Nigeria’s presidential system is patterned after that of the United States of America (USA). The most populous black nation in the world has copied a lot from America, including debates by contenders for certain categories of political offices during general elections.
Historically, the first general election presidential debate was said to have held on September 26, 1960, between U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee, and Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee, in Chicago at the studios of CBS’s WBBM-TV.
The most prominent and successful presidential debate in Nigeria was held in 1993 between Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, then presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC).
Since the return of the country to civil rule in 1999, presidential debates have continued to hold, though not on a regular basis and the refusal of some candidates to feature has never disqualified anybody. Thus, the presidential debate ahead of the 2019 polls is not likely to invalidate the chances of any of those listed for the poll on February 16.
Ahead of the Presidential debate organised by the Nigeria Election Debate Group slated for Saturday, January 19,2019, many Nigerians are eagerly looking forward to that date for various reasons, ranging from the reasonable to the mundane.
A greater number of those who want to watch the are not looking to hear the presidential candidates elucidate plans on how to make Nigeria join the league of prosperous and progressive nations on earth. They are preparing themselves to laugh; make fun of candidates that are not endowed with the skill of oratory.
Less than three weeks to the exercise, the rave in town has been whether or not the sitting President and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, would be at the event flesh and blood. Speculations have run riot over whether or not the President would be represented by the Vice President and vice presidential candidate of the APC, Yemi Osinbajo. This is too simplistic!
What rather should bother any well-meaning Nigerian citizen is how whatever that would be verbalised by the candidates would be brought to fruition in the fullness of time.
On the debate day, some of the candidates may try to impress their audience and the viewing masses by merely, robustly employing their oratorical skill. They will no doubt mesmerise many, but the question is, does the solution to the myriads of Nigeria’s problems lie in the power of oratory? The country has several thousands of citizens who can speak so very well, who have also been in the system at one time or the other, yet the country has continued to oscillate from bad to worse.
So, it goes to say actually that it is of no benefit to anybody if after listening to sweet and wonderful “renditions” on January 19, and when it is time to perform the doing of the promises, the citizens discover they have been duped, raped and left castrated once again.
There is no doubt that Nigeria’s economy is in tatters and urgently needs resuscitation. The country itself is generally sick, needing a physician that not only understands the cause of the ailment, but also has the right antidote to the malaise.
Many Nigerians are expecting to see Mr. President at the debate. Ordinarily, the President would not have had much work to do at the debate had he been adjudged to have piloted the affairs of the country in the right direction in the last three years and half. What he needed to have done would have been to tell his countrymen to judge him by his superlative scorecard.
The other day, Femi Adesina, special adviser to the President on media, reacting to the speculation that Osinbajo could represent Buhari at the debate, said the issue was not about eloquence but what the political parties had to offer the country if elected.
Adesina added that his principal had not made up his mind whether or not to be physically president at the debate.
“When it gets to that decision, Nigerians will know what his decision is. We will surely cross the bridge when we get there,” he said.
Methinks that why the President and his party appear to be stammering over the possibility of his appearance at the debate is the perception of his below-par performance in the first term.
There is no guarantee that the candidate who would perform best at the debate would be the best president if voted into power. It simply does not follow (that way).
President Buhari is being criticised today on the economic front, not because he does not hold a degree in Economics or a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), but because he is said to have no single economist in his team.
As President, Buhari does not necessarily need to be an expert in economics, but he must have a fair understanding of the workings of the economy, and then surround himself with experts who will fill the gap.
Lai Omotola, group managing director, Masters Reality International Concepts Limited (MRICL) and chancellor of E-Boot Camp Limited, recently observed that “There’s a fundamental problem with our President. In everything in life, one is not supposed to know everything in life, but the chief executive is supposed to know those that know. I don’t have to know. I don’t have to know everything about the economy, but should be able to spot people that know and would deliver. The issue of the economy is the major weakness of our president and it is too late for him to acquire the skills.”
As expected, the main opposition party in the land, PDP, has continued to make a bone out of the proposed debate and the cloudy signals over the President’s appearance at the event, especially after the Vice Presidential candidates’ debate staged on December 14, 2018, in which the umbrella party’s candidate, Peter Obi, was said to have carried the day.
The PDP has continued to taunt the APC, saying that the President is afraid of participating in the debate because the ruling party has nothing to show for the years it has been in the saddle.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said: “The APC and its presidential candidate are scared. If you say President Buhari should debate, what will be the basis of his debate? He has failed to fulfill the three promises he made to Nigerians in 2014/2015, so the referendum, as far as the 2019 elections is concerned, is the failure of President Buhari in office and they don’t want PDP to speak on that.
“We are not surprised that they are laying the foundation of running away. But Nigerians want to hear from anybody who desires to be their president in 2019.”
According to Ologbondiyan, “They (Nigerians) want to listen to what such a candidate has to offer and what he is bringing to the table and what difference he will make. So, if President Buhari comes to debate, will he talk about his taxation? Or the grinding economic condition of our nation or the hunger he has plunged Nigerians into?
“Is he going to talk about the incompetence of his administration? But we will drag them to the debate.”
The PDP spokesman was reacting to an observation by Chibuike Amaechi, director-general of the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, during an interview with Arise News Television, that the campaign committee would sit to deliberate before deciding if Buhari would be part of a debate for the 2019 election.
However, beyond the seeming quibbling over the reasonability or otherwise of the appearance, it must be understood that the proposed debate is not just for APC and PDP; other parties fielding candidates for the slot are also participating.
But, if any candidate believes that he/she cannot avail him/herself of the opportunity created by the debate (which is aimed at “elevating national discourse and providing the public with the opportunity to assess, first hand, the depth, character, knowledge, comportment, temperament and sincerity of the candidates)” then, such an individual and his/her party should meet the voting masses at the polling units.
Zebulon Agomuo
