In their desperation, the ‘Atikulators’ of Nigeria – part Dubai, part America – made you feel like the last elections would never be over and done with. They completely dominated your space, literally. What with the several junkets, the daily demonisation of INEC to which the columnist once devoted a full article on these pages, the hiring of American Public Relations gurus, since their Nigerian counterparts are not good enough for them; the ‘scam’ American trip and the gargantuan sabre rattling that accompanied everything they did? That is not to mention the plot to pocket the Nigerian judiciary right from the very top, as well as hand over to INEC, through its serpentine minders, more than half of its Ad hoc staff.
Even as you read this, not a few are praying that Ologbondiyan will just stop his daily juvenile effusions; even though we are yet to hear from him on Atiku’s magical 1.6 million votes with which he claimed to have beat Buhari.
Hallucination indeed.
But truth be told, Atiku missed it from the very beginning. He did not need to have, as much as, visit any Nigerian international airport, not to talk of going all the way to America to prove that he is as straight as a rod, not minding the fact that a U S congressional hearing implicated him in wiring 40 million U.S dollars to his wife who is resident in that country. There was a much more effective, even simpler way, of proving his incorruptibility. Rather than all the razzmatazz of being holed up at the Trump Tower, all he should have done was, go after Obasanjo, tear into him like his entire life depended on it. This is because Obasanjo, the man he appears, like forever, programmed to genuflect to , had so ruthlessly de-marketed him that it needn’t no robotic science to know that PDP was doomed the minute Atiku emerged as its presidential candidate. Since the day Obasanjo allegedly prostrated for him in 2003, Atiku had become a marked man; so much that even when some gods of men, alongside some ethnic champions, made him eat his words on Atiku, he never truly forgave him. It would have been most unlike Obasanjo to totally, and completely, forgive.
All Atiku would have done was head to the courts, put a lie to Obasanjo’s lies about him, and he would have come out shining like a thousand roses. Unfortunately, he missed it, and as the saying goes, an opportunity once lost can never be regained. Though President Buhari smashed him to smithereens, beating him by almost four million votes at the election, Obasanjo, it was, who had erected the building blocks of that massive shellacking. Poor man, he kept going to Ota, seeking the favours of an unforgiving man he should have looked straight in the face, fight to a standstill, and call his proper name – a megalomaniac – whose specialty is undoing others – as has happened to both Chief MKO Abiola and Uncle Bola Ige years earlier.
It was that shredded image Atiku carried into the election against Baba Maigaskia – Muhammadu Buhari. Beating Buhari was, in the circumstances, a far greater challenge than climbing Mount Everest. Nigerians, after all, were eager to escape such withering epithets as citizens of a fantastically corrupt country and could, therefore, not have afforded to elect Atiku over and above Buhari. Going biblical, there’s no way they could have chosen a Barabas over Jesus. The take away for PDP at the next election cycle should be: always keep Obasanjo at arms length.
My two pennies.
Sorry readers, today is really not for election analysis. Rather, I would like to apologise to readers whose views on some topical issues, l have been unable to get published since the campaigns commenced a few weeks ago. Today, I make up for that with a few:
Thank you for your column today. The postponement of the elections has denied us our gloating today, but we’ll gloat soon, by God’s grace. Thank you for the moral clarity you bring to your analysis of our society with clear-eyed rationality. By the way, I quoted you in my forthcoming book:”Returning our universities to their ancient landmarks”.
The book is one of 4 that should’ve been presented at my Valedictory as I retired from UNIZIK last November after serving the university system for 43 years, including being a Vice Chancellor. ASUU strike caused its postponement. Keep fighting. We’re together. God bless you. – Professor Ikenna Onyido- an outstanding academic, of impeccable integrity.
The Buhari phenomenon must be analysed! This contest was between a super-rich businessman-politician and an ex-military chieftain perceived to be honest by some; undemocratic, ruthless and unfit for office by many. Both contestants are Fulani; they are both Muslim but Buhari beat Atiku hands-down in the North. What can money not do that Buhari has to the extent that he enjoys cult-following? Why will a Yoruba man vote Atiku when the APC is loaded with Yoruba actors who are very visible including the best VP this nation has ever had. What lessons can we learn in the area of human values from Buhari’s success? – Professor Olaoye Faluyi – A self- effacing, highly seminal academic.
Good day sir! I have just read through your usual column in today’s THE NATION on Sunday, March 17, 2019 dedicated to Chief G. O. OKOOBO, FCA, at 90. Going through Baba’s experiences at the various stages of his life has given me a lot of impetus & insights on what life is all about. Simply put: Life is about hard work, dedication to the service of God, and humanity, as well as leaving a good legacy behind at the end of it all. And that exactly, is what Baba has achieved. But how many of our so-called leaders & upcoming ones, will follow Baba’s path of honour?
I recommend this column to all Nigerians to read and digest – Tayo Abikoye.
Re: Buhari victory: The long, hard road to travel. Your choice of topics to treat in a given period and time often makes me think they are atimes being revealed to you right from on high. You seem to have a way of coming up with issues that are almost always the heart-cry of all Nigerians at a particular moment. Buhari, of a truth, owes all Nigerians the duty of taking Nigeria to the next level. We know that some of his efforts are yet to start putting food on the table of many suffering Nigerians but we remain confident that he will deliver. He must now call for the recommendations of the 2014 National Confab and constitute a committee to study it towards urgently restructuring Nigeria. With the ‘not too young to rule’ law now in place, President Buhari may turn out to be the last old face to occupy the saddle. Therefore, what he does, or fails to do, is what history will judge him by – Emmanuel Egwu, Ebonyi State.
The concluding part is from Oga Pius Babalola Omonijo, my affable senior at Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti and retired senior public servant who has always been a loyal and highly cherished reader of this column. Because of the topicality, profundity and relevance of his piece which is in two parts, I shall, for now, stop at his intro as it would soon be published in full at a later date.
Search for political stability in Ekiti State.
Introduction
How do we ensure political stability in Ekiti State? This is a state of one term one governor. No governor has served two terms at a stretch. In most states, a governor serves two terms and ordains his successor to ensure continuity in the development of the state. The incumbent APC government should not limit itself to implementing its developmental agenda. It should also be concerned with political stability which engenders development. The last elections, in which it scored 100% in the presidential, national and state assembly elections, have evidentially confirmed its acceptance by the generality of our people; and, going by what the government has shown to date, it should have no problem emulating the Lagos APC in longevity. Towards this end, the party should set up a tactical committee to study, and come out, with a programme of action that will make it become a household name in the state.