By Douglass ANELE
Babangida accepts that he is an evil genius, a clever dribbler like Maradona – except that, whereas the Argentine footballer dribbled opponents in the field of soccer Babangida dribbles people in the field of politics.

Now, is this the kind of President Nigeria needs at the moment? Certainly not, because we desperately need an honest, transparent, disciplined, intelligent and focused servant-leader who has compassion for the masses, a leader who will boldly confront the grotesque status quo and radically change it for the better. Our people are tired of morally over-contaminated leaders.

Therefore, on the basis of our second and third criteria, Babangida is thoroughly unfit to rule Nigeria again. Millions of Nigerians have good reasons to believe, as I do, that any party that is foolish enough to present him as its presidential flag bearer in next year’s elections will bite the dust.

Babangida just cannot rule Nigeria for the second time, due to the fact that his past record stinks, and there is nothing concrete to support the insinuation by   his sycophants that he has changed for good after “stepping aside” 17 years ago.

The “evil genius” appears to be in good health physically and mentally, thereby satisfying our fourth criterion. But being in good health is one thing, having the requisite leadership skills and will to serve the suffering masses of this country is a different thing altogether.

Unless Babangida forgot something in Aso Rock when he stepped aside in August 1993 which he has not told us yet, we believe that he has no moral right to aspire to go back there. He is taking Nigerians for a ride by his inordinate ambition to match Obasanjo’s record, but he must be ready to experience the rudest shock of his life if his name appears on the presidential ballot paper next year.

It is now the turn of Mohammadu Buhari, who lost two consecutive presidential elections in 2003 and 2007. While he was Minister of Petroleum Resources in the military government of Obasanjo, Buhari became prominent for the first time in connection with the alleged N2.8 billion missing from the Ministry.

Placed within the periscope of our four criteria, Buhari is a sellable presidential material. The manifestos he presented when he contested for President under the umbrella of All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) contain the usual promises of politicians to the electorate.

What resonates with most Nigerians is Buhari’s pledge to jail anyone found guilty of corruption no matter how highly placed. This takes us to our second and third criteria, that is, track record of performance and morality.

Buhari’s brief tenure from December 31, 1983 to August 26, 1985 is probably the most disciplined period in Nigeria’s history. Ably assisted by the unsmiling disciplinarian, late Tunde Idiagbon, Buhari resolutely prosecuted the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) which sought to compel Nigerians to behave responsibly in both their personal and private lives.

The queuing culture, environmental sanitation, and punctuality were strictly enforced, whereas politicians found guilty of corruption and abuse of office were given long prison sentences. Although his regime went too far in curbing press freedom with Decree 4 and enforcement of death penalty against convicted drug traffickers, there is no doubt that Buhari was committed to national development through hard work and disciplined leadership.

His performance as chairman of the Petroleum Task Force, especially with regard to the South East geopolitical zone was not satisfactory – the zone, particularly the Igbo-speaking areas, had the lowest number of top appointments and projects from PTF.

All the same, despite his failures, and disregarding Tam David-West’s hyperbolic adulation of the former military head of state, Buhari is disciplined and morally upright enough to lead Nigeria at this point in time. We are particularly impressed by his modest lifestyle and tough stance against corruption. Health wise, he apparently has no serious problem; his body and mind can withstand the rigours of the presidency.

Among the presidential aspirants, we believe he has the best reputation.
Finally, we come to Atiku Abubakar. A retired Customs officer, Abubakar was Obasanjo’s deputy from 1999 to 2007, although the relationship between them deteriorated towards the end of their tenure.

Naturally, the former Vice President has promised to fix Nigeria’s problems if he becomes President, something he and Obasanjo failed to achieve for eight years, Recently, he claimed that he is the best among the presidential aspirants thus far. On the basis of promises and manifesto, there is little to choose between the aspirants discussed here, because all of them are telling the voters what they (the voters) want to hear.

At the height of his disagreement with Obasanjo, Atiku made disparaging remarks about his former boss and his party, the PDP. To be concluded.