The 2019 presidential election is less than one month from now, and political parties and their candidates are devising all manner of measures to woo the electorate.
The presidential election will be contested by Muhammadu Buhari, incumbent president and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and candidate of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP); Obiageli Ezekwesili, former World Bank vice president and candidate of Allied Congress Party of Nigeria(ACPN); Omoyele Sowore, CEO of Sahara Reporters and candidate of the African Action Congress.
Others are Kingsley Moghalu, former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and candidate of Young Progressive Party, and Fela Durotoye of Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), among others.
As the election draws near, here are four things the electorate must consider before voting.
One is capacity or competence. Who among the candidates has the capacity or competence, based on tract records, to haul 87 million Nigerians out of poverty?
According to the Brookings Institution, Nigeria is now the poverty capital of the world, with a record 87 million people living in extreme poverty and 8,000 people sliding into extreme poverty on a daily basis.
Unemployment rate increased to 23.10 percent in the third quarter of 2018 from 18.8 percent in the second quarter of 2018, according to the latest figure from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Inflation rate is sitting on a double-digit pedestal of 11.28 percent.
“Nigerians must look at someone who has the capacity to kill poverty. Poverty is the biggest challenge we have now. People are hungry and complaints are rife. I think, at this point, Nigerians need someone with the knowledge of private sector workings. Don’t get me wrong. The incumbent worked well with the private sector. There are equally others with strong private sector background and quality knowledge of the economy, but it is up to the electorate to choose,” said Kolawale Odunjo, an Ogun State-based businessman.
Analysts say Nigeria needs a unifier. Who among these candidates can calm frayed ethnic and religious nerves across the country? Who, in his or her past comments and body language, has promoted or doused religious or ethnic violence?
Third is a candidate with capacity to solve the current raging security problems. Boko Haram is attacking the North-East with the fiercest speed of light. Two days ago, seven people were killed when the insurgents attacked a military base in Rann, Maiduguri, Borno State, prompting internally displaced persons to flee to Cameroun border.
The attacks were said to have been carried out by the Islamic State West Africa Province, a factional sect of Boko Haram. At the moment, there is an orchestrated plan by terrorists to overrun Nigeria, but the exhausted security agencies do not have the capacity to deal with the situation. Videos have appeared online regarding soldiers complaining about rickety weapons, poor funding and welfare activities.
“Who will stop these insurgents? Many of these politicians do not know what they are gunning for. You must have a different strategy from the one we have now if you want to chase away these insurgents,” a security expert, Celestine Johnson, said.
ODINAKA ANUDU
