Possibly the two most important speeches since 1999.

We are waiting and waiting and waiting, the whole country is waiting for Prof Jega to finish using his biro, paper and abacus to collate the final tally for the official announcements.

In that time, I have been able to check several news outlets, oh by the way, Many many thanks to Channels TV who is steaming live via Youtube allow those of us in the Diaspora to stay up to date on the election.


So let me see if I can beat Jega and write a few thoughts before he concludes his counting.

It occurred to me that we might be about to witness two of the most important speeches in modern day Nigeria, in fact possibly the most important speeches in this third democratic experiment in Nigeria. Of course this will be Buhari's victory speech and Jonathan's concession speech.

A few quick thoughts  / points on Buhari's Victory speech:

• The country is still fractured by ethnicity, the results certainly prove this. Buhari won overwhelmingly in the North and GEJ did the same in the South South and South East. His speech MUST bring all sides together.
• He MUST commend GEJ if indeed he got a call from him conceding the election, it is no small feat that we can hopefully witness a bloodless transfer of power from one democratic party to another. It is high time this as the norm in Nigeria and Africa.  
• His victory is a rare opportunity where a LOT of Nigerians despite being skeptical about him, decided he was a much better choice than GEJ, he needs to size the moment and push for further harmony in Nigeria. 
• Had Buhari and Tinubu opted to go it alone for this election like the 2011 election, its obvious they BOTH would have lost, so this election has proven that another REAL national party is required in Nigeria beyond the regions, so we need to hear that the APC alliance will continue to grow and mature into a true national party much like the PDP.
• Buhari must acknowledge the electoral irregularities as they always are in Nigeria, IMHO, ALL SIDES in Nigeria rig elections, don't mind those foreign observers and dem yeye talk. We all know there are ways to rig elections prior to a single vote being cast and despite the PVC's that were used. leading to...
• He must salute Jega and the use of the PVC, yes, this was an imperfect election, but there is no doubt this is the way elections should take place in the future to ensure the most credible elections possible. 
• No victor no vanquished? Should he say something like that? I say this for two main reasons: first, without the alliance he could not have won as earlier noted, secondly and more importantly, I seriously doubt without the numerous defections from the PDP they would have won. As we know, so so many of the "APC" members were once PDP big men and women, Bukola Saraki, Rotimi Ameachi and El Rufai to name a few. So it might not be wise to disparage the PDP as many of us can see those who will be standing beside him and remember many of them were standing beside GEJ in 2011 and earlier at several PDP events from 1999. 
• He should waste NO TIME in telling us a few key things that will happen next, most importantly dealing with Boko Haram and the general insecurity in the country and Corruption where Nigerians yearn to see change.
• Remind everyone there are still elections coming up in a week! Its not over yet! 
• Most Importantly, he needs to find a way to call the lawlessness ones to order in BOTH the North and South to make sure we do not see any cycle of violence.
• He should stress his administration will not be one to witchhunt the PDP but focus mainly on moving Nigerian forward, as I noted if he decides to witchhunt the PDP, he will also need to deal with many of those around him from the PDP.
• He should encourage those hat disagree with the results to see redress via the judiciary and other legal means and avoid violence.   

And a few points / thoughts on what GEJ should say in his Concession speech:

• Of course he should congratulate Buhari on his historic win.
• Considering it is a close election, he must speak to his supporters and ask them to remain calm
• He MUST either by the time is he is giving the speech or withing 48 hours make the call if he is going to accept the results or challenge them and by so doing will be acknowledging Min. Orubebe's outburst as that outburst has many of his supporters up in arms and ready to take to the streets
• If he decides of challenge the results, then he must tell his party and supporters that challenge will take place via the judiciary and not with violence.
• He MUST call on his kinsmen specifically to maintain peace and respect the electoral process and call on the victors to also maintain peace. 
• He must tell the world that he fully intends to hand over to Buhari and NOT invite the military to step in to "maintain peace and security" temporarily. We all know what that will mean! 
• He should thank Nigerians who have stood by him for the last six years especially in the early days when he faced difficult times becoming president. As we all recall he once had the title "Acting President" a title not found in the Nigerian Constitution. 
• He should tell his party that they need to prepare for their new role as partners in democracy and as a credible opposition party.
• But remind everyone there are still elections coming up in a week! Its not over yet! 
• He should advice all the PDP powerbrokers who have enjoyed uninterrupted power for 16 years that things will change and they must accept the coming change.
• He should remind all Nigerians this is how democracy works, you win some, you lose some. When a president loses an election, he does the honorable thing and accepts the result and does not try to do a "Gbagbo"  
• He should let us know that his government will start a hand over process and let us know that he will be handing over power on May 29th 2015. 
• Oh yes, he will not leave Madam P in the villa when he leaves...

The two speeches from these two men will to a large extent determine if peace or anarchy will reign in the land and I hope they realize this.

Wow! I did beat Jega!