At times like this, questions crowd my mind. Some are rhetorical. Others are not. For my sanity not to take flight, I have chosen to address them one at a time. And I am starting with Rivers-born football star Joseph Yobo.
He was among the sportsmen who spoke at the campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. The former captain of the Super Eagles urged Nigerians to re-elect Jonathan.
Aside the Port Harcourt show, he also partook in other campaign runs of the ex-president. A report even said he shared branded bags of rice to get votes for his candidate. I have no way of confirming this. The former Everton star also led a political group known as PDP Ward 2 Ward Initiative, on a courtesy visit to the ex-President on Saturday, December 19, 2014 at the Presidential Villa.
Like a man truly convinced of his action, the former Super Eagles captain told State House correspondents: “I am here to endorse Mr. President for his re-election. He has done so well for the youth. I stand here as a youth to say that he deserves a second term to push forward the good work he has started.”
At a time the rumour mill was rife that Muhammadu Buhari, who was running against Jonathan, was not physically fit, Yobo joined Jonathan and others in trekking from the Villa to Eagle Square. They did some acrobatic moves too— all meant to show Nigerians who was fit to rule them.
Yobo, whose closeness to Jonathan saw him flying the presidential jet many a time to campaigns, followed up the show of fitness with a March 10, 2015 article, which is still available on 360nobs.com.
In the piece, Yobo raised posers for the All Progressives Congress (APC), such as: “Why is the opposition shoving in our youthful faces, a grandfather who needs rest, an elder statesman who ought to be chilling in his country home in times like this? Assuming their candidate wins the presidential elections, will he disappear periodically too?”
He was not done and declared: “We cannot saddle ourselves with a President whose health challenges will affect his output in office. General Buhari was once a gallant soldier but no one can cheat nature.”
Yobo had other upper cuts aimed at Buhari: “The job of president of a country with over 170 million people is a tasking one and surely it would have been convenient for a man who insists he was on a two-week rest to have at least walked with the people who will vote him for say one-thirds of the march?”
The article, which was a comparism between the fitness show by Jonathan and the one-million march of the APC, which both held in Abuja and Lagos on March 7, 2015, also saw Yobo painting Jonathan in the best shape available and Buhari in the image Governor Ayo Fayose sold unsuccessfully with front page adverts.
He wrote: “ As early as 8am, I and several other supporters of the President walked with him from Aso Rock to Eagle Square where we also jogged around. Some of the pictures from the walk have been swarming social media; one in particular stood out. It was that of President Jonathan doing the hop in an aerobics session. Pictures of him working out in the gym have surfaced from time to time and this further proved that the man is mentally and physically fit to rule Nigeria. Immediately after the rally ended at 11am, he went back to the State House, freshened up and flew to pay courtesy visits to the Ooni of Ife and Owa Obokun of Ijesaland and attend rallies in their domain.
“Enter General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). After he and his party played hide-and-seek with Nigerians over his whereabouts, the man returned to the country and was conspicuously missing from a march that was the perfect opportunity for him and the top party brass to reassure their supporters that he was fit as a fiddle. The job of president of a country with over 170 million people is a tasking one and surely it would have been convenient for a man who insists he was on a two-week rest to have at least walked with the people who will vote him for say one-thirds of the march? The party chieftains including Bola Tinubu and even its vice-presidential candidate, Prof. Yomi Osinbajo were present at the final stop, so why was the arrowhead of the campaign missing in action?”
Despite the efforts of the likes of Yobo, Buhari won. Jonathan is back in Otuoke and of less use to the soccer star.
You may wonder why I am recalling these acts of Yobo. My answer: With the sort of passion Yobo pursued the Jonathan-must-get-second-term project, he is the last person I expect around the First Family.
When Aisha Buhari launched a book on beauty last week, Yobo was there. And I ask: Is the opposition now right to have shoved in his youthful face a grandfather who needed rest, an elder statesman who ought to be chilling in his country home? What happens to his love for the man he said could stand and last? Does he now have answer to his poser: “Assuming their candidate wins the presidential elections, will he disappear periodically too?”
My final take: If I were the Buharis, I will not push Yobo away but I will have it at the back of my mind that his association with us is because of the influence we wield and not an act of love. And they should watch out for more Yobos as the time goes.
