A MUST READ! As APC sets fire on the roof
“… President Buhari, on
coming into office in 2015, ignored the looming economic danger and focused
single-mindedly – and, in retrospect, unwisely – on the fight against
corruption and the recovery of stolen asset which had populist appeal. This
could have proceeded hand-in-hand with a focus on the management of the
Nigerian economy to prevent the present crisis…”
– PREMIUM TIMES EDITORIAL:
HOW BUHARI HELPED NIGERIA INTO RECESSION AND HOW HE CAN TAKE US OUT OF IT
Fellow Nigerians, let me
quickly congratulate all of us on this special anniversary of our Independence
before returning to the quote above. Against all odds, we stayed together as
one indivisible country despite agitations here and there for the collapse of
the current problematic union. We even fought a very bloody civil war which
terminated the lives of millions of our brothers and sisters. Since then, we’ve
continued to fumble and wobble along.
In the middle of this
celebratory mood, the ruling party APC is in a messy and not so merry situation
despite winning the gubernatorial election in my home State of Edo just days
ago. The reason is not too far-fetched. As a matter of fact, it is a
self-inflicted injury. A political party that came to power with so much
credibility and adulation last year is already becoming a house divided against
itself by fighting on all fronts from within and outside its folds. I would
have expected that useful lessons would have been learnt from our recent past.
Alas!
The prophecy of this war
of attrition had been long foretold by those who saw this marriage of different
political parties as an amalgamation of strange bedfellows. The election that
ushered in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari travelled with so much
hope and promise.
This promise also
carried within its underbelly the burden of heavy expectations. Many had hoped
and expected that the APC was ready to hit the ground running from Day One and
that President Buhari had a masterplan ready and handy. Nigerians actually
expected instant magic.
President Buhari was
believed to possess talismanic powers to solve all problems and the capacity to
sweep out the sins of Nigeria, especially the endemic corruption that has grown
malignantly cancerous, within a twinkle of an eye. But so far, nothing of the
sort has happened. Many Nigerians are already in a state of stupor trying to
figure out what went wrong and what go right in the near future.
Trouble started as soon as
the government started. It was as if the government was conceived in perfidy
and had to be delivered in strife. First, they started fighting over positions
once it was time to share public offices. The National Assembly was the hotbed
of rebellion and hullabaloo, the place where the falcon refused to hear the
falconer. For whatever reason, the party picked on one of its bright stars, Dr
Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who had chosen to fulfil a lifetime ambition of
becoming Nigeria’s President of The Senate by fire and by force.
The party apparatchik
would never agree to such heresy. This would cause so much rancour and put the
ruling party in disarray. The ding dong affair between The Senate and the
Federal executive would be a test of will and strength between the warring
factions.
Try as it may, the
Senators overwhelmingly supported their leader and the seed of discord had been
sown almost permanently.
The Federal House of
Representatives suffered its own version of the crisis but its Speaker appeared
more amenable to control from the invisible but supernatural forces from
outside its chambers. The party was thus able to keep the combustion from
exploding while real fire burnt wildly in the nearby Senate chamber. It was in
the midst of this that the Senate went through the screening exercise for
Buhari’s cabinet nominees.
The time it took to
announce and release the list of Ministers was another case of hocus-pocus.
Mercifully, the screening and ratification commenced and was dispensed with
after some melodrama. But the ember of discord was still burning slowly and
steadily away from public or prying eyes. After some unsavoury sessions at the
Code of Conduct Tribunal and a few complicated legalese, members of the public
lost interest and attention and concluded the case was possibly dead on
arrival.
As if this war was not bad
enough, the economy took a nose dive and the Naira has continued to sink deeper
and deeper in the abyss. There was a gale of arrests of allegedly corrupt
people reminiscent of Buhari’s days as a military ruler. The enthusiastic
supporters of the war against corruption would soon turn against the same
government that seemed determined to restore sanity to our socio-political
climate. Buhari and company had failed to study the psychology of homo sapiens.
If Nigerians had lived and
survived substantially on corruption, it should have occurred to Buhari and his
team to replace something with something. A hungry man is an angry man. Enu
ofifo kii dun yanyanmu, (an empty mouth can never make sufficient noise),
according to a Yoruba adage. If as corruption collapsed like the walls of
Jericho, food prices also crashed and prosperity beckoned, there would have
been no problem. In fact, things got worse rather than change for the better.
Nigerians are angry not because they hate Buhari or really miss PDP but life is
just becoming unbearable while the politicians to live large in most cases.
The government itself has
not provided palliatives and even reneged on some of its campaign promises. The
government has turned to preaching and heaped all the blames on its immediate
predecessor who became the lamb of God programmed to carry away the sins of PDP
in 16 years. Members of opposition protested vehemently against what they
called a vengeful witch-hunt against their party, the PDP. The ruling party
says PDP has put Nigeria in this mess and should pay dearly for it. No doubt
but how do we move forward?
There are important issues
to tackle and it seems the Federal Government has not been able to overcome the
many challenges confronting it. The economy has been its greatest albatross as
well as the cold but volatile wars between its gladiators. The tussle for power
started so early. Nigerian politicians do not joke with power. They start
jostling for power from the end of the election.
Nothing should pass
them by. And those who manage to grab power often forget those who brought them
to power. In fact, they usually have a mortal fear of the kingmakers and try to
keep the distance from them. Afobaje loba koko nge lori, (the King wastes no
time in beheading the kingmaker). The reason is simple. No one wants to be
reminded of his past or be held to ransom by those who helped him climb the
ladder. Such is life.
There is no doubt that
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was in the forefront of those who midwifed this
government in cash and in kind. But despite his humongous efforts, the
relationship between Asiwaju and this government has been that of cat and
mouse. It did not start today. It actually started being frosty long before the
election. First, Asiwaju wanted to be the Vice President but Buhari was said to
have excused himself on account of Muslim/Muslim ticket and skilfully settled
for one of his close associates, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, a technocrat and
Pastor of The Redeemed Christian Church of God. Next, Tinubu was interested in
who becomes Senate President and Speaker of The House of Representatives.
Somehow, this also became elusive.
It is not clear till this
day if the President was actually interested in any preferred candidates. But
it was certain that some subterranean forces were stylishly blocking Tinubu
from having too much clout and stranglehold on the party. While I do not think
he can have his way always, I believe he should be carried along. His vast
knowledge of politics and governance would be very useful at this critical
moment.
Tinubu has remained a
loyal party chieftain brushing off every act of provocation, according to
impeccable sources. But the hawks of power are worried because of the suspicion
that he is still nursing a presidential ambition. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is also
believed to be eyeing the presidential seat.
He and Tinubu are
being systematically side-lined and checkmated. Matters are beginning to get to
a cataclysmic climax with the recent decision to block a Tinubu-backed
Governorship aspirant in Ondo State. In another ugly twist, the recent face-off
between Tinubu and the national chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun who
enjoyed Tinubu’s encouragement to emerge chairman of the party has raised more
questions than answers
As someone noted “why are
they all hell bent on humiliating Tinubu after all his support for Buhari and
their party, the APC?” I have no idea but I know that there is fire on the
mountain. After reading a Press Release from Tinubu’s media office, it was
obvious Tinubu has had enough of this surreptitious victimisation.
He and Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar are obviously angry about developments and I won’t be surprised if
they join forces again and dismantle both APC and PDP to forge a new alliance.
The two are experienced and formidable enough to even run as President and Vice
President respectively. The theory is that with the growing unpopularity of the
Buhari government anything can happen. I don’t know but if you don’t try you
can’t know what’s impossible or not
It seems APC has already
touched the tiger by the tail and should seriously watch out for possible
backlash.
My honest advice to
President Buhari, as always, is not to listen to those goading him on and
telling him he can win all battles. I will borrow him a Yoruba proverb: “bi
adete ko le fun wara, o le danu!” (if the leper cannot milk the cow, he can
spill the ready milk!). President Buhari should remember the conspiracy that
ruined PDP and eventually catapulted President Goodluck Jonathan out of power.
If we don’t know where we are going, we should remember where we are coming from.
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