The Nation Newspaper

Tag: hyenas

  • Lion King in the saddle

    Riddles about the Lion King, hyenas, jackals, wolves and weaker animals hit the social media in Nigeria a few months back when President Muhammadu Buhari was on medical vacation in the United Kingdom. Those behind the riddles were his wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari and Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central).

    They raised the alarm and warned some top government officials who might be thinking and plotting against the administration for their selfish gains.

    Speaking about lions, hyenas, jackals, wolves and weaker animals in their separate postings, they appeared to be talking about the Buhari’s presidency, the President’s sickness, recovery, the masses and the scheming of the “real” or “imaginary” cabals.

    Sani had posted: “Prayer for the absent Lion King has waned. Until he’s back, then they will fall over each other to be on the front row of the palace temple.

    “Now, the hyenas and the jackals are scheming and talking to each other in whispers; still doubting whether the Lion King will be back or not.

    “Now, the Lion King is asleep and no other dare to confirm if he will wake up or not. It is the wish of the hyenas that the Lion King never wakes or come back, so they can be kings.

    “It is the prayers of the weaker animals that the Lion King comes back to save the kingdom from the hyenas, the wolves and other predators,” he added

    As if replying Sani’s post, Aisha Buhari, on her Twitter handle said: “God has answered the prayers of the weaker animals. The hyenas and the jackals will soon be sent out of the kingdom.

    “We strongly believe in the prayers of the weaker animals. Long live the weaker animals. Long live Nigeria.” she stated

    With the return of Buhari to the country, the jackals and hyenas, whether real or imaginary, have remained silent and underground.

    Sani, during the Eid-el-Kabir Sallah break again urged the President to urgently purge his administration of the hyenas and jackals.

    Whether the President will identify the jackals and hyenas, if they really exist, and flush them out is a story for another day.

    But hardly anyone could be in doubt now that President Buhari is fully back in the saddle.

    The following are some of his activities in the past three weeks of his return to Nigeria.

    His first assignment on his return to the Presidential Villa in Abuja on August 19 was meeting with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and security chiefs.

    That was followed by a nationwide broadcast to Nigerians the following Monday.

    On the same Monday, he received briefings from the the Vice President.

    He met again with security chiefs on Tuesday where he was updated on the security situations in every part of the country.

    On Wednesday the President received Presidential investigative report on the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal and the Director General of the National intelligence Agency (NIA)

    The President on the first Thursday of his return signed instruments of ratification for a number of bilateral agreements aimed at strengthening the government’s anti-corruption battle, and to boost Tax Administration and Intellectual Property Protection in the country.

    The following day, he met jointly with leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    On that Friday, he also observed his Friday jumaat prayer alongside other Muslim faithfuls in the mosque at the State House.

    He later met with state governors at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa after the Jumaat prayer.

    On the Monday of his second week in the country, the President received briefings on the economy from the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

    The President on the following Wednesday, presided over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

    Before the meeting proper started, the President received the victorious Nigeria’s national basketball team, D’Tigeress.

    Later in the day, the President left Abuja for his home town, Daura in Katsina State for the Eid-el-Kabir Sallah break.

    The following day, he held a private meeting with his classmates in Daura.

    On Friday, he joined his kinsmen to observe the Eid-el-Kabir Sallah prayer at a Eid praying ground in Daura.

    The President, the following Saturday receivied the Governor of Katsina State, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, who paid him homage at his residence in Daura as part of the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations.

    Last week Monday, the President received associations of farmers, businessmen, youths, elders and politicians in Katsina State at his country home in Daura.

    The following day, Buhari met with the Nigerien President, Muhammadu Issoufou at his residence in Daura, Katsina State.

    After the Sallah break, the President returned to the seat of power in Abuja last Wednesday to continue to steer the ship of State.

    The Lion King is really fully back in the saddle.

     

    Spurring sports honour

    President Muhammadu Buhari, a fortnight ago, did something that will count for sports development in the country for some time to come.

    He wasted no time to receive the the victorious Nigeria’s female national basketball team, DTigeress at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Beside the normal Presidential handshake, the President also announced N1 million each for the players and N500,000 each for the team officials.

    Those moves have already started yielding results in the sporting arena.

    They boosted the National male football team, the Super Eagles to go all out against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the first leg FIFA World Cup qualifier match in Akwa Ibom State.

    The Super Eagles mercilessly beat the Cameroonian team by 4-0 in Nigeria.

    In the second leg match in Cameroon, the Cameroonian team managed to escape with 1-1 draw.

    Nigeria really appeared to have returned to winning ways.

     

  • Hyenas, jackals and Tambuwal’s option

    SIR: The recent drama on the floor of the Sokoto State House of Assembly that led to the impeachment and subsequent replacement of the Deputy Majority Leader did not come as a surprise to many observers. It was simply a manifestation of a long choreographed drama that has been gradually crystalizing through both formal and non-formal channels of politicking. This is not a new thing in the history of the state. The political sophistication and political awareness of Sokoto’s polity is simply at work.

    It all started when nocturnal meetings of dis-contents over various issues started surfacing between mainly two factions that were hitherto, existing only in the winds. The cat was let of the bag recently a serving commissioner in the state organized what to him was an ordinary tour to promote the presidential ambition of his chosen candidate for the 2019 elections in faraway Abuja.

    This is perfectly in order and constitutional. But then at an APC stakeholder’s meeting over the ‘tour’, there was commotion and consequently a brawl ensued between the members allegedly supporting the sitting governor, Rt. Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and those of the former governor and serving Senator Dr. Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko.

    As it happened in 1996 between Governor Attahiru Bafarawa and the then Deputy Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, the theatre of hostilities naturally shifted to the floor of the House of Assembly where the two camps had already concretized into open opposing sides and were already at each other’s throats.

    It became open that two camps were being remote controlled by the two gladiators who from all indications, are friends in the day and foes at night; who have been best of ‘pallies’ in front of the cameras and the opposites when the cameras are away; the case of the hyenas and the jackals.

    It is about 2019. The fight has begun and the first round has been fought and won. Tambuwal, the proverbial ‘up starter’ has floored Wamakko, the Veteran and the Maverick against all odds and predictions. Indeed, it only takes Wamakko to tinker a little with the tail of the Tiger to court its wrath and subsequent destructive reactions. Finally, it will also take a determined and fearless Tambuwal to venture into the dungeon of a well fortressed ‘Sambisa’ of the Emperor himself. Only time can tell.

     

    • Usama A. Dandare,

    Sokoto.

  • Jackals, hyenas around Buhari ’ll go, says wife

    Jackals, hyenas around Buhari ’ll go, says wife

    First Lady hints of power struggle

    President Muhammadu Buhari is getting better and will soon be back, going by his wife Aisha’s statement yesterday in London.

    The President’s wife last week travelled to London to be with her husband, who is undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ailment. She has also been carrying out other assignments.

    President Buhari left the country on May 7 for another round of treatment. He spent more than 50 days during his first medical vacation in London.

    On his return, he told the nation that he had never been that sick in his life adding that he underwent blood transfusion. But he did not disclose his ailment.

    On her Facebook page yesterday, Mrs Buhari, in a response to the July 6 post by Senator Shehu Sani, expressed herself in a figurative manner, using the animal imagery like the senator did.

    She wrote: “God has answered the prayers of the weaker animals. The hyenas and the jackals will soon be sent out of the kingdom.  We strongly believe in the prayers and support of the weaker animals.

    “Long live the weaker animals. Long live Nigeria.”

    Director of Press in Mrs Buhari’s office Mr. Suleiman Haruna, said yesterday that the post was on the president’s wife’s “verified Facebook page”.

    As at 10:00 pm, about 257 people had made comments on the post, most of which were wishing President Buhari quick recovery.

    Senator Sani (Kaduna Central) wrote on his Facebook page on July 6.

    “Prayer for the absent Lion King has waned; until he’s back then they will fall over each other to be on the front row of the palace temple.

    “Now the hyenas and the jackals are scheming and talking to each other in whispers; still doubting whether the Lion King will be back or not.

    “Now the Lion King is asleep and no other dare to confirm if he will wake up or not. It’s the wish of the hyenas that the Lion King never wakes or comes back so that they can be kings. It’s the prayers of the weaker animals that the Lion King comes back to save the Kingdom from the hyenas, the wolves and other predators.”

    The senator is believed to be referring to those who are scheming to become president in 2019, crisscrossing the country in moves to taking advantage of the president’s absence.

    Some people who are holding political positions are also believed to be undermining the system to position themselves in the president’s absence.

    The President’s wife also yesterday posted her photograph speaking at an event in London.

    She wrote under the photograph: “Today I attended the Babatunde Osotimehin Memorial Lecture at County Hall, London.

    “It was an honour to have spoken about his achievements at all levels and his commitment towards women and children all over the world.”

    Osotimehin was the Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and a former minister of health, who died last month.

  • Heart torn to shred by hyenas

    IN a few days, it will be Valentine’s Day. Cupid’s arrows are already flying here and there. You either grab it or dodge it. Love is good, it makes the world go round; it brings colours to a dull, drab life and brings happiness not just to the lovebirds but also to the people around them. Two loving hearts sounds good but if the hearts do not match, then it becomes a worthless venture. So, it is better to get hit by the right emotional darts, not those that are destined to fall off almost immediately or those who set out just to have a fling.

    Hurray! A dear friend just caught the right emotional dart and she has been soliloquising in the past one week. You can’t really blame her; who wouldn’t, after having combed the emotional jungle for six years? During this period, her heart had been torn to shreds by hyenas, lions and emotional monkeys. Now that she has found love, she is really intoxicated and cruising the emotional altitude with her romantic buddy.

    Wondering what it takes to get this high? Is love really worth the energy and can they sustain the tempo? Questions and more questions, but this certainly isn’t the time for questions as far as our dear friend is concerned. Let’s get into her head to appreciate how this lovebird is feeling.

    You are intoxicated when you take a drug or alcoholic drink. It makes you lose control of your faculties and you start to behave abnormally. In your drunken state, you do stupid things, make silly mistakes and justify doing the things that you would not do ordinarily. The toughest part of the emotional bargain is that, while everyone knows that you are under some influence and advise you to be wary, you stick to your actions until things finally fall apart.

    That, interestingly, is what happens to lovebirds when they get hit by Cupid’s dramatic arrow.

    Her mood reminds yours truly of Mariah Carey’s lyrics in Emotions.

    “You’ve got me feeling emotions

    “Deeper than I’ve ever dreamed of

    “You’ve got me feeling emotions

    “Higher than the heavens above.

    Naturally, it feels good, nice and satisfying. That is what the love tonic does to you. Your spirit is lifted up, intoxicated and flying high. Oh dear! This love thing can be very funny; it takes you up the skies in an amazing way and the next minute you are down in the emotional valley licking the sores and groaning in pain.

    Wait a minute! Could this really be for real? Flashback down memory lane and she recalls how she fell for Biodun, her very first love. He painted her world in colours, took her everywhere and her friends kept on telling her that she captured the best heart in town. It lasted only for 18 months and the saddest part of the bargain was the way he disappointed her. A close friend gave a call and told her that she had something to tell her. They planned to see the next day and she kept imagining that it was good news. When they finally met, the cheeky girl pushed a wedding invitation into her hands. It was her dear Biodun who was hooking another babe. No way! This isn’t true. It can’t be true, how can Biodun do this to me?’ she exploded.

    Poor heart. It turned out to be the truth. Her world cracked and it took her a while to put the cracked pieces back together again. “It was the saddest part of my life. Most times my emotions became overloaded and there were days when I would totally shut down.”

    Depressed for love? Why not! The emotional terrain can be traumatic churning out characters that remain pathetic, hearts that break to pieces and refuse to be mended again. “There was a day I went to bed and stayed there for over 24 hours unable to do anything reasonable. I could not move, eat or even cry. I just laid there and stared at the ceiling as the hours went by. I also kept asking myself all kinds of questions but I got no answers to these questions. The saddest part of the whole episode was that he didn’t tell me anything. We never had a quarrel and till date he has not given me any explanation about why he did what he did to me.”

    Most times, we take a lot of things for granted in our relationships. To survive, it is better to ask questions, be interested in the things that affect your partner and be very caring.

    From your first date to subsequent dates, you should pay attention to the other person if you really want to make it work and last. Your actions at the beginning may not indicate that “you’re the apple of my eye,” but it does indicate that you are not a total disaster. Most people are courteous enough to do the absolute minimum on a date: finish whatever activity you’re doing together and devote sufficient time out of respect for the other person. That may just be the last time that you would set your eyes on them again.