It’s just days before the big day when the Nigerian people get to elect the next president, and a lot of things have been going well for Buhari and his running mate Yemi Osinbajo.
But some people still think it could have been better if the APC had a different presidential candidate.
Naij.com contributor and commentator on political issues, Adedayo Ademuwagun, in this piece, analyses who would have made a better presidential candidate for the All Progressives Congress.
Would Osinbajo have made a better presidential candidate than Buhari? Is Buhari the best person the APC could have chosen to run for president?
Buhari’s emergence as the APC candidate was cheered by a lot of people in the country who were either opposed to Jonathan continuing as president or were in support of the opposition party. They thought Buhari could make things better if he’s running the country, and they thought he’s an upright man who will provide strong leadership.
But most people didn’t think like that in the last election when Buhari first ran against Jonathan. Buhari didn’t have a favourable image at the time because of his past views and record. But Jonathan represented freshness, a break from the dark past, and the people liked him. So Jonathan not only swept the south, he managed to beat Buhari in some parts of the north too.
The major opposition parties tried to work out a coalition before that election so they could contend with the PDP more strongly, but it fell through and they went on to lose the presidency.
Then a few years ago they sorted out the problems and the merger was done to form the APC. It was effectively an alliance between the north and the west to challenge the centre, a familiar situation in Nigerian history.
With this deal struck, the new party needed to pick the man with the most chance of defeating Jonathan in the next election, and then Buhari emerged candidate after the party’s delegates almost unanimously chose him at the primary. That’s how Buhari’s amazing run started last year.
The rise of the APC coincided with the fall in Jonathan’s popularity starting from the Occupy Nigeria upheaval three years ago. So it was just the right opportunity for Buhari to come in.
At this point, frankly it didn’t matter to most Nigerians who the opposition presented to run against Jonathan. A lot of people were calling for change. People were frustrated and the government wasn’t doing enough to demonstrate to the people what it had done and what it intended to achieve moving forward. So Buhari suddenly became the go-to person.
He could have won parts of the north by himself without even moving a muscle. But you’ve got to win votes around the country if you want to be president. That’s how you show that you have the mandate of the Nigerian people.
So with the APC southern leaders backing him, it paved the way for his popularity to spread and for him to reinvent himself. Now for the first time he looks like he really could win this election and make history.
But some people have been looking at the situation. How progressive is it to vote a man who’s 72 years old and who ruled over 30 years ago? Is that moving forward? Is that the change we need?
Kemi says, ‘I’m not saying age is a problem. But the fact that we’re even thinking about voting a man who is in old age is pathetic to me. Don’t we have any younger person who can do the job and maybe even do it better than Jonathan? Couldn’t the APC have looked for a younger person, a fresh person who has something new to offer instead of an old general from a dark past? It’s disappointing.’
Juliet says, ‘Buhari hasn’t changed much from the last 12 years since he’s been running for president. The only thing that’s changed to me is his brand. People think of him differently from before because of the current longing for a change and because of the current circumstances. I’m not expecting a great deal from him if he wins.’
Perhaps Osinbajo would make a better president. He’s about 20 years younger than Buhari and he’s got a clean sheet even though he was obscure before now. But anyhow, surely the APC could have picked someone who’s got the qualities of a 21st century president. World leaders are a lot younger than 73 nowadays.
But maybe the APC had to choose Buhari because they wanted to reset the political equation. There’s a way power shifts between the north and the south in Nigeria and it’s a way mutually understood by the leaders from both ends of the country.
Yar’adua’s death disrupted that arrangement, but now it looks like it’s how the politicians think it’s best for the next leader to be from the north. So Buhari obviously fits that need because he’s from the north and because of his influence in the north. It was probably a political calculation.
In any case it’s up to the Nigerian people to decide who they’d like to run the country for the next four years. It could be Jonathan or Buhari, but the hope is that the Nigerian people will elect the best man for the job.
