AN OPEN LETTER TO MAJOR GENERAL MUHAMMADU BUHARI (RTD) ON 2015 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

"I can still recall vividly that had you told Nigerians that 2011 shall be your last attempt to occupy Aso Rock; you had also told us that you would serve one term in office if elected the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, your pronouncement last Thursday surprised the generality of Nigerians and indeed punched a dirty blow on your long term earned integrity as a man of truth who respects his word"

Sir,

1. I received the news of your willingness to submit yourself for the consideration and election into office of the president by Nigerians come 2015 with mixed feelings of surprise, optimism and great question mark on your integrity.

2. I can still recall vividly that had you told Nigerians that 2011 shall be your last attempt to occupy Aso Rock; you had also told us that you would serve one term in office if elected the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, your pronouncement last Thursday surprised the generality of Nigerians and indeed punched a dirty blow on your long term earned integrity as a man of truth who respects his word; today, Nigerians are not even sure if you are still committed to serving only one term and making a difference in the presidency. Today, the general sentiment is that we trust(ed) you based on your sound integrity and credibility but if you begin to act as other Nigerian politicians, our hope for a new Nigeria might as well be a "hoax" in the foreseeable future.

3. On the positive side, we rejoice because we know that the opposition in Nigeria can only dream of dislodging the PDP from power only if it fields a strong man with a personality of credibility, integrity and national followership. Thus, your entry into the presidential race would not only impel the incumbent PDP government to deliver the "dividends of democracy" to Nigerians or face being sacked in 2015, it will also enrich and strengthen the opposition for the ultimate prize ahead. It shall also make the presidential race competitive, worth our while and at the end of the scenario, Nigerians and Nigeria will be better for it.

4. However, there are current concerns that your age would pose a great challenge and become an impediment to your marketability in 2015. The proponents of this argument hold that leadership in the 21st century had long changed batons from the old to the young generation.

5. In all truthfulness, this argument cannot stand critical objectivity as the constitution has no clause for using age as a barometer to weed off people from the presidential race; most importantly, it is a well known fact that great presidents and leaders who had uplifted and advanced the cause of their people did not get into office in the earlier 20s. The example of A. Lincoln, G. Bush, C. Winston, F. D. Roosevelt, R. Regan, G. H. Bush, etc are instructive here.

6. Sir, 2011 presented a rare of opportunity for your election as the Nigeria's president following the death of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, the demand for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2015, "zoning debate" and political permutations in the country; that you lost that election to President Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan shall remain an issue of intense academic research and political debate for at least next 100 years of our nationhood.

7. However, this generation cannot fully exonerate your "rigidity" and "military disposition" to political alliance as one of the reasons for the outcome of the 2011 presidential election; this alleged "rigidity" caused you an alliance with the ACN, APGA and LP, it also robbed the CPC of at least 5 gubernatorial seats in Kano, Kaduna, Kastina, Bauchi, and Jigawa States. In fact, it is widely believed that Gov Umaru Tanko Al-Makura got elected into office of Nassarawa State governor not because of your popularity nor party structure but based on his past record of philanthropy and Sen Abdullahi Adamu's political acceptability and sagacity in that state.

8. It had been also argued in some certain quarters that you were "tactically" rigged out of the race but political pundits have also identified your choice of running mate as a "baggage too heavy for sale;" they hold that a running mate from SW zone immediately after President Olusegun Obasanjo finished his 8 years in the presidency is not an acceptable political reality in Nigeria.

9. Most importantly, your poor campaign in the SE, SS and SW zones of the country was misconstrued to mean that you already made up your mind that you can never get any sizeable vote there and drawing a new political map of the country. Indeed, many had wondered how you planned to win the election from day one since the constitution stipulates that you must win 25% of the total votes cast in 2/3 of Nigeria's federating states. Some Nigerians even vowed that you had planned to win only in the 19 northern states and FCT and then force a re-run where you will be elected with simple majority of votes which you could easily get from the north.

10. Sir, your early declaration for the presidency by three years before time has raised the par in our presidential electioneering history; it shall certainly give room for wide consultations, preparations and prime the election on issues rather than ethnic jingles. However, the factual truism is that if 2015 must be a political reality for your dream there are very important things you shall do. And, to my considered view, they are listed below:

-You urgently need to strengthen your party and the opposition parties; there is a need for mergers and alliances of the opposition parties Nigeria.

-You shall also sacrifice your "rigidity" if this mergers and alliances and other political dreams will ever see the light of the day.

-You must build structures in all nooks and crannies of this country and restore the people's confidence in your ability to be fair to all sections of this country.

-The issue of your involvement in project execution of PTF has not been laid to rest, indeed southerners still argue today that you sited most PTF projects in the north to the marginalization of the south. You must present the real facts and figures to discredit this claim or own up and promise to turn a new leaf when elected the president of Nigeria.

-Other issues like your alleged "Islamization" of Nigeria and explanation on some of the draconian decrees you promulgated as Head of state are also very important to be cleared as we march to 2015.

-You also should start mobilization for campaign fund in time as some Nigerians believe that paucity of fund has always been a bane to your route to Aso Rock.

-The choice of your running mate in 2015 will also play a critical role in the election, I hope you would go for a popular southerner when the time comes; most importantly, you must also start managing your public image through the media with the aid recruitment of good media managers. It is indeed imperative that you speak not as a northerner but a Nigerian in the public fora going forward.

11. Finally, as the dust raised by your re-entry into the presidential race and interview on "baboon and dogs" subside, you must conscientiously rebuild your personal integrity and credibility before Nigerians; there is no assurance that strict application of the content of this letter must land you in Aso Rock but it shall go a long way in helping you and your quest. And if it pleases Almighty Allah that you shall lead Nigeria, He will do it but whatever be the outcome of the election, thank Allah, Nigerians and go home loving and serving your country by insisting that your followers must not disturb the peace of Nigeria and take away innocent lives as they did in 2011 knowing fully well that Nigeria will have the best deal at the end of the day if you participate in the 2015 presidential election.

12. I wish you the very best and good health today and always.

Yours faithfully,

Okafor C. Udoka