Even now, allegations of betrayal, vociferous proclamation of personal ambitions and dirty innuendoes about imposition of candidates have started reaching an uncomfortable level in the party.

Regardless of the drama and subplots that have started unfolding, it is for the party and Nigerians generally to zero in on a candidate that has the right mix of persona, charisma, vision, discipline, awareness and courage to keep the party and the country in good shape post 2023.

The task may be daunting but what the party needs to do is clear cut. This is because the problems a post Buhari president will confront are already here with us now.

One, with continuous fall in oil prices and a general lull in business activity since the outbreak of COVID-19, the economic realities have been worsened by the growing poverty and unemployment which has made upward social mobility unachievable for the wider population. The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics has continued to record staggering inflation rates, with food inflation and general cost of living growing out of hand and, according to the World Poverty Clock, nearly half of the Nigerian population currently subsist in extreme poverty. In fact, the Brookings Institute has predicted the figure to rise to 110 million by 2030.

Two, the generality of Nigerian citizens are disillusioned that the current administration has not succeeded in its efforts to deliver democratic economic gains, better governance, and to tackle corruption and insecurity decisively. Thus, loss of confidence in the government and the party is very high.

The initial public upbeat mood that greeted government’s fight against corruption at incipient following the introduction of revolutionary measures such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to reduce leakages has, sadly, evaporated today, leading to growing frustration.

Three, more than ever before, Nigeria is looking incapable of taming the intractable insecurity situation in the land as citizens shiver due to increased attacks from bandits, kidnappers and terrorist groups. Kidnappings have reached a crisis point with increased scale and frequency. Call for balkanization of the country along ethnic lines has also been gaining traction.

Arising from the growing citizen frustration, it is clear that whoever the party chooses to replace President Buhari in 2023 must have the dexterity, knowledge and empathy required to manage the potentially game-changing citizen advocacy led by a historically apathetic middle class that has woken up to bark and bite. This awakened group will definitely offer a more coordinated and sophisticated challenge to the status quo than Nigeria has ever had to manage before. Of course, because social media and digital have also come to offer more ammunition for the citizens in their growing anti-establishment consciousness, it cannot be business as usual and the party cannot afford not to take into consideration these new paradigms and dynamics as it prepares for life in government after Buhari.

The challenge therefrom is that from its array of political gladiators that have indicated interest in the job, APC has to pick the one that most fits the profile of a 21^st Century public administrator and politically astute servant-leader.

Although, it is a tough call, the party’s best materials for now appear to be Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and Governor Kayode Fayemi. In terms of finesse, experience, capability, age and ability to cross-connect the various critical population segments, the three stand out from the pack.

If APC is to respect and espouse the principles of fairness, equity and national cohesion by fielding a Southern candidate after President Buhari’s eight years, any of the three stand a chance of recreating and shoring up the party’s brand fortune.

However, it is an open secret in political circles across the South West that, unlike the Vice President and the Ekiti State governor who have been described by informed political watchers as tacit fall back options for the vaunted Ashiwaju Bola Tinubu ambition that appears to be hitting a political brick wall, Senator Amosun offers the party more gravitas and believability, especially among the segment of the population who still hold on to the notion that APC was created as a political vehicle to advance the personal ambition of the founding fathers and not to move Nigeria forward genuinely.

This is because out of the three gentlemen, it is only Amosun that is regarded as a true politician with a mind of his own and not a creation and/or disciple of the Tinubu School of Politics. Political watchers point at the fact that no one has been able to stick the disloyal, betrayer, Judas Iscariot and ingratitude labels on Amosun as done by the BAT crowd on the other two as a justification of the respect and political sagacity which the former Ogun State governor parades in the South west political space.

Growing up in this country some years ago was full of fun and pleasant memories; from your classmates, to your teachers, the school authority, and everyone around.

It was a grand community wherein all the misdemeanor of children were corrected by neighbours and children still plead not to be reported to their immediate parent; parenting was done by the community.

Reading newspaper reports daily has negatively impacted the mental health of many persons. Howbeit, would one remain perpetually deaf to what is happening in one’s community? Life has got so bad that being a student has become a difficult journey to embark upon.

The happenings in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria have made schooling very dangerous. Well, as said, that is the meaning of Boko Haram from the beginning is Western Education is forbidden and it is depicted with the various killings and abductions. In the last few years, students in that region of the country have been turned into refugees in their homeland. Although, recently, the Borno State Government is making attempts at resettling the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and schools are being built and commissioned all over. This signifies the beginning of Western Education for this set of Nigerians.

Imagine the recent happening in Greenfield University, Kaduna State. Some students were killed for no just cause. The situation is critically alarming that lecturers, workers, and students have become targets of kidnappers. About the same time, a Professor of the University of Jos, Grace Ayanbimpe and her husband were also kidnapped. All of these led the Senior Staff Union of Universities to demand weapons to guard themselves if they cannot be safe on their various campuses.

It is such a challenging time to be a student when you think about the number of auto crashes that claim the lives of students annually while trying to commute to their various institutions of learning and back to their homes. This also brings to the fore the unfortunate death of the students of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, earlier in the year, who were crushed to death by a truck.

When you encounter Nigerian students, you need to pity them specially. They would spend years in a tertiary institution of learning, either state or federal, because the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Nigerian Government are always at loggerheads over things they usually claim would benefit the students. It is so saddening that you can only know the year in which you resume school but you can never know the year in which you will graduate. Every day, the heartbeat of parents and the students keeps palpitating strongly because nobody knows what would be the next occurrence that would make interrupt learning.

Despite all these, female students are exposed to several ills within few years of maturity. They are trailed by lecturers old enough to be their fathers; some evil students rape and murder them amongst others. The journey of a female student needs special care with all that is heard and seen these days. Kudos to the University of Lagos for firing two randy lecturers.

At the moment, Nigeria is just heading for a more grievous crisis in terms of labour force. As stated by Professor Olayinka Idowu, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. Every Senator wants a University to be sited in his hometown, as such, quality education is fast depreciating in Nigeria. Asides that, all the Polytechnics are being converted to Universities, for instance, Yaba College of Technology and the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro. These schools may become Universities but what of the technical know-how that we are losing. The skillset of a graduate of the Polytechnic is very different from that of a University graduate. Although the Senate has removed the dichotomy lately, we still need everyone to understand the differences, if not, polytechnics would becoming ghost tertiary institutions.

Ultimately, if you are fortunate to get through school without any scar or blemish; the hurdle of serving your fatherland is staring at you in the face. With all the various uprisings in the country, where is the safe haven for a one-year period, that reminds me, the NYSC Orientation Camp in Maiduguri, has been turned into an IDP camp. Where exactly is the place that one would want to serve with the current state of the country? If you are not thinking of all these, it becomes frightening for the Director-General of NYSC saying that Corps Members can be deployed to a war zone if a war breaks out. Can a Corps member defend the integrity of this nation by mere marching when trained soldiers are being killed by terrorists in our nation?

Have you noted the rising spate of the kidnapping of those in search of work lately? The syndicate is getting more organized daily. They would lure victims to a particular location, thereafter abducting such individuals. It is getting sophisticated to a fault. There jokes about the situation about how lucrative the kidnapping business has become. People now notify others to look out for certain addresses as they are the hideout of people perpetrating such heinous crimes.

It is such a challenging time to be a student; it is such a challenging thing to be out of school and it is such a challenging time to be in search of work! May the Lord see us through these trying times.

Olutayo Irantiola is a Public Relations Consultant and Creative Writer based in Lagos, Nigeria, his writings are available on www.peodavies.com

Clearly, Nigeria has climbed the plateau of Coronavirus crisis with the daily upsurge in the confirmed cases and deaths. Nearly the entire 36 states and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are on the infected case chart. COVID-19 contagion is also now at the community transmission stage. Instructively, this stage of the pandemic is the most dreaded phase because of the potential bigger humanitarian crises that may result if the rate of spread is not curtailed with speed. 
In light of the above, drawing government attention to certain factors that can worsen the current pandemic statistics has become imperative. And, this is not about whistleblowing; it is about advocating good policies that can boost national success in the ongoing actions and measures to flatten the curve of COVID-19 transmission.      
Policy One: Against the backdrop of the recent easing of lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun States, it is important for the government to note that Nigerians naturally would go back to their old lifestyle of socialisation. Increased movement of people should be expected. Banking halls will burst with customers. Cash transactions will spike and exchange of dirty currency notes, which can contribute to the person-to-person transmission of Coronavirus, should be expected. 
In the coming days and weeks, the majority of daily income earners will return to brick and mortar stores, shops and open markets for their essential and non-essential purchases. Cash will be exchanged for purchases. The tradition of price trial and test-fitting of goods will come back in full force.
Asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 will come out to shop and touch a number of goods including groceries, fruits, vegetables, pepper, tomatoes and onions. Sadly, some other persons will buy and carry those infected items home. They and their loved ones will be infected, then the chain of person-to-person and community transmission continues. 
While lack of education and knowledge of the virus coupled with zero voluntary testings for Coronavirus remains a major setback for stemming transmission among the low socio-economic cadre, the situation does not look anything better among the so-called elite. Due to pride or fear of stigmatisation, many of them have refused to submit for voluntary testing. With the ease of lockdown, some of them that are infected will go to the malls, megastores and supermarkets, electronic or automobile showrooms. They will touch things on the shelves, and in the process increase community transmission of coronavirus. 
With increased movement of people made possible by the easing of lockdown restrictions, the little gains on social distancing achieved during the period of lockdown would have been lost. In light of the above, the government must, as a matter of urgency, initiate or strengthen existing policy strategy that discourages people from using brick and mortar stores for both essential and non-essential purchases to prevent a further spike in the current high rate of COVID-19 transmission.
The most cost-effective way this can be achieved is for the government to encourage more Nigerians to use e-Commerce platforms for their purchases and transactions. For instance, pan-African leading e-Commerce operator Jumia has strong integrated technology and data-driven online channels and last-mile infrastructure that Nigerians can leverage for purchase of their essentials and non-essentials. 
Jumia marketplace, logistics and e-payment platforms like JumiaPay enable customers to make orders online, pay online for goods and get their orders delivered to their offices or homes, as well as receive or transfer money. This way, they can avoid crowded places where the risk of COVID-19 infection is high, and ultimately continue to stay safe and maintain social distancing.
Policy Two: Against the backdrop of presidential restriction of interstate movements, the second important thing is for the government to ensure removal of all obstacles hindering the free and easy movement of goods especially agricultural and medical across borders. While the measure is commendable, it should be pointed out, however, that the enforcement of this policy is a major challenge for farmers, drivers and delivery agents working with e-Commerce companies. 
From Ile Ife to Owena, Benin City to Ughelli, truck drivers and delivery agents on essential duties of transporting agricultural products to city centres such as Lagos and Abuja meet difficulties imposed by security agents enforcing the interstate restriction. Even within cities, last-mile delivery workers and those providing logistics and supply of essentials such as groceries, food items and products like electronics have it rough in the hands of security operatives. They are sometimes extorted, harassed, delayed or threatened with arrest if they fail to ‘cooperate.’
This ugly trend, if it is not checked fast by the government agencies, poses a major threat to meeting the critical logistics and supply of essentials such as agricultural produce at a peculiar time like this. It can also erode the gain of leveraging e-Commerce as the key driver of social distancing that has been proven to reduce the rate of transmission of coronavirus. It could also, in the long-term, rob Nigeria of the benefits of optimising the potential of e-commerce as a key driver of the digital economy, which is paramount to the Federal Government’s economic diversification policy.
On a final note, any act that could cause people to return to brick and mortar malls or stores would certainly erode the sacrifice of our frontline heroes and essential service providers such as doctors, nurses and other first responders, who are in the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
As essential services providers and humanitarian workers, the daily commute of last-mile and logistics workers should be stress-free at this crucial time, and indeed, at other times. It is imperative, therefore, for the government to ensure adequate safety and protection of all workers in the logistics and last-mile value chain including drivers, delivery agents and riders working with e-Commerce operators such as Jumia and others. 
With community transmission of COVID-19 escalating, unhindered access of Nigerians to the services of essential services providers like e-Commerce operators is more compelling as online shopping holds the ace to discourage human movement and bolster social distancing.