The “combat” for the 2027 presidential election, though, extremely premature, continues to showcase the magnitude to which the opposition is ready to go in order to wrestle the sole and most cherished seat in Aso Rock from its occupant. As earlier mentioned, the “detractors” of the Tinubu Administration, if they love Nigeria as they claim to be, would not have been wearing the gloves when the main contest is still more than two years from commencement.
Afterall, the hallmark of a good and fair game is that it should allow every participant to start on equal footing without unfair advantages or disadvantages and that no member of the contesting groups is dishonestly overpowered. It is antithetical to the rule of a fair game for the opposition to begin the game when the government is barely a year in office, thereby putting pressure on the daily routine of governance.
One of the interesting strategies of the opposition towards winning the 2027 presidential election, is the recruitment of the former President of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan. A man who has become an enigma and a statesman for voluntarily relinquishing the position when it was obvious that the result was becoming unfavourable.
Media reports shows that Jonathan have been consulting with some Nigerian leaders to weigh his odds of winning if he finally draws the line on the sand. In fact, he is alleged to have accepted to contest.
There are some questions that Jonathan as a former President need to answer. The first is “Is he qualified to run for the position?” This is still a subject of debate. Is he not coming out to unwittingly erase the credit given to him by the world community for accepting defeat even before the final result of the 2015 election was published?
The former President’s interest in the 2027 presidential election reminds one of the African story of the Tortoise and the Elephant. In those far gone days when the forest was ruled by strength and only the fittest, the Lion was the king. It became the king by its antecedent as a handsome and fearless animal who fought to remove the Elephant from the sacred throne of the animal kingdom.
On assumption of office, the Lion discovered a lot of inadequacies in the governance of the jungle and decided to right the wrong. King Lion took some far reaching decisions to ensure that the forest is a safe abode for all and sundry. In the process, it banned the acts where bigger animals bully the smaller, young and harp-less citizens at will. Not too long thereafter, the big animals started grumbling and launched damaging campaign against the Lion and its mode of governance.
Elephant, the former king when he was on the throne was known to be the mightiest of all the animals in the forest. It was so feared and respected by its peers and cohort that even the very strong animals like the Tiger, the Cheetah and many others too numerous to mention shiver in his presence. Smaller animals dare not come close to the domain of this mighty animal without days of prayers and fasting. Naturally, the Elephant became a threat to all and sundry and they were all happy that the Lion came to their rescue.
Where this story concerns the issue in contention is that the animals had a congress to decide on the solution to the overbearing influence of the Lion and his ban on their daily activities.
This is because they could not tolerate a situation where the Cat can no longer eat the Rat at will, the Cock could no longer eat the Cockroach and the Earthworm, the Tiger and the Cheetah can no longer feast on the weaker animals such as the Goat and the Antelope. Instead of reviewing their menu list, they intensified their campaign against the Lion. Some of them concluded that the reign of the Elephant was better.
There were whispers all over the jungle that the Lion is unfit to rule. The smaller animals instead of being happy also began to complain due to the fact that the new law affected everybody across the community. For example, the Wall-gecko which is one of the smallest can no longer feast on the Ants.
Although, it decided to leave the forest to live in the midst of human beings at home, yet he cried and shouted while packing its bags and baggage to quit its otherwise natural habitat.
It wasn’t the only one who took this far reaching decision, the Cat, the Rat, the Dog and many others who ordinarily were at the receiving end of the dangers in the previous rule but who are now complaining because of the tendency not to see beyond their nose because they are myopic.
They also decided to migrate to live in homes naturally reserved for human beings. The bigger animals started moving to the woods. All the while, the Lion was unyielding knowing that it was doing its best to keep the jungle safe for everybody and that it was a matter of time before everybody becomes safe and secured in the community.
After sometime, the bigger animals called a congress where they decided that the Lion should be removed from office. While the Tiger and the Cheetah aspire to replace the Lion, others are of the opinion that the Elephant should be recalled. This is because the Tiger has several times tried to overpower the duo of Elephant and the Lion but it has failed woefully on each occasion. The Cheetah on the other hand is new in the game but too meek and its shallow cerebral endowment had made it difficult for him to overpower the former kings. Although, it is also a leader in its own right,
In all these games, the Tortoise was the leader of the group that loved the reign of the Lion. Therefore, he suggested to the congress that he would be the ambassador who should be sent to invite the Elephant to the next meeting of all the big animals. His suggestion resonated with the congress and a date was fixed. Interestingly, not all the bigger animals loved the Elephant but they couldn’t express their concern for fear of being labeled as spoilers. Therefore, they played along with the promoters of the return of the Elephant.
This anti-Elephant group now joined the Tortoise to hatch a plan. The Tortoise will approach the Elephant’s house with pomp and pageantry. It will be accompanied by drummers and the damsels like the Peacock, Squirrel and their cohorts in beauty. Meanwhile, others who would stay at home will prepare the palace for the Elephant’s arrival.
To cut a long story short, the Elephant couldn’t believe that he is still very popular among the animals. He was amazed to get goodwill messages from old colleagues and acquaintances. Therefore, when the Tortoise delivered the message, the Elephant did not think twice before readily accepting that he would come back to replace the lion in the jungle.
However, when it arrived at the temporary palace in the wood, it was too eager to sit on the throne that it failed to realize that the royal seat was located on a deep almost bottomless pit. It fell inside with a big bang and was seriously maimed. Unfortunately, it lived thereafter in a vegetable state. However, the Lion continues to rule by removing the cog in the wheels of the progress of the animal society.
Credit:The Guardian