… Passionate about tackling insecurity, engendering good governance – Arewa Youth
… A leader who’ll end marginalisation, manage our diversities – Igbo Youth Parliament
… Must be gender sensitive, implement 35% Affirmative Action – Women in Politics
Less than 4 months to the 2023 general elections, 18 presidential candidates representing different political parties are jostling to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari. Given how Nigeria has fared as a nation in the last couple of years, ABDULRAHMAN ZAKARIYAU speaks with critical stakeholders; youth, women, NGOs among others on their expectations for the epic election and what kind of president they think should succeed the incumbent for a better country.
The dynamics of the country, dogged by decade-long security challenges, socio-economic and political hiccups, appear to stress the emotions of Nigerians beyond patience as politicians canvass for support for genuine change.
Over 7 years on the saddle, the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has been confronted by a slew of security challenges, but the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has asked Nigerians to look back to the period when they would spend hours on the road to get to their destinations owing to long security checks on the road.
Those canvassing to succeed President Buhari promise to restore hope and alter the lingering unemployment rate, worsening poverty level, escalating insecurity and rising debt burden among others but the federal government’s spokesman and Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has continued to flaunt the mass of achievements in the transportation sector, infrastructural development, agriculture and youth empowerment among others are visible reasons to continue the APC-led vision beyond 2023.
Since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) blew the whistle for political parties and their candidates to begin campaign from September 23, 2022, politicians have started criss-crossing the length and breadth of Nigeria, promising to make the difference.
18 candidates jostle for number one office
From the horde of political parties that queue up for the 2023 general elections, only 18 of them were given the nod by the electoral umpire to participate in the 2023 elections.
The political parties and their candidates are the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar; All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie; Young Progressives Party (YPP), Malik Ado-Ibrahim; New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Musa Kwankwaso; Social Democratic Party (SDP),Adewole Adebayo; African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu; People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Kola Abiola; Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Dan Nwanyanwu; and Action Democratic Party (ADP),Yabagi Sani.
Others are Accord (A), Christopher Imumolen; Action Alliance (AA), Hamza Al-Mustapha; African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore; Allied People’s Movement (APM), Yusuf Mamman Dantalle; Action Peoples Party (APP), Osita Nnadi; Boot Party (BP), Sunday Adenuga; Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi; and National Rescue Movement (NRM), Okwudili Nwa-Anyajike.
While the presidential candidates with different ideologies have started flaunting their blueprints ahead of 2023 encore, Nigerians are eager to see what a Buhari successor has to offer amid festering challenges.
Blueprint Weekend’s findings show that Nigerians want a president that can make the country better and the pride of Africa irrespective of political party affiliation, religion, regional or ethnic consideration – a country which could raise its shoulders in the comity of nations and command the respect of its people blossoming in economic prosperity, security, unity, peace and progress.
President must be committed to restructuring – Southern Nigeria Frontier
The spokesperson of Southern Nigeria Frontier, Olufemi Akindele Lawson said the president the group wants to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari must be committed to the restructuring of the country.
Lawson in an interview with Blueprint Weekend described the 2023 election as a very crucial moment which must not be used to experiment with leadership in the country.
He cautioned that, “We must elect a president that is well equipped, that is prepared and have enough experience to move Nigeria from where President Muhammadu Buhari will be leaving it in 2023 to where we want it to be.”
“Nigeria is under a state of emergency and the next president must commit to the restructuring of Nigeria, to the extent that we can easily address some of the challenges currently facing us.”
Continuing, he said: “In my view, it must not be a moment to try those that are not good enough or a candidate that does not have a better understanding of the problems of Nigeria. It is not the time to try candidates who do not have clearly defined plans of action to rescue Nigeria from it.
“Nigeria needs a president that is widely connected locally and internationally, Nigeria needs a president that has a network of people that can assist to tackle the challenges across the state. Nigeria needs a president who understands how governance at the federal level operates. And most importantly, such a president must be willing to commit himself to the restructuring of Nigeria, which looks like the best way out of the challenges we have found ourselves.
“There are a few of them with these listed criteria among the 18 presidential candidates. So, this is not a time to play a game, you must come up and openly commit yourself to what will make Nigeria work.”
Nationalist that will tackle insecurity – Arewa Youth
On his part, the national president, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYFC), Yerima Shettima said Nigeria needs a nationalist that will tackle insecurity and bring about good governance.
In his words: “At this critical period, because the country is not well at all, the country is already in an intensive care unit, we need an experienced personality and broad-minded leader.
“We need somebody with capacity. We need a nationalist, a patriotic Nigerian as president to move the country forward.
“You need an expert if you find yourself in the situation we find ourselves. And that’s exactly what Nigeria should be looking up to, beyond rhetoric.
“That is our description of the kind of president that should succeed President Buhari. On what we want him to address, already we have issues of insecurity, economy, bringing about good governance, looking into the welfare of the people. Those are critical issues the next president should address.
“The next president must be somebody who thinks only about the country, not where he comes from or religion, because we must not allow religion or tribe to be a yardstick to our development as a people now.”
End marginalisation, manage our diversities – Igbo Youth Parliament
For the Speaker Ndigbo Youths Parliament, Hon. Rikky Chinedu Nwajiofor, Nigeria needs a president who will end the marginalisation and manage the country’s diversities.
In an interview with Blueprint Weekend, Nwajiofor said “most people in the country know that Nigeria of today is not where we envisaged it be in 2016 and 2019.”
“Most people actually voted for President Muhammadu Buhari thinking he would deliver his mandate of a Nigeria of our dreams but unfortunately, we are not there yet.
“2023 is like the last straw that will break the camel’s back. It means that if we don’t get it right in 2023, it will either make or mar the nation. If we get it right, it will make Nigeria if we don’t get it right, it will mar Nigeria.
“Judging from the fact that, currently, Nigeria is indebted hugely at the international level, if we don’t get a good president in 2023 this debt will dismantle Nigeria, economically and otherwise.
“Nigeria needs a president who will drastically cut the cost of governance. Someone who knows how to economise; because one of the things that has kept us where we are today is cost of governance.
“Also, we need a president who will not just fight corruption, but who will block the loopholes of those areas where people embezzle public funds through policymaking. And if you ask me, that person must be somebody who is described to be naturally stingy. We need a core economist, a successful businessman and an entrepreneur.
“We need somebody who understands that Nigeria’s diversity is our uniqueness; somebody, who can make our diversity a source of strength. We have diversity in religion, ethnicity and others. The joy of being a Nigerian is the joy of having so many languages and so many cultures in one country. We need someone who understands how to manage these diversities.
“We need a president who understands that if any section is agitating, you don’t press them down to suppress them. You should be able to come up and dialogue with them. Let them understand why you do what you do. And then you understand why they are agitating.
“So we need a president who will manage these diversities and make it something that will be proud of internationally. Nigeria needs a good driver, a good manager, and a good pilot, who will manage our diversity and pilot it to a greater height.”
Person with pedigree, political antecedent – Agboola SSN
As for Ambassador Abdulrahman Agboola, Executive Director of Societal Safety Network (SSN), Nigeria needs a leader with a good track record.
In a chat with Blueprint Weekend Agboola cautioned that this is not the time to elect someone who will come and learn on the job.
“Well let’s first take a holistic review of Buhari’s presidency in the past 7 years. We have a president who has displayed everything called good sense of purpose in the administration, but unfortunately, many people he appointed to man sensitive positions have not lived up to expectations.
“Which means, irrespective of your vision for the country, the calibre of people that surround you, the people you appoint into sensitive positions, matter a lot in driving the country.”
He explained that among the top candidates so far on the jostle, only one person stand outs in terms of the requirements for a better Nigeria. “That person has the record of identifying intellectuals with sincerity of propose. That is the president Nigeria needs.”
“Nigeria needs a person with a track record of what he or she has done over the years, what his successors have done. You see, success without successors is not success by definition. So if we have to face the reality of this country today, the way it is, and we need progress as a country, there are no two ways about it.
“Nigeria as a country does not need someone who will come and learn on the job. We don’t need a president that will be asking too many questions to understand the situation. What Nigeria needs today is an homegrown economy. Nigeria needs a President that will promote this. Nigeria needs somebody who understands the situation of Nigeria. There are three things a government needs economy, security and social welfare. The next must be able to guarantee these.”
One who’s gender sensitive – Women in Politics
As for the President of Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Barr Ebere Ifendu the next president should be gender-sensitive.
“Well, we need a president that will be gender-sensitive so that women will be part of the governance process,” she stated.
She said, “I’ve always said whatever we are passing through, is because we are not giving women an opportunity to bring in their expertise to the economy, to every other thing that we are doing. So, for us as Nigerian women, not just for me, but for every Nigerian, we desire to be part of the government. And so the desire is to have a president that will work with the minimum recognized in a national agenda policy, that is, 35% Affirmative Action.
“We need to have more women participate in governance; we need to have more women giving positions of authority so that we can change the dynamics of what we are facing today. If you look at security challenges we are having, we were never part of whatever that led to it. You will not find any woman involved. But we are the most hit. We are the ones suffering more. So we need to be part of governance. And then we need to change a lot of things. We are praying to have a president who will listen to us now; make promises and then implement those promises.
“So for us, we are optimistic that politics will not hinder the incoming president from appointing women to positions of authority. And I think we need a president that will be firm against insecurity, against bandits, against terrorists. So social security is very important. People are dying every day, from hunger, poverty and from lack of medical care. So, this is what we are looking for; somebody who will give us a holistic approach to all these issues. So, we need a strong character that will say ‘No, close up all these areas that we have leakages’. That’s what we are praying for. And that’s our wish that 2023 will give to us.”
Promoter of peaceful existence – Gender Advocate
On her part, a gender advocate, Hajiya Zainab Mohammed, said Nigeria needs someone who will guarantee peaceful coexistence and continue the good work of President Buhari’s administration.
In a phone interview with Blueprint Weekend, Zainab said “we all know we are at the crossroads; with the crisis happening globally. So we need someone who has focus, whose antecedent is something to write home about.”
She continued: “We need someone who will continue the good work this administration has started. Because part of the problems we have is that we don’t continue where the previous person stops.
“But I sincerely believe the kind of president we need is someone who can take Nigeria to the glorious land we all desire.
“Nigeria is a very large country with over 200 million people; with diverse society and over 774 local government areas, having different cultures, ethnic groups, tribes and traditions. So the President must guarantee peaceful coexistence.
“We need somebody who understands the problems, somebody who can proffer solution to those problems.”