SEGUN OSHINAGA
Let me start by saying that I like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. I had the offer to be the South West Coordinator of Atiku Vanguard in 2006, having been recommended by a dear aunt, a close confidant of Atiku who is now late. I didn’t take it because I had another opportunity.
I have gone this far to explain that I harbour no hatred or ill feeling towards Waziri Adamawa. I love his pan Nigerian, cosmopolitan disposition, his capacity for relationships and knack for sporting talents. These are vital assets for leadership.
The closest Atiku came to becoming President was the opportunity to succeed President Obasanjo. The bitter rivalry with Obasanjo in 2003 forever cost Atiku the presidency of Nigeria. That was his best and I dare say, ONLY chance. The fateful fight in 2003 was not entirely Atiku’s fault, I must admit. The mercurial nature of OBJ and his desire to be life president compelled Atiku to join hands with other presidential hopefuls like IBB to stop him by all means necessary and that cost Atiku dearly in 2007.
My only problem with Atiku is his philosophy of public service. His elitist and unbridled capitalism makes a few hundred billionaires and leaves the poor masses eating crumbs at the tables of the rich.
I am supporting President Buhari because he is pro-masses. The reason he has always been supported by the teeming poor of the North since 2003 and now all over Nigeria is because they know he truly cares about the poor.
Atiku is 72 this year and this is his last shot at the Presidency that he has desired since 1992. Unfortunately for him, it is virtually impossible to defeat President Buhari. Whichever of his fabled marabouts that is assuring him of victory is a wicked man and a deceiver. It looks to me that many people are cashing in on his desperation and using it to leverage their bargaining power with the incumbent. Only desperation will blind anyone in the ‘power game’ to the tremendous priviledges that an incumbent, adept at the use of power in Africa possesses, particularly when you have a constant fan base of 10 to 11m people in an election that requires, on the average a simple majority of total votes of 30M voters. A Buhari can only lose a reelection by a spectacularly dumb mistake.
But desperation is a bitch. You can’t see what even a child with a pair of eyes can see. The 2019 election will leave Atiku without the presidency and drain his purse of over N200B estimated election related expenses. I wish he will use that money to better the lives of Nigerian children and make himself a hero for all time.