But at this shining moment in our democratic journey, there are 10 clear winners who, from a leadership perspective, we must recognize and celebrate for their contributions in making the 2015 elections a pleasant success; a historic landmark; the dawn of a new democratic beginning for Nigeria and; an aspiration realized for most Nigerians and friends of Nigeria.
1. NIGERIANS: MAKING A STAND. With the 2015 Presidential elections, three dynamics were clearly discernible: one, that Nigerians were largely frustrated and disillusioned with the status quo. Two, that Nigerians were determined to participate effectively in the electoral process and make their voices heard and; three, that there was a strong and palpable yearning for a change in the status quo.
And so on election day, from Awka to Ningi, from Asaba to Birnin Kebbi and from Ikeja to Lokoja and indeed across the length and breadth of this beautiful and blessed land of Nigeria, citizens poured out in their millions as early as 7:00am and lined up to vote. In some instances, the INEC officials did not arrive until 11:00am, but Nigerians waited patiently. In many locations, the smart card reader did not function or functioned improperly but citizens refused to be provoked, they remained in line orderly. In yet other situations, some sensitive materials like results sheets were not available yet Nigerians remained peaceful. Regardless of the nature of the challenge that the system threw before citizens on election day, they remained focused and determined to wait it out and cast their vote. And cast their votes they did and proceeded to wait again deep into the night, in many parts, to observe the sorting, counting and announcement of votes. The sun of the day did not deter them. The chill of the dark night did not dim their determination. Nigerians provided candles, torchlight, lanterns, generating sets, calculators, illumination from the headlamps of their cars and their phones. They willingly provided whatever else that was needed to help make the exercise conclusive and successful. In this, Nigerians collectively demonstrated that an engaged citizenry is better than a passive citizenry. They proved that the power of the people is greater than that of the people in power. Through their patriotism and single-minded determination they changed the face and character of politics and governance in Nigeria forever.
Never in the history of Nigeria have Nigerians exhibited such an uncommon level of unity and determination to use the power of the ballot to effect an overwhelming change in the leadership structure and policy direction of their country. For decades, those of us in civil society have advocated the need and importance for citizens to engage and participate actively in the political process, particularly, with the intent of holding leadership accountable in other to strengthen democratic governance and result based leadership. It now appears that with this election, Nigerians finally heeded the call and in doing so, made history by using their ballot to unseat an incumbent democratically elected President for the first time ever in Nigeria. For a long time, politicians on all divides have mouthed change, reform and transformation, but in one day and in one decisive exercise of their franchise, Nigerians rose and showed the nation what real change and transformation looks like.
For their uncommon act of courage and confidence in the power of the ballot; for their resolute determination to participate in the electoral process, vote and protect their vote and; for waking up from their passive followership and participating fully with the determination to change the course of history in Nigeria, Nigerians are deserving winners in the 2015 Presidential election.
2. PROFESSOR ATTAHIRU JEGA: INEC CHAIRMAN PAR EXCELLENCE. Looking at Jega operate, you wonder, if anyone can truly be that cool, calm and collected. His candor, transparency, professionalism and patience, simply breathtaking. Professor Jega’s transparent commitment to reform INEC, institute a regime of openness and deliver a free, fair and credible election that is technology and people driven is only surpassed by the passion and desire of Nigerians to cast their votes in the election.
Put aside the challenges with PVC printing and distribution, difficulties with adequate training of INEC ad-hoc personnel, hiccups here and there with the operation of the smart card readers plus logistic set-backs with transportation, Professor Attahiru Jega delivered an election that majority of Nigerians, the international community, local and foreign observers believe is substantially free and fair. Nigerians only need to think back to what obtained during the tenure of Jega’s predecessor to appreciate how far along the road of progress we have travelled in our journey towards credible elections.
Watching Professor Jega on live TV question and tutor his fellow professors who served as State Collation Officers in the Presidential election was deeply reassuring and reflective of the courage, competence and thoroughness with which he approached his job. Seeing him insist on painstakingly going through all the state results manually, punching his calculator and cross-checking every figure line by line was simply a brilliant display of meticulousness and commitment to delivering elections results as transparently as humanly possible. Professor Jega’s cool, calm dignified and masterful handling of the now infamous and provocative outburst of the PDP Party Agent, Elder Orubebe, more than anything else sealed his place in the consciousness of Nigerians forever.
To successfully and peacefully execute a high stakes Presidential election, that has been largely forecasted will be the last in a united Nigeria, is a stupendous achievement; a reflection of the integrity and capacity of Professor Jega which made it easy for Nigerians, politicians and the international community to accept the process and outcome of the Presidential election. Ordinarily, given the near excellent performance on the job by Professor Jega, one would imagine that he eminently qualifies for a second tenure in office, and if nominated, Nigerians will certainly support his reappointment. But again, Professor Jega set a new standard for values-based leadership in the public service in Nigeria when he pulled a shermanesque type move by announcing that he will be leaving at the end of his tenure in June and will not accept any offer to serve a second term. For his performance and results based leadership, professor Jega qualifies as a legitimate winner in the 2015 Presidential election.
3. PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN: GLOBAL STATESMAN. President Goodluck Jonathan comes in as an unlikely candidate for winner in the 2015 presidential elections. And that is exactly what makes his story compelling. In leadership, what a leader does from day one is important but what a leader does last is defining because that is what is likely to endure in the hearts and minds of people.
That is the case of President Goodluck Jonathan. After six years of a lack luster performance in an administration held hostage by brazen corruption; a government that was replete with inane symbols but totally bereft of deep thoughts or impactful ideas, President Jonathan woke up in the morning of Nigeria’s finest hour and heeded the advice to call and congratulate President elect Muhammadu Buhari at a time when all the election results had not been fully announced and Buhari had not being declared winner. This was a defining move and is significant in more ways than one.
The timing of President Jonathan’s congratulatory phone call to Buhari was extremely useful in diffusing tensions that were already building up in certain sections and minds in the country. Put squarely, with that singular phone call, President Jonathan deflected the drum beats of war and steered Nigeria towards an enduring peace. With that phone call, a rancor-free transition became reality. That phone call was a bold and decisive moral action that diffused the ubiquitous prophecies of war and Nigeria’s disintegration as outcomes of the 2015 elections. By ignoring the selfish advice of the motley crowd of hawks around him who were baying for blood and confusion, President Jonathan seized the moment and in that intersection in history, injected peace into the consciousness of a nation tottering on the brink of disaster. With that phone call President Jonathan forever engraved his name in gold as a global statesman deserving of the respect of Nigerians and the international community. With that one phone call, President Jonathan earned the right to be forgiven his many leadership failures. Equally remarkable, is the fact that this was the first time in the chequered political history of Nigeria that a candidate for president in an election, in this case, the incumbent, will lose the election and have the humility and magnanimity to call to congratulate the winner. This is a milestone of historic proportion with consequential impact on the growth of democracy and democratic ethos in Nigeria.
I have heard some argue that President Jonathan does not deserve any accolade or praise for congratulating Buhari. Their argument, largely, is that congratulating the winner is not a big deal because it is the right thing to do. In spite of whatever merit this point of view may hold, we must ask the pertinent question: If congratulating the winner is the right thing to do and it is not a big deal, then how come no one has ever done it before now in Nigeria? To attempt to deny President Jonathan this one credit that is due him will be very uncharitable. For his leadership in diffusing a potential post election crisis in Nigeria, President Jonathan stands tall as a winner in the 2015 Presidential election.
4. PRESIDENT ELECT MUHAMMADU BUHARI: THE NEW MR. PERSISTENT
As a leadership coach of over 20 years repute, one of the constant struggle in my profession is the search for fresh and germane material that can be used to teach, communicate and demonstrate the character and value of leadership. On Thursday, April 1, 2015 General Muhammadu Buhari handed my colleagues and I the best material we have had in ages when the INEC Chairman formally declared him the winner of the 2015 Presidential election.
Perseverance, persistence, single-minded commitment to a goal, disciple, Never giving up, Never quitting, these are common talking points in a typical class on leadership values. And perhaps the greatest example of persistence, before the events of Thursday, April 1, 2015 in Nigeria, was Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America.
But all that changed on Thursday, April 1, 2015 when Buhari emerged President elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Here is a man who ran for President in 2003 and lost. Ran again in 2007 and lost. But he never gave up. So he ran again in 2011 and lost again. This time it was so bad that some tagged him as “perpetually unelectable.” But if they taught that will stop him they thought wrongly. Nothing could deter a determined Buhari. Not even his own emotional public declaration not to run again could stop him. And so in 2015 he threw his hat in the ring, again, for the fourth time in a sixteen year run. And behold, the fourth time became a charm, ushering in Buhari as President elect. Like or hate Buhari, you must respect the man’s persistence, discipline, guts, focus, determination and courage to stay the course of his ambition and conviction.
Interestingly, to win the coveted sit of President, Buhari, both by personal effort and sheer providence, first had to win over to his side all those who assailed him in the past – Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Nasir El-Rufai, Olusegun Obasnajo, and many others who had consistently opposed him in the past, were all in Buhari’s corner, this time around, for his successful 2015 run. There are too many leadership lessons to be learnt from Buhari’s victory and the journey leading to his victory, but that is a story for another day.
Today, we can proudly say, move over Abraham Lincoln, and welcome General Muhammadu Buhari as the newest, latest and best example of persistence. For believing in his dreams even when others despised him; for remaining true to his ideals and values through the ages; for bequeathing to the teeming youths of Nigeria an invaluable value of leadership and; for winning the coveted price of President in Nigeria’s most hotly contested election, President elect Muhammadu Buhari emerges as a worthy winner in the 2015 Presidential election.
5. BOLA AHMED TINUBU – AN IROKO TREE THAT MAKES A FOREST
More than anybody else, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban Borgu, is an all round winner in the 2015 Presidential election. An enigma of sorts. To those who despise him, he is just a common thug or at best, the quintessential mafia Don. Yet others believe he is an irrepressible political merchant; the masterful National Leader of APC and the revered Prince of Bourdillon, who for all intents and purposes is also now the Prince of Asokoro. Tinubu and his family is the closest thing to political royalty and a political empire in Nigeria. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was so impressed with Tinubu’s political sagacity that he attested to his compelling evolution: “Tinubu is a different political animal from whatever he was in 1999.” In his finest hour, some are beginning to argue that Tinubu has not only matched the accomplishment, prowess and fame of Obafemi Awolowo but he has indeed surpassed the late sage.
Whichever way Tinubu is perceived or characterized, the reality is that the emergence of APC as a political force in the banana littered terrain of Nigerian politics; the election of Buhari as the APC Presidential candidate and subsequently as Nigeria’s President elect; the mobilization and channeling of the energy of Nigerians around the notion of change, can all be directly, in some cases and indirectly in others, credited to the behind the scenes brilliant tactical political maneuvers of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This is a man who started his political conquest with Lagos state and gradually secured the entire southwest region. Then he began to extend his tentacles to the south-south region through Edo state. But midway, providence handed him some unexpected gifts and the Jagaban decided to shift gear and go for the plum price, the Presidency.
In the 2011 Presidential election, Tinubu, in a brilliant political gambit, hatched a deal with President Jonathan to deliver block south west votes to him and in return Jonathan and his PDP will allow Tinubu and his party to retain control of the southwest gubernatorial seats. It worked like magic. Tinubu delivered the block south west votes that helped crown Jonathan President while he consolidated control of the south west geo-political zone. But come 2015, Tinubu, always the consummate political tactician and visionary, withdrew support for Jonathan and threw his full weight behind General Buhari. And the rest is history. It can therefore be argued, reasonably and logically, that Tinubu played a pivotal role in determining who presided over Nigeria in 2011 and who will be presiding over Nigeria from May 29, 2015. Without a doubt, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is today Nigeria’s de-facto Kingmaker. The puppet master, who masterfully pulls all the right strings behind the scene.
The story of Tinubu reads like a fable or a fairy tale, only that it is not, it is brazen reality. The most influential politician in Nigeria today, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, emerges as a proud winner in the 2015 Presidential election for providing strategic leadership in the democratic plot that inspired the historic election loss of an incumbent Nigerian President.
6. INEC STAFF: DEMOCRACY FOOT SOLDIERS
Some stood under the sun for hours waiting for buses that in some cases never came to transport them and their materials to their duty locations. Two lost their lives in active duty. Some used their funds to buy non sensitive election materials like biro pens and stamp pads that were not provided. Most suffered abuses and humiliation as they fiddled with smart card readers trying to get them to work. Most worked into the night with lamps and torchlights trying hard to make sure elections were conclusively held. Some went without food for hours on end, working to attend to determined voters. Others, more senior officials, were in the different INEC offices nationwide, carrying out various functions to ensure that the elections held successfully. University professors who served as state collation officers, not excluding those of them who were apparently so visually challenged that they required the aid of table lamps, all put in their level best just to give Nigerians what they wanted: credible election.
They all worked hard and gave it their patriotic best. All of them. Permanent staff and ad-hoc staff alike. They resisted intimidation. They eschewed compromise. They served with honor and integrity. And for their patriotic leadership, INEC permanent and ad-hoc staff are deserving winners in the 2015 Presidential election.
7. THE G5 GOVERNORS: WHEN PUSH CAME TO SHOVE
Amaechi of Rivers state, Abdulfatai of Kwara State, Kwankwaso of Kano State, Nyako of Adamawa State and Wamakko of Sokoto state. These are the five Governors (G5 Governors) who cross carpeted from the PDP to the APC in the twilight of their disagreement with President Goodluck Jonathan. In response to their defection, the then PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, shockingly gushed “good riddance to bad rubbish.”
Well, the rest is now history. By the time the 2015 presidential election was done, the votes tallied and Jega announced the winner on Thursday, April 1, 2015, the PDP belatedly realized what a “useful rubbish” the G5 Governors are. Without the defection of the G5 Governors, the PDP would have most likely won in Kano, kwara, Adamawa and Sokoto. Which means President Jonathan would have most likely been popping champagne at this hour with the likes of Elder Orubebe. Buhari would have finally retired from politics and focused his attention on writing his memoirs.
It was Magaret Mead who wisely postulated that “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has” I totally agree, but to fully appreciate the wisdom and truth of Mead’s postulation, let us take intellectual liberty, attempt a minor edit and try Mead’s quote again: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed and totally pissed off Governors can change the trajectory of a Presidential election. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” Truth be told, that is really the only thing that has ever caused an incumbent Nigerian president to lose an election in which he is a candidate.
Seriously, is there anyone out there who believes that Buhari would have won the 2015 election if the G5 Governors did not defect to APC? Or asked differently, is there anyone out there who believes that incumbent President Jonathan would have lost the 2015 Presidential election if the G5 Governors had remained in the PDP? The answer to both questions is as easy as the answer to this other question: 19 Governors and 16 Governors, which is greater? Your answers are as good as mine.
During the Governors Forum election that held in 2014, the G5 Governors proved that 19 is greater than 16. Surprisingly, in the 2015 Presidential elections, they turned logic and arithmetic on its head and proved that 11 is greater than 23. Best numbers trick I have seen in my life!
Numbers games aside, the G5 Governors are deserving winners in the 2015 Presidential elections because: they enriched our democracy and changed Nigeria’s political landscape forever; they demonstrated that politics is a serious numbers game; they proved that power belongs to the people and; that any leadership that is unresponsive to the needs of the people will ultimately fail.
8. OLUSEGUN OBASANJO: PRINCIPALITY AND POWER
It is common to hear some politicians and even journalists make the rather naïve case that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is a feather weight who has no political relevance or utility. Their argument is typically contingent upon the fact that they believe that Obasanjo cannot even win a ward or local government election in his home state of Ogun. The truth is that Obasanjo has never been a local or grassroots politician and therefore commands little or no influence at that level.
Move over to presidential politics and you have a man who can best be described as a principality and power. The history of the making of Presidents and Heads of States in Nigeria cannot be complete without a generous mention of Olusegun Obasanjo. The late military dictator, Sani Abacha was so paranoid in his fear of Obasanjo’s legendary ability to make and unmake Presidents that he had Obasanjo incarcerated on trumped up treason charges. Highly respected in the northern geo-political zone of Nigeria; revered in the Nigerian military and feared by political opponents, Obasanjo is the go to oracle when it comes to Presidential power play. You only need to know which horse Obasanjo is betting on in a Presidential race to know which one will win. It’s really that simple. And it’s being so for decades.
No one, no group and indeed no geo-political zone that is serious about producing the President of Nigeria can afford the luxury of taking Obasanjo forgranted. That is how influential Obasanjo has become. Ask Former military President Babangida; Late winner of the June 12, 2003 Presidential poll, Abiola; late Head of state Abacha; late President Yar’Adua and soon to become former President Jonathan. Obasanjo’s hands can be seen directly or indirectly with the rise and or fall of all of them. Obasanjo makes Presidents as quickly as he breaks them. In 2007, Obasanjo picked the then Katsina state Governor, Umaru Musa Yar’adua and literarily crowned him President. When Yar’Adua’s health start failing and his inner circle commenced their game of crowns with Nigeria, Obasanjo, It was, who moved to call out President Yar’Adua and publicly demanded the President resigned. Before Nigerians could assimilate the news of Yar’Adua’s subsequent death, Obasanjo, using his cronies like Senate President David Mark, moved quickly to crown Jonathan President.
Unfortunately for President Jonathan, it was not long before he transformed into a Shakespearean tragic hero and committed the one hubris that facilitated his downfall – President Jonathan allowed himself to advised into the fatal miscalculation of falling out with the Balogun of Owu Kingdom. He actually likened Obasanjo to “a motor park tout” For this mortal indiscretion, Obasanjo moved swiftly and began, piece by piece, like a skilled artisan, the specialized task of dismantling the support structures of the Jonathan administration. Obasanjo reached out to his extensive network of friends in the international circuit; resigned his position as PDP BOT Chairman and withdrew from participating in PDP programs; quietly began recruiting the foot soldiers that will execute the plot afoot, even going to the extent of cultivating his erstwhile estranged political foes such as Bola Tinubu and Rotimi Amaechi, etc; periodically released press statements and letters that mortified the Jonathan administration; published his memoirs which assailed the Jonathan administration in more ways than one; sent out word to his vast network of contacts in the political class, traditional institutions, retired military class, etc that the Jonathan administration has outlived its usefulness; directed his supporters in the PDP to cross over to the opposition APC, etc.
In short, Obasanjo did so much behind the scene to uplift and help the opposition APC gain credibility and acceptance in Nigeria and internationally while simultaneously orchestrating the erosion of goodwill for the PDP and his estranged political son, President Jonathan. By the time Obasanjo published his book in 2014, My watch, in which he boldly proclaimed that he “will do everything possible to make sure that he (Mr. Jonathan does not return to power”, informed political watchers knew that it was all but over for President Jonathan. Why? Because those who know Obasanjo and the inner workings of Presidential politics well enough will tell you that Obasanjo will not make such a public threat against a sitting Nigerian President except he knew for a certainty that President Jonathan will be successfully dethroned.
Some have even argued that a good number of the trusted men and women working for President Jonathan were actually moles who were secretly keeping Obasanjo informed. Over 80% of the incumbent PDP Governors are fiercely loyal to Obasanjo who made it possible for them to become Governors when he was President. For greater effect, Obasanjo tacitly encouraged former cabinet members in his government like Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Nasir El-Rufai to hemorrhage Jonathan’s public goodwill through a strategy of relentless criticism of his administration’s programs and policies.
By the end of 2014, Obasanjo had so tightly tied the noose around the flat footed Jonathan administration that there was really no price for guessing rightly that Jonathan and his PDP were going to lose the 2015 Presidential election. It had become trite knowledge. For siding with the aspirations of Nigerians to end the regime of impunity in Nigeria and for bringing to bear his vast leadership experience in the Change project, Obasanjo stands out as a winner in the 2015 Presidential election.
9. PRESIDENT OBAMA & THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: SOFT POWER.
Pissing off Uncle Sam is not always a good idea. But that is exactly what Jonathan’s administration succeeded, in so many ways, to achieve in the course of the last six years.
Informed watchers of international relations, particularly between Nigeria and the United States of America would have observed for a while that relations between the two were far from cozy. The first shocker and tell tale sign came far back in July 2009 (during President Yar’Adua’s tenure, which Jonathan is seen to be an extension of) when US President Barack Obama visited neigbouring Ghana and did not even as much as drive through Nigeria, the so-called giant of Africa. If anyone missed the point of President Obama’s angst with Nigeria, series of prepared remarks that he made in Ghana gave more than sufficient clues: “...Ghana has proven, I think, to be a model for Africa in terms of its democratic practices. And I very much appreciate the efforts that President Mills has taken not only to ensure fair and free elections, but also to root out corruption, increase transparency, make sure that government is working for the people of Ghana and not just for the few.” (Emphasis is mine) for those who still did not get the message, President Obama’s next statement delivered to the Ghanaian Parliament, is poignant enough: “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong Institutions.” Not a few interpreted these statements as subtle jabs at Nigeria’s corrupt political leadership, particularly, in the aftermath of the 2007 general elections, globally acknowledged to be the worst ever in Nigeria’s history.
The increasing cases of brazen corruption and impunity in Nigeria without any corresponding number of prosecutions only worsened relations between the two countries. The populist gay bill accented to by Jonathan did not win him any favours with the US. But perhaps the last and worst diplomatic faux pas committed by the Jonathan administration was the move to buy military equipment from Russia, a country that was under severe sanctions from the international community led by the US. Jonathan also ruffled feathers with colonial big brother, UK, when he extended national pardon to former Governor Alameseigha, who remains a wanted fugitive in the UK.
The timid response of the Jonathan administration to the rampaging Boko Haram terror group which culminated in the abduction of over 200 Chibok girls is perhaps the last straw that galvanized the US government to begin to encourage other world powers like the UK, France, Germany and South Africa to take a subtle stand against Jonathan’s return. Not only did the US and these world powers begin to apply soft power in creative ways to undermine the Jonathan administration, they also moved to provide strategic support to bolster Buhari and his APC using their embassies, foreign missions and other diplomatic channels. Not too many believe that it is mere coincidence that AKPD Message & Media, an American political and media consulting firm, the same firm responsible for Obama’s two successful Presidential elections run, just happened to be the same firm that the APC hired as messaging consultant.
Consider also for instance the following: the controversy about the US’s refusal to sell military hardware to the Nigerian government to prosecute the war on terror; the curious seizure of a privately registered Nigerian aircraft in South Africa for the crime of carrying over 9 million dollars undeclared cash meant for purchase of military hardware; the invitation by Chatham House, UK, to Buhari to deliver a seminal paper on a world stage very close to the elections; in an unprecedented and historic move, the US foreign Secretary, John Kerry flew into Lagos, shortly before the elections were postponed for six weeks, to first meet with Buhari, the opposition Presidential candidate. Then, rather than fly to Abuja to meet with President Jonathan, President Jonathan was literarily asked to come down to Lagos to meet with John Kerry; President Obama’s sudden interest in Nigeria which has attracted more than one Presidential address to Nigerians within this election period; the visit of US ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, to the ICC INEC collation center in Abuja on Sunday March 29, 2015, which some have condemned as ”an undue interference in a sensitive and important internal affair of this country.” Not surprising too, Germany and France are the first two countries to invite Buhari for bilateral talks right after the Presidential election. All coincidences or a well coordinated international plot against Jonathan, ably led by the US? Your guess is as good as mine.
President Obama has visited several African countries but still refuses to come to Nigeria, but with Jonathan’s exit, it is almost certain that Obama will visit Nigeria, ostensibly to show solidarity with Nigerians for the democratic progress and milestones gained through this peaceful election, at some point before the end of his tenure in 2016. For providing international and diplomatic leadership and; for working assiduously in support of Nigerians’ clarion call for the enthronement of true democracy, transparent institutions, rule of law, good governance and credible elections in Nigeria, President Barack Obama and the United States of America are true winners in the 2015 Presidential election in Nigeria
10. PASTOR ENOCH ADEBOYE AND RCCG: SIGNS & WONDERS
Pastor Enoch Adeboye is easily the most respected and influential Christian leader in Nigeria if not in all of Africa. And for good reason too. Regarding the 2015 Presidential election, two distinct moves by Pastor Adeboye stands him and his church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in good stead as winners.
First, For decades the General Overseer of the ubiquitous RCCG, affectionately referred to as daddy Adeboye or daddy GO has established an annual ritual of releasing prophetic messages in January of every year. These prophecies typically cover events in relation to four distinct categories in the New Year, namely: Prophecies regarding INDIVIDUAL members of the church; prophecies regarding the INTERNATIONAL community; prophecies regarding RCCG and; prophecies regarding NIGERIA.
For the first time ever, the prophecies for the year 2015 released by Pastor Adeboye in January 2015 had no tangible list of prophecies under the column for Nigeria. Instead it had just one simple but profoundly prophetic statement which in hindsight only reinforces the wisdom, anointing and power of God on this humble Pastor. The column for Nigeria simply read: “by the end of the year, many will say “all is well that ends well.” And of a truth, in spite of all the false prophecies of doom and gloom, it has indeed ended well for Nigeria and majority of Nigerians who voted for Buhari are rejoicing and saying that it is well. The elections came and went peacefully. President Jonathan, against all permutations, conceded defeat and congratulated President elect Muhammadu Buhari. And the drums of war were silenced eternally. How profoundly sublime! How prophetic in its simplicity!
Second, when the RCCG senior pastor, Yemi Osibanjo’s name came up as one of those under serious consideration as running mate to Buhari, he quickly sought the wise counsel of his father in the Lord, Pastor Adeboye. Reports have it that Pastor Adeboye simply prayed for him and told him “if they offer you the position of running mate to Buhari, accept it. All is well.” And the rest is trite history. Buhari offered Osibanjo the Vice-Presidential slot, he accepted and today he is Nigeria’s Vice-President elect.
If ever there was any doubt as to the veracity of Pastor Adeboye’s prophecies or whether he truly hears from God, those doubts I must say must have by now abated. The wise man of God and father to all that he is, Pastor Adeboye refused to endorse any candidate and warned all RCCG Pastors to refrain from partisan political comments and allow God’s will alone to be done. There are significant lessons for all religious leaders to learn from Pastor Adeboye’s Christian leadership, but that is a subject for another time. For being a prophet of peace; for producing the number two citizen of this country and; for providing credible spiritual leadership at a time of great confusion and uncertainty in Nigeria, Pastor Adeboye and RCCG are outstanding winners in the 2015 Presidential election.
LAST WORD
Our democracy is better because of the 2015 Presidential election. Governance will certainly improve because of this election. Impunity and corruption will significantly reduce because of this election. Never again will elected leaders act so brazenly and fail so woefully in providing productive leadership. Nigerians, more than ever before, now know and understand the enormity of the power that they hold and can wield through the instrumentality of the ballot. Politicians now know and understand that they will be vigorously examined at the end of every 4 years. They also know that with the PVC, the smart card reader and a more engaged Nigerian voter, the margin for successfully cheating in elections is minuscule. In all, the 2015 Presidential election is a win for Nigeria, Africa, democracy, good governance and development. Indeed, all is well that ends well!
Anthony Ubani, a Leadership & Communications Development consultant, writes from Abuja
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Anthony Ubani