Buhari Breaks Into A Sprint - By Murtala Opoola

The portrayal of General (rtd) Muhammadu Buhari by the Daily Trust cartoonist on the front page of the December 12, 2014 edition with arms held aloft, thumbs raised and his face aglow with a full smile captured the groundswell of euphoria that greeted his emergence as his party’s presidential candidate. 

But whereas his acolytes may have broken into palongo, break dance or whatever dance step is in vogue these days, it is unlikely that the man himself, considering his usually serious disposition, would punch the air in exultation, like an overjoyed footballer on scoring a goal, ecstatic about what he has achieved. So, was the cartoonist’s depiction of the general’s reaction to his victory too exaggerated and therefore opened him to the charge of triumphalism at a time when celebration should have been muted and subdued so as not to rub other contestants on the wrong side, particularly when the real and important contest is still ahead?

It is worth noting that the cartoonist did his job perceptively; he may have depicted the general as being beside himself with glee but it was he (Buhari) alone on the page, without the other contestants and cannot therefore be accused of gloating. Moreover, since exaggeration is the stock in trade of cartoonists in the representation of events they depict, the cartoonist was therefore well within the bounds of decorum and appropriateness. Enough, however of a cartoonist’s rendition of the epochal event of APC’s choice of a flag bearer.

Events have gathered momentum since the general became the APC’s presidential candidate. As was expected, he has moved quickly to mend fences with a number of his co-contestants, notably Alhaji Atiku Abubakar whose residence in Abuja he visited as a mark of recognition and appreciation of the host’s political sportsmanship. The general must have used the occasion to underscore the importance of the party and the need to continue to strengthen it as the count- down to Election Day continues.

The APC presidential primary was conducted in a squeaky clean fashion and all contestants recognised it as such, thereby avoiding post- contest cries of foul that are usually rife in this kind of contest and cause some to storm out to denounce the whole exercise as a farce and a mockery of democratic tenets, as a result undermining the whole process. Hence, bringing such an important process off successfully was a feat of no mean measure. 

The vexed issue of the presidential candidate’s running mate took some time before it was resolved. In the end the dice fell on Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a legal luminary who had served as an attorney general in Lagos State. It is a choice that lends itself to a number of conjectures, as reports later confirmed he was not the first choice. The general first offered the job to Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu who had withheld his endorsement until he extracted that concession. But the Ashiwaju as a running mate would have meant the party would risk fielding a Muslim/Muslim ticket at a time when inter-religious relation is fraught with suspicion and mistrust. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) fielded late Chief Mashood Abiola and Ambassador Babagana KIngibe, a Muslim/Muslim ticket in 1993, but then a combination of factors that included the chief’s legendary generosity and philanthropic bent enabled the party to get away with it. 

One would have thought that after so many years Nigeria should have made progress in deepening integration so much so that such political outcomes should no longer cause concern. Sadly, in 2014 Nigeria, the gulf between the religions has grown even wider as to render a Muslim/Muslim or a Christian/Christian ticket anathema.  Perhaps it was this reality that forced the Ashiwaju to back down and paved the way for the Law professor, who in fact, besides being a lawyer is also a pastor in his own right. So in Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Muhammadu Buhari has got not just a nominal Christian but a full-blooded committed one at that, who propagates the word of God. In 2011 he similarly chose Pastor Tunde Bakare as running mate. 

Surely, no one should blame Muhammadu Buhari for going the extra mile to seek to allay Christian fears about him as president. He seems to be saying that it is not enough for a running mate to be a mere Christian, he must also be a leader in the Church and this is what makes his choice politically, or if you will, religiously correct. It will frustrate the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has been stampeding him to pick a running mate since he emerged the flag-bearer, in the hope that in haste he will choose wrongly, and so give it the opportunity to reinforce the hackneyed but erroneous notion that Buhari is a religious bigot and a fundamentalist or even a Boko Haram sponsor. Now that Professor/Pastor Yemi Osinbajo has come on board, the PDP must now cast about for a more credible issue to attack the APC with. 

Other notable names that came up were those of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Babatunde Raji Fashola—the Edo and Lagos States governors respectively. For some time Fashola must have been very high on the list the general was considering for his running mate, seeing that he had gone personally to Lagos to invite the governor to attend his presidential declaration in Abuja. Adjudged to have run Lagos State in an enviably sustainable manner, Fashola’s experience would have been invaluable at the federal level. Apparently being a Muslim ruled him out. 

Adams Oshiomhole would have fitted into the running mate’s role as well. Though not a pastor but his credential as a devout Christian is well known, he also would have brought an enviable record of performance to the federal level. He has revamped and given Benin City a makeover befitting its status as a state capital by dualising its major streets and generally imbuing it with a spanking new look. The comrade would also have brought a large dose of verve to the party’s campaign, being a past master of the husting, a skill he honed after spending many years in the labour movement.

Still, nothing should be taken away from Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s elevation in the party. His immediate task towards a successful election is to bring all his learning to bear in forming policies and putting them in a systematic digestible fashion, much as he would do for his students in the classroom. As for campaigning skills capable of swaying the voters, his many years at the bar, as well as his role as a law teacher would amount to nothing, if they have not prepared him well for the political assignment ahead. 

There is however a certain sneaking feeling that the Prof. would have his job clearly cut out for him in providing the legal backbone which the APC’s campaign against corruption and its new ethos of discipline, law and order are going to rest upon. 

In1983, Muhammadu Buhari badly burnt his fingers when he allowed his zeal to instil discipline in the polity to override certain aspects of individual freedoms. It has haunted him since. True, the polity needs a large dose of discipline, but this time around the policies must derive their powers from extant laws with copious protection for individual rights. And it would be Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s duty to ensure every government action is strictly within the law.

Source: Daily Post