The campaign race was both thrilling and tiring while it lasted. I’ve been through thick and thin; traversed lengthy and tortuous terrains; engaged multifarious audiences, and experienced volatile situations–all in my quest of a destiny, a destination, a duty: the highest responsibility to my country. The Presidency. That race was like some rehearsal for the ultimate role for which I had gone into the race in the first place.
Then Elections Day came and, with it, a second and more tortuous phase of my introspection. The simplest and easiest chore of the day for me was casting my lone vote. That could probably take only a few minutes and moves. But my weightiest vote would be cast by the multitude of my electorate across the country.
That vote could undergo hours of harsh climates, hunger, thirst, fatigue and other frustrating factors. That vote could be cast by the strong, healthy youth or by the aged, burdened by one ailment or other. It could be cast by the women-folk, some of them sharing the hours between attendant maternal cares and the vote; by the disabled, defiant of their corporeal constraints, in such belief in a vote; by spouses who were sanctioned by their marital partners with waivers to cast a sacred vote.
Now that I’ve become the President, what’s next? How do I frame my zeal to promptly and precisely serve my people within the confines of political protocol and arms or tiers of government? Now that I’ve become the President, how do I make much of the little in fiscal projections to really reach the grassroots? How do I translate, say, fiscal figures allocated to agriculture, into good corns garnered into a granary by a happy village farmer or into a rural housewife’s multiplying chickens or goats? How do I balance educational allocations between concrete infrastructure/equipment and availability of competent and contented teachers? How do I arrest those educated but idle young hands and feet across the country with viable vocational opportunities?
How do I generally tackle industrial hiccups via their attendant grievances? Does my new title ‘president’ mean I should ‘preside’ over all public services and servants in the country to ensure things are done right? How should I so preside over them? Is it by self-exemplification or law enforcement or both? If the Legislature is to propose laws, the Judiciary is to translate laws, and the Executive is to execute laws, do these three roles not revolve around the same legal pivot?
So, why should there be any disagreement among them?
Now that I’ve become the President, dear fellow citizens, if I do wrong, teach me to do right; if I do right, tell me to do more. Just as my mandate of presidency rests on the power of your collective votes, let the decisions and duties of that presidency be continually complemented by your collective feedback. That feedback will be recognized by me, God willing, be it in the form of genuine individual or collective complaint; be it via any one of the mass media; be it in face-to-face interaction with me during the numerous ‘personal verification tours’ that will characterize my presidency; be it in the physical improvement or otherwise in any affected sector of your lives.
Now that I’ve become the President, may I call on all of us to pray then plan then proceed to tackle the major national problems that require our immediate attentions. We cannot afford to prolong our celebrations, lest we celebrate the elongation of problems. However, my own inquisitive stimulus will for long remain: Now that I’ve become the President, how far could I go in fulfilling the promises of my candidacy, campaigns and presidency? How much could I accomplish? How well, how soon?
Dr Ahmed Umar,
Dutse, Jigawa state
