Gwiyi Solomon
If you say he had removed governors from their coveted places of honor, single-handed, thinking such a statement would make news around the country, damn it! It is already hackneyed, obsolete.
It is rather a cliché to say Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu has installed, as well as uninstalled senators and House of Representatives members across the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Of a fact, Asiwaju has dethroned a president (with reference to 2015), as well as enthroned another. It is also worthy of note that many members of State Houses of Assemblies in the Southern West who ascended their various positions, rode on the back of the political tactician.
It is equally a trite statement, describing his rail-goading of Governors into Government Houses, majorly in the South-Western region of Nigeria, where he holds sway as Asiwaju.
He is seasoned in the art and act of his job. He is a veteran in the gimmicks and trickery of the political landscape and undeniably, a wizard and grandmaster in the clandestine game of politics. Such is the political shrewdness and sagacity of the Yoruba-born-seasoned-negotiator, political engineer and strategist.
This was more evident and exemplary in 2015 when the uncommon Nigerian spearheaded the move that culminated in the amalgamation of both the ACN and the CPC, now known as APC (today’s ruling Party).
Then, while he shuttled from Lagos to Kastina, and from Kastina to other parts of the country in search of an answer to his political question, his traducers dismissed him with a wave of the hand.
They refused to reckon with his skill and knowledge of the game until it did them grave damage. Jonathan, himself, was the major culprit in this regard and his aides, victims.
But, what did APC do with the triumph after Tinubu’s labour? It ditched him and bluntly dared him to breathe a hoot. Put in Senator Oluremi’s parlance, ‘Ashiwaju was thrashed.’
And then, they squandered the fanfare that aided their ascension to power, following broken promises, questionable power sharing, vendetta, nepotism, favoritism, insecurity and a host of other matters, as contained in Baba OBJ’s letter. And ,tempers rose to high heavens; anger brewed like a spell and overwhelmed the APC across the federal, state and local government areas. What a story!
While the wrangling endured and Nigerians lamented as suicide bombers, acute hunger following job losses, rising debts and recession bit harder, chieftains of the APC started doling out memos and press releases, condemning their own government’s lack of solutions to the country’s problems.
Chief among these letters were memos from the highly educated Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State; Chief Bisi Akande, former interim chairman of APC; Mrs. Aisha Buhari, wife of the president; Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the Party; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, and many others.
In one of those outcries, I remember watching Chief Ahmed Tinubu accusing his co. travelers of having deviated from the ‘progressive’ creed of the APC and, instead, returned to the ‘conservativeness’ of the PDP.
And here, following the tolling bells for 2019 elections, Tinubu’s magic wand, which the APC had long after winning 2015 elections jettisoned and dumped in the waste bin, has suddenly been remembered, dusted and re-injected into the 2019 effort, as he was promptly appointed by the President himself to head his party’s reconciliation and peace committee. Wonders!
“How will an aggrieved Tinubu, who needs to be reconciled, settle the rifts between Nasir El-Rufai and Shehu Sani? Suleiman Hunkuyi and El-Rufai? Abdulaziz Yari and Kabiru Marafa? Dino Melaye and Yahaya Bello? Abdullahi Ganduje and Rabiu Kwankawso? Ibikunle Amosun and Solomon Adeola? Francis Alimikhena and Adams Oshiomhole? Saraki and Ali Ndume? Oluremi Tinubu and Saraki? Tinubu and Saraki? Tinubu and Oyegun? Tinubu and Tambuwal? And several others?” queried Fred Itua, in his piece “Greek gift to Tinubu.”
While it is crystal clear that Asiwaju’s new assignment will fall like a pack of cards, as the internal strife in the APC has gone beyond what he can settle by mere presidential declaration, it is equally instructive at this point to remind the political guru that “a mistake repeated more than once is a decision,” Paulo coelho. It, therefore, behooves the Jagaban to choose between working for the same people who would “thrash” him in return for his political wizardry and working in the interest of the country, which is more rewarding as posterity would always judge him rightly.
But if I were Asiwaju, I will choose the love of my country over every personal and reject re-election bid of President Muhamadu Buhari in 2019, following his lack of vision, poor performance, nepotism, insecurity, and etcetera.
Solomon writes from Enugu via [email protected]
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