Wednesday, April 1st 2015 will remain a great day in
our democratic history, not only because it was the first time an opposition
party defeated an incumbent president in a presidential election but because it
was a day Nigeria joined the privileged few African countries where the idea of
competitive electoral politics is becoming gradually institutionalized.
Let me use this medium to congratulate the people's
general, Muhammadu “Okechukwu” Buhari on a well-deserved victory. You are the
change that we seek, may your reign bring the desired change.
My support for the president-elect became appallingly
obvious when he emerged as All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential flag
bearer. In one of my articles December last year titled, General Muhammadu
Buhari: “The Wind Of Change”, I averred that “General Muhammadu Buhari is the
Moses of our time who is confidently living out his life of grace, this
explains his wild acceptance this time around across the federation which has
made him remain resolute in his mission and vision to stamp out corruption once
he's elected president” that, “General Buhari's charismatic authority is a
phenomenon, he is a man of untainted integrity, a strong distinct personality,
with an unlimited amount of passion, he has the ability to inspire people to
key into his vision. His cult of personality is on the increase. It cuts across
ethnic, religious and party affiliations, it is a demonstration of his
extra-ordinary insight and accomplishments”.
Then urged Nigerians wherever they are in the yuletide
season, North, West, East or South, they should drum it, sing it, shout it,
write it, draw it. However they can, they should spread the good news about
General Muhammadu Buhari.
I give kudos to all those that shunned parochial
sentiments and supported the people's General till the last day, it wasn't an
easy decision to make. To the narrow minded, it was strange for someone from my
region to be a die-hard supporter of an assumed Muslim fanatic. Many of us
passed through the fire in defense of General Buhari they hardly know other
than the hate documentaries and contrived propaganda some paid apologists of
the out going government used to get at him.
On social media platforms like Facebook and twitter, I
wasn't spared at all, the insults were beyond reproach and in the process of
defending the people's general, tempers ran high and friendships were severed,
I lost friends who did not see reasons with me why we should look beyond
religion and ethnicity and vote for a change.
Due to ignorance or outright refusal to see the impossibility
of such, majority Christians were irreversibly paranoid of an “Islamic agenda”
in Nigeria if GMB emerged president courtesy of repeated sermons in their
various places of worship.
Now GMB has won the presidential election what will
majority Christians do with such delusions of Islamisation of Nigeria?
On Monday 30th March, while many awaited the
announcement of the winner of the presidential election, I was in my comfort
zone celebrating the victory of the people's General on my Facebook page, many
that doubted me from the outset started coming to terms with reality as results
from states were collated.
You and I were witnesses to the celebration of
Nigerians both at home and abroad, Tuesday, 31st March even when they were not
yet through with collation of results and before the winner was eventually
announced, the victory was a through reflection of the wishes of the people, a
change from a system that allows a few to live off the misery of the entire
population, to a change that will herald the beginning of a new era in our
democratic history.
The emergence of GMB as the president-elect of the
Federal Republic Of Nigeria is a strong reminder that “failure is indeed an
orphan”. Many that never saw anything good in the opposition APC before now are
already identifying with the party and before May 29th hand over date, there
will be an exodus of politicians from other political parties to the soon to be
governing/ruling party.
After the elections, the biggest shame won't be who
won or lost, but the friendships or relationships that were damaged over
politicians while the campaigns lasted. Same politicians we supported that made
us severe our friendships may defect to the soon to be governing party and it
will be business as usual. I may have had the last laugh but the truth remains
that friendships lost may never be regained again. It's not worth the stress.
Let's drop our hatred for one another and move on, there's life after politics.
To friends that have been asking me all over the
social media, “the gains of supporting General Buhari now he has won?” The
answer is very simple and brief, “It is not what I will gain, it is what
Nigeria will gain; a great and better Nigeria for us all.
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win
glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those
poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray
twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
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