The scenario at the recent Nigerian Presidential debate is probably the first time in the world that in a democracy the two top contenders fail to show up.

To present your manifesto to the public, aspirants have to first manifest. Historically, at least, in traditional democracies, the best debaters at elections stand the greatest chance of winning the elections. Barack Obama flawed his counterparts during his debut election enamouring himself to the electorate on a national stage.

The state of play of in our 20-year democracy appears to be a charade of comedic proportions – like reruns of a comedy show on TV that you are forced to watch over and over and over (keyword being forced).

I woke up the morning after the debate feeling like a 7-year-old child who didn’t want to go to school but who knew that no matter what I did, no matter my excuse, I would not be able to absent myself because of powers beyond my control.

It felt like a bad date that you are forced to go on without the option of postponing or ignoring.

That my fellow Nigerians may be the fate of our motherland next month. A country that will wake up after the elections unable to control the fate that confronts it.

What punishment can be greater for Nigerians than to have a leader or an aspiring leader who does not have any modicum of respect for them? Since independence, Nigerians have been unfortunate to have leaders who treat them like footmats and with every worse disdainful arrogance, you can think of.

Suddenly, after millions of Nigerians had keenly anticipated and prepared for the Nigerian Presidential debate, that would have finally given them the chance to hear the various candidates talk about their plans for the future, the duo of Buhari and Atiku arrogantly disappeared without any prior notification.

In defense of why Buhari was absent, the APC presidential campaign council claimed that his hectic and busy campaign schedule had hindered him from participating in the debate – as if the organizers gave the President a week notification, when in the actual sense, he had close to two months to organize his itinerary and prepare himself for the debate.

The council’s spokesman also mentioned that the president had taken full advantage of the town hall meeting to interact directly with Nigerians. Can you imagine if the incumbent president of countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia failed to appear for a debate against the opposition?

Whereas, Atiku deliberately boycotted the debate because the President did not show up. His social media handles state that he hurriedly came back from the US for the debate, only to decline to participate and disrespect the millions of Nigerians who suspended their schedules to catch up with the candidates.

Irrespective of their weightless reasons, the duo of Buhari and Atiku should not have missed the debate, given its importance to the electorate. As a matter of fact, their excuses convey pride and arrogance. If not, why would a President say that he missed a Presidential debate because it clashed with his busy and hectic official and campaign schedule, or because he had participated in a town-hall meeting?

If this were the case (of note, there were already signs that he would miss the debate), then he is obliged to answering the following questions; did he not get close to two months prior notification for the debate? Could he not have rescheduled or suspended whatever would have made him miss the Presidential debate?

Buhari’s excuse is not significant. Rather, his absence indicates premediated insolence that typical of the Nigerian “misrulers” who believe they can just take the electorate for granted at any time without consequences.

As for Atiku, why should he blatantly refuse to debate because Buhari did not show up? Did he come to compete with Buhari or tell the electorate what he has to offer them? The debate could have been a great moment for Aiku to finally convince the millions of Nigerians who have listed him in their black book of corruption to change their mind. Unfortunately, he allowed his excessive pride to completely ruin his chances of winning the presidential election.

I am not careful to say this; Atiku has just lost a significant amount of followers due to his arrogance, pride, and ill-conceived declination to participate in the debate. Whoever advised Atiku to take the sinking path of pride has not done him any favours. Unless they are confident that the debate will have no impact on the outcome of next month’s elections – and this may be very true!

Since the duo of Atiku and Buhari feel they are too big to debate, then they are not fit to lead. Humility is a key characteristic of leadership. I cannot just imagine what will happen if one of these two hubris-driven candidates, who refused to appear before the electorate for a debate, wins the presidential election. Then, he will be too big to listen to the masses’ cry.

Hence, before this happens, the electorate should ditch them for the younger candidates who are passionate about serving their fatherland. We saw it in them on Saturday. Despite the fact that they had every reason not to debate especially when the political patriarchs did not show a good example, they still decided to debate since they are passionate and tired of seeing the cycle of failure repeat itself in Nigeria.

The ball is now in the electorate’s court to determine if they want a group of disrespectful, power-motivated and old recycled politicians, who have yet again slapped them and spat on their faces to continue to mislead them or accept to the true and promising good news of change brought by the young candidates.

Nigerians should PLEASE read the writings on the wall!! https://qwenu.com/2019/01/22/the-arrogant-disappearance-of-buhari-and-atiku-from-the-nigerian-presidential-debate/