By Bala Ibrahim.
With the turn of events yesterday, where the Jagaba of Borgu, Chief Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged the presidential flag bearer of the APC, the choice for Nigerians on who succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari next year, is most likely between Tinubu and Atiku. This is so because, the main opposition party, the PDP, had earlier chosen Atiku as its flag bearer. So the option for Nigerians is either to take tea or coffee, and Tinubu is the tea, while Atiku is the coffee.
Both tea and coffee are beverages that are derived from plants and consumed by people for a variety of reasons. While studies say some teas may boost your immune system, fight off inflammation, and even ward off cancer and heart diseases, certain coffees have tested good in the relieve of physical fatigue, as well as the increase in mental alertness. So depending on what remedy Nigerians want, the option for them is either to take tea or coffee, and Tinubu is the tea, while Atiku is the coffee.
Since the beginning of the fourth republic, history has proven me to be very bad at political predictions, because almost all the time, my political permutations tend to come in the opposite. Contrary to my prediction, Atiku emerged as the flag bearer of the PDP. All along, because of the excessive confidence and boldness being brandished by Governor Nwesom Wike of Rivers states, alongside the postulation put forward by the PDP on zoning, I thought their flag bearer would emerge from the south, more so when they elected a national chairman from the north. Because of naivety, I didn’t know that in politics, exigencies can outstrip emergencies.
Also, pursuant to the election of Atiku as the flag bearer of the PDP, yours truly confidently concluded that, for the APC to cash in on the sectional sentiments that may follow such scheming, it’s flag bearer must also come from the north. As such, I didn’t give Tinubu a high probability of success in the game plan. Because of naivety, I didn’t know that in politics, exigencies can outstrip emergencies.
With the new development, Nigerians on this flight, may now be compelled to either take tea or coffee, except, in the unlikely event of a sudden loss of pressure, where an oxygen mask may come down automatically from the compartment above, which has Kwankwaso as a substitute, with the NNPP brand or logo. If not, the option for them is either to take tea or coffee, and Tinubu is the tea, while Atiku is the coffee.
Until recently, I was an addict of coffee and coca cola, but on the advise of some friends and my doctor, after the manifestation of some adverse effects, I have been off the duo, at least in the public. But seldom, out of the glare of the public, and without the knowledge of my doctor, I indulge, or even overindulge in such wrongdoings.
I was almost halfway into writing this article when a new message entered. And because my devise is a low quality China phone, if I ignore messages for long, terrible consequences, including memory crashes, often follow. So I was quick to check and the message reads:
“Atiku vs Tinubu – dawn of developmental corruption.
I heard this term developmental corruption on Sunday at TerabKulture. It was a veteran and very brilliant investment banker who coined it.
It perfectly captures what we have already known about the political outlook of these two gladiators.
As I write, Mr Tinubu is on the verge of capturing the APC nomination after almost possibly crippling the treasury of a well-known State allegedly.
So, on Sunday, we were in a heated debate on a possible presidency of either of these two.
The general consensus was that these two have a liberal economic outlook. Understand the role of the private sector as a major engine for economic growth and would put policies in place that would encourage and drive sectorial initiatives.
But at what cost did I ask? The reply was that whatever they will ‘steal’ will be inconsequential to the amount of growth that we will witness.
To buttress their point, they talked about the Lagos State IGR, which has moved phenomenally as a result of a perfect understanding of the terrain.
They also mentioned that Akwa Ibom, my state, and a PDP bastion was also using the sane firm that was collecting IGR for Lagos and has also witnessed a huge spike in collections.
Lagos although not in good stead when compared with other such mega cities in the third world, still stands heads above all states of the federation on key indices as a result of the continuous application of liberal economic tendencies as a result of the Tinubu mystique
For Atiku, they told me that the last time we privatized any meaningful thing was during his tenure as constitutional head of the BPE.
Although most assets were sold off allegedly to cronies, the effect of the exercise in lessening Govt. burden and empowering the private sector and creating jobs is there for all to see.
The story of Intels and its mess was discussed, but its role in boosting government revenues through the NPA was also mentioned.
So according to them, if you juxtapose this with the 8 years of restrictive and incestuous economic policies which has led to a 600% devaluation of the Naira, historic job losses and a cataclysmic effect on the economy we may want to start begging for either a Tinubu or Atiku Presidency.
So now the question would be, do we turn a blind eye to the expected blind thievery and cronyism that would herald this dispensation cos of the attendant general economic benefit or do we say NO and say, it’s better for us to die poor than be economic slaves as a result.
A third leg is emerging in Peter Obi and Kola Abiola. Peter is saying the right things and has lived an exemplary life. But does he have the weight and muscle to defeat these two mercantile giants?
What must have been going through his mind as he watched the bare face monetary thuggery that went on at both conventions?
His appeal to our moral conscience sadly would not be enough to muscle down these two giants.
Kola Abiola’s intellectual morality is another possible third leg. Clinching the nominations of possibly the third largest party and positioning himself for any perceived fall out from intense politicking in the big two may just be a prayer waiting to be answered.
So as we await to crown Mr Tinubu and begin to prepare ourselves for an epic battle, let me just say that Nigerians have once again been sold a very terrible dummy.
We have once again pitted ourselves between two devils and will have to choose one as the lesser evil. Which one??”
And I add, choose between a tea and a coffee, where Tinubu is the tea and Atiku the coffee.
Bala Ibrahim is a Journalist and public affairs commentator
