What is the difference between Jonathan, Buhari, Ribadu and others? As we will draw closer to the General Elections, we continue to probe the contenders for the race to the presidential seat in Aso Rock Villa, the contest is getting stiffer and every move is becoming more strategic as we see more political intrigues, manipulations and sometimes foul play from the various political parties in their interplay.

Accessing the contenders one after the other, we will see that one quality that is prevalent is that the parties tends to be looking for candidates that can be appealing to the people. Looking at the political stage at the moment they seem to be no clear cut edge from any of the men running for this position, the one who can revive our present situation to becoming a nation to reckon with amongst the League of Nations.

Let’s take the contenders one by one, ascertaining the difference between them and what their individuality has to offer, if elected the president of this country.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GEJ of PDP, currently President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, assumed office after the death of the then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He succeeded him being the Vice President after a series of political mishap to complete their tenure. That has given him some form of experience and exposure to stake claims to the seat.

GEJ choice as president is triggered on the interest of stability, aside that can he make the different? If yes how? Definitely not with the news of internal insecurity flowing in every now and then; Looking at the socio-political situation in the country now, we have been expecting the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign to produce a clear blueprint on how they intend to change thing for good, all we see and hear is same old story of amenities and socio infrastructure promises that has always been made for ages; We want them to use the resources at their disposal to effectuate the impasse of our national struggle to be revolutionized. The absence of this leaves them at the cross road.

Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), has few things are going well for him, considering his antecedence, we might be tempted to say that he is the candidature with the highest stake for integrity and discipline and the choice of Tunde Bakare as a running mate should quench our suspicion of his religious sensitivity. While he is giving youthfulness and intellect a chance, his problem is same with GEJ’s team; what is the blueprint to re-writing our history?

Other than castigate those that didn’t do what should have been done, let us know how the undone is to be done. Nigeria’s problem we all know but solving same is the ultimate challenge of our leaders; the key to our socio economic change is a sharp contrast from our regular socio-political style, noting that the platform of Buhari’s campaign lacks intensity as touching our pathologies and finding a solution for them. The challenge of covering the nooks and crannies of the country gives a party like the PDP an advantage over them. A better preparation would have given them an edge; this team is neither here nor there.

Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN is another contender for the seat, though he has a strong reputation which would be put to test as many has always accused him of being a political tool in the hand of the previous administration, how true this claim is will be seen in his ability to direct the affairs of his campaign in the right direction. His choice of Fola Adeola shows his appreciation for intellect and a renewed drive towards economic boost from entrepreneurial perspective. How well will he coordinate all this is a big task considering the people he is surrounded with?

He has the tenacity to overcome corruption which is the cankerworm to our quest in discovering our destiny as a nation. Though he seems to lack the knack to interface our diverse resources with our potentialities as regards our socio-economic realities and this is a key indicator of our quest to asserting true leadership that we deserve. He has always concentrated on corruption and I personally believe he has more challenge asserting himself in ACN than leading Nigeria.

In conclusion, Let us look closely at the candidates that we have now and vote for our choice as we hope the winner will in turn deliver amongst the many daunting challenges of our nationhood, a better Nigeria; If this is an uphill task for him to achieve, at least let him lay the foundation for his successor to perform better in meeting our national goal.

Other influences will count but none of the candidates has shown that he has what it takes to hit the bull’s eye in turning things around as we continue moving in circles.