BUHARI AND 2019 ELECTION
Since the release of the 2019 presidential election result, we have seen numerous ethnic/tribal comments as to why he should or shouldn’t have emerge. With 4 points I will like to inform us why His emergence isn’t a surprise to me in anyway.
1. Northern effect:
We have seen comments from our social media activists and politicians calling the northerners names for the emergence of President Buhari, but have we take it upon ourselves to consider why this people go back home to support Buhari?. Over the years, one thing I have learnt from the Hausa and Fulani’s is the urge to always go back to there various homes to vote. No true northerners will because of his/her business stay back in the southern part of the country when it is election time but see we the southerners, we will always want to stay back in the north during election times to make more sales rather than come back home to give our region the much needed votes.
On calling the northerners illiterates, for the fact that it’s only few of them that possess savvy gadgets that most of we southerners posses, they are more updated than we will ever be. An average northerner will always be in possession of a transistor radio no matter the situation, they prefer it been the only gadget they possess. Here we are, the much educated southerners. All we use our technology for is Internet frauds, Social media savages and other things that has little or no effect on the development of the country as well as about our knowledge of the current situations in the country.
2. Elite and Masses effect:
Since the inception of this present administration in the year 2015. We have seen numerous policies by the present administration but we haven’t see any that favours the idea of the Rich getting richer at the expense of the poor. Seeing the president loosing in places like Banana Island, Aso Villa, VGC and Abuja isn’t surprising to me at all. Over the years, we have seen a system where most civil servants don’t even know how much there basic salary is due to the gross corruption we have in the system, which make those with a basic salary of 250k choosing a standard of living worth millions. But now in the situation of Reduced corrupt system where those with abnormal salaries can’t live up to the means they have created for themselves, they aren’t able to gift money to those they dash out money to anyhow. Now tell me how you expect this kind of people to support a man that makes there survival worse than that of the poor man on the street.
3. Infrastructure/Poverty alleviation:
Here is a government that makes infrastructure there priority. Anyone that is conversant with the government of the All Progressive Congress even back from the days of ACN/CPC will agree with me that this is a government that is more concerned about Infrastructure than Infrastomach. We have seen the government over the years concentrating more on capital projects than anything else with the revival of most of the dead Public companies been achieved bit by bit. The administration has made itself one that focuses on most of the white elephant projects the previous government has been financing over the years. Power project, Mokwa-Jebba road, Rail line dualization and many more.
Talking about the poverty alleviation programs of the administration, where we have programs like Npower, Tradermoni. One has to be factual that it’s a big mistake for the opposition to make mention of aborting the Npower program having been the one that first come with a the short lived Sure-P which has little or no benefit to the masses. Telling the people that this program will be cancelled is just like telling us that they plan on returning the millions of beneficiaries of this program back to been unemployed.
With the Tradermoni, If it is tagged Vote buying I will have love to agree but this is a program that doesn’t mandate the beneficiaries to submit neither there VIN nor there voters card. Never in the history of Nigeria have we had a government that considers the power of the Common market men and women in electoral process. Empowering this set of people with a non interest loan and a 6 month repayment time is nothing but a strategy to tell the common man that they are important.
4. Campaign Strategy:
Here we have an administration using the phrase “We have less and we have done more, they have more but they did nothing” as the center of there campaigns as well as the president given more priority to his official assignment than he do bad mouthing the opponents. Most political parties need to understand that Nigeria has evolve to been a country where propaganda don’t really work on the electorates. The people are now more concern about what you have to offer and not the mistakes of the current government you’re trying to take power from. Most people are now concerned about constructive criticism than they use to be with destructive ones.
Buharis administration makes itself one that the majority that are far too busy to get themselves involve in online rancour’s are well acquainted with while the opposition are busy using the social media to market themselves to the people that doesn’t possess a voters card and the ones that only have voters card because they need a means of identification.
I’m not here to explain whether Buhari is a saint or a saviour but I’m just trying to let you know that this is a man that wins the election because of his knowledge of how the people view his government and what governance really means.
I as well wish to Congratulate the President for his reelection and wish him the very best and pray Allah give him the strength and Knowledge to move the Country to the Greater Height he envisaged.
By:
Taiye Temitope Abdulrasheed (#Rasbom)
Department of Agriculture.
University of Ilorin.
[email protected]
