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President
Jonathan should not back out of the presidential debate-By
Kenneth
Uwadi
Newsdiaryonline Sat March 5,2011
Washed-up, the big white
notebook, brought out again, I write from the bed, as i always
do. My doctor is to see me today, Saturday. I have little fever.
This doctor, he will come to ask the same old questions .How are
you today? Weak legs?
Head-aches?
Back hurts? Do you
drink alcohol? He will ask. Are you getting your exercise, your
drugs?
Here he
comes, I saw someone walking towards my bed. Oh, it must be my
doctor of course. Wrong, not him, this time it’s just my friend
Emeka. "hello, Emeka, have you heard that President Jonathan has
backed out of the
presidential debate?”
Whish wan kom
be this again naa....? So you still believe presidential debate
will hold in Nigeria again? Dem never give them envelopes for
primaries? Abi...the first ladies never dash dem bags of rice,
tin milk and tomato? Wetin concern agbero concern overload again
for presidential debate in Nigeria? The
presidential debate for
the April election will not hold,he said.
My friend Emeka made
me to burst with laughter .
To Emeka the
presidential debate thing is a big joke. God damn! The thought
that Emeka may be right( hit) me ..like
a .22. Barely few
days to the scheduled
Nigerian presidential debate, we are made to understand that
there
is disagreement between
President Goodluck Jonathan and three other presidential
candidates over the mode of the debate. The others are Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu (Action Congress of Nigeria); Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
(Congress for Progressive Change); and Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau
(All Nigeria Peoples Party).
Television
station NN24 in conjunction with about 30 international
stations, is organising the live debate for the four top
Presidential runners. The order of the debate as arranged we are
made to know is as follows: First Presidential debate (March 8);
Vice-Presidential debate (March 11); and Second Presidential
debate (March 18).
 The
Nigerian Media is
awash with
news that President
Goodluck Jonathan
has backed out of
the presidential debate. I rolled back again over my
small bed thinking , how
can this be true, our
president must not back down. I even heard that the Ribadu camp
have started laughing. Mr. Ribadu has come up with a remark in a
release made available to newsmen by its campaign organisation
that since 1999, PDP presidential
candidates had been shying away from debates because they
had nothing to offer. Ribadu is wrong because GEJ is
different.GEJ has a lot to offer Nigerians. I hate the i am
better than thou attitude ,the type Ribadu is exhibiting. Ribadu
graduated from the Nigerian Law School and was called to the bar
in 1984, before joining the Nigeria Police.Barristers and
lawyers – ah! ...now we know why each one is well trained in the
fine art of lies.
Early 2007,
Ribadu was all over
the news that he has
finalised plans to put some fraudulent governors behind
bars. Then, as Chairman of EFCC, he presented himself
as a tough
no-nonsense guy with all established evidences against corrupt
governors. Most of us believed him
then, others understood
him as a man full of sound signifying nothing. We can recall
that the list of
corrupt governors provided by Ribadu when he was the EFCC boss
contained Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu . How come that the
same Asiwaju Tinubu
is now Ribadu’s
benefactor? What
morals is Ribadu
teaching us?
Can we take him serious? .Is he different from the rotten lot?
GEJ’s voice
is thunderous.
His voice and his ideas will surely
drown the voices of
Ribadu and co in a
debate so Ribadu should stop beating his chest. It is indeed
necessary for this debates to go on
to enable Nigerians
see the nothingness in
what Ribadu professes to
have in stock for Nigeria. GEJ should
not back out of the
political debate .The
practice of organizing presidential debates is not new, not even
in Nigeria. The practice dates back to 1858 in the United States
when there were the famed seven debates between Abraham Lincoln
and Senator Stephen A. Douglas when both were running for the US
Senate. The debates were face-to-face debates with no moderator
involved.
The first presidential debate in the United
States took place in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard
Nixon. Since then, it has become customary for candidates of the
Democratic Party and the Republican Party to engage in a debate.
The topics discussed in the debate are often the most
controversial issues of the time. The first televised
presidential debate in Nigeria was for the 1993 presidential
election between the late MKO Abiola, candidate of the defunct
Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bashir Tofa of the defunct
National Republican Convention (NRC). Thereafter there was
another debate between their running mates namely Babagana
Kingibe and Sylvester Ugoh respectively. We can do
it again in Nigeria.
George W. Bush showed an abundance of
character and charisma in his debates against both Al Gore and
John Kerry. Ronald Reagan was able to define himself in the
debate with Walter
Mondale. Bill Clinton was perhaps the best candidate to ever use
the debate with his
opponents, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole to form a lasting
perception that propelled him to the White House .I
pray to hear my phone ring for someone to tell me our president
has accepted the presidential debate.
-Kenneth
Uwadi writes from Mmahu-Egbema,Imo State, Nigeria
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