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  • Atiku: Nigeria’s federation must be restructured

    Atiku: Nigeria’s federation must be restructured

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday said Nigeria is not working as it should because the centre has more power than the federating states.

    Speaking at the launch of book entitled “We are all Biafrans” in Abuja, Atiku said there was the need to restructure the nation to make it stronger and more united.

    He said while Nigeria must remain a united country, the unity which most Nigerians so desire should never be taken for granted or taken as evidence that Nigerians are content with the current structure of the federation.

    He said: “Nigeria is not working as well as it should and part of the reason is the way we have structured our country and governance, especially since the late 1960s. The federal government is too big, and too powerful relative to the federating states. That situation needs to change, and calling for that change is patriotic.

    “We must refrain from the habit of assuming that anyone calling for the restructuring of our federation is working for the breakup of the country.  An excessively powerful centre does not equate with national unity.  If anything, it has made our unity more fragile, our government more unstable and our country more unsafe.

    “We must renegotiate our union in order to make it stronger.  Greater autonomy, power and resources for states and local authorities will give the federating units greater freedom and flexibility to address local issues, priorities and peculiarities.

    “It will help to unleash our people’s creative energies and spur more development.  It will reduce the premium placed on capturing power at the centre. It will help with improving security. It will promote healthy rivalries among the federating units and local authorities. It will help make us richer and stronger as a nation.

    “As some of you may know, I have for a long time advocated the need to restructure our federation. Our current structure and the practices it has encouraged have been a major impediment to the economic and political development of our country.

    “In short it has not served Nigeria well, and at the risk of reproach it has not served my part of the country, the North, well. The call for restructuring is even more relevant today in light of the governance and economic challenges facing us.  And the rising tide of agitations, some militant and violent, require a reset in our relationships as a united nation.

    “Some may say that we are saddled with more urgent challenges, including rebuilding our battered economy, creating jobs, fighting corruption and securing our people from terrorism and other forms of serious crimes.

    “I believe, however, that addressing the flaws in our federation will help us address some of those very economic and security challenges facing this country.

    “Let me quickly acknowledge that no federal system is set for all time. There are always tensions arising from matters relating to the sharing of power, resources and responsibilities. But established democracies have developed peaceful mechanisms for resolving such conflicts among the tiers of government. They recognise that negotiations and compromises are eternal”

    The former Vice President argued that the vast majority of Nigeria’s young population will be forgiven for thinking that our lives have always revolved around oil and that the federal government has always been this domineering and controlling.

    The young Nigerians, he said “may not be aware that the federal system which we inherited at independence allowed the regions to retain their autonomy to raise and retain revenues, promote development, and conduct their affairs as they saw fit, while engaging in healthy competition with others.

    “They may not know that it was the emergence of military rule and the intervening civil war that led to the splintering and weakening of the federating units, centralisation of resources and concentration of power at the federal level.

    “The enormous revenues from oil rents encouraged the central government to play an increasingly domineering role in the economy and society. It assumed more responsibilities for infrastructure provisioning, education, social services and business investment.

    “We now know that the more resources the federal government has, the more responsibilities it tends to assume. This then generates the need for ever more resources.

    “As Chairman of the National Council on Privatization from 1999 to 2007, in my capacity as the Vice President, I was shocked when I saw firsthand the manner of businesses our federal government was involved in. These included not just such capital-intensive industries as steel and petrochemicals but brick-making factories and bakeries as well.  These enterprises hardly made any profit. Rather they were being subsidized by the budget.

    “As the government’s role continued to expand, the private sector was crowded out and private initiative, innovation and creativity suffered.  Excessive dependence on oil revenues led to the collapse of our agriculture-based economy.

    “It also exposed the Nigerian economy to volatile market swings, booms and bursts. And it brought with it enormous social consequences such as wealth without labour, briefcase contractors and generations of youth accustomed to aspiring to be employed by others rather than thinking of creating jobs for themselves and others.

    “It also led to the neglect of internally generated revenue, especially taxation. Most of our state governments can no longer pay their workers’ wages until they collect monthly allocations from Abuja.

    “Only Lagos State is currently able to generate up to 50% of its revenues internally, thereby reducing its dependence on allocations from Abuja. (And it is not because of the existence of many businesses in Lagos as some people like to point out. Businesses do not on their own send money to government).

    “As we became more dependent on oil revenues we became lazier, more complacent, and our leaders became ever more unaccountable. Among the most destructive impacts of our dependence on oil is, perhaps, the corruption that it has fostered in the oil industry and society at large.

    “Some of you are familiar with published reports that highlight discrepancies and opacity in data relating to the allocation of oil blocs as well as NNPC’s abuse of its duty as steward of our federation revenues.”

  • Why Nigeria is not working – Atiku

    Why Nigeria is not working – Atiku

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said on Tuesday that Nigeria is not working effectively because of the way it has been structured – deploying more power to the centre than the federating states.

    Speaking at a book launch in Abuja, Atiku said there was the need to restructure the country and renegotiate the union in order to make it stronger and more united.

    Atiku said: “Nigeria is not working as well as it should and part of the reason is the way we have structured our country and governance, especially since the late 1960s. The federal government is too big, and too powerful relative to the federating states. That situation needs to change, and calling for that change is patriotic.

    “We must refrain from the habit of assuming that anyone calling for the restructuring of our federation is working for the breakup of the country.  An excessively powerful centre does not equate with national unity.  If anything, it has made our unity more fragile, our government more unstable and our country more unsafe.

    “We must renegotiate our union in order to make it stronger.  Greater autonomy, power and resources for states and local authorities will give the federating units greater freedom and flexibility to address local issues, priorities and peculiarities.

    “It will help to unleash our people’s creative energies and spur more development.  It will reduce the premium placed on capturing power at the centre. It will help with improving security. It will promote healthy rivalries among the federating units and local authorities. It will help make us richer and stronger as a nation.”

     

  • Nigerians will smile again, says Atiku

    Democracy remains the best form of government anywhere in the world despite its limitations and challenges, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has stated.

    In his message to mark the nation’s Democracy Day, the chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) explained the freedom of choice is one of the most important ingredients of the democratic system.

    The freedom to choose one’s leaders, he said, makes democracy fashionable, adding any system that subverts the will of the people destroys the progress of the society.

    According to him, as Nigerians celebrate Democracy Day, the memories of Late Shehu Yar’Adua and MKO Abiola would resonate across the country.

    He added that the sacrifices of countless others who paid the supreme price for opposing dictatorship would also not be forgotten.

    The former Vice President said no sane society would choose despotism over democracy because, under dictatorship, dissent is met with death or torture.

    On the current challenges facing ordinary Nigerians, Atiku said no democratically elected government would intentionally hurt the voters that put it into office.

    He explained the APC administration remains committed to the welfare of Nigerians, pleading that the current challenges are temporary.

    According to him, the 2016 budget is specifically targeted to address the basic needs of the ordinary Nigerians, explaining that the implementation of the budget would bring succour to Nigerians.

    He urged Nigerians not to lose hope because of the current temporary challenges that they are going through.

  • Atiku: Nigeria will soon overcome challenges

    Atiku: Nigeria will soon overcome challenges

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar yesterday expressed optimism that the nation will soon overcome its challenges and move forward.

    He spoke just as the federal government indicated readiness to protect local industries.

    Speaking at the ground- breaking ceremony of his animal feed factory in Abuja, the chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said his confidence in the survival of the nation was largely responsible for the decision to invest in the plant which has the capacity to produce 50 tons of animal feeds of various brand per hour.

    He said it was unfortunate that the nation has depended largely on oil to the detriment of other sectors like agriculture.

    The former Vice President was happy that now that oil was drying up Nigerians will be forced to return to agriculture.

    He said: “Despite the doubts about our economy because of current challenges, we are confident about Nigeria’s future and about our future.

    “I think I speak for my partners in this joint venture when I say: We know what we are getting into and we’re doing it because we believe in Nigeria, because we believe that Nigeria will overcome its current difficulties, because we believe our nation will change for the better.”

    He added: “I believe that agriculture is a key ingredient in our nation’s future fortunes and I’m proud that today, we’re taking another small step on our long walk to a more diversified, more productive, and more competitive economy.

    “We are contributing to job creation, technology transfer and progressive change in farming culture. We believe there is a future in farming.”

    Minister of Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbe said: “We will have to defend local industries. In the preaching of free trade and globalization, Nigerian economy got to where it is today because we have been practicing ill digested economic theories.

    The minister added: “For the last 40 years, Nigeria has been a dumping ground of other country’s products.

    “Rice worth an import bill of five million dollars per day arrive this country from other economies fish account for almost six million dollars, sugar, tomato paste cookies and biscuit even toothpicks worth 80 million dollars per annum arrives from other economies to dominate the Nigerian market.

    Speaker Dogara said the issue of feeding the populace speaks to the future of the country, pointing out that no nation has ever become great without working out ways of feeding its people.

    “We are not even talking about the economics of agriculture, but the fact that we must feed our people, adding that wealth creation is generated by small businesses,” Dogara stressed.

    The Speaker said the House of Representatives is currently discussing how to diversify the economy and assured it was taking another look at the laws governing how to do business in Nigeria as well as how to sustain small and medium scale businesses.

     

  • Atiku to workers: keep faith

    Atiku to workers: keep faith

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged workers not to lose faith in President Muhammadu Buhari to surmount the odds.

    The former Vice President also proposed a fairer deal for workers in order to reduce the frequency of strikes in the country, which he regrets takes a heavy toll on the economy.

    In his May Day message, the former Vice President said despite the challenges the country and its people are facing, it will take the support of everyone working in tandem with the Buhari administration to lift the economy out of the doldrums.

    “President Buhari alone cannot turnaround the fortunes of the country. It requires everyone – elected and appointed officials, the legislature and the judiciary, the public and private sectors and ordinary Nigerians – working together in faith and commitment to bring about the desired change.”

    Atiku A noted that Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade when combined with curbing wastages and profligacy would free much-needed resources to jumpstart the economy by investing in infrastructure and high jobs yielding sectors especially agriculture as proposed by the government.

    The Turaki Adamawa said: “With dwindling revenue from oil, it has become imperative for us to bake a bigger cake that will be big enough for all partakers. To achieve this, we need to be more creative as a government and more productive as a people.”

    The former Vice President also observed that improved conditions of service for workers would help to reduce corruption and fraud among employees.

    Atiku said it is impossible to convince workers to make sacrifices while the public office holders live a life that is inconsistent with the economic realities of Nigeria.”

  • He was an exceptional leader- Atiku

    He was an exceptional leader- Atiku

    Former Vice President and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar has described the late Omon’Oban’EdoUkuAkpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa of Benin as an exceptional leader who spared no efforts in protecting the tradition and values of his people.

    In a statement made available to The Nation by his Media office, Atiku said that the late Oba Erediauwa was a role model, not only of Benin people, but a leading light in the committee of traditional rulers in the country.

    The former Vice President said the late Benin monarch radiated royalty, majesty, wisdom, intelligence and nationalism even as he spared no effort in protecting the traditions and values of his people.

    According to him, the passing on of the monarch comes at a critical time when the country is facing numerous challenges of nation-building and would miss his wise counsel sorely.

    He called on the people of Benin kingdom, the people and Government of Edo State and all Nigerians to take heart at the passing on of this illustrious royal personage, adding that with the remarkable life he lived, the place of the Oba in Benin and Nigeria history is assured.

    The former Vice President also extends his condolences to the Benin royal family and calls on all its members to take heart and honour the memory of the late Oba by working for peace, which was a cardinal pursuit of the monarch during his lifetime.

  • Tinubu, Atiku, Anyaoku, UPU, others mourn Ibru

    Tinubu, Atiku, Anyaoku, UPU, others mourn Ibru

    MORE groups and eminent Nigerians have continued to mourn the passage of former Delta State governor of Olorogun Felix Ibru, even as the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) declared a three-day mourning period for their departed leader.

    Among those who mourned the late senator were All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, former Vice President and chieftain of APC Atiku Abubakar, former Commonwealth Secretary General Chief Emeka Anyaoku, immediate past Abia State Senator Theodore Orji and ex-Edo State Governor Chief Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion.

    Others included Delta State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, spokesman of the Interim Committee of UPU Josiah Ntekume, Interim President-General of the apex Urhobo socio-cultural organisation Gabriel Ofotokun.

    Tinubu described the late former Delta State governor as a role model and fighter for democracy, who would be sorely missed.

    In a statement yesterday, the APC national leader said he received the news of Ibru’s passage with a deep sense of loss.

    He said: “Chief Ibru was a sort of renaissance Nigerian. He was a politician, business mogul, bureaucrat, architect, educationist, administrator and friend of Nigeria.

    “He belonged to a rare breed of Nigerians, who defined success not by what they earned for themselves, but for their fellow citizens. Hence, after making his mark as an architect, which was his first calling, he became a lecturer at the Yaba College of Education.

    “He also was at the top of a business conglomerate that not only flourished but became a nexus of commerce in the country. Olorogun Ibru succeeded in the old-fashioned way with hard work, imagination and persistence.

    “He was also pioneer governor in Delta State and a senator, who gave a polemical heft to his contribution on the floor of the grand hall of the parliament. In spite of his cosmopolitan virtues, he never forgot his roots. Hence, he led the Urhobo Progress Union as the president general.

    “He blended well in Lagos, where he achieved much and gave much. He will be sorely missed as a role model, fighter for democracy, a man of ideas and beachhead of business.

    “My heart bleeds with the Ibru family, but I believe they will take comfort in the nobility of his life and legacy that will endure.”

    Atiku, in a statement by his media office, expressed sadness and profound shock at the death of Ibru.

    He described the former governor and senator as a gentleman of high standing and a democracy icon, who risked his life, properties and personal comfort to fight for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria by standing up to military dictatorship.

    Anyaoku said the death of Ibru was a passing of an outstanding player in the democratic evolution of Nigeria and Delta State.

    He said: “As a senator of the Federal Republic, he during his tenure demonstrated notable perspicacity and unalloyed patriotism in the debates of the National Assembly. And as the first civilian Governor of Delta State, he not only exemplified a true sense of public service, but also left behind a legacy some of which his successors have adopted to the benefit of the State. In his last years, I had the privilege and indeed the pleasure of working with him as a member of the Selection Committee of the Chief Obafemi Awolowo Leadership Award, which I chair and will always remember his quiet sense of humour and sterling contributions to the committee’s deliberations.”

    Orji, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Mr. Don Norman Obinna, described the late Ibru as astute leader and entrepreneur who contributed immensely to the development of the country, adding that his statesmanly advice would be highly missed.

    Igbinedion noted that the former governor was an upright man, who had an unflinching faith in the growth and development of Delta State.

    Emerhor, in a statement, described the passage of the politician as shocking, a loss to the Urhobo nation, Delta State and Nigeria.

    He noted that as first elected governor of the state, Ibru built bridges across ethnic divides, describing him as the architect of modern Delta State, whom the state’s chapter of APC would miss sorely.

    The UPU yesterday declared a three-day mourning period for the late Ibru, according to a statement by the spokesman of the interim committee of the UPU.

    Ntekume added that the interim President-General of the apex Urhobo socio-cultural organisation ordered that UPU flag should fly half-mast in the period.

  • Buhari, APC, Atiku, others mourn

    Buhari, APC, Atiku, others mourn

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday expressed shock and sadness over the death of the Minister.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, described Ocholi’s death as “untimely”, regretting that Nigeria has lost a key component of the change agenda.

    “Barrister Ocholi was an accomplished and patriotic Nigerian, who was keen to accept the call to service at a time his country needed him,” President Buhari said.

    He said that the late minister of state in the few months he had been in office had already begun to distinguish himself through his commitment to his portfolio.

    President Buhari also condoled with the government and people of Kogi State, who he described as having lost a distinguished and irreplaceable son.

    He prayed that God would comfort them and grant them the grace to bear the loss.

    “The entire country mourns the loss of this great man, who has sadly left us when we need him most,” he said.

    President Buhari has sent Secretary to the Government of the Federation David Babachir Lawal to convey the news to members of the late minister’s family and parishioners in his place of worship.

    The National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said it received the news with great shock and sadness.

    The APC National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni in a condolence message described his death as a monumental loss.

    Buni prayed for the recovery of those injured in the accident, including the late minister’s wife and driver.

    The APC National Secretary said the late Ocholi, who was the party’s Deputy National Legal Adviser, will be remembered for his selfless service.

    While extending his condolences to the people and government of Kogi State, Buni prayed to Almighty God to grant Ocholi’s immediate family the fortitude to bear the painful loss.

    The Kaduna state government has expressed deep shock over the incident.

    The government in a statement by spokesman to governor Nasir El-Rufai, Mr. Samuel Aruwan said the incident was devastating.

    “The state government extends its heartfelt condolences to President Mohammadu Buhari and the Ocholi family.

    “Our condolences goes to members of the Federal Executive Council and the entire nation, the minister died at a critical time when his contributions in the ongoing national rebirth and realisation of the change mantra are needed.

    “May the almighty God grant their souls eternal rest” the statement said.

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in a  press statement from the media office, described the late Ocholi as: “a wise and brilliant man, who was expected to impact significantly on the Buhari administration and the lives of Nigerians in many positive ways”.

    Atiku lamented that the nation has lost a committed professional whose place in his profession, political party and the budding administration, would be hard to fill.

    The statement urged those who knew the deceased, notably President Buhari, his colleagues at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the generality of Nigerians to take heart.

    Atiku also prayed for the repose of his soul, and for the quick recovery of his beloved wife and driver, who survived the accident.

    The former Vice President urged the bereaved family to take consolation in the fact that the late Ocholi was a much-beloved person, and an achiever whose contribution to nation-building and his community would not be easily forgotten.

     

  • Atiku consoles Yola market fire victims

    Atiku consoles Yola market fire victims

    Ex-Vice President and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed sadness at the fire, which engulfed the Yola Central Market in Yola, Adamawa State.

    In a statement by his media office in Abuja, the former Vice President said the inferno was one too many.

    He urged those in charge of public places, such as markets, schools and factories to be careful and vigilant.

    Atiku said fire during harmattan could be devastating because of the dry wind blowing from the Northeast.

    He said property worth millions of naira and lives had been lost to fire in many parts of the country. The ex-Vice President enjoined the management of the Yola Central Market and other markets and places of business susceptible to fire to work out ways of reducing fire outbreaks.

    Atiku advised fire service officials to improve their readiness and preparedness to deal with fire outbreaks.

     

  • Poll 2019 and Atiku’s frantic denial

    Poll 2019 and Atiku’s frantic denial

    Is it too early for a politician to think of the 2019 general elections? Apparently, former vice president Atiku Abubakar thinks so. He believes that every member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) should be single-minded in their support for the Muhammadu Buhari presidency than to expend energy generating political schemes for an election that is still a long way off. His view on this subject came to light when his media adviser, Paul Ibe, reacted to social media reports that the former vice president recently hosted political meetings at the Burj Al-Arab, Dubai. Those who peddled that unfounded and unsubstantiated information, said the statement, were nothing but “ill-motivated busybodies that don’t wish the country well”.

    Alhaji Atiku is probably right, and the feral beast called social media, the graveyard of many great reputations, is most probably wrong. The former vice president says he is in Dubai with some members of his family to treat his injured knee. That injury is of course public knowledge, and his constant resort to physiotherapy is not hidden. He adds, exasperatingly, that he is entitled to his private vacations and to seek medical help anywhere without those simple, natural and familial engagements becoming subjects of speculations and rumourmongering. Had Alhaji Atiku stopped at that simple and effective task of denying the motives ascribed to him, perhaps few would have taken notice of anything untoward. Instead, the former vice president couches his denial in terms that neither do credit to his standing nor to his image and politics. He was effusive and unduly patronising.

    Mr Ibe believes it is necessary to restate Alhaji Atiku’s perception of the Buhari presidency in order not to give the impression of hostility. Apparently, to the former vice president, to play politics so early is to engage in hostile action. Says Mr Ibe: “Whether at home or abroad, the Turaki (Alhaji Atiku) is preoccupied with his unassailable support to President Buhari and his administration, especially in this critical time, as it works assiduously to turn the fortunes of our dear country around and make Nigeria work for the greater good of Nigerians”. The former vice president’s support is unassailable, the time is critical, and President Buhari is working assiduously. The impression produced by the former vice president’s adjectival effusiveness, an impression probably birthed by Alhaji Atiku’s unpalatable experience as former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s deputy, is that the Nigerian presidency is so close-minded and insular that it has become a vengeful tool in the hands of an egotistic president to coax or cajole rivals.

    But, as if he was not already groveling, the former vice president pushed his disavowal to an inordinate level. Says he: “This is yet another plot of the enemies of our country and democracy to divide, divert attention and distract the APC in its avowed commitment to secure the country, provide jobs for the mass of unemployed youths, build needed critical infrastructure, enthrone a regime of probity and accountability and pull the country out of the economic woods it has been consigned to by locust years of mismanagement.”

    Alhaji Atiku is not always the steadiest of party men, having as it were moved from one party to another in a rather casual manner in his inimitable fashion of responding to frustration. Perhaps, this time, he is in the APC to stay. But instincts tell the observer to be wary. For now, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is simply not an option to anyone, not to talk of a man of his unique gifts. The opposition party is not only demoralised, it shows no inclination at all for transcending its internal crisis, let alone plotting a way out of its self-imposed cul-de-sac. Its big men, who have chosen to stay when the party’s main brain trust has fled the burning deck, are confused and even apoplectic in their boyish denunciation of the ruling party’s policies. And the structure of the party, which needed repairs even when the party was in power, has virtually disintegrated. The party no longer has a soul, nor a reason to live. Such a party could not be welcoming to Alhaji Atiku’s free-floating spirit and footloose habits.

    From experience too, the former vice president seems to have come to a more realistic perception of his limitations both as a party man in the general sense and as second-in-command in particular, with fate dealing him a cruel hand at a time in his political life when his every instinct was to grab and caress the ultimate power of the presidency. He knew what punishing regimen he was subjected to on account of showing his political hand too early in a political milieu so idiosyncratically suffocating, intolerant and paradoxically monarchical.  He was nearly driven out of town, and would have suffered political death had he not crossed to the vibrant but upstart Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and was quickly canonised as the party’s presidential candidate. Having been beaten once, Alhaji Atiku appears determined not be more than twice shy.

    But herein lies the great dilemma for a man and politician who prides himself on his wiliness, astuteness and courage. Much more than the mere fact of denying hosting political meetings in Dubai, a rumour more APC leaders will have to battle with as they travel abroad and meet their friends and associates between now and next year, the statement appears more worryingly to indicate that Alhaji Atiku possesses none of the mettle ascribed to him by his admirers and supporters. Yes, he is more expansive and accommodating than the messianic President Buhari, and even more outgoing and friendly, but does he have the leadership character that should enable him to pursue his causes no matter how unpopular, no matter whose ox is gored, and no matter how alone he stands?

    Sadly, the temper of his rebuttal does his image a lot of damage. He seems to be desperately anxious to stand in President Buhari’s good books. He seems eager to curry the president’s favour. Perhaps, like many others in the APC, his instincts tell him that the 73-year-old president may be uninterested in a second term, and might endorse a successor of his choice while strangulating those he disfavoured. If so, Alhaji Atiku is much more naive than first imagined. Power, they say, is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Those who grab it do not just handle it; they fondle it with all the exaggerated prurience of regular Casanovas. Given the abrasive manner President Buhari is deploying his energies and constitutional powers, and his remarkably better looks than the gaunt old days of electioneering, and his constant exudation of messianic fervour, there is nothing, not even a scintilla, that indicates the wiry old man would opt for the Nelson Mandela option.

    Alhaji Atiku would have done his image and politics a great service if he had not in the same breath and by a curious corollary denuded his dignity as he set the record straight early in the week. He should have indicated that nothing he knew, whether in common sense or in the constitution, precluded him from pursuing his ambitions now or in the future. He should have stated clearly that if he entertained his friends in Dubai or anywhere else, he was at liberty to do so. In short, Alhaji Atiku should have stood tall, stood proud, stood unapologetic, and trust that the fate he and many other devout religionists often profusely, garishly and sometimes offensively, subscribe to would bring about an implacable outcome neither he nor anyone could change. Instead, early in the week, a chafing Alhaji Atiku fawned on the president, and despite his own large-heartedness, bonhomous visage and talent to attract brainy technocrats, corroborated the depressing impression of him as a scheming politician and opportunist.