WITH about twelve months to the general election of 2023, candidates for the various elective offices have predictably started showing up. While some have already declared their intentions to contest, others are still consulting.

Among the names already known for their presidential ambitions include Pius Anyim, Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu, Peter Obi, Kingsley Moghalu, Governors Yahaya Bello, Dave Umahi, Aminu Tambuwal, Bala Mohammed, Musa Kwankwaso, Kayode Fayemi, among others. Names being bandied include Chibuike Amaechi, Nyesom Wike, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele and many more who are sure to come out soon.

We welcome these gentlemen and even urge the women and youth who are qualified to get into the fray. It is time to test the Not-Too-Young-To Run, NTYTR, law signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2018. The politics of 2023 will not be business as usual. It is a make-or-mar affair. The nation stands at a crossroads. The leader we choose will decide for us if our country will survive or go under.

The three main problems of the country which the Buhari administration vowed to tackle when they came to power are worse than they were in 2015. Our insecurity has deteriorated from Boko Haram terrorism in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States to Bandit terrorism in the North West and armed Herdsmen terror in the Middle Belt (especially Niger, Benue and Plateau) and throughout the South. We also have Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, and Yoruba Nation separatist agitations. We need a leader who will restore peace and confidence among Nigerians and get them to work together towards actualising our nationhood.

The economy remains comatose. Former CBN Governor, Emir Muhammadu Sanusi (II) has just warned that the economic situation in 2023 will be worse than 2015. This is more so as our debt burden has returned with venom with no respite in sight. We need a leader with the vision, ability and connections to revive the economy and create prosperity.

In terms of the war against corruption, our fall in the Transparency International, TI’s, Corruption Perception Index, CPI, from 136th out of 180 countries in 2014 to 154th in 2021 says it all.

The campaigns for the 2023 presidency and even governorship must be based on the candidates’ demonstrated grasps of the scope of the challenges facing the nation, agenda to tackle them and strategies/timelines for delivery of results.

We recommend the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo approach in the race for Governor of Anambra State which Prof. Kingsley Moghalu had also adopted for this 2019 presidential run.

We also urge the electorate to shun base ethnic, religious, regional or partisan sentiments and material baits and join hands to elect the best.

This might be our last chance.