From: 'Okenwa R. Nwosu, M.D.' okenwanwosu@yahoo.com [NaijaObserver] <NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 6:44 PM
Subject: ||NaijaObserver|| AVOIDANCE OF PUBLIC DEBATE IS ANTITHETICAL TO MODERN STATE CRAFT
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General Muhammadu Buhari |
Democracy is government of the people for the people by the people. It is noteworthy that the recurring feature in democracy and democratic ethos is the "people". The political leaders of ancient Greece took their message to the people in the public square and like forums where the nuances and philosophy of governance were openly discussed with the people close-up. The tradition of engaging the people in political discourse in public places still persists in many parts of the world today. Hyde Park in London and Lafayette Square near the US White House are living examples of public venues where whoever have political message to share with the people can still go, mount a podium and simply talk to the public on any topic of their choice. The principle here is that political discourse in a democracy is always the people's business.
History was made in 1960 when American voters first had the opportunity to watch the two top presidential candidates, John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, live on TV as they used this modern tool in mass communication to debate with one another before the US electorate. That was more than half a century ago. Since then, live TV debate between rival political candidates has practically become the norm in all democratic electoral contests worldwide. Breakthroughs in information technology in recent decades have evolved many more innovative media to enable greater intercourse between political leaders and the people. It is particularly important that aspiring political leaders, within a democracy, should present themselves and their ideas to the people whose votes are being sought through open general elections. In a head-to-head electoral contest, the electorate is better informed about the candidates and their ideas by closely watching the contestants as they marshal their points, make their cases and even answer questions, if needs be. A well prepared electoral candidate usually sees the public debate as a unique opportunity to showcase his/her unique capabilities before the voting public. An electoral candidate who prefers to avoid public debate, on the other hand, is either unsure of himself as an individual, unfamiliar with his message or may lack faith in the very message that he is supposed to convey to the voters. Most often, political candidates with something to hide from the public would do their utmost to avoid public exposures of all sorts. Not having to answer potentially embarrassing questions about one's antecedents is surely one of the reasons for any political candidate to avoid a public debate.
The lead opposition candidate in the February 14th presidential election, General Buhari, was reported to have declined to face his rivals in nationally televised debates scheduled for this general elections cycle. The opposition party, APC and its candidate alleged that Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG), the entity organizing the first presidential debate, perpetrated "unhidden bias and campaign of calumny" against General Buhari, whatever that means. Other groups have extended similar invitations to the contesting presidential candidates and they were all declined by General Buhari, this time, without giving much of any reasons or excuses. The ruling party candidate and incumbent President GEJ then made an enticing offer that was intended to lure General Buhari into accepting to, at least, appear for a nationally televised pre-election public debate before February 14th. President Jonathan was reported to have challenged the opposition candidate and his party to organize a public debate in whatever format they preferred and then to invite him to partake. From all indications, that offer was also declined.
It has, therefore, become clear that the APC presidential candidate, General Buhari, is resolute in his decision to avoid public televised debates before the February 14th polls, at all costs, for no cogent reason. It is now up to the electorate and civil society to seek rational explanations for this unprecedented refusal by a major presidential candidate to debate with his rivals on matters of national priorities, policies and state craft before the voters. Perhaps, the only way to make head or tail from General Buhari's bizarre aversion to engage in open discourse on issues national governance and nation building is to revisit the candidate's many unflattering antecedents.
1. Many entertain the notion that General Buhari is intellectually challenged and had no evidence to show that he had completed basic educational training required of all applicants to qualify for the presidential contest. It is currently being alleged that the high-school diploma included in the APC candidate's completed application form with INEC was forged, for example.
2. As a former military strongman, General Buhari was head of a ruling junta which overthrew the 2nd Republic's constitutional democracy headed by President Shehu Shagari and Vice President Dr. Alex I. Ekwueme in 1983. The general may be bothered by the contradiction implied in his current quest to be the head of the same constitutional democracy that he brazenly toppled 30 years earlier.
3. The reign of terror which marked his ruling junta's tenure at the helm still reverberates in the consciousness of an overwhelming majority of the country's electorate. Possible questions regarding his past stint as a military dictator may be too much for the APC presidential candidate to field under the glare of television bright lights.
4. Even more important is the fact that General Buhari has no grasp of the intricacies entailed in management of Africa's largest economy. The general is quoted to have responded to a question about how he would deal with the declining Nigeria's oil revenue if elected by assuring his interrogator that he shall "work to control the global oil market". His handlers must have since tutored him about the senselessness of his response. Follow up questions on the matter are quite possible during a live debate and the only way to avert such a public embarrassment is to keep the APC candidate away from any such exposure.
5. The escalating Boko Haram insurgency is supposed to be garnering the APC presidential candidate enthusiastic following in the Muslim-dominated states of the Far North. Neither the APC nor its leader and presidential candidate, General Buhari, have had the occasion to answer some real hard questions regarding the many security challenges posed by the Boko Haram and its highly placed sponsors who are well-known close associates of the general and leaders of his party.
6. And the list goes on …………..
Based on the preceding, there are definitely sufficient reasons for General Buhari to avoid the exposure of a televised public debate at all costs.
It may be convenient and even tactically smart for General Buhari to avoid public debate with his more capable and better prepared rivals in the presidential contest. But is what's good for Buhari and his party necessarily good for Nigeria and our democracy? The answer, of course, is NO.
General Buhari and the party behind his candidacy, the APC, have reached a low ebb in the ongoing electioneering campaign because of a combination of issues, some of which were self-inflicted while others may have been unanticipated. Minimizing public exposure as the means of stemming the visible decline in momentum is a false stratagem for addressing an issue which has increasingly become a major concern for we the people. The recent U Tube video documentary that narrates General Buhari's unflattering track record has succeeded in refreshing the voters' fears about the man who is now appealing for their votes come February 14th, 2015. If General Buhari, the presidential candidate, is indeed any different from the austere, brutish and corrupt military strongman portrayed in the said U Tube video, he ought to have seized the opportunity offered by the suggested televised public debates to redeem himself.
But if he fails to do so, the electorate shall be left with no other choice than to head to the polls on February 14th with only the image of General Buhari which they had watched in the one-hour U Tube video to judge the APC candidate's suitability to be elected to lord it over Africa's largest democracy and economic powerhouse.
The choice is clear.
Okenwa.
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