By:KAYODE AJULO
Lend me your ears, O Noble People of our Great Land!
The President, our President has spoken. He spoke loud, some would say cryptically but his language, to the initiated is clear and unambiguous.
He has spoken like a true General that he is, a General in the Army of a State, not a rag-tag army, neither an army of bandits.
Generals are masters of the game of warfare, strategists and tacticians. The feat of leading men to war from which they may never return takes all the wisdom and strategy only a thoroughbred General can muster.
Our General Buhari, yes, our President Buhari is one who possesses all these qualities and a whole lot more.
Like all officers who rose to become Generals in an Army like the Nigerian Armed Forces, President Buhari at different times in his career led patrols, platoons and companies. He commanded Battalions, Brigades and Divisions. He was a Field Commander too, he was and now is the Commander-in-Chief of the strongest army of the largest black Nation.
President Buhari has spoken and we heard him right when he addressed the APC Governors yesterday.
He made it clear that he has a candidate. Who wouldn’t? He unequivocally stated that he wanted his candidate to be his successor. Again, I ask, who would not?
President Buhari did not shy away from saying that the objective of the Party “must be the victory of our party and our choice of candidate must be someone who would give the Nigerian masses a sense of victory and confidence even before the elections.”
I beg to ask who fits the above bill?
Who does this cap fit?
Who enjoys a wide acceptance such that over 4000 groups have been clamouring for his emergence over the past one year?
Who is able to ensure “a sense of victory and confidence even before the elections” in the spirit of that which was expressly penned by the President other than PYO?
Though PYO himself has been diffident about bringing himself forward to the admiration of his principal, this project can be said to have been on for several years as Senator Ojudu and others are living witnesses to the constant, consistently passionate and patriotic agitations that have hitherto cut cross across the length and breadth of Nigeria.
It is an undeniable fact that without throwing money around like some others, PYO today, has a cult-like followership with far-flung and widespread support which made it possible and easy for him to embark on and execute a nationwide interactive sessions with APC delegates as well as non-partisan stakeholders in all the 36 States and Federal Capital Territory, whereas none of his fellow aspirants has been able to achieve this great feat.
Again, Paragraph 7 of the President’s speech to the APC Governors is insightful and instructive as the President left no one in doubt to state that his candidate must be the one to ensure “continuity and smooth succession”
Continuity denotes the unbroken existence and extension of an action, a policy or even a government. Succession on the other hand denotes the existence of an intended successor.
The American Constitution (by its 25th Amendment) upon which the Nigerian Constitution is based, expressly declares the Vice President as the Successor of the President. Yes, it is in the event of the President’s incapacitation by any reason listed in the Constitution and during the pendency of their joint term, it however gives teeth to my long held and often advocated conviction that the Vice-President, when his joint term with the President is coming to an end should of necessity be given a first right of refusal to succeed his Principal having been a constitutionally recognised successor for two terms.
Who else can truly be trusted to succeed the President and be trusted to continue those laudable policies of the present administration other than the man who has been in the thick of it all for seven unbroken, meritorious and crises-free years?
I am further bolstered in our conviction by the well-known fact that our dear President, being a genuine statesman, though usually of very few words would have carefully considered the swing of the national pendulum and in his characteristic self, taken the high road of rightfully choosing his successor in the person of his loyal Deputy before penning those golden words.
Fellow Nigerians, given the above, I have the pleasure to affirm my conviction that the President has chosen a worthy, loyal, brilliant and admirable successor and the discerning would see that indeed Baba has spoken.
May the Almighty, the most Merciful and most Magnificent continue to bless Nigeria and bless you all.
1st June, 2022
Dr Kayode Ajulo, FCIArb. UK
Castle of Law, Maitama,
Abuja-Nigeria
kayodeajulo@castleoflaw.com
