by Ife Adebayo

I believe for every leader that hopes to run for a second term in office your second term campaign starts from the day you are sworn in for your first term. This is to say I expect that President Goodluck Jonathan started his campaign for a second term since 2011; this is of course assuming he will run for re-election in 2015.

Your scorecard for your first term should be the basis for  you to seek re-election. Right now, depending on who you talk to, the president has either done enough for Nigerians to give him a second shot or he has not. In my opinion, I think there are so many reasons that the president should not seek re-election. The president has truly done well in certain areas like railways, power privatization, agricultural reforms etc. But his performance has been dismal in areas that really matter such as security, anti-corruption, jobs creation etc. Unfortunately though, I have only one vote, so what really matters is what the majority of Nigerians think.

On the other hand, if you feel the incumbent has not done well enough, you do want to replace him with a capable hand. Let me use the analogy of a cook. If you have a very bad cook who gives you burnt food today, salty food tomorrow and you are fed up and want the cook to be replaced, you will be careful to do a cooking test for the new cook before employing the cook. It therefore makes sense that Nigerians look out for a credible alternative to the present government at the presidential polls in February 2015.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is the only opposition political party that can be taken serious in Nigeria. I am a member of the APC because I believe in the party’s ideals and because the party has numerous individuals who have done well in elective positions. I can mention Governor Fashola, Governor Kwankwaso, Governor Fayemi, Governor Amaechi, Governor Aregbesola, Governor Oshiomole etc. Asides these young performers, the party has the incorruptible former President Muhammadu Buhari in its fold too, the party also has a former vice president with a lot of pedigree in the person of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. For a party with many such performers you would expect that picking a ‘president-in-waiting’ would be an easy task. As a person, this has made it even harder for me to make a choice as to who my preferred candidate will be.

Come February 2015, if Nigerians will replace the current government we must present them not just with an individual but with a president-in-waiting. Nigerians must see an individual that they can stand behind, an individual that they can hang their hopes on. Yesterday I saw a tweet by @Forakin on twitter that said there is no Promised Land to be led to, we are already in it. It would only flow with milk & honey if we tend it. Nigeria is already the Promised Land; we have everything, oil, precious metals, good weather, good soil, human resources etc. What we need to do now is to tend this land so that it can flow with milk and honey, to do this we need to have a formidable leader at the driving seat. I believe we can get this leader from the many leaders we have within the APC.

In February 2015 Nigerians will have a choice to make at the polls. We should vote for competence. Tribe and religion must take the back seat, competence, good track record and leadership qualities must take the lead. We have so many things wrong with this country at the moment and we cannot afford to miss it. The time for positive development is already many years late, the time to make wise decisions will be here soon. We must vote with our eyes wide open.

Op-Ed Editor