2023 Presidential Aspirants – Magicians Of The 21st Century

Truly, there are expectations that dramas will unfold ahead of the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria. However, one may not have imagined that there will be this much aspiration from politicians.

The list of presidential aspirants, so far, queuing up to clinch the nation’s number one political position has called for observation.

We have never had it this much in Nigeria, maybe I am young, but history has bared it down for all to know.

How do we tell it to the next generation that a political leader was once in power for eight years and his allies, aides, and party chieftains kept away from him the solutions to challenges that wrecked his administration? Only for them to wake up with aspirations flipping their camouflaged solutions to electorates.

This is the case with Nigeria, with politicians trooping out in 2022 from different parties with unimaginable solutions to rescue the country from its dying state after a series of appraisals of the principal.

It is the usual thing for a person seeking a political position to declare his or her manifesto.

This will help the electorates to understand what they stand to gain if they should throw their weight behind the particular candidate.

However, revealing  manifestos has only become a custom in Nigeria, the promises it holds are never delivered in the real sense.

Nigerians have endured hardship in the last few years and the state of the nation is becoming more worrisome with more woes still happening daily.

Should we talk about security? even the powerful and influential figures in the country can not boast of safety in their crafted havens as it stands.

The issue of insurgency has become the order of the day and we have almost lost counts of casualties.

The nation’s economy is nothing to write about with the current inflation rate, food crisis, and fuel scarcity, among others.

With all these happenings, one would have thought that it will be difficult to get someone to come boldly parading himself as the next saviour of the country.

The case is however different with politicians in my dear country, Nigeria.

We have barely shouted Happy New Year in 2021 when the bandwagons started their campaign to succeed the incumbent government come 2023.

Suddenly, even the clueless in their lists now have solutions to the problems we suffered for years.

This set of people I call the MAGICIANS OF THE 21ST CENTURY.

Characteristics of a good leader they say are; integrity, ability to delegate, communication, self-awareness, gratitude, learning agility, influence, and empathy.

It is, however, disappointing that these cannot be found with most political office holders and aspirants in this part of the world.

The 2023 general election is already here, and both the sheep and the wolves are already making declarations with their padded promises to salvage the nation from its current woes.

Aspirants are now trooping out like event attendees to purchase nomination and interest forms in millions in the same ravaged, poor economy-stricken country.

An African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist, Malcolm X once said and I quote “You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.”

That time has come, and indeed it is here that Nigerians must not allow themselves to be deceived again by the magicians of the 21 century who only have solutions to problems because they stand to gain something in return.

Citizens must not sell their birthright for a loaf of bread or some pieces of devalued Naira.

The outcome of the 2023 general election must never be a result of vote-buying by the moneybags.

Nigerians must let their Permanent Voters Cards and convictions be the judge to emerging a true and patriotic leader that will take us further in the next four years.

– Richard Ogunsile Joshua.