Governor Rochas as presidential candidate and Governor Babatunde Fashola as vice-presidential candidate may win in 2015 elections

Nigeria is in a state of war and economic crisis with the dramatic fall in oil revenues. The opposition party in Nigeria, APC, should get off its high horse, acknowledge its culpability for part of the socio-economic malaise in the country, and join the ruling party in a government of national unity to tackle and solve the country's problems!

If it is not palatable to the opposition party to participate with the ruling political party in a government of national unity in order to tackle Nigeria's problems, it must not choose its party flag bearer for the presidency from the born-to-rule crowd. If it does, it will be an insult and an assault on the intelligence of over 80% of all Nigerians who are, as history teaches us, held in disdain and contempt by the born-to-rule crowd!

APC, the opposition party can address the superiority complex and the entitlement complex of some of its presidential candidates by choosing Governor Okorocha of Imo State as its presidential candidate and Governor Fashola as its vice-presidential candidate in the 2015 elections!

1. A humble person does not have a superiority complex but regards others as equals. This is important in all human relationships and is vital to the achievement of harmony in any nation. Where is the humility of those who have a condescending born-to-rule attitude or a sense of entitlement to being above the rules applicable to all others?

2. Those who seek to lead others must demonstrate leadership in their own backyard, whether they are in government or not!

3. Where is the leadership in their own backyard of those who demand that the presidency must come from their region especially when they have had ample opportunities to demonstrate leadership in the present and in the past, and in and out of government? What educational, social, and economic advancements have they brought to their region? What infrastructural and security challenges in their region have they overcome through their leadership effort, in and out of government?

4. Those who want terrorism to stop elsewhere in the world, where is their leadership on this issue in Nigeria?

5. Those who claim leadership as their birthright, what is their record in office for nearly 40 out of the 54 years since independence? Is it an exemplary record in their region or nationwide? Why is their region so far behind when they have been in a position to make a decisive difference for over 40 years?

6. We have seen that movie before: Rhetoric, not results. Excuses, not excellence.

7. Those who blame President Jonathan for all Nigeria's problems must remember that the problems in Nigeria predate his presidency, and some of his opponents are also culpable in creating some of the conditions that he is dealing with, and without their help!

8. The federal government, the states, and the local governments of both political parties control the levers of power in the country in a shared responsibility. The opposition party hardly mentions that!

9. The opposition party is full of defectors from the ruling party, and must not be taken seriously since they keep positions they were elected to serve in, and those positions were obtained under the banner of the ruling party they defected from!

10. Is the record of the opposition parties in all the states they control stellar?

11. No party, neither the ruling party nor the opposition party, should blackmail or bully Nigerians in order to stay in power or get into power. Neither should Nigeria and Nigerians be threatened with brimstone, fire, and bloodshed! There is no entitlement to elective office in a democracy! Nigeria is a democratic nation, not a feudal state, neither is it a banana republic!

12. Those who refuse to develop the human and infrastructural resources in their region or states should make that the focus of their effort, in or out of elective office. The development of the resources in each state or region will end the current exploitation of the minority groups in the South-south!

13. If the opposition party is not interested in joining a government of national unity to tackle the enormous socio-economic and security challenges facing the country, it should not exacerbate these challenges by its actions and utterances.

14. The opposition party can address the superiority complex and the entitlement complex of some of its presidential candidates by choosing Governor Okorocha of Imo State as its presidential candidate and Governor Fashola as its vice-presidential candidate in the 2015 elections! They come from the two most populous regions in the nation with approximately 60% of the population of Nigeria, as a credible internationally monitored census will reveal!

15. As democracy demands equality of all citizens, and this is not negotiable, if the APC is a wise political party, it will make these two gentlemen its party's flag bearers and may win the presidential elections in the country in 2015.

Abitunde Taiwo