Buhari’s constitutional right to seek re-election

Except they have made up somehow, one would hardly be
exaggerating to say there is no love lost between President
Muhammadu Buhari and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. It was Babangida who
overthrew Buhari in a palace coup on August 27, 1985 and kept him
in detention for months. If there has been confusion in the
“letters” purportedly written by Babangida, suggesting that Buhari
should not seek re-election in 2019, such a confusion might have
arisen from Babangida not being too sure what others would make of
his motive. There might have been those who would want to know if
he was speaking on behalf of the beleaguered people of Nigeria, or
just seizing upon an atmosphere of discontent to continue with an
historical grudge.

Be that as it may, Babangida’s call for “digital leadership”
agitates the mind. Hear the General, “In 2019 and beyond, we should
come to a national consensus that we need new breed leadership with
requisite capacity to manage our diversities and jumpstart a
process of launching the country on the super highway of
technology-driven leadership in line with the dynamics of modern
governance. It is short of saying enough of this analogue
system…”

Babangida seems obsessed, rather rhetorically, with the notion
of a new breed leadership. In June 1987, in the process of his
failed transition programme, he banned those he considered to be
old breed politicians from participating in politics for a period
of 10 years, saying “The decision should be seen not as a punitive
measure, but as a necessary chance to develop a new culture and
leadership”. However, the same Babangida who had ruled Nigeria as
military president for eight years between August 27, 1985 and
August 27, 1993, would later preoccupy himself with wanting to be
an elected President in 2007.

The stark truth is that democracy is not a game where a category
of people can be asked to vacate the stage for another. Democracy
is a theatre where diverse ambitions compete and contend. Nigeria
is not the relatively under-achieving nation it is today because
young people have not presided over its affairs. From Tafawa Balewa
to Muhammadu Buhari, we have had 15 political leaders with Olusegun
Obasanjo and Buhari featuring twice. The average age at ascension
into office, based on my rough calculations, is 49 years and 11
months. The youngest Nigerian political leader is Gen. Yakubu Gowon
who took over the reins of power at the age of 32, while the oldest
person at inauguration is Buhari at the age of 72. In comparison,
America has had 45 presidents in its more than 200 years of
democracy, with the average age of ascension being 54 years and 11
months. The youngest person to assume office was Theodore Roosevelt
who, at the age of 42 years and 322 days, became president
following the assassination of William McKinley. However, the
youngest President by direct election was John F. Kennedy at 43,
while the oldest is Donald Trump at the age of 70.

The “digital leadership” theory is exciting. However, what seems
universal is that leadership and governance can hardly be explained
outside of democracy and its institutions-the ideological
orientation of competing political parties, the ever-changing
political issues as well as the stage of development and complexity
of the political environment itself. The political leader of
Nigeria will not be picked by computer, and neither will its
vacancy be advertised on the pages of newspapers. The political
leader will continue to be recruited from the ranks of politicians
that put themselves forward and are adjudged to be acceptable to
their political parties and the voting public.

Leadership style will continue to vary with individuals,
informed by their experiences, as well as social outlook and
preparation for office. Most of America’s presidents have been
former generals, senators and governors. Nigeria seems to be on a
similar route.

There have been discussions as to whether or not President
Buhari should seek re-election in 2019. The debate has been
heightened by the interventions of former President Obasanjo and
Babangida who seemed to have suggested to the sitting President not
to exercise what is his constitutional right. The rival politicians
who should be rooting for an opportunity to take on a vulnerable
incumbent have been singing the praises of the duo. It is as if
they feared facing Buhari at the polls. However, the democratic
position would be that the choice as to whether or not to seek
re-election belongs to Buhari and his political party while the
ultimate decision as to whether or not he will remain our principal
tenant at Aso Rock for another four years, beginning from May 29,
2019,belongs to us, the voting public. Whoever wins in a free and
fair election will be the next President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.

Dr Anthony Akinola, Oxford, UK.

Except they have made up somehow, one would hardly be
exaggerating to say there is no love lost between President
Muhammadu Buhari and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. It was Babangida who
overthrew Buhari in a palace coup on August 27, 1985 and kept him
in detention for months. If there has been confusion in the
“letters” purportedly written by Babangida, suggesting that Buhari
should not seek re-election in 2019, such a confusion might have
arisen from Babangida not being too sure what others would make of
his motive. There might have been those who would want to know if
he was speaking on behalf of the beleaguered people of Nigeria, or
just seizing upon an atmosphere of discontent to continue with an
historical grudge.

Be that as it may, Babangida’s call for “digital leadership”
agitates the mind. Hear the General, “In 2019 and beyond, we should
come to a national consensus that we need new breed leadership with
requisite capacity to manage our diversities and jumpstart a
process of launching the country on the super highway of
technology-driven leadership in line with the dynamics of modern
governance. It is short of saying enough of this analogue
system…”

Babangida seems obsessed, rather rhetorically, with the notion
of a new breed leadership. In June 1987, in the process of his
failed transition programme, he banned those he considered to be
old breed politicians from participating in politics for a period
of 10 years, saying “The decision should be seen not as a punitive
measure, but as a necessary chance to develop a new culture and
leadership”. However, the same Babangida who had ruled Nigeria as
military president for eight years between August 27, 1985 and
August 27, 1993, would later preoccupy himself with wanting to be
an elected President in 2007.

The stark truth is that democracy is not a game where a category
of people can be asked to vacate the stage for another. Democracy
is a theatre where diverse ambitions compete and contend. Nigeria
is not the relatively under-achieving nation it is today because
young people have not presided over its affairs. From Tafawa Balewa
to Muhammadu Buhari, we have had 15 political leaders with Olusegun
Obasanjo and Buhari featuring twice. The average age at ascension
into office, based on my rough calculations, is 49 years and 11
months. The youngest Nigerian political leader is Gen. Yakubu Gowon
who took over the reins of power at the age of 32, while the oldest
person at inauguration is Buhari at the age of 72. In comparison,
America has had 45 presidents in its more than 200 years of
democracy, with the average age of ascension being 54 years and 11
months. The youngest person to assume office was Theodore Roosevelt
who, at the age of 42 years and 322 days, became president
following the assassination of William McKinley. However, the
youngest President by direct election was John F. Kennedy at 43,
while the oldest is Donald Trump at the age of 70.

The “digital leadership” theory is exciting. However, what seems
universal is that leadership and governance can hardly be explained
outside of democracy and its institutions-the ideological
orientation of competing political parties, the ever-changing
political issues as well as the stage of development and complexity
of the political environment itself. The political leader of
Nigeria will not be picked by computer, and neither will its
vacancy be advertised on the pages of newspapers. The political
leader will continue to be recruited from the ranks of politicians
that put themselves forward and are adjudged to be acceptable to
their political parties and the voting public.

Leadership style will continue to vary with individuals,
informed by their experiences, as well as social outlook and
preparation for office. Most of America’s presidents have been
former generals, senators and governors. Nigeria seems to be on a
similar route.

There have been discussions as to whether or not President
Buhari should seek re-election in 2019. The debate has been
heightened by the interventions of former President Obasanjo and
Babangida who seemed to have suggested to the sitting President not
to exercise what is his constitutional right. The rival politicians
who should be rooting for an opportunity to take on a vulnerable
incumbent have been singing the praises of the duo. It is as if
they feared facing Buhari at the polls. However, the democratic
position would be that the choice as to whether or not to seek
re-election belongs to Buhari and his political party while the
ultimate decision as to whether or not he will remain our principal
tenant at Aso Rock for another four years, beginning from May 29,
2019,belongs to us, the voting public. Whoever wins in a free and
fair election will be the next President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.

Dr Anthony Akinola, Oxford, UK.