The change of baton to new governors in some states has presented rather interesting scenarios. In most cases, the politicians have not imbibed the principle of politics without bitterness as espoused by late Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim, the presidential candidate of Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP), in 1979. Waziri’s party rooted from the larger house of Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), which was led by the great Zik of Africa, Dr. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe. At the formative stage, Waziri’s agenda ran counter to that of the majority of members, given that he had his eye on the presidency, but the party probably did not see him as one whose political tentacles could go beyond old Borno and Gongola states, where he had strong roots. He moved on to add ‘great’ to Nigeria in deriving his Great Nigeria Peoples Party, which he got the National Electoral Commission, as the electoral body was then known, to register for him. He became both party leader and presidential candidate, as seemed to be the norm in those days. That move may have cost the NPP the nationwide spread that would have made it give Shehu Shagari’s National Party of Nigeria a run for its money. Those were the days of robust politics, and we savoured the unfolding history as schoolboys. I have recalled this tiny bit of political party history in Nigeria because Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim prided himself as a champion of “politics without bitterness.” He had no hard feelings for his former political associates turned opponents. He said they all had the larger national good as the big picture, which was why he would support anyone the people pitched their tent with to lead them.
Politics has moved light years away, sadly, in the opposite direction from those now nostalgic good old days. Today, it is evident that political fights are bitter and deep. Some of the incidents that have come to light prior to and during the handover to new helmsmen show that the nation is steeped in politics of acrimony. Some of the governors did not perform the ceremonial handover, and some seemed not to have even done any sort of handover. In Imo and Lagos, former Governors Rochas Okorocha and Akinwunmi Ambode stayed away from the ceremonial handover on May 29, 2019. The chief judges of their states did not stay away. They performed the duty of swearing in Emeka Ihedioha and Babajide Sanwo-Olu as new governors of Imo and Lagos. In Imo, the acrimony began the day after swearing-in, when attempts were made to bring down one of the numerous statues constructed by the former governor in Owerri. Ihedioha, through his special adviser on media, Steve Osuji, denied instructing the demolition. But Okorocha’s people insist Governor Ihedioha has a hand in it. One thing is sure: the truth will come to light someday. It was appalling to see pictures that came to light when the new governor inspected Douglas House, the seat of government in Owerri. It was unbelievable, indeed saddening, that the place looked rather vandalised. That place was one of the poster projects of the Rochas regime. He was always quick to show it off to journalists, as one the cardinal things he did in transforming Government House. It now looks so rundown that Governor Ihedioha says he would need a lot of money to bring the place back to a befitting standard. Why would that show piece of a Governor’s Lodge, which Rochas showcased in the past, as a testimony of his class and taste, be so decrepit? If those pictures are real, the implication is that it might have been a deliberate act to disorganise the new governor, an indication that the handover was far from cordial. The Rochas social media team, still up and waxing, say the pictures are not true, or came from abandoned areas in Government House. Again, the truth will be unveiled with time. The clear indication is that both sides are engaged in acrimonious handover blues. Rochas was said to have made 11th hour appointments, on the eve of his exit, just as former Governors Ibikunle Amosun and Abiola Ajimobi of Ogun and Oyo did. One recalls that former President Goodluck Jonathan made such last-minute appointments before bowing out of office, one of which was the appointment of former Govenor Peter Obi as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He also fired some people, such as the Inspector-General of Police at that time, who openly switched loyalty to President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, as he was then, when Jonathan was still in office.
It all smacks of acrimony to make appointments for your predecessor, more so when both of you come from different parties. If the exiting governors were altruistic in the appointments, such altruism is questioned in the last-minute move. Those civil servants would have become unwilling but helpless puns in the chessboard of bitter politics. The appointments can only be an entry on their curriculum vitea, and for civil servants, on their exiting peak, it could translate to early retirement, which makes it a Greek gift of sorts. They would have been unduly sacrificed on the altar of politics. In Oyo, Ogun and Imo, such things are bound to happen because the outgone governors made appointments as they packed out of Government House. What intentions drive such appointments, when those in the saddle are vacating office? At best such could form a part of the handover notes for the incoming governor to do, if those concerned were suitable for the new person. There is something ominous about such midnight appointments.
In Imo, the incoming administration says there was no formal handover, which implies that it has to grope in the dark for a while, to find its way. It is hoped here that that position is not true because it is patently wrong to leave office without handover notes; just that with so much politics of bitterness in the air, no one knows where the truth lies. I recommend that the new regimes in all affected states should just push forward, given that looking back may make them lose focus. If you run and look back, you stumble or you hardly run fast.