Tuesday 16 December 2014

Why PRESIDENCY?

My facebook friend -Ugbade Anthony Emeka wrote and I quote

"Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
Sir, let us examine your service records. Because with what I read, I consider your generation a very privileged one, indeed. In 1975 at the age of 33, you were appointed the Military Governor of the North-Eastern State, present day Borno & Yobe States. In 1976 at the age of 34 you became the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources. In 1978 at the age of 36 you became the Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Today the reverse is the case. Most Nigerians at age of 35 are still unemployed and still living with parents. Many are still not married. During your time you were already Governor at this age. One major reason for this unfortunate turn of events is that many elders like you have refused to voluntarily handover the baton to the next generation. Life should be a relay race where one runs his race and hands over to the next. In Nigeria many elders like you have run their races and are still holding on tenaciously to the baton. But Sir, I have an important question here for you. The question is simple, MUST YOU SERVE NIGERIA AS A PRESIDENT ONLY? IS THERE NO OTHER CAPACITY YOU CAN SERVE US EXCEPT THE PRESIDENCY?

It is very erroneous to imagine that you can only serve Nigeria only in one capacity. During the regime of late General Sani Abacha, you accepted the appointment to serve as the Chairman of the then Petroleum Trust Fund PTF. The general opinion was that you served faithfully in this capacity. Well done Sir! But you never asked Abacha to vacate office for you as your former subordinate in the army. Never! In fact that would have been a dangerous move, if not suicidal. Rather you served faithfully under your former junior in the army.

Sir, imagine if you take on another job like the Chairman of EFCC or ICPC or NDLEA. Nigerians actually need you to serve in one of these capacities much more than they need you in the Presidency. Mere mentioning your name as Chairman of EFCC would drive many corrupt men underground. But you wouldn’t."

Now to MY RESPONSE as "incited" by Olivia Chinyere Nzurumike:

Dear Mr Ugbade,
I must sincerely appreciate these wonderful suggestions your brought to bear. You (in my opinion) possess a quality that every young Nigerian should have. Rather than join the uninformed and sycophantic youths of this age in shouting down the person and gesture of Maj Gen Muhammadu Buhari, you have profered a "better" platform for service. Thank you a million times.

However, I will have you know a few reasons why your suggestions may not work in a society such as ours. For the sake of clarity, I will itemise them.

1. Just as you have rightly pointed out in your post, the generation that has young people (in their thirties) at the helms of affairs is indeed a PRIVILEGED one. Although, it is not supposed to turn out that way but a society with complacent, myopic and inexperienced young generation can not but have our aged generation in the helms of affair. Human beings are naturally prone to sit tight. It is therefore up to the youths to unsit the elders. As it stands, I don't see that happening in 2015.

2. You have also admitted that most of our youths are unemployed and grounded. This is very correct and its courtesy those who have so far ruled or lead us especially in recent times. Since our return to democracy, we have (to say the truth) experienced developments and forward movement in certain areas and to certain degrees. But Heavens bear me witness that those development can not be rated to be equivalent to our resources by any standards. It is as though, we take a step forward and two steps barkward.

We have tried the same thing for four good times and have obviously failed. And as insinuated by Albert Einstein, only insanity will see us try it again and expect different result this time. It is therefore high time we tried a different person on a different platform.

3. "MUST YOU SERVE NIGERIA AS A PRESIDENT ONLY?" Even if I can not satisfactorily answer this question as the person it is directed to would have done, I will make attempt at it.
3a. It will be a great waste of human resource and an embarrassment on intellectual capacity if you; Mr Ugbaje is appointed the head boy of a secondary school just because you believe and support young leadership. So will it be when you ask GMB to do stuffs that berate his capacity.
3b. Are you aware that positions such as you suggested are appointive positions? They are directly accountable to the President and the President dictates to a large extent the tune their pipe should play. We all knew what happened to the likes of Prof Dora, Mallam Sanusi when they towed the path of truth in disobedience to their boss.
3c. The President is the number one citizen on whose shoulder the responsibility of every other citizens lie. Such position requires someone with the strength that you ascribed to GMB... Settling for anything less will be an act of concentrated cowardice, sumptuous selfishness and lethal laziness.

Conclusively, going by the few service records you stated, no other Presidential aspirant have equalled his antecedents let alone better it. We should therefore let go of sentiments and have a grip on the truth!
Major General Muhammadu Buhari is the right person for the Nigerian 001 job...#saiBuhari9ja #iKOHrepsGMB

Thanks!
t

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