Yinka Odumakin: As The PDP Shops For Vice President -By Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh

The times are indeed interesting not just in our beloved country Nigeria but all across the globe. Political intrigues as shown by the desperation of certain politicians who wished to remain in power and the signs in the sky all pointed to something that was not only ominous but divinely directed.

It is important that I say this before I continued and which is that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was up against a formless opposition; the kind that can not clearly be seen but which was there all the same; like imaginary but real. It was said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was dead and gone.

Yinka Odumakin

It was also said that the PDP could not conduct a successful convention last year. It was equally said that they would be unable to conduct a successful presidential primaries given as it were, the number of persons who showed interest for the top job. But it is no longer news that they’ve done all that well.

This – to me – is the kind of opponent I dare not underestimate; an opponent that looked frail, out-of-match and completely unsuitable but which despite all the question-marks, does seem to have more than what it takes to defeat the incumbent. For me, this is enough evidence that the times are divinely directed.

The stage is now set for one of Nigeria’s most keenly contested elections. The PDP has as its flag-bearer; Alh. Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president of the federal republic of Nigeria (1999-2007). He will be slugging it out with APC’s Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and a host of other aspirants lined up on other political parties.

Alh. Atiku Abubakar is a businessman cum politician with long years of experience on the job as an administrator and in the field as aspirant.

During his tenure as Vice-president for instance, Alh. Atiku Abubakar presided over the privatization portfolio that supervised the liberalization of the telecommunications sector which led to the emergence of service providers like MTN, ECONET and later GLOBACOM.

That’s not all. He was an active participant as chair of the economic team that recommended the emergence of the mega banking system as government focused on bringing permanent solution to the problem of solvency in the commercial banking system.

A number of qualified men and women who served Nigeria in the cabinet of then President Olusegun Obasanjo as technocrats were brought on board by Alh. Atiku Abubakar. Notable among those fellows are current governor of Kaduna state Mallam Nasir El-Rufai; who served as FCT minister.

Atiku Abubakar is indeed a man with a very voluminous profile. He is a businessman of many decades, an industrialist, a farmer, an educationist, a media baron and most importantly, a philanthropist. He is a man that many sitting senators, reps members and even serving ministers are proud to identify with.

Recall sometimes back when a serving minister in the current administration openly said she was going to support her mentor and political godfather – Alh Atiku Abubakar – should he decide to run for president in 2019. But beyond popularity, Atiku Abubakar is a detribalized Nigerian.

This makes it fitting to have him come into office as president of the federal republic of Nigeria in 2019. As millions of Nigerians rejoice over your victory at the just concluded primaries; I wish to register my excitement and joy for you through this medium. Congratulations sir!

Now to the crux of the matter. As the PDP shops for a fitting vice-presidential aspirant; it necessary to remind her that the aim of this whole business was not only to dislodge this ‘colonial government’ currently in power but to also step in and redirect the ship of state on the right track again.

Hence, the search for the VP should be narrowed to the Southwest geopolitical zone. This is because it is a known fact that with the fast fading goodwill of the APC with the electorate, the beautiful bride – at the moment – is no other than the southwest geopolitical zone.

Comrade Yinka Odumakin is one quintessential youth I know – though from afar – whose passion for a better Nigeria was not fake. He is articulate, eloquent, knowledgeable and humble. A man endowed with the gift of speech and knowledge about how things could be accomplished cheaply.

He has been in the vanguard crusading for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation. Obviously, like the presidential aspirant who himself is an advocate for restructuring; Comrade Yinka Odumakin is a fitting match for the vice-presidential slot of the PDP.

It is commonly said that two good heads are better than one. It is no less an appropriate description for an Atiku/Yinka ticket. For the same way the church came out to vote for the professor in 2015, even so will the activists, Afenifere, the youth and indeed many well-meaning Nigerians vote for these.

Like I said earlier, 2019 is about dethroning a ‘colonial government’ and this makes it imperative that for the first time in our history, the search for those to lead us should go into the circles of the academia, the reformers and the activists. This is the only way we can match forward from where we are.

Folks who have written books about how the country could be fixed should be called upon to come reproduce their thoughts in practical. We should be tired of inviting folks whose only memory about Nigeria are their experiences about the civil war and about cattle routes that once existed in the 1800s.

If you let me, I wish to point to Comrade Yinka Odumakin as a fitting material for the vice-presidential aspirant. Myself and Nigerians in their millions will jubilate if this happens. Once again, I encourage those who are yet to take interest in politics, to rise up now. Never again should we make the mistake we made in 2015.

Comrade Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh is an advocate for attitudinal change, author and the coordinator of Save Nigeria Today Initiative. Send your comments via ifeanyi_mmoh@yahoo.com.