By Alex O. Atavware Akpodiete
The presidential elections are just four weeks away and political campaigns are in high gear. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken their campaign to the All Progressives congress (APC) stronghold of Lagos State. On the other hand, APC has started traversing the states, especially Southern States. Of course, the issues of comparing the PhD of President Goodluck Jonathan (GEJ) with the missing academic records of General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) have been on the forefront.
In all of these, the better approach to politicking is to look at the qualifications and accomplishments of both candidates. As I have stated previously, “there are really only two major candidates for the Presidential election of February 14, 2015. Yes some mushroom parties are fielding candidates but the four major political parties have made their positions known. The ruling PDP, APGA and LP are supporting the incumbent Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, while APC, a merger of three parties (ANPP, CAN, and CPC), is fielding former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). “
How do we evaluate the candidates and decide who to vote for. Can we jettison primordial, ethnic, and religious sentiments to make an educated decision for the benefit of Nigeria?
Praxis (also “praxeis”) is a Greek word that was commonly used in Greek literature centuries ago to summarize the accomplishments of outstanding men. In fact, the New testament Book Acts of the Apostles was actually Praxis of the Apostles, meaning account of the works of the Apostle Peter and Apostle Paul of the early church. That is why it is said that winners “DO” and not “TALK”. In other words, actions speak louder than words.
What are the actions/records (“praxis”) of GEJ and GMB? First, below is a tabular summary of both candidates (GEJ and GMB).
| NAME | Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
|
Muhammadu Buhari
|
| NICKNAME | GEJ | GMB |
| POLITICAL PARTY | PDP | APC |
| AGE | 57 | 72 |
| HOMETOWN | Otuoke, Bayelsa State | Daura, Katsina State |
| RELIGION | Christian | Muslim |
| ETHNICITY | Ijaw | Fulani |
| MARITAL LIFE | Married to Dame Patience Jonathan | Divorced (1988) & remarried to Aisha (née Halilu) Buhari in 1989. |
| CHILDREN | 2 | 10 (1 deceased) |
| STRENGTH | Incumbency & perceived humility, plus transformation agenda | Perceived to be honest and incorruptible; never been a member of PDP |
| WEAKNESS | Too soft on terrorists and corruption | Perceived to be a religious fanatic and pro-North, anti-south |
| EDUCATION | PhD | Military education |
| POLITICAL EXPERIENCE | Former deputy governor & governor of Bayelsa State, former Vice President and elected President in 2011 | Former military governor of North Eastern state (now Borno) under Gowon; Federal commissioner for petroleum resources under Obasanjo Military regime;Pioneer Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation;
Former Head of State that toppled Shagari government. Has held some post-military appointments. Ran for same office in 2003, 2007, 2011 |
| MOST CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENT | Alleged: Boko Haram sponsors are in my cabinet | Alleged: Blood of dog and baboons will low if election rigged; I do not believe in democracy; We will make the country ungovernable. |
On the social media, there have been humorous questions such as who will you rather leave your teenage daughter with? Or do you want more amputees? The talk of amputees is in reference to the possible imposition of Sharia law under Buhari and the decapitating of those caught stealing.
It will be better to look at the accomplishments of both candidates while they were in office. Although the situation may have been different three (3) decades ago when Buhari was at the helms of affairs, there are still possible ways of evaluating both candidates.
For example, if you are looking at who is better positioned to fight corruption, you can look at the enabling law and some events that happened realistically. For example, there were allegations of missing money under Buhari just like there are allegations of missing money under GEJ. What about uninspected suitcases or kidnapped and jailed journalists, including banned newspapers?
One candidate used coup to depose a democratically elected civilian government under the guise of rigging and corruption, while another candidate has pledged to have free and fair election with the fulfilled promise to allow the rule of law to take its course.
For the first time, GMB has taken his campaign to the South so that the other Nigerians can hear what he promises to do if elected. In the last campaigns, he totally ignored the South and campaigned only in the North, as though he did not need the South and was only going to govern the north or for the good of the North. In fact, it is believed that his retained foreign Public Relations experts and image consultants have advised him to copy President Jonathan and start dressing like the other ethnic groups in the country. He has been seen wearing the traditional Ibo red cap to even tying Urhobo wrapper recently. It begs the question: Is casting off his Hausa agbada enough to cast off his perceived ethno-religious jingoism?
Both Buhari and Jonathan have had to deal with insurgencies. There have been accusations of who bought or did not buy any riffles for the military under his watch. Instead of spending so much time and money talking about who is angry or desperate, Nigerians should really search the records to determine who will really deliver.
The records are there. We should resist attempts to obfuscate the facts. We have heard and seen transformation of the railway and unbundling of the power sector, along with giant leaps in agriculture. These are tangible evidence of deliverables.
Nigerians shine your eyes. Vote your conscience and your conviction based on recorded antecedents. Let the praxis of the candidates speak for them.
