JONATHAN VS. BUHARI: TRANSFORMATION OR CHANGE?

To think six weeks was far away when INEC announced that the originally scheduled elections of February 14 and 28 would be shifted to March 28 and April 11, well its almost here. In a week’s time Nigeria decides. I’m still upset by the fact the elections had to be postponed. Why put election on Valentine’s Day? Anyways we are now almost there so we can all do the exercise and go to bed. But wait, go to bed? Not quite. There’s so much tension around the country, questions are raised if the elections would hold next week or not. It had better hold because lots of personal plans and preparations have been shifted because of the delays.

There is a lot of adrenaline running in Nigerians all because of two men that will decide the next step the country takes. The rivalry between Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari has been so intense. It’s a rivalry that hasn’t been seen in Nigeria’s transition to civilian rule in 1999. Indeed there was no rivalry because the PDP that has been in power since then never saw any tough opposition to challenge it. The Alliance for Democracy (AD) never posed a serious threat to PDP’s hold on the presidency and it went through numerous changes to become APC today. When the APC merger was created in 2013, I felt it was just another failed attempt for a party to form as the main opposition to PDP. I guess I was wrong. APC has indeed unsettled PDP and we can see the result of the many schemes by Jonathan to prevent Buhari from contesting.

Buhari has been able to gather so much support, the APC slogan “CHANGE!” is chanted almost everyday. Groups all over the place are formed campaigning for change. It brings me to ask the question is Buhari really the man for change? Nigerians are obviously tired of the Jonathan administration which has so far failed in leadership. It has been riddled with widespread corruption, mismanagement of public funds and currency crisis. Nigerians are tired of epileptic power supply that is ruining businesses, mass unemployment for the vibrant youth populace. Jonathan doesn’t seem to get it right. Let’s not even forget the Boko Haram insurgency. I for one never saw them as a national/international threat. The kidnapping of the over 200 Chibok school girls is well under control. I do not believe so many girls will disappear like that. The military been incompetent is also false. In other words, Jonathan fooled us while some believed the country was on the verge of splitting which I still stand strong to say will never happen.

So Jonathan needs to go because he has failed and brings me back to what I asked earlier: is Buhari the man for change? Let’s put aside his military record or the fact he doesn't have a valid SSCE certificate. Your academic qualification doesn't necessarily determine who you are. Buhari under the civilian era has been contesting for the presidency since 2003. This he has done under the platform of various political parties which have included ANPP and CPC which formed part of the APC merger. If Buhari is the man for change, why didn’t we vote him in all these years? Why now that he’s in APC which seems to be his biggest platform. What if Atiku Abubakar won the APC presidential ticket in Lagos? Would be shouting CHANGE? Are we voting for party or personality?

Many people say PDP has ruled for 16 years and nothing to show for it. I would like to ask where would you put Obasanjo? He might have had issues but he laid foundations of many things we are enjoying today. The boom in the telecom and banking sector was made through this man. These two sectors are partly responsible for why Nigeria is now the largest economy in Africa. He had the best ministerial cabinet and hired the best brains. He still remains the best civilian head of state till date. It only remains unseen if Buhari or Jonathan will surpass him so much for the change and transformation agendas. Let’s stop been party driven but personality driven in our choices.

Is Buhari a credible candidate for the presidency? I can understand Jonathan needs to go but let’s stop shouting CHANGE! all over the place. How are we sure that this CHANGE! campaign isn't a ploy to sway us just like Jonathan used “I had no shoes” in 2011. Buhari might have a zero tolerance for corruption and indiscipline but this isn't a military era. Things are entirely different. I know he can’t do worse than Jonathan has done but is serious change for Nigeria going to come under Buhari? Buhari is attached to Bola Tinubu who is allegedly corrupt and I’m still yet to see how both will co-operate. I won’t be surprised if I saw a fall out between them similar to that of Jonathan and Obasanjo. Is it under the watch of Tinubu Buhari wants to bring change? What of the many bad eggs that decamped from PDP to APC? Have they become good eggs for joining APC?

                                                

*To be continued.

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*All photos sourced randomly from Google Images.