Nigeria 2023: Accidental Politicians and opportunists should sit this one out
By Dúródolá Oláwálé. Y
I said to a friend, “make El Rufai the President in 2023. And he looked at me as if I am nuts. And an Okonjo Iweala as VP won’t score much points (because she lacks the political base), but that’s a dream team right there.”
I am apolitical but if El Rufai runs for President, I’d volunteer and work for his campaign in the only way I know how to. And if he does run, he is definitely going to win.
Kingsley Moghalu should go back to the classroom and supervising PhD Thesis; Fela Durotoye should set up his stage a little bit more grand this time and aspaya to paspaya away, he probably should write a book; How I wasted people’s time to run for President in 2019. And SaharaReporters in thriving and Omoyele Sowore should just focus on that, why? This is because they have no business being in politics talk more of being President (except for that of their businesses).
But we want a Youth President, no, we don’t want a youth President, we want an actual President who would perform “miracles” as we have always wanted and return Nigeria to her “glory” days. Anybody can do that, a youth, an elder, the basic requirement for becoming President in Nigeria is for you to be a Nigerian. So, indeed, for Nigeria to work, we just need a Nigerian person, a statesman, with a unifying demeanor and maybe, just maybe we’ll get it right.
I admire the works of Omoyele Sowore and what he has done with Sahara reporters. He truly defines what anti-corruption, anti-establishment and investigative journalism is all about. He is one of the few Nigerians who have really done well for themselves, he and those in the film, music and sports business. Now, Moghalu has an impressive CV, already a full Professor, one time Deputy Governor at CBN. I mean, there is this love we have for people who at one time or the other served in the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Soludo, Sanusi Lamido, I’ll be right if I say Moghalu enjoys the same love. The only person who probably is less rated by Nigerians is the current CBN Governor, I don’t even know his name. And Fela Durotoye, well I do not need his motivation, but for those who do, he is the man. Likewise every other young Nigerians who contested for political office in 2019.
Now, to the crux of the matter; 2023.
Elections are not won on social media the Atiku/Obi 2019 ticket is testament to that. And elections are not won in 3 months, especially not if you are coming on the platform of an unknown party or you as a person are unknown. Election is a serious business, a classic PR game, an extensive and expensive venture, lots of tours and just putting your face out there.
I say to people;
the only reason I probably won’t run for office in this country is because I am a very shy person and I don’t like being managed. Now, I have the plans, ask my friend Lydia’s Kitchen and she’ll tell you my policy plans for the Education sector. Now, I don’t know if she agrees with my plans, but the fact that I have an idea that is different from the norm, I think that’s impressive. The same way my plans for electricity, even Peter Obi and Nasir El Rufai subscribed to my plan, in parts. But a campaign DG cannot tell me when to smile, what to say or what not, and of course, nobody can tell me when to hold my wife in public or which state my wife cannot visit with me during the campaign.
Not even Students’ Union Presidency can be won in three months. Never in the history of Students Union elections has anyone emerged just under three months. If you have not previously served as class rep, you must have been an executive member at the departmental or faculty level, or a top ranking executive member in your tribal association. Suffice to say, someone who has never been in politics on Campus cannot win the highest student office on Campus; at least I haven’t seen. If you can prove me wrong, I don’t mind.
But just being a filmmaker, motivational speaker, writer, intellectual is never going to win you an election. Odunlade Adekola is very popular, but Ogun state citizens will never trust him to be President, the same way Americans will never trust Jay Z enough to be President. Oprah Winfrey has always delivered millions of votes to any Presidential aspirant of her choice in America, even within the Democratic Party primaries, but if she were on the ballot herself, could she pull the same million votes for herself? Your answer to that is what distinguishes actual politicians from accidental or opportunistic politicians.
As of 2003, Emmanuel Macron was interning at the French Embassy in Lagos, as of 2003, Barrack Obama was already a serving Senator from the state of Illinois and one of the poster boys of President Clinton at the time. Meaning, actual politicians apply themselves, know somebody and are always striving for relevance. But accidental politicians come and their only mantra is vote for a youth. Nah, it doesn’t quite work like that.
So, when Akin Alabi tweeted the other day;
Those that want to contest in 2023 but do not want to contest under APC/PDP, and also those that want to vote against the two parties, this is the time to start building the party you want to use. You don’t come a few months to election thinking you are popular. PARTY FIRST. — Akin Alabi, 2020
I knew I had to do this.
Now, you may want to argue about the party whatever, but actually, Party is the number one deciding factor for winning elections in Nigeria. You have to be in the right party with the right set of people who are willing to do anything to help you win. APGA is the right party in Anambra. state, and it’ll take miracle for APC to win the governorship state. If any other party can wrestle APGA, that’ll be PDP. The philanthropy of Seyi Makinde did not win him the office of the Oyo state Governor; I mean, Seyi was well known in 2007 when he contested for the Senate, he was already a philanthropist when he contested in 2011, his gubernatorial bid in 2015 brought the “omi titun” tag into the fore, but under the platform of SDP, he came 5th, but in 2019 under the PDP, the rest is history.
Even Akin Alabi lost his House of Representatives election in 2015 under PDP because at the time PDP was the wrongest party in the Southwest and to most Nigerians. In 2019, under the platform of APC, he defeated with a landslide, the same man who beat him in 2015. So, yes, Part first. Nothing beats party structure in all 774 local government and a presence in every ward.
I told someone, COVID-19 has exposed most of our world leaders as inept and incompetent, but what are the aspiring politicians doing about it?
Kudos to Bankole Wellington (Banky W), originally a musician, he lost his house or representatives election in 2019 to APC in Eti Osa Federal Constituency, Lagos, but he didn’t go under the radar, he didn’t disappear. He has continued to give back to his society selflessly, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is strategically putting himself out there and by 2023, he would be taken more seriously by the people and he might land the PDP ticket and win the seat.
As a matter of fact, Banky has built enough structure for his unknown Party in Eti Osa and he is the man to beat come 2023.
But the likes of Sowore, Durotoye, Moghalu, Ikubese have all gone back to their businesses. They have gone into hiding, occasionally tweeting and criticizing the government. Then by January 2023, they’ll start using sponsored ads on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to campaign to 200million. I laugh.
Sowore’s biggest involvement post-2019 is his call for a revolution, tagged #RevolutionNow, but as amazing as his call sounds to his followers, it could be his greatest undoing. How? If he comes out to contest in 2023. That will show him as a two-faced activist, who doesn’t mind shutting things down after an election year (which he lost), but the moment another election comes up, he starts running for office again. Is he really interested in changing Nigeria for good or getting power at all cost, even if it means going the way of a “revolution?”
On a final note, youth who want to win elections in 2023 should have started working towards that since May 29, 2019, if you wait till the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023 before using Twitter to campaign to 200million people, you are simply an unserious politician who should not be taken seriously and should never be trusted with the affairs of this country, in any capacity (be it at the Federal, State or Local level).
This article is written by DÚRÓDOLÁ Oláwálé. Y
And is a copyright of ©D9ty7Stories, 2020.
Otunba Akin Alabi is a politician and businessman, the Founder and Chairman of Nairabet, the first sports betting platform in Nigeria and a member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing, the Egbeda/Ona-ara Federal Constituency, Ibadan, Oyo state.
My friend Lydia Ogbole is a very passionate Nigerian, staunch critic of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. But I know all she wants in a better Nigeria, where children of nobody like myself and her can compete and thrive at the highest level without knowing anybody.
Above all, she is a very good cook. And her start up Lydia’s Kitchen is your plug for all things good food. Check her out on Instagram
