If I were President Buhari, I will start grooming a successor right now - Dele Momodu (Details, pics)

The founder of Ovation magazine and Publisher, Chief Dele Momodu has revealed that he do advice the president of Nigeria, Muhammad Buhari to start grooming for a successor and not planning to go for 2nd term...

I would not be shocked or surprised if those currently enjoying the spoils of power dismiss my appeal to our dear beloved President as arrant nonsense. However, the truth is that Nigeria is in crisis and critical mode, deserving the most accomplished surgeons the country has, to excise the cancers and tumours ravaging her. We can no longer continue to wobble and fumble at the present snail speed. Time does not wait for anyone. And it will certainly not wait for Nigeria. APC parades many fantastic leaders but they are not able to blossom and glow in full bloom because of the overpowering aura of President Buhari. That power can be put to better use by helping APC to remain intact without experiencing the type of implosion that sentenced PDP to its shallow grave.

Iwill like to see APC retain the support and loyalty of Atiku Abubakar (who I believe should act like a true father of the party rather than desperately trying to return to power 12 years after he retired as Vice President) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu (who should continue in his now acclaimed role of kingmaker).

These two titans of the party should support President Buhari in harnessing the talents and strengths of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Bukola Saraki, Dogara Yakubu, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Nasir El Rufai, Aminu Tambuwal, Babatunde Raji Fashola, Rochas Okorocha, Rotimi Amaechi, Olorunnimbe Mamora, and several others who may be hovering in the wings with the hopes of becoming President or Vice President in the not too distant future. If these great assets are not well-managed and encouraged to sacrifice their personal ambitions and interests for the sake of Nigeria, history might just repeat itself because a house divided against itself will not stand.

A similar situation was mismanaged by former President Goodluck Jonathan who inadvertently lost the election the day he allowed some key members of PDP, to saunter away to join a new coalition called APC. With the benefit of hindsight, I am sure Jonathan would have eaten humble pie and stopped those aggrieved party members, by fire by force. Unfortunately, he was goaded and egged on by sycophants who probably boasted that Atiku, Saraki, Amaechi, and company were easily dispensable. They were dead wrong. Their exit led to the tsunami that swept away the Jonathan government.

My prediction is that if Buhari decides to stubbornly pursue his own personal ambition and agenda by not making the necessary sacrifice at this crucial moment, he may be swamped and consumed by the lava of the volcanic eruption that would definitely hit his party in a most devastating manner. Truth be told, Buhari would not have even picked the ticket of APC in the last primary election but for the herculean task and audacious effort of Tinubu, Amaechi, Saraki and others who performed the miracle of turning water into wine.

Believe me, nobody wins election in Nigeria based on sainthood or clean records. Elections require the ability to raise cash, tonnes and tonnes of it. In case he is oblivious to what transpired in the last election, the President should ask his campaign team what it cost to oil that blistering operation that catapulted the “invincible” Jonathan out of power. Who donated what and how were APC agents funded nationwide? It is not going to be that simple this time around. Most of those who fell for the change mantra have since changed from billionaires and millionaires to paupers. Many supported Buhari hoping they would not be hounded but permitted to henceforth do business the proper way. They were unprepared for the fury unleashed against them which has ensured they’ve not been able to do business, clean or dirty. They are just licking their wounds with equanimity and hoping that this nightmare shall soon pass away. Undoubtedly the Nigerian economy has suffered as a result.  The main beneficiaries have been shady multinationals who continue to steal us blind whilst claiming to support a failing corruption crusade.

Therefore, APC has to urgently re-strategize by picking one of its trusted and tested younger personages, hoping that he may reignite the much-needed passion in Nigerian youths, the business community and all those who feel short-changed and brutalised by the Buhari government. If APC lacks the courage to rejig its modus operandi, it may be forced to swallow its own phlegm sooner than later…

I will soon offer an analysis on what PDP needs to do to bounce back and beat the APC. My advice to all those who think PDP is dead and buried is that they should perish the thought because Lazarus may still rise. As a matter of fact, PDP is not dead. It is merely a sleeping and snoring giant. We may yet beleeping and snoring giant. We may yet be in for a rude awakening on all counts!

THE UNTOLD STORY OF CHIEF MOSHOOD ABIOLA

On July 7, 2018, it would be exactly 20 years since Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola suddenly died in solitary confinement. No one has been able to give a comprehensive account of the June 12, 1993, saga till this day. Nigerians, and the world at large remain in total darkness about why Nigeria’s best election was annulled, those with noble or dastardly roles, why the winner ended up in detention instead of Aso Rock, and how finally, only his lifeless body was brought back home.

Ovation Books, a new arm of Ovation Communications, is poised to offer a special publication on what remains another dark chapter in the chequered existence of our country. We need your help to make this dream a reality. All we need is access to hitherto never revealed information. We shall also be knocking on doors to seek definite answers to pertinent questions.

Did you know Abiola one on one, or do you have credible information that can help recapture the period of campaign, election, annulment, incarceration and disappearance from public glare from 1994-98? Were you a personnel at some of the detention centres he was kept? You may wish to write to us, even anonymously, about your experience. You may send text messages to us via +2348055069220, +233233751111. We promise prompt responses and where necessary will get one of our researchers to meet with you.

At Ovation Books, we plan to reduce the dearth of information on very distinguished Nigerians, by publishing biographies of great men and women. We are counting on your kind prayers as always.  The Abiola and June 12 debacle is just a tantalising beginning!