BY OLUWAFEMI AGAGU

In the next few weeks, ‘Hashtags’ of #NigeriaDecides will be flying around media spaces to exhibit the process of franchise by which Nigerians will formally and administratively elect that one man, who will democratically steer the course of the country’s vessel for the next four years.

Whenever general elections come around the corner, the attention of Nigerians, and indeed the world, is usually focused almost entirely on the presidential election which is invariably and ostensibly a ‘two-horse race.’

The February 16 election won’t be an exception in the history of presidential elections in Nigeria, in which high hopes for a better “third force” was dashed after the primaries of all the political parties last year.

The poll would likely be yet another two-horse race: a contest between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

These are the only two parties to win the presidency since the end of military rule in 1999.

‘Interestingly’, Nigeria has so far not been able to develop a new generation of leaders. We are left with current President, Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar (who are both in their seventies and of the Fulani tribe) to majorly slog it out in February.

There are, of course, dozens of other candidates (youths inclusive). Yet, no one seems to pay them much attention.

As far as the choice of political party goes, both Buhari and Atiku have, like most leading politicians, sailed the political waters to different party ports; anchoring for a while before setting sail again.

President Muhammadu Buhari, for instance, was the presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the 2003 and 2007 elections before moving on to be the 2011 presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and then, that of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2015.

Today, he is flying that party’s flag again for the 2019 election.

His main opponent, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku was, for two terms, the country’s vice president on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before decamping to the Action Congress (AC) on whose platform he contested the 2007 election.

He returned to the PDP in 2009 but was not picked as its candidate.

The 2015 election saw him as a chieftain of the APC, where he had unsuccessfully contested against the then General Buhari (rtd.) for APC’s presidential ticket.

Atiku returned to the PDP for a third time, where today he is presidential candidate.

However, the emergence of Atiku as the presidential flag bearer of the PDP still poises surprises to some Nigerians.

More so, another surprise was former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku.

Earlier in the year 2018, Obasanjo wrote an open letter to Buhari advising the president not to seek a second term.

He argued that Buhari had under-performed and was incapable of understanding the problems facing the country.

Subsequently, Obasanjo formed a movement to unseat the incumbent president.

Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku came as a shock to most Nigerians because of his frosty relationship with the former vice-president.

Obasanjo stated in August 2018:

“If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes. But once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support.”

The sudden turn around by the former president just two months later to “forgive and endorse” Atiku came as a surprise to most Nigerians.

With just a month to the polls, most Nigerians remain frustrated and concerned because neither of the two leading presidential aspirants offer any real hope.

Buhari has been accused of being too slow and too ill to handle the rigours of the position.

The multiple allegations of corruption and fraud levelled against Atiku, meanwhile, continued to taint his image and hopes of gaining power from the Buhari administration.

Unless a credible consensus candidate emerges, the 2019 presidential elections remains a two-horse race to be ridden by Fulani jockeys, with none of them really appealing to the spectators (populace).

This has equally created a dilemma among Nigerians.

And of course, it is glaring that one of Buhari and Atiku is expected to be elected Nigeria’s president at the polls.

More so, according to the recent report of an American political risk consultancy firm, Eurasia Group, victory for either of the two might not best serve the country as they both have limitations that might prove troublesome in the future.

The group described Buhari, 76, as lacking energy to solve Nigeria’s problems while Atiku is likely to enrich himself and associates if he becomes president.

The report read, “He (Buhari) is an elderly, infirm leader who lacks the energy, creativity, or political savvy to move the needle on Nigeria’s most intractable problems.

“His opponent, Atiku Abubakar, another gerontocrat who would focus on enriching himself and his cronies, avoiding the difficult and politically unpopular tasks necessary for reform.”

Now, who should Nigerians vote for? A Buhari, who has been described as a weak president, for political, health or other reasons, or an Atiku, whose policy priorities are not just unclear, but equally untested and philosophically skeptical.

In all, patriotic Nigerians have a lot of work in their hands. As such, no matter the outcome of the general elections, we should utilize 2019 to build new political foundations in order to save our country, and guarantee a better future.

Furthermore, INEC should be a neutral umpire in the coming elections.

The law enforcement agencies should also not compromise on whatever they’ve been asked to do. The basic is for them to provide adequate security for all and sundry.

We should all be patriotic in every endeavours surrounding the discharge of our national duties at the polls.

God bless Nigeria!