(OPINION) TINUBU AND 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: IT IS TIME TO STOP THE HATRED

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By: Shehu Bashir Esq.

As a matter of democratic doctrine, all over the world, electorates make their choice in whom they will vote for based on objective reasoning – reasons that border on the capacity of the candidates, competency, track records, developmental antecedents, contributions to human edification, character credibility and assurance of integrity. These are the most valued attributes that every candidate is expected to have. However, it does becomes antithetical when the reasons to vote for or against a candidate are built on certain illogical emotions, dangerous tribal sentiment and subjective mentality. When this is done in any democracy, never will such democracy grow because merit is going to be thrown away and subjectivity will take the center stage. Good governance will be absent in such a regime.

I have experienced in real time how people canvass for votes and on which they are voted in. I have had the privilege of listening to a grassroot politician in a remote town of Hudson, somewhere in New York, United States of America, who was equally a farmer. In his career exploit, being a farmer and a member farmer’s association, he was able to fight for and protect the interest of his members. While he was campaigning, he referred to his achievements as an executive member of that association with so much pride and honor. He won that election on that basis. This is to say that sentiment does not win an election, merit does and should always.

It is an established fact that, unlike many other democracies of the world, when it comes to national elections, some people in this part of the world tend to align with a candidate based on his or her ethnic and religious leaning. As dangerous as it is, blind and illogical arguments are often provided in Defence of such candidate even when such is probably the least qualified in terms of intelligence, competency, capacity, antecedents and credibility. For any candidate to be credible, such must speak more to what good he had done in the past while in previous similar position and not more what he will do. What he will do can only be taken seriously if he had done same before given similar opportunity. A man who used all his life to destroy Nigeria’s economy, by importing champagne and devaluing our Naira, and still in the business of the importation, is promising to take us from importation to production. Talk is cheap. No be juju be that.

2023 presidential election is probably the most emotionally charged whereby, supporters of certain other candidates are so blind to the deficiency of these candidate’s competencies. At the same time, they are repulsive to another candidate’s impeccable competency simply because they have zero gene for tolerance and truth. In this instance, nothing that their candidate does, however bad, terrible, despicable, shameful, disgraceful and even illegal, they will look away. When such infraction is too glaring for them to ignore, they provide the most embarrassing form of Defence, justifying the worst of the criminality, calling it either privatization in the case of Atiku who sold a billion dollar worth edifice for a paltry sum or a Peter Obi who criminally diverted state money into a family business. You will be too ashamed to even listen to them defending such infractions. And when they can’t provide any sensible answer at all, they turn abusive and violent, threatening you and your family. They have the lowest sagacity to engage in any intellectual political discourse without becoming belligerent.

Their heart is filled with hatred for a candidate they don’t like, blind and subjective to the one they claim to love. Nothing that the opposing candidate will do, however pragmatically honest, the hatred will not let them see nor say the truth. The hatred in their heart is disgusting and inhumane.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a candidate to beat in this coming election. He is the only candidate whose track records have become an Iroko tree, continuously growing bigger since 1999 and has refused to stop. The seeds he planted then continue to produce fruits such that three generations of governors after him are watering his developmental vision. The recently commissioned Lagos Blue Rail just sealed their drooling mouth. The same cannot be said of Asiwaju’s top contenders. All they did was to selfishly water their faro and criminally nest their next.

The hatred from the followers of the opposing candidates against Tinubu especially those of Atiku and Obi is out of this world. There is nothing he (Tinubu) says that is good to their ears, however pleasant, logical, and developmental. All they find in his words and actions are faults even when those are Intelligent and pragmatic.

Tinubu being a man of abundant ideas, mission and vision has been setting the pace for others to follow, even though they can never match up to his speed and height.

As they continue to boil their soul with the worst of incinerator, they have mocked and laughed at Asiwaju, for certain things they consider as gaffe. They have veiled their sight from the unsaid rationale behind such action, they don’t even listen to follow up explanations to be reasonably convinced. They just spit venom of hatred. Their inhumane hatred knows no bounds.

I will state a few things they condemned and castigated Tinubu for but which their candidates have done worst.

Asiwaju, has been accused of being a “drop out” who did not have a University Degree. They boasted with empty assurance that their Obi has a PhD in Economics. This was their dancing spirit until INEC bursts their bubble and dampened their morale – their candidate only posses “GCE Degree”. (Whatever that is). They all went mute in shock and disappointment. Even the original Philosophy Degree certificate that was in circulation was denied by Obi that it didn’t emanate from him. I guess there is something not right about that too, hence, the “tactical withdrawal from circulation. It is now obvious and many of Obi’s supporters have since realized that what Prof. Charles Soludo, the Governor of Anambra, said about their candidate is nothing but the truth.

They hate Asiwaju for not having a “blue print” and they called him all manners of names. As soon as Akanbi presented his manifesto, they tried to water it down even though they found nothing to disregard in that blue print. A certain over bloated ego of a Dele Momodu whose photoshoot magazine has gone economically moribund would come out to bear an identity of a friend to Abiola to accuse Tinubu of renewing Abiola’s Hope 93. He has since been silenced with the evidence of competency campaign he once gave in favor of Asiwaju. That one na “carry-ka-chop” journalist.

At another time, they stayed glued to their TV, watching and expecting Asiwaju to misspeak so that they can continue their hurling on mere slip of tongue. Ironically their candidates have committed worst gaffes than they can say of Asiwaju. Atiku Abubakar did not only openly campaign for Asiwaju at a rally, his wife, Her Excellency, Hajia Titi Abubakar repeatedly threw away PDP and canvassed for APC. Praise the Lord!

Appearing on TV to attend their so called town hall meeting with registered PDP members and Obi apologists as anchors was a cry they carried too far. The fire of their hatred was burning hotter in their heart than volcano but Asiwaju will not submit to their blackmail. While they were holding a kangaroo debate, Asiwaju was at Chatham House addressing the global audience.

While Tinubu was providing intelligent answers to the question on why he wants to be Nigeria’s president, their Naanu originator was instructed by the mad man who often gives him advice to use Bangladeshi GDP as answer, giving the dullest and the most irrelevant answer to a serious question. It was a shameful and embarrassing answer his supporters could not defend. They all went mute in hypocrisy.

At Chatham House in United Kingdom, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the whole World on advanced leadership course, showcasing to the world how he intends to run his administration by trusting his lieutenants and aides. He deliberately but intelligently delegated some of the members of his team to answer some of the questions he was asked before he then corroborated them. The social media space was agog with the rantings of the nay Sayers, dullards and emergency pundits who have never even tasted leadership in their lives, not even as a secondary school class captain. A certain TV presenter on Arise TV whose only legacy is borrowing a friend’s jeep to commit traffic offence would come out to criticize that wonderful leadership quality Asiwaju displayed. Now, “katakata” don burst, their Obi has served them with hot breakfast. At a meeting with some students in Calabar, Peter Obi was asked to say if education was a scam or not. A straight forward question that requires a straight forward answer of yes or no with further explanations, Mr. Naanu out rightly but disgracefully dodged the question.

Infact, he said on tape that “this one pass my power”. Indeed, the leadership of Nigeria pass Obi’s power. A dullard like him cannot lead this country.

Obi could not have answered the question because, of course, he sees education as a scam. He does not have one and he knows it. If Obi has become a rich man today, it is not necessarily through education but commodity trading which doesn’t necessarily need higher degree education. A man who sees education as a scam cannot be trusted to handle our education. Nigeria is too intellectually wired to have a GCE holder as our leader. Odeshi!

Shame on them, all of them, the empty head skit makers who often play to the gallery to make videos to mock Asiwaju. Shame on all those unintelligent comedians and “yeyebrities” who use Asiwaju to build their career and claiming activism. Shame on that big head with full hair without full brain who turned Asiwaju Chatham”s interaction into a mockery skit. Shame on all those sanctimonious cash-tivists who get paid by talking down on Nigeria and promoting violence. Shame on those whom though know the truth but supporting falsehood because of sentiments, emotion, tribalism, religion and ethnicity. Shame on all those who know truly that we cannot afford to have a president who is campaigning to sell our national assets as he once did and a president who does not know the meaning of climate change and cannot say whether education is a scam or not.

Shame on those who know truly that Tinubu is better for Nigeria but chose to hate him for nothing other than envy and bigotry. Shame on all of you who got rich from the comfort of Lagos that Tinubu built but hating the same man who created the comfort. Shame on the macaroni that could not cook himself to glory in his village firewood until he was provided with Lagos cooking gas. Shame on the SquareP who cannot dance at their village market square until Lagos built a stage of carnival for them to soar. Shame on those who cannot speak up on the evil of the SARS in Anambra under Peter Obi but will occupy Lagos Lekki for destructive protests.

Shame on all those who are digging on Asiwaju’s finances but have kept quiet on the Pandora paper investment exposé against Peter Obi. Shame on all of you who have queried Lagos IGR but have failed to ask Okowa of Delta to respond to Wike’s allegations that he used Delta’s money to bankroll Atiku’s primary elections. Shame on all those who will unconscionably and ungodly criticize Tinubu’s alms giving to a beggar with disability but will not say anything against Obi publicly giving money to people to influence them at a political gathering..

Shame on all those who didn’t see Lagos when it was the battleground headquarters for democractic rebirth from 1993 to 1999, those who never took part in many pro-democracy rallies and protests that will make us trek from Ikorodu to Ojota, Obalende to CMS, Ajah to Epe, Oshodi to Iyana-Ipaja, Mile 2 to Badagry, etc. Shame on all those itinerant economic orphans who entered Lagos naked but now covered in the grace of her abundance, yet, see nothing new in Lagos. Shame on your shamelessness.

God is just the best judge. Ironically, everything they have condemned, laughed and hated and still hating Asiwaju for, their candidates have done worst. When PDP would be mocking Asiwaju’s health, Atiku is being assisted to walk down the staircase. When they say albeit wrongly that Asiwaju is a drug lord, gbam, Nigerians reminded them of how one of them was a deputy governorship candidate to a confirmed drug baron. When they say Asiwaju is corrupt, gbon-gan, Nigerians dug out the buried evidence of how their TV owner criminally collected over six hundred million naira from the money meant for the purchase of arms to fight insurgency. When they say their party is decent, again, the DG of their presidential campaign was sentenced to jail for money laundering. When they say Asiwaju goofed in Jos, we tell them Atiku also said they should vote for AP-PDP in the same Jos. When they say Tinubu is complicit in End-Sars debacle, we confront them with verifiable evidence of how Peter Obi unleashed armed SARS on innocent Anambra youths who were killed and their bodies dumped in the river. When they say Tinubu is controlling Lagos to make money for himself, we ask them to compare notes with the national assets Atiku sold to his cronies and his defiance to sell even more. When they say Tinubu did not go to school, we ask them to present Obi’s degree certificate which they have failed to do. When they abuse Tinubu for delegating questions to his team members, shhhhi, one time, Obi just did an epic episode on question evasion. When they say Renewed Hope is a plagiarism, we show them the outright blind lifting of APC programmes committed by Obi in his pamphlet called manifesto. When they say APC is not doing anything good, we direct them to ask Delta State governor what he did with the 13% derivation paid to him by President Buhari. When they say Tinubu wants to Islamize Nigeria with Shettima, we show them the video of Obi campaigning in the church and asking the church to “take back their country” in contravention of the law. Now, they are in the mud, eating their vomit.

Anything and everything they may hate Tinubu for, their candidates have done worst. The question is, why the hatred against Tinubu?. Very many times, Tinubu has bragged about his achievements and track records in Lagos and has challenged his opponents to do same. None of them has been able to lay claims to any verifiable achievements except the faro water company and hero beer investment that the used the state money to build for their personal benefits.

The fact is, none of those who are hating and condemning Asiwaju and disregarding Lagos developments today can even visit their states let alone passing the night. They are the lion that roar in the day but the cub that cannot hunt in the night.

It is logical, sensible and intelligent for anyone who wants to truly develop to follow the path of logical reasoning to determine who to vote for. And if electoral decisions and actions are going to be based on objectivity of track records, and assurance of integrity, no other candidate can lead Nigeria to the desired greatness in this dispensation except Asiwaju. If your candidate has committed more “errors” than you have accused Asiwaju of, and you are still not hating your candidate, be reasonable and sensible for once, it is time to stop the hatred against Asiwaju.

But if you are still not cautioned by the letters of conscience and logic, we can only conclude that you are a bigot who neither wants the best for this country nor have the best to offer this great nation. We don’t need hatred to determine our future, we can’t submit to sentiment of bigotry, we can do better without hatred and bigotry.

So, stop the hatred against Asiwaju, he is the best to lead Nigeria at this critical time. Take it or leave it.