03/01/2023
When A Leader Endorses A Leader | By Iyke Nwambie
On February 25, 2023 Nigerians will be voting for a new president. This new president is expected to shift the course of the Nigerian nation to a new level of national success.
The need for a shift in the trajectory of the Nigerian sail is anchored on the dismal performance of the ruling APC. Every metric of measuring the outcomes of the promise of the Buhari-led APC to Nigerians more than seven years ago have tinkered to an all time low!
The exchange rate has skyrocketed the cost of everything! The fuel subsidy scam has continued unabashedly under Buhari.
President Buhari, both as president and petroleum minister has chosen to pass the bulk of addressing the fuel subsidy question and scam to the next administration, even with a lingering fuel problem.
The insecurity dilemma in Nigeria has continued on the rise despite the fancy descriptions of the Buhari-led government.
Boko Haram is still a big concern, the IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is still under detention despite his victories in court, Orsu local government in Imo state and its environs is still under siege, yet president Buhari had campaigned on his willingness to lead from the front as a former General.
The only area the current leadership in Nigeria would seem to want to beat its chest in positive self appraisal is in the area of infrastructural developments.
They brag on completing some of the rail lines and road projects initiated by the previous administration, as well as some of their agricultural projects.
Those areas of spartan developments have unfortunately grounded the noses of Nigerians in a myriad of complicated debt portfolio.
The impact of those strategies on the nigerian people is an increasing cost of rice, garri, beans, milk, and all the other staples of domestic life.
The engulfing question in the minds of the great youths of the present-day Nigeria nation is this: who should I vote for?
Should I vote for a continuation of the APC led government in Nigeria? Should I vote for Waziri Atiku Abubakar? Or should I vote for Mr. Peter Obi?
Interestingly the current APC flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has tactically and methodically tried to distance himself from the Buhari litany of failures. He continues to woo Nigerians on his own supposedly meteoric performance as a former governor of Lagos state. Yet, the Asiwaju cannot run away from the idea of foisting Buhari on Nigerians. Consequently the outcomes of Buhari must remain the unsavory outcomes of his party, the APC.
Tinubu further ensconced his chances at getting the support of his southern and northern Christian supporters and admirers by adopting a downrightly irritating Muslim-Muslim ticket as a political strategy.
It is now left for Nigerians to either pass a vote of confidence or no confidence on the APC through their voting responses to the presidential requests, campaign promises, and strategies of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The other big name on the list is Waziri Atiku Abubakar. Atiku endeared himself to Nigerians many years ago when he conceded his presidential bid for the emergence of MKO Abiola as the presidential candidate of the then SDP. He later came to national prominence when he became the Vice President of Nigeria under the indefatigable President Olusegun Obasanjo.
His subsequent bids to become president have met with waterloos. His then principal, President Obasanjo has never minced words in telling Nigerians how corrupt Atiku is. Atiku’s forage in business and his disposition to help his friends with national treasures without preoccupation with national interests will always be part and parcel of his political headache.
Of all the political dribbles of Atiku, the one dribble that may lead to his political fall and failure is this idea of wanting to take over power from Buhari.
The laconic question on the lips of thinking Nigerians is this: how can one Hausa-Muslim man hand over power to another Hausa-Muslim man in a country that is boiling under the revolutionary fires of Boko Haram and IPOB?
With the above gargantuan leadership imbroglio facing Nigerians, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his two togas as both a leadership guide and fearless global statesman who is not worried about calling a spade a spade has given Nigerians a meaningful guide.
His meaningful guide is his bold endorsement of Mr. Peter Obi as the next president of Nigeria.
Expectedly, some APC spokespersons have suddenly described President Obasanjo’s (whose support they had earlier sought) endorsement of Peter Obi as lacking political meaning and relevance.
Some have even argued that Obasanjo only has one inconsequential vote.
Others have simply surmised their frustrations with this thought: “He just wants a president from the South East region of Nigeria.”
The critical thing here is that despite the fact that Chief Obasanjo gave his four yardsticks for preferring Peter Obi over and above the other two with a four letter acronym, political pundits and spokespersons continue to beat about the air in their solo efforts to diminish this mega endorsement.
As a personal and leadership advancement coach, I share in the thought and choice of President Obasanjo as it relates to this endorsement.
The enviable avalanche of Obi’s achievements as the then governor of Anambra state are there for everyone to peruse. His judicious management of the financial resources of Ndi Anambra still sounds like fairy tales when compared to his contemporaries. That he was unanimously chosen by the United Nations as the best governor in his day is still a relevant report today. That he overturned the education records of the secondary schools in Anambra based on their school certificate results is legendary. That his policies emphasized and empowered the young people of Anambra for excellence after graduating from the university is record breaking. That Obi chose to leave millions of dollars for his successor to work with is a testimony in a country where other governors left their coffers in utter indebtedness. Even Governor Soludo’s attempt to diminish Obi’s bragging rights as an investor of the resources of Ndi Anambra only helped to confirm that Obi actually made those investments contrary to the ignoble practice of embezzling those funds.
I shook my head in utter sympathy at Chief Femi Fani-Kayode’s helplessness as he attempted to create false and meaningless lies in his unenviable task of finding faults with Obi’s stewardship as governor of Anambra state.
A good advice for FFK in his sudden 360 degrees dive at attempting to defend his “emi lo kan” principal is to remember that as someone who is now pontificating on the opposites of his previous nuances, he should be less abusive of the opponents of his principal, in case he decides to serve them in the next dispensation. He should borrow a leaf from Labor Party spokesman, Kenneth Okonkwo’s characteristic poise and oratorical melody as he points his listeners to the accomplishments of his principal.
FFK and his colleagues should think of how to re package Tinubu’s questionable source of mega wealth instead of encouraging Tinubu to make his less than convincing moonlight tale of inheriting real estate and investing in stocks.
Those who think Obasanjo has just one vote must remember that his one vote is a one vote with multimillion voices across the nation.
Those who think Obasanjo only wants a president from the south east region must remember that a Nigerian president from the south east region will only help to stabilize a shaky Nigeria, neutralize the IPOB agitations, and make Nigeria a better and safer place.
Those who think Obi is just making empty noise must remember that Obi’s noise is also the noise of the suffering man and woman on the streets and homes in Nigeria.
It is my candid inference that if those suffering men and women would listen to the counsel of a tried and tested leader like Obasanjo who wants to build a legacy of a one united Nigeria, Peter Obi might just become the next president of Nigeria.
I rest my case. What do you think? Do have a New Level Success in this election year. God bless the great people of Nigeria.
!
Dr. Iyke Nwambie is a leadership expert based in Miami, Florida.
