Road to Aso Rock 2023: In search of a true patriot as president of Nigeria

BY NNAMDI UMUNNABUIKE

As Nigeria’s democratic journey enters a new dispensation in 2023, the search for a transformational leader to steer the ship of the state is brewing. As expected, arrays of politicians have thrown their hats into the ring for the topmost job of presiding over the most populous black nation in the world. Political parties whose task it is to present candidates to Nigerians to choose from have released guidelines in accordance with the timelines set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In about a month time, Nigerians will be presented with the choices made available by the political parties with the ruling All Progressives Congress and the main opposition People’s Democratic Party leading the pack. This piece will aim to showcase the most ideal candidate that Nigeria needs at this critical time of our nationhood.

Our democratic trajectory from 1999 till date is replete with many actors and their role from the sublime to the ridiculous in this journey is well documented. At a critical time of our nationhood, one name stood out for the exemplary role he played in saving democracy from claws of greed and avarice, that person is Dr Ken Nnamani.

Dr Ken Nnamani presided over the Nigerian Senate from 2005 to 2007 and made tremendous impact on our body politic despite the short time he held sway. Since he left office, there has been hardly any senate president that can be compared to the stellar leadership of Nnamani’s senate. The Nigerian political hemisphere was therefore agog with excitement as Dr Ken Nnamani signified his interest to contest for the president of Nigeria in 2023. As cheering as this news is, it also calls for remembrance and reflection on the person of Nnamani and the ideals he espouses that makes him the best fit for the next president of Nigeria.

First, we cannot forget in a hurry, the high turnover that characterised the presidency of the senate. Within a period of six years, the senate had had four presidents, with each of them leaving office based on slips from the proverbial banana peels. His coming on board the presidency of the senate put an end to this through series of restructuring in the administrative processes of the senate and by extension, the national assembly. Nnamani reformed the process of awarding and execution of contracts by ensuring the removal of the senate president as the chair of the senate or national assembly tenders’ board. By that move, he reduced every possibility of distraction and involvement of the senate president in the award of contracts. No wonder on December 2007, a number of agencies including EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau as some international agencies such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime presented him with a joint model award for transparency and good governance.

Secondly, it is important to remember that Nnamani laid the foundation for transparency and accountability in the legislature when against all odds he allowed critical and sensitive discussions to be aired live. Nnamani understood that power resides with the people and therefore owed the people an account of stewardship by allowing them hear directly from their representatives on the floor of the senate. Building on this disposition of the Senate under his leadership, civil society were enabled and emboldened to campaign for #OpenNASS.

The battle against the third term bid of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2006 was the most defining task of his tenure as president of the fifth Senate of the Nigerian legislature. Ken Nnamani displayed extraordinary patriotism and loyalty to Nigeria and Nigerians. He rose above pecuniary gains and chose the path of honour. He succinctly captured those moments in book ‘Standing Strong’. “For me, my order of loyalty and responsibility was clear. It was first to my country and my people before it was to my party. The reason I was elected senator was to represent my people and my state. And once I was elected by my peers to be senate president, I had become elected to serve them and, by extension, their constituents who together are all the people of Nigeria. So, while I was conscious of my responsibility to my party, I knew that if it conflicted with my loyalty and responsibility to the country, then it would have to suffer. This was my resolution as I walked into the senate red chamber to call the house to order and begin the constitutional amendment debate in earnest”.

Having remembered his actions and activities while he headed the senate, it is also trite to reflect on the effect of his style of leadership on political outcomes in Nigeria and Africa at large.

By stamping his feet and ensuring that the third term bid of the then President Olusegun Obasanjo did not come to fruition, Nnamani set a new barometer of leadership in African states with tenure elongation becoming unfashionable. In many an African country, attempts by enemies of democracy to subvert the will of the people have often been resisted, and in cases where some have been successful, timelines are usually proffered for the restoration of leadership by the people and for the people.

It is important to also reflect on the possibility of a military coup if the third term bid had scaled through. If there was a third term, who says there wouldn’t have been a fourth or a fifth term, thereby creating the conditions necessary for a military take-over.

The air of patriotism, trust, fairness and equity that pervaded the political environment at the end of the fifth senate and in extension the Obasanjo presidency created a seamless transition and power shift to the north.
The role of Ken Nnamani in delivering a new electoral law 2022 where he led 24-man constitution and electoral reform committee, set up to review the laws governing the electoral process and make recommendations for reforms which has received applause from far and wide cannot be wished away. Now, more than ever before, Nigerians anticipate a more credible election in 2023. Thanks to the profound work of critical stakeholders and the Ken Nnamani-led committee.

The evidences of Ken Nnamani’s patriotic service to Nigeria should be reinforced with more opportunities to serve. The All Progressives Congress (APC) should therefore look no further on who can lead the party to victory and bequeath to Nigeria a country that works for her people. This is therefore an advocacy for a proven nationalist to be given the APC presidential ticket. It is better to hand the ticket to a proven nationalist and patriot like Dr Ken Nnamani than others whose sense of nationalism and patriotism have not been proven.

Finally, Nigerians should reflect on the character of persons who can represent their best interest. Is it somebody that can be bought? Shouldn’t the ticket be given to someone who sacrificed momentary gains for the good of the nation?

Ken Nnamani represents the character of a president that can serve the best interest of Nigeria while still standing strong on his beliefs, creed and credo.

Arise O fellow compatriots, history beckons!

Umunnabuike is a researcher, public affairs analyst and development practitioner. His interests are in Development Finance, Entrepreneurship and Africa Development.