Haven’t we allowed government to fool us enough?

The Pendulum

By O’Ray Osawe

 

It is almost a curse; but it sounds more like an uninterrupted statement of fact; a declaration that comes right from within, that nothing, absolutely nothing, can be done to change the situation.

Nigerians have been suffering untold hardship, prompted by unwholesome government policies, manifesting in the sorry socio-political and economic backwaters we have found ourselves.

Social infrastructures, where they exist at all, are in terribly neglected conditions; graduate unemployment continues to yearly quadruple, giving the ludicrous impression that we do not have need of them any long. This is because, as a result of their presence and the nation’s inability to productively engage them, we have had to face all sorts of debilitating criminal activities, including armed-robbery, drug, human trafficking, and only recently kidnapping.

It is a truism that we, as a nation, have a preponderance of almost everything, from human resources to mineral resources. Recently, we have become so divinely blessed with prostitutes that they have become exportable commodities for marketing abroad!

Hope has no meaning to us again because the present conditions that ravage us, without mercy, have promptly beclouded our vision of the future. Those in government, that are supposed to come to our aid, have willingly turned their back on us, regaling themselves in corruption and debasing the sanctity of a national constitution that is believed to have spelt out the way and manner we should have been properly governed.

In essence, government has become an added problem, a vice that continues to assail the consciousness of Nigerians. It has become an intimidating incubus that has continued to oppress and keep us in the enveloping darkness of all manners of criminality against humanity. Government, which is supposed to be the representative of the people in the use of our commonwealth for the progress and happiness of our country and people, has become our number one enemy.

Our roads, especially our highways, have become death traps. Nigerians have lost count of the numerous quality lives that have been lost through road mishaps that ordinarily could have been prevented by putting such roads in order. Our educational and health institutions have continued in their mere existence as government’s negligence has ravaged their very souls. Understandably, children of those in government do not patronize any of these mere institutions that are left to exist as relics of what should have been government’s responsibility.

However, the greatest of all of these problems bisecting us today in this country is we, ourselves. We are our greatest enemies. Someone once said that the problem of man is man himself. Man needs to cure himself; the society, from among which these reckless leaders of today emanate, must sanitize itself, heal itself and chart an endearing course for itself. The sin we have committed against ourselves is that of ignorance and a non-recognition of the potent powers we have in our grip, that sovereign powers reside with the people and not with their leaders, who have clearly missed their political calling.

Whenever it is time for Nigerians to elect their new set of leaders at the different tiers of government, the politicians would begin to cook their poisonous concoctions to dazzle the public with. They then would begin to run, from pillar to post, begging for votes. Funny, and ignorantly enough, Nigerians would be waiting for these politicians to beg them to register to vote. A majority of Nigerians would shun INEC’s Voters’ registration centres, thereby allowing politicians to hijack the process.  The politicians would then take it upon themselves to house, feed and fend for INEC registration officials. What do we expect from all of these? Right from day one, INEC would have, by this, compromised its reputation and aloofness. The onus would then be on INEC to do their bidding when the voting and election proper come. 

Nigerians are starkly ignorant because we have failed to know our rights, and recognize the fact that our fumbling leaders are, in truth, our servants, who are supposed to be told what we want, and they would be compelled to do our bidding. Should they fail in that regard, we are at liberty to get them kicked out of public office promptly. This is the naked truth we have, so far, failed to realize.

Rather, and most abjectly, we see today’s leaders as masters, instead of the looters and plunderers that they are. We fret when they dehumanize us; we get apathetic where issues and matters of government are concerned, erroneously holding the view that they do not concern us.  For this apathy and detachment, we have continued to suffer, and we will continue to suffer more stringent privations, if we continue to refuse to know, and act in consonance with our exclusive rights to sovereign powers and self determination.

It was Fela Anikulapo Kuti, that Late Afrobeat King with caustic lyrics for our oppressive leaders, who once sang: “policeman go slap you, you no go talk. Army man go whip your yansh, you go do like zombie!” This is the reality of our situation, so much so that when a gang of government-backed exploiters, in the name of whatever committee, would harass us unlawfully, we cower in fear and timidity. Absolutely preposterous!

There is the urgent need for us to begin to express the knowledge of our rights. To speak out against the ills perpetrated by an irresponsible government, which we should not allow to stay in office a day longer than when our confidence in them expires! In advanced, more civilized and knowledgeable societies, the people, who know their rights, do not even have the patience to wait for another election time before demanding, and securing, the exit of reckless and irresponsible government functionaries. That aptly demonstrates the possession of the peoples’ sovereign powers. The tenure of government functionaries should be determined by the collective grace of the people, who would gauge the relevance of the public officers with their (the peoples’) collective wellbeing.

It is high time we realized this fact and act in its consonance. Otherwise, this ignorance of ours would continue to cow us, and one day soon, would transform us into dummies. Haven’t you heard it said, that the rich masters once submitted all they had got to their slaves, and the slaves later turned around to chastise them with whips and scorpions? It is the pathetic tale of the Nigerian people in relation to the kind of government we have allowed to preside over us all these years.

TheNavigator

Edo APC Ward Congresses: Who is lying to Edo People? *Oshiomhole, Odubu or Compol?

 

By Ken Edokpayi

 

The much expected ward congresses of the All Progressives Congress, APC, across the state may have come and gone, but it was obviously one exercise that left soured taste in the mouths of quite a number of party leaders and members.

            The reasons for this sad tale are not far-fetched: there was a complete abandonment of the rationalizing principles of internal democracy and fair-play, coupled with an amazing theatrical enthronement of thuggery, back-biting, witch-hunting and the absence of due process.

            Almost in all the wards across the state, the congress exercises, meant to elect the party officials at the ward levels, were characterized by glaring, deliberate irregularities, which further brought to the fore, and escalated the sectional interests of the different contending factions in the party.  Expressions of violent disagreements as a result of calculated disenfranchisement of bonafide members of the party by these contending forces, to freely and willingly choose their preferred officials, defined the order of the day.  These were further heightened by sporadic firing of tear-gas that later degenerated into staccato gunshots that scared away scores of party members from the venues of congresses, and with quite some others going away with different degrees of injuries.

With these scenarios playing out in several other locations across the state, especially in Edo South senatorial districts, Edo people woke up the next day to unbelievable commendations of the exercise by some high ranking party leaders in the state, including the State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his Deputy, Dr. Pius Odubu, who said the congresses held across the state were peaceful and orderly!  What is more, the State Police Commissioner, Mr. Foluso Adebanjo also surprisingly labeled the congresses as free and peaceful across the state, underscoring the seeming, vicious connivance of a section of the APC party leadership and membership to fool Edo people and subject them to ridicule.  Pray, tell me, would the Commissioner of police in the state classify the gun-shots that rented the air in several of the congress centres across the state fireworks to celebrate the peaceful congresses?  This, truly, is sacrilegious.

However, as if to indict these people that they were lying brazenly, the APC leadership, rising from a hurriedly scheduled damage-control stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday, 9^th April, 2014, said, in a press statement signed by its Interim State Publicity Secretary, Comrade Godwin Erhahon, that congresses held in Edo South senatorial district be cancelled and that Saturday the 12^th of April had been fixed for rescheduled congresses in the seven Edo South local government areas of Oredo, Ikpoba-Okha, Egor, Ovia North East, Ovia South West, Orhionmwon and Uhunmwode.  This he maintained was sequel to the complaints and protests by the various contending factions.

In the Edo Central senatorial district, the congresses were relatively peaceful, as the contending interests may have properly harmonized before the Tuesday ratification day.  A former Transition Committee Chairman in Esan North East, Mr. Anslem Adima, described the congress in the locality as 95% successful and peaceful, urging those who lost out in the position grabbing, to align with others who won to move the party forward in the senatorial district.  However, a former youth leader of the APC in Uromi, who simply gave his name as Ebosele, said the congresses were not free and fair, and insisted that the aggrieved APC members were likely to find their ways back to the PDP, which he said “are now effectively practicing internal democracy.”

            Meanwhile, on Thursday, 10^th April, 2014, some protesting members of the APC in the Edo South senatorial districts gathered at the Oba Ovoranmwen Square, at the gate of the Edo State House of Assembly, specifically, to register their displeasure at the decision of the party leadership to cancel congresses held in Edo South senatorial district. 

The irate party members, brandishing banners with various inscriptions chanted “we no go gree o, we no go gree!” in obvious disenchantment at the cancelled congresses.  The crowd had to disperse as it became obvious that the leadership of the House were equally locked up in another damage-control meeting at another location in the state capital.

In the interim, as expected by political watchers in the state, the leadership of the APC has fingered the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as responsible for its woes and inability to conduct a free, fair and peaceful congress across the state.  Interim State Publicity Secretary, Comrade Godwin Erhahon, noted in the party’s recent press release that the APC was aware of attempts by the PDP to infiltrate its ranks through the congress.

Read part of the press release: “The APC is particularly monitoring PDP bargain with one of its faction in Edo South, whose leader PDP has promised Senatorial ticket for himself, UBTH Chief Medical Director for his wife and lucrative role in Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organization under which some of his supporters have been shortlisted for different assignments, if the outcome of the congress does not favour his governorship ambition in APC,” insisting that all the premature press statements issued by some of the APC protesters, to disparage and blackmail the party, even before they complained formally to the authority, were part of the grand plot to bring down APC for PDP.

Erhahon noted that the allegation that the State Congress Committee from Abuja, appointed ward congress committees from supporters of one faction only, was equally part of the destabilization agenda “because all APC stakeholders, including those who are now complaining, unanimously mandated the committee to pick names randomly from list of ad-hoc staff who performed APC membership registration exercise in February.”

Meanwhile, it would be recalled that even the membership registration exercise of the APC in February 2014, was yet another sore point in the life of the fledgling party in the state, as accusations and counter-accusations equally characterized the exercise.

The contending issues during the  membership registration exercise and the ward congresses have always been the violent clashes of interests between party forces loyal to the State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and others loyal to Pastor (Barrister) Osagie Ize-Iyamu-led faction.

            It had earlier been speculated by political watchers that the registration exercise would be as tension-soaked as well as it would be crisis-ridden, because long before the exercise, and especially in anticipation of the party congresses and primaries later in the year, the Edo APC had been factionalized along the Oshiomhole, Ize-Iyamu and Odubu lines.

            Said a political commentator, Mr. Sunny Ighede, in a chat with The Navigator, shortly before the membership registration exercise, in February, “the crisis that has consumed the state APC today was long expected. As an out-going governor, Comrade Oshiomhole is hell-bent on nominating and anointing his successor, irrespective of what other party leaders would say.  From his actions all this while, especially after the first two years of his first tenure, Oshiomhole became somewhat of a dictator, trying and succeeding in imposing his will, thoughts and body-language on all and sundry in the party.  Soon, it became very clear that he wanted to anoint a successor, which unfortunately was not anyone amongst those very many of the party leaders and members were suspecting. 

“At a time, the Deputy Governor, Pius Odubu, could no longer hide his dreams to succeed Oshiomhole; that dream was natural, at least a Deputy trying to take over from his former boss, is healthy thinking.  Then also was Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, a powerful and influential leader in the party, who had been nursing the gubernatorial ambition long before the arrival of Comrade Oshiomhole on the platform of the then Action Congress. 

“So, before the commencement of the membership registration exercise, these three forces and personalities were expected to play highly decisive and crucial roles.    So, the tension, crisis and violence, really, did not come to me as a surprise.”

Mr. Ighede traced the crisis to the “selfish” fight over what he called “the ownership of the political structure.  “Every politician,” he noted, “who feels he is a leader who should be calling the shots, should establish, control and fund his own structure, men, women and youths who would answer him night or day.  Granted in 2007, Oshiomhole practically had no political structure in the Action Congress, which he crossed to from the Labour Party.  He took part in the AC congress that threw him up as the gubernatorial candidate of the party, merely two weeks to the congress in a party, where Matthew Atamah, Kenneth Imazuagbon and Charles Idahosa, had established and firmed up their supporters.  Without mincing words, Pastor Ize-Iyamu, who effectively called the shots in the AC party then, availed Oshiomhole the opportunity of using his own (Ize-Iyamu’s) structure.  I do remember that that was how Oshiomhole emerged the gubernatorial candidate of the AC at that time.”

Mr. Ighede opined that Oshiomhole may have had to contend with so many other issues, one of which was probably the dearth of key, loyal members, whom he could influence to deliver his candidates at the congress and primaries, where these members would be the authorizing delegates.

In his words, “This reasoning actually fuelled the desperation to appropriate members to himself by all means, including fraudulent ones, to out-scheme other contending influences and leaders in the party.  It explained why, for instance, at the same registration centre, there would be two canopies: one for his own supporters and the other for supporters of Ize-Iyamu!  It even got to a point where thugs of both divides unleashed violence on themselves, with some reportedly engaging in a shooting spree right there at the governor’s office when the atmosphere became too charged.  We saw cases of membership cards’ booklets, which were supposed to contain a hundred membership cards, reduced to 40 and in some cases 30 for a unit! Obviously some persons had yanked off some of these booklets before bringing them to the registration centres; this could only mean fraud in capital letters.”

            In his own interview with The Navigator, a Benin-based social critic, Mr. Pius Igiehon, lashed at Gov. Oshiomhole for “his obvious hypocrisy and anti-democratic antics” insisting that as the leader of the party in the state, “a party that prides itself as different from others,” he was supposed to ensure that “things went well, fairly and appropriately.  In fact, right now, he should be ashamed that his leadership in the state could not conduct a simple membership registration of his political party.  If he could not supervise an exercise, supposedly as simple as that, what temerity has he to venture into criticizing the INEC over election time-table?”

            He noted that what the crisis-ridden membership registration exercise and party ward congresses had shown was “a deliberate unpreparedness of the Oshiomhole-led leadership of the APC in the state to depart from the odious path and mistakes of past political alliances, and forge the expected change needed to emancipate our people from the apron string of political jobbers and corrupt leadership.  This failed membership registration exercise has taken the APC back to the starting block, where we would begin to ask questions about the readiness of the alliance to bring about the change it mouths.”

            Igiehon explained further, “To identify members of a political party, there is need for documentation. Documentation of members of a political party is the simplest exercise any party can carry out.  Therefore, membership registration is a responsibility a party can exercise.  The All Progressives Congress, APC, is a party that says it wants to bring about change.  It is surprising to note that the just concluded registration exercise of the party in Edo State is a huge disappointment, particularly in Oredo local government area, where you have a Comrade Governor.”

            While maintaining that since the inception of his government, Comrade Oshiomhole had always professed democracy and the rule of law.  “The party’s membership registration exercise and the ward congresses,” Igiehon remarked, “was another opportunity that presented itself for the governor to make amends to several other anti-democratic antics held against his name and person in the past; but yet again he failed to utilize the chance, preferring instead to exhibit his uncouth, anti-democratic whims.  It is a huge disappointment.   How can he explain a ward congress exercise which equally ended in gun-shooting and scores of injuries to party members? ”

TheNavigator

Abuja Explosions: A cruel act of merciless slaughter - ‪#‎Buhari‬

The Nigerian former Head of state
and APC National Leader, General
Muhammadu Buhari has discribed
that early Monday morning Bomb
attacks in the FCT, Abuja as a cruel
act of merciless killings of innocent
Nigerians by the perpetrators
Buhari said: "The attack today at Nyanya
was horrific, heartbreaking, and a cruel
act of merciless slaughter. My thoughts
and prayers are with the families of those
who lost their lives. I also pray and hope
for the full and speedy recovery of those
wounded."
"My heart breaks every time I take to this
platform to offer condolences in this
tormenting season of seemingly endless
violence. I understand that it is difficult
for the government to prevent every
terrorist attack, but we can always do
more to protect our defenseless citizens
by boosting our intelligence and counter
terrorism capabilities."
"Words alone cannot express the full
solemnity of our grief. We can only honor
the memories of our country men and
women by winning this war against
terrorism and bringing to justice the
perpetrators of those dastardly acts."
APC National Leader said, "The security
and stability of Nigeria is inviolable. No
individual or group can hold the security
and stability of this country to ransom.
Our security and stability cannot be
conditioned on any ideology or partisan
agenda. Every Nigerian reserves the right
to his own security, to his own freedom
and dignity, and no amount of terrorist
blackmail can make us surrender these."
"May God unite our hearts as we
confront this evil," he concluded.

2015 presidential bid Buhari Denies Picking Tinubu as Running Mate

 by Fidelis Mac-Leva (Abuja), Misbahu Bashir, Kaduna

Former Head of State, retired General Muhammadu Buhari

. Other Presidential Aspirants Are Left Guessing

. PDP Behind Muslim-Muslim -Ticket Rumour - Alhaji Argungu

Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Head of State, retired General Muhammadu Buhari has described as false, media reports saying that his party had sealed a deal to pair him with former Lagos state Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as running mate for the party’s presidential ticket in 2015.         
There have been speculations in recent times, particularly in the media, that power brokers within the party hierarchy have concluded plans to present a Muslim/Muslim ticket for the 2015 presidential election; a development that has sparked controversy.
Reacting to the matter, however, Buhari’s media aide, Malam Ya’u Darazau, said APC did not plan to pick Tinubu as a running mate to General Buhari in the 2015 presidential election, adding that the three time presidential candidate has not made up his mind about the 2015 contest.
Yau’ Darazu said the rumour making the rounds over a planned Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket by the APC was without foundation and should be ignore, as, according to him, the former Head of State was rather devoting much of his time trying to foster unity among party loyalists and Nigerians.
 He said: “Those who will be presidential and vice-presidential flag bearers will be named during the party’s convention. It is untrue that the General will have Tinubu as his running mate in the 2015 elections and the matter hasn’t even been discussed. The General and, indeed, other party leaders are trying to unite the party now and ensure the success of the congresses. We don’t know where and how the rumour emerged because convention has to be conducted before presidential candidate and his running mate is chosen and this has not yet been done.”
Although the interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed declined comment on who is likely to get the ticket, saying talking about the presidential ticket of the party now amounts to putting the cart before the Horse,  national publicity secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and chieftain of the APC, Osita Okechukwu said the speculation and reports over the presidential candidate of the party would be a surprise if the formation of APC in the first instance is anything to go by especially from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“The context emanates from the truism that the registration of APC on 31 July 2013, an outcome of the first consummation of merger of major political parties in the annals of our political history, has set the stage to propel our fledgling democracy to the zenith of liberal democracy. Naturally pundits and minders of the PDP are speculating and making all manner of permutations on the ticket of the APC, especially when the party draws large followership from the two prominent electoral zones - North West and South West”, he said.
Former Deputy Governor of Kebbi State and member of the state congress committee of the APC, Alhaji Suleiman Muhammed Argungu, said the purported Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket in the party was the handiwork of the ruling PDP. 

DailyTrust

We won’t give any vote to PDP in 2015 - Saraki

by Abdullateef Aliyu, Ilorin

Saraki spoke in Ilorin shortly after the conduct of APC’s local government congresses.A former Governor of Kwara State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Bukola Saraki yesterday restated his resolve to absolutely deliver the State to the party in the 2015 elections.

The congresses were held peacefully across the 16 local government areas. Saraki participated in the exercise in Ilorin West local government area where he hails from.
The former governor, who expressed satisfaction over the smooth and peaceful conduct of the exercise that produced the party officials through affirmation, charged them to start working for the party ahead of the 2015 general elections.
Saraki, who recently dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for APC alongside his loyalists and supporters, including Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, restated that the APC remained the winning party in the State. According to him, “Those that still want to learn from history, be rest assured that Kwara is solidly an All Progressives Congress (APC) State”.
He said, “Here, we are one family. Here, we are committed to delivering in totality the entire Kwara State to the APC family. Those we have today as Ilorin West local government executives, I charge you all to go out and start the work of winning the State for the APC. We have less than eleven months to the 2015 elections and we must start the work now.
“We do not want to give any vote. We want to win totally. We want to send a message across Nigeria. We want to send a message to the pretenders that in Kwara State, we are not seasonal politicians. What do I mean by seasonal politicians? People, who after election, they go home and lock their doors and windows. They only care with their families. They don’t open the doors to anybody. Then, nine months to elections they will come and are looking for votes.
“We are here day in day out with our people and our people appreciate it. That is why they will come out to vote massively for APC”.

DailyTrust

APC Calls GDP Rebasing PR Gimmick

 APC LOGO

•  Says economic data is spurious
Onyebuchi Ezigbo 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the data released by the federal government on the rebasing of the Nigerian economy as an orchestrated distraction and a mindless public relations gimmick, which the “masterminds said has seen the country emerge as the largest economy in Africa”.

In a statement issued Thursday by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said coming after the damning World Bank report which declared Nigeria as one of the countries harbouring the largest population of extremely poor people in the world, there is no doubt that the rebasing noise is the government's response to the classification by the Bretton Woods' institution.

“However, the federal government has only succeeded in opening itself to ridicule. This is because if ever there was a clear play at oxymoron, this is it: The largest economy with the largest population of the poor, the largest economy with the largest population of the unemployed, the largest economy with the largest population of citizens living in darkness, and the largest economy with the worst infrastructure.

“Simply put, there is too much poverty in the midst of plenty, and the so-called economic growth which the federal government has been trumpeting with its dubious statistics is not a result of any deliberate government policies.

“Policies of government are expected to result in reduction in unemployment, increase in capacity utilisation by manufacturers, increased access to basic needs of life (food, water, electricity, health care, education, healthy environment, etc), increase in transparency and accountability, etc. On the contrary, the country continues to slip down the ladder on all of these fronts,” it said.

APC said the federal government carried its joke too far by even giving the impression that the so-called emergence of the Nigerian economy as the largest in Africa was a function of the economic policies under President Goodluck Jonathan, rather than a rejigging of figures calibrated to fool an unsuspecting public.

The party said fortunately, no one had been fooled by the government, even though it had succeeded, at least temporarily, in diverting attention from the pervasive and worsening insecurity in the land.

According to the party, “The move was also to cover up the hopeless power situation that has seen Nigerians publicly protesting being thrown into perpetual darkness, the ticking time bomb of rising unemployment, especially among our youth, the unprecedented massive frittering away and looting of the commonwealth and the total absence of governance.

“The reactions of the economic experts and the business community within Nigeria as well as at the World Bank level to the rebasing hubbub have taken the wind out of the government’s sail and dampened its undue ecstasy over what is nothing but window dressing.

“For example, the business community has noted that while Nigeria, with the rebased GDP, is now ranked number 26th in the world with regard to the size of the economy in 2013, it is ranked 147th in its ease of Doing Business report of the World Bank, out of the 189 countries profiled. Even Sierra Leone and Liberia had better ranking.

“In the same vein, our ranking in the UNDP Human Development Index is 153, out of 210 countries. There is no better illustration of the disconnect between growth and development; between growth and quality of investment climate.

“Also, the World Bank, in a subtle but clear thumbs down, made it clear that the living standards of the citizenry and the productivity that generates those living standards are the key issues here, and that investors in London, New York, Beijing or Tokyo are not necessarily looking at the GDP statistics but how profitable their investments will be in a country.

“Therefore, President Jonathan and his shadow-chasing economic team should therefore quit wallowing in unnecessary chest-beating over the rejigging of figures and the play on statistics and put their shoulders to the wheel to push our nation forward. If they cannot, they should get out of the way and allow those who are capable to do so. Enough of this choreographed distraction.”

ThisDay

Beyond the Muslim/Muslim Ticket

The Pendulum By Dele Momodu, Email: Dele.momodu@thisdaylive.com

Fellow Nigerians, our country witnessed something unprecedented some 21 odd years ago. It was the audacious move by Chief Moshood Abiola who chose to appoint a fellow Muslim, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, as his Presidential running-mate for the June 12 1993 election. It appeared sacrilegious in a country that has always been sharply divided along ethnic and religious lines. The decision caused so much commotion in the ranks of the Social Democratic Party at that time. Indeed, Papa Adekunle Ajasin, elder statesman and former Governor of Ondo State, was so infuriated that he put a call through to Abiola and scolded him in strong words. A no-nonsense man, he was quoted as telling Abiola “…with this your unacceptable decision, you’ve murdered Christ a second time!” Abiola, a master at dousing tension with powerful wise-cracks was said to have replied “Baba, mi o si ni Calvary sir…” (I was not in Calvary sir). Papa Ajasin and other enraged leaders allowed Abiola to carry on with his gamble but I doubt if it was as simple as we tried to play it.

Even for us Abiola’s foot-soldiers at the time, what he did was a dangerous taboo. The news was broken to us by Dr Doyin Abiola, our boss at Concord newspapers, who invited Dele Alake, Segun Babatope, Tunji Bello and I to her office where she dropped the bombshell. According to her, “Daddy called from Abuja and asked me to tell you guys that he has changed his mind about picking a Northern Christian as his Vice Presidential candidate.” We all sank into our seats, in total shock and utter disbelief. The sad part was that we had earlier gone to town telling our media friends that Abiola was going to run with a Christian. We wondered the wisdom behind this damaging volte face. How were we to confront our colleagues with this apparent monstrosity?

Dr Abiola lectured us a bit on what her husband had taught her over time: “Daddy believes that if you must convince anyone about anything, the first person to convince is yourself… He has already convinced himself that the Muslim/Muslim ticket was doable. It is now up to you guys to convince yourselves.” It was more of an instruction than an argument or persuasion. By the time we picked ourselves up to brace up to the atrocious challenges we were sure to face, we received another salvo from Dr Abiola: “Daddy is set to flag off his campaign in Kaduna without announcing his running-mate” This was getting interesting.

Not only was Chief Abiola under intense pressure to pick a Northern Muslim he was also being inundated and suffocated with names of potential candidates by lobbyists and godfathers. It was such a big mess. But I think the SDP Governors won the day when they got Abiola to announce their choice of Kingibe. The rest is history. The didactic message from my preamble is that some seeds of discord were already planted in SDP from that moment on. I seriously suspect that many of those who lost the argument and the bid on that occasion only went away to nurse their injuries quietly but never forgave Abiola in the real sense. When the major conundrum erupted, it was like payback time.

History has a way of repeating itself. There are serious rumblings within the major opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC). The cause is the believable rumour that some powerful forces may have decided to try a Muslim/Muslim ticket again in the next Presidential election of 2015. A Nigerian journalist asked me on a flight to New York last week if I thought it was possible. Of course, Nigeria is a nation of possibilities. This epistle you are reading sums up my analysis during our long flight.

It is easier for a Muslim/Muslim ticket to work than that of a Christian/Christian. The heavily populated geo-political zones in Nigeria namely North West, South West and North East each have a large Muslim presence. Also the North Central is thickly populated by Muslims. The South East belongs almost totally to Christians just like the South South minus Edo State where we have pockets of Muslims. What is my verdict? A Muslim/Muslim ticket can win an election in Nigeria over and over again. The way Nigeria is currently configured makes it very practical and realisable. You and I can protest to high heavens and till kingdom comes, but the stark reality is that democracy is a game of numbers.

What I just postulated is not mere theory.  We have seen the actualisation of it in the annulled mandate of June 12.  There is a caveat however.  Muslims or Christians are not likely to vote automatically for candidates on the basis of religion. Christians are as sharply divided as Muslim sects, though Muslims are likely to be more cohesive. I have lost count of how many Christian denominations there are. The Pentecostal churches seem to be more liberal than the Catholics, Anglicans, Baptists, Jehovah’s Witness, Methodists, and other old generation sects.

Religion is actually not the number one agenda on the list of politicians. It is money, raw cash. Money unites enemies on a regular day. On awkward days, its force is even more potent because the dark forces only have to deploy a greater amount of money and they are surely liable to have their way. 

The second item on the political agenda is power. The in power holds the aces. He deploys the perks and largesse of power as he feels. The greatest of the greats eat from his palm. Some juicy appointments can instantly transform a certified pauper into a certificated billionaire. No one can compete with PDP on that level. The third is ethnicity or where you come from. The Nigerian commonwealth is a giant cake being rotated amongst the majorities. Jonathan’s emergence which catapulted a lumpenproletariat from a minority zone into a position of absolute authority was either a deliberate accident or a complete miscalculation on the part of our Mafia dons. Now that he has grabbed power for a region that perceived itself as downtrodden, it has become difficult to dislodge him.

Other minorities in the country see him as a rallying or focal point.  It is now no longer easy to discountenance the minorities or relegate them to the background. Power-play in the Republic has changed and there is a new Sherriff with his full complement of dogged and loyal Deputies in town.  The President thus holds three of the four aces for becoming maximum ruler in our terrain. These are money, power and the area you come from.  The fourth is religion. The President certainly has enough resources to gather as many Muslims as Christians if he plays his cards right. He therefore has the unparalleled privilege of having the capacity to hold all the aces!

While the opposition seems to have the numbers on paper, mainly because the generality of the people who appear to be fed up with the ruling party, the choice of very controversial candidates may capsize their boat. Politics is like a game of football. You need both strikers and defenders to win. Only a foolish team would play the Brazilian style in a game against Brazil. APC has a guaranteed 60 to 70 percent of angry army of unemployed and very bitter youths just waiting to connect with the better candidates they know only APC can unleash. It cannot afford to try and match PDP cash for cash or insensitivity for insensitivity.  It must dare to be different even at great sacrifice to personal ambitions. 

The game would be sweeter for APC, with a combination of experience and youthfulness, so as to tap into the abundance of restless youths plaguing our political landscape looking for salvation in the form of a leader whose ideals and vision are rooted in the 21st century.  Therefore, as a rule, one of the candidates for President or Vice President should currently be in service. Neither must have been out of touch for too long. That would be like recalling Segun Odegbami, Christian Chukwu or Stephen Keshi to come and play for Nigeria in the 2015 World Cup. Our coaches must be more creative and imaginative than that.

The opposition must be sensitive to the deep religious sentiments in Nigeria today. A government that preaches change must never be seen to seek to trample on rights and freedom of the people. Even if a Muslim/Muslim ticket can win in the long run, we must not run the risk of stoking the embers of religious conflagration. We already have enough problems in our hands, we should not add to it. To assume that Christians won’t mind a Muslim/Muslim ticket is a subtle way of turning them into inferior minorities. This type of insensitivity led to the collapse of law and order in the South/South where the militants had to take the law into their hands. The money that should be used for developing Nigeria in general is now being squandered on some nebulous amnesty program. We would have saved ourselves from this outlandish hocus-pocus if we had distributed our resources with simple common-sense.

This leads me to the next thesis. This is the first time the region that produces our golden eggs would be allowed to manage the poultry. The opposition seeks to sack their Farm Manager for several reasons all bothering on lack of effective leadership. The people of the South/South are insisting their son must serve the eight years of two terms permissible under our Constitution. Would it not be reckless to remove him and not give the zone at least the number two slot which may even be taken to be only a token gesture by those concerned? It is almost certain that Nigeria would know no peace if and when it happens that the South/South has lost out to other regions, so soon after the miracle that catapulted Jonathan to power, without the opportunity to at least play second fiddle.  This perfidy will be compounded by ignoring the religious background of the region and its strong Christian affiliations.  It will be like adding insult to injury. This is the crux of the matter.

The whole hullabaloo of angling for power in Nigeria is about gaining access to the oil wealth. How fair would it be to kick Jonathan out without having one of their own on the new ticket? I’m convinced APC has found itself in a volatile quagmire. How it wriggles out would depend on its willingness and readiness to think beyond politics of self and embrace politics of equity, justice and fair-play. There are many stars from every part of Nigeria who have the requisite brilliance to lead us out of the present mess. I would not say that Jonathan must remain in power by force, whether he performs or not, but we must also discourage any attempt to side-line the region that has suffered most despite its huge contributions to Nigeria’s development. It would have been easier to suppress this sentiment if our country was very normal but we are very far from it.

As a matter of fact, APC has a lot of convincing work to do in the Niger Delta in particular. It is not going to be an easy task persuading them to abandon the number one position for even number two. To suggest a worse position than number two would be tantamount to rubbing raw pepper to a fresh wound, and an affront of the worst order. Nigeria is already in its most delicate state and hanging so precariously right now. There is no guarantee that even the north would not see the intrusion of the South West into the current permutation as a surreptitious way to return to power so soon after President Olusegun Obasanjo’s eight years in office.

Those who genuinely love APC must speak up now. Many people are not speaking out for fear of ex-communication but we know the views mostly expressed in private. APC will fail if the people cannot see any serious difference between its operatives and the people they wish to replace.  In this regard, the alarm raised by Femi Fani-Kayode should not be dismissed offhandedly. Forget the messenger and let us deal with the message.  It does not matter to me if Femi has other personal motives. He has voiced out loud and crisp what many people are discussing in hushed whispers. His missive is strident and clear, in the dramatic fashion only patented for him.

The change we want can only be thrown into the Atlantic Ocean by APC. Many have decided to try them out under an uncommon article of faith. But it is doubtful if APC itself appreciates the magnitude of the burden it is expected to shoulder. They have done extremely well to have come this far. Their fall would be too cataclysmic and we may not recover from it for several decades. 
Sadly for Nigeria, we would have been sentenced to many more years of retrogression.
That would be democracy despoiled and another hope aborted. 

Big shame! 

ThisDay