By Braxton Solukwe
Prominent among the presidential contenders who participated in the peace accord deal were Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Both of them, like others, undertook in writing to promote a peaceful electioneering campaign and also to ensure that their followers conducted themselves in a peaceful and non-violent manner before, during and after the elections.
Perhaps; guided by the experience of 2011 during which over 800 Nigerians were killed by angry supporters of Buhari who lost to Jonathan in that year’s presidential election, conveners of the peace accord event thought it necessary to take such step in other to forestall a re-occurrence in the 2015 elections.
The deal had also come barely a month after a one time External Affairs Minister; Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, publicly enjoined all parties to show some tolerance and seek peace so that the nation would not break after the election, as ominous signs were on the horizon to suggest same. He had called on other elder statesmen to intervene.
What Akinyemi had succeeded in doing was to remind Nigeria’s political office seekers and their supporters that the world is no longer on that bestial page where might is regarded as being right. The world’s new social order is now etched on civilised attitude that seeks the eternal promotion of peace, good conduct with a strong abhorrence to violent tendencies.
The presidential candidates,
the APC and its presidential flag bearer, Muhammadu Buhari do not seem to
believe in the oath they have taken to promote a violent free electioneering
campaign. Otherwise, how can one explain the current regime of hate
speeches and violent tendencies that are already indicative of the dangers
ahead?
The APC flag bearer has in the past been credited with hate speeches that tended to undermine the peace and security of the nation. He has not been quite mindful of the fact that true democrats are not known for hate speeches as such attitude is capable of inciting people to violence and violence anywhere is counter-productive and destructive.
Clear observation reveals that contrary to what obtains in civilised world, where intimidation and coercion do not find place, our own system as far as the APC presidential candidate is concerned, thrives more on intimidation, coercion and violence ostensibly due to his military background. The party itself is intolerant of contrary ideas and that has helped to heat up the polity. An example was the recent saga surrounding his secondary school certificate. While PDP and other Nigerians had wanted him to provide evidence of his having passed through a secondary school and obtaining the school certificate, the opposition party and Buhari chose to see it as a mischief geared towards stopping his ambition.
Even the declaration by authorities of the military that his credentials were not in his service file as earlier claimed by him was seen as orchestrated attempt by the PDP to rubbish his presidential pursuit and he went ahead to castigate the party and all those who had genuinely asked him to provide the credentials as a requirement to qualify for the office he is seeking to occupy.
Though, his school certificate was eventually tendered to the Nigerian public through the effort of his former college, yet Buhari did it arrogantly as he had all the time to put his curriculum vitae in order before it became public knowledge that he did not submit his school certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Quite intolerant of the demand for his certificate by the Nigerian public and the PDP, Buhari and APC had invented all manner of hate speeches to castigate Jonathan and bring his name to ridicule such that APC supporters in parts of northern region found it convenient to hurl stones at him during his recent campaign in Katsina, the home state of Buhari. It is evident that in this part of the north where Buhari comes from, PDP members and their supporters are intimidated, with vehicles burnt or damaged which is the direct opposite of what obtained in Bayelsa when Buhari went there to campaign.
For the records, General Buhari had gone to Jonathan’s home state – Bayelsa about two weeks ago to campaign. The former head of state, his APC chieftains and their supporters were accorded a warm reception by everybody including PDP supporters. There was no incident of hurling of stones at Buhari or APC officials as was the case in Katsina.
Although the APC had promptly condemned the attitude of its stone-throwing supporters, yet such condemnation can only be taken with a pinch of salt as the determination of the supporters to act in such a manner was a product of the party’s culture of intolerance and its flag bearer’s life of intimidation and incivility as exemplified in 2011 prior to and following his defeat in the presidential election of that year.
As the 2015 presidential election gathers momentum with the APC trying by hook or crook to upstage the ruling PDP, it is instructive to remind the opposition party that its politics of intolerance has the potentials to re-enact what happened in countries like Rwanda, Kenya and elsewhere. The monumental genocide that saw thousands of Hutsi and Tutsi to their early graves (for example) was a product of intolerant co-habitation and politics that pitched Hutsi and Tutsi in Rwanda and Burundi against each other for years. We certainly do not want to see such a scenario in Nigeria.
One would conclude this piece by reminding Buhari and APC as a party that the essence of democracy is for people to elect whoever they want irrespective of ethnic background, religion, sex or otherwise. Nigerians in every zone should be allowed to freely choose and associate with whoever they want to lead them either as president, governor or lawmaker. Choosing a path of intimidation, hate or violence can only lead to destruction which will ultimately favour nobody.
Solukwe is a journalist and writes
from Lagos
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