I remember the story my mother told me about the woodpecker, who boasted that he would peck down all the trees on the day of his mother’s burial. This could be likened to my state, Imo, where a demigod boasted he would solely install his cronies in the about to be inaugurated political dispensation. Unfortunately, on the eve of the inauguration, one stubborn boil has come to spoil the fun. Immobised by this affliction and elephantiasis of the scrotum, they are now wailing wailers, lamenting from pillar to post and whining to courts like rundown machines to stop imaginary arrests.
This reminds me of a loquacious overseer of the Nigerian state’s resources. He could not bother to differentiate between managing the economy and playing politics. And so, to satisfy his lords of the time, he began to see strange humongous figures in the NNPC’s account. First it was over $49.8 billion unremitted funds; it plummeted to $10.8 billion and later oscillated between $12 billion and $20 billion like a yoyo. That trick worked and contributed to hounding then Prersident Goodluck Jonathan out of Aso Rock Villa.
It is not that I have pity for Jonathan or anything but that payday is here for evil. For his role in this, the former Central Bank helmsman was rewarded with the emirship of Kano, and he became Emir Muhammad Sanusi II. However, the leopard does not easily change its spots. Sanusi was a restless, garrulous spirit. Again, he could not differentiate his new conservative office of an emir from politics, provoking the Masters. And just to hit back at one man, the 800 years old Kano Emirate has been dismembered through a historic legislation. A bill to that effect was introduced on a Monday, went through the entire process, became a law by Wednesday and was enforced the next day when the four new Emirs received their staffs of office from Governor Ganduje. Call it grudge legislation, but I call it karma legislation because nemesis must always catch up with evil.
This is akin to what is playing out in Imo State, where mortally frightened Governor Rochas Okorocha is crying all over the place, bemoaning how the APC house he built has been unfair to him 10 times more than the PDP; how they withheld his Certificate o Return to the Senate, saying INEC had no right to do that, as if he had the right to allegedly force his own declaration as winner. He has even gone to court to prevent police, DSS and EFCC from arresting him. Methinks he should sue the army too because I perceive that all the elements will gang up against him after May 29 to avenge the misrule and rape of Imo.
However, the house of sand Okorocha built is crumbling all around him. He may not make it to the Senate after all. His son-in-law is nowhere near the Government House in Owerri, as Imolites have opted for a worthier son. His Man Friday in Okigwe South Federal Constituency has lost it all, whereas the man Okorocha hated with great venom is on the verge of emerging Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Yes, Okorocha drove Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, HCN, away from APC because he was intimidated by HCN’S rising political profile. But, as they say, one man’s hatred cannot alter another man’s destiny. The more he hated Nwajiuba, the more the urbane young man’s stars got more burnished, like the divine project he is.
Anyway, unlike his teachers. Nwajiuba, a decent and enlightened man of letters, with a doctorate degree in law, has exhibited once again the same qualities that endeared him to many. He has extended the olive branch to all and sundry, even accommodating supporters of Chike Okafor in his inauguration team.
Above all else, Nwajiuba’s quest for the plum office of Speaker is receiving deserving groundswell support from all corners and sections of the country. This is not surprising because, a good product sells itself. The emergence of this gentle colossus has upset the calculations and zoning arrangements in the Green Chamber. The leadership of the APC will not have excuses anymore not to give the speakership position to the South-East. Reason is obvious: North-West has produced the President; South-West, Vice President; Senate President, North-East; South-South, Deputy Senate President, which also has the party chairman; it is only logical, in the name of equity and fairness, to zone the Speaker’s position to the South-East and no other person fits the bill more than Nwajiuba.
Nobody should interpret it as antagonsing any zone or person. It is a matter of right that the third leg of the tripod on which Nigeria stands should not be shoved aside anyhow, if the nation must not wobble into oblivion. The Igbo have paid their dues and with the marked improvement of the APC in the area in the just concluded elections over the previous one, common sense dictates that the only way to draw more support from the zone is to create a feeling of acceptance and belongingness in them. Doing otherwise will further alienate them and justify the acrimony and agitations in the area.
Good a thing, Nwajiuba’s connection is legendary. Over the years, he has built an enviable network of friends across the zones and even party lines and is at home with the diverse peoples and persuasions in the land. That was even how he survived Okorocha’s rage in Imo. Accord Party graciously allowed him to run on its platform while retaining his APC identity. He is also in the good books of the President. APC surely needs Nwajiuba’s suaveness, cool-headedness and political sagacity to ride over the tide of governance in this dispensation.
Back to the woodpecker. Who would have thought that those who believed they were invincible, and could vandalise the commonwealth of the people and appropriate the rest for personal use could suddenly become afraid of their stalking shadows. But that is life. Nobody should play God, no matter how much power they wield, as power belongs to God. Funnily, when power deserts one, as it has done with some, the bitter taste of sweetness misapplied may last a lifetime.