2023 is almost two years away but the game of politics for who becomes the next Nigerian president after Muhammadu Buhari has began since the beginning of this year.
Several people have stylishly declared their intention to run for the highest position in the country but significantly, we have only had two people from the ruling party who have been very loud with their aspirations.
One of them who has not publicly declared is the national leader of the All progressive congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who of course seems to be the most preferred by party members and leaders especially in the south west region and some parts of the north. Tinubu has not said a word concerning his aspirations but there are handwritings that He is passionately interested in it and has been using some avenues and groups to sell his candidacy to the public.
On the other hand, we have the governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello who has publicly declared his ambition to run for the seat of the presidency, and has began campaigning even though he hasn’t been accepted by the party and the general public. Yahaya Bello’s posters have hit some states in the north, some parts of Abuja and some south western states too.
Of a truth, Yahaya Bello has employed wisdom in selling his candidacy by making use of the Nigerian youths, a large part of Nigeria population that are frustrated and angry at the administration of the older generation, craving for the election of a young person to become the next president of Nigeria. Governor Bello tapped into this and began with massive appointment of youths into his cabinet, engaging in sports activities especially football, and receiving endorsements from prominent youths that include Musicians, socialites, footballers, to mention a few.
No doubt, this endorsements have been able to sell his name to the Nigerian population but is that all is needed to win the presidential ticket or win an election if he emerges as the candidate of the APC?The first battle any aspirants need to fight to partake in an election is to win the hearts of political leaders in the party or else, the crowd behind him will result to nothing. At the moment, Yahaya Bello’s aspiration does not sit well with top leaders of the party because it is seen as a way to get back at the national leader who also wants to run. Although, Yahaya Bello has pitched his camp with the northern leaders of the party which includes President Muhammadu Buhari but if truly he wants to become the candidate of the party at the end of the day, He has to appeal for the support of some leaders in the south west, of course he won’t be able to get all but he doesn’t need every one of them, if he can get 40% of them and add it to about 80% of northern support, He might scale through.
Apart from the party level, Yahaya Bello should resort to doing things that will benefit a larger percentage of the youths, there are youths with no means of earning a living, youths that need scholarships for their academics, and several things to look into if he truly wants to build on the youth presidency preference. It’s time to look beyond getting youths endorsements, Church leaders endorsements and all that, they won’t lead him anywhere.
If he fails to work on these aforementioned issues, it may be difficult for him to become the candidate of the party and win the election in 2023.
No comments:
Post a Comment