APA – Lagos (Nigeria) More than 30 million Nigerian youths are driving this generational change through the 2023 presidential elections with one of the contenders being favoured by exit polls.
By Goddy Ikeh
AS Nigerians begin casting their votes on Saturday, February 25, 2023 for who becomes the next president of the country on May 29, 2023, three prominent candidates – Peter Obi of the Labour Party, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, are the front runners out of the 18 registered aspirants for the highest office of the oil-rich West African country.
Among the three candidates, who are the front runners, it is Peter Obi that does not have the baggage that may affect his political aspiration in 2023 polls.
For many Nigerians, the nation’s battered economy with a mounting crisis over rising debt and inflation, high youth unemployment, worsening insecurity, weak financial and security institutions and a divided and polarized nation as well as an inherently defective federal constitution are some of the major challenges stalling national growth and should be what should be on the ballot for the polls.
And as expected the three contestants have travelled round the 36 states of the country and Abuja, the capital, canvassing for votes and promising to grapple with these challenges, tackle them head-on and deliver the country on the path to sanity and economic recovery.
But Nigerians may not forget in a hurry the unfulfilled promises of the ruling All Progressives Congress in 2015 to fight and win the war against the Boko Haram insurgency, tackle corruption, review the constitution, address youth unemployment and strengthen the value of the national currency among other issues bothering the nation and this factor may affect the chances of Tinubu, who apparently distanced himself and his campaigns from any achievements or legacies of his ruling APC.
Obi, 61, a former governor of Anambra State, has been consistent in his message of rescuing the country, which according to him, “is at the last stage of collapse and must be quickly rescued from the brink”.
Apart leading in more six local and foreign polls before the close of campaigns on on Thursday, February 23, 2023, Obi has received several endorsements from many professional groups, religious organisations and political parties. For instance, the Imo Progressive Lawyers Association, IPLA, has adopted the candidacy of Peter Obi of the Labour Party, noting that the “tripartite ethos of Competence, Capacity, and Character echoed by many well-meaning Nigerians and popularized by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party” put him ahead of the other candidates.
The National Christian Elders Forum, NCEF, led by a former Chief of Defence Staff, General Theophilus Danjuma and other elder statesmen, has endorsed Peter Obi for the poll slated for this weekend. In the same vein, prominent Nigerians include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, leader of the Afenifere group, the apex Yoruba group, Edwin Clark, elder statesman and former federal commissioner for information, Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue state (PDP), Prof. Anya O. Anya, the pioneer director General of Nigerian Economic Summit Group and Retired Major-General Abel Umahi.
Most of these political and social leaders believe that the presidency of Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed under the umbrella of the Labour Party would guarantee the unity, sustainable progress and development, which the country need at the moment.
And for the Council of Islamic Sheikhs For Good Governance (CISGG) and other Muslim leaders of affiliates groups, Peter Obi is the best choice for our nation who has a proven track record of standing up for the rights of the marginalized and working tirelessly to improve the lives of all Nigerians.
Peter Obi, who has been criticized by different opposition parties for not having structures, has miraculously proven to be a force to beat, following the mammoth support he has been enjoying all through his campaign from various individuals and groups in Nigeria, majority of which are youths.
On the chances of Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president is seen as a desperate politician, who has contested for the office for more than three occasions. Many scholars believe that his desperation caused the crisis in the PDP, when he opted to ignore the rotational provision in the Constitution of the party, which states that the presidency should rotate between the North and the South.
Atiku once resigned from the PDP and moved to APC and had to return to the PDP when it was obvious to him that he would not be able to achieve his political ambition on the platform of the ruling APC because Buhari was seeking a second term in office against his earlier promise of one term.
Abubakar, 76, is from Adamawa state and retired a Customs officer, who had served as Vice President to former President Obasanjo, who does not support his candidacy. Although, he has a record of endorsements and considered a front runner, his chances may be affected by the issue of equity and lack of support from elites, who believe that his previous records and capitalist posture are not good enough for such an office.
And for Bola Tinubu of the APC and former governor of Lagos State, the clouds around his record of birth, education, state of origin and wealth may play significant role in his inability to emerge the winner of the election.
In addition, the crisis in the APC and poor performance of his party in the last 7 years and 9 months and above all the Muslim-Muslim ticket he adopted, according to some political analysts, may be last straw that will nail his chances.
Since the 2023 presidential race is seen as a generational shift from the old ways to the new and from Darkness to Light, and driven by the youths of Nigeria, who according to Obi, are the real contestants for the election through him and the Labour Party, it is obvious that Obi will emerge victorious in the presidential polls.
GIK/APA