“You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.”
—Michelle Obama
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
For a couple of days since the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, unveiled Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate in the coming 2023 general elections, Nigerians have been inundated with negative commentaries, reactions, and outright condemnation from Christian communities across the country to show that the Muslim-Muslim ticket offered to the public on the day of Sallah did not sit down well with them.
To be sure, the constitutional requirement of a running mate in an election is an internal affair of the party and the exclusive prerogative of its candidate. His right to choose is absolute because the framers of the extant law did not envisage the kind of divisive politics that has become the lot of the nation. Party guidelines also concede it to the standard bearer to make his choice based on self-conviction. So, he is not under obligation for whatsoever reason to succumb to any form of imposition. Even if the party stakeholders feel very strongly about any particular individual considered to be best suited for the position, they can only suggest a name and support their argument with moral persuasion.
But for reciprocity of trust and confidence, the candidate, in turn, is expected to keep an open mind. Open enough to accommodate all shades of opinions in simulation with broad-base consultations.
For all the while the nation had been kept waiting, these were parts of the dynamics of the power game that delayed Tinubu’s choice of his running mate.
Lamenting the dilemma, he had passed through within the weeks of his consultation with the relevant stakeholders, the former Lagos State governor said: “I am mindful of the energetic discourse concerning the possible religion of my running mate. Just and noble people have talked to me about this. Some have counselled that I should select a Christian to please the Christian community. Others have said I should pick a Muslim to appeal to the Muslim community. Clearly, I cannot do both. I made this choice because I believe this is the man who can help me bring the best governance to all Nigerians, period, regardless of their religious affiliation or consideration of ethnicity or religion.”
By his decision to run with Shettima, it is implicit that Tinubu has accepted full responsibility for his action. And he is not about to reconsider his stand on this. Neither does the APC party leadership have any reason to look back again.
Regardless of emotions, sentiments, and controversies that have continued to dog the decision, they are ready to face the electorate in 2023 and possibly recreate the experience of the June 12, 1993, presidential election won by the late MKO Abiola. Some optimists strongly believe that there could be a re-enactment of history. Others say it is delusional to expect a repeat of Muslim-Muslim ticket under the present situation where peace and unity have remained elusive to the nation.
For the records, exactly 30 years ago, Nigerians had had to make a similar choice between the candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), Bashir Tofa and his Christian running mate-Sylvester Ugoh, and the Muslim-Muslim ticket presented by the Standard bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Abiola and his running mate, Babagana Kingibe, but they chose to vote overwhelmingly for the latter shunning ethnic and religious sentiments. Whether or not history will repeat itself again in 2023 with Tinubu-Shettima ticket, the answer is in the womb of time.
The reality is that Shettima holds little appeal for the majority of the Christian faithful in the country. Within and outside the church, there is a seething cauldron of anger because of the seeming insensitivity to the issue of religious balancing. In its outburst, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) reacted sharply, threatening fire and brimstone.
Some religious leaders even turned the pulpits into political jamboree of a sort, preaching against the APC and its candidate for what they perceived to be an affront.
The opposition also cashed in on the situation and launched a social media campaign against Shettima, linking him with the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of St Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State.
For the Christians, no one can blame them for the right of indignation. But it goes beyond the candidate because the nation itself is in the grip of institutional meltdown. Throughout human history, it is strong institutions handed down by strong people that always make the difference between order and chaos.
In Nigeria’s presidential system, there is no institutional framework to checkmate the conduct of a sitting President, which is why anybody can do anything and get away with it.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy of exclusion made the choice of a running mate a difficult task for Tinubu because since his ascendancy to power in 2015, he has refused to maintain a balance between his narrow self-exclusivity and the national interest.
Under him, ethnic and religious considerations have become an albatross weighing heavily on the neck of the nation. People now look at issues through the lens of Muslim/Christian competition and mutual suspicion. Today, the essential social capital – trust, and confidence between the government and the governed – is missing because he brought tribal sentiment into governance and deliberately skewed federal appointments in favour of a particular region.
As they say, no one can rise above the circumstance of his emergence.
Tinubu’s candidature is a product of the 2015 alliance that culminated in the formation of the APC. And people have been traumatized enough by the comprehensive failure of the Buhari administration that they can no longer take any offer hook, line and sinker. So, it is not only Christians that are angry, Muslims and the non-Muslims alike also have their own grievances against this government for Buhari’s show of tribal bigotry, for the unending killing of innocent citizens, for kidnapping and banditry which have overwhelmed the security operatives. From North to the South, from East to the West, people are genuinely angered by the ineptitude of his administration. The elders in the Muslim North did not just wake up to demand his resignation for the inability of the government to secure lives, they have remained silent for too long and could no longer watch their loved ones being slaughtered before their eyes.
The nation is in dire straits. The land is drenched in blood. It is flowing with the blood of innocent citizens, the blood of the Christians, the blood of the Muslims, the blood of the traditional worshippers, and even the atheists. No one feels secure again. In economy, security, education, poverty reduction, and healthcare delivery, the APC-led government has failed to deliver on its electoral promises. That is the baggage Tinubu is carrying. That is the crux of the matter. People are only using religion as a way to vent their anger. Governance has nothing to do with religion, but it has everything to do with trust. Nigerians have lost trust in this government.
If at all they will give APC a second chance, it has to begin with constructive engagement. There is a need for genuine engagement with all the relevant stakeholders as a prelude to national reconciliation.
For now, that is the first phase of the test for Tinubu and his running mate, Shettima and their team. After that, any other thing can follow.
APC enthusiasts say the choice of Shettima, a banker and economist, is a masterstroke, and a perfect match for Tinubu, an accountant of note.
Things have gone beyond rhetoric. What is needed to get the country out of the woods is a leader who has the capacity to reunite the country and evolve a common value.
At present, Nigeria has no cherished value to unite the diverse ethnic nationalities.
Give it to him, Shettima, who holds masters degree in Agricultural Economics, is qualified to be a running mate. He will complement Tinubu as vice president if he is eventually elected.
This is more so with his experience as a former governor of Borno State and a current serving Senator.
For them to sail through, however, they must first muster enough courage to calm the raging storm.