There is this story I remember often which shows the futility of giving power to a man and believing he can be controlled from behind. It was told by a governor to a few of us when he was trying to transmute from the National Assembly to the Government House.
It goes thus: The president of the country at the time had contacted him on the need to look for a suitable candidate to be governor in their state. The candidate eventually chosen was not from the zone where power should rotate. By some magic, he was made to originate from the zone to which power was meant to go. A chieftaincy title and a massive house later, he became a member of the zone. He was grateful to the senator for working him to the answer.
But all that ended immediately he got power. On the day he was confirmed as the governor-elect, he asked the senator to see him. During their meeting, they had altercations and the angry senator wanted to walk out on him and he screamed: “You are walking out on your governor.” Their relationship was sour throughout his tenure.
I remember this story today because of the craze by outgoing governors to choose their successors. Let me tell another story to buttress my point.
One of the greatest shocks of my life was when Peter and Paul Okoye, the duo behind PSquare, split and became Mr P and Rude Boy. Peter and Paul are twins. For emphasis sake, they came from the same father, the same mother and the same womb. The breakup of this musical group tells me that no partnership is immune to a split.
This split, for me, should be a lesson for politicians, especially outgoing governors who are currently jumping up and down to install their successors. If twins can split, these governors should know that investing so much in picking successors is a waste of time and resources.
By next May 29, Governors Abiola Ajimobi, Ibikunle Amosun, Rochas Okorocha and others are bound to leave office. Nothing can change it. All of them are interested in determining their successors. Okorocha, for instance, wants his son-in-law to take over from him, a decision that set fire on the Imo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Some leaders of the party ganged up against him and almost took over the party from him until he was rescued by the national secretariat. The crisis generated by this quest has led to a situation where the state has no deputy governor. The House of Assembly removed Eze Madumere as deputy governor, but a court has stalled the installation of a replacement. In days to come, we will see the direction Amosun, Ajomobi and others are going.
But the past tells me that outgoing governors should not bother their heads about installing a successor. To the best of my knowledge, the Lagos model, which many of them are trying to copy, has proved ‘uncopyable’.
As we speak, there is ‘turmoil’ in Akwa Ibom State. Senator Godswill Akpabio, as an outgoing governor some four years ago, bulldozed his way to install Udom Emmanuel as his successor. It did not take long before they started disagreeing on key issues. They managed to keep it under wrap, but it is all out in the open now and the battle line is drawn.
Kano State is another place where there is ‘turmoil’. Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, who uprooted all obstacles to install Abdullahi Ganduje as his successor, is in a dilemma now. He has left the APC for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and plotting how to ensure Ganduje’s second term bid fails. Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal and his predecessor, Aliyu Wamakko, are also in the same trouble. Tambuwal wants to be president and he has pitched his tent with the PDP. Wammako, who fought off all opposition to make him governor, is a serving APC senator. Both men have divided the state. The House of Assembly is divided. The political atmosphere is fouled.
From past experiences, it never worked too. Ex-Governor Peter Obi, I believe till this day, regrets the day he supported Willie Obiano to be governor of Anambra State. Within months, Obi and Obiano were at each other’s jugular. Obi was so happy and eager to deny Obiano a second term, but he failed.
Like Obi, Chimaroke Nnamani may for the rest of his life feel bad about supporting Sullivan Chime to succeed him as Enugu State governor. Chime’s support for Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi obviously went awry too, if not he will not be in the APC now.
Ex-Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s quest to have Eyitayo Jegede succeed him did not materialise. My guess is that even if it did, Jegede might have parted ways with Mimiko because both men are not on the same page politically now. My thinking is that if they are not on the same political page just a little over one year after he tried installing him as governor, it would not have been different or it could have been worse if he had become governor. It is with the Mimiko experience in mind that I think Governor Ayodele Fayose should not feel bad that Prof. Olusola Eleka lost to Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Eleka, who allowed Fayose dictate the pace throughout the campaign, would not be the same if he had won. Power and money have ways of bringing out a man’s real character and no man who holds power likes being controlled.
In V.S. Naipaul’s heartrending comic A House for Mr Biswas, man’s quest for autonomy from even those feeding him is laid bare. Mr Biswas rebels against his in-laws, whose food he eats and house he lives in. He always wants a house of his own. That is man in his original state. Imagine what will happen when he now has power and money! The last thing he will like is to take dictation from a yesterday man. He will be eager to show who is in charge and that is where violence comes in when the yesterday man refuses to accept his new status. Their supporters are bound to clash and the innocent at times fall victims to the senseless violence.
My final take: I need to point out that governors have a right to fight for their parties to produce their successors; they also have a right to support aspirants, but they should not make it a do-or-die affair because the men they are battling tooth and nail to install will not take instructions from them once they get the staff of office.