To Ayo Fayose, Adamu Mu’azu, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman, is a devil that must be nailed on the cross — and nailed hard.
And trust the Ekiti abrasive one (not famed for any deep thinking, lay or intellectual, but only a relay of reflex thought bounces), to make a facile comparison between election fortunes and misfortunes in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
“Haven’t we now seen what operates in saner climes, with the resignation of the British Labour Party and Liberal Democratic leaders?” he roared, referring to the duo’s crushing election losses to the ruling Conservatives in the May 7 general elections. “Shouldn’t our party national chairman also take a cue from this and allow for fresh minds to steer the ship of the party at this difficult time?”
Of course, Burlesque Fayose would be incomplete without Trademark Fayose: graceless gloating. “I am … not operating here on empty boast because Ekiti State was delivered to the PDP 100 per cent. …” he further growled. “Imagine the PDP not getting up to five per cent … in Bauchi State, the national chairman’s home state, and someone is still not being honourable enough to resign”.
Honourable enough! Saner climes! The grave irony of this twain clearly is lost on Triumphalist Fayose!
Saner climes! Did Ed Miliband, the British Labour Party leader, have in his camp a Mr. No Apology, with a penchant for insane adverts, that coarsely projected a principal opponent’s sure death, and harvested for his party mass hatred, among those who had the putative electoral numbers?
And honour! What has been honourable in Mr. Fayose’s conduct since his unfortunate second coming in Ekiti? Besides, is it not tragic narcissism, powered by unconscionable villainy, to work on over-drive to lose northern votes, yet crow over delivering Ekiti votes 100 per cent — Ekiti votes, the minority of minorities of electoral numbers in the South West?
Ripples would not be bothered by whatever pains bickering Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hierarchs inflict upon themselves, in their post-defeat feuding. For all the havoc they socked on the country, they sure had it coming.
Besides, the recrimination is almost spiritual. You don’t mess up millions of longsuffering Nigerians and exactly expect to live blissfully ever after!
But it is a conceptual matter. PDP may well have been a useless ruling party, that has led Nigeria to nowhere but perdition. By the way its partisans fall upon themselves, it could even be a far more useless opposition prospect, since its only glue is power without responsibility; its only life, humongous greed for the common wealth.
That seems to explain the mutual allegation of soulless money sharing, between party and presidency, with each combatant in each camp grossing no less than N30 million each. And the more that illicit pork appears slipping away, the more hysterical and distracted PDP is likely to become.
Still, we have a democracy to run. On May 29, roles would change, with the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) becoming the new federal ruling party. But the PDP meltdown is self-evidence that a multi-party democracy, without vigorous opposition, is nothing but an endangered species. So, for the polity to develop, and democracy to deepen, there must be a strong and vibrant alternative.
PDP appears best suited, if not most suitable, to play that role. But with its emotive in-fighting, it is fated to lose focus even more. So, it is in the polity’s enlightened self-interest to try to refocus this stranded, bad-tempered giant, lest it becomes the polity’s collective burden.
Chairman Mu’azu may have led his party to electoral slaughter.
And the quad of First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Governor Fayose, Femi Fani-Kayode, and Doyin Okupe may well be the real devils to be nailed hard on the cross, for strafing and bombing their party with reckless electioneering.
But they all were a symptom of President Jonathan’s sickening craving for power — power to which he had proved most inept and sorry; but to which he must, do-or-die, reclaim for four more years.
Never, in the history of Nigeria, even with its serial disappointment in leadership, has any leader manifested such crassly inordinate hunger for power . Not Ibrahim Babangida, not Sani Abacha, and certainly, not Olusegun Obasanjo, even with his doomed attempt at third term.
The trio of Babangida, Abacha and Obasanjo were certainly no saints where Jonathan was the very devil. But under none of them did the Nigeria virtually collapse as a state, with Boko Haram bombing at will, capturing territories and kidnapping citizens, and Jonathan having absolutely no solution. Yet, the president, and his deluders, were adamant he had earned a second term!
This single-minded hunger for power, if not for service, was what induced old man Bamanga Tukur to risk a PDP collapse on his head, rather than confront Jonathan’s power demands. Alhaji Bamanga ended up the fall guy, but not before the Governors-7 had rebelled, and the Governors-5 defected, thus sending a collapsing PDP on a journey of no return.
This tragedy also hall-marked the emergence of Adamu Mu’azu, hailed then as “game-changer”, for somewhat helping to stanch the bleeding. It is ironic now that he is being nailed over an electoral game-change, that nailed the PDP coffin and snapped it out of its grave hubris. He likely would get the sack as Alhaji Bamanga before him. But that would just be chasing shadows.
In all of these though, Goodluck Jonathan is the mathematical constant. Fortunately, Nigerian voters have given him the tortoise treatment — wasn’t it the tortoise, in Yoruba folklore, that swore not to return from his trip until he was disgraced?
Still ironically, Jonathan was only the victim of past excesses of the Obasanjo era. His chief offence is nothing but rank opportunism. To cast PDP in his own image, Obasanjo created the rather fraudulent title of party “national leader” — a euphemism for being over and above the party that nominated him for presidency.
Jonathan inherited this fraud and decided to milk it to the hilt. On that, he spurred old man Bamanga like a wild horse; and savaged Chairman Mu’azu with the embarrassment of making his gutless National Working Committee (NWC) claim the party only printed one presidential nomination form, and the sole form had been annexed by the national leader — so paranoid was Jonathan to coral the PDP presidential ticket!
Jonathan, the party leader, badly wanted that form — and before that request, every party knee must bow!
Unfortunately, Jonathan lacked neither the brutal savvy nor the native intelligence — or even the routine policy bragging rights! — to impose his will. The result was the crashed PDP humpty-dumpty; and the evaporation of its dream of ruling in perpetuity — 60 years to start with!
So, the Fayoses of this world, who bay for Mu’azu’s blood, only savage the puppet. But the puppeteer is their real quarry.
The Jonathan debacle must teach the Nigerian party system a stiff lesson. Never again must a president be so powerful to subvert collective party interest.
APC must put a president on its platform under some form of party leash, if it must escape the PDP fate.
‘The Fayoses of this world, who bay for Mu’azu’s blood, only savage the puppet. But the puppeteer is their real quarry’
