In those early days in the newsroom at the Onipetesi office of The PUNCH newspapers, hardly would a day pass without one of the ‘veteran’ reporters muttering the time-worn phrase that, in journalism, dogs don’t eat dogs. As a rookie proof reader then, it sounded like an unwritten code of conduct meant to bind journalists to the ethos and norms of journalism practice. It was nothing different from what was then a regular feature in the activities of the men in uniform in which, except in rare cases within the lower ranks, they would rather settle disagreements outside the view of the general public than expose the rottenness within. In other words, no matter the grievances, what was termed then as espirit-de-corps became a password for cover-up and the legitimization of certain criminal activities and the externalization of the spirit of togetherness in the security community; some sort of Public Display of Affection spiced with hidden plastic laughter. At that time, it was so strong that those involved could practically walk away with murder if they play their cards right. For example, a ‘bloody civilian’ could purchase a ‘brand new tokunbo’ car in Cotonou and pay practically next to nothing in bills and charges should he engage the services of an officer to drive the car through the borders. The common practice then was that these officers would identify themselves as “officers of the state” and they would drive through different border posts easily until they deliver the vehicle or goods to the owner. Of course, it wasn’t as if it was free as they still drop something for the boys on the road. Just that it was way cheaper than paying the due charges to the government coffers. Though a criminal act, smugglers relied on this method to bring in different contraband into the country. Many other examples abound but that is not the focus of this piece today. It is also important to know that, in journalism then and now, the concept of dogs don’t eat dogs was employed as a safeguard to shield professional colleagues from public odium and ridicule especially in cases where there had been serious lapses in the reportage of a story or related matters. Rather than join the fray, practicing journalists in other media outlets would rather turn a blind eye to the brewing controversy than aggravate it. With that, the controversy wouldn’t take long to die a natural death. And the groove moves on to other matters.
However, it didn’t take long for me to know that there were exceptions to the rule in actual practice when I was deployed to the State House as a correspondent of The PUNCH. There, dogs don’t just eat dogs; they push them under a moving train, watch them writhe in pains and, sometimes, get crushed into pieces. If there was any rule that was on display, it was the rule of the jungle. In the few years that I spent in that cubicle called “The Portacabin”, I learnt the hard way that not everyone that picked interest in the draft of your story was doing so for altruistic reasons. There were those who were monitoring your work and they were always giving timely feedbacks to the authorities on the slant of your story and the ‘wicked’ headlines that you crafted from an ordinary statement issued by the presidential spokespersons. And therefore, for doing your job diligently, you automatically become a person of interest and men of the secret service would begin to keep tabs on you.
I recall the countless times I had to make a dash to the Area 11 office of the newspaper then just to write an important story, away from the intrusions of these so-called colleagues whose duty, it appeared, was to set traps for others. At a point, I had assumed that these persons were undercover agents because it was unbelievable that whilst others were scampering to beat deadlines, all they were adept at doing was to wait for the final draft of whatever we came up with, remove bylines, inscribe their own and send the story unedited to whosoever their bosses were then in the newsrooms. It wasn’t a shock to us that these persons were the first to get unimpeachable information about presidential movements, tours and assignments. On the list of those travelling with the president, either local or foreign, they were always first among equals and it never mattered if they file stories on the tour or not. Those realities and the occasional drama playing out in which an unknown person from within would make a call to a particular journalist and command him to ‘drop whatever story’ he was writing at that point in time fortified my belief that the dogs don’t eat dogs rule was being applied mostly in the breach. Bad eggs are in every profession and they are only waiting for the opportunity to pounce on their victims at their most vulnerable moment! That is the reality of life.
Be that as it may, the developing stories in the past few days in the political circles remind me not just about the dearth of the espirit-de-corps mentality within the coven of politicians but also the betrayal of trust that continues to define seeming, impenetrable political affiliations. Let me start with the dirty dog fight between former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, and his estranged political son and successor, Siminalayi Fubara. It is bizarre that, few months after emerging victorious from a fiery furnace that the Rivers State political environment had become due to Wike’s romantic entanglements with both the Peoples Democratic Party on the one hand and the All Progressives Congress on the other hand, Wike and Fubara would be engaged in a bitter, almost deadly, battle for the soul of the Rivers State Government House. And when you ask why the immediate past governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory would get himself locked in such battle with his chosen successor, no one seems to be equipped with the facts that would justify such. Instead, they would embark on a merry-go-round, dribbling round the issue. They will never break it down to us in the simple mathematical language that is at the heart of the do-or-die angst in naira and kobo so that we can understand. They would, instead, be talking about rights, freedom and constitutionality which merely detours from the main issue.
Yet, we live in denial if we think this is about the rights of the people of the state to life, liberty and security. Most often, the bust up is always about how one of the feuding parties is holding down the hand of the other to allegedly free the citizens from being subjected to a life of torture, cruel and inhumane treatment and degrading punishment. If that were to be the case, the shackles would have been removed long before this time. But, unfortunately, the people are still roughing it through the long way to perdition. Nothing has changed. In plain street lingo, it is all about ego tripping and the existential right to have access to the public till. What confound really are the shamelessness with which they trudge on and the determination by both parties to self-destruct. Then you ask, what agreement did they reach and who was trying to play smart? Wike or Fubara? Again, you are likely to hit a brick wall. Silence becomes golden. Yet, as the crisis deepens and anger rages, no one seems to give a thought to the collateral and incalculable damages being inflicted on the state and its citizens. As supporters from both sides giggle at the slightest edge recorded in the dog fight by any of the principal characters, hardly do they know that the greatest joke is on them. If they must know, agreement is agreement and dey your dey make I dey my dey are not veritable templates for real development. They are proclamations that are, at best, self-serving. And, to my mind, it is important to admonish those who think eating crumbs is worth sacrificing an arm and a leg for. They need to retrace their steps before it is too late. Rivers State deserves better. It has the potential of being a reference point for development without the top dogs engaging in a dog eating dog contest. What it needs is the right mentality to governance. As for those who want to cling to power, let them come to terms with the fact that power is transient. No mortal being is blessed with the authority to wield power in perpetuity. It is a soldier go, soldier come scenario. Know this and know peace.
Now, let’s look at another dog fight situation currently trending in Kaduna State. Personally, it would be interesting to see how this particular kerfuffle between Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and his erstwhile political son, Senator Uba Sani, would end. By the way, let me say from the beginning that I do not envy Sani at all. The incumbent governor must have an ace up his sleeves before deciding to take on El-Rufai who is no stranger to this kind of stuff. Anyway, that’s just my assumption. If my memory hasn’t failed me, El-Rufai was the only person that was probed by the Senate among the many ministers that served under the Presidency of President Olusegun Obasanjo. I still remember some of the caustic responses he threw at members of the Senate Committee then. At the end of the day, he ended up turning the whole probe matter into some sort of witch hunt and even dented the political careers of some lawmakers along the way. So, I assume that Sani, who was involved in all the political battles that El-Rufai have had to fight, truly knows what he is getting into. I still recollect vividly how El-Rufai told a stunned audience in 2008, during the Senate probe of his activities as Minister, that if he hadn’t allocated choice land to his wife and children, would the senators prefer a situation where he had allocated the land to his enemies and foes? Would that make them happier?
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For clarity sake, Sani may well need to go back and study what his former boss spewed during that probe to enable him have a firm grip of what should be done in the latest move by his supporters to pitch him against his former boss and political ally with the setting up of a 13-man adhoc committee to investigate financial transactions, loans, grants and project execution under El-Rufai as Kaduna State governor. I also hope that Sani is coming into this dog-eating-dog contest with squeaky clean hands? At least, as a once-dependable ally of El-Rufai, he should know that the former FCT minister is not only a meticulous data analyst and record keeper, he is not one to spare throwing deadly punches when the chips are down. Even if, like I said before, this may not be about changing the narrative of a scandalously raped state, people must know the kind of battle they want to fight and the ones that would not end up indicting them as accomplices in what has become the collective maladies of a failing state. Meanwhile, let the fight continue.
Interestingly, the one that shocks me is the current travails of former Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, and some of his family members. Was I surprised that the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) led Kano State Government had perfected plans to file criminal charges against Ganduje, his wife, Hafsat Ganduje; his son, Abdullahi Umar; and five others with eight counts including $413,000 bribery allegation as well as the diversion and misappropriation of funds amounting to ₦1.38bn? No. After the brutal battles at the courts and on the streets of Kano for the control of the Government House between Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and the Ganduje gang, it should be expected that the NNPP government would exact its pound of flesh from the APC. Of course, with Ganduje being the National Chairman of the APC, Yusuf knew there was no better time than now to make a move for his jugular. So, there was no surprise whatsoever in exhuming an almost-forgotten bribery episode popularly known as “The Gandollar Video Saga” to ensure that Ganduje has his days at the court and, possibly, in the prison. The surprise, in all this, is that otherwise loyalists of Ganduje are at the forefront of those seeking an end to the Ganduje political dynasty built over many years. Just like it happened when the plan was hatched to remove Senator Adams Oshiomhole as the Chairman of the APC, it was shocking that Ganduje’s alleged removal started at the ward level with his suspension being announced by one Laminu Sani and Haladu Gwanjo who identified themselves as Assistant Secretary and Legal Adviser in Ganduje’s ward. Wonders, they say, will never cease!. When did Ganduje leave office that even members of his ward are already pointing daggers at his back? And, as if that was not enough, his ‘men’ at the national headquarters of the APC are also cooking something bad against a man that one had thought had overcome his political battles.
Still, it is the same issue of dogs eating dogs and the purpose is not that far apart. It is all about personal aggrandizement. In achieving this aim, the espirit-de-corps mantra is the first casualty. Here, the end simply justifies the means in the brutal fight for relevance where loyalty counts for nothing. At this point, the words of the former governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatubde Fashola, poignantly sticks out when he said, in response to a question regarding his relationship with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that: “May our loyalty not be tested.” In these days where the hounds shamelessly bay for the blood of their benefactors at the touch of a button, shouldn’t we give plaudits to those who refuse to take the bait? Fashola’s words are, indeed, quite deep. And so, as the drama continues from one state to the other, I ask: who is going to be the next victim that would be eaten by the dogs he, single-handedly, nurtured into political relevance? Who knows?
