Nigerians rate Buhari’s chances in 2019

President Muhammadu Buhari has declared his intention to seek re-election next year. RAYMOND MORDI and LEKE SALAUDEEN sought people’s views on his chances.

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration on Monday was anticipated by Nigerians. He had indicated through his body language that he would run for a second term in next year’s general elections, but was probably waiting for the right moment to make a formal declaration. Nevertheless, it took many Nigerians by surprise.

The declaration elicited a lot of knocks from stakeholders, while others were cautiously optimistic about his chances in the general elections particularly. The following are the views of some of the respondents that spoke to our reporters.

 

Youths ready to reject Buhari

A consulting guru, leadership coach and public speaker, Mr. Fela Durotoye, said President Buhari’s intent to run for a second term is an indication that the President’s generation failed to groom a succeeding generation to take over from them.  He said the youths are ready to make a statement with their voter’s cards, because it suggests that President Buhari’s generation does not believe in the leadership capacity of the younger generation.

Durotoye who has declared for the presidency in 2019 on the platform of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) said: “It is also an indictment on that generation that it has failed to raise leaders that would take over from them. It has failed to mentor and it has failed to empower the succeeding generation. They can’t argue about this, because if a 76-year old man is still aspiring to lead, what are we talking about?

“Are still disappointed that it has happened? I think the young people are disappointed. In a country where the statutory age of retirement from the civil service is 65, it is intriguing that a 75-year old man is still aspiring to take the most difficult and the most tasking civil service job.

“The young people are ready to make a firm statement to reject that generation of rulers who have ruled us for over 50 years. Our generation is united in this objection; the nation as a whole is also united in that regard. It would be the APC’s greatest loss, if it fields Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as its candidate in next year’s presidential election.”

Based on performance, Durotoye said nobody, except members of the APC believe the President deserves a second term. His words: “The whole nation does not think so. Nigerians deserve better; they deserve good, credible leadership and not just an illusion of it. We deserve a leadership that does not condone corruption; one that supports meritocracy; and a leadership that seeks to give a fair chance, equal opportunity to all Nigerians.

“Nigerians are hungry, Nigerians are angry; we can’t see a way out from this current government. Under the government, we cannot see a vision for our nation. There is no communication; we are not inspired; we are not driven by vision and people are hungry. Things are getting worse and we have no indication of when they are going to get better and we don’t know how it is going to get better.

“In my opinion, this is a government that has demonstrated that it has no respect for the value of life of Nigerians. More importantly, the government believes that where you come from is more important than anything else. This government does not deserve another four years and Nigerians do not deserve four more years under this government.”

Durotoye said Nigeria under President Buhari has not witnessed any foreign direct investment, because of the monetary policy of the government. He added: “Nobody wants to invest in Nigeria, including Nigerians themselves, because there is no security. Everyone who can escape from this country has escaped; people are leaving the country in hordes, heading for other nations. People are dying on their way to Libya, because there is total hopelessness. Nigerians don’t have hope in Nigeria anymore.”

 

APC’s best option

Former Vice President of the Africa Development Bank (ADB) Chief Bisi Ogunjobi said President Buhari must have given the matter a serious thought before making up his mind to run. He said: “I think it is a serious decision, which I believe a person of his stature would have taken very seriously. In doing that, he must assessed his own physical capability now, vis-à-vis what it was this time last year. I assume he has taken that decision in consultation with his medical doctors.

“So, we can assume that he has the physical strength to do the job.

Certainly, I assume that he is doing it in the best interest of our nation. But as far as politics is concerned, his chances would depend on so many factors. One, his own preparation and that of his party, because I believe he is the most sellable candidate for the APC; irrespective of his performance.

“Beyond this, a lot would then depend on the opposition and how prepared they are. Who are the candidates that the opposition would be putting forward. If the opposition is equally prepared and strong, it could give Buhari and the APC a run for their money. I’m not a soothsayer, so I cannot say whether his chances are good or bad. But, to a large extent, he is the best candidate for his party. His chances would then depend on how ready the opposition is.”

On why Buhari’s performance may not be an issue, Ogunjobi said he has seen performance as a serious issue in Nigerian elections, whether at the presidential, governorship or the National Assembly level. He added: “Yeah, it’s never been; at the state level, governors who get their second term do not base it on their performance. I don’t think Buhari’s own is going to be anything different.”

 

Litany of woes 

A lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State, Dr. Godwin Dappa, said President Buhari has not done well so far in his first term to deserve a second tenure. He said: “I see no reason why he is thinking of contesting again for a second term. His party has not been able to deliver the change it promised Nigerians. There have been changes, but what Nigerians wanted was a positive change.

“A positive change is one that impacts positively on the lives of the people; that impacts on the foreign policy of the Nigerian state; that impacts on the lives of Nigerians in Diaspora; the state of our roads have not improved; the stable electricity supply he promised has not been realized; he has not really done well because our health sector is still in a sorry state and Nigerians, including himself, have continued to go overseas for medical checkup; even the clinic in Aso Rock lacks basic facilities like drugs and syringes; he has not done well in the area of human capital development, because our youths continue to roam the streets; and he has not done well because corruption is still the bane of the Nigerian economy.

“What happened to former President Jonathan would repeat itself again. Why is he gunning for a second term? Today, there is another attack in TY Danjuma’s hometown. So, the issue of insecurity in the Middle Belt, the Northeast, the Northcentral, the Niger Delta and elsewhere in the country has refused to go away. I don’t know who will vote for him?”

The lecturer said the refrain has been that he has been incapacitated because the former ruling party, the PDP, has emptied the treasury. He added: “But we are aware that in three years he has borrowed more than what the PDP borrowed in 16 years. So, he cannot say that it is because the PDP has looted the treasury. Nigeria is a blessed state; even if they aggregate all the money they claim to have recovered and put it into the Nigerian economy, they would have nothing to complain about. It could have been an issue of carry-go, as we say in Nigerian parlance.”

 

End of the road

The National Chairman and founder of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chekwas Okorie, believes that President Buhari’s three years in office has been a nightmare to most Nigerians and lovers of democracy. He said: “It is also a monumental disaster with regards to poverty level and so on and so forth. There is no security in this country anymore; the attitude of government to matters that concern everybody is not much to be desired.

“For instance, his decision to proscribe IPOB, a non-violent organization, and to slam terrorism charge on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, while the herdsmen that have murdered thousands of Nigerians and destroyed properties worth billions of naira, has exposed his mindset. He has not prosecuted any leading member of their organisation, not to talk of declaring them as a terrorist organization.

“Based on the above conduct, Nigerians have been patiently waiting for him to contest the 2019 presidential election, so that they can come out to reject him. His attitude to federalism is negative. The country has spent over N7 billion of taxpayers’ money to organize a conference, on which over 600 recommendations were made based on consensus, but he decided to set aside such recommendations; leaving Nigeria in a situation where everybody is on edge, with the fear that any little snap will send people running in different directions.

“Many of us cannot wait to see the back of both the APC and President Buhari. The opposition is united in one thing, to see the back of President Buhari; because he and his party have reached the end of the road. The battle line has been drawn. The election is no longer a matter between the APC and the PDP. There is no difference between the two parties. It’s the rest of Nigerians versus the APC and the PDP.

“In spite of the amount of money former President Jonathan made available to his foot soldiers, he still lost in 2015. The coming election would not be anything different for Buhari. So, we are waiting for him at the polls. In this regard, we are watching the present leadership of INEC, because it has not inspired much confidence in Nigerians.”

 

It’s up to Nigerians

The Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr Anthony Sani, said it is up to Nigerians to decide whether the President would secure the mandate. On whether the negative publicity arising from his handling of clashes between herdsmen and farmers would affect his chances, the ACF scribe said: “What you consider as negative publicity may not be seen by most Nigerians through the same lenses you see them. What is more, his performance will be based on four years and not three years.”

Lawyer and civil rights activist, Mr Monday Ubani, said President Buhari’s chances will depend on the opponents he will confront in the election. He added: “If there is no credible contender, Buhari will just coast home to victory with ease. It is now left to the opposition parties to come up with their candidates.”

The activist believes the handling of the farmers/Fulani herdsmen clashes may affect the President’s popularity, even if he wins.

The Chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the PDP, Alhaji Sikirulahi Ogundele, believes Nigerians will reject Buhari at the polls, because he has failed to fulfill his promises to the electorates. He recalled that in 2015, the President promised to pay a stipend of N30,000 per month to unemployed youths and N5,000 to indigent people, saying all these are still in the realm of promises.

Ogundele said: “Nigerians are not gullible; they are wiser now, they will use their vote against Buhari this time around. Our prayer in PDP is that APC should present him as its presidential candidate in 2019, so that it will make PDP victory very easy. We will present a very credible and responsible candidate to slug it out with Buhari.

“Buhari is not running a responsible government but government of body language. He won in 2015 through propaganda, deceit and lie. Every Nigerian supports fight against corruption, but the APC administration is selective in the fight.  There are some APC members in government that had been indicted for corruption by judicial commissions, but they are shielded from trial. That is not how to fight corruption.”

 

 

 

 

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