By Dayo Sobowale

A new word has entered the world of politics and that is ‘power grab’. It is a simple way of a party in power making laws that will favour it in next elections and ensure it is reelected and its present mandate is assured of renewal.

It was used by a Republican senator in the US Senate  to condemn the move by the Biden government to expand the voters list in a way that will take power on registration of voters away  from  the states and vest it in the federal  government  headed by a Democratic president at present . But really this is not a new  thing as most  politicians, if they  have their way, will  never  willingly release  the hold  on power they  have at  the moment ,  as long  as they  can manipulate  the rules  or the constitution  to hold on to power ,  one way  or the other . That is how the word  rigging evolved at  elections but  power  grab  is  a  post- election  manipulation for  reelection according to new rules passed  with the present  and existing mandates  for victory at the polls . How  this has evolved as a new political  culture   not  only in  the US  under the new Biden Administration but globally,  especially   in business ,   and its    high   potential   and   prospect    to  escalate   violence  and insecurity   in     political  systems generally , is the kernel  of our discussion today.

In the US, the power grab started when the  one  term Trump Administration scuttled all  the policies of the  two   term  Obama Administration before  it . Now in less than a year, the Biden Administration has demolished all the legacy of the Trump Administration before it . But  the by- product of that is insecurity in major American cities such that last week Biden had to address the nation on violence which he attributed to gun running  and easy  acquisition .  A  fact  that  his opponents ,the Republicans denied , giving  instead , statistics   to show    that  the Biden government’s  support for  defunding the police  and not punishing rioters in major cities destroying state  properties ,  lacked  deterrence against violence and is   an incentive for  rioters to get away with murder literally .

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It  is instructive that in all  these ,  there was a voice  of reason from a senator from Biden’s Democratic party who  refused to support his party and made the bill  on power grab to fail in a  50- 50  senate . His wise observation was that it is divisive for each sitting government to destroy  the legacy of its predecessor or make reelection inevitable  by changing the rules because that  will never create unity or stability in the US  or any nation for that matter. That  to me is the voice of reason that  has saved the US political system  from sliding into a cycle of retaliatory  politics and governance that  would   sooner   than later ,  escalate into more violence , insecurity and political instability .

Let  us  now look  at  the emergence  of power grab by the big  tech  companies like YouTube  and Google especially with the control of information on the origin of the  pandemic and   its emergence from a lab  in China  and  the attendant  cover up of that  because  of business with China with  the  collusion of even the World Health Organisation .  Yet this is a pandemic that has killed millions all  over the world far  more than any  riots or political  disturbance .

We shall also see the situation in Nigeria where banditry, kidnapping and herdsmen versus farmers in the nation has created such violence and mayhem. Yet  in the midst  of all that an Islamic Cleric accused some agents in the security apparatus of colluding and giving arms  to bandits, a charge that the Nigerian Army  quickly  rebutted .  But in the same nation the major  tribes are clamouring  for a break  up and  the tribe  of the  party in  power insists  it will  not support any  break  up .  Which is another potent way of  saying it will never give up on the power it has grabbed   and    firmly   in  its grip , even  if the heavens fall . We  shall  come back to that   later .

We  go back to the technology power play in preventing  the spread of information that the virus came from China . It was US President  former  Trump who first  said this and he was silenced on this and his reelection   bid  by Twitter and the big tech companies like Amazon and Google . Information is now emerging that the US health authorities funded research on the virus at the same Wuhan Lab  in  China that Trump  mentioned but that  fact was suppressed  during the 2020  election to deny Trump any credibility that can accrue   as  electoral advantage . The  anti-Trump media led by the CNN  blocked out this information until Trump  had lost the election . But since there is no smoke without fire, the issue has resurfaced  and even a victorious Biden  has launched fresh investigation on the origin of the virus from a Chinese lab  as Trump  claimed before. Now  it is apparent that big tech  companies can  not only   change political power , they     can   grab it and literally give it to parties or  politicians  that favor their business interests . They  can also use the power of information to cover up for nations like China that have the largest market and population  for mouthwatering tech  deals. Just   as  they  have done    so   powerfully   till   now in promoting the lie that the violent pandemic that devastated  the world at large did not come from a lab  in Communist  China , the darling of the tech  world  for investments  and fantastic business development and  deals . Really  God  should swiftly   judge  these  tech  giants for their malfeasance  in  playing with human lives for  their  greedy  ends and bloody  profits.

We  end up with Nigeria and the charge  that our security  forces are colluding with  bandits as alleged by Sheikh Ahmad Gumi . The army has reacted that the charge is an attempt to  demoralize  and disgrace the military, which as a Nigerian I agree with . But Gumi and the army are no strangers to each other as he has been with them in some forests to negotiate with the bandits. The  army  should defend its  reputation if it is not afraid  of  Gumi  who  has grabbed the power from the government in dealing with bandits , terrorists and kidnappers . If  any cleric that is a non- Northerner and is a Christian  had  said this he would  be detained or vilified by  now .

The  Buhari  government was given a mandate for two  terms  but it has resulted in unmitigated violence and it needs to  arrest  that . Gumi  spoke of herdsmen being killed all  over the south . He is partisan as a Northerner and a Muslim . Myetti Allah  has waxed  strong under this administration. It  is necessary for the government to call Myetti Allah  to order . Otherwise it could  be accused  of making a power  grab  for the North and Northerners with the approach of the 2023 elections .That  would not be right and is a  wrong signal  that some Nigerians like Gumi or Myetti Allah  are  above the law. Such notions are the genesis of the clamour  for a break up by other non- Northern tribes. Government  should create a level  playing field for  all competing tribes in the race for 2023 .

A false  start and power grab at the behest  of those in control  now will  be an invitation to  political  resentment  that  could  be violent  and disturbing for all of us .

Once  again – From the fury of this raging pandemic Good Lord deliver Nigeria.