By Emeka Obasi
There is a thin line between Stomach Infrastructure and Treachery. President Bola Tinubu will be in tears following the looming defections from other parties to the All Progressives Congress (APC). His question should sound like – where are the men?
Those who think the new normal is to fraternise with Aso Villa as turncoats probably do not know Tinubu well enough. He is one of the few Fourth Republic politicians that refused to run away from responsibility and challenge.
Did we ever hear that President Shehu Shagari bought over Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe or Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in the Second Republic? One prominent politician said Shagari held Zik in awe. And the last of Nigeria’s Governors – General and first President of independent Nigeria, retained his honour.
In the Second Republic, there were many credible governors. Dee Sam Mbakwe would not be trampled upon by Shagari. No, not a man who took up the Abandoned Property fight on behalf of the Igbo. That was why the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) could not snatch Imo State and run away like they did with Anambra and Oyo States.
In Gongola State, Abubakar Barde had the honour to resign, just like Abubakar Rimi did in Kano. They stepped aside so that deputy governors Wilberforce Juta and Dawakin Tofa could continue with the struggle to keep integrity intact.
The country’s first political party, the Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP) formed in 1922, had men of honour. Herbert Macaulay, Adeniyi Jones, Karimu Kotun, Egerton Shyngle and Thomas Horatio Johnson were not so cheap to be bought by colonial pounds and shillings.
When the the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) was formed on August 26, 1944, the names behind it held their heads high. Macaulay as President, Zik , Secretary General, Adelakun Howells, Financial Secretary and Luis Ojukwu, Treasurer, the Imperialists could not divide them with cash.
The Fourth Republic has given Nigerian some of the worst politicians in History. Bandits, Armed Robbers, Terrorists and Cultists swagger like kings around us. Many of them walked into power from the motor parks and have continued to act like touts and street urchins.
Those who think that Tinubu is the beginning and end of politics, should go home, sit back and think well. As governor of Lagos State, the president, Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, was a retired Army Four – Star general. Lagos was starved of funds because the governor created new Local Government Areas.
Tinubu did not panic. He confronted Obasanjo and when all other Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors were swept away by Operation OBJ, Tinubu stood like a lone iroko tree, firm and unmovable. His colleagues, Segun Osoba, Lam Adesina, Bisi Akande, Niyi Adebayo and Adebayo Adefarati lost out.
That Tinubu is still standing today is because he never ran away from crisis. He fought back. And has remained committed to the same ideal. While some governors continue to run from pillar to post, Tinubu is the pillar. From AD he created Action Congress (AC), changed it to Action Congress of Nigeria ( ACN) before floating the mega coalition, All Progressives Congress (APC).
I call him the Governor – General of Nigerian politics even if I detest the earthquake that welcomed his presidency and the hunger and poverty that keep us below acceptable standards.
Tinubu was neither President nor Vice President but under Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, he was known as Leader. Who will dare that today? Not even his predecessor who has quietly retired to Daura and Kaduna, to lead from nowhere.
Tinubu made Buhari. As APC leader, his men were in power and got juicy positions. However, after eight years, Buhari was bent on keeping power in the North. Senate President, Ahmed Lawal, was anointed to take over. The Central Bank passed death sentence on Tinubu’s presidential ambitions.
How Buhari, the general who promised to defeat Boko Haram, failed to realise that Tinubu was a political Field Marshal is something Strategists are still battling to unravel. The man who ran the Central Bank is still suffering the sins imposed on him by a Two – Star general.
This is where Nyesom Wike comes in. He may be painted darker than Lucifer. Give it to the FCT minister, he has remained in one party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for 27 years. I think he is more intelligent than some PDP governors. While brandishing the umbrella, he is also sweeping with the broom.
Tinubu did it with Jonathan in 2011. He worked with the Zoologist. Luck smiled on Goodluck in all but one of Tinubu’s South – West States. Buhari cried, retired from politics and went back to Daura. The same man who helped make the general cry, fished him out in 2015, wiped his tears and made Buhari president.
There are no such treasurers in the Fourth Republic. And Tinubu knows the truth. The same politicians who are running away from their parties now, like Allen Avenue Roundabout whores, will also party with Tinubu’s enemies tomorrow. I love the fact that Tinubu has employed them as House Boys (Boy – Boy).
@Saturday Vanguard.