(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, )
In politics, things happettn. One of the most tt things in the game is choice making. The act of choice making yy uycan be right gy Uyfso difficult and in most cases so uncertain. Onyyttye choice(s) could make or mare the chance of winning in political yu yy or life opportunitu yy, y.yy y
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The Presidentiral yCandidate of the People's utef to tt Democratic Party (PDP), Alh. Atiku Abubakar who was Obasanjo Vice President for eight years nomiBy to enated and presented his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, up front; although, not without challenges. The choice of Okowa to t igs threatening to polarised the main opposition party and lower her chances of winning. This is apart from zoning considerations which saw Atiku's Okowa as 'stealing' the chance of Southern Nigerians. The debate surrounding this development is endl tt hhess: That is the beauty of democracybbtuex for you.t
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The reasons for the wide condemnation of the M-M ticket is obviously connected to two outstanding issues: The relative diversity of Nigeria and the relative novelty of the choice. Nigeria with an estimated population of over 200 million is a multi-ethnic nation-state with over 500 tribal groups which are spread across Islam, Christian and traditional religions, on the one hand, and Ytgr (free thinkers) on the other. The M-M ticket is relatively novel becauTtse after the 1993 Presid
yttttential Election which saw the emergence of Social Democratic Party's (SDP's), MKO Abiola of Blessed memory and Babagana Kingibe which was eventually annulled, it never happened again. More so, is that things have changed and Nigeria has never been this openly divided, especially, along religious lines as it is today.
Conspiracy theories and deep seated suspicions on both side of the divide has continued to consume the fibre of the Nigerian State. There are many votes mobilisation platforms, one of which, is religion but when religion becomes the main tool for votes mobilisation in a religiously diverse and delicate country, it causes suspicion and could open old wounds. That is the problem with the present M-M ticket in Nigeria.
Chief Tinubu who should known better ought not to have cited competency as justification for choosing Shettima as running mate if he must do so; but instead, winning votes threshold since it's argued there are more Muslims in Northern Nigeria. In as much much as the man, Shettima, can be competent, it is not correct to assume there is no single competent Christian APC member who can be running mate from the north. The protagonists had told the antagonists of the M-M ticket that the party is not a Christian organisation but they forgot there are Christian members of the ruling platform who cannot be de-linked from their faith.
In his peom titled, "BAT", D. H. Lawrence, referred to the Bat as "Flying madly." The poet further said that, "In China, the bat is a symbol of happiness" but concluded: "Not for me". Millions of spirited and patriotic Nigerians, irrespective of creed, tribe and regional inclinations are not happy with the BAT's M-M ticket. The political giant has committed needless and avoidable political harakiri by omitting or discarding very significant Christian voting population.
The APC Presidential Candidate had unusual opportunity to demystify the Nigerian jinx but squandered it. How beautiful could it have been to have a minority Muslim president from a majority Christian South and a minority Christian Vice President from a majority Muslim North? The reality of such combination would have brought Nigeria close to overcoming religious politics which has been our greatest albatross, for decades.
It is unfortunate Tinubu had the chance to balance his political game and balance Nigeria's political chemistry but wasted it. If the insinuation that fake bishops were hired to attend the unveiling of the Tinubu's Vice Presidential candidate is true, then foul. Politicians cannot achieve by political simulation what can be achieved, practically, through natural wisdom.
What hypothesis does Tinubu want to test with the M-M ticket after he himself opposed it in 2011 as recently revealed by his bickering with Atiku (Turakin Adamawa) who is one of his top challengers? And should he won or lose, how will Nigeria looks like beyond 2023? Your guess is as good as mine! Tinubu's quest for political (democratic) correctness has taken Nigeria miles backward. His choice has amplified, further polarised and deepened the country's faultlines. And it's sad the extension of this sharp division is coming from a surposed elder Statesman who should know better.
By this choice, Tinubu have decided to throw statesmanship to the wind and, consequently, reduced himself to the status of a typical politician with religious inclination. A typical politician is selfish and thinks only of winning the next election. On the other hand, a statesmen is selfless and thinks, primarily, of the next generation, sustained national cohesion and stability amongst all contending forces in a country or nation (nation-state). They hypothesis here is that with a Muslim-Christian (M-C), mixed ticket at least, anyone could win elections in Nigeria provided the candidate is credible enough. Such victory will be victory for equity and fair representation, at least at the religious levels. It shall be victory for unity and mutual respect too, at least, for now.
There is no need flying madly, as a statesman. Hirelings, simulated Bishops cannot make for massive criticisms that greeted Tinubu's "competency" gab which hes cited as excuse for denying Christians a chance to be part of his ambition to govern diverse Nigeria. M-M ticket is possible but cannot be easy sell in contemporary Nigeria. With the wide criticism, the APC Presidential Candidate has practically realised that such arrangement is unsettling on a scale he least expected and doing everything with his power douse the tension that is threatening to consume his long planned and most cherished ambition to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN)!
Tinubu was cautioned but he seems arrogant and rigid about his predetermined decision to go with M-M ticket. This is not surprising to this author, really. This is because, arrogance and rationality do not go together, just as anger and rationality do not get together; arrogance and rationality do not go together, just as fear and rationality do not go together; arrogance and rationality do not go together just as sensation (excitement) and rationality do not go together. In other words, when a man gets arrogant, angry, afraid and or too excited, he does not think, rationally, anymore. Whatever it is, some have argued democracy is not about rationality but simply the tyranny of the majority.
In times like this all manner of things happen. Point is, any decision that does not translate into making Nigerians more united cannot be rational under any guise. Any electoral victory that does not translate into the unity Nigeria is pyrrhic and of no national consequence. What is desired in development centred democray is to win popular votes and to win the peace; not to win the votes and lost national peace and unity.
Anyway, in any electioneering season, political schemers always plot all sort of schemes but, ultimately, the rightness or wrongness of their choices shall be determined at the ballot stations. Therefore, all Nigerians are challenged to show enthusiasm and willingness to activately participate in the process by freely voting candidates of their choice in the next election.
The 2023 General Election is loading. Delegates of political parties have made choices of their respective candidates. Those candidates who are required by law to have running mates have also made their choices. It is now the turn of the citizens of voting age to use their voting power to elect leaders who will govern their respective constituencies in the next four years. Let us prayed God to guide our fingers as we vote in the next poll. We should also pray the electoral process goes rancur free and the best of leaders should emerge for Nigeria and its sub-national levels.
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