By Max Amuchie
In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, Odysseus goes through many trials while trying to return home from the Trojan War. On his voyage home, he must visit the Land of the Dead, evade the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis and when he does arrive home, participate in a tricky reunion with his wife, Penelope.
Eleanor Roosevelt once remarked that “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
All these symbolise perseverance. Odysseus has extreme determination and perseverance, which in a way validates Mrs Roosevelt’s assertion.
Perseverance is the ability to go on when things seem hopeless. It is an excellent quality that very few people have but which can spark achievement. It is also the ruler whereby one can measure of success or at least how much sacrifice one is willing to make in the name of success.
Perseverance is actually about daring, about seeing possibility is what many others perceive to be glaring impossibility. It is also about taking calculated risks as Odysseus does. It is about doing that which seems unthinkable to ordinary folks.
More importantly it is about being optimistic when the situation seems hopeless on account of disappointments, about having the urge to continue in the face of odds that may seem insurmountable.
All through the ages, history is replete with individuals who showed perseverance. Julius Ceasar, the Roman General defeated the troops of the Roman Senate commanded by his rival, Pompey in the battle of Pharsalus on August 9, 48 BC. That victory which marked the end of the Roman Republic was made possible because of Ceasar’s perseverance given Pompey’s elaborate preparation for the battle.
It was also the same determination that led Britain under the leadership of iconic Winston Churchill to defeat Nazi Germany during the Second World War. On that momentous episode in British history, Churchill was to write that “I felt … that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.”
But General Muhammadu Buhari hasn’t fought a war. The closest he got to that was as young officer during the Nigerian Civil War when he battled with other federal troops to keep Nigeria One. What he has done which is also war by other means (as politics is often referred to) is to win an election and he will now be Nigeria’s president for the next four years. Was it easy to achieve that feat? Now we look to neither Julius Ceasar nor Winston Churchill for a parallel. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States of America ran for public office several times before he eventually became victorious and he assumed office as US president in March 1861.
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Last month, America marked the 150th anniversary of the death of Lincoln. He had been shot by John Wilkes Booth in April 1865 a couple of weeks after he was sworn in for a second term in office.
Buhari’s election coincided with the memorial for Lincoln held in Albany, New York. Buhari is a leader who, in his dedication to his pursuits and perseverance, is being compared to Lincoln.
After serving as military dictator for 20 months from March 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985, Buhari has become a converted democrat. He said as much when he addressed the Chatham House in London in the weeks leading to the last presidential election in which he emerged victorious. Buhari ran for the presidency a record four times to the extent that some political analysts started calling him serial presidential candidate or career presidential candidate. He first ran in 2003 on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP); in 2007 also on ANPP platform and when he disagreed with ANPP he went and formed his own party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) on which platform he contested the 2011 election.
His outing in all these other elections were dismal but in 2015, there was a change in strategy with the merger of opposition parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC). The rest as they say, is history.
While Buhari failed three previous elections before becoming triumphant on the fourth attempt, Abraham Lincoln recorded strings of failures in his personal and political life before being elected US president in 1860. For instance, in 1831 he lost his job because his father wanted to move house and in 1832 he was defeated in the run for Illinois State Legislature.
In 1933 he failed in business but he was compensated a year later in 1834 when he was elected to the Illinois State Legislature. He had a nervous breakdown in 1836 and two years later he was defeated in the run for Illinois House Speaker. Again he was defeated in 1843 in the run for nomination for U.S. Congress but was eventually elected to Congress in 1846. In 1848 he lost re-nomination and in 1849 Lincoln was rejected for land officer position.
Also in 1854 he was defeated in the run for U.S. Senate, and again he failed in his bid for nomination for Vice President in 1856. Then in 1858 he lost the race for US Senate.
However, in 1860, his perseverance paid off when he was elected US president.
Any other person would have been discouraged but it appeared that the more Lincoln lost or was hit by any failure, the more determined he was to aspire for a higher office, to try one more time until he got the ultimate prize.
In a similar vein, Buhari set his eyes firmly on the highest office in the land such that after every election despite the disappointments from the political class he would prepare for the next election till victory came his way in the 2015 election.
But beyond the similar political trajectory both men appear to have had, what else links Buhari to Lincoln? Lincoln was a great politician, an astute leader who sought justice for the disadvantaged people of America. Even when it was not politically expedient, he fought for emancipation of black slaves and even when the American south tried to secede because they did not want emancipation of slaves, Lincoln went to war and the south was defeated.
Lincoln also promoted the concept of servant leadership, a kind of political philosophy in which a leader leads by serving others though the term was not used until much later in 1966. His is celebrated as perhaps the greatest American president after George Washington, who fought the war of American independence.
Buhari on the hand, has made crusade against corruption in public office his personal signature. That is his unique selling point and it was on that anti-corruption posture backed by a well co-ordinated campaign that the difference was made in the 2015 election.
As he begins his presidency, time will tell if his perseverance and determination in the pursuit of his ambition will make him achieve the kind of immortality that Abraham Lincoln achieved such that long after he must have ended his presidency the name Muhammadu Buhari will echo in the minds and hearts of Nigerians in the years and perhaps, ages to come.
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