“All is fair in politics.”
“Election is not served a la carte in a restaurant and must be grabbed, snatched and run with it at all costs.”
Nigerians demand an apology from a President that has a diarrhea of the mouth.
Because the aforementioned statements are not democratic principles. They are capo di tutti i capi words. Jungle words.
Democracy is not war. It is rules. It is ballots, not bullets. It is persuasion, not possession. When a sitting president normalizes “grab, snatch and run,” he tells thugs, he tells desperate politicians, he tells the next generation that power is taken, not earned.
This is dangerous. It reduces elections to armed robbery. It makes INEC a spectator and the voter a victim.
Section 14(2) of the 1999 Constitution says sovereignty belongs to the people. Not to those with the biggest muscles or the loudest mouth. To then turn around and preach “all is fair” is to spit on the constitution you swore to uphold.
The President must rescind those statements. He must apologize to Nigerians for these unguided words that are capable of truncating democracy and enforcing breach of peace during the electioneering campaign.
Leadership is not about sounding tough. It is about setting tone. When the father of the nation speaks like a street urchin, the children of the nation will act like one.
Nigeria has bled enough. We do not need a president who teaches us how to steal power. We need one who teaches us how to respect it.
Apologize. And choose words that build, not burn.
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bcradle@ymail.com