2023: Who wants to be Nigeria’s next president?

With less than two years to the 2023 general election in Nigeria, there have been increased debates in recent times on who should succeed incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari when his tenure expires.

While some stakeholders and political leaders have spoken in favour of zoning the presidency to the Southern region, considering that President Buhari hails from Northern Nigeria, others have also said region or state should not be the yardstick in electing Nigeria leader in 2023. They say competency should rather be the yardstick for electing Nigeria’s president in 2023.

Such was the case recently, when former military leader, Ibrahim Babagida said the country’s next president should be able to speak to Nigerians, understand the economy, and have friends in every region.

Perhaps the quest to fulfilling that dream and bridging that gap in giving the country a leader that is detribalised, purposeful, visionary and nationally accepted informs the move by Ezekiel Eya-Etok, director-general, Nigeria first project and steering committee member National Consultative Forum (NCF), to initiate a process aimed at recruiting a credible, acceptable and responsive leader for the nation in 2023 to challenge the candidates of the two major parties.

Speaking in an interview on Channels TV breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, recently, Eya-Etok faulted the leadership recruitment process in the country, saying that the process initiated by his group would lead to the emergency of a credible presidential candidate in 2023.

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Eya-Etok revealed that the process would be open to all Nigerians to nominate individuals irrespective of tribe, state or ethnic group that could lead the country, adding that the nominated individuals would later be prune down by eminent Nigerians to 40 from each geo-political zones, while they would be brought together for Nigerians to engage them.

“National conservative front is a platform that would bring every Nigerian to say who do you think can be the president in 2023? We would have entries nominated by Nigerians and eminent Nigerians would see the nominated names and bring out 40 from geo-political zones. We bring them together to get Nigerians engaged with them”, Eya-Etok said.

There is the need for Nigeria to change the status quo and approach towards the leadership recruitment process because the current method has failed the country, he said.

Until the best people are elected into public offices poor governance across Nigeria would linger, he said, saying in view of the present state of the country Nigerians must be meticulous in choosing who they cast their vote for in 2023.

According to Eya-Etok, “I want to appeal to concerned Nigerians who are nationalists, these are people who know that there is a line between governance and politics. Politics is the process that takes you to the governance platform. When you get on the governance platform, which is the management of the people, you can’t but be professional to get the desired result.

“If you get a non-pilot into a cockpit that aircraft may crash, but if you get a pilot into an aircraft he would know how to stabilise the aircraft.

“Governance is not what you dash people, either at the local government or any level you recruit the best, it is like a bank. You recruit people to manage the resource for the general interest of all. And if we have this in mind the process that we look is the recruitment process of our leaders,” he stated.