There is a saying amongst the Isokos that the value placed on a people by foreigners is determined through the representatives and/or the messengers of the people. That is, a society and all about it is mirrored through those who represent the said society in a foreign land or in the comity of Nations.

It is in the light of the above that the leadership of any Nation is seen. Therefore, it is expected that the composition of the leadership of any group of people must take into consideration the ethno-religious diversity of such people. Strangely, the All Progressives Congress, APC threw the very fabric on which Nigeria is built into a bottomless pit on the flimsy excuse of political expediency!

The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, as amended copiously emphasizes on the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy. That is, under Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution, the diversity of Nigeria and the need to govern it in line with it is unequivocally made sacrosanct.

As of today, there are serious complaints against the APC Muslim/Muslim Presidential ticket. To my mind, the complaints are genuine and should not be treated with levity because doing so will amount to promoting one religion above the order and downplaying Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution.

Some years ago, it was in the public domain that a former military President enrolled Nigeria as a member of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). Rightly or wrongly, the perception held by those outside the Country, particularly in the Arabian world was/is that Nigeria is an Islamic State!

The APC Muslim/Muslim Presidential ticket falsely gives cover to this wrong notion about Nigeria as earlier sold by the then Military President to the outside World!

Come to think of it; if by chance APC wins the Presidency in 2023, those who know less about Nigeria will think that Nigeria is an Islamic Nation. The reason is that outsiders/Foreigners will be meeting a President and a Vice-President who are Muslims on a daily basis in the course of their dealings with the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

There will be no doubt that when issues are discussed, the interest of Christians would obviously not be given the desired consideration.

Also, another area in which APC is misrepresenting Nigeria has to do with the way and manner the Party’s Presidential Candidate goes about his campaigns. Nigeria is being painted as a country where there is a dearth of people with healthier and more knowledgeable minds to lead this Country. What happened recently at Chatham House was a total misrepresentation of what and who we are! It was a show of shame that a Presidential Candidate who ran away from open debate in Nigeria, could not provide answers to questions put to him in respect of the economic, social, security, and political issues and developments in Nigeria. Rather, the APC Presidential Candidate, in order to hide his inadequacy decided to assign questions put to him to his associates to answer for him. What a political Party!

What played out at Chatham House is nothing but a harbinger of what will happen if the APC wins the Presidential election in 2023. “Dereliction of duty” will no doubt be the order of the day; thereby creating room for APC political hawks to further torment Nigeria and Nigerians.

I am therefore using this medium to call on all well-meaning Nigerians to reject APC and all it stands for. Now is the time to look for an alternative to APC and PDP is that alternative. PDP is the only readily available alternative. Let us reset our Nation, Nigeria through PDP.

Sylvester Imonina