Muslim-Muslim ticket: A race to Aso Rock not a race to heaven, By Toba Alabi

Every candidate’s choice of running mate is targeted on winning the election not how to go to heaven.

This is Aso Rock race not Heavenly Race.

Good morning. There’s no fairness in politics. Power is never served to you, you take it.
Anyone criticizing the APC for their choice of VP candidate does not understand politics.

Politicians are in politics to win election. It’s that simple.

PDP gave Atiku the ticket because they see him with bigger capacity to help them win than the other contestants in their primaries even though it was against what the Southerners wanted.
The same applies to Atiku Abubakar’s choice of a running mate. He went for Ifeanyi Okowa because he is a mixture of South-East and South-South. It’s all about winning.

Peter Obi didn’t choose Datti Baba-Ahmed out of love for the Northerners or because he is sensitive to Nigerians. He did so because he needs that combination to stand a chance in the elections. That’s why all the people who hitherto saw Nigeria as a Zoo or the northerners as evil are now hailing Datti Baba-Ahmed’s choice. It’s all political expediency.

You go into the World Cup with your first eleven. Competence trumps Sentiments where competitive sports are concerned.

Rather than criticize Brazil’s squad to the World Cup for instance, a wise opposing Team that wants to defeat Brazil will look for how to exploit whatever they consider to be the weakness of that squad.

The parties have chosen their squad for next year’s election. Let them be. They cannot force you to vote for them so what’s the noise about?

Democracy is about choices. You cannot claim to be a democrat and deny me that right. But I must be ready to live with the consequences of my choice. That’s life.

APC has made her choice. So has PDP and the Labour Party. It’s the turn of Nigerians to make their own choice.

Mobilize people to vote for your preferred candidate. Engage them, not with insult, threats or blackmail as some are inclined to do but with superior argument. Don’t whine on social media. Hit the road! Go from house to house. Canvass for your preferred candidate. Give me reasons why I should vote for him.

All the candidates are Nigerians and are qualified to lead us so there’s no point labelling those who don’t support your choice as enemies of Nigeria. It’s cheap blackmail. It won’t work.

And like Dr. Raphymoj Olaitan Omo-Ajuwara posited, getting angry over APC’s choice of Shettima as VP candidate may be counter productive in the long run, especially for the Church.

What if we oppose Tinubu and he still wins like PMB did in 2015 and 2019 without our support? We will end up registering ourselves as politically dispensable. There are other offices that are even more relevant in the scheme of things than the VP. The Senate President and Speaker of the House are more powerful politically than the Vice President as far as Nigerian Politics is concerned today.

Is it not more strategic to negotiate now with the APC for these positions since the President and Vice President may be Muslims? Won’t our interests be better served that way?

What has a sitting Christian Vice President been able to do to address the concerns of the Church in the last 7 years? The general thinking is that Prof Yemi Osinbajo was relegated to the background in the scheme of things. If we truly believed that, why are we therefore still fixated on the office of the VP?

Election is about choices. The parties have chosen. Let the citizens now choose.

I come in peace.There’s no fairness in politics. Power is never served to you, you take it.
Anyone criticizing the APC for their choice of VP candidate does not understand politics.

Politicians are in politics to win election. It’s that simple.

PDP gave Atiku the ticket because they see him with bigger capacity to help them win than the other contestants in their primaries even though it was against what the Southerners wanted.
The same applies to Atiku Abubakar choice of a running mate. He went for Ifeanyi Okowa because he is a mixture of South-East and South-South. It’s all about winning.

Peter Obi didn’t choose Datti Baba-Ahmed out of love for the Northerners or because he is sensitive to Nigerians. He did so because he needs that combination to stand a chance in the elections. That’s why all the people who hitherto saw Nigeria as a Zoo or the northerners as evil are now hailing Datti Baba-Ahmed’s choice. It’s all political expediency.

You go into the World Cup with your first eleven. Competence trumps Sentiments where competitive sports are concerned.

Rather than criticize Brazil’s squad to the World Cup for instance, a wise opposing Team that wants to defeat Brazil will look for how to exploit whatever they consider to be the weakness of that squad.

The parties have chosen their squad for next year’s election. Let them be. They cannot force you to vote for them so what’s the noise about?

Democracy is about choices. You cannot claim to be a democrat and deny me that right. But I must be ready to live with the consequences of my choice. That’s life.

APC has made her choice. So has PDP and the Labour Party. It’s the turn of Nigerians to make their own choice.

Mobilize people to vote for your preferred candidate. Engage them, not with insult, threats or blackmail as some are inclined to do but with superior argument. Don’t whine on social media. Hit the road! Go from house to house. Canvass for your preferred candidate. Give me reasons why I should vote for him.

All the candidates are Nigerians and are qualified to lead us so there’s no point labelling those who don’t support your choice as enemies of Nigeria. It’s cheap blackmail. It won’t work.

And like Dr. Raphymoj Olaitan Omo-Ajuwara posited, getting angry over APC’s choice of Shettima as VP candidate may be counter productive in the long run, especially for the Church.

What if we oppose Tinubu and he still wins like PMB did in 2015 and 2019 without our support? We will end up registering ourselves as politically dispensable. There are other offices that are even more relevant in the scheme of things than the VP. The Senate President and Speaker of the House are more powerful politically than the Vice President as far as Nigerian Politics is concerned today.

Is it not more strategic to negotiate now with the APC for these positions since the President and Vice President may be Muslims? Won’t our interests be better served that way?

What has a sitting Christian Vice President been able to do to address the concerns of the Church in the last 7 years? The general thinking is that Prof Yemi Osinbajo was relegated to the background in the scheme of things. If we truly believed that, why are we therefore still fixated on the office of the VP?

Election is about choices. The parties have chosen. Let the citizens now choose.