Between mandate and certificate

By Busy Brain

The political terrain in Nigeria in recent times is sloppy and many strong forces are falling into the murky water of the slippery terrain through tribunal weeding. The tribunal has ruled over different elections conducted in the past and the outcome was shocking. Like erosion, the tribunal is eroding the expected and unexpected. In Nigeria, the outcome of the elections announced by INEC is not always the final, the judiciary has always been the last line of action. Many electoral cases are still hanging in courts. It is the era of electoral brouhaha. In whatever way, the lawyers are smiling.

Out of the electoral proceedings going on in courts, the most serious one is between the aged long friends whose friendship clashed with interest. Politics is a dirty game. It has no permanent friend or enemy. What is constant is the interest. Tinubu and Atiku have wined and dined in the era of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). They belonged to the same political ideology and caucus. The urge for political power diverged their roads into separate parts. The path they chose differently has landed the old friends in the court of law at home and abroad exposing themselves to the world. A blacksmith who hits the iron on the same spot consistently must have seen some signs. For Atiku to have insisted on digging into the past in a strong term, he must have seen Tinubu’s weaknesses as camaraderie.

Like Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of needs theory, the peak of the pyramid of needs is what the duo of Atiku and Tinubu are dragging. That is self-actualization. Tinubu and Atiku only want to be named in the pages of history as President. They have long crossed the border of all pyramids of needs like many other political grandeurs.

I have come a long way to realize the differences between a mandate and a certificate. The masses through election have given their mandate to whom they consider the best for the job. Nigerians did not vote because of the certificates of the candidates during elections, Nigerians voted for their trusted candidate. Whether the trusted candidate is performing to the expectation or not, the time shall count. In positive or negative, the time has started counting. Nigerians chose Buhari massively over Goodluck Jonathan with a PhD. in 2015 without considering a certificate. Many Governors and myriad public office holders were voted in without degree certificates. In an electoral context, the people’s choice matters.

Tinubu served as a Governor and a former senator, which certificate did he tender to run for Governorship and senatorial race or certificate did not matter in those periods? Nigeria loses former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun on a flimsy note of NYSC certificate. In Nigeria, we tend to leave what matters to chase a misplaced priority. What should be the most important is good governance that will guarantee progress for all out pangs and pains. Without thinking twice, I will support Tinubu’s resignation based on performance; not because of a certificate. If the constitution specifies a school leaving certificate as a minimum requirement for the presidential position, arguing about a University degree while an SSCE holder can occupy the same position is a misplaced priority. If we are ready to be serious about certificates, requirements for political offices should be rejigged from its malformation, and the minimum requirement should be far from SSCE.

While the judiciary is to take its stand on Tinubu and Atiku’s case, I maintain the stand of people’s mandate. The certificate saga is a distraction; dead on arrival.