Debating the Presidential Debate!

Alex Aidaghese

23 hrs · 

Introduction

A Presidential Debate is not the same as a Town Hall Meeting. It is called a debate because it provides an opportunity for the candidates to confront each other, present their agenda or manifesto, debunks one another as time permits, and at the same time, convincing the viewers (the electorate at home) that you're indeed the best of the park. Today, that did not happen.

President Buhari

There is no excuse for what happened today in Nigeria. I took the pain to read the response from the PDP Presidential Campaign Desk (shared on my Wall), signed by my friend, Mr. Festus Keyamo SAN, and I must confess, the excuses are not persuasive - not strong enough. I would have rather, he focuses solely on exhaustion or physical debility as a result of the fully packed engagements in the past few days. So, based on the advice of his Doctor, he respectfully asks to be excused. As simple as that.

Vice President Atiku Abubakar

With respect to Vice President Atiku's unscripted withdrawer, I would have suggested the contrary - take the plunge, Sir. Granted, Mr. Atiku would have been the main target by the other three candidates, but that strategy comes at a huge cost. The more time you spent attacking your opponent, the less time you have dissecting your agenda and marketing yourself to the electorate - the viewers at home. Yes, I would have compelled my candidate to go in there and ruffle heads. Yes, go there; be Presidential, stay focus on the message, prove that you're the missing link - the very best the electorates have been waiting for. Tell the voters that you have a plan, but the other guy doesn't, and that's why he couldn't show up, etc, etc, etc.

Mr. Omoyele Sowore

As for my friend Omoyele Sowore, the organizers of the debate own Nigerians some explanations for what they did to that young man. As at of this moment, there is no candidate on the Ballot who can boast of traversing the length and breadth of this country as Sowore has done. So, I really do not understand why he was excluded. It was profoundly a disappointing act. I am reluctant to call it a fiasco. Sowore deserves a spot. His denial is not only condemnable, but an indelible mark on our electoral process.

Analysis

Participating in a Presidential debate is not "it is my prerogative" kind of a thing. It's an essential component of a democratic dispensation. It is the only opportunity that the viewers have to assess all the candidates in one setting. It's about exuding Presidential attributes for the viewers at home. If you believe you have what it takes to be elected President, step forward and articulate it. 

If you cannot articulate it or explain it, it means you don't know it. If you don't know it, you cannot implement it when in office. I call it policy statement - the bedrock of your motivations in power. You must be able to articulate why you want to be President.

It is like discussing free education or free healthcare or affordable healthcare. Papa Awo prepared for it with the help of young brilliant experts. Same with President Obama with respect to the Affordable Healthcare Law. You must be prepared to be a purposeful performer in government. Idea deficit is a sin - a disqualification per se.

It is more than "I want to provide security and reliable electricity." How? What are you going to do differently? It is about audacity, vision, and intuitive instincts.

Papa Awo did not go about campaigning on Free Education at all levels alone. He tapped into the wisdom of the Alukos, Awokoyas, and Fafuwas, etc. The presidential debate is a big event - it provides ample opportunities for the candidates to absorb the enormity of the office they are about to occupy, and at the same time, the opportunity to learn and perfect the essentials of their agenda.

What happened today in Nigeria is a show of shame on the part of all the President's Men. Where is your audacity? Where is your honor? And where is your integrity, the intellectual in you? You had all the time in the world to coach and prepare President Buhari for this debate, only to come up in the last minutes with some bogus excuses. If the decision was on the ground of infirmity, why fielding him as a candidate? The electorate deserves better.