A WARM CONGRATULATION TO WAZIRI ATIKU ABUBAKAR:
CHIEF (AMB.) S.M.K.TARIBO AMGBARA.
Congratulations on your predictable emergence as the PDP flag-bearer for the fast-approaching presidential election next year. I personally discern the victory as a reflection of your apparent popularity more than of other merits which you share in obvious equal proportion with fellow contestants. These range from charisma,competence and diligence through knowledge, experience and smartness to cosmopolitan patriotism, religious flexibility and ethno-sectional broadmindedness. I have consciously overlooked such other cardinal criteria of leadership as INTEGRITY, RECTITUDE AND HONESTY because of my sad discovery that the pragmatic, if not, Machiavellian, mindset of many a Nigerian career politician seems to deride them as costly, expendable luxuries. But should you prove yourself an exception, and be steeped deeply and visibly in these sublime values, then not only would Nigeria regain unprecedented progress and international respectability but your name would be engraved with diamond letters in the National Pantheon of Revered Statesmen. The APC propagandists displayed puerile mentality in projecting their "change" mantra as the replacement of the ousted regime with their purported "good" one. They thus ensnared themselves into promising the restoration of a paradisiacal El Dorado rather than the dispensation of "toil, sweat and tears" towards salvaging the "bad" situation they claim to have inherited by effort! This misconception rendered them blind to the naked fact that "change" or TRANSFORMATION can mean either an improvement(positive) of an existing condition or impairment(negative) of the same. But I choose to presume, without intending to flatter or humour the APC fanatics, that Your Excellency's avowed mission is to propel Nigeria from its present "good" circumstances to BETTER substitute when You eventually assume full charge. For no administration can be so absolutely "bad" in performance that it may not record something "good" to earn commendation, and none so totally "good" that it may boast nothing ugly to warrant condemnation. It is, therefore, the repulsive excess of one over the other, not the nebulous balance of equation between the worse and the better, that determines the standard by which any enlightened and insightful electorate may decide the fate of contending parties in a liberal democratic society. By Divine Grace, all the dynamics are at Your disposal to make an exemplary impact on both the polity and annals of Nigeria. First, You have previously occupied the second highest office of Vice-President for 8 years. The tenure has familiarized You with the intrigues and plots normally associated with the throng of intellectuals, advisers, sycophants, court jesters, spies and traitors in the corridor of power. Secondly, You have demonstrated a dogged resolve to ascend the zenith. This epitomizes no less an educated comprehension of the country's complex problems than a steadfast zeal and deep-seated keenness for research towards identifying the solutions and implementing them. It further signifies the will and readiness to swiftly assemble a galaxy of like-oriented technocrats and politicians to form a CABINET faster than the sluggish experiment of 2015 when Ministers were publicly branded "noise makers"! Thirdly. being neither enslaved by the burden of personal inadequacies nor afflicted with the infectious vice of avarice to acquire excess, You appear to be immune from the iniquity of coveting and plundering the public treasury. Therefore, let Your campaign strategy be structured and conducted in such a sophisticated manner as to attract dispassionate neutrals, dissolve corporate apathy, entice professional cynics and convert former detractors to fervent admirers. By employing the tactics of elegant and polished rhetorics, cerebral discourse and charming manoeuvres, You would effectively disseminate Your convictions with easy success. You should be categorical and authoritative in clarifying Your position on the raging issues affecting the ECONOMY, SECURITY as well as the EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT as constitutionally promulgated through the FEDERAL CHARACTER PRINCIPLE which outlaws the evil and outrageous practice of nepotism, cronyism and favouritism. ABOVE ALL, You must articulate and canvass an unequivocal commitment to the burning agitation for RESTRUCTURING otherwise known as FISCAL FEDERALISM or RESOURCE CONTROL or DEVOLUTION OF POWER/FUNCTIONS. This is veritable and overdue paradigm for the socioeconomic and geopolitical revitalization of multiethnic Nigeria for which the clamour is resounding clearly. pervasively and perseveringly. You need no longer convene a money-guzzling jamboree in the guise of National Conference. All that is required is for You to prepare an amendment bill on the pertinent constitutional provisions for submission to the National Assembly in which You redefine, specify and delineate the EXCLUSIVE and RESIDUAL POWERS/FUNCTIONS for the FEDERAL and STATE GOVERNMENTS respectively with few items for CONCURRENCY as the case may be. There can be no gainsaying the contraction in the scope of presidential jurisdiction or diminution of central executive power that may accompany the operation of this revolutionary Order. But such authentic federal arrangement thrives harmoniously in the U S A, CANADA and AUSTRALIA: applying the same here will surely immortalize Your tenure as the one run by the iconic hero who voluntarily made the needed essential sacrifice for the perpetual and irreversible Good of Nigeria! In summary. You must convey to the electorate an innovative formulator surmounting the seemingly intractable and intricate challenges that currently beset the nation.
CONGRATULATIONS ONCE AGAIN AND BEST WISHES!
Elder citizen Spiff Taribo.
