. On that note, it was not a surprise that he was the first and only candidate to come up with a blueprint, titled My Covenant with Nigeria, dating back to several years, with adjustments here and there. Thus, Atiku Abubakar, who recently bagged a Masters Degree in International Relations, can be authoritatively said to be prepared and ready to serve Nigeria to the best of his abilities!
He is the Best President that Nigeria needs and we should give him a chance now, else he becomes another best President Nigeria never had, like Obafemi Awolowo.
It’s apt to conclude this write-up with the submission of William Shakespeare in Julius Caesar, where Brutus, talking to Cassius said: “There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which taken at the flood, leads unto fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries”.
Atiku Abubakar is a self-made man, blessed by God and fatherland, with a burning desire to give back to the society that produced him. The time is ripe and the signs are positive, as history beckons on Nigerians and on Atiku!
- Prince Mafo, a former PDP Governorship Candidate and an ex-Commissioner for Information in Ondo State, writes from Akure.
Read also:
