It just seems like yesterday. On the 16th of April 2011, there l stood at the
receiving end of the treacherous blaze of the
Lagos mid-day sunshine. As l looked on in
clear contempt for the literally unending
snaky line of people on the queue opposite
me; enduring the endless jibes thrown at those of us on the other queue, a number of
things piqued my mind. My contempt was
hinged on one fundamental issue: here we
were as a nation, with a chance to for once
make a detour from the perilous path we had
trod since the new democratic dispensation, and we were on the verge of throwing it all
away.

We had a choice to make between Goodluck
Jonathan of the PDP and General Muhammadu
Buhari who was the standard bearer of the
CPC. The battle cry then was ‘’l am voting
for Goodluck and not PDP’’. The General
had a few days earlier shed tears on national TV and that for me was as bad as it could get.
It was a testament to how badly he wanted
to right the wrongs that had brought a once
great nation to its knees. As l cast my vote
for the General, and left the polling booth, l
knew it was a tall order expecting the General to win, but l was satisfied that even
as a Rivers man from the same South-South
geopolitical zone as his opponent, l had voted
with my conscience. That alone was good
enough for me.

Four years on, we are yet again faced with a
similar scenario; with a choice to decide who
would lead our great nation for another four
years and ironically the gladiators are the
same. However, this time, General Buhari as
against running on the platform of the CPC is the flag bearer of the APC; a coalition of
opposition parties who have made the
occupation of Aso Rock their primary
objective. To achieve this purpose, they are
leveraging on the mantra of
‘’CHANGE’’ as their value proposition. A cardinal linchpin of this mantra is the fight
against corruption; yes, that hydra headed
monster that has eaten so deep into every
facet of our national lives. And who is best
suited to be the fulcrum of this proposition
than General Buhari, the one man who is touted to be the embodiment of honesty,
integrity and incorruptibility.

To be certain, these were the very same
virtues on which my voting for Buhari in
2011 was premised. However, like they say,
a day in politics is a long time. If we are to do
an extrapolation based on this wise saying,
you can imagine what four years translates to. Well, the materialization of that can
clearly be seen in the calibre of characters
the General has surrounded himself with in
the APC.

Amongst these are two of the most corrupt
individuals to have ever trodden the Nigerian
political landscape. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu needs no introduction in
contemporary Nigeria. Like a colossus, he
has bestrodden this landscape for as long as our memories can take us. Actively
participating in the opposition NADECO during
the despotic terror reign of Sani Abacha, he
became governor of Lagos State during the
fourth republic. As compensation for his
activism, Tinubu helped himself in no small measure to the Lagos State treasury, a skill
he still exhibits masterfully by proxy, under
the Fashola administration.
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi on the other hand
has earned his corruption stripes. If
corruption were an army, he would easily be
a five star General. As speaker of the Rivers
State House Assembly, he was the
quintessential rubber stamp that sealed the financial debauchery and recklessness that
was the hallmark of Dr. Peter Odili’s eight
year reign. If there was any doubt about the
ridiculous levels of looting perpetuated by
the Odili government, the interminable
injunction against his being investigated by the EFCC, granted by an Abuja High Court, tells
the whole story. As Governor, Amaechi has
simply exploited all the ‘’lootocracy’’
skills he acquired under the tutelage of his
principal. Between them, these two men;
Tinubu and Amaechi, are the biggest financiers of the Buhari candidacy.

The question any discerning mind should then
ask is, what really is this ‘’change’’
that continues to be mouthed all about? If
Buhari is the epitome of all that is
incorruptible, how come he is comfortable in
the gathering of people who personify corruption in its rawest form? The
unambiguous answer lies in the words of the
great philosopher who once said ‘’show
me your friends and l would tell you who
you are’’. This characteristic blowing hot
and cold is only a manifestation of the political ambivalence of the General towards
an issue that we are made to believe he
stands against. It therefore seems that while
this legend of incorruptibility around Buhari
has taken on a mythical dimension, when
critically analysed based on current evidence; it is just an escapist sophistry leveraged on
by his supporters to cover their ideological
emptiness.

In the final analysis, it is simply the height of
hypocrisy for anyone to say Buhari and the
APC represent any semblance of the kind of
change Nigerians deserve. I need to be
schooled on how Buhari is expected to fight
corruption when the very people who are financing him are an embodiment of the very
thing. It is becoming clearer that the change
mantra is only about the interests of certain
individuals as against the generality of
Nigerians. Certainly, this variant of change is
a Greek gift nicely wrapped in a box of hypocrisy; one that is tempting enough to
force a change in the hands that hold the
knife slicing off the Nigerian national cake.
However, it is one gift that ought to repulse
every right thinking Nigerian. As William
Hazlitt once surmised, hypocrisy is the only vice that cannot be forgiven. If corruption is
defined as a failure of systems, l completely
consent that it is a national malaise and its
resolution is non-negotiable. However, what l
oppose is change for the sake of it ; in this
case swapping one corrupt administration with another, without a deliberate attempt to
address the fundamental issues that would
make a definite difference. If this is the kind of change we clamour for
and deserve, I’d leave us to our
consciences.

www.theheraldng.com/voting-buhari-represent-change/

"STOP DECEIVING OURSELVES FOR SENTIMENT REASONS
Rommy Adigun
Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria "A hausa man was the first
and last to build a refinery in Nigeria.
A hausa man also was first to link federal
highways to the south south.
A hausa man was first to listen to the complains
and cry of the people of the Niger-Delta.
A hausa man was first to set up Niger Delta
Ministry and made NDDC a parastatal under the
ministry.
A hausa man stopped insurgency in the south
south by the militants.
A hausa gave the highest revenue to the riverine
coasts and yet you call them abokis.... meanwhile
Goodluck has offered nothing 2 the south south
except breaking up the unity amongst them and
achieving nothing in real life except things he reads
in papers to us which are not visible...
Let's be frank muslims and christians have been
leaving since the existence of Nigeria in oneness
and peace although there have been issues but
they are quickly resolved... Nigeria has never
looked so gloomy.
Why now GEJ is not the first christian president
except we would have said it is because his a
christian... Yaradua stopped the first set of boko
haram and he is a hausa/fulani and also a muslim.
A hausa man named Abacha and Yaradua are the
firsts Presidents to reduce the price fuel and a
known fact is that GEJ is the first Ijaw man to
govern Nigeria and he increased fuel price to an
unbelievable price saying that we will enjoy the
dividends of subsidy, he will build two (2) refineries
and that he will also reveal the cabals and cartels
in the oil sector till date we have seen no one
charged to court or even the dividends of the
removal of subsidy why deceive ourselves for
sentimental reasons...
Nigeria will never change if we don't forget
ethnicity bias, religious bias, regional differences
etc... We need someone who will deliver not
someone who pose as a stature.
I am a Nigerian and I love my country and I also
want my country to move forward. I pledge to
contribute my own percentage of change to this
nation for a better tomorrow. I am a muslim and I
am not a terrorist"

I won't say much but i want to quote a yoruba proverb which says " inu ikoko dudu ni eko funfun ti n jade ". This simply means a white pap comes out of a black pot. And i have no doubt about the quality government which buhari can deliver. He is the man capable vote for buhari and you will never regret it .
Vote buhari Vote change

Can you say Amen to this prayer?God will mould your life the way Goodluck rule nigeria;if you say Amen vote jonathan if not vote Buhari