The race for the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has reached an advanced stage, with a number of aspirants quitting the contest, including one who didn’t even buy the form but was all over the place creating confusion.
Luckily, the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari asking members of the Federal Executive Council and heads of government agencies who have political ambition to resign has brought some sanity. I know some will say it was a little too late, but it is still better late than never!
Now our attention should shift to those still in the race. We all know that there are still pretenders who are only in the race for reasons unknown outside of their confused minds. Still, it is from these remaining aspirants that party stakeholders, especially delegates would have to choose from. Fortunately for us, there are quite a good number to choose from.
The ruling APC has signaled where its presidential flag-bearer is likely to emerge from, having settled for a national chairman from the North Central in person of Senator Abdullahi Adamu. Even though that seems to be changing, or clarity about it becoming a bit hazy, we are duty-bound to follow that line until things appear clearly otherwise.
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For long, many have been raising concerns about the age of our leaders, which tends slow them down. We cannot compare the energy and agility of someone approaching 80 or even 70 with one that is 10 or 20 years younger. This is a fact no lie can change.
This is not to say that our elders on the seventh or eighth floor have no right to be in the race, since the Nigerian constitution does not stop them. But many of them argue that they remain active due to their desire to serve or give back to a society that gave them everything. I take this to mean lack of confidence in today’s politicians, because whoever is certain that things will work for him in retirement may not willingly accept to shoulder the burden of leadership – in addition to that of old age.
It is in this light that we should understand what former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, meant recently when he suggested that the next president of Nigeria come 2023 should be in his 60s or even younger considering the nature of work expected of a leader of a country like Nigeria.
Not only IBB, even some of those in the 2023 presidential race know what the former military leader said to be the truth, and nothing but the truth. At least two of them have admitted to that fact when they promised to serve as the bridge between the old and young generation of leaders.
The more I see people making a case for young and competent leadership, the more I see the timeliness of the presence of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Dimeji Bankole in the race for APC presidential ticket. And his credentials – coupled with his record as onetime Nigeria’s No. 4 citizen – should speak for him.
If you are talking about good education, he holds multiple degrees from globally acclaimed universities around the world, including the United States and United Kingdom. If you are talking about fitness, he is an active member of the Lagos Polo Club and the Guards Polo Club Abuja. He also plays football occasionally. Indeed, in 1991, Bankole passed selection into Royal Military Academy Sandhurst while taking courses for military officers at Oxford University where he was in the Artillery Corps.
Perhaps the first to recognize his potentials were the people of the Abeokuta South Federal Constituency who voted him to represent them at the lower chamber of the National Assembly. His colleagues from across Nigeria also recognized his capacity when in 2007 they decided to elect him as the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the young age of 37, and he achieved a lot in a way that made all his supporters proud.
When he was elected to replace Patricia Etteh as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bankole, in his acceptance speech, said “I am taking over the mantle of leadership at a very difficult time. But these are hard times, we need to build confidence again and assure the populace that we are still their representatives. I want an independent house that Nigerians will be proud of, this is my first task.” Subsequent events proved him right.
Some of his achievements included recovering money for the Nigerian government.
For instance, as speaker, through effective oversight, the House of Representatives ensured that Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) returned unspent budgeted funds amounting to about N450 billion to the government treasury in 2007, while about N350 billion naira was again recovered in 2008. This was unheard of before his stewardship.
He also led an independent chamber that refused to be tele-guided by outside powers, just like he promised on assumption of power. In 2010, he patriotically handled the case of the illness of the President Umaru Musa Yar’adua without dividing members of the legislature. That however still attracted the wrath of then president-in-waiting Goodluck Jonathan. In 2011, Bankole was tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) but was cleared of all charges.
With the Yar’adua illness, Bankole proved to Nigerians that he is a man to be trusted. He was fair and firm. Since the North’s major concern is not power for power sake, but power in which it can be assured of having its interests protected, Bankole deserves the region’s support. And this is going to be easy because he is already our in-law since his present wife Aisha Shinkafi is the step-daughter of Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and the granddaughter of late elder statesman Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, Marafan Sokoto.
I am not saying Bankole should be elected the flag bearer of the APC and subsequently the president of Nigeria because he is young. No! I am saying that he is eminently qualified. He is young, smart, urbane, experienced, and above all competent. As a Hausa saying goes, when the sun is out, no palm hand can cover its shine.
- Birnin Magaji writes from Kaduna, Nigeria.
