APC And PDP Zoning Formula Places Peter Obi As Potential Winner Of 2023 Presidential Elections By Osigwe Omo-Ikirodah
When I was younger, my father would compare someone who lies a lot to a cockroach; when he says someone lies more than a cockroach, he means you should think twice before believing anything they say.
When you strike a cockroach, it will always initially act like it is dead before hopping away when you let your guard down.
Similar to the old adage that if a liar greets you and says good morning, you should check your watch to see if it is still morning.
The description above describes the usual political class we have in Nigeria today, and the motivation behind their activities is always subject to GOAT EYE activation.
Please allow me to briefly explain the meaning of the term “goat eye activated.” There was once a man who had “half past four eyes” and wanted to kill a goat to celebrate the Christmas holidays. He asked his young nephew to assist him in holding the goat by the hands and legs so he could use his cutlass to slice the goat’s neck and let its blood spill.
In order to prevent the goat from moving, the young man held it down with his two hands and legs. The uncle then raised his machete high to slit the goat’s throat. As the young man looked up at the uncle, he noticed that his eyes were fixed on his own neck rather than the goat’s, despite the fact that the uncle’s eyes were actually fixed on the goat’s neck and not the boy’s.
So the boy asked the Uncle, ” Uncle na were u dey look you wan cut? The uncle said yes(thinking it was the goat’s neck the boy was referring to), the boy was perplexed and questioned the uncle again, gazing straight into his eyes, “Uncle na were u dey look u wan cut? The uncle responded yes again, so the boy abandoned the goat and fled WITH GREAT SPEED, believing the uncle intended to slash his neck rather than the goat’s.
The goat eventually stood up and ran away, and as a result, there was no goat again to celebrate Christmas.
Listening to Dogara and Babachir Lawal complain about the APC Muslim-Muslim tickets highlights why Christians should see the writing on the wall and take their own stand in reaction to both the APC and the PDP’s insensitivity.
Elections are all about the numbers, as everyone is aware, therefore let’s examine the APC and PDP’s motivations for focusing only on the numbers rather than the bigger picture of where the numbers actually lies.
The PDP chose Atiku to oppose power shifting to the South because the North has a larger voting population, according to them. This suggests that the PDP is fighting a North-South conflict, which is why the APC produced a Muslim-Muslim ticket in reaction to this game plan.
Now, the APC’s Northern Governors argue that because Southern Muslims are a minority, the party requires a core Muslim as vice president to balance the equation.
This takes us to the question Dogara posed, which has since rung loudly in my head and should ring loudly in the heads of all Christians. Dogara posed this critical question to Nigerians.
“If Muslims in the North don’t trust a Southern Muslim for any reason(s), why should Christians in Nigeria trust a Muslim from the South and North?”
Many Nigerians have denounced this action as being insensitive to the need for religious harmony in a nation where the proportion of Christians to Muslims is about equal. According to a 2018 estimate in The World Factbook by the CIA, the population is estimated to be 53.5% Muslims, 45.9% Christians.
Then Lawal in a recent speech said ,” the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket is proof of its anti-Christian agenda and that the party has completely eliminated northern Christians from its National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Committee (NEC). The Muslim-Muslim ticket, he said, has been a long-term political strategy and not a one-off decision.
So let’s do the arithmetic and see if we need to ACTIVATE our goat eyes.
The APC claims that they chose a Muslim as a vice because of the superiority of Muslim-Muslim votes. This means that the APC never considered the fact that the Christians are in the same number bracket as the Muslims, so if the Christians vote for the Christians and the Muslims now have two or more Muslim choices to vote for, the Christians would have their way.
To further worsen the whole issue I saw an article whereby they compared the electoral result of Babachir’s local government and Dogara in the last presidential elections with that of Kasshim Shettma. This is a clear slap, implying that the votes of Christians are unimportant.
Let me explain further: the example implies that Christians can vote for any candidate based on their competence, however Muslims will vote based on religion rather than competence.
Why should the APC be so callous to the reality that Christians are unable to perceive this from this angle?
Nearly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims live in Nigeria. Three of the top four candidates running for president are Muslims, and one is a Christian. Muslims’ votes will be divided between Atiku, Tinubu, and Kwankwaso.
Simply voting for Peter Obi is all that is required of Christians. He will win if every Christian in Nigeria casts a vote for him.
Listen to Babachir Lawal “This is truly a wake-up call for all Nigerian Christians. We didn’t start this religious politics; APC and its candidates did; so, all of us should take note and act as appropriate.
“So, our dear APC colleagues, spare us these sanctimonious lectures on competence and the cliche ‘religion of the candidates does not matter’. The truth is that the 2023 presidential election will be all about religion, and sadly, you started it; religion does matter in this context so be ready for the consequences,” he said.
So the two dominating parties think it’s a good idea to keep Christians out of the picture because they don’t vote, abi?
It is time for the more than 70% of registered voters who do not vote to start voting; their opinions must be heard; how much longer can the leading political parties play on our emotions?
If the APC and the PDP want Christians’ votes, they must apologize unconditionally; for the time being, Peter Obi should be enjoying a massive triumph.
Osigwe Omo-Ikirodah is the chairman and CEO of Bush Radio Academy.
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