The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • The poster wars

    SIR: The on-going poster wars going amongst various political parties across the country will not augur well for our democracy. The destruction of bill boards, burning of parties buses, removal of other political parties posters are the current trend witnessed across the length and breadth of the political landscape.

    Recently, it was reported a political party procured some vehicles for the February election and that nobody dared to drive the vehicles to its intended destination because of fears of attack to be meted to the drivers.  This is wrong.

    All political parties have the right to display their posters in any part of this country and to sell their candidature to the electorate without any intimidation and harassment. The various political parties should call their supporters to order to eschew any form of violence before during and after the elections.

    Nigeria has come of age to allow issues of posters war to becloud their sense of judgment. We should not allow the posters war to disturb our quest for positive change that we desire in our lives.

    I call on relevant stakeholders and security agencies to be proactive in dealing with any form of

    disturbance that would adversely affect the smooth conduct of the general elections barely few weeks away.

     

    • Bala Nayashi

    Lokoja, Kogi State

  • February polls: Performance not platitudes

    SIR: Kindly help whisper to President Goodluck Jonathan that he has spent eight years at the presidency: two years as Vice President, and six as president.

    My point? It worries me to hear him still talk of planning on what he will do for Nigerians if re-elected. While first term bids, the world over, are won on account of impressive manifestos, second term bids are basically secured on the altar of scorecards.

    Rather than ride on the high horse of performance, the President is seen touring churches, currying electoral favour from church leaders and founders who ordinarily should know better, but are obviously, copiously blinded by bigotry and fanaticism.

    Why wait till weeks to elections before visiting these churches? No doubt, such eleventh hour visits and entreaties are but desperate, foul moves and stink of corruption. Leaderships of such churches may deny, but selfish benefits rule such visitations. For how long shall religion be allowed to divide us,  used to defraud us, used to defame us, used to disenfranchise us and of course, used to dehumanise us?

    In all known literature, religions promote harmony, peace and unity. I must make haste to say, rather than religion, our common enemies are the evil men and women in our midst, hence, religion should be separated from the state and national concerns- a good case in point is the February general elections.

     

    • Omale Suraj,

     GRA, Ankpa, Kogi State.

  • Mr President, lead us to Sambisa, not moon!

    SIR: It’s been a long while since May 25, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy fired the imagination of the United States of America, by publishing the goal of sending an American safely to the moon before the end of the decade. Four and half decades have passed since July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon surface and said, “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’’.

    The feasible race President Jonathan always told us we were in is the one to break into the league of 20 biggest economies in the world by 2020. We are five years close to that set year. In this re-election bid, Jonathan would have done well to lay out his plan to bring Nigeria closer to the attainment of that vision by 2019. He is, instead, advertizing a detour. He wants to take us to the moon!

    He didn’t define our mission to the moon, if only to flesh out the idea. He left us to figure out that. Maybe we are going to catch there to catch fun, to enjoy a walk on the moon without shoes.

    But a space detour is out of tune with the times. It suggests that President Jonathan is out of touch. Or, the one he is most likely to turn to for the list of the priorities of the average Nigerian youth, Boni Haruna, his 57-year old Minister of Youth Development, got it twisted.

    The reality is that Nigerian youths are not asking for the moon. We have never asked for what takes the equivalent of knowledge of rocket science to deliver. Citizens of other countries may ask too much of their leaders, but, not us. We ask nothing beyond a better terrestrial existence.

    We ask for the mundane things that other nationalities take for granted in this century. We ask for potable water, more hours of light, state recruitment process that doesn’t scam and kill applicants. We ask for hospitals that don’t leave patients to rot and die because doctors are on the umpteenth strike. Hospitals that are well resourced to treat all castes of fathers – my own father and the President’s 50-bedroom occupying, election time father.

    The moon can wait. The moon will become a destination to consider after we have humanized the Nigerian plane; after we have made it habitable for the overwhelming majority of the poor – the poor whose misery cannot be summarized by statistics.

    Ironically, President Jonathan is pitching astronomical adventure at a time when the foremost challenge of the country is how to assert dominion over the portion of the earth that the map says belongs to Nigeria.

    This moon talk serves well as filler to pad speaking lot. But the moon talk also indicates that escapism may have become the directional principle of state policy. Lord knows that President Jonathan is yet to exhaust ripe candidate sites in Nigeria. The 200 plus school girls abducted on April 15, 2014 are still in Zambisa forest. They have remained virtual sex slaves of their brute captors. The government hates to be reminded that they are responsible for rescuing them. So, #BringBackOurGirls campaigners are treated as dissidents.

    Of course, Chibok girls are now a catchall metaphor for, and the sole name of, all those carted away by the terrorists. Before that school invasion, kidnappings had been happening in that axis. But because Nigeria could not quantify the value of its lost citizenry as easily as barrels of stolen crude, the people did not matter.

    The moon safari tickles Jonathan because though he lives in Nigeria, he doesn’t live like a Nigerian. He has guards watching over him round the clock. He doesn’t know firsthand what it means to escape with burns from a hut set ablaze in the dead of the night. He has all the creature comforts petrodollars can buy. If he wanted a new jet, it shows up in the budget. And if he wanted to eat more food than he did last year, he would make his food bill higher by 7.4%.

    It is ludicrous that the President is promising space exploration when he and the entire armed forces he leads have proved incapable of the exploring a nearby forest where our daughters have been hostage for nine months. It’s absurd to have to say this but the Commander-in-Chief needs to know that what matters most right now is securing Nigerians within Nigeria. To redeem our country from terror: To recover our girls from Sambisa. Not going to the moon.

    • Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu

    immaugwu@gmail.com

  • Fear of Buhari…

    SIR: The only permanent thing in life is change. It is true that people oppose change when it affects them negatively. No wonder, it is said that when the drum for change of fortunes is beaten in a social gathering, its dancing is normally done by the “hoi-polloi”. In fact, its dancing steps are applauded by all except the rich who would turn their backs to the drummer(s).

    Those who oppose Buhari on the account of his military administration should know that times have changed. Come to think of it, if Buhari/Idiagbon did not come on 31/12/1983, Nigeria would by now be another Zimbabwe where a loaf of bread is sold for millions of dollars. A ruined economy. Those were between one and 15 years then should ask the older generation. After all, the good thing about history is the incorruptible nature of its verdict.

    Buhari is taciturn; yes, he is not senile. At 72 years he is as mentally straight as he is physically tall. One cannot compare his mien with the crass young men who would cave in at the shout of a woman in labour. If you don’t say something nobody will ask you to repeat it. The little he says is often misconstrued, misinterpreted and corrupted.

    On the arrest and detention of people especially politicians, it is better summed thus: when a net is thrown into the river to catch fish and fish only, it also obviously catches many other unwanted living and non-living things including the other amphibians and dead leaves

    It is when the net is brought ashore that fishes are separated from the catch and the unwanted things are discarded with. For the record, Buhari/Idiagbon era restored our value system as the mention of the duo made wrongdoers shiver.

    Buhari is the Aminu Kano of our time, leader of the “Talakawas” a man of the people. In the same way, one can predict with a reasonable sense of accuracy that the electron of February 14, will be a vote between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. History has many cunning passages; it is either now or never.

     

    • Adelani Olawuyi

    Odo Oba – Ogbomoso

     

  • Ogun guber: PDP arrived too late

    SIR: Having a weak candidate for an election is as good as having no candidate at all. Someone called me from Lagos a few days ago wishing to know about the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2015 governorship poll in Ogun State, Gboyega Isiaka. I said I only recalled one or two things about him.

    One, he contested the 2011 election but was trounced by the current Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun. Two, he was the Group Managing Director of Gateway Holdings Limited, which was accused of obtaining a loan of N2.8bn from banks to build a head office for the company. The current Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, had to cry out when the banks were chasing her about to come and repay the loan obtained under the previous administration. She was reported to have said that she searched everywhere in Ogun but could not even see the foundation of the head office. Gboyega Isiaka reportedly denied the charge.

    The last thing I know about him is that he is from Ogun West and hopes to win  election on that strength.

    I have only heard two statements from him, which provoked a roaring laughter and that enquiry of my friend from Lagos. He was reported to have said Amosun would hand over to him and that he was serving the governor a quit notice! Really, is this how to win elections? Making empty statements, not backed up with any concrete structure on ground?

    I used to be a boxing aficionado (especially the heavyweight division) before the Klitschko brothers came to ruin the sport through their lacklustre and anaemic performance in the ring. Those were the days when up to $70m was up for grabs in one night. But since the Klitschko brothers took over, I lost interest in the game.  I once fantasized the WBC, WBA, IBO and IBF paying off the brothers and sending them into retirement in order to rescue and restore the glory and glamour of the sport.

    In the boxing era of Muhammed Ali and Mike Tyson, the challenger needs to fight twice as much as the champion in order to take away the belt. You are not declared a winner just because you seemingly have some points ahead of the champion. The fact is, you have to pummel the champion sufficiently and glaringly enough to be able to take away his belt – that is when you cannot secure a knock-out.  Otherwise, the champion will still retain his title by judges’ decision.

    Here in Ogun, rather than the challenger doing twice as much as the champion to win, it is Amosun (the champion and incumbent governor) that is going across the state from village to village, hamlet to hamlet, town to town to canvass for votes while Isiaka is busy making grandiloquent statements.

    “Travellers,” Wole Soyinka admonishes, “you must set forth at dawn.” While Isiaka is still in bed, Amosun has already set forth, enjoying the marvels of the holy hours and savouring the fellow-feeling endorsement of the market women, farmers, youths, artisans, workers, etc.

    What this means is that in the scheduled 12-Round Match on February 28, even if Isiaka were originally expected to stretch Amosun to Round 4 before being knocked out, the match will now last a few seconds – he won’t survive the very First Round.

    You don’t win elections by serving empty quit notices on the pages of newspapers to the champion. Just how many days does the PDP with its coalition have left to campaign – amidst the current infighting within its fold on who should or should not be the governorship candidate and who should or should not be this or that?

    Sorry PDP and your coalition; you arrived too late; the train to Oke-Mosan 2015 has already left the station. Please come back in 2019.

     

    •Soyombo Opeyemi

    Abeokuta

  • Osun’s farcical petitions

    SIR: The election petition tribunal sitting in Osogbo has dismissed the petition of the candidate of the Accord Party, Barrister Niyi Owolade. This has actually revealed the farce that passed as petitions at the tribunal.

    Owolade had asked for the withdrawal of the petition on the ground of insufficient time. This drew sharp rebuke from the tribunal which charged Owolade of asking for incessant adjournments only to turn round and ask for withdrawal. The petition was then dismissed and N50,000 cost awarded to Aregbesola.

    It is a mark of civility to seek legal redress for any perceived injustice and especially on an election, which borders on the sacred mandate of the people. However, this petition was baseless and frivolous ab initio. It was meant to give the wrong impression and cast doubt on an election that was won by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, in spite of all the obstacles put in his way by the PDP Federal Government.

    The interesting thing about this case is that both Owolade and Senator Iyiola Omisore, the other petitioner at the tribunal, relied on and put forward basically the same evidence and argued in the same way. Nevertheless, they relied more on deception, lies and misinformation rather than on truth and pursuit of justice.

    While the examination of ballot papers was going on, PDP spun a lie that 100,000 ballot papers which belonged to Omisore and wrongly credited to Aregbesola had been discovered and returned to its rightful owner. They now concluded that the discovery had tilted the result in favour of Omisore who would be sworn in on November 27 last year, instead of Aregbesola. But as truth would have it, it was Aregbesola that was sworn in. The lie was knocked from its bottom. A television station, AIT, which published the story on its website retracted it with an apology.

    The truth eventually came out in the course of the inspection, that not only was a single case of irregularity like invalid ballot paper, unsigned result sheet or unstamped result not found, a recount of the ballot papers was not even in the prayers of Omisore before the tribunal. So a transfer of even a single ballot from Aregbesola to Omisore is not going to happen. The tribunal cannot give what was not asked for.

    Then again, the PDP caused to be published in some dailies the falsehood that there was over-voting in Oriade Local Government. If this were to be true, it would have established one of the claims of Omisore but the tribunal strongly disavowed this reporting and had to summon the correspondent of The Punch who syndicated the story. The tribunal averred that the report was false. The correspondent ran away and never showed up at the tribunal.

    Indeed, in the course of inspection, tendering evidence or calling witnesses, it was never established that there was irregularities anywhere. Rather, what was established, even by Omisore’s witnesses, including PDP state secretary, was that the election was peaceful, free and fair.

    It is not for me to preempt the tribunal’s judgement, but what is clear now is that PDP went to the tribunal as a face-saving measure in order to rally its members in the vain hope of mitigating a catastrophic outing in February general election.

    • Mike Ogundele,

    Osogbo, Osun State    

  • It’s election, not war

    SIR: Campaigns across all levels have reached feverish pitch, with respective party candidates trying hard to dot the ‘Is’ and cross the ‘Ts’. All that matters and are of utmost importance at the moment is simply how to coast home to victory in next month’s elections. Politicians aren’t bothered about the fact that Baga, a town in Borno has been taken over by Boko Haram insurgents, politicians are not bothered that all government owned hospitals and courts have been shut down owing to industrial actions. We remind these politicians that what we are preparing for is just an election, not a war!

    Should we continue in this direction, we would one day wake up and discover that the very country we proudly call our own has ceased to exist. Most Nigerians are so obsessed with politics and politicians that we allow several important issues to go unattended to. Serious pre-election questions are mounting on, but we have resolved never to get credible answers to them. So many unanswered questions stare us in the face, yet we act as if all is just okay with our country. Nigerians have surrendered their beloved country to economic plunderers, political saboteurs, religious merchants, mercantile media as well as social misfits. Men and women of integrity have distanced themselves from issues of governance, thereby allowing opportunists with little or no knowledge of what governance entails to run the show.

    We need to constantly remind those seeking elective positions the need for them to anchor their campaigns on facts, figures and verifiable statistics and not on mundane matters. We expect these men to narrow their arguments to how they intend to raise the bar of leadership, improve security, provide qualitative and highly subsidized education and healthcare, eradicate corruption and put in place schemes that will promote entrepreneurship. This is the way to go.

    Why are our politicians not harping on the many socio-economic and political malaise confronting Nigeria? Why are the campaigners not stating in clear terms what they intend to carryout if given the opportunity to govern?

    Let me quickly dwell on the obvious shortcomings inherent in the campaigns of both President Goodluck Jonathan and that of General Muhammadu Buhari. It’s been a disastrous outing for both of them, especially in the case of Goodluck Jonathan. Both of them have reduced campaigns to a matter of you “insult me and I insult you back”. I think their handlers are not offering them the right briefs on what they should address or speak on. Ideally, a campaign speech or address should be expository, persuasive, convincing and moving. Not speeches laced with invectives, insults, demeaning words and defamatory lines.

    Many had really expected Gen. Buhari to have armed himself with necessary details as to how he intends to run Nigeria’s economy if elected. By now we had expected him to offer more insights into what he plans to do differently. Instead, Gen. Buhari has chosen to be very brief in his remarks at a time Nigerians want him to speak more.

    As for Dr Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, he began his campaign rally on a very disastrous and disappointing note in Lagos. He blasted his chances. He spoke like an angry person. Very harsh, illogical and annoyingly repetitive. Many had expected President Jonathan to dwell more on what he has done since he assumed office in the last six years. Regrettably, he didn’t. Instead, he went after the personality of Buhari, forgetting that he was doing immeasurable favour to his major challenger. Ironically, the more he castigates his opponent, the more people accept him as their man. Tell Nigerians why your government has been unable to end insurgency in the north east. Tell Nigerians what your frustrations are with regards to tackling corruption. In clear terms, tell us why the economy is in tatters.

    As our candidates continue their campaign visits to other states, they should do well to scale down on rhetorics and dwell more on serious issues. No buck passing, mudslinging, hate speech, character assassination and other indecorous conducts. They should do well to caution their supporters against making careless utterances. Campaigns should be based on ideas, issues and implementable policies. Politicians shouldn’t go into the forthcoming polls with an i-must-win-at-all-cost mentality. No one’s political aspirations should be placed beyond national considerations. Elections will come and go, Nigeria will remain a united country. Its called election, not war.

     

    • Abdullahi Yunusa

    Imane, Kogi State

  • Mr. President, no condition is permanent

    SIR: The recent spate of vitriol unleashed by President Goodluck Jonathan on his predecessors in office, in the course of the presidential campaigns, calls for sober comments and condemnation by Nigerians of goodwill irrespective of party affiliation. The comments are the more troubling when the President himself had gone around the country asking contestants to the various political offices to desist from making incendiary statements that could heat up the polity.

    First, it was all the previous Heads of State that were accused of doing one thing or the other while in office. Next, was Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who was accused of speaking like “garage touts.” Thereafter, it was Muhammadu Buhari who the President claimed cannot “remember his mobile phone number.” Since the President reportedly craved an issues-based campaign, what are the campaign issues in these statements? The economy? Unemployment? Education? Infra-structure – stomach or otherwise? Is it national security?

    Let me remind the President of a past incident. Nigeria once had a former Governor-General General, who later became President. Previous to these offices, he was ex-Premier of Eastern Region. His name, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, of blessed memory.  Also, there was, then, an incumbent Administrator of the East Central State, a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Ibadan on secondment to that assignment. His name, Dr. Ukpabi Asika.

    Dr. Azikiwe had written a lengthy article in the papers on what he felt were the “failings” of the Asika administration. Anybody who remembers Dr. Azikiwe and his writings would know that the article was detailed, sequential, to the point and written out of purely patriotic inclinations. After all, Dr. Asika was part of a military administration and Dr. Azikiwe was just an elder statesman and ordinary Nigerian.

    Well, Dr. Asika wrote a scathing rebuttal of Dr. Azikiwe’s article. In the rebuttal, he had claimed that the offending article by Dr. Azikiwe was written by none other than “an ex-this, ex-that, and ex-everything else”, a politician who was seeking relevance in the scheme of things.

    Dr. Asika’s rebuttal drew a more scathing response from Dr. Azikiwe. He thanked Dr. Asika for remembering him as Ex-Premier of Eastern Region, Ex-Governor General of the Federation and Ex-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  He then went on to say, and this is the germane issue dear President, that the commercial mammy-wagon that plied Lagos to Onitsha, his hometown, has an inscription that reads “No Condition Is Permanent.”

    Erudite as ever, Dr. Azikiwe informed Asika, that someday, he Dr. Asika, would be known and referred to as former Administrator of the East Central State, just as, he, Dr. Azikiwe was then known as Ex-Premier of Eastern Region, Ex-Governor General of the Federation and Ex-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Dr. Asika’s father is known as ex-Postmaster General of the Post-Office in his hometown.

    There is the message Mr President. No matter how long you serve as Mr. President, one of these days you will be referred to as former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria just as your predecessors are right now. It is my hope that, at that time and in that capacity, when you offer some positions on issues of national interest, the incumbent President does not hurl the type of incendiary allegations at you or your person like you did to your predecessors.

    Character is the defining quality of a president and it helps a president set directions for a country; in words and actions. In whatever situation a president finds himself, he must maintain a state of equanimity that is consistent with the office, for, as the mammy-wagon said “No condition Is Permanent.”   By nature’s design, incumbents will be become former occupants. You cannot be President for life or forever; not in Nigeria! And, the chicken will always come home to roost.

    • Angelicus-M. B. Onasanya, DBA

    Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State

  • A president Nigeria needs

    SIR: The opinion recently expressed by the national secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP),  Professor Wale Oladipo that president GEJ, a PhD holder, will be contesting against a semi-illiterate presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, General Muhammadu Buhari, has brought to the fore the germane issue of whether Nigeria really needs a PhD holder to lead her or it needs a capable person whose eyes are  focused on fixing the country –  even with a minimum level of education – as required by the constitution.

    Professor Ladipo, like every other citizen of this country, has a right to his opinion. However, one would expect a person who answers to the highest level of academic title to come up with a sound opinion that reflects that level of educational attainment whenever he speaks in the public. But when the reverse is the case then something must be wrong.

    No doubt one of the problems we have in this country is the too much emphasis we lay on paper qualification rather than skill or what a person is capable of doing. And this has grossly affected our growth both at individual and organisational level and even in some cases up to governmental level. We seem to be obsessed with academic title instead of individual gift and ability. And any country that promotes this world-view will stay longer than necessary in the wilderness.

    At organisational level rather than for the management to employ you based on your capacity; what you can offer the company they are more interested in your level of education. So some people who by virtue of their talents would have turned the fortune of a particular company around have been refused employment because they couldn’t tender a load of certificates.

    In this country today we have reached a stage that we must avoid the mistake of laying emphasis on a load of certificates as a prerequisite for leadership position. The minimum level of education anyone needs to lead this country is secondary school certificate. That’s what the constitution says and it isn’t compulsory to have loads of degrees. As a matter of fact no one needs a load of degrees to perform in office.

    Examples abound in history of leaders who were never academic geniuses but who performed to, or even beyond the expectations of their people. We have heard of the former British Prime minister, Winston Churchill who was not all that good academically but did well in office. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was not a PhD holder when he showed exemplary leadership as the Premier of old Western region. Neither was he a SAN then.

    For me I think the most important thing for a leader to have is compassion. With the minimum education as constitutionally required all that Nigeria needs is a compassionate leader who will have the interest of the people at heart.

    Former petroleum Minister, Tam David West in one of the interviews he granted a prominent Nigerian news magazine, had once said it that a leader doesn’t need to have a PhD to know that he has to provide potable water, shelter, good roads, good education and other amenities for his people. Truly like the revered Professor of virology said, a leader doesn’t need to be a Professor or a PhD holder to be able to provide security and welfare for his people.

    I personally think that Professor Oladipo goofed substantially by referring to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as semi-illiterate. Such a statement is least expected from a person of his academic calibre. Nigeria doesn’t need a person with a basket load of academic qualifications to get it out of the woods. We only need a compassionate leader; a leader that is disciplined and patriotic.

     

    • Kola Odepeju,

    Lagos

  • A vote for change

    SIR: As Nigeria goes to the polls next month to elect a new government, a new era seems to have begun in the nation’s electoral process, driven by demographic changes and the emergence of a politically-aware middle-class. The upcoming election could create fresh opportunities for Nigeria, and reshape the rules for access to a vibrant market and a better society for all.

    Since 1999, when Nigeria started its liberalization process, the Nigerian economy has grown at approximately 6.5% annually, overtaking most Asia countries to become among the world’s most promising economy by purchasing power parity in 2006. Since then, however, Nigeria has slowed significantly. The 2012-14 financial years saw the GDP growth rate fall below 3.8% – the lowest in a decade; the fiscal deficit widened and the naira plummeted for much of the second half of 2014. Foreign investments were down to a trickle, inflation had spiraled and major infrastructure projects had been put on hold. Companies, like Shell, scaled down their Nigeria investments, while others like Total and Julius Berger are also having a second thought about the Nigerian economy; everything seems pretty bad for now. The only remedy to our sinking economy is a block vote for change, which the opposition represents.

    During this period, there were also various reports of corporate scams in the oil and gas sector. All this exacerbated the general sense of disenchantment among Nigerians, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lead government, in its fourth term at the helm, faced mass protests against corruption.

    The entire country is now looking forward to the February elections to usher in a new government that would boost economic revival, create new jobs, improve the healthcare and education sectors and address the large infrastructural gaps.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there are approximately five million ‘first-time voters. That’s 12 per cent of the total electorate! These voters are young people in urban and rural Nigeria born in the post-liberalized era. They are educated; relatively more exposed to global trends, and have their own set ideas on what they want from the political system. This group is expected to play a large role in influencing this year’s election results.

    Social media engagement is expected to have a direct influence on up to 30 per cent of the seats in the legislature. These seats are mostly in urban areas where constituents are a mix of youth and professionals. All major parties have set up dedicated social media teams, and are using Facebook and Twitter as key channels of influence.

    The past year has seen the emergence of a new brand of politics. Unlike traditional parties, which formed largely out of regional sentiment, religion and language, the All Progressive Congress (APC) grew out of the desire for a better Nigeria, the coming together of the opposition for the first time in the history of Nigeria was also symbolic, as everybody seems tired of a government that harbor and promote corruption. Within a year of its formation, the All Progressive Congress (APC) rose to power in 14 states. The APC also parade a presidential hopeful in person of General Muhammadu Buhari, who on its own has the capacity of winning a free and fair election even as an independent candidate.

    The 2015 election will be a vote for change. Irrespective of the alliances formed to build the next government, jump starting economic growth will be top priority. In this environment, corporations need to keep an ear to the ground and closely monitor the developments and their implications on business-related policy. The new progressive entrants into Nigerian politics should be observed closely, to evaluate how this will contribute to the new agenda.

    As a new government takes charge, communication and engagement strategies might need to be re-evaluated, and there will be a clear need for organizations to have a greater focus on fundamentals and longer term commitment, while being sensitive to the country’s demands.

     

    • Comrade Ahmed Omeiza Lukman,

    Kiev, Ukraine.