OPINION: Between Mandate and Certificate


_By Busy Brain_



The political terrain in Nigeria in recent times is sloppy and many strong forces are falling into the murky water of the slippery terrain through the tribunal weeding. The Tribunal has ruled over many different elections conducted and the outcome was an eyesore. Like erosion, the tribunal is eroding the expected and unexpected. In Nigeria, the outcome of the elections announced by INEC is not always the final, the judiciary has always been the last line of action. Many electoral cases are still hanging in courts. It is the era of electoral brouhaha. Any which way, the barristers are smiling.

Out of all the election proceedings going on in the court, the most hit one is between the aged long friends whose friendship clashed with interest. Politics is a dirty game. It has no permanent friend or enemy. What is constant is the interest. Tinubu and Atiku have wined and dined in the era of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). They belonged to the same political ideology and caucus. The urge for political power diverged their roads into separate parts. The path they chose differently has landed the old friends in the court of law at home and abroad exposing themselves to the world. A blacksmith who hits the iron on the same spot consistently must have seen some signs. For Atiku to have insisted on digging into the past in a strong term, he must have seen Tinubu's weaknesses in the era of friendship.

Like Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of needs theory, the peak of the pyramid of needs is what the duo of Atiku and Tinubu are fighting to attain. That is self-actualization. Tinubu and Atiku only want to be named in the pages of history. They have long crossed the border of all pyramids of needs like many other political grandeurs. The self-actualization pyramid is the reason why it is difficult for Atiku to accept the will of God. He hunts abroad to upturn what God has predestined and stamped. It is not possible.

I have come a long way to realize the differences between a mandate and a certificate. It is so disgusting to start digging up the certificate after losing the mandate. The masses through election have given their mandate to whom they consider the best for the job. Nigerians did not vote because of the certificates of the candidates during elections, Nigerians voted for their trusted candidate. Whether the trusted candidate is performing to the expectation or not, the time shall count and it has started counting. Nigerians chose Buhari over Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 without considering the certificate. Many Governors and myriad public office holders were voted in without certificates. In an electoral context, the people's mandate matters most while others are secondary.

Tinubu served as a Governor and a former senator, which certificate did he tender to run for Governorship and senatorial race or certificate did not matter in those periods? Nigeria loses former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun on a flimsy note of NYSC certificate. In Nigeria, we tend to leave what matters to chase a misplaced priority. What should be the most important is good governance that will guarantee egress for all out pangs and pains. If it comes to worse, I will support Tinubu's resignation based on his level of performance; not because of a certificate. If the constitution specifies a school leaving certificate as a minimum requirement for the presidential position, arguing about a University certificate while an SSCE holder can occupy the same position is a misplaced priority.

While the judiciary is to take its stand on the authenticity of Tinubu's certificate as released by Chicago State University, I maintain the stand of valuing people's mandate. The certificate saga is a distraction.