When the news of endorsement of the duo of Governor Sule Lamido and
his counterpart in Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi by former President;
Olusegun Obasanjo to run in 2015 for the post of President and Vice,
under the umbrella of the ruling People’s Democratic Party [PDP], a
mixed reaction greeted the information. Though, Obasanjo later denied
endorsing both men.
The truth of the matter is that Lamido/Amaechi 2015 ticket has
elicited interest from many quarters. Of note however is that political
scientists, researchers and analysts have directed attention to Sule
Lamido as a person, ostensibly to see his marketability. But in truth,
is this man, Sule Lamido marketable in all ramifications as far as
Nigeria Presidency is concerned? The answer to this question is simply
YES.
Politically conscious Nigerians as well as political scientists will
easily tell you on enquiry that Obasanjo himself became President of
Nigeria two times not because he put food on the tables of Nigerians,
but simply on account of his nationalistic inclination, to start with.
He is also seen in many quarters as probably the only man, South-West of
Nigeria that has no iota of tribal proclivity in his official
engagements. If this writer may ask, was Obasanjo overwhelmingly voted
for by Nigerians on the basis of his performance from 1976-79 in 1999?
The fact here is that his Nationalistic leaning made the difference for
him when his people rejected him. Yes, performance in office can lead to
acceptability, but that alone cannot guarantee one the exalted position
of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Background political check on Sule Lamido. Effectively Lamido entered
politics as a member of People’s Redemption Party [PRP] in second
republic. He can be said to have schooled in Mallam Aminu Kano’s
politics of the Talakawas. Being a member of a political party that
followed order, one can easily tell where he is coming from. He became
the National Secretary of Social Democratic Party [SDP] during the third
republic; this also illuminated his progressive tendency in Nigeria
political setup. It is on record that when General Sani Abacha unfolded
plan to return Nigeria to democratic path, Lamido pitched his tent with
Social Progressive Party [SPP], and became the National Secretary of the
new party. Record has it that he was imprisoned in 1998 by Abacha for
criticizing Abacha’s plan to perpetuate himself in office. Under
Abdulsalam Abubaker midwife transition programme, Lamido became a member
of Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] in 1998. He contested for
Governorship position of Jigawa State 1999 elections and narrowly lost
to All Peoples Party [APP] candidate, Saminu Turaki.
In June 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo as he then was appointed
Lamido, Foreign Affairs Minister. For the brief period he was in charge
of Foreign Affairs Ministry, he gave a good account of himself. Speaking
at the United Nations in November 2001, Lamido described the corrosive
impact of corruption on new democracies such as Nigeria, and called for
“an international instrument” against transfer of looted funds abroad.
In March 2003, Lamido reacted to a claim by Governor Turaki of Jigawa
State that the Federal government had neglected the state, calling on
him to account for the way in which he had spent federal funding.
In April 2007, Lamido contested and won the governorship election in
Jigawa State. In June 2007, Lamido accused new generation banks of
helping state governors to loot their treasuries, and called for tighter
regulations. In July 2007 Lamido announced plans to spend N2 billion in
the next six months on education, using the money to rebuild schools
and provide basic teaching materials. The state also invested N450
million naira for training teachers teaching core courses in junior
secondary schools. He initiated major construction programs, led by the
Dutse Capital Development Authority and the Jigawa State Housing
Authority. In September 2009 Lamido offered to provide free plots of
land and basic infrastructure to investors in the tourism and
hospitality business in Jigawa State. In December 2009 Lamido announced a
plan by which beggars would be given a basic monthly payment to stay
off the streets.
Sule Lamido Nationalistic stands on National Issues in Perspective.
It is a well known fact that when it became obvious to everybody that
Late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was on his way out of power on account of
ill-health, Nigerians knew there was going to be dangerous scheming for
power that needed management by well meaning leaders. But in a system
where every well meaning Nigerian was an interested party as it were
then, presented a tricky scenario; that was exactly what happened in the
run-up to 2011 general elections in Nigeria. Of note here is the
stabilizing role played by Governor Sula Lamido in the period under
review. On the issue of opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan .by a
section of Northern elite before and after the primary election of PDP,
Lamisdo’s utterances stand him out as a stabilizer per excellence. Hear
vintage Sule Lamido: if Northern Muslims could insist that President
Jonathan, a Southern Christian, should not be President, then, there is a
need to divide Nigeria and let each zone determine its direction. “The
point is they are using such sentiments to destroy the North. What is
politics all about? Following your opinion. But for someone to say one
must abide by his opinion no matter how is wrong. People should be
allowed to do what they want. If that is the case, we should divide the
country so that we could have the section for Christians and that of the
Muslims,” This writer wonders what would have been the fate of 2011
elections in the North if Sule Lamido and his likes were not there.
Perhaps, Sule Lamidod’s position on zoning of Presidency in 2011
could be seen as the most forceful argument from the North and may have
been largely responsible for realistic assessment of position by the
elites from the zone. Again, this is what he said: “We should know that
this issue of zoning, out of about 60 political parties, this zoning
issue is for the PDP alone. It does not bother those in the ANPP, CPC or
ANC. But because of the circumstance we found ourselves, it has become a
general issue. Now they are denouncing the PDP but the fact is that
they cannot change anything. “Look at what happened in Kano during the
ANPP, there was this boy called Ibrahim Little. For many years he was
the only major figure in the ANPP but in the end they forcefully
rejected him. Look at how Abacha’s son joined a party within two months
and seized everything. So those people, what they are doing, they feel
is what everybody is doing. Democracy has a universal definition but
then it has no universal application. The application of democracy is
beyond the definition. When you are talking of zoning or no zoning,
Nigeria is a democracy and should be able to apply democracy to her
comfort. Zoning is a kind of mechanism. The application of zoning is
based on the existing realities.
The needless tension and noise that greeted General Mohammadu
Buhari’s alleged threat in Hausa language that if 2015 election is
rigged, blood will flow, will not have occurred if the view of Lamido
was sought. Hear him on rigging and 2015: I am not saying that Buhari is
not a democrat going by his comments, No, it is not the issue of being a
democrat. It’s the issue of self-gratification, because what he is
saying is beyond human comprehension. How do you rig election, where we
won, he said there was no election. Then how did we win? He won in the
entire north yet he said he didn’t win, that his supporters were chased
away, they were not voting him. So what is the purpose? On 2015
elections, Lamido further said, Buhari used a Hausa idiom, Kare jini
biri, jinni. This is Hausa proverb which simply means that if dog keeps
on pestering the monkey, one day the monkey will fight back and both
will sustain bloody injuries. Buhari has taken the Hausas hostage. He
can’t go to the south and ask them to fight for him; he can’t go to the
west and ask them to fight. Will Bakare fight for Buhari in the west?
Will people in the east fight for Buhari because he loses an election?
Even the Idomas, people from the middle belt will they fight for Buhari
because he lost an election? Who are those he is asking to fight? The
Hausas. So the rest of Nigeria is wishing us luck on how we are killing
each other. From what he said it means Hausas should be killing one
another. I don’t see any Igbo man dying because of Buhari, not even Tony
Momoh the CPC chairman or Bakare the pastor, I don’t see them dying
because Buhari did not win an election. Even the Yorubas cannot die for
Buhari. He is asking the Hausas to kill one another.
Those who are talking about Jonathan now have no idea how he became a
vice president and how he became the president and what transpired
within the governors to make him the president. So people are talking
about Jonathan the finished product and not the raw material. And they
are free to appropriate him, to localise him. Was that how he emerged,
were they the ones who voted him, were they the ones who made him the
VP. These people, who are now talking, were they the ones who made him
the vice president, had they any input. When he became the president,
had they any idea that he was going to run in 2011. We will not allow
anybody to appropriate or create a local president for their own
locality; we are looking for the Nigerian president. Not president of
the Nigerian Hausas, the president of the Nigerian Yorubas, the
president of the Nigerian Igbo, the president of the Nigerian Urhobos or
the Munchis. We are looking for a Nigerian president whether Yoruba or
Igbo. Jonathan is a president of Nigerian consensus. Nigerians made him.
Jonathan symbolizes Nigeria because he is a creation of all Nigerians
across all divides. Jonathan is not the president of the Urhobos,
Jonathan is Nigerian president and therefore nobody should appropriate
him. Now whatever is going to happen by 2015 is going to be by the same
Nigerian consensus.
On issue of corruption Sule Lamido calls it a national phenomenon. In
an interview, he said: “Again, you are speaking like typical Nigerians.
You are also part of the Nigerian crisis. People in the National
Assembly, government houses, in the Armed Forces, in the police, in the
market, in the universities are all drawn from the Nigerian environment.
So, when we are speaking about corruption, why don’t you do some kind
of reflection? Are we upright? “It is a very serious problem. It is not
an issue of Farouk, it is a Nigerian crisis. Are you upright? People
take you and try to make money out of you. If you go to market to buy
oranges, they put big ones on top and the little ones under.“When the
media go to get news, they play it up. So, all of us as a people, what
do we do? Why don’t we begin to define some standard upon which we can
begin to operate? What do we do as a people? Corruption is a national
phenomenon. Everybody has to be able to say yes, ‘I will not do it.”
On insecurity in Nigeria occasioned by Boko Hara menace, Lamido warns
against sectionalizing the problem. Hear him: “Stop looking at this
thing in isolation. You are facing a wider problem of national security
in the country and therefore, no place will be secure if one part is not
secure. Nobody will be secure in the north if people in the south are
not secure and vice versa. “Even the pressmen should be able to raise
the debate in a more serious way that we don’t trivialize and make it
sectional or give them compartmentalized localities. No. It is more
holistic. “Today, security has gone beyond what you call sovereign
security. It is now security from fear. It is for all of us. The country
is going through a lot of problem. Therefore it needs our
understanding, our unity and our patience to be able to rescue ourselves
from our misdemeanor. “How do you become free from fear? It is by
passing information, by being law abiding, by being cooperative, by
doing everything to entrench national security in our statement, in
whatever we say. There must be some circumspection in what we do and
whatever we say.”
Clearly then, Sule Lamido stands head and shoulder higher than his
pears with respect to consideration on Presidency. His curriculum vitae
speak for itself. He has never been controversially sectional in
politics, his position on National issues are faultless. He does not
maintain double standard in politics. But one thing is certain about
Lamido, he is not the one that can be stampeded into presidential
contest. Just like he said, NIGERIAN CONSENSUS will determine 2015;
however, SULE LAMIDO IS A GOOD CANDIDATE FROM THE NORTH!
Emeka Oraetoka
HuhuOnline.com
Former
governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in
Adamawa State, Ambassador Mohammed Marwa, in a chat with newsmen
recently in Yola said, he has been under tremendous pressure to return
to his former party the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that
he was part and parcel of the military which 'owned' the party. CLEMENT
EKONG was there.
