Congrats Da Jonah David Jang

Congrats Da Jonah David Jang
I want to use this medium to congratulate Jonah David Jang for his re-election as the executive governor of Plateau State, North Central Nigeria. I have a word of advice though for Mr. Governor/Governor-elect. With all due respect sir, I don't want you to see this victory as an achievement of any sort as this is the way most Nigerian Politicians see electoral victories and they end up not using their victories for its intended purpose. Electoral victory is a RESPONSIBILITY AND OPPORTUNITY to ACHIEVE something. This RESPONSIBILITY can and should be used to make some ACHIEVEMENTS and the major beneficiaries of whatever is achieved must be the generality of the people like me who voted you into power and even those who did not vote for you.
I want to appeal to you sir as you prepare to steer the ship of the state for another four years not to bother much about the good things which people like me saw to earn my vote, but more importantly the issues which others saw about you which made them to vote the other way.
One major issue sir that has made people to overlook all your achievements is that YOU DON’T HAVE A PLATEAU AGENDA BUT A BEROM AGENDA. As tough and bitter a pill this "accusation" might be to swallow, I really want you to consider how you can use this fresh term to prove people wrong that you are really the Governor of Plateau State and not the Governor of the Berom people or even of the people of Du extraction.
My humble advise to you sir, is that you use this your second and last term in governance to do something for Plateau which will outlive you. The ethno-religious crises that has plagued the state for years now is not one without solution, but the solution will not come without sacrifice, it will come when you rise above ethnic and religious sentiments and be the BABA that you are called. Your government in this second term should be an all inclusive one - there is no reason whatsoever why all the stakeholders in this state (Yorubas, Hausas, Igbos,Urhobos, Ijaws etc) should not be represented on your cabinet. We will be deceiving ourselves and cause more trouble if we refuse to accept the reality on ground that this state as all the other states in the country no longer belong to any so-called indigene or settler. I am very sure the facts and figures will astound all of us if we ever take the pains to research which of the people groups in Plateau State contribute the most to our GDP. The reality sir is that Plateau state has become a metropolitan state with many stakeholders and everybody deserves equal opportunities to make a living without any fear of being molested. I am not in any way discounting the fact that there are some who want more than equal opportunity and I know that you have the answer for such disgruntled elements, in fact it is one of the reasons why you earned my vote, but I want to let you know that those who want peace in the state far exceeds those who don't and this majority should be given the opportunity have this peace.
In concluding sir, I also don't want you to become hypocritical as many politicians in the country have chosen to be that we don't want religious crises in the country that it is only political. Sir, we do have religious problems in Nigeria like most nations in the world, or how do you explain a situation where electoral disputes result in the burning of churches and mosques - I don’t think those buildings look like polling booths or party secretariats. This position of no religious crises is being adopted in selfishness and lack of political will to deal with this menace. We do have ethno-religious challenge in Plateau and it has become the epicenter of the problem. Sir, you need to call it by its name and address it accordingly. The solution begins with you rising above your ethnic and religious bias and coming as a statesman, knowing when to wield the big stick for those who err, match words with action and fight for the welfare of the citizens under your care.
I wish you all the best in this second term and may it be better than the first.
God bless Plateau state

Nigerian Presidential Election - The Big One

I am inspired to write on this subject again today because of the semblance of success witnessed last Saturday during the Parliamentary elections. The hiccups notwithstanding, I think the record of June 12, 1993 is under serious threat if Jega & his team can repeat this next Saturday when Nigerians go to the polls to elect the number one citizen.

I will like voters all over the country to consider this simple truth about leadership and bear this in mind as they engage their consciences to thumbprint on Saturday.

A leader can be accurately appraised not just based on his personality, level of integrity, not even based on his vision BUT most importantly by the leaders around him. The team that a leader is able to raise up and release to function based on their giftings and expertise will go a long way to determine the success or otherwise of the leader.

Successful Leadership is not about the quality within a leader but much more about the quality around the leader

Having this in mind, please allow me to appraise the contestants parading themselves this Saturday. Again I wont bother myself about the likes of Dele Momodu, Chris Okotie and the other nameless ones.

Incumbent Jonathan: Acclaimed to be very sincere, but how much can he do with the PDP greyhounds that believe that they have done him some favour by giving him the ticket. I believe it will be pay back time if he gets back to Aso Rock & our infrastructures will be the victim

Governor Shekarau - An articulate man, who seems to have something that looks like a vision. ANPP on which platform he is contesting is in tatters and cannot even be called a political party again. He will have to shop for people he does not know to build a team which gives room for opportunists.

AIG Ribadu - untested, not a good orator. His exploits in the EFCC do not qualify him for this awesome responsibility. But if one goes by the antecedents of the party which he represents -ACN - one can see their commitment to team building. Even from the days of not too popular Tinubu, I remember the likes of Prof Osinbajo found themselves in government, experts like Tunde Fowler who is not a politician was given an assignment in the finance ministry. Fashola continued with the legacy, the likes of Ben Akabuaeze who is not even a citizen of the state is in cabinet based on expertise. I believe that if systems must work, we need technocrats & not professional politicians. Fola Adeola's inclusion in this ticket is valuable.

Gen. Buhari (RTD)- has a track record of integrity, not a good orator which Bakare can adequately make up for. I believe this ticket will be on a vengeance mission - I see two angry people here who will be out to do a number on those who have wronged them or who they believe have wronged the nation. This team does not give the much-needed variation in leadership & I foresee a situation where these two guys fall out with each other and we have a repeat of Obasanjo/Atiku feud but with a very dangerous dimension. The feud will have religious coloration, which will polarise the nation along religious lines, which we dread so much (this is very important for me considering the fact that I reside in Jos). I still believe that Buhari is our past & Tunde Bakare has nothing to offer in government. It is tragic to note that Nigerians have not come to terms with the importance of a virile opposition and a well-structured civil society. It is not only by going into executive or legislative governance that one can make a difference in a society.

I want to believe that my readers are in agreement with me that these are the major contenders in the Presidential race & may be you noticed my obvious lack of objectivity. I know I am guilty and so are you, but be sincere enough to consider my observations.

VOTE WISELY

I will be glad to have your comments