I wish to congratulate Mohammadu Buhari on his victory in the Nigerian presidential election held on 28th March, 2015. Congratulations, Sir. This is a ground breaking event in the history of elections in Nigeria: the first time an incumbent president will be replaced by a candidate of an opposition party.
President Goodluck Jonathan deserves a bigger congratulation for conducting elections that are considered free and fair by the international community; for not abusing his power of incumbency by making it impossible for the election results to be announced. You have entered on record as the first president that congratulated his opponent when he realized that he had been defeated in an election. Other people would have carried weapons and used the security apparatus to ensure that they are not defeated. This singular act of conceding defeat and congratulating the winner even before the final result was announced was a great show of statesmanship and has saved Nigeria from crises and bloodshed, and has indeed written the name of Nigeria in gold in the annals of nations.
Buhari has been an inspiration to a lot of Nigerians. He is a lesson on endurance, doggedness, tenacity, persistence, focus and unwavering faith in what he believes. He can easily be regarded as the Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria. Age did not deter him; neither did past failures do. Having contested three times and failed, he would have resigned to fate and believed that it was impossible for him to success. But he persisted and at last, he has achieved his desire.
To the youth, the lesson here is on persistence, hard work, patience, faith and focus. They must be determined and pursue whatever they believe in with passion. If they work hard enough on their passion, they will eventually succeed. To the elderly: age is not a barrier to success. True, there may be certain things you may not have the physical strength to do; nevertheless, you can still achieve success, fulfillment and happiness with faith, persistence and hard work.
I am particularly glad that when I wrote on the title: Politics without Bitterness, recently, the politicians (especially of the APC and PDP) headed my call to play politics according to the rule, knowing that Nigeria is bigger than the ambition of anybody or any political party. Although, we have not been perfect, but largely, we have achieved a mile stone.
To the president-elect, Buhari, he should know that he is no longer a military ruler: he is the president of the whole Nigeria – both for those who voted and those who did not vote for him. He has held public offices in Nigeria before, and people have their views on how he performed. He should abide by his electoral promises: to allow a free press, respect the judiciary and the rule of law, and act in the way that will make everybody see him as a national president. His pursuit for the reduction of corruption should be vigorous, and he should not abandon the policies and programmes of President Goodluck Jonathan’s regime that are to the benefit of the populace. The need for consistency in government policies and programmes (as much as applicable) should not be ignored.
Congratulations and may God help you to achieve those good things that are in your mind for Nigeria.
UWADILACHI IKEGWU IJIOMA.
