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Former Australian
Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd recently told the Financial Times: “I
believe in politics for the two questions it asks of us. One is: ‘What
do you stand for and why?’ And the second is: ‘Do you know what you are
talking about?”

These are excellent questions to carry over into the Nigerian situation.

Think of Nuhu
Ribadu. What comes to mind is a man who came into public reckoning on
the strength of his fearlessness, and determination to rid Nigeria of
financial crime. Think Fola Adeola and Pat Utomi, and their impressive
resumes speak for them, evidence of a consistently-manifested genius
for visionary thinking, and for the management of people and resources.
Tunde Bakare brings “conviction”, “fearlessness” and “integrity” to
mind.

I think of Dele
Momodu and of a certain drive and eclectic ambition; a man who, once he
sets his eyes on a goal, will work to make it happen. Muhamadu Buhari
evokes frugality and (to borrow from Wole Soyinka) “dis’plin” –
qualities sorely needed in a country ravaged by lawlessness and
recklessness.

Now think of
Goodluck Jonathan, and what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s time to confess
my confusion. Has Mr. President done a great job of letting us know
what exactly he stands for, and to what extent he knows what he’s
talking about. I honestly can’t say for sure.

Maybe it’s simply a
personality issue. Mr. Jonathan does seem to be an introvert, which in
itself is not a bad thing. But I fear that he is not doing a good
enough job of asserting himself in the office he occupies. (Now, sadly,
this is one of those lines that I fear someone in one of the
anti-Jonathan camps will seize and proclaim on Facebook, for campaign
purposes).

Nigeria’s
challenges demand presidents with a certain verve, an awareness both of
the intimidating challenges they face, and the intimidating power they
wield to bring transformation.

Ribadu, Buhari,
Bakare, Adeola, Utomi, Momodu have all clearly demonstrated that verve,
that ambition, in one way or the other, even if it has sometimes played
out in flawed ways. I suspect that there are quite a number of
Nigerians frustrated by President Jonathan’s ten months thus far in
office – for one who came to the presidential palace by way of a most
unusual path, as an ‘outsider’ in a system dominated by complicated
tribal and cabal ties, there is too much same-old-same-old in this
presidency.

Come April we will
know if he’ll get a second chance or not. What is most important for
now is for him to realise that, unlike in 2007, or 2003, Nigerians now
have the kinds of alternatives we’ve dreamed about for long.

I think Nigerians
deserve to celebrate the fact that in theory Nigeria has perhaps never
had it this good in terms of choice of presidential palace material.
That Nuhu Ribadu, Fola Adeola, Tunde Bakare, Dele Momodu, and even Mr.
Jonathan himself (in the face of the tribal challenge by the so-called
‘Northern Elite’) can seriously aspire to be President or Vice
President, is a sign of how far we’ve come from, say, 1998, when Sani
Abacha was the only man “whom the cap fit.”

I think – or should
that be ‘hope’ – events of this election season, that have thrown up
this impressive array of candidates – constitute strong evidence that
Nigerians are ready to sing ‘Nunc Dimittis’ to our long-cherished
tradition of ‘anything goes’ in our political space. Everyone who
remembers how an ailing, uninterested Yar’Adua was arrogantly foisted
upon us in 2007 ought to weep again and again for this country.

It appears (alas
for now one can only say ‘appears’) to be dawning on Nigerians that
there is a connection between the ‘quality’ of those who roll around
town in lengthy, noisy convoys, and the ‘quality’ of life lived in the
country.

For too long, our
matches have been played by ball boys, whilst the ‘first eleven’ remain
seated on the bench, watching helplessly, sometimes even cheerleading.
Now, hopefully, a revolution beckons.

But I still have
one fear: that after the dust has settled, and April’s spoils of
victory have been shared, everyone who is not a winner will immediately
go to sleep beneath a “Wake me up in 2015” banner.

Surely no country
that is serious about its destiny treats its politics like a ‘Leap
Year’. In sensible countries, every day counts. Politicians are judged
not by the last-minute promises they manufacture, but by how they have
conducted themselves, in and out of power, since the last elections. In
Nigeria however, politicians – winners and losers alike – go to sleep
as soon as election results are out.

In the event that
the Ribadus and Adeolas and Bakares and Shekaraus and Momodus and
Utomis do not win come April, I do not expect them to return to
“personal life.” And if they do, Nigerians should not take them
seriously next time. Ribadu for example has a strong youth movement
that should seek, whether its candidate wins or not, to blossom into a
force as significant in Nigeria as the Tea Party is in America.

Hopefully no one thinks it’s too early to start talking about 2015.