2023 presidency: Anyim and his declaration of interest

Anyim Pius Anyim, a politician and a practising Christian from Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, South East geo-political zone of Nigeria. Recently, he declared his intention to run for the office of President of Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of People’s Democratic Party (PDP). This is a golden opportunity for PDP to rally round him and for the South East, the time is now to stand up and be counted, or risk speaking too late.

For the sake of equity, fairness and just, in our political landscape, South East must be given the opportunity and support from the PDP to produce the next President of Nigeria. So far, Anyim remains the first candidate from the South East geo-political zone under PDP to put Nigerians on notice of his intention. For those who believe in equity, fairness and just and in PDP, this may be the time to speak up. Our great party (PDP) may not have a serious justification not to support Anyim and drum up support for a South East candidate. In all part of Nigeria there are people who are qualified and able, based on capability and ability to do the job. Here, we advocate for Anyim’s case on a couple of attributes. He is able, capable, tested, well-educated, a Lawyer, and experienced in two great offices of state in Nigeria, as Senate President and Secretary to the Government of Federation.

All in all, one can say that Anyim Pius Anyim remains one of the able and qualified within the platform of PDP and across Nigeria. For him to put Nigeria and PDP on notice of his intention is more than just a political decision, it’s deeply personal decision for him and his family. It’s hard to say what our founding fathers would think of the current holder of that office based on where we are today, politically, economically, socially and the health and safety of our nation. There’s no doubt they will be horrified by the current state of the nation. In their days, no occupants of that office would ever be so incapable and unable of discharging his public responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief of the Country.

It’s on record that Anyim Pius Anyim has never solicited or declined to run for Public Office, but now I suspect a sense of duty has forced him to declare his intention to run for the office of Mr. President of Federal Republic of Nigeria. Now he has decided to seek the mandate of the people under the PDP. I genuinely and sincerely believe that he will make a successful Commander-in-Chief, based on his record in Public Office and also as a person who has been tested. Character! Character!! Character!!!, is a hallmark of holding Public Office in any country, his character in Public Office remains not questionable. He articulates his view using contemporary thinking which will be extremely useful, which no doubt will be ratified by the electorate.

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As a gifted public officer, which is a very crucial quality and, as someone who has held two great offices of state, I think has more than prepared him for that office. There are similarities between his previous executive office experience and the office of Mr. President. Both tasks require a person to perform well under immense pressure, communicate effectively, and build a team that trusts him and can function with little sleep and lots of stress. The crucible of Anyim running for the office of Mr. President, will uncover his hidden personal qualities that people cannot list on a resume.

I am unequivocally convinced that now he has decided to run, PDP will hopefully go back to drawing board to search and x-ray who will be best placed and equipped to serve Nigeria and eventually make a good Commander-in-Chief. Most Presidents across the globe are either talented, experienced, or an astute professional. As a lawyer and a talented public officer his attention to detail is on a first-class level and this was displayed succinctly when he held two great offices of state. In his two great offices of state experience, Nigerian wise men considered Anyim Pius Anyim as a political genius. Maybe he was, but one thing is certain, that he is one of our effective political heavyweights of our time and a smooth operator. He is a fighter and more so on a cause he believes in with a conviction.

Office of Mr. President requires cooperation, compromise and negotiation. The office is a fantastic and a powerful position, and this is where Anyim has a powerful, and a ruthless diplomacy which will be useful for that office. He has the capacity to build an electoral coalition by preparing over differences and at the same time offending no one. As Mr. President he will not shy away from making decisions and making challenging choices. Some of his actions may offend some certain wings of our party with the belief that it is the right cause of action. When the electorate and PDP evaluate his character, they will see the leader in him, a man of the people, and the rest of the deal in him.

It is expected that some section of our great party PDP may use one characterisation to attack his candidacy, and self-satisfaction to simply try and see if they can puncture his bid for declaring his interest to run. There will be cheap political critique of Anyim Pius Anyim. I urge PDP to be more fruitful and examine specific cases of Anyim and compare them with other aspirants, and then decide which candidate out of conviction and believes. We can test a presidential aspirant by measuring them against the current occupant. Better still we can hold them up based on their ideology and see how they do. As a Commander-in-Chief you will need a considerable skill working with the national assembly to go and get what you want. What experience and attributes in other candidate’s background gives us confidence that he will have the tools for the job he wants to do.

Any Commander-in-Chief will inevitably face fiscal decisions and how will he manage that aspect of the job. That raises issues about his priorities and how he sets them. This is where Anyim’s pragmatism will be displayed and his perseverance in handling difficult decisions. I guess the question is, would any president hold these qualities? In all these, I think the word am looking for is leadership and who will be best placed to provide that Leadership within the PDP and for the country. We can all agree that a president should be a leader, but what does that mean? Circumstances and where we are currently in our country, requires that we headhunt and look for the person based on ability and competence. This is the time to jettison regional or religious politics, sentiment and embrace country first and focus more on how our leaders emerge to hold high offices of the state. As a country, we may have tested and got to the end of rotational presidency in Nigeria. There are many able, effective and capable politicians qualified to run for President of our country and we have them across the geo-political zones.

There is no magical or mathematical formula to know who may be able to produce a better leader for the country. All I’m trying to document is perhaps why Anyim may be an effective president and probably provide better leadership for the country and our great party (PDP). As a country, we are at a very critical and crucial moment in our democratic journey. At least thinking and having a debate as to who may be a better candidate as Commander-in-Chief of our country and in the same token create a quality leadership for our great party. For me, having this debate may not be a completely useless exercise. In my humble submission, Anyim Pius Anyim, remains the candidate in our great party that has the right attributes for the position of Mr. President of the country.

I have made my case for the skills that are important to perform the role of Commander-in-Chief of our country. I know you feel to critique the reasoning in this view and, that’s the essence of a quality debate. The end goal not, nor should it be, a contest full of drama. Different people will reach different conclusions about how much or management ability of a particular candidate has, and one attribute may overshadow all the rest given the particular demands of the moment. My singular effort is to help us better think about the qualities presidential candidates may actually need once in office. The process of choosing the right candidate can be both challenging and lengthy which involves political parties’ primaries and the overall electorate. Maybe this debate can help us see a little more clearly where we might eventually land.