Why does Buhari want to be President?
NaijaRock
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Posted by Felix Okoli on Monday November 3, 2014 at 15:45:27:
As at the last time we heard from him, his official proclamation was that he was running again to become the president of Nigeria. General Muhammadu Buhari has declared again for the 3rd time that he intends to participate in the 2015 general elections which will decide who becomes Nigeria's next president.One of the things that really worried me was that at the age of 70, a man should be thinking of retiring from public service rather than seeking to enter it. Buhari, for those who didn't know was formerly the head of state for Nigeria Buhari is a retired military officer and Fulani who came to power in December 31, 1983 after removing an elected civilian government led by another Fulani, President Shehu Shagari. It is even ironic to think that Buhari is now wishing to enter power again as a civilian president when he didn't really honour that office many years ago.Anyway, as a Nigerian, he has a right to seek power since he is retired from the military. But at over 70 years? I have to say that this retired General still has the energy to keep working but I'm wondering if he would be able to deliver as much as what a young president like Jonathan Goodluck has done for these past years.In Nigeria/s political situation as it stands, there seems to be 2 sides of the army that want a grab of political power - The Buhari side vs the Obasanjo/IBB/Abdusalami side.The side that seems to be winning for the past years have been the Obasanjo/IBB side of the army and they have strongholds in middle belt, liberal states of northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria. It would take a really strong push for the PDP to lose power although it seems that for now, the PDP might be gradually losing some top members to the APC.Of all opposition parties which the PDP has had since the 4th republic berthed, there has never been any stronger opposition like the APC and many are even saying that it's the only party most likely to beat the PDP in 2015.Buhari has ran for president for 2 times in a row now and the first time was in 2006 when he ran on the platform of the ANPP against another Notherner, late Umaru Yaradua of which the latter easily won in a landslide. The results however showed a silent cult following of northerners for Buhari from people who believed that he was not corrupt and represented the wishes of the masses. His election was not successful since Yaradua was a more popular candidate since he was also a Fulani, a northerner and yet seemed more liberal to southerners.
The second time Buhari ran for election was on the platform of the CPC, a relatively new party he promoted himself and did better than the first time he ran with ANPP since the party was mostly promoted as a Buhari party and notherners saw him as the only northern candidate. He was able to get about 12 million votes which was still not enough to win the PDP candidate Jonathan who scored over 22 million votes.I think one of the reasons why Buhari still wants to be a civilian president might be because he is not yet tired of public service. Secondly, it might also be because he wants to help shift political power back to the Fulani who have lost it for 4 years after Yaradua died in 2010.Another possible reason why he may want back that power might be because he wants to score a point by proving he emerged victorious even after being removed from power by the IBB/OBJ network army network.One striking thing about Buhari's election performance is that he has not really been doing well in Southern Nigeria as much as he has been doing in northern Nigeria. This is probably because a lot of Nigerians in the South and middle belt still see him as pro-Sharia or pro-Autocracy. Many Nigerians don't believe that he would be as democratic as Yaradua or Jonathan since he was once a military man and a Fulani also. They feel he might be take democracy backwards from where it was before Obasanjo became President in 1999.How would Nigerians vote for Buhari in 2015? Will they still have little trust for him? Chances are that Buhari might perform better than Jonathan is those states where the governors have switched to APC but probably much better in Fulani/Hausa states. The opposition has grown stronger and I think Buhari remains the best candidate for the opposition who might be able to do better than others. However, it might be hard for the APC to come to a conclusion on who represents them as their number one candidate for the 2015 general elections.Buhari is likely to perform better than he did in 2011 if he emerges the preferred candidate of the APC and only if APC politicians are disciplined, remain loyal and rally behind him. However, it can really be hard to win a ruling party like the PDP and incumbent president like Jonathan Goodluck who seems to be scoring some good points in terms of the economy and security.If Buhari becomes president in 2015, he would be the oldest president in Nigeria's history at 72 years of age. He would be breaking the record of another former retired general name Olusegun Obasanjo who was also the oldest Nigerian president when he was in office. Buhari, however still looks young for his age. I guess the Fulani don't age as fast as other Nigerians do.If Buhari really does win the election on the platform of the APC or any other platform that allows him, it would be a serious blow for the PDP and may cause some serious instability to Nigeria's economy as investors might have a rethink as to what the new govt's policies would be since it's not likely to be a continuation of what the PDP government has been doing.If Buhari does win the election, some politicians would feel cheated and it might lead to violence such as political assassinations and civil strife given the way after election violence has been occurring in Nigeria.If, however, he doesn't win the election, it may very well be the last time he's going to offer himself again as a presidential candidate to Nigerians.
Comments:
As at the last time we heard from him, his official proclamation was that he was running again to become the president of Nigeria. General Muhammadu Buhari has declared again for the 3rd time that he intends to participate in the 2015 general elections which will decide who becomes Nigeria's next president.One of the things that really worried me was that at the age of 70, a man should be thinking of retiring from public service rather than seeking to enter it. Buhari, for those who didn't know was formerly the head of state for Nigeria Buhari is a retired military officer and Fulani who came to power in December 31, 1983 after removing an elected civilian government led by another Fulani, President Shehu Shagari. It is even ironic to think that Buhari is now wishing to enter power again as a civilian president when he didn't really honour that office many years ago.Anyway, as a Nigerian, he has a right to seek power since he is retired from the military. But at over 70 years? I have to say that this retired General still has the energy to keep working but I'm wondering if he would be able to deliver as much as what a young president like Jonathan Goodluck has done for these past years.In Nigeria/s political situation as it stands, there seems to be 2 sides of the army that want a grab of political power - The Buhari side vs the Obasanjo/IBB/Abdusalami side.The side that seems to be winning for the past years have been the Obasanjo/IBB side of the army and they have strongholds in middle belt, liberal states of northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria. It would take a really strong push for the PDP to lose power although it seems that for now, the PDP might be gradually losing some top members to the APC.Of all opposition parties which the PDP has had since the 4th republic berthed, there has never been any stronger opposition like the APC and many are even saying that it's the only party most likely to beat the PDP in 2015.Buhari has ran for president for 2 times in a row now and the first time was in 2006 when he ran on the platform of the ANPP against another Notherner, late Umaru Yaradua of which the latter easily won in a landslide. The results however showed a silent cult following of northerners for Buhari from people who believed that he was not corrupt and represented the wishes of the masses. His election was not successful since Yaradua was a more popular candidate since he was also a Fulani, a northerner and yet seemed more liberal to southerners.
The second time Buhari ran for election was on the platform of the CPC, a relatively new party he promoted himself and did better than the first time he ran with ANPP since the party was mostly promoted as a Buhari party and notherners saw him as the only northern candidate. He was able to get about 12 million votes which was still not enough to win the PDP candidate Jonathan who scored over 22 million votes.I think one of the reasons why Buhari still wants to be a civilian president might be because he is not yet tired of public service. Secondly, it might also be because he wants to help shift political power back to the Fulani who have lost it for 4 years after Yaradua died in 2010.Another possible reason why he may want back that power might be because he wants to score a point by proving he emerged victorious even after being removed from power by the IBB/OBJ network army network.One striking thing about Buhari's election performance is that he has not really been doing well in Southern Nigeria as much as he has been doing in northern Nigeria. This is probably because a lot of Nigerians in the South and middle belt still see him as pro-Sharia or pro-Autocracy. Many Nigerians don't believe that he would be as democratic as Yaradua or Jonathan since he was once a military man and a Fulani also. They feel he might be take democracy backwards from where it was before Obasanjo became President in 1999.How would Nigerians vote for Buhari in 2015? Will they still have little trust for him? Chances are that Buhari might perform better than Jonathan is those states where the governors have switched to APC but probably much better in Fulani/Hausa states. The opposition has grown stronger and I think Buhari remains the best candidate for the opposition who might be able to do better than others. However, it might be hard for the APC to come to a conclusion on who represents them as their number one candidate for the 2015 general elections.Buhari is likely to perform better than he did in 2011 if he emerges the preferred candidate of the APC and only if APC politicians are disciplined, remain loyal and rally behind him. However, it can really be hard to win a ruling party like the PDP and incumbent president like Jonathan Goodluck who seems to be scoring some good points in terms of the economy and security.If Buhari becomes president in 2015, he would be the oldest president in Nigeria's history at 72 years of age. He would be breaking the record of another former retired general name Olusegun Obasanjo who was also the oldest Nigerian president when he was in office. Buhari, however still looks young for his age. I guess the Fulani don't age as fast as other Nigerians do.If Buhari really does win the election on the platform of the APC or any other platform that allows him, it would be a serious blow for the PDP and may cause some serious instability to Nigeria's economy as investors might have a rethink as to what the new govt's policies would be since it's not likely to be a continuation of what the PDP government has been doing.If Buhari does win the election, some politicians would feel cheated and it might lead to violence such as political assassinations and civil strife given the way after election violence has been occurring in Nigeria.If, however, he doesn't win the election, it may very well be the last time he's going to offer himself again as a presidential candidate to Nigerians.
Comments: