By Steve Osuji
These are no ordinary times for our great country Nigeria. In ordinary times, if I was asked to pick the best men for the top job, I would have no hesitation whatsoever in listing the best half a dozen in the land we could trust with the big job.
And let me tell you here for free that in my carefully considered opinion, these men would serve Nigeria better: Babatunde Fashola, Peter Obi, Babagana Zulum, Yemi Osinbajo, Chris Ngige and Donald Duke. All things taken together, there aren’t better men around today to run the affairs of Nigeria and restore our land, our pride and our hope for tomorrow.
But these are not ordinary times. Our great country is at the cusp of a cataclysm; our motherland is at the tipping point, peering down the abyss; Nigeria, meaning you and I, are hostages held in the thick of the evil forest by the most inept government we ever had. We have the final chance to rescue ourselves and walk/work ourselves back to the highway.
The year 2023 is both our turning point and watershed. There are options available and so many are already being bandied around. But without equivocation, without any attempt at waffling and shuffling, the best solution available to Nigeria today is to ensure a president of Igbo extraction. And after a two term of eight years, Nigeria’s presidency must revert to BEST MAN ANYWHERE for the job, in other words, president must be picked by personal merit and popular vote.
One good reason it must be Igbo now is that the rotation agitation will never stop if Igbo doesn’t take her turn. Two, if it goes to the southwest, the north would automatically claim it after eight years and that takes us to 40 years from 1999 without an Igbo president. No major group in any country would live with that, much more a dominant group like Igbo. If we don’t find a way to have Igbo take the number one seat, Nigeria would have made a good case for the Igbo separatists to build upon. There’s no doubt that the environment would be dogged by relentless agitation, civil disobedience with attendant social upheavals. Governance would be nigh impossible and development would be stymied, to say the least.
And below are possible candidates from the orient Nigeria can choose from.
THE PDP Line-Up: Most right thinking Nigerians would agree offhand that the best possible president for Nigeria in 2023 is MR. PETER OBI. North, south, east or west, he stands out as the best man to lead , especially at these troubled times. All the elements are well mixed in him that if there was justice and good sense, he would be shooed in by popular acclamation. But of course democracy has its gilded tracks on which it runs.
However, if Nigeria wants a leader who is strong-willed, knowledgeable and who has depth, carriage, clout and character, Obi fits the bill. But his most important trait yet is that he’s not power-tripped. While power for many, is a deadly aphrodisiac that makes them loose their minds, Obi has proved that it’s possible to be sober under the deleterious influences of high power. No point belabouring the Obi phenomenon, it’s an open book available to all who cares to read it. Obi’s seeming flaw is that his austerity borders on stinginess. He may starve politicians and bigmen of freebies to the ppint of stirring a revolt. Expectation management.
Another aspirant from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stable is Ayim Pius Ayim. Former Senate President and former Secretary to the Federal Government, he has done well to throw his hat in the PDP ring while the party and presidential hopefuls dither. My verdict is that Ayim has neither clout nor carriage. It’s one thing to be appointed ( gifted) to a high office but it’s another to merit it, and yet another carry out the tasks therein with brilliance and excellence. There’s nothing to remark Ayim’s era as Senate president; i have never heard Ayim articulate a solid thought on niggling national issues nor give a rousing remark at a birthday party. If Nigeria wants an establishment wonk who can hold down the cow for associates and godfathers to milk, Ayim would fit in perfectly.
THE APC CREW: From the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the most viable presidential candidate of Igbo extraction is CHRIS NGIGE current Minister of Labour and Productivity. Mind you we are talking about one who would give Nigeria a modicum of quality leadership and service. Ngige has the will of course. He is knowledgeable and has track record of performance. He lacks sufficient national clout; not much carriage and he’s susceptible to being tripped by power. But he’s APC best bet if they seek a president that would deliver some results.
Another APC man who can be drafted is GODFREY ONYEMA, Foreign Affairs Minister. He will make a perfect compromise candidate. He is evidently possessed of much carriage and clout. It appears he would be well accepted across zones, especially by the north being a crony of the current power cabal. But wether he is capable of delivering the results we need now is a different matter. For instance, he hasn’t risen to take full command of the high office he currently occupies. Nigeria’s foreign policy direction remains hazy under him even after seven years. He is neither pushful nor assertive. Recall Joe Garuba, Ike Nwachukwu and Bolaji Akinyemi to name a few illustrious men who held that position in the past. Even my friend Abike Dabiri has been more innovative and upfront to the point that some mistake her for the minister. Again, Onyema probably never attended umunna meeting before, indeed, he seems more English than Igbo. He may have ample character, clout and carriage, but the chief worry here is whether he can muster the will (alias balls) to take tough decisions that will take Nigeria out of the wood.
DAVE UMAHI is next in order of choice in the APC crew. Sitting governor of Ebonyi State, there isn’t much commending him to the number one job if you ask me. He is the typical Nigerian politician through and through. No scruples. Hustler. Crude. Brute. Power drunkenness. Tin-Godism. Power for the heck of it. He got some work done in Ebonyi no doubt, but that’s why he was elected in the first place. He has garnered a bit of national clout and he presents as a good comprise and compromiser but just he cuts an unpresidential personage, well, perhaps if he lends himself to some professional handling.
AND THE REST: Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister for Science and Innovation appear tired and old for the job. He has also not acquitted himself well in the job he has held for nearly seven years. The only innovation we heard about is production of Nigeria made pencils or made in Nigeria pencils or whatever. Like most other Buhari ministers, he has been wasting our precious time in Abuja.
EMEKA NWAJIUBA is a no, no for president. Appears like somebody’s lapdog. Education, a prime ministry has practically shutdown in seven years. Yes, he is only a junior minister who has even shown up more than his principal who has been comatose (in a manner or speaking), yet Nwajiuba is just not cut for it.
ORJI UZOR KALU and ROCHAS OKOROCHA are out and out. In order to be kind, let’s just surmise that they are not fit to be president.
THE OUTSIDERS: CHIEF SAM OHUABUNWA has in the last one year, managed to sustain an awareness in the presidential race. But he lacks national clout; he is also devoid of platform and structure. It’s the same with
KINGSLEY MOGHALU. No matter how flawed the big two parties are, you cannot discount their structure and grassroots reach. And this seems to be the trend globally: a couple of big parties and numerous minions. Not even in the US where Independent candidates are allowed, the fight would always coalesce to Democrats and Republicans.
For those who are quick to ask: where are the Igbo aspirants/candidates? Here’s a longlist and a primer for choosing the best of us. It’s true nobody hands out power on a plater but AFFIRMATIVE ACTION is not an Igbo word. As we did in 1999, Nigeria must bend over backwards to let Igbo preside over Nigeria. That’s affirmative action, that’s inclusiveness, that’s justice and that’s not consigning me to slavedom or second class citizen in my country. But both APC and PDP are heedlessly playing pranks. While APC seeks to hand it to the southwest, PDP dallies with the north. But we play with fire.
It has to be southeast now because if it goes to the southwest in 2023, it will return to the north and remain there till 2039 in which case southeast would have been diasporised from power for 40 years. Two things would happen under this scenario:
NIGERIA WOULD BE DISMEMBERED PEACEFUL OR FORCIBLY!
But methinks we are better off as one country, let’s not spoil it.
▪︎ Osuji is a newspaper columnist.