For the past few days and weeks to come, this topic will remain on the tongue of Nigerian citizens who hope for a better tomorrow for their country, which although nicknamed the “Giant of Africa,” is also “The poverty Capital of the World.”
A nation bedevilled with the consequences of tribalism and religious intolerance should know better that the best way to give hope to the unity of the country would be by giving different regions a sense of belonging.
Having a fellow Muslim as his running mate in the forthcoming Presidential elections shows that Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC does not have any regard for what people think is right – he’s obviously a man who does as he pleases, even if it’s meant to adversely affect others negatively.
This decision has brought him under serious criticism, and he seems not to care about what people say. Recently, the General Overseer of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, William Kumuyi, visited the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq. In his visit, he stated these:
“The Muslim-Muslim or Christian-Christan ticket is a difficult and slippery area. The APC presidential flagbearer Bola Tinubu and his party took that slippery way to make Borno Sen and ex-Gov Kashiim Shettima his running mate.
What I will say is that the political office holders should look at the heartbeat of the country, as well as the desires of the people.
Politicians should know that they are not there for themselves. They are there for all of us. They should ask and make their research about what the nation wants.
They should ask and make their research on what the country wants, what the people want; if they listen to the people, we will be confident that they will listen to us when they get there.”
These are some of the many things people are worried about regarding Tinubu’s decision.
Tinubu is invariably telling Nigerians that the heartbeat of the country doesn’t matter to him, and neither do the desires of the people. He’s also making us understand that he is there for himself, and not to foster any unity or progress. A progressive country must first be in peace before any other thing.
To worsen issues, he picked a man rumoured to have indirectly supported the notions of the Boko Haram movement.
“If they listen to people, we will be confident that they will listen to us when they get there.”
The above line in the statement of the General Overseer shows that we can’t be confident that Tinubu will listen to us when he gets to Aso rock.
With the party gradually being thrown into chaos – seeing that some Christian politicians are leaving – it becomes more evident that the negligence of the presidential aspirant to the situation is solely intentional.
There were many highly-placed APC politicians who are Christians, but even if he wouldn’t listen to the want of Nigerians, he could have at least considered his party comrades.
“I do not care about your votes – I will win, even if you don’t vote for me.”
The above is obviously going on in the mind of the APC presidential aspirant. For a man who is rumoured to have bought most of the delegates to win in the primaries, it’s obvious that he believes the emotions of the masses are no match to his financial capabilities. For a man who has said it is his turn to rule – who thinks of it as his birth right – it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him doing everything against the law, in order to win the election.
Some interviews granted to certain APC Muslim politicians show that a section of the Muslims in the party, are not in support of Tinubu’s decision, but he doesn’t care.
There’s every tendency that he would be a dictator if, at this stage, he thinks the decisions of others don’t matter.
Written by: Edward Amah
