Permit me to start this article with one interesting quote from the president elect, Asiwaju Bola Alhmed Tinubu. Hear him: “Any democrat who is not ready to bear the pains of defeat during election is not also fit to share in the joy of victory.”
This is apt for all the planters of thorns and briers, those sowing seeds of discord to destabilize Nigeria before the May 29. For these wailing wailers (apology to Femi Adesina) there was no February 25. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, must cancel the election or declare their candidate winner. Some of them who are students of absurdity want an interim government just to prevent a man who has a date with destiny to be given the mantle from President Muhammadu Buhari, just like Elijah did to Elisha. Double portion of the anointing, if you like!
These people can’t play God. So, they should alight from the high horse of destruction and embrace the reality that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has been chosen by the Nigerian electorate as declared by the election arbiters.
To the losers, it is high time they embraced the reality and moved on in line with the philosophy of any contest. It’s expected that in any competition there would be winners and losers. It’s utterly wrong for anyone to go into any competition with a premeditated mindset of victory when every apparatus on ground gives a contrary signal..
Ever since the announcement of the results of the elections – the presidential, national Assembly, Governorship and house of Assembly, the only bone of contention in the circle of the irate irritants has been incessant calls to INEC to play the June 12 1993 tricks again by declaring either Peter Obi or Abubakar Atiku as president-elect.
Both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi keep running their mouths like the broken pipe claiming to have won the election and are currently working on how to retrieve their mandate at the tribunal. What we know is that there can’t be three winners in this case. It must be one person emerging as the overall winner having fulfilled the constitutional requirements to be declared as the president-elect.
One thing that seemingly looks like a case of chilling irony is the fact it is the same INEC that conducted all the elections but the only one that didn’t follow ‘real time to upload results on the BVAS was the presidential election. To our surprise, some religious leaders who should know better have since converted their pulpits to political platform doling out incongruous prophecies. Some of them even went to the extreme, playing God by predicting the death of a fellow human being. Sad! This is the height of wickedness. But God is not man that He would lie like those fake pastors and bishops.
To worsen the situation, senior lawyers who should know better, have come to town with Abuja Super or golden vote propaganda which is not in accordance with the spirit of our constitution. They were not done yet. Some of them turned themselves as slaves to our constitution either deliberately to satisfy their interests or to invoke crisis like some of them funded the #sars protests which was targeted at the Federal Government and not Lagos State Government like many of them wanted us to believe.
Worse still, some of them were trying to rewrite the constitution by asking the inauguration of the president-elect to be put on hold pending the determination of the petition at the election petition tribunal. I don’t expect any human being that has any integrity or patriotism in him to say this because since 1999, inauguration of winners of election have not been stopped because of pending cases at the tribunal.
To me, people in this category are coup plotters and they should be arrested and tried in the interests of peace in the country. You can count many protests including those who are mouthing interim government.. Some are even clamoring for the military to stage a coup over democracy just because their candidate lost a presidential election. We have also seen that some people have gone to court to stop the inauguration of the incoming administration. This is very ridiculous and highly disappointing. We can liken what is happening today with how disgraced late Arthur Nzeribe and his gang from the ABN connived with the military to truncate the June 12 election which Bashorun MKO Abiola won resoundingly.
One thing is very clear here, it’s either Peter Obi is deceiving himself or Atiku Abubakar is embarking on day dreaming project.
Apart from the power vacuum that their calling will create, it will also reverse our democratic gains which we have sacrificed so much to enthrone. Although we are not yet there; the emergence of Tinubu must been seen as the dawn of a glorious era..
I know the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is a threat to some untouchables in the society who have become deities..
His coming spells the end to social stratification in our society. Class system will be broken and some people don’t want it to happen.
To those noise makers and losers that don’t know how to bear the agony of losing election, you are not fit to share in the joy of democracy because your determination is to destroy this country that belongs to over 200m people and bolt away to other countries. That will be impossible.
.Otunba Sola Olatunji, Chairman, Ikale Heritage Development Association, writes from Lagos.