Category: Mobolaji Sanusi

‘These are the times that try men’s souls’ ¯ Thomas Paine

The Boko Haram(BH) sect, it clearly seems, would stop at nothing to destroy the northern parts of the nation without the slightest compunction. They get more emboldened by the day – and the reason is simple: They have gone away undetected with so many atrocious acts that left reasonable people wondering what happened to the nation’s security apparatus.

The sect members have committed several atrocities with the latest happening in Zaria, Jos, Kaduna and Yobe. The destructions inflicted on the people can only, as in previous attempts, imagined. The sect’s satanic pursuits should be brought to a halt by the new government of President Mohammadu Buhari(PMB), before the sect becomes permanent impediment to his promised change to Nigerians.

In the past, this column remembers two of the numerous atrocious and highly condemnable terror that Boko Haram unleashed on the nation. To start wit: The sect several months back bombed the popular Nyanyan motor park in Nyanya, about five minutes drive to Abuja – a day after that year’s Christians’ Palm Sunday. Later, The sect abducted over 200 female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok that were writing their West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations in the southern part of Borno state, enveloping the nation in nightmarish situation since then.

Till date, the whereabouts of those  innocent girls remain unknown and the promise of their being found by the last government and PMB over four hundred days after the incident has been dashed since no clue about there whereabouts has been given by the security agencies overtime. The earlier claim during the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s era that they were somewhere in the Sambisa forest remains speculative since no trace of them could be confirmed despite the several military’s numerous onslaughts in the evil forest.

With the frequency with which the sect inflicts pains on its environs despite the dawn of the PMB’s administration, it is not impossible at the time of reading this piece that many other dastard acts from the sect may have also happened which underscores the level of insecurity currently ravaging the country. It is pertinent to ask: What has happened to the nation’s intelligence arm? What is PMB doing with the rotten Military Service Chiefs that failed former President Jonathan’s government? What is the effect of the billions of funds that the Service Chiefs squandered on the so-called prosecution of Boko Haram in the entire north?

The latest Jos and Zaria bomb blasts devilishly sneaked into town like a thief at night, wrecking heart-rending explosions – shattering in the process, lives and property. The attendant devastations reportedly affected buildings,whacked glasses and devastated cars parked near and several metres from the scene. The ferocious consistency with which the terror group is bombing everywhere in the north has put a lie on hitherto held views that PMB was a backer of that notorious sect that is fundamentally working against humanity in Nigerian and the entire world.

This column remembers that partisans like Femi Fani-Kayode, Governor Ayodele Fayose and others in the People’s Democratic Party supporting Jonathan in his failed re-election bid for the presidency tried to make the mischievous allegation stick on PMB. By now, they should have realised that the sect’s operations could not have been sustained under this current tenure if truly PMB were to be one of their backers,as erroneously alleged, in recent time.

Despite the fact that PMB cannot be evidentially linked with the satanic sect’s behemoth, there is a huge responsibility on him to ensure that the country wins the war that the group is waging against her sovereignty. But the situation at the moment is one that personally should be embarrassing to the current president. More importantly, what is evidently clear now to all is that Boko Haram members have proved themselves to be creatures of rage and lunacy because they ceaselessly inflict darkness on the country’s humanity. Nowadays, faces in the northern region grow forlorn not out of personal volition but because the days ahead are marked with unexpected affronts that the government could not provide answers for. Most of these are usually disastrous and more worrisome is the fact that the process is increasingly becoming irksome and incessant.

The nation is aware of recent diplomatic shuttles of PMB to neighbouring countries and Germany for the G-8 Summit, ostensibly meant to seek supports that could bring an end to the Boko Haram cankerworm. But this new president must realise that Nigerians cannot perpetually continue to live under the fear of the sect’s looming evil. Otherwise, reasonable questions may be asked whether the country is one governed by rules and with full compliment of state instruments of coercion in place. In the view of this column in relation to the Boko Haram’s incessant horrors, this is becoming doubtful because attrition avoidably rules the air at the moment with little hope that it would disappear soonest.

What is our government doing? Better put – what is the administration of PMB doing to end this unceasing bloodshed? Why is the widely touted official effort against the sect not effective? When is the presidential globetrotting’s impact going to be felt? What has happened to previous official efforts? Are we scheming for self-destruct? Are things going to continue like this until there are very few people left to kill in that part of the country? What assurance is there that the menace will not spread to other parts of the country?

The Boko Haram bombings/killings/abductions could best be described as nothing but a national tragedy despite the fact that some lucky parts of the country only read the story and view the ruins on television sets. But for the humanity that flows in human veins, they may never fully appreciate the pains and anguish of victims who dread to sleep for fear of Boko Haram-induced nightmares. The sorrows that the sect brought on humanity, through impiety, remain the hardest to bear. Is there a way to safety? Can someone rescue these Boko Haram afflicted people since the former Jonathan’s administration was incapable of providing effective escape route while it might seem a bit hasty and reluctantly unfair to fully accuse the PMB administration of laxity in

not earnestly rescuing the country from the looming destruction?

The PMB government must realise the need not only to halt the satanic speed with which the sect is moving in its war against the nation; but the reigning administration must also ensure that the over 200 Chibok girls abducted in their innocence over a year ago are rescued, no matter how, but prayerfully soonest, from their current unintended hosts. The siege foisted on the nation by Boko Haram and the way it is handled in months ahead will be a monumental test of the leadership skills of PMB’s presidency. PMB should be told that Nigerians are tired of rhetoric on the way forward regarding the Boko Haram malaise; what they want is effective official action that could wipe out the miscreants masquerading as Islamic adherents. As a Muslim, l know that what Islam preaches is not the evil that Boko Haram members are doing and for sure, it is undeniable that they could not have been true Muslims.

In practical terms, when will these victims-inflicted trials, struggles and losses come to an end? Quite sadly, this column, without the fear of being accused of undue pessimism, does not see any hope of immediate liberation out of the abyss of despair for victims of these violent afflictions with the half-hearted handling of the Boko Haram onslaught by the inherited Military Service Chiefs of the PMB’s administration. This period is really a trying one to our souls. It is time we rose from our slumber!

‘The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.’——Albert Einstein

Just barely over a month since the inauguration of the current federal government of President Mohammadu Buhari (PMB), some Nigerians are getting a bit too curious. And the questions on the lips of these Nigerians are legion. Before going to the questions that most readers want PMB to answer, it is pertinent to ask upon introspection whether a 30-day period is sufficient to determine the efficiency or efficacy of a new government in power. In apposition, it could equally be asked what length of period is sufficient to determine the efficiency of a new leader in power.

In a polity like Nigeria’s where the people suffered intensely in 16 grueling years of misrule by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), any straightforward answer to the above questions could be contentious. To some, it could be argued that the time is too short to pass any meaningful judgment; while to others, such short period is enough to see a sparkle of hope to satisfy the curiosity and expectations of the apprehensive.

This is where the dilemma of a columnist lies. It is a legitimate thing for any columnist to have a position because any robust column should be able to take a definite stand on any issue, which is why yours truly has no apologies for whatever positions he may have taken on issues or personalities, nationally and globally. So for some days now, ardent readers of this column have been calling and sending text messages requesting it to take a position on whether the PMB administration has met the expectations of the majority of Nigerians that voted for change on March 28 and April11, 2015.

One basic fact is that Nigerians have expressed mixed feelings about the approach of PMB to governance. To this column, it may not have been out of place to call for more time for PMB to stabilise in power after several years of rot unleashed by successive administrations. But at the same time, this column could not disagree with those that believe that the PMB government is working at a snail-like speed. From experience of management of the nation’s public affairs which is replete with disappointments over time, it might be difficult to just wish away the questions that Nigerians want PMB to answer, and very quickly too.

To wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect. Following from this true expression, it could be argued that the several wishes that propelled majority of Nigerians to vote for PMB have raised their hopes and expectations which they believe are being delayed by what many termed as ‘steady slow’ approach of the president. Through the many questions that Nigerians throw in the face of this column, they want PMB to know that the true measure of the value of a leader is his performance. It will be sharply misleading to misconstrue the disposition of virtue of PMB to mean the same thing as performance. To majority of Nigerians, they believe that a virtuous disposition should be complemented by positively impactful virtuous actions.

Nigerians in their interactions with this column in the last couple of days asked: Why has the president in one month not appointed a chief of staff?  Why has he not appointed a secretary to government of the federation?  What is delaying his appointment of ministers? Could this delay be a consequence of his being confused? On the policy level, they asked: what is the true policy direction of PMB’s administration? They claimed to be aware of the recent diplomatic shuttle of PMB on Boko Haram but wondered why he still retains the current bunch of service chiefs that bungled the fight against Boko Haram insurgents; they wanted to know what these military henchmen  are still doing in office if indeed change is expected to occur in that realm.

On the socio-economic sphere, Nigerians want PMB to say something about the free fall of naira to the United States dollar. They believe that a strong presidential statement will help restore confidence in the forex market, but there is none so far. They want the president to query the Central Bank Governor over the mismanagement of forex during the last presidential and governorship elections. They called on the president to sack the CBN governor, following the due process, without wasting time. Nigerians say that they are aware of the latest revelations regarding the squandermania in NNPC and the sack of its board but they want the president to do something about the issue of perennial fuel scarcity. They claimed that despite the current scarcity of dollar that may hamper fuel importation, the presidency has not said anything about another imminent scarcity staring everybody in the face. Rather than embarking on another probe, they demanded that the president should act urgently on the PriceWaterHouse audit report of NNPC that was commissioned by the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. By delaying a complete overhaul of NNPC, the president according to Nigerians is giving those behind the rot in the corporation an opportunity to cover their track of corruption. Nigerians want to know the policy direction on power generation and distribution that would ensure stable power supply in the country.

On the political level, Nigerians think that the president has allowed the squabbles amongst members of his party in the national parliament to distract him. To them, this was avoidable but for the rigidity and indifference of PMB to political matters that should not have been left unattended to. Nigerians demand a political solution to the salary backlog crisis ravaging most of states of the federation. Nigerians want the president to shun divide-and-rule tactics if he intends to achieve anything meaningful. They call on the president to arrest political and other challenges at their embryonic stages rather than intervene after they have become intractable. Most Nigerians desire to see a more orderly and disciplined APC under PMB’s leadership. They want PMB to disabuse the minds of those doubting Nigerians that believe that he was only interested in becoming president and has subsequently displayed indifference to whatever comes afterwards. Contrary to this position, this column still wants to give PMB the benefit of the doubt by hoping that the president will drop his rigidity and indifference and complement his altruistic disposition by prompt virtuous actions in politics, economy and other realms of governance.

The APC under PMB must not fritter away its goodwill through uncoordinated and unruly conduct of party men and women. It is the trust reposed in PMB and his party that raises hope of positive direction under his leadership. But he must equally realise that time is of the essence and that in the long run, Nigerians will take nothing short of excellence and fairness in his delivery of promised commitments. He needs to raise his level of performance to meet the expectations of the people that voted for him.

This column enjoys the inquisitiveness of Nigerians and calls on them not to stop questioning. Curiosity, not only amongst Nigerians but also in other nationals, has its own tremendous advantage. Nigerians should not stop questioning until this administration gets it right by bringing to the doorsteps of Nigerians the badly desired positive change.

‘No evil deed will go unpunished; any evil done by man to man will be redressed; if not now then certainly later; if not by man, then by God for the victory of evil over good is temporary’ – Dele Giwa (1947-1986)

Last week, this column did not appear on this page because I was slightly indisposed and had to have some rest. Surprisingly, some ardent readers of this column bombarded me with calls. Others, in adherence to the instruction on this masthead, merely sent in text messages requesting to know among others, why I starved them of the usual weekly menu that they always look forward to read.

But one curious question on the lips of callers, especially from as far as London and America was the perceived trampling upon the interest of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu with regards to the national assembly leadership elections in the Senate and the House of Representatives – where Bukola Saraki, through artifice, emerged as Senate President without legitimacy, while Dogara, in a fair but keen contest, emerged as Speaker. Both cases were a sharp disdain to their party, the All Progressives Congress’s (APC’s) internal democratic position. Surprisingly, rather than embrace armistice, Saraki has again this week, taken treachery and disloyalty to party and principles to another level by jettisoning suggested candidates of APC for other principal positions. His irresponsible political pride to his party marks the beginning of a chain of events in this dispensation, the end of which might be detrimental to the well-touted change mantra.

And back to my ardent readers in the Diaspora who daily monitor political events at home with keen interest and those at home who felt Asiwaju was not well treated in the national assembly leadership contest, my response has always been to refer to the article I wrote in my column penultimate week titled: ‘Too early in the day.’

Another interesting but quite unsettling question thrown at me was the one that borders on the fact that some APC governors from the western region, contrary to earlier agreed position, furtively connived with the Saraki led APC/PDP rebels, therefore leading to their betrayal of Asiwaju. My people abroad based on what they claimed they read on the social media mentioned two former governors and in particular, one serving governor in the southwest who they alleged is plotting in earnest to replace current Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo because of his over-bloated closeness to the corridor of power at the centre. This column believes that none of the southwest governors with the fear of God should have the effrontery of betraying the national leader of APC that ensured the fruition of today’s touted change mantra across the country.

I reminded the callers in the Diaspora and within the country on phone that most current politicians lack party discipline and would go to any length to get what they want. But the proviso that yours sincerely added was that it is too early in the day to be shouting ‘uhuru’ for any group because 24 hours is too long a period in politics and that, it is better that whatever they referred to as having happened might be a signal/lesson for Tinubu and discerning others on the political firmament to tighten their belts and be prepared for the fierce political contest in future, God sparing our lives. One thing is however certain: Whoever the latter-day master that those former and serving governors that are privately having nocturnal meetings with today’s powers-that-be and in day time pretending to be with Tinubu may be serving, such master must realise that what they were publicly perceived to have done to Tinubu will be done to them in due course as present man-of-the-moment in power. A word is enough for the wise.

After all, betrayal is a thing that is common wherever there is contest of sort – I mean wherever there is politics in whatever garb resembling leadership contest. The current publicly touted contest is expected but the most important thing is for Tinubu to triumph at the end of the day because he gave his all so as to ensure that the change at the centre came to being. There were several reassuring examples that show that Tinubu, because of his altruistic pursuit of the birth of the current dispensation, will supplant his enemies.

The story of treacheries against Tinubu has biblical foundations. And the consolation is that all will be well in the end. To start with is the history of the biblically Samson who was betrayed when his wife, Delilah, after being bribed, revealed the secret of his power – his hair – to his enemies who captured and threw him into the lion’s den before God at the nick of time rescued him by imbuing him with powers that were beyond human comprehension – and with which he overpowered the lion. There is no doubt that Asiwaju who was given this power with which he overpowered the tyranny of Obasanjo in 2003 and 2007 and that of Jonathan in 2015 will still be availed such biblical ‘Samsonic’ power in the on going scheming against his person. Not even a man who was renowned to have betrayed his father while alive can use devilish plot to triumph for too long in the unfolding political game.

In the same bible, we could not easily forget how biblical Joseph’s siblings conspired against him, sold him to slavery and later lied to their father that his beloved son had been killed. Joseph not only later in life bailed out his brothers and father but his entire people from famine which could have destroyed an entire race if help had not come from him, through almighty God. Those that benefitted from Tinubu’s political savvy, large-heartedness and vast connections to get power and become somebody and are now plotting against him will in the end prostrate before him when nemesis catches up with them.

Tinubu has etched his name on the sand of time and there is no way the history of this epoch would be written that a broad significant portion of it will not be devoted to the undeniable political giant strides of this great politician. Whatever anybody says about him in panegyrics, abuse or malign, the truth is that whatever his foibles, his good side far more outweighs his weaknesses which is why he was able to lead the battle that democratically supplanted a sitting centre government for the first time in the history of the country.

The inimitable King of Juju music, Sunday Adegeye, aka Sunny Ade once titled one of his records: ‘Let them say’ and this column is seizing this opportunity to say that Tinubu should let his detractors and traducers say whatever they like because as the Yoruba would say: ‘Anju won kose wi lejo, ija lara won kotan boro.’ To Tinubu, this column refers to the cliché; uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. The same thing that is being done to Tinubu was done to the late sage, Papa Obafemi Awolowo, foremost leader of western region’s political foundation and also late Aare MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of unjustly annulled June12, 1993 Presidential election. In Tinubu’s case, he would live to see his trampling over his envious enemies.

To the open and secret traducers of Tinubu, including his pretentious political associates and aides, yours sincerely craves readers indulgence to quote the inimitable journalist/columnist of repute, late Dele Giwa in one of his incisive weekly column in now rested Newswatch magazine where he once wrote: ‘No evil deed will go unpunished; any evil done by man to man will be redressed; if not now then certainly later; if not by man, then by God for the victory of evil over good is temporary.’ Like the biblical Samson and Joseph, yours sincerely foresees Tinubu’s gallant triumph over his enemies. He will surely have a good, toothy laugh in the end.

‘Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who could have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph’— – Emperor Haile Selassie, Ethiopian statesman

Sir Michael Moritz (KBE) is a journalist of note, philanthropist, former Google board of directors’ member and author of the first history of Apple Inc. titled: ’The Little Kingdom’ that documented the development of Apple Computer in 1984. He once wrote in Time Magazine: ‘History shows that there is no more potent engine against reform than the passion of voters who feel betrayed by the politicians they hoped would do the right thing.’ This quote may aptly be used to describe the disappointment of Nigerians over the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership squabble that engulfed the national upper legislative chambers – the Senate – earlier this week. It is a classical case of majority of the people being disillusioned about the political impunity that if care is not taken, can edge out the party’s promised CHANGE to the citizenry.

The story was curiously shameful: On the day of election of the Senate President and other principal members of the Senate, an invite intimating members with a scheduled meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari was sent out. According to reports, 51 members who were majorly supporters of one of the candidate, Lawan, gunning for the Senate Presidency went with dispatch to honour the invitation of the country’s number one citizen and perceived leader of their party. Unknown to them, 57 members of the Senate who were supporters of another aspirant to the same post including the aspirant, Bukola Saraki, stayed behind and in a jiffy, conducted an election in which Saraki was unanimously elected as the Senate President. Immediately, he was sworn in before the others could think of the next move to make at the venue where they endlessly waited for a president that was nowhere to be found.

This, to yours sincerely, is electoral victory procured by chicanery. And more witty is the fact that such subterfuge was completely unnecessary if Saraki and his mostly PDP-dominated supporters were sure they could actually win that election. My position is informed by the fact that the 57 that unanimously voted for Saraki were more than the 51 perceived to have been ‘lured’ to honour the purportedly phantom presidential invitation. The haste and atmosphere under which the election in the Senate held show that there is more to it; and the haste with which the presidency publicly identified with the desperate Saraki leadership equally raises serious doubts about the degree of the president’s understanding of democratic values.

The issues at stake is not about APC or any individual but about whether this government is actually ready for CHANGE or willing to be a ready tool in sustaining the impunity of the past. Some people have rightly argued that there is no difference between Saraki and his supporters hibernating in APC and the PDP legislators, arguing that it was his ambition that compelled him to seek solace in the APC – and that he is pursuing even if he needs to sell APC to the PDP. And surprisingly, the presidency publicly sees his election as having been a conclusion of the constitutional process. What kind of skewed constitutional process was that that sees to the twofaced disenfranchisement of a significant number of Senators that as a matter of decency, went to honour the president’s invitation?

The issue of quorum would only make sense if the absentee senators deliberately did not come to vote on that day and not for them to be denied their rights for showing respect for the presidency. It is trite that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands; the group that conducted a hasty election in the Senate and the presidency that accepted such duplicitous process could not be said to have come to equity with clean hands. For the Senator Melayes of this world arguing that the 57 members that elected Saraki formed quorum, someone should educate him that equity follows the law if it is just. Yours sincerely is sure that the Senate Rule does not contemplate a situation where election of its principal members would be conducted under cloudy circumstances. After all, yours sincerely and millions of other Nigerians are not complaining about the conduct of the House of Representatives leadership elections that took place same day.

The president must wake up from his deep political slumber of indifference and face realities that would make the actualisation of his promised CHANGE possible. If he allows PDP to regroup and eventually send him out of power because of his deplorable and indefensible indifference, history will never be kind to him for destroying the platform and golden opportunity to catapult Nigeria to greatness. The statement of late Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia may suffice here; he once said: ‘Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who could have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.’ The regrouping and return of the evil called PDP in strategic positions under Buhari presidency and the APC would mark the descent of the country to the inglorious past and the end of all the reforms and CHANGE promised during the last general elections.

President Muhammadu Buhari must realise that the fact that luck has come his way does not mean that power is served a la carte; he must as a matter of urgency seize the opportunity it gives him now otherwise, it goes. It is not a good thing in politics for a leader to be indifferent over a critical matter of state because a nation continues to relapse into the abyss the very day and moment that her leader becomes silent about things that matter. It is surprising that the same people that worked against him in the past in the PDP; that described him as a despot; that championed the enthronement of a regime of electoral and public affairs impunity, and that denied Buhari victory thrice are mostly the same people who say they now care about him simply because he has been indifferent to what is politically needful in legislative affairs of this country.

Let the president remember that this same set of people will tear him down once the opportunity presents itself. The new leadership of the Senate failed the test of legitimacy; consequently, it should not be trusted as being capable of guaranteeing the required legislative backing that could bring about the required change and reforms promised by Buhari because of the shady circumstances preceding its enthronement. In the short run, this Senate leadership might pretend to care but after stabilising on the seat, it certainly would be at a vantage position to watch the president struggle for advantage before dealing with him appropriately in the long run. By then, the president will realise, at a grave cost, that every helping hand is not always there to help.

The worst sin this presidency can commit is to remain strategically indifferent under the guise of being tolerant. This is because neutrality would goad and further help the oppressors in PDP and the camouflaged in APC garb to hold the people in contempt. Truly, the apathy of this APC presidency could sadly mean that Nigerians who voted for CHANGE would be subjected to more years of unkept promises and torment.

Nevertheless, it is too early to write off this government because of this singular omission. After all, the process might still correct itself before too long. Just as in the same vein, it is also early for this government to be seen to be encouraging this odious legislative impunity.

‘Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others’ — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Last Friday was a great day across the country. Indeed, it was a swell moment for the progressives among the political class. That was an epoch-making day when the progressives, for the first time in the annals of the nation, through their political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over the reins of government at the centre. Not just that, the APC is now in control of 22 out of the 36 states in the country.

This national electoral feat calls for intense celebration because some few months back, most Nigerians erroneously believed that the leadership of the progressive party was wasting its time because the centre’s reactionary party since independence had, through electoral gimmicks, remained inviolable. But the 2015 general elections put a lie to that over-rated assumption with the emergence of the Buhari/Osinbajo presidency at the centre.

At a time that other states were falling to the dictates of Olusegun Obasanjo and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) political chicanery, Lagos State stood against the rampaging reactionary elements like the rock of Gibraltar. Undoubtedly, this was made possible by the political ingenuity and doggedness of one man – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Upon reflection, his toughest political battles as far as this column is concerned was the electoral battles he fought to win re-election in 2003 and more importantly, his bid to ensure that the conservative PDP under Obasanjo’s obnoxious leadership did not produce an unworthy successor to succeed him as governor of Lagos in 2007. The latter battle was the hallmark of Tinubu’s political sagacity as a great political risk taker for he went for an unknown political and widely rejected entity called Babatunde Raji Fashola. Many of his then inner cabinet rebelled against this decision but he stood his ground and opted to push for the then inconsequential Fashola alone. He deployed huge resources, time and immense energy against Obasanjo-contrived odds, including the federal government’s seizure of Lagos council’s statutory funds and using of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to attempt to circumvent governance in the Centre of Excellence under Tinubu.

To the chagrin of rampaging reactionary PDP elements, Fashola won the election to the glory of God and the sole efforts of Tinubu. Fashola didn’t spend his money for he could then not be described as a rich man. The party’s primary was a foregone conclusion for him through Tinubu’s clout, and the logistics, he knew nothing about because his first major exposure in life was when Tinubu made him his Chief of Staff – that opportunity that Tinubu gave Fashola kick-started his great leap to political prominence. His second term election was made easy through the same Tinubu. And any reasonable man from any continent of the world would have thought that at any opportune time like his formal handing over last week to new Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, Fashola would seize that auspicious occasion to publicly show gratitude to the man that God used to catapult him to fame from the position of a once proletarian lawyer, that was hardly known to his next-door neighbour.

Fashola did not do this; he merely send a worrisome index of ingratitude to the man that God used to fulfill His promise in his life when in his remark at the Tafawa Balewa Square last Friday, he said: ‘‘The great people of Lagos, from our very first governor, Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson, to Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande and all of those who have served; your royal majesties, former deputy governors and those who truly make Lagos what it is, I say thank you. Thank you; thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve all of you….’’

At this point at the venue of inauguration of the new governor, the mood of the crowd and facial expressions of many showed stern disagreement to the ungrateful posturing of Fashola by skipping Tinubu’s name which could not have been an oversight. This column appreciates the founding contributions of Brigadier Johnson and the penetrating efforts of Lagos first civilian governor, Alhaji Jakande. The column holds these great leaders in highest esteem but the contemporary contributions of Tinubu to Lagos’ political and infrastructural development can only be downplayed or overlooked by a mischief maker and more sadly, an ungrateful beneficiary of Tinubu’s large-heartedness and benevolence like Fashola.

At a juncture while at Ambode’s inauguration, this column remembered the edifying statement of former American President John F. Kennedy. He once said: “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” Permit yours sincerely to satisfy his curiosity by asking: What could Tinubu have done for Fashola to make him maliciously skip his name while listing names of those that made Lagos what it is today, according to him? Apart from being a great benefactor of his, Tinubu was that far-sighted politician of global standard who was the architect of the policy foundation that made Fashola’s administration what it is today in the public gallery. Is it the BRT idea that was completed by the then governor Tinubu and selflessly left for Fashola to commission to kick-start his government? Yet, Fashola futilely tried to commission all projects, both completed and uncompleted, before leaving office.

Tinubu left very sound financial foundation for Fashola before leaving office but Fashola left a debt of well over N400billion and had even spent a reported figure of over 75 per cent of the budget by May when he left power, leaving virtually nothing for his successor to meet in the public till. When Tinubu backed Ambode for the governorship slot of APC, Fashola failed in his surreptitious sponsorship of Shashore, his friend and Femi Hamzat, his commissioner for works against his benefactor’s choice at his party’s primaries. Yet, in Fashola’s vying time, Tinubu managed everything for him without any serious opposition. Under Fashola, the greatest crime any officer of state can commit was to be perceived as very close to his benefactor or to be a buddy of somebody that was close to his great patron. To Fashola, the game of malice continues. Yet, at the time Asiwaju appointed Fashola to vie for the governorship, he made a hundred and one people unhappy only to be repaid now with ungratefulness by the beneficiary of his choice. How would Fashola feel if all those relations of his and close friends that he reportedly made heads of emergency agencies that he created while in power turn around to snub him publicly? This should be serious food for thought for him!

The simple act of publicly acknowledging benevolence of another is a demonstration of gratitude to an experience that was meaningful which affirmatively was what happened when Tinubu made Fashola governor from nothing. But when a beneficiary does not show gratitude in return, definitely, something vital has disappeared from his humanity. This is because a person would certainly be defined by his wilful desire to show gratitude to a benefactor, which Fashola at that auspicious inauguration time surprisingly failed to do.

On that occasion, history has recorded Fashola’s act as that of an avoidably mischievous beneficiary of Tinubu’s benevolence that reminds one of William Arthur Ward’s words when he pronounced: “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” What a calamity of immeasurable proportion that Fashola consciously missed during Ambode’s inauguration, being his last public official opportunity, to show the entire world that he is capable of showing gratitude to whom it is robustly due. What a repulsive example – and indeed a bad signal – from a supposed former governor of example!

‘Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap’ – —Biblical quote

Since midnight, virtually all elected officers of state including the president and governors and others whose tenures are tied to theirs had become private citizens of this country. Hence forth, their phones will no longer be busy while inflow of text messages and e-mails will nearly cease. Importunate visits by favour seekers masquerading as friends will disappear. They would be left with their family members and obviously very few genuine friends. At this stage, what would be left after the expiration of the tenancy of tenants in power would be the verdict of history as defined by the good or bad deeds done while in the saddle – and which are naturally etched in people’s minds.

Such is life because whatever has a beginning must have an end; whatever goes up must definitely comedown, which is why time is of high significant in life and it waits for no one. Every living being has own time or better put, magic moment. For individuals in power, it is pertinent to ask how best they have deployed it. Is it used for egocentric purposes or for more enduring ventures? Whether you are president, governor, minister, commissioner or an occupier of any powerful appointive position, you have from today become a line or page in the book of history. Another set of people comes in the saddle to commence their own tenancy. The crowd of people around you yesterday are already embracing the new man holding the lever of power. This is because, unknown to you while still in the saddle, they thronged around your position, not your person. Now that another person has taken over your seat, you automatically become a relic of history and what you live on subsequently are your good or bad deeds or better put, legacy. It would be sad if it is only when now out of power that you’re giving this inescapable looming reality deep thought; when the routine privileged reverence that you were daily accorded by virtue of your former position had gone.

Let those coming into power remember in whatever grandeur it might currently please God to place them that there comes a time when the world gets quiet and the only thing left is their own hearts or conscience – the ultimate judge of human conducts. The earlier we learn the sound of our hearts, the better so that we can correctly decipher what it is saying and, advisedly follow it. The problem with powerful men is that they have avoidably failed to be loyal to their conscience and have failed to discern inevitable changes and challenges when about to occur. The saddest words that could ever come out of the mouths of once-powerful fellows are: ‘It might have been.’ ‘I could have done this.’ Today is another inauguration day and it is too late for expired tenants to redeem and re-shape their yesterday and the future. Some of them that have chosen the path of self-perdition or treachery should be assured of being already sentenced to irreverent political lurch.

Also, new men of power should remember that there were tyrants and slayers, and even if for some time, they seem insuperable, they always fall in the end. From day one, they should realise that it is their actions or inactions that would count for or against them at the expiration of their own tenancy on judgement day; this is why they must endeavour to always do now what is importantly right. Their actions should not be informed by malice.

As today’s inauguration moment draws to an end, today’s new men should remember that yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream. What dreams do they have as a leader – for the country/states as directing minds and the world at large? They should not be deceived by the false friends or deterred by true enemies that success usually attracts. They should just make sure they put in their best in all they do.

Having gone this far, it is pertinent to remind our privileged men of power on the need to engage in pertinent self re-examination. The outgoing president and governors in particular, and other political appointees, by now would be buying time in power. The incumbent president and governors would have become lame duck in their positions since fresh hands are waiting to take over after the conclusion of the March/April general elections. That has been the tradition in the game of CHANGE of baton in the political firmament. They should reflect on approvals denied in a raw show of vindictive malice and think of whether if the next person takes charge the injustice will not be corrected. How many of them have betrayed their benefactors at a point they thought the day of handover would erroneously never come? What is their relationship with their successors? If you are in the same party with your successor, did you make as much sacrifice as was done for you before you won your own mandate? What are the impressions of subordinates and the larger percentage of people about you? These, among others, will help you know how well you have fared.

How would our new crop of elected and appointed public officers want to be remembered? What future will they build for their families through their handiwork while in government? Is it one that will invite scorn or approbation from the public? They should, in this column’s view, strive to be nothing but conqueror of objectives. And by objectives, yours sincerely means those deeds that could stand the test of time and benefit humanity.

And for the outgone president, governors and others, they have to contend now with their misdeeds while strutting around the corridors of power as if yesterday would be forever. This for them is time for critical reflections on how far they fared in power and in meeting set goals; for self and humanity? The ample time to make amends had passed and it becomes self-inflicting to become victims of inexcusable excuses like most of their own predecessors in power that took the people and the right caucuses for granted. As a president or governor, that is handing over today, have you, in good conscience, done enough to elevate the status and goodwill of the party and people that brought you to power? Or were you just a treacherous beast that your party men and others around you felt should not have been? If you did bad to people that brought you to power at a point you were nothing in life; when nobody believed in you; when you had no political ambition or even money to aspire for anything, then be prepared for nemesis now that you are out of power. This is not a curse but simple reality of life.

Let us all thank God that today has become a reality in our lifetime despite the disparaging prognosis about our dear country Nigeria. Now that the people’s votes now truly count to a reasonable extent, the new men of power should not treat the people with contempt because today is not forever. We must all know that power is a fleeting substance!