I actually took my seat early for this edition of TFI interviews and sat through 3 hrs of it before the call of scheduled teaching appointment meant I must earn my keep just about the time the moderator as usual invited questions from the audience, an invitation I could therefore not honour personally speaking.
However the issues I wanted to raise were duly raised by Professor Iheduru and the Nigerian Tribune Editor. In particular Iheduru raised the issue of the guest alleging that northern governor were behind Boko Haram, but Dr Mailafia's response was evasive and hid under the protection of the identities of his sources of information. The other issue raised by the Tribune editor dealt with restructuring Nigeria.
It was an open secret that Dr. Mailafia's interview was about his ambition to be the Nigerian President in the 2023 elections and flagged off his electoral campaign strategy.
I personally have nothing against anyone's personal ambitions and think Dr Mailafia would be equal to the task but my fears bother on the electoral calculus: just as I found it unpalatable to entertain President Goodluck Jonathan's ( another minority president) quest for a third term by stealth in 2015 in violation of the Constitution, or President Obasanjo's third term agenda, I also abhor the fact that a Mailafia presidency would be tantamount to ceding the rulership of the country to two northern Nigerian minority presidents in quick succession.
Nigeria is now fast becoming a country that favors majority rule in the breach while hypocritically campaigning for majority rule in other places such as South Africa.
Come 2023 if Nigeria entertains another minority rulership at the centre, this would signify that it is a failed state when it comes to upholding the principle of majority rule, as the elite of the two mumu majorities in the South ( the Yoruba and the Igbo) and the yęyę majority in the North ( the Hausa) scheme to impose a minority ruler on their teeming populations.
Let it be said that I have no personal issues with my brother Dr Mailafia and my principled stance on majority rule is similar to his principled stance on the issues he responded to in the interview. It is confounding that the Nigerian pseudo intellectuals could not comprehend let alone get their head round the significance of majority rule in a democracy.
If the 2023 elections does not produce a ruler that reflects the principle of majority rule, but instead the survival of the most politically aggressive, it is best Nigeria settles for a presidential council of the nation's geo-political regions.
OAA
-------- Original message --------
From: Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>
Date: 13/08/2021 17:31 (GMT+00:00)
To: dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>, Yoruba Affairs <yorubaaffairs@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ms. Bamidele Ademola-Olateju toInterview Dr. Obadiah Mailafia
Ms. Bamidele Ademola-Olateju to Interview Dr. Obadiah Mailafia
BAMIDELE ADEMOLA-OLATEJU is a Creative Writer, Author, Digital Strategist and Trend Analyst with Versatile Background in Technical Communications. She is the Convener - Circle of Hands, a youth development and advocacy organization and the New Initiative For Civil Development with focus on Civic Education and Community Organizing. She is a serial social entrepreneur and a spirited modern essayist actively involved in public intellection. She had her graduate studies in Business Administration and later Computer Information Systems. She has worked in software development, software engineering, project management and quality management in two top Fortune 500 companies before establishing herself as a farmer.
Her interests are in civic leadership, civic engagement, youth development and advocacy. She sits on the board of many non-profit organizations. Bamidele is a member of Premium Times Editorial Board and maintains a weekly column on Politics and Socioeconomic issues every Tuesday. Follow her on Twitter @BamideleUpfront.
Sunday, August 15, 2021
5:00 PM Nigeria
4:00 PM GMT
11:00 AM Austin CST
Register and Watch:
https://www.tfinterviews.com/post/obadiah-mailafia
Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85807196335
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