Opinion
By POEM
DR. Wumi Akintide is a retired senior civil servant, a former Assistant Secretary in the Nigeria Civil Service, who was a close confidant of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Last Sunday, he stated the referenced headline during an online interview programme, *90 Minutes Africa,* hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo.
POEM respects his opinion and salutes his boldness in toeing the line of the progressives like his kinsman, President Olusegun Obasanjo and of course those of Pa Ayo Adebanjo and the Afenifere in identifying HE Peter Obi as the best candidate out of the 18 that lined out for the apex job of becoming Nigeria’s president.
However, Dr. Akintide fell short when he added the caveat that the Labour Party presidential candidate would not have been able to govern Nigeria because of our Constitution, which the experienced former civil servant believes is a huge handicap for Obi to fulfill most of his promises. Much as the amended 1999 Constitution could be criticised for not explicitly allowing national unity and broad development anchored on our individual and collective strengths as a nation, there is still a marked difference between guidelines and determination to deliver.
The former governor of Anambra State did not invent a new constitution when he reclaimed his stolen mandate from the court when it was believed that the same constitution Akintide referenced made it practically impossible to achieve. It was still the same constitution in use when he nullified an impeachment in court and returned to his seat as governor. Going further, he went to court to interpret the tenure duration in the executive cadre, hence introducing staggered elections in Nigeria.
Besides these near-impossible breakthroughs, PO became a governor when his state was placed at 26th position in the national rating of Education standards of states in Nigeria. Operating with same constitution, he moved his state to first position within five years and stayed consecutively firm in that position for the remaining three of his eight years of two tenures.
While most state governments in Nigeria were owing pensions and gratuities, PO not only cleared a backlog of the N35 billion he inherited on resumption of office, but he also paid all due pensions and gratuities throughout his eight years in office. Yet, the same 1999 Constitution was in use.
The same constitution did not prevent him from many people-oriented achievements that positively transformed his state and still left N75 billion behind for his successor when over 95% of his counterparts in other states left behind mountains of debts.
Let us not enumerate further but when anyone sees the result of the last presidential election and notices that PO scored over 97% of the votes cast in his home state despite having a very hostile government during the polls, it is only a measure of the gratitude from his people for his achievements during his time in office.
Taking it further, PO promised to secure and unite Nigeria. While securiing a nation cannot be effectively actualised from the outside unless one is the commander-in-chief, PO has already achieved remarkable unity based on his honesty, humility and the integrity he brought along. It took him only eight months to drive a third force political party that fiercely challenged the hitherto giant parties – a feat most people had thought was impossible in Nigeria. His endorsements by Afenifere, PANDEV, Southsouth forum and many other ethnic groups besides Ohaneze, was a clear path to unity.
Despite the unfortunate acts of the members of the old order, who foisted a Muslim-Muslim ticket and ignited ethnic profiling to continue to divide a people who otherwise love themselves across ethnic and religious boundaries, the OBIdient Movement still has more traction in zones outside his own Southeast. A fact made evident from the election results in Lagos, FCT, Plateau, etc. despite INEC’s irregularities in collation and declarations.
His promise of restoring and respecting the rule of law is already evident judging from the peaceful manner Nigerian youths are following the court processes despite very glaring acts of electoral sabotage by INEC which would have ignited violent unrest.
There is no constitutional amendment to the 1999 version yet but the very peaceful All Eyes On The Judiciary crusade has garnered global followership because this very PO has hugely influenced the populace that Nigeria MUST be a place where the right things are done.
Dear Dr. Wumi Akintide, you would have voted right and PO would have already started to evolve a new Nigeria with the same constitution which the man temporarily in the saddle is presently using and yet plunging the country into total mess. The man you preferred would have handled issues like Subsidy removal and Forex harmonisation quite appreciably differently because he sleeps, wakes and lives for the people. Besides, his ideas and methodology are unique and original, not copied or plagiarized.
But there is nothing to worry about Doc, if you genuinely believe that the man in context was and is the best. Pause on that your romance with this APC government, quit speaking tongue-in-cheek, distance yourself from some of our ‘men of God’ , who are erroneously painting the picture of God’s wishes for Nigeria. The God that created heaven and earth never wishes wrong things to be done. Rigging, forgery, perjury are all wrong in the eyes of God and man. The 10 Commandments as well as the Nigerian Constitution record all those acts as crime.
We believe the Tribunal and subsequently Supreme Court will have no choice but to do the right thing. PO is coming and you, Doc, will marvel at how he will operate with same constitution. The 1999 Constitution does not legalise or promote corruption. It does not recommend terrorism, banditry and kidnapping. And neither does it sanction unnecessary borrowing and consumption while ignoring production. All these negative practices are man-made, a pathetic scenario attained by leadership failure.
Keep All Eyes On The Judiciary. The new Nigeria is fast becoming.
This is POEM.
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Tags: Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Dr. Wumi Akintide POEM Rudolf Okonkwo.
