By Dr. Smith Duabofa
In this essay, I intend to talk about these two titans on an ideological basis and the need for the Southern bloc of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to make decisions on who should lead the party in the next four years.
The world is changing rapidly, carrying along with it, the new generation who tends to be more conscious and aware of happenings around them. This new generation itself now flows along with the new ideologies.
The old system in Nigeria was dominated by capitalism. Its disciples tend to change the supposed mix of socialism into state capitalism. This system created elites who tend to be the overlords and kingmakers, only to bring few to the table while the masses languish in dire need and want.
Initially, this seemed okay because the subsistent farmers and traders were not considered poor, due to the simplicity of living standards and priorities of the masses. However, with the advent of industry, machinery, and change in world trade policies and priorities, the gap between the masses and the elites became even broader.
To the elites, it was normal not to take into consideration the new generation who will be born to see the white-collar jobs as idealistic job type and standard.The failure of the elites is that they refused to contribute to the welfare of the masses, and continue to think that the state whose resources have depleted per capita, can somehow do the magic.
Tinubu, an astute politician representing that political class of the old order, is a born kingmaker who has many elites around him. However, he has failed to come down to the level of the changing generation who no longer see things the way his generation saw them.
On the other hand, there came a younger generation of progressive, democratic and socialistic ideologues who tend to acknowledge this problem and are determined to implement and turn things around for the new generation. They do not surround themselves with elites, because they do not offer help in exchange for loyalty. Hence, give freedom and independence.
This attribute is the future of democracy, without which we continue to breed overlords that may only feed off the people they tend to represent. That way it is difficult to create the environment for the natural selection of policies which is supposed to be the root of every democracy.
Timipre Sylva is one politician who comes to mind when one thinks of a progressive and democratic leader. He is a sharp deviation from the old order which is autocratic in form and style.
Firstly, one cannot compare a state that was once a former British colony and a capital city which is Lagos to a recently created state like Bayelsa. And appraising Tinubu’s performance as a governor of Lagos state between 1999 to 2007, one could see the increasing class inequality; a collapsed middle class; the slums and squalor that ravaged the populace.
Whereas, before the advent of Sylva’s government, many Bayelsans were thrown into abject poverty by the same old system in the old Rivers State. So Sylva, upon assuming office as Governor of Bayelsa state 2007, deviated from the old ways and invested in human capital development which lifted the average Bayelsan out of the squalor created by the old system.
In the aspect of national unity, the old system exploited our ethno-religious differences. And a divide and rule system as we have come to realize will not take us forward as a nation. If the common man cannot see another tribesman as a brother, how do we then justify our nationhood? The new progressives only see greatness in diversity. They believe in the possibility of a nation where the Hausa/Fulani will see the Igbo man as a brother. That can only be achieved when the political class eschews the divide and enthrone a system where rule of law, justice, fairness, equality and meritocracy reigns supreme.
Suffice to say the total unification of our nation which the old political class has failed to achieve has caused many events that have worsened our experiences as a nation.
Can Timipre Sylva fill in this gap as the Bismarck of our nation? In evolution, survival is not for the strongest, but for the fittest, the most equipped: Tinubu is a powerful politician, worthy of the status of a true kingmaker.
Nonetheless, it would be prudent, propitious, and politically expedient to consider Tinubu’s younger colleague, Timipre Sylva who admires and acknowledges his strength; who is known for being humble and respectful of stakeholders and leaders alike across party lines; who is easily marketable by today’s standards, victorious in conciliation, tested in strife and trusted in deeds, should be picked by the Southern stakeholders of the ruling APC as captain in charge of the helm, to ensure a more formidable blitzkrieg in the face of the opposition.
